Speaker 1: Comedy Saved Me.
Speaker 2: If you're going to use drugs and alcohol, you know,
Speaker 2: oh it makes me more creative. That's a little shit.
Speaker 2: Shut up, you know you're just the disease of alcoholism
Speaker 2: and drug addiction will tell you anything to keep you active.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Comedy Saved Me, the podcast where we
Speaker 1: dive deep into the healing power of laughter and the
Speaker 1: stories of comics who have turned pain into punchlines. I'm
Speaker 1: your host, Lynn Hoffman, and today today's guest is a
Speaker 1: true legend in the world of stand up. He is
Speaker 1: a comedians, comedian, a podcasting pioneer, and a man who's
Speaker 1: wit is literally as quick as his comebacks. He's so fast,
Speaker 1: I don't know how I'm going to be able to
Speaker 1: keep up with him. You've seen him on Last Comic Standing,
Speaker 1: def Comedy Jam, and Comedy Central, among others. He's the
Speaker 1: co host of the brutally honest and always hilarious My
Speaker 1: Wife Hates Me podcast, and he's been making audience his
Speaker 1: laugh for over four decades. But he doesn't even look
Speaker 1: it that old. But behind the razor sharp jokes and
Speaker 1: legendary roast battles, Rich Voss has a powerful story of resilience, recovery,
Speaker 1: and the redemptive force of comedy. And today we're going
Speaker 1: to talk about how comedy became his lifeline, the highs
Speaker 1: and loads of his journey, and what it really takes
Speaker 1: to survive and thrive in this business. So sit back,
Speaker 1: get ready to laugh, and maybe even you know, cheer
Speaker 1: up a little bit, grab the tissues as we welcome
Speaker 1: the one and only Rich Voss to Comedy Saved Me.
Speaker 2: Hi, Hi you for me. I have to make a
Speaker 2: couple of corrections on the intro s ry, let me
Speaker 2: get a pen. Okay, First of all, last comic Standing
Speaker 2: was twenty five years ago. Let it go, okay, Imy
Speaker 2: Central is the thing in the past. No one does
Speaker 2: it anymore, so newer credits recently was Shart on the
Speaker 2: Joe Rogan podcast, a regular on The Godfelt Show, as
Speaker 2: a new special on Amazon called Rich Loss Anonymous doesn't
Speaker 2: do the podcast anymore. That's done after eleven years, thank god.
Speaker 2: And what else that's good for now? But last comic
Speaker 2: I'm gonna help you because he seems so nice. Thanks,
Speaker 2: get rid of Comedy Central for anybody. Okay, that's my
Speaker 2: mailman did Comedy Central. That's almost an insult when people
Speaker 2: recognize when they say Comedy Central because they're done, last
Speaker 2: comic standing done. Don't use that for anybody, Okay, and
Speaker 2: you know, I guess we're good from there. And I'm
Speaker 2: not being mean. I'm just trying to help from the beginning.
Speaker 1: No, but you should. I mean, first of all, Rogan huge,
Speaker 1: and second of all, I saw you recently on Got Felt,
Speaker 1: so I know. I mean, then that's the number one
Speaker 1: show at late night, So you're absolutely right, and I
Speaker 1: stand corrected. I can't believe I even left that out
Speaker 1: to begin with.
Speaker 2: I'm so sorry, Sorry you made a mistake or ever,
Speaker 2: I just have to update my bio. It's also my mistake.
Speaker 1: But that's all right. We're of a certain age because
Speaker 1: I used to work on a channel that's no more
Speaker 1: as well called VH one, So if that's still even
Speaker 1: out there, no one even knows what that used to be.
Speaker 2: What are you like? Thirty two thirty two years old?
Speaker 1: No double fives? In July fifty five, Get downie here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: didn't you do a little bit of opening Anthony for
Speaker 1: a while?
Speaker 2: It did it for years? Yeah, So I.
Speaker 1: Was working in morning radio at the same time you
Speaker 1: were no Where and building Boston and New York.
Speaker 2: Boston. Who are the guys I doing Boston? Chuckh or
Speaker 2: and Rich or something.
Speaker 1: Or this is going back a bit, but it was
Speaker 1: John Lander.
Speaker 2: I did that show there. Yeah, then the other guy
Speaker 2: went to jail and he Died's that touch on? Rich
Speaker 2: Mark Correno? Oh yes, yes, yep from Boston. I'm a
Speaker 2: big fan of Boston. Good.
Speaker 1: Did I just go up in your like good check
Speaker 1: off listed.
Speaker 2: The second I saw you, you went up in my
Speaker 2: Oh I buy you a better house? Oh?
Speaker 1: Thanks?
Speaker 2: Get you out into berks here? So whatever they call them, No.
Speaker 1: I love it here, believe me. I'm I'm very happy
Speaker 1: to be here.
