WEBVTT - Starring Dave Coulier as Whit Griffin in “The Thirteenth Year” 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:16.600 Thank you everybody for joining us on this Park Copper 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:20.520 episode of Magical Rewind. We are so excited to talk 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:22.919 to our guest today, who has done one or two 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:26.440 projects in his career, a couple of things here or there. 0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:28.800 So we really can't wait, Sabrina, I know that you're 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:29.120 a fan. 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:33.320 I love him. I'm so excited. 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:35.320 Well, then I will let you talk to I'll let 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:37.760 you do most of the talking then, because it seems 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:42.320 like be great, so please help us. Welcome d KI. 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:47.240 Hey are okay? 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:53.560 Okay, thank you so much for joining us. Yes, now 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:56.920 we know you've done you know, hundreds and hundreds, if 0:00:56.920 --> 0:00:59.840 not thousands, of interviews. Is this the first time that 0:00:59.880 --> 0:01:02.319 you're doing an interview based solely on the thirteenth year? 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:09.600 It is, yes, And I'm so honored because I'm amazed 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:11.400 that people still remember that movie. 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:14.000 Yes, it's are you kidding? It's great? So I don't 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:16.600 know if you're aware of this, but it's age so 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:20.360 well that Complex has it listed as the seventeenth best 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:22.600 Disney Channel movie of all time, and. 0:01:22.520 --> 0:01:26.640 That's out of my teenth hundreds, out of hundreds of movies. 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:29.200 I should get a trophy of some kind for something. 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:33.319 Yes, everybody gets a trophy nowadays, Dave, everybody gets a trophy. 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:38.559 Against movies like High School Musical Descendants, all these big, 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:41.520 heavy hitters, and you guys are still I mean, it's 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:45.760 aged so well and the resurgence from Disney Plus has 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:49.480 brought it back into a new generation of viewers, which 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:50.000 is awesome. 0:01:50.560 --> 0:01:53.120 Well, you can't see it, but from my waist down, 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:54.240 I'm a fish. 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:54.920 Yeah. 0:01:55.600 --> 0:01:57.320 We figured I was. 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:00.280 I was planning on wearing my fishtail too, but I 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:02.520 felt like it'd be uncomfortable to sit too long. 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:05.920 Yeah, they're made for swimming. They're made for swimming. 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:10.359 Do you remember the first time that you heard about 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:12.480 this film? I mean, I can't imagine you auditioned for it. 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:14.160 I'm sure they just offered it to you. Did you 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:16.920 know what it was going in because the title really 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:18.280 doesn't tell you what this movie's about. 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:21.480 It doesn't. And then I read the script and I 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:25.440 went into Disney and uh, you know, I went in 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:29.160 prepared to audition. There were sides and everything, and I 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:33.280 went in and they just we just started talking and 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:39.120 they said, okay, here's our start date. I was like, oh, okay, 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:42.080 we're not going to read or anything. You know, but 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:44.359 it was never brought up. It was like, okay, well 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:46.440 we'll call your agents and this is a start date. 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:49.560 We're so happy that you're going to do this project. 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:52.080 And it was like I just walked in and then 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:53.919 I was doing a movie about a kid who turns 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:54.639 into a fish. 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:59.040 It was like, okay, really, do you remember when the 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:01.640 last time you've actually on a chance to watch this, Like, 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:04.320 has it been forever or a long time? 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:06.400 Long time? 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.200 Yeah, longer than last week. Uh, it's it's been a 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:14.520 long time probably since it came out, to be honest. 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:18.680 With you, really, Yeah, it seemed like a fun character. 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:22.840 There's also the you know, the boat Captain Big John. 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:27.040 That character is such a charactery kind of play, Like 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:28.600 you could have done that one. I mean, they could 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:30.840 have basically just offered to tell us which one you 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:31.720 would like to do. 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:32.919 You could do the coach. 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:33.360 You could do whatever. 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:36.400 I was up for the boat for the actual boat 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:39.000 got it, actual Boat Defiance. 