WEBVTT - Comedy Saved Me-Behind the Laughter with Wendy Liebman 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:06.240 Comedy Saved Me. Hey, welcome to Comedy Saved Me. I 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.400 am your host, Lynn Hoffman, And if you're enjoying the show, 0:00:09.560 --> 0:00:11.200 first of all, thank you, and also, could you do 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:13.960 me a quick favor maybe drop a rating or review 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:18.160 on iHeart Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen, because 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:20.480 it would really help us spread the word and let 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.799 others know that you think the show is kind of cool, 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:26.080 which we so much appreciate, and hopefully we can get 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:28.600 more folks to check it out, because the more good 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:31.080 that we can do and the more good we can spread, 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:34.800 the better, So thank you for that. Today, I sit 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:38.640 down with a comedian whose punchlines are like magic tricks, 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:40.960 boom right between the eyes. You never see them coming 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:43.879 until you're laughing out loud. She is the queen of 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:48.080 the perfectly timed pause, a master of the one liner, 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:52.200 and a trailblazer who's been making audiences crack up for decades. 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:55.440 Get ready to walk through a sharp, witty, and wonderfully 0:00:55.480 --> 0:01:01.240 surprising world of Wendy Leadman right now on Comedy Saved Me. Wendy, 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:03.400 welcome to Comedy Save Me. That's so great to have 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:03.800 you here. 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:09.759 I loved that intro. Thank you. I hope I can 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:10.640 live up to that. 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:15.320 You already have. And then some and everybody knows you. 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:20.560 You've been on every show that's possible that could feature comedians. 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:23.720 Wendy and I were talking before we started the show 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:28.360 about our weird thing that we have with the color black, 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:31.479 that if you go look her up online, pretty much 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:34.759 every time you see her on stage, she's wearing black. 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:36.600 And I thought, wow, I do the exact same thing. 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:40.240 I went into my closet, it's all black. It's unbelievable. 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:43.320 So we have that little kinship between us. 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:46.280 Well, I think when I'm on stage, I don't want 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:51.280 to distract the audience. So if I just were black, 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:58.760 then they're not looking at my paisley or skirt or 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.760 you know whatever. But I did tell you that I 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:05.720 bought a pink jacket to wear on stage the other day, 0:02:05.960 --> 0:02:10.000 just because people need to change every once in a while. 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:13.760 I don't mean change their clothes, but you know, change grow. 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:18.839 So I bought a pink jacket from Macy's and I'm 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:23.520 going to return it tomorrow. I do it, not me, 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:25.400 It's not me. Who am I kidding? 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:27.800 I do it all the time, all the time, I 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:30.320 try to convince myself that it's going to look good, 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:32.240 and then I always end up throwing on a black 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:33.679 T shirt and calling it a day. 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:37.320 I mean, my niece once asked me, aunt, Wendy, why 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:41.440 do you dress like a mime? And I was like, 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:43.200 who can say? 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:46.840 That's all you had to say with the hands I 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:50.320 love it all right. Well, Wendy, I just got you here, 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:51.440 and all of a sudden, we have to take a 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:53.679 quick break, but we have to pay the bills somehow, 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:56.400 So if you wouldn't mind hanging out for a second 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:59.200 and we'll be right back with Wendy Leibman on comedy 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:08.560 saved me. Comedy saved me, and we're back, Wendy Liebman, 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:12.760 can you share a moment when comedy truly saved you, 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:15.519 when laughter helped you get through a really tough time 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:16.960 in your life? 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:21.239 You know, honestly, I think I started doing stand up. 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:26.040 I mean, who knows why anybody does anything, But I 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:31.600 was very depressed. I was doing psych research. I was 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:36.160 going to be a therapist. I was doing psych research 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:39.960 at Harvard Medical School. I had just graduated from college. 