JOSH GAD Went On a Houseboat in the Everglades

Summary

Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers: Josh Gad Went On a Houseboat in the Everglades

Release Date: September 24, 2024

In this engaging episode of Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers, hosts Seth Meyers and Josh Meyers delve into the adventurous family trip of renowned actor Josh Gad. The episode captures Josh's unforgettable experience navigating a houseboat in the Everglades, intertwining humorous anecdotes with heartfelt reflections on family dynamics and adventurous spirit.

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1. The Annual Fantasy Football Draft Tradition

The episode opens with Seth and Josh discussing their beloved tradition of the annual fantasy football draft. Seth, affectionately referred to as Pashi in the transcript, highlights the camaraderie among friends and the playful competition that culminates in selecting the next year's draft location.

Pashi (Seth Meyers) [00:11]: "It is me, it is Pashi, it is 10 of our college friends, some of the best human beings I've ever been lucky enough to meet, hands down."

Josh, referred to as Sufi, adds humorously about their friend Derek Vandervoort's repeated victories and his proposal to have the losing team host the next draft, which was ultimately rejected.

Sufi (Josh Meyers) [00:44]: "He proposed that rule and was shot down forcefully by the rest of the winner."

This tradition sets the stage for the story of the Grand Canyon prank orchestrated by Derek, which leads to Josh Gad's memorable trip.

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2. The Grand Canyon Prank Turned Adventure

Derek Vandervoort, a recurring winner of the fantasy football league, decides to prank Seth by selecting the Grand Canyon as the next year's draft location, despite Seth's resistance to visiting the famed landmark.

Pashi [01:35]: "He sent me an evite to the Grand Canyon."

Initially apprehensive, Seth expresses his disbelief at being challenged to visit the Grand Canyon amidst his busy life.

Pashi [01:44]: "How would I be forced to go to the Grand Canyon?"

The group opts to stay at an extravagant Airbnb in Flagstaff, Arizona, equipped with numerous recreational facilities, ensuring both comfort and entertainment.

Sufi [02:15]: "We rented this ridiculous Airbnb and Flagstaff. Ridiculous because of what a playground it was."

The following Saturday, the day of the draft, the group embarks on a mile-long hike along the Grand Canyon's rim, leading to unexpected encounters and breathtaking vistas.

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3. Encounter with the Majestic Ram

A pivotal moment during the hike occurs when the group encounters a majestic ram near Shoshone Point. This encounter becomes a highlight of the trip, symbolizing the unpredictable nature of their adventure.

Pashi [02:56]: "We went up and saw this big ram. It looked like it was trained to keep tourists away."

The ram's presence adds a mix of humor and awe, as Josh Gad shares how the animal's demeanor both startled and impressed the group.

Sufi [06:26]: "It was as if it had been trained by the conservancy to keep dumbass tourists from walking out to Shoshone point."

The encounter underscores the delicate balance between nature and human activity, leaving the group both amused and inspired.

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4. Navigating Weather Challenges and Group Dynamics

As the group settles in for their fantasy football draft, they face looming weather challenges. The threat of an impending hurricane tests their resilience and teamwork.

Sufi [08:17]: "Our buddies are real outdoorsmen, but the fear of rain and lightning got to them."

Despite the anxiety, the protective environment of the Shoshone Point picnic area provides a safe haven, allowing the group to continue their draft amidst distant thunder and gusty winds.

Sufi [10:16]: "There was no lightning at the time. We were covered and safe."

This segment highlights the importance of preparation and collective decision-making in ensuring a successful and enjoyable trip.

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5. Reflections on Family and Adventure

Josh Gad shares personal insights into the significance of family trips and how they shape relationships and personal growth. The conversation delves into Josh's childhood experiences and the impact of family dynamics on his adventurous spirit.

Josh Gad [34:34]: "Growing up with older brothers, I was immersed in experiences that others my age didn't have."

The discussion touches on the balance between adventurous activities and the safety precautions necessary to navigate the challenges of exploring nature.

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6. Memorable Moments and Lessons Learned

The episode is peppered with humorous exchanges and memorable quotes that capture the essence of the trip and the hosts' camaraderie.

Pashi [11:25]: "We piled in, 11 of us into a Sprinter van. We drove about 90 minutes to the Grand Canyon."

Sufi [05:04]: "Don't poke the bear, and I think the same rule applies to rams at the rim."

These moments not only entertain but also impart valuable lessons about friendship, adventure, and the beauty of shared experiences.

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7. Conclusion: Embracing the Adventure

As the trip concludes, Seth and Josh reflect on the transformative power of family trips and the stories that endure through time. Josh Gad's narrative serves as an inspiration for embracing adventure while cherishing the bonds of family and friendship.

Josh Gad [93:07]: "It's a beautiful reminder of how impactful and memorable these trips can be."

The episode wraps up with a sense of fulfillment and anticipation for future adventures, leaving listeners inspired to embark on their own unforgettable family trips.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Pashi (Seth Meyers):
  "Whoever wins the previous year gets to pick the location of the following year's draft." [00:11]

• Sufi (Josh Meyers):
  "Derek pulled the rug out from under my feet and sent out an evite to the Grand Canyon." [02:15]

• Josh Gad:
  "Growing up with older brothers, I was immersed in experiences that others my age didn't have." [34:34]

• Pashi:
  "Don't poke the bear, and I think the same rule applies to rams at the rim." [05:04]

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This episode of Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers masterfully blends humor, adventure, and heartfelt reflections, offering listeners a vivid portrayal of Josh Gad's houseboat journey in the Everglades. Through engaging storytelling and genuine conversation, Seth and Josh Meyers provide a captivating narrative that resonates with anyone who cherishes family memories and the spirit of adventure.

Transcript

[Pashi]

Hi, Pashi.

[Sufi]

Hi, Sufi.

[Pashi]

This is very nice because I am seeing you right now on Zoom, but I saw you in person just a few days ago.

[Sufi]

Yeah. At the draft.

[Pashi]

At the draft. This is an annual event. This is our 18th year of our fantasy football draft. It is me, it is Pashi, it is 10 of our college friends, some of the best human beings I've ever been lucky enough to meet, hands down. We get together once a year for our in person fantasy football draft. And the most wonderful thing about it is whoever wins the previous year gets to pick the location of the following year's draft. And let's be honest, if there wasn't a family trips podcast, we wouldn't have been where we ended up.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Because our good friend Derek Vandervoort, who keeps winning, he won three years ago, he won this year and actually pitched an idea where he thought the loser of the league should have to host the draft because it's a lot of work. Yeah, right.

[Pashi]

I should know, right? You don't just pick the location, you then are in charge of organizing a draft.

[Sufi]

Right. But he proposed that rule and was shot down forcefully by the rest of the winner.

[Pashi]

We decided we only wanted drafts hosted by winners. We didn't want a weekend hosted by a loser.

[Sufi]

But Derek also listens to the podcast and has listened to you kind of run down the whole idea of the Grand Canyon since we started this. And he sent me a message early on in his planning and he was like, what if we went to the Grand Canyon for the draft and never.

[Pashi]

Occurred to me that I could get burned this way. I felt I was so Grand Canyon proof in the way I was living my life. How would I be forced to go to the Grand Canyon? And by the way, when we started this podcast, people said, oh my God, you should record one at the Grand Canyon. And I said, I don't have time to go to the Grand Canyon. I've got three kids, I got a full time job. I'm not taking a leisurely trip to the Grand Canyon. There's only one time a year where I leave my family, and that's for my fantasy football draft. And that's certainly not gonna be at the Grand Canyon. And then dv, that's what we call Derek. Derek pulled the rug out from under my feet and sent out an evite to the Grand Canyon.

[Sufi]

Yeah. And it wasn't. We didn't stay at the Grand Canyon. We weren't camping. No. And we didn't stay at a hotel because that's not our stu we like to sort of. We like to just be together as much as we can be. And so he rented this ridiculous Airbnb and Flagstaff. Ridiculous because of what a playground it was. It was.

[Pashi]

How incredible.

[Sufi]

There's volleyball court. Volleyball court, bocce ball, ax throwing, horseshoes, pool table, ping pong table, golf simulator, golden tee. Two sets of like sit down driving, video game, screening room. Screening room.

[Pashi]

Yeah, we did it. We went to this screening room and watched a little bit of the new Adam Sandler special.

[Sufi]

So funny, so good.

[Pashi]

Yeah, it was, it was really a perfect, perfect weekend. And on Saturday, which was the day of our draft, we piled in, 11 of us into a Sprinter van. We drove about 90 minutes to the Grand Canyon. And then thank you to Lauren Cisneros, Lawrence Cisneros, who works at the Grand Canyon Conservancy, a former guest on the pod. She hooked us up with this special area that people who work park rangers, when they have wedding ceremonies, this is where they go.

[Sufi]

Yeah, a permitted area.

