WEBVTT - Best of 2023 - Pt. 1 0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:21.919 Hello, everybody, Guess what it's me, Brian Baumgartner here, welcoming 0:00:22.000 --> 0:00:27.360 you very warmly to a very special episode of Off 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:30.640 the Beat. What a year it's been, am I Right? 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:34.320 Where did the year go? I can't believe we're already 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:37.519 to the end of twenty twenty three. I don't know 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:40.000 about you, guys, but I tend to get a little 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:43.519 nostalgic at the end of the year, and I can't 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:47.479 help but reflect on everything that's happened this year, the 0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:51.640 memories made, all of the fascinating people that I have 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:55.520 had the great good fortune and pleasure of meeting and 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:58.840 speaking to, and most of all, getting to share so 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:03.160 many of those conversations with all of you, my truly 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:08.200 amazing listeners making this podcast. This is a highlight for 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:10.920 me every single week, and I want to thank all 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:13.520 of you for allowing me to keep doing it for 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:18.800 another year. And since I'm being sentimental, guess what We're 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:21.480 going to take a look back on this year of 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:23.920 Off the Beat. Listen back to a few of the 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:30.200 many insightful, informative, and at times extremely funny moments that 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:33.880 have happened on the show. Now, this isn't a ranked list, 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:38.280 or even moments in any particular order. In fact, there 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:41.960 are so many more moments I wish I could have included. 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:44.679 But if I truly wanted to put in all of 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:47.640 my favorite moments, well then you would just have to 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:52.160 listen back to every single episode this year. So I 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:54.760 thought i'd save you a little time pick out just 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:58.160 a few fantastic clips that I love, and I hope 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:02.360 that you will too. Let's die, shall we? To start 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:05.720 us off, let's listen to this story from the legendary 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:10.160 Angela Gibbs sharing how she started off. And well, it 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:14.280 wasn't as Angela Gibbs per se. You'll hear what I mean. 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:19.360 I was very political. I was a hippie slash revolutionary. 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:22.760 Remember my name is Angela. They were looking for Angela Davis. 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:23.040 You know. 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:25.760 I thought it was it was on me to carry on, 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:31.080 you know, And so I went to Africa, changed my 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:37.720 name Totamu. Don't tease me, and you know it was Tamu. Yes. 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:42.760 And why why wait, I'm not hening to just let 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:43.079 it go? 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:44.400 Oh come on now? 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:45.919 Why? 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:47.799 Well you know what back then? 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:48.880 Does that mean something? 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:49.359 Yeah? 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:51.920 Well yeah, well here's okay. This is where it gets worse. 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:56.000 The story starts to go downhill because my name was Utamu, 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:58.440 and that was, you know, taking on my African culture 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:01.400 and heritage. And I wanted a new name to kind of, 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:06.560 you know, express my connection to Africa. The problem was 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:12.160 the friend who gave me the name. The problem was this, 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:17.400 people would say, oh, Tamil, what does that mean right? 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:22.680 And I said, sweetness, can you imagine I'm a young woman, 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:27.080 not bad looking. The guys are like, yeah. 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:28.200 I bet you are. 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:31.560 I'm like, this has nothing to do with the revolution. 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:37.560 I want a new names. So my son teases me, 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:40.280 I got a name changed to Aoka, and then they 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:42.240 call me a Yoka for a while that meant light, 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:45.800 she comes with light. Turns out my middle name, Elaine, 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:49.080 means the same thing. So I eventually just trapped it off. 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:51.839 My mother knew what she was doing because I came 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:54.000 from Africa and I said my name was Utamo, and 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:58.200 she said I named I said, well, I'm not answering 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:02.320 anything but Utami, and I'm a vegan terry. My mother 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:06.440 says she has lost her mind. But I digressed. I digressed, 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:09.280 so I came back and back then there weren't a 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:12.360 lot of roles that we could play as black women. 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:15.600 So I decided to go away to college, and she 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:19.240 teases me because she's still knocking down doors. I've worked 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:22.839 with John Foresight, I've had a pilot, I've had some things. 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:25.640 I've been on Samford and Son, I've done the film. 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:26.760 And I left. 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:30.480 I left, you know, and I kind of looking back now, 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:32.560 I used to regret it. I used to think it 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:34.960 was a mistake because when I came back, my mother 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:39.719 was Florence. But like, maybe I made a mistake, Maybe 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:44.640 I should have stayed in La But I'm glad because 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:47.440 I wanted to have a purpose even as a young woman. 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:49.599 I wanted my life to matter. I wanted to be 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:52.160 involved in things that made a difference in the community 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:55.479 and ended up coming back and opening up a theater. 