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:39.720 I can see that. 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:44.040 Yeah. I was up for that too, so that I 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:46.600 probably would have had to audition for. I would have 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:48.640 had to read for the boat. 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:51.880 Now, so we're we do all this research as we're 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:54.720 trying to prepare for these. And I mean, obviously, at 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:57.240 this point in your career you've been on New Heart, 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:00.640 you're doing Coach, Full House. I mean, you name it. 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:02.240 It's one thing after another. But you hadn't done a 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:03.920 whole lot of films, had you. Was this one of 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:04.440 your first? 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:09.600 No, it was actually yes. And actually my first SAG 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:13.320 job was a cheech and Chong film and I played 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:16.040 a guy who I have a long tongue. So in 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:18.880 my audition I stuck my tongue out and I said, Okay, 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:21.200 you'll do that in the movie. And it was a 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:23.560 movie called Things Are Tough All Over. So that was 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:26.800 actually how I kind of broke into SAG. Was was 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:31.320 with that movie. I got taffed heart lead nice and Yeah, 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:33.799 so that was my That was my first foray into 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:38.960 anything that was major. And then I guess the movie 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:41.080 business kind of passed me by and kicked me over 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:41.840 to television. 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:45.479 Yeah. Well, I also when the television they're kicking you 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:49.760 to is New Heart and Coach and then Full House, 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:51.760 it's not a bad place to be kicked to if 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:55.000 if you're honest, right, you know, it's. 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:58.320 Been a heck of a nice journey with really great people, 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:03.560 and I'm so lucky and so thankful to have had 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:05.880 this little roller coaster ride that I've been on. And 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:09.040 I still appreciate it, and I still sit here in 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:12.800 my little comedy laboratory and try and kick stuff out, 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:17.800 and you know it. Full House, of course, is kind 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:21.040 of the pinnacle because it's it's a show that has 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:27.400 inspired and been watched by a couple generations now and 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:30.520 we're still on. We've never been off the air since 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:34.000 we premiered on ABC in nineteen eighty seven. It's wow 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:38.279 lay through worldwide syndication and over one hundred countries, and 0:05:38.320 --> 0:05:41.279 it's kind of the energizer Bunny of residuals. 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:43.840 It just keeps coming nice. 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:46.919 Well, we know that the atmosphere on set for you 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:50.080 guys on Full House was such a family oriented vibe 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:52.800 that you guys were really great to your young actors. 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:56.039 Were you able to kind of feel that vibe or 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:59.080 is it tough not being you know, a weekly job. 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:00.920 This was just six week shoot. 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:03.599 Were you able to still feel like you were able 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:05.919 to connect with your younger actors. 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:10.039 Yeah, And I already had that kind of vibe from 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:12.760 working with the kids on Full House and Chez Starbuck 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:15.040 was the star of this movie, and he was a newbie, 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:20.760 and my feeling was, you know, treat everybody, no matter 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:23.200 how small the role, just treat him as an equal. 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:26.640 That's always kind of been my thing, like, Hey, we're 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:29.520 all in this together. We're all trying to make this 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:34.000 into the best possible movie we can. So I'm always 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:37.479 supportive of people. I mean, I'll run people's lines even 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:39.560 if I'm not in the same scene with them. You know, 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:45.120 I like helping people. It's good, it helps the process, 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:48.480 and I think it's just it's just good for everybody. 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:50.560 It makes you want to show up for work when 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:55.280 you're welcomed that way, you know. And I realized at 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:57.479 that point that those kids were looking up to me, 0:06:57.720 --> 0:07:00.800 and the last thing you want to do is is 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:04.120 disappoint a young actor. You want to make them feel 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:08.520 encouraged and welcomed and you're you know, you're on your 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:12.800 way to being successful. And you know, that's the kind 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:16.240 of vibe that I tried to project on this movie. 