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:45.200 I went to Wellesley and I thought I was going 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:49.920 to be a therapist. And I myself was very depressed, 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:55.080 and I took in the mail from the wrong apartment 0:03:55.800 --> 0:04:00.800 and in the mail was a course catalog or an 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:03.840 adult ed center like the Learning Annets, but it was 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:09.240 called the adult Ed Center of Cambridge. In it was 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:11.920 a course on how to be a stand up comedian 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:15.640 and Lynn when I read those words, it was like 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:21.080 a light bulb went off, like Eureka, like I heard 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:26.800 angel singing. And even though I had never thought about 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:31.080 being a stand up comedian in my life, I just 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:39.040 felt like it was a calling, basically, like this is 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:43.160 what I'm supposed to do. And even though I was 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:49.400 not great for a couple of years, I just knew 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:52.719 that this is what I am, a stand up comedian. 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:59.400 So it saved me in that I was less depressed. 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:03.839 I would go to every comedy show I could. Laughter 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:09.159 itself is very healing, and they've done studies. There's a 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:14.640 whole study about laughter. I think it's called gelatology, and 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:20.200 they it's out of Stanford, and they show how it 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:26.080 helps increase breath and dopamine and you know, all the 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:30.560 good things in your body. And just being around people 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:37.479 was really good for me too, and I decided I 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:42.360 would rather make one hundred people laugh than one person 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:46.280 cry as a there or cry by myself. And I 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:49.919 think it really that was a long answer, but it 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:58.800 truly was what I needed psychologically, both watching comedy I 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:02.120 love to laugh, and and being the person on stage 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:05.560 making the audience laugh. It's a weird job, though, if 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:07.400 you think about it, like that's what we do. 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:10.359 It is, and it's interesting to me when I was 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:15.600 reading about you graduated Wellesley College as a psychologist, which 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:19.479 is amazing. I minored in psychology, but I kind of 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:21.640 knew what I wanted to do, so I thought it 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:24.479 would be helpful just to be able to communicate with 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:29.320 people overall, just to understand people more. But you actually 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:32.839 wanted to go full on and help people with therapy, 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:36.080 and I'm just curious how much of that has helped 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:37.040 you in comedy. 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:42.320 I think a big part of being a therapist is listening, 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:47.480 and I think I really listened to the audience, like 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:52.839 I've owned that skill. I am aware of the audience, 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:55.520 like I realize. I'm also aware like if I'm in 0:06:55.560 --> 0:07:00.360 an airport, I pick up on things around me. So 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:06.200 it just honed my senses. I think being thinking that 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:08.280 it was going to be a psychologist and then actually 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:10.640 doing stand up. I don't know if that answered your question, 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:12.920 but there's some overlap. 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:15.920 No, No, that does make sense. And it's interesting too 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:17.440 that you just said that you can kind of tell 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:20.680 what's going on with people. And is that because of 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:23.560 your education or maybe you're sensitive. 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:26.960 I think a little of both. Yeah, yeah, it's hard 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:27.440 to tell. 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:33.280 Yeah, it is. It's very confusing when picked the right 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:39.080 career path, right, because you've been incredibly successful. I was 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:41.520 curious what you approach to comedy and how it evolved 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:44.360 over the years. You've been doing this a while, and 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:47.440 what advice you would give to your younger self, maybe 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:49.120 when you were just starting out. 