[Pashi]

Permitted area. And we went up and we all piled out of the van and we went for the most beautiful, basically what, a mile long hike?

[Sufi]

Yeah, mile out, mile back.

[Pashi]

I'd say mile out, mile back along the rim. And I just was sort of toggling back and forth between laughing and getting seriously choked up at the idea that I was at this incredibly beautiful place because Derek was fucking with me.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

It's one of the greatest pranks of all time to.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

Because my favorite thing of the year is the fantasy football draft. Obviously everybody who listens knows how I feel about the Grand Canyon. And he basically tied the two together and dared me to go and I went. And you know what, you guys, it was fantastic.

[Sufi]

Yeah. I feel like when you get pranked, what you don't often say afterwards is thank you.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

But this was, you know, you got, you got tricked into going.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And it is truly awe inspiring. The Grand Canyon. It takes your breath away. And it's bigger than everyone imagined. Sort of as the fellows walked up to the rim and saw it, it was taking people's breath away. And it's. Yeah.

[Pashi]

We did have a shout out to our friend Brian Stanchfield. He was our, what was he? Our safety.

[Sufi]

Safety and security expert or chairperson.

[Pashi]

Officer. Yeah, yeah, he was. So he was very. Made it very clear that we were not to get within sort of 10ft of the rim. That's due to a lifetime of clumsiness that he's witnessed.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Also where we were had this little sort of jutting point that sort of juts into the canyon called Shoshone point.

[Pashi]

Shoshone point. Google it.

[Sufi]

And there's a little like rock formation out there. And you could take a small trail that gets you out to the point, and then you could sort of stand at this rock formation and be surrounded like 270 degrees by sheer falloff.

[Pashi]

Now, before you say what kept us from going out there, I also want to stress I wasn't going out there.

[Sufi]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Pashi]

That looked way too precarious to me.

[Sufi]

Yeah, I definitely wanted to go out there. And I was headed along with several of the fellows. We were headed right out there.

[Pashi]

Not only was I not gonna go out there, had you gone out there, I would have had to turn my back for real. Even talking about it now, the fact that some of us wanted to go out there, I was so happy for what happened. That both prevented it and was cool to look at. The floor is yours.

[Sufi]

So there was a small single trail to get out there. And there's a flat rock sort of right as it opens up a little bit when you go over the sort of skinniest part of the trail. And laying on that flat rock was a ram with the big old curled horns. I hope it was a ram and not something else. But it sure looked like a ram.

[Pashi]

A grown ass ram. We have. We're gonna throw it up in the show notes. We'll put it on the instagram for family trips.

[Sufi]

It was beautiful. It was majestic. And it was basically saying, this is my point. You're not coming out here.

[Pashi]

It was as if it had been trained by the conservancy to keep dumbass tourists from walking out to Shoshone point.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

And very effective too.

[Sufi]

Yeah. We also. We were. We gotta see how this audio is. But we were recording a little bit. We had our gear and we were recording when we saw the ram for the first time. And then the ram stood up and walked towards us. And it was 12 guys scurrying away as fast as we could. But the ram couldn't have moved slower. Animals in those parks are so used to people. But it was not. They say, don't poke the bear. And I think the same rule applies.

[Pashi]

For rams to the ram. Yeah. And also when you're near the rim of a canyon.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

You don't want to be near any species that's known for their budding ability.

[Sufi]

Yeah. You'd be rooting to be hit head on so that you were just knocked straight back. Because if you were knocked right or left, Certain death.

[Pashi]

Certain death. Yeah, we also. When we were on our hike a couple times, a group of horses came by.

[Sufi]

Yeah, those were mules.

[Pashi]

Mules. And they would say, excuse us, mules coming through. And, you know, we would stand to the side. And the guide who was leading the group the second time she saw us because they passed us twice on the way there and on the way back, she said, what are y'all doing? And our friend Jake said the one thing that I never would have said. He said, we're here to do our fantasy football draft. And it was like he said to her, banana toothpaste, hockey puck. Like, yeah, she. And she was like, all right. Yeah. But then we.

[Sufi]

Then we started drafting, and, you know, the sky looked a little ominous. The wind picked up, and we heard some distant thunder. And, you know, our buddies are. You know, we've got hunters in the mix. We've got some real outdoorsmen.

[Pashi]

There's a lot of, like, mountain hikers, campers, hikers, fly fishermen. These are robust people. Don't. Don't try to, like, take me and scale it out. Eleven more people. Right. I'm the. I'm the city slicker of the bunch.

[Sufi]

And these dudes were so afraid of the possibility of rain and lightning. And so we had just started our draft, and I. I have to sort of check myself sometimes because, I mean, when I feel like we. When we get angry, it can get ugly real fast. Yeah. But there was a sort of, like, borderline universal movement to, like, pack it up and get into the van. When we had just started drafting, and I was so excited to be at the Grand Canyon, and I definitely turned into a little bit of a baby, and I was, like, not more of.

[Pashi]

A baby than the people who wanted to leave because it was a light rain. Right.

[Sufi]

And people were talking about the dangers of lightning, and I was like, but what lightning, like, would. Just because there's thunder doesn't mean there's lightning.

[Pashi]

I do believe. Stanchfield pointed out there were, like, 100 trees that had clearly been hit by lightning at some point. Sure.

[Sufi]

But we.

[Pashi]

But there was. There was no lightning at the time.

[Sufi]

There was no lightning.

[Pashi]

Look, I'd be afraid if I was a tree. But we. We good.

[Sufi]

Yeah, we also. We were under protection. We had, like, the Shoshone Point little picnic area.

[Pashi]

We were.

[Sufi]

We were covered. It never really opened up in terms of rain. It got a little windy, but we never, like. There was never a big thunder, you know, rumble right above us. It was sort of always in the distance. And, yeah, I was. I was really taken aback with how afraid our, our tough guy friends are or were of. Of rain.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

Well, since you mentioned tough guy, we are now going to play for all of you the moment Josh and I saw the ram. And we want you to tell us if we sound tough. And also, while you're picturing a slow moving ram picture, Josh and I in headphones carrying microphones. Just so many wires.

[Sufi]

Oh, my God.

[Pashi]

And like, so many wires. I just took the disaster.

[Sufi]

I put the gear in like a little backpack so we could sort of be hands free. But then we'd put things down and then everything was tight. It was like Christmas lights that you.

[Pashi]

Took out of the box.

[Sufi]

It was.

[Pashi]

It was like if you took out Christmas lights, spread them all over the street, and then a mugger started running at you and you couldn't leave your.

[Sufi]

Christmas lights, but the mugger was just slowly walking towards you.

[Pashi]

Slowly. Yeah, but, yeah. All right, so this is it.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

Have you looked?

[Sufi]

I've looked.

[Pashi]

Okay.

[Sufi]

Cause you were taking too long in the car.

[Pashi]

Well, somebody had to get the gorp.

[Sufi]

We're passing a series of picnic tables and Seth is gonna walk to the edge of the Grand Canyon.

[Pashi]

Well, I mean, it's spectacular. Yeah, yeah. I feel like a lot of our guests have said this, but it's really, it's massively big. And yeah, you do kind of have to be here to appreciate the size.

[Sufi]

This is a tiny piece of it. You can see just across the way there, those hills. There's so much beyond those. Yeah.

[Pashi]

But at the same time, I feel like what I'm seeing is enough. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. I'm really happy. I'm taking all you. Yeah, yeah.

[Sufi]

So here we are.

[Pashi]

Here we are now.

[Sufi]

We're gonna go have our fantasy football draft with these dopes.

[Pashi]

We're gonna go for a hike and eat some gorp and then have a fantasy football draft, the edge of one of God's great creations. So what, are we on the south rim? Posh?

[Sufi]

We're on the south rim at Shoshone Point.

[Pashi]

And there's a really cool rock structure that we'd love to go visit.

[Sufi]

It looks like a miniature version of those Easter Island.

[Pashi]

But why don't you tell our listeners why we can't go visit at Posh?

[Sufi]

There's a ram.

[Pashi]

There's a. Oh, the ram's moving.

[Sufi]

So we're moving.

[Pashi]

The ram's on the move.

[Josh Gad]

And the ram is back in the car.

[Pashi]

Somebody get a video of the ram, but then show it to me. Email it me later.

[Josh Gad]

You need to move now.

[Pashi]

And then, if we could just. Sam, can you edit this audio to make us sound brave? So now we're taking a different vantage point on the ram, who is standing. We opened the beef jerky. The ram is going down a hill.

[Sufi]

Oh, yeah. He's gonna go down the cool way. Or he's just getting some snacks.

[Pashi]

Well, here we are. It's really quite beautiful, but it was truly. It was truly something else. I also, you know, the drive there, the drive back was great. Just being in a car with those dudes. Yeah. And this is something you started doing at the draft, which is why this podcast ends the way this podcast does. Every year at the draft, you play, you write and record a song about all of us.