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:18.520 Wow, well you can tell. I mean it seemed like 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:21.080 everybody was having a good time. Do you remember the shoot? 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:24.320 It was what six weeks? And actually this is you're 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:26.920 you're in a rarefied air when it comes to dcoms 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:30.200 because we've we've found out that ninety five percent of 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:33.360 them are shot in either Canada or in Utah. That's 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:37.720 it unless they need an ocean. So now you're in 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.240 southern California and you're shooting kind of in the San 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:43.240 Pager area and popping around that area. What what was 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:44.400 it like shooting the movie? 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:47.960 It was cool, it was it was it was a 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:50.240 place I'd never been before. I'd never been to that 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:54.040 area of Long Beach before, down by the dots, so 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:57.920 it was it was kind of weird. But once we 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:01.040 settled into where our set was down in this little 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:04.720 marina with this lighthouse and everything, it was a really 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:09.320 cool vibe. So it was a really fun shoot. It 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:12.040 was It was like nothing I had ever shot before, 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.880 even the full house opening title stuff that we shot 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:18.920 in San Francisco there on the wharf and everything. This 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:21.520 was cool all by itself. 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:26.880 Your wife in the movie, Leslie Stall, you two seem 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:30.000 to really have some great chemistry and she exploded onto 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:33.440 the scene after George Michael's Careless Whisper video, which to 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:35.600 me is just about the coolest thing I'd ever heard. 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:38.080 Did you guys have a good connection and do you 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:39.920 I guess that leads to a bigger question, which is 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:42.160 do you actually see anybody from the film anymore? Are 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:43.440 you in touch with anybody from the film? 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:43.720 No? 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:45.920 I don't, I don't. That was kind of one of 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:50.240 those you know, that was a great fun project and 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:53.080 you know, hugs all around, and I hope I see 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:55.480 you guys, But it was just I kept in touch 0:08:55.520 --> 0:09:00.320 with one of the producers, Michael Mike Jacobs Junior, and 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:03.480 he was a great guy. And I'm not even sure 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:07.959 what Mike's doing nowadays. You know, you guys know, in 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:12.320 what we do, sometimes you do a project and you 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:15.720 make friends forever, and then you do another project and 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:18.400 you just came together to work on that project and 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:22.920 you may not ever see those people again. So it's 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:24.719 just kind of the nature of what we do and 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:30.640 that happens, and sometimes you have those long lasting friendships 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:33.880 and other times it's just, hey, we were work buddies. 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:39.120 Yeah, absolutely, especially before social media where. 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:41.560 You guys can kind of connect instantly. 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:44.200 You know, or where you start promoting it together through 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:47.280 social media. That helps a little bit. But you know, 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:50.200 this time during dcom's. They were doing a lot of them. 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:52.240 I mean they had a couple going on at the 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:55.559 same time sometimes, So it is true. You know, actors, 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:59.800 they're six weeks to shoot something is not that long's 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:01.680 and you know, you. 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:04.120 Fall in love, you get married, and you get divorced, 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:04.480 you know. 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:09.120 I mean, that's a shame, but it's actually true. You're 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:11.480 just they throw everybody together and you hope it works out, 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:13.840 and you usually like the people you're working with, and 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:16.280 then it's hey, thank you very much. Yeah. So one 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:18.560 of the most interesting things that we noticed about the 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:21.880 crew was your director, Dwayne Dunney. 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:27.280 Yeah, yeah, who had one of the coolest. 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:31.720 Most interesting histories in the industry. Did you know the 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:34.280 stuff that he had done before he came on to 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:35.239 shoot this film. 