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:59.400 So it was meant to be. Not Brian, I didn't 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:05.960 know it was gonna take you this long. Didn't take 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:06.719 a long time. 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:10.479 You wanted to take a short break and a little 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:11.000 bit locker. 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.719 That's right, that's right. So you know, Shirley Ralph, she's 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:18.400 singing my song when she said don't give up. You know, 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:21.360 my saying is if you stay in line, your turn 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:24.280 will come. So when I came back, I realized I 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:27.520 loved this so much that hey, whether I make it 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:29.599 or not, and you know, make it meaning and whether 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:31.880 I make a living at it or not, I got 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:34.200 to keep back it. And I think when I finally 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:38.919 got there, things started to change. You know. That's my story, 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:39.920 and I'm sticking to it. 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:45.320 Well, I for one, am very glad that she came 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:48.599 back stateside and did what she did here. And I'm 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:51.400 glad she's stuck with the name Angela too. In fact, 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:55.000 there might be something special about that name, because I 0:05:55.040 --> 0:06:01.520 spoke to another extremely successful, brilliant and hilarious Angela this year, 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:07.520 Angela Johnson Reyes. Here she is describing how she weaseled 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:11.360 her way into a very fortuitous gig on a little 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:15.480 show you might have heard of. You start in Los Angeles, 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:19.080 you move, your friend is helping you, and fairly quickly 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:22.400 you get to do that thing, which is stand by 0:06:22.400 --> 0:06:25.520 a car, and you're on friends. Is this right as 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:29.839 a regular extra for a couple of seasons. Yes, I 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:32.440 don't remember you, but I believe you were there. 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:33.320 Listen. 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:38.039 I people will screenshot me and tag me on social media. 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:40.760 Sometimes they'll be like, is this you and I'm like, yeah, girl, 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:43.599 believe it. And my hair was so long, it was 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:47.360 like down to my waist, like I was like young 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:52.040 and vibrant. But yes, I remember, I thought I had 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:55.440 made it. I was like, this is it. I'm here 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:58.320 and living in my dreams and even the story of 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:02.360 how that happened. I remember going to Central Casting, where 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:04.919 you know, they cast all the extras for TV shows 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:08.200 and movies, and my friend who said she was going 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:10.400 to help me get started, she kept her word and 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:12.360 she told me exactly what to do. She was like, 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:13.320 this is what I want you to do. I want 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:14.920 you to go to Central Casting. There's going to be 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:16.840 a line of people waiting out the door, but don't 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:19.240 wait in line. I want you to come with a 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:22.640 tray of cookies and your radar at headshot, and I 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:25.040 want you to just go to the front window and 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.200 ask for Sam and then give him your head shot 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:30.000 and the cookies. Tell him you're new to town and 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:32.040 you want to be an extra. And I was like, 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:38.040 this sounds real sleazy. It's just I don't know what 0:07:38.080 --> 0:07:42.920 cookies mean in Hollywood, but you listen. And so I 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:46.400 show up to Central Casting and sure enough, there's a 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:49.280 line of people outside waiting to sign up to be 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:51.480 an extra on TV, and I'm like passing all these 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:54.640 people with my sleezy cookies, like they know exactly what 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:58.160 I'm doing. And this is probably, like I don't know, 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:00.400 a month after the Super Bowl. This is after the 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:03.640 readers were just in the Super Bowl. I show up 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:05.960 and I'm waiting for this guy Sam. He comes walking 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:08.320 out from the back offices and he's wearing a Raiders 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:11.880 hat and I was like, oh my god, no way. 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:16.280 He's like, hey, what's up. And I give him the 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:19.280 cookies and my Raider at headshot and I was like, 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:22.320 this is for you. And he sees my radar at 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:26.880 headshot and he's like what, no way. Like clearly he's 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:29.560 just like the biggest Raiders fan. We just came off 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:33.600 the Super Bowl, like no freaking away Raider at Oh 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:35.760 my gosh whatever. And he's like, yeah, here, give me 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:38.559 your name and number. I'll call you blah blah blah whatever. 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:40.319 So I do that and I leave. I don't even 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:43.559 sign up, and he calls me like two days later 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:45.680 and he's like, hey, do you want to be an extra? 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:46.360 Friends? 