[Sufi]

I adapt a song, you adapt a.

[Pashi]

Song about the draft. And so there's the annual playing of the draft song. And it's so funny and so special. It's one of the reasons I told you when we started doing this, I think you have to write a song every week.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

I feel like it was maybe one of the best received songs you've ever done.

[Sufi]

Yeah, it was a good one. It was a good one. They're certainly not safe for work. I try to clean them up for the pod, and the guys have asked if I can send them through, and I might record a clean version if they want to play it for their kids.

[Pashi]

Oh, yeah. Interesting. Yeah, they are a little dirty. But you know what? Come on, guys. But that's.

[Sufi]

I mean, look, we're.

[Pashi]

Dude, we're 12 guys.

[Sufi]

We're 12 guys in a fantasy football draft. All we do is make fun of each other.

[Pashi]

Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I mean, the fact that we played a lot of pickleball, I just kind of assumed that I'm gonna come home and say I popped my acl, but don't be mad. It was during non competitive pickleball, and so everybody kind of came through unscathed. And it was really something. I mean, shout out to Derek. Shout out to that entire group of people.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

Thanks to Airbnb, who set us up. It was really a cool place to be and would. Had we known the host's name, I would. I would sing your praises. But, yeah, it was really cool. And this is also really cool. Josh Gad, somebody whose work I've known for a long time, just had him on the show this last year for the first time, lovely in person.

[Sufi]

Oh, my gosh. Yeah.

[Pashi]

Even with all that, I was taken aback with how fantastic the stories are about his life. He's got a memoir coming out. What would we In Gad We Trust.

[Sufi]

In Gad We Trust that's coming out.

[Pashi]

Which, based on the stories he told us, is gonna be a must read. He also has a fantastic children's book out right now called Picture Face Lizzy, and it's a wonderful book for your kids. And also, if you're the kind of parent who it seems like maybe every parent is concerned about how our kids interact with screens, it's got a great message about that as well.

[Sufi]

Yeah. So pick up Picture Face Lizzie and give old Josh Gad a listen here.

[Pashi]

Axel walked in at some point, and I said, this is Olaf from Frozen. Couldn't give a shit. It's actually nice. It's healthy for me when I see Axl ice other celebs, because obviously, he's icing me 24 7. Yeah, it's a great conversation. Do enjoy it. Listen to a little bit of music first. This episode is brought to you by Airbnb. Hey, Pashi.

[Sufi]

Hey, Sufi.

[Pashi]

We're in the middle of our annual fantasy football trip.

[Sufi]

Yeah, we actually. We just finished the draft, and we.

[Pashi]

Came to Flagstaff, Arizona, and what's really exciting is we got an Airbnb very near the Grand Canyon.

[Sufi]

Yeah, it was a little bit of a drive, but also, we. We drove past another place we were maybe going to stay, and this Airbnb was so much better than that.

[Pashi]

And we've been doing this draft now for 18 years, and we wanted to do a quick segment called Airbnb versus.

[Sufi]

Used to be, if you're hearing some background noise, there's some ping pong. Maybe it's beer pong being played in a game room. But this Airbnb, it has a bocce ball court, a pickleball court, basketball court, a volleyball court, a golf simulator.

[Pashi]

Also, if you're wondering why we're playing beer Pong, we are 22 years old. This would actually be a case where Airbnb and what it used to be are very much the same.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

When it comes to playing Beerbomb.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

One of the biggest differences, of course, is we can all hang out in one room, which is very nice when you're an Airbnb like this, that is obviously built to Entertain.

[Sufi]

We've got 12 people. So spacious, and everyone has their own bed.

[Pashi]

And, you know, there were a lot of times we stayed in houses that had a lot of beds, just not quite enough for 12 different people. And what used to be is that when they had to pick two people to share a bed. They just picked the siblings.

[Sufi]

They just assumed we would be the natural fit. And they weren't wrong.

[Pashi]

They weren't wrong. But I will say I have preferred at this Airbnb and I love you very much. And I think our listeners know I love you very much. It was very nice not to be in the same bed as you.

[Sufi]

Yeah. In the past we've slept in a lot of, like, children's beds.

[Pashi]

I remember definitely when you take over a child's bedroom, you don't feel like a good person.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

And then there's a lot of just delicate constructions. I remember staying in a room where there were so many Lego sets fully constructed, and that did not make for a nice, chill, relaxing vacation for me.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

To be amongst the Legos.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Well, our friend Mike was at our friend Derek's house a couple years ago and stayed in his daughter Bree's room. And Bree had left him a note that said, you please don't cuddle with my stuffed animals, but you can read any of the books.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Which is nice.

[Pashi]

That's very nice. And Mike has since regaled us with all the books he read. He was just telling us about this new one he picked up where I guess it's about saying goodnight to the moon.

[Sufi]

Oh.

[Pashi]

So, yeah, he didn't ruin the ending for us.

[Sufi]

It's a good way. It's a good way to close a day.

[Pashi]

And of course, the most famous, of course, is our friend Stanch once was in an air mattress for three straight nights. And every night he would go to bed with it fully inflated and it would just slowly deflate and he would just wake up on what was a very thin piece of plastic, which he's.

[Sufi]

Such a nice guy that he always, he would tell our host, this is great. This is great.

[Pashi]

You know, another thing I love about being in an Airbnb versus all staying in one of our friends houses.

[Sufi]

What's that?

[Pashi]

The labeling on where to put stuff back.

[Sufi]

Oh, yeah.

[Pashi]

Like we're at a house right now where every single drawer in the kitchen is labeled. You know, utensils, cooking gear, pans. And I'm going to admit something. I'm very embarrassed about how things used to be when we were at our friends houses. I was so embarrassed about not knowing where the silverware went that I would just take it with me. I would just throw it. Yeah, I would just throw it in my luggage and take it with me.

[Sufi]

Huh. That. Yeah, that's. That's unusual.

[Pashi]

And, you know, it's nice to have a fridge again. This is something you can't do in the same way when you're at a hotel.

[Sufi]

I mean, you might have a fridge, but it's probably going to be tiny.

[Pashi]

And it's going to be filled with stuff at a price point that I'm not comfortable with.

[Sufi]

Right.

[Pashi]

Whereas here we had an empty fridge. You know, you stop at the grocery store, you fill it up, and it's just been a wonderful way to spend the last few days.

[Sufi]

Yeah. And we, you know, we share around the sort of the cooking and the cleaning up, and it lets us sort of live and be on vacation in a way that we like. And not that we don't like other people, but we sort of don't want to be around other people on a weekend like this.

[Pashi]

I have always thought you just don't like them.

[Sufi]

I love people.

[Pashi]

Okay, good.

[Sufi]

I love people. But being at a house where you don't have to leave and we're making food and we're sort of cleaning up, it's. I like it. I like it so much.

[Pashi]

And again, this place has so many different outdoor activities, but in general, just fantastic to spend a weekend with all our friends. But, you know, annual trips. I highly recommend an annual trip, and it's a great thing to look forward to on the calendar. And we've had a really special one.

[Josh Gad]

Here we go.

[Sufi]

Hey, hey.

[Josh Gad]

Hey.

[Pashi]

Oh, my God. You are just. I mean, I feel like. I feel like you're showing off with your palm fronds behind you.

[Josh Gad]

Well, I figured because of the theme of travel, I really wanted to give you guys, like, less to leave to the imagination.

[Sufi]

Yeah, I was gonna say it looks like you're at some Florida resort and you are a Florida boy, aren't you?

[Josh Gad]

Sadly, I was hoping we wouldn't. I was hoping we wouldn't start there.

[Sufi]

We can back up.

[Josh Gad]

But no, I am. I am a Florida boy, technically. Yeah, I was born and raised in Florida, but this is. Everything you see before you right now is Southern California.

[Sufi]

Amazing.

[Pashi]

This is.

[Josh Gad]

None of this is here.

[Sufi]

You're at a restaurant, aren't you? And beautiful.

[Josh Gad]

I am. I am. I'm. I'm at a private booth at the Grove, and it's very, very low key today. Yeah, nobody really coming for. For any food.

[Pashi]

I would really. It would mean the world to me if I found out after the fact that you had had the palms shipped in just for the pod. And as soon as this is over, everything behind it.

[Josh Gad]

What if I. What if I had, like, a mini Budget for podcasts that was like range from like 20 to $50,000 just for like the quick video bites that you guys need.

[Pashi]

And everybo made you a very coveted guest because everybody's like, you know, he does, he puts the time in his backdrop.

[Josh Gad]

He puts the time and he puts.

[Pashi]

Some money in something to see.

[Josh Gad]

It's. You're going to have 30 seconds to promote that are going to look more beautiful than anybody else's. It's going to look incredible.

[Pashi]

Now we, now we have talked to so many people on our pod. Josh, who their big vacation was.