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:37.600 Yeah, I did. I was already a fan, so I 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:39.760 was really excited to work with him, and he was 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:43.920 so fun to work with. And then it turned out 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:49.200 his wife worked at the dentist office in Santa Monica 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:55.160 where I for my dentist, and she was the most 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:59.160 lovely lady and she goes boy. Ok, I went in, 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:01.800 she goes boy. Dwayne. Sure, he had fun working with 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:04.839 you on that movie. I went, well, how do you know, Dwayne. 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:08.360 She goes, that's my husband. I go, gosh, she's up 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:12.480 north and he lives up north in northern California. She goes, yeah, 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:14.080 I live down here. I work down here. And then 0:11:14.120 --> 0:11:16.319 he comes down and I'm like, I would have never 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:17.199 put this together. 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:21.440 Oh my gosh, how done life? 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:23.400 You know? And she was such a sweetheart, but she 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:26.040 would always every time I'd go in get my teeth clean, 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:28.160 she go oh, Dwayne says high. You know, so it 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:28.760 was nice. 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:30.760 Would you if you had to sit there and geek 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:33.199 out with him over anything? Would it have been his 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:36.400 involvement in the Star Wars franchise or with Twin Peaks? 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:43.400 Probably leaning heavily towards the Star Wars stuffy Yeah, Twin 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:45.800 Peaks was one of those things. I was working during 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:49.520 Twin Peaks, so I never got to really get into it, 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:54.560 but I did play hockey. Was Sherylyn Fenn's brother. 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:56.559 Oh cool, Leo. 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:02.360 So I'm sorry it sounds like every story I have 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:05.040 is attached to somebody, but it really is. 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:09.600 It's crazy, that's awesome, the nature, that's just really. 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:12.920 I know you were so you were so busy at 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:15.760 this at this time, and but this was such a 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:19.920 huge success for the channel. They had around eight million 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:24.280 viewers for the premiere, which is very big, you know huge. 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:28.400 Were they making it a big deal or were you 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.040 even able to even stop and realize how big of 0:12:31.080 --> 0:12:33.360 a success this was or during that time of your 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:35.880 career it was kind of like, yeah, great, moving on 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:38.920 on to the next Like how how does that happen 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:43.400 when you're going from things like big, big, big projects 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:45.760 and just doubling it up every time you go to 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:46.400 the next one. 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:48.120 Basically, I have to. 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:52.360 Be totally honest with you, Sabrina, I I really didn't 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:57.400 know the status of the movie or you know, had 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:01.079 it been a theatrical release where I could have seen 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:04.319 the numbers or you know, you see it in Variety 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:07.240 and you go, oh, here's you know, this weekend or whatever. 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:10.120 But this was television, so there was really no way 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:14.080 for me to track it. I had heard from from 0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:17.120 Mike Jacobs that he said, hey, the movie's doing great, 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:20.280 But by that time, by the time we we wrapped, 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:22.520 to the time where it finally got edited and then 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:26.320 it got a slot on Disney, it was a long time. 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:30.280 So there really wasn't that time of ooh, man, I 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:33.080 gotta I gotta keep my ear to the ground on 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:37.840 this one, you know. So No, I really didn't. I 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:41.280 didn't know how it was doing. I had kind of heard, 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:44.360 but by then it was you know. And then I 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:50.199 heard from a Disney executive. Years after that, I went 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:52.640 in to pitch something and he said, you know, we 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:57.480 need another thirteenth Year. And I said, oh, okay, I 0:13:57.559 --> 0:14:01.240 got something for you. Is Martian It's okay. We have 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:08.760 like spaceships and stuff like you know that'll yeah. But 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:11.120 but I guess, in a roundabout way to answer your question, 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:13.120 I really had no idea how it was. 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:14.880 Yeah, it was nice. 