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:48.560 And I was like, you mean, like my favorite show 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:52.680 of all time. Yes, I do want to be an extro. Friends, 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:56.800 And so he signs me up in the system, and 0:08:57.320 --> 0:08:59.240 I don't know what I'm doing, but he gives me 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:01.800 all my instructions. Park in this parking lot, walk to 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:04.640 this stage, blah blah blah blah blah. And I remember 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:08.280 my first time walking on the Warner Brothers lot and 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:14.160 it was just magical. It was like butterflies and just 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:18.080 goosebumps and walking by the sound stage and then you 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:20.640 know the smell of a sound stage, like it's that 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:24.400 paint and wood and there's just something about it. And 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:28.800 it's just like all the things are like this is wow, 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:32.199 this is movies, this is TV, this is I'm doing it. 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:36.280 And I remember walking into the stage at the big 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:40.200 door was open, and I just walk right in and 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:43.800 you see like here's the guy's apartment, here's the girl's apartment, 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:47.640 here's central perk, and here's you know, the studio audience 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:51.240 where the audience sits. And I just remember walking in 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:54.720 and being like a kid in a candy store, could 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:57.120 not believe I was living my dream, like I was 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:00.320 just here to be an extra, but that was not 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:02.160 even what was on What I was on. My mind 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:04.760 was like I cannot believe I made it, Like I 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:10.040 am here. This is wild. And I ended up making 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:13.480 friends with the ad who was very funny and I 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:15.800 was funny, so we would just make each other laugh. 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:18.080 And so he'd be like, Okay, I'm going to bring 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:21.000 you back tomorrow, and I'm like, okay, cool, i'come back tomorrow. 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:24.880 And then he's like, okay, I'll bring you back next week. 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:27.800 And next thing you know, I'm an extra for season 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:30.560 nine and ten, like a regular, just in the coffeehouse, 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:33.680 and they end up inviting me to their Christmas party 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:38.000 and I was able to have a conversation with every 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:41.280 single one of the cast members without me being that 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:43.480 weird extra who's just trying to talk to them. 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:44.200 You know. 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:50.040 Yeah, it was just an incredible experience that's still until 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:53.520 this day, twenty years later. It's my favorite job I've 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:54.240 ever had. 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:58.160 Now, coming from a woman who was a former Raiderret 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:01.360 went on to be on Mad Team and had a 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:05.280 hugely successful stand up career, it is pretty high praise 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:09.439 that being an extra on Friends is still her favorite job. 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:13.880 My next guest also had a stint on Friends, well 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:17.679 not on the show itself, but Kevin Riley was an 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:21.679 executive at NBC during its run. There, let's hear him 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:26.360 discuss how another enormous primetime hit came to be and 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:31.480 one that didn't do so great. You also during that 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:37.160 time developed Er the network, and you supervised the first 0:11:37.160 --> 0:11:41.280 season of Law and Order. I mean, these are legendary 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:46.480 primetime television shows, both going over twenty seasons. So I 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.479 guess they let you off of the Saturday morning events. 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:52.160 They did they Yeah, then I kind of came back 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:57.560 and did that again. Crazy. You know, the success squeaks 0:11:57.559 --> 0:11:59.680 its three through in weird ways, you know, like we 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:03.760 went through in the office, where you know, a super 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:08.240 impactful generational show barely squeaked its way through life. I 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:10.559 mean that was my experience more often than not. I 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:13.160 mean Law and Order, which is now thought of as 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:15.720 like this insane institution. You know, for a lot of 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:18.560 listeners were probably like, yeah, my mother's watched it forever. 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:22.559 But at the time it was this very novel thing. 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:26.880 Dramas were not selling into syndication because nobody wanted to 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:29.840 buy one hour shows, so Dick Wolf literally designed it 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:33.240 as two half hour shows originally that we're going to 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:36.440 do the Law and the Order, but then they could 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:39.680 be joined on the first run on television, but then 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:43.920 they would be syndicated separately. NBC bought the show not 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:46.800 because they wanted this this was Dick's like big show, 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:49.480 but they wanted his hit show, which was going to 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:53.160 be a thing called Nasty Boys, which was these guys 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:55.400 with a souped up boat and they were a squad 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:57.840 that came in in mass and they seized your property 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:00.559 for drug raids and things, and when they did, they 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:03.319 got to keep it. So they had super cool motorcycles 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:06.120 and boats. And it was not a good show. And 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:09.560 I'm working on I'm, you know, now, only a couple 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:12.000 of years into my career, and they kind of gave 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:16.040 them to me in this and I oversaw them. Everybody's like, 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:18.560 how's Nasty Boys going. I was like, you know this 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:20.640 thing Law and Order is like really, oh yeah, that's 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:24.600 talk about Nasty Boys. So Nasty Boys aired, I think 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:27.240 it like came and went in less than one season, 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:30.760 