[Josh Gad]

Thanks for making me feel special.

[Pashi]

Yeah, I mean we're really, we've just everyone we ever wanted. And then we were like, now who?

[Sufi]

No.

[Pashi]

But no, Josh. So many people, us included. Right. The big trip was to go to Florida. You grew up in Florida, did you. Were you aware growing up that it was a place the rest of the world came for family vacations?

[Josh Gad]

I was hyper aware. So like. Because what happened is you guys ruined our spring break.

[Pashi]

Okay.

[Josh Gad]

Like, like there was a certain period where like I would actually be able to go and use my ocean front at Fort Lauderdale beach. And instead you assholes came and, you know, wore 1980 Speedos and walked all over our sandy, beautiful beachfronts. But it was, it was one of those things where like a lot of times I remember, especially when I was younger, we used to do staycations. So we would go to like Marriott, the Marriott beach, unlike in Fort Lauderdale, and like just stay there and pretend to be like tourists ourselves. I'm not sure why my parents thought that that was the way to play it, but.

[Sufi]

How far was the drive from there to where you lived?

[Josh Gad]

It was like 20 minutes.

[Sufi]

This was so weird, but like, but.

[Josh Gad]

My parents really gaslit me into thinking we were getting like a hell of a vacation.

[Pashi]

Right?

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

Like, they're like this, you guys, you have no idea. Were you gaslit?

[Pashi]

Do you remember that being something you were excited about when it was time to go to the Marriott?

[Josh Gad]

I remember I didn't know what the word Gaslit was until 2016.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

But I had a sensation.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

I had the sensation that I didn't.

[Sufi]

Know what to call it. Yeah.

[Pashi]

Right.

[Josh Gad]

Because my friends were going to the Caribbean and I knew they had to get on a plane.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

And. And Instead like a 20 minute drive felt wrong.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Compared to that, all that time they were on a plane though, you were sitting poolside sipping on a.

[Josh Gad]

That's just like that.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

This is me trying to relive my childhood Right here. That's what this is right now. And then we would go to Disney World all the time. So, like, we would. I was born in 81, and we would go, like, at that time, Epcot center was, like, new. And I remember, like, at a very young age, we would go to this, like, weird 1980s concrete version of a utopian society. And. But I. But it was incredible. And back then, there were all of these other weird Florida parks. There was a place called Baseball World, I think, that we used to go to.

[Sufi]

That's a good name.

[Josh Gad]

It was like something like that, like, or Boardwalk and baseball. Something like that.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

It's like a. It's all a fever dream at this point. It was like another, like, Alligator park that we used to go. It was just weird Florida shit.

[Pashi]

How long a drive was it to Disney World?

[Josh Gad]

Four hours.

[Pashi]

Wow. Okay, so. But would you drive there? Drive back the same day, or would you stay?

[Josh Gad]

No, we would usually stay. We would stay at the Contemporary. And the Contemporary is that, like, white, almost like, rectangular building that has a monorail going through it. And I remember as a kid being like, oh, my God, we're vacationing into the future. How do we do this now? Waymos drive by my house all the time, and it's much less cool. But I vividly remember being, like, so unbelievably, like, I was so drawn to that visual and so excited by it. Like, it was just so cool.

[Sufi]

Yeah. And just to set this up real quick, you've got two older brothers, a stepbrother and a stepsister.

[Josh Gad]

Yes. Very good research. So you guys do the work?

[Sufi]

Well, we have people who do the work.

[Josh Gad]

Okay.

[Sufi]

Who have producers.

[Pashi]

If we're interviewing somebody who's going to do the work on their visuals, we do the work on the research.

[Josh Gad]

You guys want to do the work?

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

Okay. I'm really impressed. I'm really impressed. Thank you guys for going the extra.

[Pashi]

And their names are Dan, Barbara, Lewis and Jacko.

[Josh Gad]

Okay.

[Sufi]

I don't know. That's what we have. That's what our research shows.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah. I feel like you guys may want to start paying Palm style rates for your employees Fair. I have two older brothers, Jason and Jeff. Jason is 53. Jeff is 51. So there was like, 10 years older than me. Eight and a half years older than me.

[Sufi]

Okay.

[Josh Gad]

And so, like, my brothers were, like, how I experienced everything from music to, like, movies to travel. So, you know, like, the first album I remember listening to or the first song I remember listening to vividly with my brothers was it's the end of the world as we know it. Rem and like, you know, I remember watching the first Nightmare on Elm street at like, 4. So, like, that should give you just, like, some idea of the influence that my brothers had on me. But we used to travel a lot. We had a big family. My parents got divorced when I was 6. And prior to that, we used to go on these, like, big trips with my dad's family. And a lot of those trips involved going to Las Vegas. And I remember, like, at being 4 years old and staying at Circus Circus and feeling like I was, like, on the inside of Pennywise's, like, brain. Like, it was a very even back then. It was terrifying to me just staying where clowns were running rampant.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. Support for family Trips comes from LinkedIn ads. Hey, Pashi.

[Sufi]

Yes, Sufi?

[Pashi]

You know, for a business guy like me, I am familiar. The B2B means business to business. And as a B2B marketer, you know how noisy the ad space can be if your message isn't targeted to the right audience. It just disappears into the noise.

[Sufi]

It's like, why did you even run an ad to begin with if you weren't going to B2B it?

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Using LinkedIn ads. Because with LinkedIn ads, you can precisely reach the professionals who are more likely to find your ad relevant with their targeting capabilities.

[Pashi]

You can reach them by job title, industry company and more.

[Sufi]

Stand out with LinkedIn ads and start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today.

[Pashi]

Yeah, like, if we're trying to target family trips, we don't want that ad to go to agoraphobics.

[Sufi]

No.

[Pashi]

Is that the right word for people who don't like to go outside?

[Sufi]

Yes, it is. All right, well done.

[Pashi]

Thanks. You know what? My whole goal with these ads is never to Google things, just to boldly state them and hope that you'll correct me if I'm wrong.

[Sufi]

You're doing great.

[Pashi]

LinkedIn ads allows you to build the right relationships, drive results and reach your customers in a respectful environment.

[Sufi]

You'll have direct access to and build relationship with decision makers, billion members, 130 million decision makers and 10 million C level executives.

[Pashi]

You're going to work with a partner who respects the B2B world you operate in. 79% of B2B content marketers said LinkedIn provides the best results for paid media.

[Sufi]

Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Go to LinkedIn.com FamilyTrips to claim your credit. That's LinkedIn.com FamilyTrips. Terms and conditions apply. LinkedIn the place to be to be.

[Pashi]

Support for family trips comes from Everyday Dose. Hey, Paji.

[Sufi]

Yes, Sufi?

[Pashi]

I love coffee.

[Sufi]

Yes, so do I.

[Pashi]

And you know what? Maybe coffee's not the best for me, which is why I'm very excited about the next generation of coffee. Everyday Dose, which combines delicious coffee, functional mushrooms, nootropics, collagen protein, boosted focus. That's one of the things it gives you clarity, energy, sleep and immunity.

[Sufi]

Those are all great things. It has lion's mane. That's a mushroom that stimulates the intestinal immune system, regulates gut bacteria. Chaga, that's another mushroom, is rich in antioxidants and it aids in immune support.

[Pashi]

And the collagen protein helps maintain skin elasticity, elasticity, volume, moisture. It also helps make up proteins such as keratin that form skin, hair and nails and make them stronger in addition to your skincare routine. And posh. I just like it. I like my job and I like my job to help me out, you know?

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

Making me a better guy. From the inside to the outside.

[Sufi]

Everybody likes that.

[Pashi]

Thanks, bud. Head over to everydaydose.com Tripps for 25% off plus five free gifts with your first order. Your first month, you get USB rechargeable frother, gunmetal dose spoon, breathwork app by Othership wellness booklet and a sticker every month. After you get amazing free gifts with your order, go to everyday dose d o s e.com trips for 25% off plus five free gifts with your first order.

[Sufi]

I will say of that rechargeable frother. Yeah, Mackenzie. Mackenzie fired that thing up today. She said this is like a superpowered frother because we had a frother and that old frother, it's gone.

[Pashi]

Gone. You frothed it. Yeah, you frothed it right in the garbage.

[Sufi]

Yeah, we're going to recycle it, but yeah.

[Pashi]

Oh, yeah, throw it in the garbage.

[Josh Gad]

Here we go.

[Pashi]

Were you aware of being maybe introduced to things at an earlier time than your actual peer group? Like, did you. At what age did you realize? Oh, because I have siblings, especially brothers, who are, you know, eight and 10 years older than me, I was getting a crash course and stuff that other people weren't seeing for years.