Speaker 2: Is that your studio down there?
Speaker 1: Wait for people? Yeah? Do you see your name in
Speaker 1: the big screen over there?
Speaker 2: Yeah? But like, why do you have all those seats?
Speaker 2: You have that many people?
Speaker 1: Well, occasionally I have had guests, but mainly when we
Speaker 1: don't in studio. But when we don't have guests, we
Speaker 1: like to have like little parties in here. And so
Speaker 1: that's the game night table. Wow, we have family.
Speaker 2: And party game night. That's you know when you're getting older,
Speaker 2: when you have game night. Yeah, that's when you're done.
Speaker 2: That's when you go, all right, we're stuck together.
Speaker 1: What are we going to do?
Speaker 2: Game night?
Speaker 1: Well, it's that or pickle fest.
Speaker 2: Well, or you can become swingers and then explore other
Speaker 2: options around the area. I don't know. I've never done it,
Speaker 2: but I just figured that's an auction. I've never done it.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, i'll let you know if we start,
Speaker 1: if we look into that, I will tell you. Wait,
Speaker 1: I get a call Rich.
Speaker 2: I'm kind of creepy. I shouldn't have said that. That's
Speaker 2: all right, you know, I'm just looking out for you
Speaker 2: and whoever.
Speaker 1: Well you're you're I appreciate that a lot.
Speaker 2: You need to know. What do you mean? Am I
Speaker 2: coming off mean? I hope I'm not mean. When I
Speaker 2: told you different credits.
Speaker 1: No, because they're all relevant. I feel I'm going to
Speaker 1: redo the intro based on what you told me, and
Speaker 1: I'll make sure that we edit that in because it's
Speaker 1: way better. I mean, you can't. It's obvious that you've
Speaker 1: had an illustrious career, but it's far beyond what we mentioned.
Speaker 1: And no, you didn't come off as mean at all.
Speaker 2: I tried to.
Speaker 1: All Right, Well, I want to ask you a question
Speaker 1: or two or three, But I want to start, I
Speaker 1: really do want to start off with your roots and
Speaker 1: sort of your inspirations. What first drew you to stand
Speaker 1: up comedy back in what was the eighties? And who
Speaker 1: were some of your biggest influences?
Speaker 2: What drew me because I failed at everything else? You know,
Speaker 2: as a kid, you know, maybe nine years old in
Speaker 2: fourth grade, I used to come home and listen to
Speaker 2: this comedy album Von Meeterer. He did the impressions of
Speaker 2: John Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy. The album was called First Family.
Speaker 2: His career was over after the Kennedy each were assassinated.
Speaker 2: I went from Park Avenue to park bench. I mean,
Speaker 2: he was the hottest comic then just done. I mean
Speaker 2: nobody wanted to, you know, hear him do impressions of
Speaker 2: two people they loved that were assassinated. Right home from school,
Speaker 2: listen to that album every day in fourth grade, nine
Speaker 2: years old, and then later on in life, just realize
Speaker 2: you're just covering the pain of your parents' divorce and
Speaker 2: your father never being there, and you know, how do
Speaker 2: I deal with this as a fourth grader coming home
Speaker 2: to a cleaning lady or that my mother couldn't afford
Speaker 2: kind of a babysitter, clean and pertect. You know, we
Speaker 2: chased everyone away, my brother, my sister, and I because
Speaker 2: none of them, you know, we're all just angry young
Speaker 2: kids that we're just mean. So I come home and then,
Speaker 2: you know, throughout life you would listen to comedy. Next
Speaker 2: thing you know here I.
Speaker 1: Am, well, Jed's a millionaire, you said. Next thing, you know,
Speaker 1: I couldn't help myself.
Speaker 2: I wish, I wish. I I'm getting clothed. If I
Speaker 2: if I sold everything, including my sneakers, I'd get close.
Speaker 2: But right, you know, in life you have to realize
Speaker 2: what you know. You look at people. I look at
Speaker 2: people in my business selling out arenas multi millionaires, you know,
Speaker 2: TV specials, Netflix, Amazon, and then I have to think,
Speaker 2: in life, I have enough. I already have enough, you know.
Speaker 2: And once you can almost get comfortable with having enough,
Speaker 2: whether it be family, friends, materialistic goods, sobriety, whatever you have.
Speaker 2: Once you realize this enough, you don't have to fight anymore.
Speaker 2: So I'm close to that. I'm pretty close to knowing
Speaker 2: I have enough. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1: Yes? Absolutely? I feel like whatever is enough, whatever your
Speaker 1: version of enough is that should be good for you,
Speaker 1: whatever it is, whether it's do you want to be
Speaker 1: a billionaire or you just want to live a peaceful
Speaker 1: life somewhere in the mountains and you know, work out
Speaker 1: of a barn or in your bedroom.