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:18.400 Does anyone ever like have you ever in your career 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:20.560 had somebody come up and just start talking to you 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:22.640 about the thirteenth Year? Is that one that has ever 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:23.600 happened to you before? 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:28.080 Boy, I would love to say yes because we're talking 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:33.360 about it, but really no, really no. You know, there's 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:36.640 been a little offshoot conversations here and there where, you know, 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:39.360 maybe if I'm at one of the cons or something, 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:41.280 there will be those Disney people and go, hey, I 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:44.320 really love doing the thirteenth Year. You know, I know 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:46.040 you're here for the full House, you know, but I 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:46.960 really love to do. 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:49.360 Wait, we get that a lot with with the dcoms. 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:51.880 We get people that will say I have net will 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:54.600 be like, you're in the third most popular dcom ever, Like, 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:57.640 no one's ever mentioned to me once that about this 0:14:57.800 --> 0:14:58.440 Decom's like. 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:03.680 Okay, or if it happens, it's like shock, Like, oh 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:04.720 you watch that? 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:07.600 That's so cool? What about these other giant movies that 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:08.040 I've done? 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:11.120 But no, No, it's this decon that you're talking about. 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:21.200 Can we go back a little bit and talk about 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:23.040 your start in the industry? 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:26.120 Sure, yes, the stand up You started in stand up? 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:28.520 Right? I did. I started in kind of a golden 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:32.160 age of stand up. I slept on Bob Saggat's couch 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:34.880 when I was nineteen years old, So I mean, I 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:38.520 go back to those days. Me, Gary Shandling and Bob 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:42.480 Saggatt were really close buddies. And Brad Gray was our 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:47.880 manager who Brad later became like the chairman of Paramount Studios. 0:15:48.880 --> 0:15:53.320 Was partnered with another legend, Bernie Berlstein, And you would 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:57.720 go into their office and you'd see Danny Ackroyd, and 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:02.080 you'd see Martin Short or Steve Martin or Lauren Michaels 0:16:02.280 --> 0:16:05.240 or you name it. That. It was just kind of 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:07.440 a revolving door. We would just go and hang out 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:11.760 at their office because it was fun, and you know 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:15.320 it was it was a really incredible time to be 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:18.640 a stand up in the late, you know, the early eighties. 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:23.280 I mean my group was Dennis Miller, Louis Anderson, Jim Carrey, 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:33.400 Howie Mandel, Jerry Seinfeld, Carrey Shandling, Saggott. You know, it 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:36.320 was pretty much you know, you'd you'd walk off stage 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:39.360 and Robin Williams would be coming on, or you'd walk 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:42.600 off stage at the Comedy Store mainroom and and Prior 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:46.520 would high five you. You know, it was. It was 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:50.520 a pretty special time. And you know we were all unknowns, 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:55.400 but you couldn't with that group, you really couldn't, you know, 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:58.240 and Leno and Letterman and Dana Carvey. I mean, the 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:01.480 list just keeps going on and on, and you know 0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:07.080 it was so wonderful and Roseanne and you know, Sarah Silverman, 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:10.280 all these wonderful people. It was. It was really a 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:14.040 time though, when you were in those Hollywood rooms like 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:17.600 the Improv or the Comedy Store, you couldn't lay off. 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:19.919 You couldn't like do a set that you would do 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:21.640 on the road. You had to go up and kind 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:25.080 of do your A material. If you're following Seinfeld, you know, 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:27.120 you couldn't just go up and go, hey, I'm gonna 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:32.440 try a few things. Here's my notepad. You know, anybody here, 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:37.439 why would you eat a duck? You know? You know. 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:40.719 So it was that kind of a feeling, but it 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:43.840 really made you, you know, play your A game every night. 