and Law and Order was not a huge hit at 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:33.800 the gate, but was always a very kind of groundbreaking 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:36.600 show at the time in terms of its rhythms and 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:38.920 the kind of the dour. It was one of the 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:42.560 early shows that talked took policing as police was kind 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:45.280 of talking about a job, you know, like guys would 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:48.440 be there like, you know, talking about their donuts and 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:50.440 sort of stepping over the body, not like the old 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:52.760 cops who were like we just saw this case, you know, 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:55.880 which was like the old school way, like they're like, yeah, look, 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:57.880 we see a lot of this stuff. And you know, 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:01.640 witnesses weren't cooperative and lawyers had to make deals and 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:04.800 those were like kind of a step forward. And then 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:07.400 you know, that was an institution. And then Er was 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:09.560 a similar kind of thing where it was when it 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:12.400 was screened. It was in the screening room from the powers. 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:14.400 It'd be were like, we don't get it. 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:18.360 Right. Talk to me a little bit. Because those two 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:22.920 shows I consider at least differently what people refer to 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:28.600 as procedurals. Yeah, and then there's what's the opposite of. 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:32.040 That, Well, there were serialized shows, so two different things. 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:34.680 So the procedural means a closed ended thing, you know, 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:36.600 And that's one of the reasons that Law and Order 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:39.800 had such incredible staying power. You didn't need to see 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:42.400 season one, you didn't need to bring season five to 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:45.080 catch up. You just you could drop into any episode 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:48.040 a body dropped in the beginning, and the crime was solved. 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:51.680 At the end, case closed, and they've done. I don't 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:53.680 know at this point between the franchise of all the 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:57.160 different iterations, I don't know how many hundreds of episodes, 0:14:57.200 --> 0:15:01.160 thousands maybe at this point. But Serial Eye show, which 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:05.120 ER was, and many other great shows and many of 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:08.960 the biggest shows today are you know, it's an ongoing storyline. 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:09.240 Now. 0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:12.880 You had procedural elements in ER, which is you know, 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:16.680 the the medical cases would close, you know, come on, 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:19.400 stat get on the thing coming away. Somebody's gonna lose 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:21.360 she's gonna lose the baby. You know, oh great, at 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:23.040 the end of the thing they saved the baby, like 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:26.840 so all right, so that's closed. But the ongoing soap 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:28.600 opera part of it, if you will, would go on 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:31.280 sometimes the whole season, right, and then you had to 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:34.240 kind of catch up, and you know, it was really weird. 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:37.080 You know, it was a very sticky way of watching television. 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:39.440 But you think about it now, there was no catch 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:41.440 up or binge device. You had to just kind of 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:42.120 watch to stay. 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:44.600 You had to watch next time you're watching Law and 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:47.760 Order late at night, maybe in a hotel room or 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.600 wherever you happen to be flipping through the channels, be 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:54.000 sure to thank Kevin and the Nasty Boys, of course 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:55.840 for putting it there for you. 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:57.320 We'll be right back. 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:19.240 We're back, just like I told you. And our next 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:24.080 clip comes from the brilliant actor and comedian Maz Jobrani, 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:27.840 who was born in Iran and raised in California. Let's 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:31.480 hear him talk about some well shall we say, cultural 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:35.520 differences he had to bridge between his Iranian upbringing and 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:38.600 his American dreams coming to America. 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.160 I mean, you know, as a six year old and 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:44.280 then seven and all those young ages, you don't want 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:46.040 to be different, you know what I'm saying. It's like 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:48.520 the last thing you want is to be different. And 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:52.160 first coming over from Iran to America, Iran I think 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:55.360 had some European influence, so my mom would dress me 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:59.680 up a little more Europeany, and already in America they're like, 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:01.520 you know, what's wrong with you? Why are you wearing 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:03.720 those clothes? And then and then there was times when 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:07.399 like just little minor things became big things in our grade. Right, 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:10.040 so we had a day called Pizza Day, and Pizza 0:17:10.080 --> 0:17:12.239 Day was where every kid was going to bring some 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:14.920 ingredient to the school. We're going to cook pizza together. 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:17.320 This is I think third grade. And so I was 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:20.239 in charge of sausages. So I go grocery shopping with 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:23.640 my mom and my aunt and in Persian the word 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:27.560 for hot dog is so cise, sausage so cise. So 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:29.679 we're there, I go, I need sausages. I go, oh, 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:31.760 you need so cise, So give me a pack of 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:35.800 hot dogs, which really is like, I mean, it's a 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:39.359 small sausage. Really, I mean sausages are it is. So 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:40.680 I show up with a city, you know, pack of 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:42.240 hot dogs, and of course all the kids. 