[Josh Gad]

I think to a certain extent that's true. I also think, and I'm not sure if you guys Feel the same way that, like, growing up in the 80s was just different.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

Like, I don't like, I think that that would be more apropos now than it was then. Like, I remember going to Blockbuster. I just got like carte blanche to get whatever the hell I wanted to get.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

And like my parents just sort of. It was out of sight, out of mind. Not in like a non loving way, but in like a. Just that was the traditional way of like raising children back then. So I never really had the sense that I was like, more advanced than my friends because I think all my friends with older siblings had the same experience. We were all sort of like just probably immersing ourselves way too early on in pop culture that we shouldn't have touched. But it was also really exciting and it was like the forbidden fruit. And you know, I remember especially going back to like when we would travel and stuff, my parents would leave us in the hotel room and, you know, my brothers were ridiculous. We would like, they would make like prank calls and do like just dumb 80s shit that kids would do. Like before you had cell phones and had like, ways of keeping yourself busy. You created them. But no, I never felt like, oh, this is. I'm more advanced.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

Yeah. It's interesting like how we're as parents and yours are actually, I think a little bit older than mine. So I'm sure you're concerned about social media and what kids can watch on their phones big time. But you know, when people say kids look at their phones all day, I. I just looked at a television all day. Like, just nonsense, like the things I would watch to fill my days. I almost am like, happy that my kids have some selection towards their. Their own interests, you know?

[Josh Gad]

Oh, no, we. And. And like I was watching like Halloween and I was watching Friday the 13th and I, like, my girls are 10 and 13. I only just let my daughter watch her first rated R movie. And a part of me is like, that's ridiculous. Like, why am I doing that? Like, it feels like I'm being hypocritical. But at the same time I'm like, what the hell were my parents thinking? No wonder, no wonder I have lifelong anxiety now. Like, what. What was happening in the GAD household.

[Sufi]

But if you were watching things like Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, I almost would feel like you would be fortified against sort of the fear of clowns at Circus Circus. But you were afraid of all of these things, but you continued to consume them based on who you were around your brothers primarily.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah, I think that I. I was terrified, but I also. There was nobody to complain to, so I just, like, held the fear in. And, like, if Freddy Krueger was gonna come and haunt me in my dreams and massacre me, then that was just gonna be something that would happen and I would have to stay up and avoid sleep and REM at all costs. But. But no, I guess, like, again, like, growing up back then, we didn't have, like, we didn't talk about that stuff, right? It was just like, oh, this is so cool. My brothers and their friends are all sitting on the couch watching Nightmare on Elm street, and they're letting me watch with them. So I'm not going to complain because then I can't do it again, right?

[Sufi]

You don't want to be the baby?

[Josh Gad]

No, I don't want to be the baby. I mean, I saw Fast Times at Ridgemont High when I was like, again, like three or four years old. Like, it's a little early to, you know, be watching movies like that.

[Pashi]

I saw that too young as well. A real movie that. Again, I don't want to spoil it because it's such a great movie. Takes a super dark turn in the last sort of 30 minutes and beyond you definitely, as a kid thinking, here's a fun sex romp, even though I don't fully understand sex. And then it has a real, like. That's a real, like, sex education movie as well.

[Josh Gad]

I don't think we talk enough about the fact that Judge Reinhold taught so many of us what masturbation was. And that's it. That's like, it could have been. We could have had a better tutor.

[Pashi]

He and he both taught us well. What he really taught us was like, lock that door, man.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah, I locked that door. That's right. It was a great war. It's true. I wish that character was in the new Axel Foley movie. Like, I wish, like, they just. He had, like, a twin brother. Who was that guy?

[Pashi]

I was very happy.

[Josh Gad]

So interesting.

[Pashi]

I know this isn't a podcast about the new Axel Foley movie, but I was very happy to see Judge Reinhold. It looks great.

[Josh Gad]

I know. He looks great. Great.

[Pashi]

I was very happy. When you would go to Vegas, what would as a 4 year old, what were the activities? Cause I know. I feel like Vegas is a very family friendly place now, but I think that's like, in the last decade or so.

[Josh Gad]

It was not back when I was there. I mean, you know, like, Circus Circus was probably the one hotel on the Strip that was, like, conducive to children. But, like, I just remember it being really dark and skeevy. Even, like, as a place for families, it didn't cater to families. It just happened to have, like, circus themed, you know, slots, gambling tables and slots. Like, there wasn't like a. They didn't go out of their way to, like, here's a circus show, kids. It was like, here are people smoking in front of a circus themed slot machine. Doesn't this make you happy, child?

[Sufi]

Who is. Step on down.

[Pashi]

Who is at the dream destination for. Was it your dad? Did he want to go to Vegas?

[Josh Gad]

You know, we had a bunch of family in California, and so we would. I just remember that we would come out here, like, once a year and we would do. We would basically do like all of the, like, National Lampoon vacation things. Like, I remember going to the Hoover Dam, and I remember water skiing. What's that lake right next to Hoover Dam?

[Sufi]

Lake Powell.

[Josh Gad]

Is it Lake Powell? So I remember we rented a boat and we would go water skiing and we would go to, like, Universal Studios in Disneyland, and we just sort of like, you know, did the whole California, Nevada thing. But it wasn't like, I got to go to Vegas. Years later. I talk about this in my book, by the way. This is perfectly on theme. I have a bron. A bronchial infection that I just caught on vacation. So it's really.

[Sufi]

Congratulations.

[Josh Gad]

Really nice. Yeah, thank you. So my dad. After my parents got divorced, my dad once took me to Vegas by myself. And I remember at like, seven, going to my first burlesque show. And it was such a dark and, like, scary thing. Like, what should have been, like, so. Oh, my God, this is so titillating. Was like, I don't. Why are they letting me in here? A B. What happens now? Like, I remember, like, those two thoughts.

[Sufi]

Does your dad have a conversation with you afterwards and say, like, hey, what'd you think, Josh?

[Josh Gad]

No, no, I mean, it's. It was like a. It was very much a. Hey, isn't this how fathers and sons bond? And I was like, no, this is not. This is not the way it's done.

[Pashi]

And for him, the birds and the bees. The bees stands for burlesque. That was.

[Josh Gad]

Yes, yes. The bees stand for bres and burlesque.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Check out these birds at the burlesque show.

[Pashi]

In general, I feel like burlesque is a really good way to like, almost d. Horny a young man.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah. You know, I. I definitely. I definitely, like, that was not. That was not the introduction that would, like, you know, Pave the way for me to be. Like, man, women are. I was just really, like, scared. Yeah, it's like that. Have you ever seen the movie Chaplin? Like, it's like that early scene in Chaplin where, like, his mom has taken him, like, backstage and, like, all these women are undressed, and it's just way too young. And then he just, like, I guess, essentially becomes a pedophile the rest of his life. Like, these things don't end well. They, like, just backfire, like. And it was just traumatic for me. I was. Wasn't titillated at all. I was just like, this is really dark and scary.

[Pashi]

It would be funny just all these years later if you just always were wearing tassels. And people said, why is that? And it's like he went. He saw burlesque at way too young an age.

[Sufi]

There was that. I don't know what the cartoon was, but that cartoon where the wolf is watching burlesque and his eyes pop out of his head.

[Pashi]

Yeah, it's a Tex Avery cartoon. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sufi]

Like, to me, that's what. Oh, yeah, that's what burlesque. Like, that's the first I ever saw of it. And then I've, like, maybe, like 15 years ago, I went to, like, a proper burlesque show, and I was, like, hooping and hollering like I thought you were supposed to do at burlesque shows. And everyone was like, hey. And I was like, I need to, like, respect the craft as the whole thing.

[Josh Gad]

No, it's a very formal event.

[Sufi]

Yeah, it is.

[Josh Gad]

Like, it's a very formal event.

[Sufi]

I wanted to, like, stomp my foot mid 2000s.

[Pashi]

It was a thing that was happening in LA, and I felt like it was almost like a. It was the long, dying tale of, like, the swing dance movement, you know, that, like, they were like that. Yes, they were like, swing dancing. And then people were like, ooh. Burlesque is also a thing that nobody likes anymore that we can trick into thinking is good.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah. I think that was also, like, post Moulin Rouge, like, everybody was like, we should. We should have a place where women can die of consumption without, you know.

[Pashi]

Any regrets, with nothing. Like, as they cough out their last breath in an alleyway, but nothing but a feather boa to keep them warm. It's like rash.

[Josh Gad]

Exactly.

[Sufi]

When you just. Back to Epcot real quick. I've never been to Epcot, so what is. Oh, it seems like. And Seth, I don't think I've never been.

[Pashi]

And can I say it before? I'm going to let you say your thing. Even as a kid, it sounded dumb to me.

[Sufi]

So if you go to Disney, I feel like we went to Disney World, but we didn't go to Epcot. Would you sort of split your time between the two, or were you guys, like, it's Epcot or bust?