Speaker 2: In your case, my wife's bedroom is so much nicer,
Speaker 2: but she has two rooms in her bedroom.
Speaker 1: You have separate bedrooms.
Speaker 2: Well, I come in late and snore, and we have
Speaker 2: a big house, and it's so much easier, you know,
Speaker 2: instead of her waking me up every night on your snoring.
Speaker 1: You know, I understand that.
Speaker 2: Well, it's not like we touched each other. So what
Speaker 2: the fuck?
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, you've cited when you were growing up
Speaker 1: classics from the Ed Sullivan Show as some of your influences.
Speaker 1: What did you learn from some of those early legends
Speaker 1: that you still use today in your in your act?
Speaker 2: Can you remember, No, I remember, I remember when I
Speaker 2: would watch Ed Sullivan and see like Alan King or
Speaker 2: I can't even remember. I would stay with my father
Speaker 2: because that was one of the nights or weekends he
Speaker 2: would come home. So what I remember is that and
Speaker 2: watching the comic. You know, but then after you get older,
Speaker 2: you know he's gone, right, married or whatever, and then
Speaker 2: you just grow up, you know, listening to prior Eddie Murphy,
Speaker 2: those were I guess the two comics I listened to mostly,
Speaker 2: as you know, probably in my twenties, you know, and
Speaker 2: then I when I started a comedy, there was my favorites.
Speaker 2: But I you know, I was horrible. When I started comedy,
Speaker 2: I was still partying and getting high and doing drugs.
Speaker 2: So I think I did that for like two years
Speaker 2: and then went to put myself in rehab. And I've
Speaker 2: been sober ever since thirty nine years, so probably my
Speaker 2: first two years or three years was horrible. I was
Speaker 2: just whatever, doing whatever I could to get money to
Speaker 2: get high, you know. And then I get out of
Speaker 2: rehab and when my life starts coming together at some point,
Speaker 2: you know, it doesn't happen overnight. But I'm not doing
Speaker 2: what I was doing. I mean, you know, I was
Speaker 2: a wild man or a wild guy or person or
Speaker 2: kiss nuts, you know, and comedy was a quick fix
Speaker 2: where you'd get your money that night and you could
Speaker 2: go out and party and get high that night, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean. Like it was I didn't have
Speaker 2: to wait till Friday get my paid check. Corp Saturday, Thursday.
Speaker 2: You know, I do a getting on Tuesday, get paid.
Speaker 2: Next thing. You know, I'm in New York buying drugs.
Speaker 2: So eventually that caught up to me and boom, and
Speaker 2: now I have three daughters, three grandkids, another kid on
Speaker 2: the way. There's six people on this planet because I
Speaker 2: don't get higher day at a time, because I would
Speaker 2: have never met my wife or ex wife. You know
Speaker 2: how the world works, I mean how things work in
Speaker 2: mysterious ways. Yeah, you know your past. You know it's
Speaker 2: I guess planned out through whatever. You know, You're You're
Speaker 2: where you are when you're supposed to be there. But
Speaker 2: if I never if I was still partying, I wouldn't
Speaker 2: have married these people, and it wouldn't be my daughters
Speaker 2: or grandkids. You know what I'm saying. Absolutely, it's kind
Speaker 2: of it's kind of weird. You know when when somebody
Speaker 2: has a miscarriage or something happens, then they get pregnant
Speaker 2: maybe seven months later, then you have those kids. Well,
Speaker 2: those kids will never been here if that person didn't
Speaker 2: have that miscarriage. Do you see what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, there's definitely a higher power.
Speaker 2: It would it would be a whole different whatever outcome
Speaker 2: in life. So it's kind of like when you have
Speaker 2: game night.
Speaker 1: I just want to go on record that that's only
Speaker 1: happened a couple of times with family. It just looks
Speaker 1: nice with four chairs and yeah, I like, I'm all
Speaker 1: the director's chairs, so why not.
Speaker 2: Right, it looks good.
Speaker 1: Thanks. I do believe everything happens for a reason one
Speaker 1: hundred percent. And you know, I wouldn't be here if
Speaker 1: my life didn't go the way that it went either,
Speaker 1: And I never would have expected to be here talking
Speaker 1: to you, you know, on a on a zoom, getting
Speaker 1: to interview some of the most the biggest legends in
Speaker 1: comedy and music. But obviously whatever I did to get
Speaker 1: here got me here. So I agree with you one
Speaker 1: hundred percent. Plus, there's there's definitely something larger than all
Speaker 1: of us at the Helm. There's got to be, So I.
Speaker 2: Agree with the biggest musician or that one your favorite
Speaker 2: at you like, I'm sure radio you know you did
Speaker 2: your worked with a lot of musicians. I guess yes.
