The Adam Carolla Show

Episode: Trauma Bonding with Ryan Sickler + What It’s Like to be a Warmup Comic with Gary Cannon

Date: November 4, 2025
Host: Adam Carolla
Guests: Ryan Sickler (comedian, podcaster), Gary Cannon (comedian, audience warmup veteran), Alicia Krause (news), and Andrew (producer/cameraman)

Episode Overview

This episode is classic Adam Carolla: wide-ranging, unfiltered, and heavy on shared trauma, dark humor, deep dives into show business mechanics, and cultural commentary. Joined by comedians Ryan Sickler and Gary Cannon, Adam explores their difficult upbringings, health scares, the unique skill set of being a TV warmup comic, and a robust discussion on gender, media, and sports controversies. The show also features trademark improvisation and detours from Carolla, with Alicia Krause joining for topical news conversation.

Key Discussion Points

1. Childhood Trauma & Abandonment

• Gary Cannon’s Family History
  • Gary shares his experience of being abandoned by his mother (not due to addiction, just prioritizing friends over family) (05:31).
    • “I mean, they might as well be dead. She left and literally didn’t want us. Like, one was like, I don’t want my kids, you know?” – Gary (05:48)
    • Adam reflects: “Men can do this and not be severely impaired... But when the mom does it, I go, oh, that mom was fucked up. Because moms don’t do that.” (06:04–06:43)
• Ryan Sickler’s Family Illness & Trauma
  • Revealed his genetic blood disease “Factor V,” which caused a near-fatal clot after surgery mirroring his father’s early death (12:44–13:50).
    • “Once my body can take that, it’s an oral pill and then I can go home. So I’m three weeks in there.” – Ryan (13:50)
• Shared Experiences
  • Adam discusses his own emotionally distant mother and family dysfunction, using gallows humor (“When you flatline, I don’t care how many people come in here. I’m not pulling that pillow off your head… I promise you. I brought an extra pillow.”) (19:49–20:00)
• Coping Through Humor
  • Both Adam and Gary explore how comedy and building things (woodwork, cars) were productive outlets for processing hardship and filling absent parental roles (22:28–25:47).

2. Skill & Trade Nostalgia

• Learning the Trades
  • Adam recounts his formative years in construction, appreciating his mentor Tom Johnson, and struggling to construct his first bookshelf out of “sheer yearning” before gaining the actual skills (22:28–24:18).
    • “…I just had this thought, like, I’m going to build a bookshelf. …And then I kind of realized I don’t know how to build anything. I hit the ground with a lot of momentum, you know… and then I realized I didn’t know how to build.” – Adam (22:28)
• Brother’s Project Car
  • Gary reminisces about his twin brother’s ill-fated Challenger project, which never truly got going but kept them occupied and out of trouble (24:35–25:47).

3. Modern Car Culture: Drifting

• Drift Racing Talk
  • Gary sponsors his stepson’s drift car; Adam shares racing lore including a tip that won him the Toyota Grand Prix Celebrity Race (26:34–29:19).
    • “You stay on it, you break real deep, and you go inside, and you’ll get the grip because they just laid down all that rubber from the day before. And I said, okay. And I won the race.” – Adam (28:53)
• Community Support
  • Reflections on how grassroots racers support one another, help fix cars, and how small the drift community really is (31:46–33:11).

4. Media & Political Commentary

• Kamala Harris Interview & Media Critique
  • Adam plays and analyzes an Australian journalist’s tough questioning of Kamala Harris about Joe Biden’s frailty – contrasting it with US media softballing (36:48–46:03).
    • “You’ll never see – see, that’s never been said. That’s NEVER been said in the United States to a Democrat ever… Excuse me, that’s not what I asked.” – Adam (40:30)
    • Notable on-air moment: “I want to interrupt you because that is a world class pivot, but it is not the question that I asked you.” (Andrew, 40:18)
  • Discussion expands to the state of US journalism, accountability, political loyalty, and both Carolla and Cannon mocking the excuses given for Biden’s debate performance (“travel fatigue” etc).

5. Culture War: Gender, Sports, “Wokeness”

• Trans Athletes in Sports
  • The crew examines the eruption of controversy over trans women in female athletics, citing the Angel City FC incident and the “grievance culture” surrounding accusations of transphobia and racism (126:30–131:53).
    • “Women’s sports with a dude, that’s it. You can make as much as you want about race… normal people don’t want to do on the girls team. That’s all.” – Adam (137:08)
• Trans Representation in Media
  • Adam quips on the cover of UK Glamour putting trans women front and center, jokes about “plus-size” representation, and circles back to needing clarity in identity labels for trans and cis women and men (53:30–55:57).
    • “If a trans woman was a real woman, you wouldn’t need the disclaimer trans... I’m a step parent to a drifter. So it’s okay. Identify however you want, but you got to fucking be clear about it.” – Gary (54:43)
• Masculinity, Sexuality & Labels
  • Extended riff on what “counts” as straight, gay, and everything in between, with Carolla and Cannon lampooning the semantics (“If you want to be in the submissive position and have a woman fucking take it from you, like, good for you. But also, it’s definitely gay vibes.” – Gary, 60:23)
• Physical Comedy: The “Deep Leg Cross” as Liberal Signaling
  • Adam’s comedic analysis of body language among liberal male media figures, connecting thigh tightness to ideology (120:44–123:35).