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:53.280 Well, I tell comedians now who ask me for advice 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:57.240 to perform as much as humanly possible, which is what 0:07:57.280 --> 0:07:59.360 I did when I first started. Even though I had 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:02.880 a day job, I was at at least one, if 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:08.240 not three, open mics every single night in Boston, and 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:13.880 there were a lot more venues and a lot fewer comedians, 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:16.680 so it's a lot easier to get on stage. So 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:21.040 I would drive all over town or through five states, 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:29.520 Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and then I'd 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:32.520 be back at work the next morning. So that's the 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:35.160 main thing, is performing as much as possible, because you 0:08:35.160 --> 0:08:37.240 could think you're the funniest person in the world, and 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:44.320 you might be, but until you hear the audience laughing, yeah, 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:50.040 you need like practical experience. So that's one thing I 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:53.840 would tell myself, which I listened to. But the other 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:56.320 thing I would I tell people Now, the thing that 0:08:56.400 --> 0:09:00.839 I wish people had told me was tru I knew 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:04.520 material all the time, because I would tend and I 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:08.480 still do tend to hone my jokes that I have 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:13.680 and work on them for years. And I would have 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:18.360 a lot more material and a few more specials if 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:22.920 I had taken chances and trusted the audience enough to 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:29.200 or trusted myself to feel comfortable trying out new material. 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:31.880 I write all the time. I just don't try it 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:32.720 out all the time. 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:36.480 Well, wouldn't you say that? That would be That's incredibly 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:39.920 interesting but very familiar as I work with a lot 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:44.320 of producers and I see that happen a lot, where 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:46.800 they get in their own way because it's not done yet. 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:50.280 But it's only subjective to you. But then it's like 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:52.240 a birthing because then you have to put it out 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:54.160 there to be judged by everybody, so you want to 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:56.520 make sure it's perfect. So that's kind of. 0:09:56.440 --> 0:10:01.600 Hard, exactly. And I was with a few comedians the 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:08.200 other night. I produced a benefit for reproductive rights and 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:12.880 I performed last year and they asked me to produce 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:16.640 it this year. And I had some of the best 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:21.160 talent out there. I had Reader Rudner, who was one 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:28.680 of my idols, and Kathy Griffin and Kathy Ladman and 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:34.559 Stephanie Blum, and we were talking backstage about using jokes 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:40.360 that we wrote thirty years ago. And not that any 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:42.920 of us is Bruce Springsteen, but I said, Bruce Springsteen 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:47.880 still sings Born to run every show, so if it works, 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:53.120 it works. So yeah, if your jokes aren't topical or 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:59.480 seem out of context or ridiculous, they work, so why 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:03.440 not use it anyway? But yes, I would tell my 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:08.319 former self to just take a million chances. 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:08.920 And be fearless. 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:14.480 Be fearless. Yeah, but part of what makes me do 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:18.520 or made me do stand up, was an insecurity of 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:22.760 that I would fit in or get along. And I've 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:26.440 I've been heckled a few times, and I've been and 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:30.240 I've bombed, not many times. I mean, I'm not bragging, 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:36.079 but like I I've bombed in the last ten years, 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:41.640 but uh, I haven't bombed like where it was just 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:43.040 painful where. 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:45.760 It came out and like dragged you off right. 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:52.960 But in those times when I have bombed, I felt 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:56.920 the same way that I felt before I did stand up, 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:04.319 which was very alone, very missile, understood, panicky and depressed. 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:09.120 But that hasting true with so many people. What you 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:14.000 just said, it happens to me all the time. It's amazing. 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:17.200 You think you get ten steps ahead and then one 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:19.560 thing happens and then you're right back where you were before. 