Speaker 2: On this podcast, have you had musicians?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I have another podcast called Music Saved Me, so
Speaker 1: we have musicians on and people in the music industry.
Speaker 2: Any famous people a few.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we've had on Jelly Roll and Wainona and Pat
Speaker 1: Monahan of Train and I just had on Oh gosh,
Speaker 1: there's so many of them. We've probably have done well.
Speaker 1: I don't even know how many we've done, but a lot.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's been about two years, but we are
Speaker 1: number one in the music interview category on Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 1: So that's kind of cool.
Speaker 2: Get out of here.
Speaker 1: I say we because the incredible guy that you met
Speaker 1: when we first started chatting, Buzz, we've been We've known
Speaker 1: each other for pretty much thirty years. He was what
Speaker 1: do I say, the C suite in radio in Boston,
Speaker 1: but also came up as an on air personality in
Speaker 1: New York.
Speaker 2: I don't think his real name is Buzz.
Speaker 1: I think it might. Well, we have to ask him
Speaker 1: when he comes back on. Oh no, I think that's
Speaker 1: a good radio name though.
Speaker 2: Right I think he's on the LAMB. Might be on
Speaker 2: the Lamb.
Speaker 3: You'll be right back with more of the Comedy Saved
Speaker 3: Me Podcast. Welcome back to the Comedy Saved Me Podcast.
Speaker 2: Listen.
Speaker 1: I have to talk to you about this because I
Speaker 1: read this about you and I was like, wow, this
Speaker 1: is kind of cool. You sort of broke some barriers
Speaker 1: in your career, so you don't seem to give yourself
Speaker 1: enough credit about that part of it. But back in
Speaker 1: ninety five, you actually became the first white comedian on
Speaker 1: the def Comedy Jam, which I watched all the time.
Speaker 1: How did that opportunity come in and what was running
Speaker 1: through your mind? I want to know right before you
Speaker 1: took the stage, if you can remember, I don't know.
Speaker 2: I mean, it was nerve wracking, no one's ever do
Speaker 2: you know a lot of pressure.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Look, I had two daughters. I had to work to
Speaker 2: whatever clubs I could, whether it was typical white rooms
Speaker 2: or urban rooms or mixed rooms, whatever it took, I did.
Speaker 2: And then I did you know, some of the urban shows.
Speaker 2: It was easy for them to pick me to do
Speaker 2: it because they knew who I was deep bookers and
Speaker 2: people running the show. But it was very, very very
Speaker 2: nerve wracking, very scary because you know I was. They
Speaker 2: taped five nights a week in New York, the whole
Speaker 2: season a tape. You know, I was the fifth night,
Speaker 2: second show, second to last, So I heard of everybody
Speaker 2: in town doing well, not doing well. You know, people
Speaker 2: that were still in town came to watch the taping.
Speaker 2: That year, they had a bunch of different hosts every episode,
Speaker 2: Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, My guy was Steve Harvey. They
Speaker 2: had a different host so some of the hosts were
Speaker 2: still in town Jamie Fox and I knew everyone. But
Speaker 2: when there's a lot of them in the audience and
Speaker 2: it's the last show, oh my god, of the tapings
Speaker 2: all week and I'm second to last, there's a lot
Speaker 2: of built up pressure, and black comics are mad that
Speaker 2: I was doing it and they weren't doing it. Some
Speaker 2: of them white comics were like, well, you gotta be
Speaker 2: good because you're the first. It was. It was a
Speaker 2: lot of pressure. It was very and then the clothes
Speaker 2: I wore. There they go Russell Simmons, whose show it was,
Speaker 2: wants you to wear his clothing line. So they got
Speaker 2: me in fat Farm clothing, which is an urban clothing line,
Speaker 2: and I walk out. I mean, I look back on it,
Speaker 2: I mean, this is what thirty years ago. I mean
Speaker 2: I was, and I pandered more to the audience I
Speaker 2: was working to back then, but that's what I knew
Speaker 2: thirty years ago, So I mean it's kind of cool.
Speaker 2: I mean, I've done so many weird things. You know.
Speaker 2: I hosted Woodstock ninety nine, one of the stages.
Speaker 1: You know, when it was on fire.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I wasn't on that stage. I was on another one,
Speaker 2: a big one, the West stage. That was the East stage.