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:46.400 You knew you had to be great once you made 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:49.720 it on that stage, at that level. It's funny. Someone 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:52.840 just asked me the other night, you know, have you 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:56.280 ever worked with Richard Pryor? And I said, like, every 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:58.360 night at the comedy store, you know, I would sit 0:17:58.600 --> 0:18:01.560 and watch him. He was like masterful. It was like 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:05.040 a master class in how do you go from zero 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:07.800 to one thousand in eight weeks? You know, and in 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:11.160 prior had the ability to do that. I have a 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:14.560 comedy store poster. We just moved into a new house, 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:16.639 so we were looking through all this old stuff and 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:19.760 storage and going through going oh, I don't need that. 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:22.639 It's it's my old bowling trophy from seventh grade. I 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:29.639 don't need that. What in there? So in there there 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:32.400 was a comedy poster from the Comedy Store main room 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:36.400 and the lineup was Argus Hamilton and then Jimmy Brogan, 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:43.679 me Arsinio, Jeff Altman, Saggot Shandling, Robin Williams, and Richard Pryor. 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:47.320 That was the lineup. And you know, I looked at 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:49.480 that and I said, you know, at the time, I 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:53.480 didn't realize where I was. I was just like, oh boy, 0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:55.000 I got to do a good set tonight. 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:55.639 Yeah. 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.359 I didn't realize that I was in this immersed in 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:03.639 this world of great people around me. And you know, 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:07.520 I think, you know, I was peddling the bike as 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.679 fast as I could, so I couldn't really stop and 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:13.560 just kind of breathe and take it all in and go, wow, 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:17.000 I'm on stage with with some some you know, because 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:18.960 we were still unknowns. There were a lot of those 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:22.159 guys weren't known yet, like me and Ursineo and Gary 0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:25.479 and Bob, you know, we weren't known. And you know, 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:31.520 but prior in Robin Williams, you know, I would just go, Wow, 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:36.000 I'm gonna call my mom tell her about this. Yeah, 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:38.359 because it was pretty cool. It was a really cool time. 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:41.080 I mean, now, I always wonder about this because you 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:44.600 you list names like that, where it's just one banger 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:47.919 after the next. Of all these incredible comedians, was there 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:51.479 a person, especially from that era, that you saw that 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:53.600 you would have put all your money on that was 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:55.760 just never given the opportunity to break the way you 0:19:55.760 --> 0:19:56.399 thought they would. 0:19:57.280 --> 0:19:59.560 Yeah, there were quite a few of those. And and 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:04.440 some them we're so talented and you've never heard of them. 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:09.280 Some just never got the breaks. Some sniffed a lot 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:14.920 of stuff up their nostrils or shoved stuff, you know, whatever, 0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:19.560 you know, so that you could see their career slowly 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:23.160 dying on the vine because of something, you know, whether 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:28.760 it was not paying attention or not, you know, having 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:32.520 a work ethic because comics, you know, we have weird hours. 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:35.600 You know, it was you fall asleep at four in 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:38.200 the morning because you had a set at one point fifteen, 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:40.480 you know, and you didn't get off stage till then, 0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:43.639 and you're amped up and you fall asleep at four, 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:45.800 and you know, it's kind of tough to have a 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:49.639 normal life with those stand up hours, especially on the road, 0:20:49.840 --> 0:20:52.639 you know, when you're doing seventy eight nine ten shows 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:55.800 a week and you're you're living that lifestyle. So I 0:20:55.840 --> 0:21:00.639 saw plenty of people who are really super talented, and 0:21:00.720 --> 0:21:03.520 all of a sudden they were just kind of had 0:21:03.600 --> 0:21:07.760 faded away and they weren't in they weren't in the lineup, 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:09.840 or they weren't you weren't seeing their name on the 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:14.800 posters and the comedy clubs. But there was always that 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:19.400 that group you know that you just knew, Uh, it's 0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:22.639 just a matter of time before you know, she's on 0:21:22.720 --> 0:21:26.280 a series or he's you know, great or whatever. Because 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:28.440 we all watched each other. It was such a small world, 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:30.720 you know, when when one of us did the Tonight 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:37.439 Show with Johnny Carson, you know, everybody was like so 0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:40.359 so we watched each other closely because that was the bar. 0:21:41.000 --> 0:21:41.800 Yeah, and it was. 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:46.119 It was exciting and terrifying and weird all at the 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:46.760