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:20.520 You learn that lesson. 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:23.360 Well, I did a show the other night. It was 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:27.360 like a private club in Beverly Hills and it was 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:33.640 thirty year olds somethings, and it wasn't my audience, let's 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:37.600 put it that way. It wasn't my audience. And I 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:41.960 had to work, like really work like they didn't know 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:50.040 me at all. And I was reminded that, yeah, this 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:56.240 is my this is a job. What's my point. My 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:59.520 point is every time I get on stage, it's a 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:04.160 new Audien, and you never know, like I have done 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:07.280 it so many times for the past forty something years 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:10.280 that I know that I could get a laugh with 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:15.199 a certain joke, But there's never any guarantee. 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:18.800 Forty years, man, you have not even aged a second 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:21.319 since the first time I saw you. Look amazing. 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:22.400 It's the filter. 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:24.920 Oh yeah, that's right. Everything looks better on the camera. 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:30.360 Your punchlines are famous for their subtle, shall I say, misdirection. 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:33.679 How did you develop that signature style of yours and 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:35.880 what challenges sort of came with it? 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:42.400 I think that's just the way my brain works. But 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:46.280 I think any quote unquote artist, if I can call myself, 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:51.400 that is influenced by the people that they grow up with, 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:57.480 that they start their art with. And I was in 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:02.040 Boston in the eighties, and I would watch watch comedian 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:07.800 Jonathan Katz, comedian Brian Kylie, who's my favorite joke writer. 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:17.600 I would watch Laura Kitlinger, Don Gavin, Steve Sweeney, and 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:22.560 Kevin Meanie, and I would see them, oh and Bill Broadest, 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:27.040 and I would see them and see what worked with them. 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:32.440 And I remember watching Kevin Meanie one night, the late 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:37.600 great Kevin Meanie, and he was on a roll, like 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:41.840 there was never any lag and I thought, that's what 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:47.640 I want to do. I do not want silence, so 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:54.680 I kept adding taglines. So it was an evolution, like 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:56.920 that's all I can say. It was like I learned 0:14:56.960 --> 0:15:03.200 from watching and listening, and now in my sixties, I 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:10.120 appreciate the silence more because I think there's actually my 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:13.520 husband for our twenty second anniversary gave me a book 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:17.280 called The Power of Silence. Oh that's just a joke. 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:19.120 Was he trying to tell you, just a joke. 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:22.960 I should have been getting that book too. 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:30.800 Yeah, So I do like the silence now. I take 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:32.640 my time now on stage. 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:36.440 Yeah, that's weird. I always felt my whole life I 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:39.200 had to fill the silence. I'm so nervous, like if 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:42.160 it's too quiet, it gets weird, right, But now it's 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:43.480 like very powerful. 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:50.080 I feel the exact same way. And I realized recently 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:54.280 that it was about being around my mother, who had 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:57.040 to fill all the silence too, Like we could never 0:15:57.160 --> 0:16:02.160 have any lag time in our conversation because then it 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:05.840 meant something else might happen. And not to get too 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:09.080 not to get too heady and psychological about it, but 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:12.640 I think that's where it comes from for me. Yeah, 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:19.400 so I find myself with people probably like you, trying 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:23.640 to make them feel comfortable and fill the gaps. I've 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:28.800 been talking to my husband's cousin. She's a wellness coach, 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:33.880 and at the beginning of our zooms we take breaths, 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:35.840 and so we have to be quiet. 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:39.040 Oh God, it must be so cool we can do that, 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:39.360 I know. 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:42.080 All it is. 