Speaker 2: You know. I roasted Trump in a rows years ago,
Speaker 2: you know things. I did a show once outside the
Speaker 2: Washington Monument. It was a stage and it was a
Speaker 2: drug awareness event and Cheryl well, what's his name from
Speaker 2: Arrowsmith was the lead, the main guy, Steven Tyler. He
Speaker 2: wasn't doing Arrowsmith songs. He was doing like I don't know,
Speaker 2: countries or whatever other songs he does. Cheryl Crow was
Speaker 2: on it, the spand the Fray or whatever. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: like I don't know, and all these local bands, and
Speaker 2: it's outside the Washington Mountain. There's fifteen thousand people, and
Speaker 2: I'm hosting and on big screens, you know. So I've
Speaker 2: had so many cool different things happen. You know. Two
Speaker 2: years ago, I did the four shows on Burke Chisier's tour,
Speaker 2: the Opie and Anthony tour, you know, hosting these big events,
Speaker 2: you know, and and every time you still walk out
Speaker 2: nervous as hell, I bet, you know, there's certain clubs
Speaker 2: I get nervous at just for the first ten seconds.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: Well, once you know that you've got them in the
Speaker 1: palm of your hand and they're they're laughing, does that
Speaker 1: sort of take all of that away, and and then you're.
Speaker 2: Sort of you come out and get a lap. You know.
Speaker 2: I'm hosting in a couple of weeks we do this
Speaker 2: benefit for Patrise O'Neill's family. This is the twelfth year
Speaker 2: I'm hosting it. I host it every year, Billy Burgh
Speaker 2: closes it. And every year I walk out going, oh,
Speaker 2: I got to do something different in the last twelve years,
Speaker 2: and it's nerve wracking. And then you walk out and
Speaker 2: you go, oh shit, I've already done this eleven times.
Speaker 2: I mean, but in your head, I was going, oh,
Speaker 2: this is the one I fall apart on or you know,
Speaker 2: I don't know, yeah, you know it's and if you
Speaker 2: say you walk out totally a nightmare, everybody forgets the
Speaker 2: other eleven shows you did great at.
Speaker 1: Right, because you're only as good as your last show, so.
Speaker 2: We remember that one. Yep, every year I walk out
Speaker 2: with such anxiety, you know, and whatever, Wow, it always
Speaker 2: walks out. Everything always works out.
Speaker 1: But I always thought that about comedians. You know, with musicians,
Speaker 1: it's easy. You know, everyone knows the songs, they're ready
Speaker 1: to sing along, you've got them right at the beginning.
Speaker 1: But comedians, you have to reinvent yourself almost every single
Speaker 1: time you take the stage, unless it's you know, an
Speaker 1: audience of people that listen to your comedy album and
Speaker 1: they know what word for word.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they don't want to see you know. You go
Speaker 2: to see the Rolling Stones, you know, you want to hear.
Speaker 2: Gimme shelter, you want to hear, you know, whatever I
Speaker 2: say to their own stones. That's how old I am.
Speaker 2: Who would you go with the Rolling Stones? Are the Beatles?
Speaker 2: If you have to pick.
Speaker 1: If I had to pick, oh gosh, well I've seen
Speaker 1: the Stones, so I have to go with the Beatles.
Speaker 2: Okay, you saw the Stones.
Speaker 1: The Voodoo Lounge kickoff at Foxboro Stadium. I think it
Speaker 1: was like somewhere in the nineties.
Speaker 2: Oh that's good. You saw them when they were they
Speaker 2: could walk.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So listen. You've been a mainstay in comedy for,
Speaker 1: like I hate to say it, forty years.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: How do you keep your material fresh and relevant? Because
Speaker 1: the world is changing exponentially faster than you know, even
Speaker 1: just ten years ago.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean you try to keep writing stuff, like
Speaker 2: you know coming up when I mean, I am seven albums?
Speaker 2: Do I need an A an eighth album? Do I
Speaker 2: just coast? Do I do the best of? And I
Speaker 2: could do an hour or show of just crowd work
Speaker 2: without doing material if I wanted to, So I add stuff.
Speaker 2: He had stuff, And I mean, I'm working on an
Speaker 2: eighth shorter album of crowd work. Like my wife fifteen
Speaker 2: years ago said, oh, you got to do a crowd
Speaker 2: work DVD or CD. I got that's too easy. Now
Speaker 2: everybody's making careers out of doing crowd work on which
Speaker 2: I was doing for twenty twenty five years. And I'm
Speaker 2: not saying I'm the best. There's very, very great crowd
Speaker 2: work comics, you know, Big Jay and Bobby Kelly, Bonnie
Speaker 2: mccarthe a lot of them, David all like tons of
Speaker 2: good CrowdWork comics. So I'll put out that with like
Speaker 2: clips maybe, And I don't know, I don't know. I
Speaker 2: mean I've been doing this forever.
Speaker 1: What's your what's your process for new material? I mean, like,
Speaker 1: how do you know when a bit is definitely when
Speaker 1: you go, oh, yeah, I'm doing that one. That's going
Speaker 1: to be honest stage.
Speaker 2: I don't know until I do it.
Speaker 1: Do you test any about out, like on your family
Speaker 1: or friends.