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:43.320 Ah, he brought hot dogs. 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:44.480 I go, no, these are sausages. 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:45.560 Those are hot dogs. 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:46.480 You know. 0:17:46.480 --> 0:17:49.919 It's like ruin my my, my whole life. And I 0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:51.800 go home and tell my mom these are not this 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:54.760 is hot dogs, like this is so cis. Now that 0:17:54.920 --> 0:17:58.399 story comes full circle when years later I went to 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:01.800 study abroad in Italy. When I was in college, I'd 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:05.200 go to Pizzaiha and they have pizza with hot dogs 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:05.399 on it. 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:10.960 I'm like, you bastards. I was right all along. So Yeah, 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:12.439 so I was just trying to blend in. Man, I 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:15.199 just wanted to be American. I mean I played baseball, 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:18.440 I you know, American culture. Like that's probably where I 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:19.600 discovered listen. 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:20.280 By the way. 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:23.160 Also, my dad and I think this was just parenting 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:25.600 of the time. I didn't play catch with me or 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:26.960 any of that. I mean, he was a great father. 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:29.800 He was very generous, he was giving, right, he wasn't like, 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:34.119 let's go outside and play catch, you know. So because 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:35.720 of that, like I was learning a lot of stuff 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:38.959 from American television. So I'd sit there and watch hours. 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:42.679 I'd watch Woody Woodpecker, Popeye, Leave It to Beaver, all 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:46.760 these reruns. That's how I think I came upon comedy 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:49.159 my first you know, like finding Eddie Murphy when I 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:51.920 was ten years old and going, what's Saturday Night Live? 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:52.760 I want to do this? 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:53.199 You know. 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:55.359 So, yeah, I was trying to blend in. 0:18:55.520 --> 0:18:59.960 Yeah I read Eddie Murphy was one of your first loves. 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:04.760 That sounds weird, but yeah, one of your heroes, one 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:08.120 of your first heroes. There you go in comedy. When 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:12.920 did you start performing? Were you in school plays or Yeah? 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:17.679 It was basically so in the seventh grade, they had 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:20.400 a musical. I went to Delmar Middle School in northern 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:23.760 California and Tibron. They were doing The Boyfriend and I 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:25.719 don't know why we all decided to do but as 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:27.760 a handful of guys decided to do it, some girls 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:29.439 and I go, let's try this. So I go and 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:32.240 I auditioned, and again it was seventh and eighth, so 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:34.879 most of the leads went to the eighth graders. Seventh 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:38.080 graders were just background dancers. And there was a lady 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:41.560 named Shirley Bombright. She was our director. And Shirley Bombright said, 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:43.919 when you're doing a musical, when you're on stage, you 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:46.720 always need to be smiling, when you're dancing, smiling and 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:47.880 singing and radiating. 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:48.440 Oh and she said. 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:50.480 The other thing she said is you're part of an ensemble, 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:52.919 so you better be here. So one day I go 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:56.000 to the rehearsal. I go, Miss Bombright. I just got 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:57.200 to let you know I'm a little under the weather. 0:19:57.240 --> 0:19:58.960 I got a cold, but you told me I got 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:01.200 to be here, so I came. I'm here, and then 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:03.240 we start the rehearsal and I'm up there, I'm singing, 0:20:03.280 --> 0:20:05.359 I'm dancing. I'm smiling, and then she stops. 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:06.720 The whole rehearsal. Everybody stops stop. 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:08.880 She goes look at him, look at him. You see him. 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:11.480 He's sick. He's here, he's singing, he's smiling. You got 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:13.840 to learn from him. And I was like, oh, that's me. 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:18.720 So it was a moment of like positive reinforcement made 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:20.920 me feel I can do this. And then the year later, 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:22.520 eighth grade, I come back and I get the lead. 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:25.200 I'm little Abner and Little Abner, and you know, I've 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:27.199 been bitten. I loved it and I just wanted to 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:29.760 do it. And every time I tell I tell a 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:33.760 story how like throughout my schooling, they would always be like, oh, 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:36.280 you've got what it takes to do this. So my 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:39.280 parents would come to the shows and the director or 0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:40.959 the teacher would say, you know, your kids got the 0:20:41.000 --> 0:20:43.840 thing for this, and my parents, oh, thank you. Thinking 0:20:43.920 --> 0:20:45.159 we get in the car, my dad would be like, 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:48.840 that bitch is crazy. Don't listen to her. You're going 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:50.480 to be a doctor or a lawyer. 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:51.080 You know. 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:57.040 So they didn't see the spark inside you. They were 0:20:57.040 --> 0:20:59.159 not interested in you pursuing this as a career. 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:02.159 Yeah, that they didn't see the spark is that. I think, 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:05.919 you know again, immigrant parents, that's all they knew, and 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:08.000