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:46.920 What is a common misunderstanding, Wendy that audiences have about 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:49.760 comedians and stand up comedy? 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:55.960 Ooh, maybe that we're funny all the time. And I 0:16:56.120 --> 0:17:00.000 have to say, I know some comedians who are all 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:03.920 always on, and then I know a lot of comedians 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:06.679 who are like the opposite of funny when they're on, 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:12.159 I mean when they're not on. In my situation, my 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:16.720 husband is the funny one for real and for real, 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:20.639 he's so funny, my husband. But he's also really shy, 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:23.600 like he would never do stand up. He said, if 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:25.760 I do stand up, I'm just going to be on 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:31.600 stage and I'm gonna wet my pants. Hey, Mike gonna 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:36.560 say right, and I'll say, that's my time. But he 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:44.040 always has some really creative, funny thing to say about 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:44.880 every day. 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:46.159 Wow. 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.120 Well, he's a writer. He wrote on a sitcom called 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:50.600 Boy Meets World. 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:52.119 Oh I remember that. 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:58.879 Yes, And he's also the son of a songwriter who 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:04.359 wrote a lot of the Sick for Disney. Wow. They 0:18:04.400 --> 0:18:09.000 wrote Mary Poppins and Shitty Chitty Bang Bang. Oh my gosh, 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:12.439 the music. Yeah. They wrote the song It's a Small World. 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:17.800 So you're like your own little entertainment mecca empire right there, 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:18.639 just the two of you. 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:22.680 Wow, it's just funny. Yeah. My husband inspired the song 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:26.600 spoonful of Sugar No way Edison go down. Yes. He 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:28.639 came home from school and his dad said, what did 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:31.119 you do today? And he said, we got the salt 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:35.119 vaccine or the vaccine for polio. And my father in 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:37.960 law said, you let them give you a shot. He 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:41.879 was seven, And my husband said, no. They put it 0:18:41.960 --> 0:18:44.720 on a sugar cube, and the sugar cube was on 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:46.240 a spoon and we just ate it. 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:49.600 Oh my god, I know it's I can't believe. That's 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:51.680 such a fun fact that no one would ever. 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:55.640 Know, right, And so my father in law like twiddled 0:18:55.680 --> 0:19:00.000 his thumbs and called his brother who was his writing partner, 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:02.720 and the next day they wrote a spoonful of sugar 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:04.480 helps medicine go down. 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:06.520 In the most delightful way. 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:07.600 Exactly. 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:11.800 Wow. Wow, you heard it here first. That is very cool. 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:14.040 Unless you must you must have told that story before. 0:19:14.760 --> 0:19:18.320 I'm sure once or a zillion times. 0:19:18.880 --> 0:19:24.359 What what what's the funniest or most memorable show that 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:27.359 you've had and what made it stand out? Can you 0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:28.920 remember you've done something? 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:32.840 I have two shows that I always think about, and 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:36.800 one was I got to open for Bob Hope in 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:44.600 the nineties Wow outside for five thousand people wow, and 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:52.560 in Indianapolis, and that was surreal. I mean I've opened 0:19:52.640 --> 0:20:00.080 for a lot of famous people like Ray Charles and 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:05.199 and Margaret and Leo Glacy like I can't even believe 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:10.960 my life. I feel like Zellig sometimes. But that was 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:19.320 memorable just because of the comedy gravity. And then one 0:20:19.440 --> 0:20:26.080 time I was in a basement of an Italian restaurant 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:31.919 called Paisanos in Dearborn, Michigan, and there were eight people 0:20:32.000 --> 0:20:38.280 on a Sunday night and it was joyous. I just 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:42.240 included all eight of us. By the end, we knew 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:47.240 everybody's name. I think I bought everybody. During why I 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:50.639 felt like a puk on an air hockey board. I 0:20:50.920 --> 0:20:55.840 was in the moment, I just it was It was 0:20:56.119 --> 0:21:02.800 really fun. And you know, I've gotten much more conversational 0:21:02.960 --> 0:21:06.040 talking to the audience over the years, whereas when I 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:08.600 first started, it was like I had to follow my 0:21:08.680 --> 0:21:12.000 script and every word had to be in place. And 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:18.960 because jokes rely on the rhythm and the punchline and 0:21:19.200 --> 0:21:23.320 you know, the wording, there's timing and yeah, the timing. 