Speaker 2: No, I don't have friends.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, that's smart.
Speaker 2: Actually no, I just you know, either comes from ad
Speaker 2: libbing on stage. I go, that would be a good thing,
Speaker 2: you know. Yeah, well, I will do something. I write
Speaker 2: down two words on my phone and I try it.
Speaker 2: You know, it just comes along. I mean I forget
Speaker 2: a lot. I got tons of I got seven, I
Speaker 2: got forty years a crap.
Speaker 1: Where do you keep it all?
Speaker 2: I try to keep it here, But I mean I forget.
Speaker 2: I forget, you know, dumb things. And I for the
Speaker 2: other day, I forgot my wife's phone them. I couldn't
Speaker 2: think of her phone number. Has that ever happened to you?
Speaker 2: Or you can't think of a phone number?
Speaker 1: Okay, that's either a brain fart, a senior moment, or
Speaker 1: your rolodex is just too full and you couldn't find
Speaker 1: the the right Yeah, but that has happened to me
Speaker 1: a lot lately.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's happened to you, Joe.
Speaker 1: Oh all the time. I can't think of people's names
Speaker 1: that I've spoken for fifty years.
Speaker 2: That's the worst. I won't I won't look sumped it
Speaker 2: up until I figure it out. I'm not going to
Speaker 2: let it win.
Speaker 1: Oh, I don't even have Alexa. See nothing answered. I
Speaker 1: don't have any of the robots I want. The only
Speaker 1: thing I like them for is timers, you know, when
Speaker 1: I'm making eggs. Yeah, But other than that, I don't
Speaker 1: want to know the answers like that. I want to
Speaker 1: figure it out.
Speaker 2: We're still having babies me. Yeah, you said making eggs.
Speaker 1: Oh no, not those kind of eggs. Oh, you know what.
Speaker 2: I don't look hell, what easier life is. You come
Speaker 2: down to your studio, you and the other couples do
Speaker 2: what you guys do. I don't know. It's none of
Speaker 2: my business. When the lights go off up in the
Speaker 2: birch hears or whatever.
Speaker 1: I want to delve a little bit into something that
Speaker 1: you brought up earlier when we were talking about your
Speaker 1: personal journey and your journey through recovery. You've been really open,
Speaker 1: obviously about your recovery, and you've been sober since eighty seven,
Speaker 1: which I want to say congratulations, because I do know
Speaker 1: that sobriety has a shelf life of typically five years,
Speaker 1: so to go as long as you have is an
Speaker 1: incredible show of willpower and stamina and obviously worked hard.
Speaker 2: Well, it's not really willpower surrendering, right. I never heard
Speaker 2: us statistic five years. I heard one out of thirty three,
Speaker 2: make it. I didn't know it was a five year run.
Speaker 1: I learned that about my dad. He was a Green Beret,
Speaker 1: so he had a lot of issues with PTSD and
Speaker 1: it led to some alcohol and drug abuse. But later
Speaker 1: on in my life he kept it together until we
Speaker 1: all moved out and went to college. So I remember
Speaker 1: someone telling me that I had such a higher I
Speaker 1: don't know. My ideals about my dad went up like
Speaker 1: exponentially when I realized how strong and he was to
Speaker 1: make it so long sober.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's cool. So yeah, yeah, No, I'm addicted to
Speaker 2: anything that makes me feel good, instant gratification. One bird
Speaker 2: feeder outside my window when I drank coffee made me
Speaker 2: feel relaxed. Now I have five bird feeders outside my window.
Speaker 2: Very cool, because I thought it would make me feel
Speaker 2: five times as good as the one bird feeder. Did
Speaker 2: you know it's just a mentally insane.
Speaker 1: I love that any hummingbird feeders out.
Speaker 2: There, I don't know. I just buy bird feeders. Whoever
Speaker 2: comes can eat.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, because the bird, the hummingbird, you have to
Speaker 1: put like sugar water in it. It's a little different
Speaker 1: than the other.
Speaker 2: I'll go buy one of those today.
Speaker 1: How has sobriety shaped your comedy in your life?
Speaker 2: Well, I mean there's bits I do about where I was,
Speaker 2: where I'm at. It's it's shaped my whole life. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's given me a life. How can you can't have
Speaker 2: a life being addicted to it? I was doing to
Speaker 2: Being addicted to anything will interfere with anybody's life. So
Speaker 2: how's it giving me a life? I like I said,
Speaker 2: I have three daughters, a wife, an ex wife, I
Speaker 2: get along with grandkids and one on the way. You know,
Speaker 2: I'm a giganic house looking at my in ground pool.
Speaker 2: That's all the materialistic should I have. I listen, I
Speaker 2: hit the bottom liners, I'd be dead. I was on
Speaker 2: the path I was going, I'd be in jail or dead.