[Josh Gad]

You know, it was. Epcot is the most surreal theme park ever built on planet Earth. Like, it is just. It should not exist. You, like, the rides back then were like, you go explore time and see cavemen and see the evolution of telecommunications, and then another ride is explore the future of, like, the land and sea and space. But, like, these were, like, slow rides that made you pontificate life and existentialism. None of them were, like, thrill rides. This isn't, like, a part that had, like, Space Mountain, but there was something about it that was so addictive because it was so strange. So I think that, like, anybody who grew up with that, going to, like, that original park is obsessed with it, because there's nothing else like it in the world.

[Sufi]

Yeah, it's.

[Josh Gad]

It's the craziest. There was a ride that took you through. It was, like, literally sponsored by Chevron, and it started with you going through, like, the realm of dinosaurs and ended with a film about how dinosaurs are now fossil fuels and how that was, like, the. The future of, like, transportation was formed by these beautiful creatures that are now extinct. And it was. It's wild like it was. It's the most bizarre park ever made.

[Pashi]

And I love you. Did I think one of the reasons I wasn't. I felt like I could see that it was some sort of educational scam. I don't think I saw that. It was, like, corporate education, which is a great detail that, of course. But, you know, at the same time, there is something cool of. It feels like the last moment where we still believe that you could be educational and entertaining at the same time. Like, I do tip my cap, and I'm sure there's, like, some dark underbelly.

[Josh Gad]

They called it edutainment. And, like, I really bought into that. I was like, yes, edutain me. I want this. Yeah, I need this. And by the way, far more, like, entertaining version than, like, going to school.

[Sufi]

But also, your brothers are, you know, significantly older when you're going to. Are they going to Epcot? Are they over it? When you're sort of enamored with it.

[Josh Gad]

They'Re like, where the hell are the roller coasters? Why are we here?

[Sufi]

Yeah. And then what happens to the. When you do go to Disney World. I imagine that sort of. The desires are certainly. Maybe there's rides you can't even go on because you're not big enough. Like, is that.

[Josh Gad]

Oh, I definitely had that. I had the Tom Hanks big syndrome, where I remember, because I had two significantly older brothers, I was so pissed every time they could go on Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain, and I just had to sit and wait.

[Pashi]

That gap. I would say that gap might be most painful at an amusement park or a fair.

[Josh Gad]

Oh, it sucked. Yeah, it sucked. I mean, like, I was just, like, really? Like, I have to just sit and wait as they, like, have the time of their lives.

[Pashi]

Were they the sort of older siblings who were sympathetic or just fully taunting you for the age gap?

[Josh Gad]

Oh, no. They taunted me.

[Pashi]

Taunters.

[Josh Gad]

My middle brother Jeff had, like, this messiah complex, especially after my parents got divorced, where he was like, I'm gonna assume the position of your father now. And, like, it just. That did not. That did not go, like, well for him or me. And then he used to tell me that if I pursued acting, I would fail, and I would be the person who ends up putting pimentos in olives. Like, this was the ongoing threat.

[Pashi]

What a fantastic.

[Josh Gad]

Presuming that there was, like, a person who does that job and not a machine, I would be that.

[Pashi]

It's really. Yeah. That's the one thing they're like, that's the one thing we can't teach a machine to do.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah. It's too intricate.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

What? It's such a funny thing for a kid to think is a bad job, but a really good one. Yeah. When, by the way, when did this. When was he aware that this was an itch? You had the acting itch. Like, how old were you?

[Josh Gad]

I think it happened. The. My first visceral memory of getting the bug was my mom and dad took us, and I don't even think my brothers were with me at the time. They took me to the Catskills because my grandparents were celebrating their, like, 50th anniversary. So we went to the Catskills and we went to see a Borscht Belt comic. And I was, like, five, and I was laughing harder than anybody else, and I had no clue what the hell the jokes were even about, but I knew I loved whatever was happening. And I was like, oh, God, I have to do this. Whatever this is, I have to do this.

[Pashi]

When is the end of the Catskills is a place that families would go.

[Josh Gad]

I keep thinking about this because, like, that was my first and Only experience.

[Pashi]

But I would think those were the dying throws. Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

That was it. I must have been, like, 86. 85. 86.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

And I feel like that was, like, the tail end of marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

[Sufi]

I do.

[Pashi]

There's something. I like the idea that they saw a young Josh Gad and they were like, all right, we can close up shop now. We've passed along the essence of what.

[Josh Gad]

We needed to do.

[Pashi]

He will carry on the tradition in different forms.

[Josh Gad]

We. We've just found the next generation's Jackie Mason. There's nothing else to do here.

[Sufi]

Do you have any idea. Do you have any recollection of that. The name of that comic?

[Josh Gad]

Hell, no.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

Billy Crystal once asked me. Billy Crystal has, like, an encyclopedic knowledge.

[Pashi]

Yes.

[Josh Gad]

Of all of everything related to the Catskills, to the point that he did a movie and a show about it. Call Mr. Saturday night. But so he kept, like, asking me, like. And I was like, dude, I was four years old. I don't know what you want for me. Like, I just know what I liked. But I. I wasn't, like, jotting down notes.

[Pashi]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sufi]

Or if you were. Your penmanship probably was so bad.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah. Terrible spelling. Terrible spelling. Especially with Yiddish names. It was awful.

[Sufi]

You said Vegas. Sometimes you had, like, a lot of family. Would the California family and Florida family, like, converge on Vegas? And would you roll deep? Like, how many. How many people would you have on a big Vegas trip?

[Josh Gad]

There were probably close to 20.

[Sufi]

Wow.

[Josh Gad]

So there were, like, four families. And we would roll up in, like. You know, we would come from Florida. One of the families would come from New York, and then the others were all based in California. And so we would just. Yeah, we would. It was awesome. I mean, it was like. It's post the divorce. We kind of, like, lost touch with that side of the family. But I have very fond memories before my father cheated on my mother of a. Of really swell times with the whole. With the whole gang.

[Sufi]

Would you sort of stay together? Together as a unit, like, with 20 people?

[Josh Gad]

Yeah, the kids absolutely would.

[Sufi]

And so are you at the. Are you at the pool? Like, what's. What are the kids. What kind of trouble do you get up to as a group of kids in Vegas?

[Josh Gad]

I remember. I remember vividly. We would go to the pool. I have another memory. So my dad, of all places, worked in Colombia.

[Pashi]

Okay.

[Josh Gad]

So my debt. Right. Just go with it.

[Pashi]

Weirdly, weirdly, our dad has done some work in Colombia.

[Sufi]

So. Yeah. We are your mother and Medellin. Yeah.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

He's done some coffee. Some coffee work some hard quotes on coffee.

[Josh Gad]

Weirdly, my dad continues to live and do work in Colombia.

[Sufi]

Okay.

[Pashi]

Does he really. Does he still spend time?

[Josh Gad]

Yes. So. So my father was in the emerald business.

[Pashi]

Okay.

[Josh Gad]

And when I was very, like, again when I was four years old, I remember we went. We went there again with like, the full family. And I just, like, have these vivid memories of, like, being in the jungle with my brothers and the family. And we would just play. Like there were these toys that came in. Like, I don't even know how to describe them. They were like these green eggs. And you would open them and there would be like a surprise in them. They just have this vivid memory. Do you remember that?

[Sufi]

Yeah. You'd get them like, a lot of, like, grocery stores. You'd put like a quarter in a thing that was like, next to a gumball machine.

[Josh Gad]

And so, like, that's the kind of shit we were doing when my father wasn't taking us on, like, open door helicopters, which is a real thing where I literally thought I was going to die.

[Pashi]

How old was that? How old do you think you were for your first open door helicopter ride?

[Josh Gad]

That was four. I was four. I was.

[Pashi]

I mean, I. That for me, that would be. When you were too, like, small to ride a whole. A roller coaster. You must have been like, you know what I've done?

[Sufi]

Yeah, tell me.

[Pashi]

I can't go on your roller coaster. Freddy Krueger's a pilot with a seatbelt.

[Josh Gad]

And my, my dad's brother was, was flying the helicopter and he stopped the ignition to fuck with us. And then like, the helicopter started, like, just doing like the craziest things. I come from a band of psychopaths.

[Pashi]

That's unbelievable.

[Josh Gad]

It's. It's unbelievable that. I mean, now that would be a lawsuit. But back then it was like, well.

[Pashi]

Also, how long had your uncle been a helicopter pilot? In Colombia, no less.

[Josh Gad]

So weird. I don't know. I have no idea, by the way.

[Pashi]

No part of that, every detail about it also makes him less trustworthy. My uncle's pilot. Bear with me in Columbia. Stay with me. He's in the emerald business. Where are you going? There are no doors.

[Josh Gad]

I can't remember the story, but he got his helicopter from a very famous actor. But I don't remember, like, it was like John Wayne or something crazy. Like he bought the helicopter. That was like one of these guys. Helicopter. Paul Newman or something nuts. But yeah, I had a strange childhood.