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:30.600 So I was very studious like that. But then I 0:21:30.640 --> 0:21:33.879 started talking to the audience, probably just to fill the 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:42.399 time sometimes, and the audience loves that because it's like 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:46.600 an inside joke with the audience. You feel like you 0:21:46.640 --> 0:21:51.439 feel like the comedian is not just an actor saying 0:21:51.560 --> 0:21:57.080 lines that they are really the comedy brain. The people 0:21:57.119 --> 0:21:59.480 who are best at that. You know, now you see 0:21:59.480 --> 0:22:02.760 it a lot. Now you see a lot of comedians 0:22:02.840 --> 0:22:09.600 posting their audience interaction videos. But before that, this wave, 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:15.399 Paula Poundstone is the best at it. She riffs with 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:19.760 the audience. Comedian named Jimmy Brogan, who was one of 0:22:20.000 --> 0:22:25.320 Jay Leno's head writers for many years. He's phenomenal. Russell 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:29.960 Peters is amazing, like it's a real gift. And so 0:22:30.720 --> 0:22:33.160 I'm not great at it, but I've gotten better over 0:22:33.200 --> 0:22:36.800 the years and I really enjoy it. Like I opened 0:22:36.840 --> 0:22:42.760 for I have a standing gig opening for Fritz Coleman, 0:22:42.800 --> 0:22:45.639 who was the weather guy here in LA for forty years, 0:22:46.200 --> 0:22:49.119 and he just stand up. That's how he started. He 0:22:49.240 --> 0:22:51.000 was seen at the comedy club and they asked him, 0:22:51.119 --> 0:22:52.439 do you want to do the weather? 0:22:53.000 --> 0:22:53.720 Of all things? 0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:56.320 I know, I know. I think David Letterman started that 0:22:56.320 --> 0:22:59.640 way too. Wow. But so now he is a standing 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:02.640 gig and I do twenty minutes in front of him 0:23:02.680 --> 0:23:07.280 once a month, and his is more like a play. 0:23:07.760 --> 0:23:11.479 But so I do the opposite of that. I just 0:23:12.520 --> 0:23:15.800 interact with the audience and talk to them about life. 0:23:17.119 --> 0:23:21.119 So love I love using that creative muscle. 0:23:21.560 --> 0:23:24.760 It's sort of like relaxing in the saddle of life. 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:26.800 It's the only kind of Someone said that to me once. 0:23:26.800 --> 0:23:29.280 Oh I love that right, all of a sudden, It's 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:33.280 like even when I was doing the show originally, I 0:23:33.359 --> 0:23:37.760 had come off all public stuff for probably like ten 0:23:37.960 --> 0:23:40.560 twelve years, and I really wasn't going to get back 0:23:40.560 --> 0:23:43.959 into doing anything unless it was for good purposes. Hence 0:23:44.200 --> 0:23:50.160 I'm here but being comfortable to say, wait a minute, 0:23:50.240 --> 0:23:51.840 hold on a second, let me look at a note 0:23:51.840 --> 0:23:54.239 that I just had here. You just meant, you know, 0:23:54.320 --> 0:23:56.639 and then it's okay to do that. You don't have 0:23:56.720 --> 0:23:59.680 to be so polished and perfectly right. 0:24:00.960 --> 0:24:04.000 Yeah, I bring notes sometimes, and I even asked the audience, 0:24:04.040 --> 0:24:06.959 I say I'm trying some new jokes, would you mind? 0:24:07.200 --> 0:24:09.200 And they're like no, no, of course. 0:24:11.400 --> 0:24:14.080 We'll be right back with more of the Comedy Save 0:24:14.160 --> 0:24:23.000 Me Podcast. Welcome back to the Comedy Save Me Podcast. 0:24:24.680 --> 0:24:27.359 You mentioned Paula Poundstone, and I just found out yesterday 0:24:27.400 --> 0:24:29.520 that she's going to be coming on the show as well, 0:24:29.560 --> 0:24:33.200 So I'm so stoked over that. First I get Wendy Leidman, 0:24:33.280 --> 0:24:35.399 and now Paula Poundstone's going to come on, and I 0:24:35.400 --> 0:24:37.320 can't even wait to talk to her. If you could 0:24:37.359 --> 0:24:39.640 ask her a question, what would you ask her? 0:24:40.600 --> 0:24:42.160 Let me think about that, but I want to tell 0:24:42.200 --> 0:24:45.000 you a story about please yea, that's okay, yea. So 0:24:45.080 --> 0:24:50.359 she originated in Boston, so when I was starting, she 0:24:50.480 --> 0:24:54.680 came back to do a show and I remember watching 0:24:54.720 --> 0:24:56.880 her and thinking, and I had just done it for 0:24:56.920 --> 0:25:00.159 like six months, and I remember thinking, I am, I 0:25:00.200 --> 0:25:02.720 should just quit because I'm never going to be that funny. 0:25:02.840 --> 0:25:06.800 I can never be that funny. And forty years later, 0:25:08.000 --> 0:25:12.520 I have realized everybody has their own voice. It's like 0:25:12.640 --> 0:25:19.199 there's a room for every single voice. And so I 0:25:19.359 --> 0:25:24.440 was on a show that she was hosting recently, like recently, 0:25:24.480 --> 0:25:28.160 probably a year and a half ago, and she watched 0:25:28.359 --> 0:25:31.760 everything and laughed at everything I said, and I thought, 0:25:31.880 --> 0:25:34.439 oh my god. And she even tweeted about me the 0:25:34.480 --> 0:25:39.239 next day, and I thought, oh my god, this is 0:25:39.480 --> 0:25:44.000 surreal and it's full circle. And so what would I 0:25:44.160 --> 0:25:51.840 ask her? I would ask her if she would let 0:25:51.840 --> 0:25:56.159 me open for the road. Now I know that's a 0:25:56.200 --> 0:25:59.600 great question. She doesn't have anybody open for her. I 0:25:59.640 --> 0:26:00.840 don't know what I would ask her. 0:26:00.920 --> 0:26:01.520 Think about that. 0:26:01.600 --> 0:26:03.440 We'll circle, I will, we'll stirkle back. 0:26:03.480 --> 0:26:08.560 I just like saying that. I'm trying to think you'd 0:26:08.680 --> 0:26:11.080 mentioned something that I'll come back. 0:26:11.320 --> 0:26:12.560 Your notes, look, get your notes. 0:26:12.880 --> 0:26:16.280 I'm mean. Steve Sweeney Kevin Meaney, two of my all 0:26:16.280 --> 0:26:18.400 time favorites. In fact, when I was doing morning radio 0:26:18.480 --> 0:26:22.480 in Boston one year, I got a random phone call 0:26:22.560 --> 0:26:24.159 and I didn't know who it was, and it was 0:26:24.160 --> 0:26:27.119 Steve Sweeney and they had hired him to do morning 0:26:27.200 --> 0:26:30.959 radio a comedian doing mourning radio, like having to get 0:26:31.040 --> 0:26:32.800