Speaker 2: So it's the life has given me was not being dead.
Speaker 1: Did you ever worry about losing your edge when you
Speaker 1: got sober to do comedy?
Speaker 2: First of all, I was only doing comedy for like
Speaker 2: two years when I was active, So I stunk no
Speaker 2: matter what, whether I was doing it or not. I mean,
Speaker 2: how good was I at two or three years? Okay,
Speaker 2: if you're going to use drugs an alcohol you know,
Speaker 2: oh it makes me more creative. That's bullshit. Shut up.
Speaker 2: You know you're you're just the disease of alcoholism and
Speaker 2: drug addiction will tell you anything to keep you active.
Speaker 2: I'm better in bed, I'm more creative, you know, I'm stronger.
Speaker 2: It's all bullshit. You're either a social drinker or an alcoholic.
Speaker 2: Just once you cross that fine line, there's no turning back.
Speaker 2: So if you're saying your edge just because you drink
Speaker 2: or get high, that's ridiculous. It's like over overweight comics
Speaker 2: don't want to lose weight becausehifter actors talk about being
Speaker 2: fat a lot of them. So you're going to have
Speaker 2: a heart attack. You're going to die just so you
Speaker 2: could tell a joker too, you know, you know it's uh.
Speaker 2: You can't use your your addiction is because you are
Speaker 2: an addict, or you're an alcoholic, or you're an overeater,
Speaker 2: or you're an underreater, or you're a gambler. You know,
Speaker 2: whatever you are can be. Listen. I gambled too much,
Speaker 2: you know my main you know, Listen, I'm addicted. I
Speaker 2: buy shit on Amazon. I don't need. I'm not perfect.
Speaker 2: I'm not getting high a day at a time. But
Speaker 2: believe me, I have a lot of shit to work
Speaker 2: on in life, and I'm old.
Speaker 1: You'll still be working on it the rest of your life.
Speaker 2: Probably, yeah, yeah, yeah, unless I hope that.
Speaker 1: Do you remember a time when making people laugh helped
Speaker 1: you through a particularly tough time in your life.
Speaker 2: I'm not making it laths, just going to work. You know,
Speaker 2: there's times I had major anxiety in life where it
Speaker 2: was bad. When I was twenty one, I wasn't a comic.
Speaker 2: When when I was forty it was really bad. Luckily
Speaker 2: I got through through it with a good therapist. I
Speaker 2: kept working because I was ready to go. I got
Speaker 2: to I got to stop this. You know, everything passes.
Speaker 2: It all passes, good times, bad times, it all. You
Speaker 2: look at a heart monitor goes up and down. You're alive,
Speaker 2: straight across your dead. Everything passes, anxiety, king clouds, feeling good,
Speaker 2: feeling shitty. Try not to react in those moments. You know,
Speaker 2: and just accept them. It's easier for me to say,
Speaker 2: but a lot of times I do it. A lot
Speaker 2: of times I don't. I try not to get mad
Speaker 2: at traffic. It's out of my control. I guess I
Speaker 2: have no tolerance or patients with my wife. If she,
Speaker 2: you know, didn't bug me so much, things would be great.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, Well that was great advice. I was
Speaker 1: going to tell you up until that part, you've worked
Speaker 1: on a lot of things, and you've worked with a
Speaker 1: lot of legends, and you've also mentored up and coming comedians.
Speaker 1: What do you think is the most important lesson that
Speaker 1: young comedians need to learn today? If you could pick one.
Speaker 2: Be funny, that'd.
Speaker 1: Be kind of important.
Speaker 2: Well that it doesn't have to be important now. Now
Speaker 2: was important is how many followers you have on Instagram chicktok.
Speaker 2: Half of them aren't funny, but they're selling out clubs.
Speaker 2: And you know, it's a different world. It has nothing
Speaker 2: to do with quality now, it's quantity. And you know
Speaker 2: older comms going this is crazy this person's headline and
Speaker 2: they stink, and most of them do. But clubs have
Speaker 2: to keep their doors open. But they got to draw.
Speaker 2: There's a fine line between comedy club or YouTube club, right,
Speaker 2: you know there's a fun line. So what you know,
Speaker 2: it's a quick fix that you keep these clubs keep
Speaker 2: bringing in these TikTok or internet sensations. I know a
Speaker 2: club these whole line says internet sensation. Internet. It's a
Speaker 2: quick fix and it never works. It'll come back to
Speaker 2: want you Talent always exceeds bullshit. You know, if you
Speaker 2: have those members and the talent, well you're really lucky.
Speaker 2: But I think talent should become first. Clubs used to
Speaker 2: fill their rooms because they had great shows. Now they're
Speaker 2: trying to fill their rooms because you know, someone knows
Speaker 2: how to wash a car with their teeth. I don't
Speaker 2: fucking know.