[Pashi]

Guys, where would you. Would you take the helicopter from point A to point B. Or was it just, let's go up in the helicopter for a ride?

[Josh Gad]

No, I remember he took us to the mines.

[Pashi]

Okay.

[Josh Gad]

So we. He took us to, like, go see the emerald mines. And that was also terrifying because they were like, I.

[Pashi]

Like, he just needs smaller people and.

[Sufi]

God.

[Josh Gad]

Whoa.

[Pashi]

While you're here, since we're here. Yeah. Crawl in that tiny hole.

[Sufi]

Put this headlamp on.

[Pashi]

Put this headlamp on. Go to that tiny hole, and when you find green stuff, if you find anything that's green and glowy, put it in your sack. And if you see anybody who looks like a police officer, you don't speak, make sure they know you don't speak Spanish. What a life. My God.

[Sufi]

If you find green rocks, will give you a little green egg with a toy inside.

[Pashi]

That's a fair truth.

[Josh Gad]

This is why when people are like, what made you decide to write a book? I was like, oh, there's just. Wait. There's so much crazy shit you don't know about.

[Pashi]

This is so. This is fascinating. You have a memoir that's coming out in January. What's the name of your memoir? Josh?

[Josh Gad]

In GAD We Trust.

[Pashi]

In GAD We Trust. And I'm also. I mean, again, I would be fascinated to read your memoir if and only if it talked about your career on stage in front of the camera. And now I totally get it. I'm like, oh, my God, this is going to fill out. You probably won't even get to Book of Mormon.

[Josh Gad]

No, it's.

[Pashi]

It's.

[Josh Gad]

It's like. It's like Jewish narcos. Like, it.

[Pashi]

There's.

[Josh Gad]

It's wild. Like, there's a very weird sort of, like, backstory to how I got here that nobody knows. And that, even for me me was, like, shocking in its. In the things I didn't know until I started researching.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

And just going back into the dark hole of my childhood. But the one fond memory. And I talk about this in my book, and it's. I mean, it's really strange in terms of, like, how it all played out. But, like, post the divorce, my happy place was Disney, because that's where my dad would come home. And he would come, like, once every six months, and he would take me to Disney as, like, a father, son bonding thing. And in my mind, that was, like, that represented the love that my father had for me and, like, our relationship. And it's. It's just very fascinating that, like, now my name is synonymous with that brand.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

But I talk a Lot about that in the book. And just in terms of, like, we talk about travel on this. It was. That was a very significant, like, experience where, like, that was. That was it. The time I spent with my father was traveling to Disney and driving back. And, like, that would be the extent of our bonding.

[Pashi]

And that, I guess at that point, your older brothers are. That's not his bonding with them. So it was just unique.

[Josh Gad]

They're in college, they're at uf, they're done.

[Pashi]

Gotcha.

[Josh Gad]

And I was. Because of the age gap, they got to grow up with the full family intact. I got the, you know, the broken shards.

[Pashi]

How is your dad? Is your dad still around?

[Josh Gad]

My dad is still around.

[Pashi]

Are you guys close?

[Josh Gad]

I hadn't spoken to him. I hadn't seen him in 20 years.

[Sufi]

Wow.

[Josh Gad]

I saw him in college and then a couple of years back, I started talking with him again, but, like, very much on my own terms. And during Gutenberg, the musical I did with.

[Pashi]

This is very recent, very recent.

[Josh Gad]

I get a call and it's my father. And he says, I saw that. You're on Broadway. I'm in New Jersey. Can I come see it? And I realized my father's never seen me on stage before. He never saw me in Book of Mormon. Never saw me even as a kid, never saw me do stage. I have the most incredible mother who did everything. She was like the most badass single mom, an amazing stepdad. But my dad wasn't really a part of the picture in that way. So I said to him, yeah, you can come, but just you. I don't want, like, your new children, whatever is going on in your life, and why don't you spend the night and let's catch up. And so he comes, he sees the show, and we had like a six hour, sort of, you know, sitting down together, getting to sort of reacquaint ourselves. And it was hard. It was heartbreaking. It was profound. It was at times beautiful and necessary. And he left the next morning, and I don't know if I'll see him again, but, like, that was. It was a really. It was a really important thing that I think I didn't even realize how much I needed to close that chapter.

[Sufi]

Yeah, I can't imagine how much you get out of something like that. Just the curiosity that gets satisfied. And. Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

Now, having said all that. Having said all that, the guy could not have been more fucking confused. At Gutenberg, the Musical, English is not his first language, and he was lost. He loved, loved seeing his son on stage, but Was like, what's happening how?

[Pashi]

But so what was he speaking when you were growing up? Was he speaking my dad?

[Josh Gad]

So my. This is crazy. My dad is a Jew, born in Afghanistan.

[Pashi]

Gotcha. By the way, not every detail more crazier than Last Love. Everything about this story isn't this.

[Josh Gad]

I know. Yeah, this is. This is what my book is about. It's insane. So my dad was an Afghani Jew, had to flee at the age of 13. Growing up, he spoke a mix of Farsi and Hebrew. And so like, English was like his third language. So he always spoke English in the house. But it was always like, you know, difficult at best. But he's this gregarious, larger than life man. And he's just like loving and arresting and like, I got that side of him and not the bad side.

[Pashi]

Not like shitty stuff, I would imagine over the course. First of all, it's interesting that you said how that long conversation was to close a chapter which, as opposed to like, start a new one. And I think that's really. It must be very good to know what the purpose of that was for you as opposed to worrying about what it was for him. I also imagine that's a six hour conversation where you're constantly assessing how it's going, you know, like, you must both be in it and also watching it from the outside a little bit.

[Josh Gad]

I can't emphasize enough how true that was. I did feel like I was outside of my body, assessing not only the moment that was happening in front of me, but everything that led up to the moment happening in front of me, like, reverting back to my childhood. A lot of regrets. A lot of, like, regrets. Meaning, like, this is a man who's my biological father, who has no relationship to my children, no relationship to the events of how I got here, of how I'm now where I am in my career. No relationship to it. He's a voyeur at this point. He's a fan. He's somebody who knows me as well as my fans do as an adult. Does that make sense?

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

And that's very vulnerable to then like, let your guard down and be intimate and be like open and be honest. And it was really scary. A part of it is because I also don't know this version of this man. Similarly, I haven't been a part of his life for 20 years. You know, he has three new children that I don't know and don't really care to know. And so in many ways it was like reconnecting with a stranger.

[Sufi]

And now we're going to take a quick break to hear from one of our sponsors.

[Pashi]

Hey, Pashi.

[Sufi]

Yes, Sufi?

[Pashi]

You know what I love when I'm watching football?

[Sufi]

What's up?

[Pashi]

Touchdown TD A Teddy. Taking it to the house.

[Sufi]

Mm.

[Pashi]

What do you. What is your favorite way to say touchdown?

[Josh Gad]

Touchdown.

[Pashi]

You know what I call it?

[Sufi]

What's that?

[Pashi]

Ted Danson td.

[Sufi]

Oh, not bad.

[Pashi]

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[Sufi]

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[Pashi]

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[Sufi]

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[Pashi]

For additional terms and responsible gaming resources. C DKNG CO FT Ball NFL + premium offer available only to new and former NFL + subscribers. Additional NFL + premium terms at NFL. And you know what's really exciting about the Steelers?

[Sufi]

What's that, Sufi?

[Pashi]

They don't score touchdowns. They just win football games.

[Sufi]

Yeah, not bad.

[Pashi]

It works.

[Josh Gad]

Here we go.

[Pashi]

Hey, friends. Ted Danson here, and I want to.

[Sufi]

Let you know about my new podcast. It's called Where Everybody Knows yous Name with Me, Ted Danson, and Woody Harrelson. Sometimes doing this podcast is a chance.

[Pashi]

For me and my good buddy Woody.

[Sufi]

To reconnect after cheers wrapped 30 years ago.

[Pashi]

Plus, we're introducing each other to the.

[Sufi]

Friends we've met since, like Jane Fonda, Conan O'Brien, Eric Andre, Mary Steenbergen, my wife, and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And trust me, it's always A great hang when Woody's there.

[Pashi]

So why wait? Listen to where everybody knows your name.

[Sufi]

Wherever you get your podcasts.

[Josh Gad]

Here it goes.

[Sufi]

How old were you when your mom got remarried and you got also. And like, and the stepbrother and stepsister, where do they fall for you in terms of ages?

[Josh Gad]

So the stepbrother was a byproduct of my father having another family while we were his family. Okay, so like after my parents got divorced, one day he takes me to a hotel room and literally is like, surprise. And I meet like a two year old. That's my brother, which completely traumatized.

[Pashi]

He should have put that baby in a green eggs and been like, open up the eggs.