6. Insider Look: The Life of a TV Warmup Comic

• Gary Cannon’s Career & Craft
  • Gary, a master warm-up comic, discusses the nuances of keeping studio audiences engaged for tapings like “The Masked Singer” and Conan (71:02–76:36).
    • “It’s an interesting gig for a comedian because… you can be in the middle of a joke, middle of a story… and then someone just winds their finger, goes, here we go.” – Adam (71:17)
  • Insider commentary on how producers treat veteran warmup acts like a “good luck charm,” how comedians must adapt their material, and the job security for those proven on high-profile productions (76:53–79:40).
• Showbiz Math
  • Adam opens up about setting his early ambitions realistically: “About as high as my bar got set Was audience warm up. Guy… If you heard about guys making 1,500 bucks a week or $1,800 a week or whatever doing audience warmup, I’m like, done. You… would never have to work.” (75:03).

7. Classic “Adam Logic”: Home Depot Case Study

• Man-on-the-Street Home Depot Mystery
  • Adam, with producer Andrew, chronicles an elaborate Home Depot story: seeing a woman buying plywood and dowels and knowing intuitively her plan would fail, then tailing her to confirm she couldn’t fit it in her Jetta.
    • “I kept saying, something’s wrong. It’s not going to work. Like, you know … in the movie Predator? The Indian guy…just kept saying something was wrong.” (90:24–91:58)
  • Explores the micro-economy of transporting large items (tie-downs, calling truck apps, parking lot negotiations), and reflects on the Los Angeles Home Depot culture (97:12–99:04).
  • Adam’s “life graph” theory: the more miles you’ve driven with your hand out the window holding down a mattress, the lower your socioeconomic status (93:37–94:56).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “When the mom does it, I go, oh, that mom was fucked up. Because moms don’t do that.” — Adam, 06:43
• “If you go to Europe and you come back and you’re fucked up because of the time change for the next seven months, you cannot be the leader of the fucking free world.” — Adam, 49:13
• “If a trans woman was a real woman, you wouldn’t need the disclaimer trans the same way… I am a step parent. I’m not that kid’s real parent.” — Gary Cannon, 54:43
• “You want to get a good Pagan from an Ohio player? That’s your fucking business.” — Adam, 62:14
• “I love that they think it’s okay… but before anyone cared, I think it was 2019, a Dallas, Texas under 15 high school team beat the women’s national team two games in a row.” — Adam, 127:15
• “We’ve lost the ability to love people like my uncle because we litmus test at every point in every single moment.” — Jon Stewart, via Adam, 119:07

Important Timestamps

• 05:31–08:30: Gary recounts being abandoned by his mother; Adam compares their family traumas.
• 12:44–13:50: Ryan discusses his near-death experience from a genetic blood disorder.
• 19:01–20:00: Adam tells a darkly humorous story about his mother’s DNR instructions.
• 22:28–24:18: Adam details his first “build” and the importance of practical trades.
• 28:53: Adam describes the race-winning tip from a pro drifter.
• 36:48–46:03: Analysis and live reactions to the Kamala Harris interview by an Australian reporter.
• 53:30–55:57: Adam and Gary riff on the need for clarity in trans/cis labels and cultural representation.
• 71:02–76:36: Gary Cannon on the mechanics and unpredictability of being a warm-up comic.
• 90:24–99:04: Adam’s Home Depot saga, predicting (correctly) the doom of a stranger’s DIY plan.
• 126:30–137:08: Breakdown of Angel City FC’s trans inclusion controversy, media narratives, and broader gender politics.
• 120:44–123:50: Adam’s comedic “deep leg cross” theory about liberal men in media.

Overall Tone and Takeaways

The episode crackles with Adam Carolla’s signature blend of sarcastic cultural critique, comedic banter, and blue-collar wisdom. There’s real pathos underlying much of the humor: both Ryan and Gary bring deeply personal stories of adversity, and Adam dishes out plenty of self-deprecation and world-weary insight. The show skewers political hypocrisy (especially around media softball interviewing), “grievance culture,” and the contradictions of modern gender activism—all while celebrating the dignity of skilled trades and the oddities of showbiz life.

Fans will recognize the wit and breadth of discussion but appreciate the vulnerability and specificity in the guests’ stories. Newcomers will find a blend of irreverence and substance, and plenty of sharp lines worth quoting.

Episode Highlights—Quick Reference

| Time | Topic / Segment | |------------|------------------------------------------------------| | 05:31–08:30| Childhood abandonment, trauma, and dark humor | | 12:44–13:50| Factor V genetic disease, near-fatal health crisis | | 19:01–20:00| Adam’s DNR story—family dysfunction in black comedy | | 22:28–24:18| Learning the trades, building, and humility | | 28:53 | Carolla’s racing tip—life lessons in drift culture | | 36:48–46:03| Kamala Harris gets tough questions (finally) | | 53:30–55:57| Trans/cis semantics, step-parenting, comedy | | 71:02–76:36| The life and grind of a TV warm-up comic | | 90:24–99:04| Home Depot “man on the street” saga | | 126:30–137:08| Soccer, gender, and the politics of inclusion | | 120:44–123:50| The “deep leg cross” as liberal signaling |

Recommended For...

• Fans who appreciate candid discussions about trauma, identity, and underdog hustle
• Listeners interested in the behind-the-scenes mechanics of comedy and TV
• Those seeking biting satire and unvarnished takes on political hypocrisy and media failings
• Anyone who loves a good meta-story about odd encounters at big box stores