Speaker 1: Whatever, It's true, No, you're you're right. It's a very
Speaker 1: interesting time that we're all living through right now. It's crazy,
Speaker 1: and I suspect it's going to get even crazier in
Speaker 1: the next three to five years with the whole AI
Speaker 1: thing and things that are going to happen that we
Speaker 1: just can't even comprehend. But with your hindsight of all
Speaker 1: of these decades of doing this, you're able to see
Speaker 1: these patterns and things that you know, a lot of
Speaker 1: people don't have the opportunity to the up and comers,
Speaker 1: and they would be very grateful for someone like you
Speaker 1: to give them good advice. And I you know, you
Speaker 1: kind of talk like my dad, did, you know, just
Speaker 1: very matter of fact to the point. If you want
Speaker 1: to be a comedian, be funny, I mean, what else
Speaker 1: is there? But we'll be honest, yeah, authenticity, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean what else?
Speaker 2: I mean? Should you want to be a juggler? Know
Speaker 2: how to juggle?
Speaker 1: Are there any moments backstage are on the road that
Speaker 1: you had all of these years that stand out especially,
Speaker 1: you know, that were formative for you or hilarious that
Speaker 1: no one would ever know and that you want to
Speaker 1: spill the beans on with me.
Speaker 2: I was working Reno during like the It was I
Speaker 2: think a porn convention. I was making out with two
Speaker 2: girls at once backstage and they were all they were
Speaker 2: both tends and it was a dream come true.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, Oh my god. I don't know that
Speaker 1: I could imagine that would stand out.
Speaker 2: Obviously, I don't remember it. I don't think that happened.
Speaker 2: I think I just made that up. I don't know
Speaker 2: when I've had so many fun times backstage on we
Speaker 2: did our tour, Creeps with Kids, Me, Bobby Kelly, Jim Florentinea,
Speaker 2: Ron Bennington. We had some funny moments backstage, and just
Speaker 2: been years and years of fun moments, and there's also
Speaker 2: been moments of you know, like, what am I doing here?
Speaker 2: You know? Why am I at this place? You know?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I understand it.
Speaker 2: You got to pay your bills.
Speaker 1: Your recent special, Rich Boss Anonymous. Yeah, it was filmed
Speaker 1: at Narcotics Anonymous at a convention. What was unique about
Speaker 1: that performance?
Speaker 2: Well, no one's ever done that. Obviously I didn't show
Speaker 2: the audience because it was a twelve step convention. Well,
Speaker 2: my backdrop is so cool, the beginning, the editing. My
Speaker 2: wife did the intro directed it. It's so cool. It's
Speaker 2: I mean, I taped it a while ago, but we
Speaker 2: just put it up. But no one's ever done it
Speaker 2: what I did, you know, And it's it's pretty cool.
Speaker 2: I talk about Ricy, you know, I talk about some recovery,
Speaker 2: some you know, regular stuff, and it's it's just cool.
Speaker 2: It looks it shot very well. Amazon Rich for was Anonymous.
Speaker 2: You know. The guy that introed me, who did the
Speaker 2: warm up, you know, went on to warm up, was
Speaker 2: Tim Dillon, who is a major star now what he was.
Speaker 2: He was the warm up act and he's the one
Speaker 2: who introduced You could hear his voice. But he's so funny,
Speaker 2: so funny. It's so weird. I've seen people just explode
Speaker 2: in this business. Explode.
Speaker 1: It's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2: I have longevity and respect from my peers, and I've
Speaker 2: always done well. But I've seen comics They're like, what
Speaker 2: the hell?
Speaker 1: What are some new specials and projects and goals that
Speaker 1: you want to hit before you hit the checkout counter?
Speaker 1: Coming up?
Speaker 2: For Rich Voss, I guess one of my goals is,
Speaker 2: you know, gay night at your house?
Speaker 1: Okay, You're welcome anytime.
Speaker 2: So I'm driving to that area. What's a goal to
Speaker 2: or a gaiety on the golf course? I've done it before,
Speaker 2: shoot the seventies. Get my game back if I sound
Speaker 2: out of it, because I'm exhausted from traveling. But I
Speaker 2: just was very exciting. You could tell that I was
Speaker 2: very excited.
Speaker 1: I could see it.
Speaker 2: You had great questions.
Speaker 1: Well, thanks, I appreciate it, Rich Rich Boss, thank you
Speaker 1: for joining me on comedy saved me and thanks for
Speaker 1: your sage, advice and wisdom. And I would you wish
Speaker 1: you nothing about the best in the future, and if
Speaker 1: you ever want to come to game Night anytime, come
Speaker 1: on bye. I'll leave a light on for you.
Speaker 2: Okay, Red Roofs, thank you for having me.