[Josh Gad]

100%. And my stepdad, Stanley came into my life when I was around 8 years old and completely turned my life upside down. Like, he represented like everything I didn't even know I had longed for in a father figure. And like, whereas we were doing vacations to like Vegas and like all of these other places, Stan grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida. And so like, his idea of a vacation was a houseboat in the Everglades. So I started having all new experiences that opened my eyes to just a different way of life. And his approach was just love and smothering me with affection. And it was, it was like beautiful. It was incredible.

[Pashi]

It's amazing. That's such a wonderful thing to step into a life.

[Josh Gad]

It's amazing.

[Pashi]

Have a kid and be able to do that. And did he have a kid at that point? Did he come with one?

[Josh Gad]

So he, he, he had been divorced, so his daughter Monica became my stepsister. And she's incredible. And so once my brothers were in college, we started traveling together. We started becoming like a family. And I sort of got like time back a little bit because of it.

[Sufi]

Yeah. What's a houseboat like in the Everglades?

[Josh Gad]

Oh, this is crazy. So in 1992, we took this trip where we took a houseboat and we went like down the coast and we stopped at like clear water springs, which as it sounds, it's like this beautiful pristine body of water you can see like down to the bottom at night. We would tie the boat to like mangrove trees and you would just see eyes lighting up all over the water because there were just gators everywhere. But on the trip, my parents had said, no tv, we're not going to do any tv. And one day I was like, I said to my stepsister, I was like, you know, I'm done playing Scrabble for like the 50th time, let's turn on the TV. Like, I just want to see what's on. Turn on the TV. Category 5 hurricane bearing down on Hollywood, Florida, which is where I'm from. So there was a hurricane called Andrew that.

[Sufi]

Yeah, I remember Andrew.

[Josh Gad]

And because we were on this boat, we had no idea that the hurricane was two days away from hitting. So we turned the boat around, we start going back to the port, we get in the car, and we're driving back to Hollywood. And at the time, the hurricane was literally supposed to go over Broward county, which is where I lived. And as we're driving down, we see everybody's driving north, and we're like, what the hell are we doing? So we instead decided to go to Universal Studios and chill in Orlando as we, like, left the rest up to fate. And the hurricane notoriously ended up shifting and going over Homestead, which is like Miami Dade. And it was one of the most destructive hurricanes in history. But that was. That was our experience during Matt.

[Sufi]

If you had been on the water, like, kind of game over.

[Josh Gad]

I know. So next time your child says, I think it's time to watch tv, it's probably pay attention.

[Pashi]

I was in Hollywood, Florida, last summer.

[Josh Gad]

I'm so sorry to hear that.

[Pashi]

Got to explain what happened. You might remember there was a writer strike, Josh.

[Josh Gad]

Yes, I did.

[Pashi]

And I called my agent and I said, get me any gig you can get me. And he said, I got good.

[Josh Gad]

Wait, wait. Can I predict where this is going, please? Does it involve a hotel with a giant guitar in front of it?

[Pashi]

Would you believe it? Does.

[Josh Gad]

Does it involve the words hard and rock?

[Pashi]

It does.

[Josh Gad]

Go on.

[Pashi]

I mean, it was the dream, man. I got to do in August, which is when you want to be in Hollywood, Florida.

[Josh Gad]

I don't need to tell you I.

[Pashi]

Got to do Hollywood, Florida. And then the next day, I got to do Tampa and where my brother lives. Yeah, that's the twofer.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah, I saw. I saw. Who did I see down there? I saw Pete Davidson and I saw the same show, John Mulaney, a couple of years back.

[Pashi]

Yeah, they were down there.

[Josh Gad]

My buddies and I, we were getting. We were having a high school reunion, and we were like, let's just stay at the Hard Rock Casino.

[Pashi]

I should note, I want to stress great crowds. Both places.

[Josh Gad]

Great crowds.

[Pashi]

Yeah. Very fun times. I will. I was to get from Hollywood to Tampa. You know, it's ultimately, you know. You know, based on when you get to the airport. I was like, I'll just drive. You know, it's four Hour drive. Not, I would say, if you're looking for the prettiest part of Florida, it is not the straight line.

[Josh Gad]

Just. Just call me next time, man.

[Sufi]

I will.

[Josh Gad]

I'll just walk you through it. I'll just walk you through it.

[Pashi]

It might have been better to walk.

[Josh Gad]

Did you take Alligator Alley?

[Pashi]

I believe based on the number I saw, uh huh.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah. Yeah. It's a tough drive.

[Pashi]

That is a tough one. That's. And so were your. So your mom, you talked about her being an incredible single mom. And obviously the two of you had a lot of time where it was just the two of you before.

[Josh Gad]

A lot of time where it was just the two of us.

[Pashi]

She must have, I would guess, be an incredibly supportive of your performing career.

[Josh Gad]

To an extent that's almost unnatural. Like when about three years out of Carnegie Mellon drama, I was ready to call it quits. I was just sort of like struggling to like, break in. I couldn't get arrested. I had a dream of being on snl and I kept sending in tapes and like, every time Ayala Cohen would get a tape, she'd be like, oh, this guy again. So, like, I never, I just could never break through. And I don't know why I decided to go from like four years of training in the conservatory to thinking I would get on snl. But so like, I had just kind of like shit away three years and I call up my mind, met my girlfriend who would then become my wife. And I was like, you know what? I think I want to settle down. I'm tired of struggling. I want to be responsible. So I said to my mom, I'm going to apply to law school. I'm gonna like, I'm gonna like my brothers, I'm gonna go to law school. I'm gonna get serious about, like, you know, being an actual professional. And she starts crying. And I was like, why are you crying? What Jewish mother isn't like, thrilled that their son is telling them they're going to law school? And she says, I'm disappointed in you. I said, why? Because you've spent 15 years dreaming of becoming an actor and only three years trying to live out that dream. And I think that's an act of cowardice. I mean, I was like, what mother says that to their child? So she was beyond supportive. And then a month later, I got my big break on Broadway, which I wouldn't have even put myself out for had it not been for her.

[Pashi]

Is that, is. Is Mormon the first?

[Josh Gad]

No, it was a show called the 25th Annual Putnam county spelling, of course.

[Pashi]

Of course.

[Sufi]

Of course.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah. In 2005.

[Pashi]

And then. What year is a Book of Mormon?

[Josh Gad]

Mormon was about five years later in 2010. 2011. I had. I had been like, after spelling bee, I had been doing, like, working nonstop, but I wasn't creatively satisfied at all.

[Pashi]

You've done a lot of movies in the break between the two.

[Josh Gad]

I did, like. I did a movie called 21. I did a movie called the Rocker. I did a TV show called Back to youo.

[Pashi]

I was working the Rocker. A deeply packed cast. Let me know.

[Josh Gad]

It's insane.

[Pashi]

It's insane.

[Josh Gad]

Bradley fucking Cooper. Will Arnett Sudeikis. Fred Armisen. It's an Emma Stone. It's a movie.

[Pashi]

Emma Stone. That's what I thought I was. Yeah. Ran that Rainbows. Yeah, it's good.

[Josh Gad]

It's crazy. Also, the movie that brought down a.

[Pashi]

Mini studio, weirdly, when you look at it, you're like. And it must have been great. You're like, well, movies are hard. What happens is, movies are hard.

[Josh Gad]

Do you know who randomly talked about it being his favorite movie? This is going to be.

[Pashi]

I can't wait.

[Josh Gad]

Weirdest. James Gandolfini, God bless his soul, did a New York Times interview that Rain sent me where he was, asked what his favorite movie was, and he said, hands down, the Rocker. My son and I watched that movie nonstop. In a way, it made me lose a little respect for James Ganderfini.

[Pashi]

I want to believe that. Later he said to his son, what's that movie we always watch? And his son's like the Godfather. He's like, oh, I thought it was called the Rocker. I just did an interview that really says something when you. When somebody likes your work and it makes you lose respect for them.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah, like 100%. Yeah. So I was kind of, like, just looking for something different. And I get a call one day from Bobby Lopez, who had written a musical called Avenue Q. And he's like, I'm working with the south park guys on this new show about Mormons, and we would love for you to do a reading of it in New York. This is like 2007. And I said, okay, great. And I'm thinking to myself, like, it must be like that south park episode about Mormons. Like, dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum. So I was like, I'm thinking, they want me to play, like, a live action version of Cartman. I have no idea what the hell it is. And they send me the music, and I start Listening to it. And the first song is hello. And I'm like, this is genius. The second song is Two by two. And I'm like, okay, this is brilliant. And then I get to this song that is like a take on Hakuna Matata. That is the foulest shit I've ever heard in my life.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Josh Gad]

And I called my agent. I was like, I can't do this. And he's like, why? I'm like, I will get assassinated by anybody who is like a God fearing human being. And I, you know, I took a flyer on it and I came to New York and I just remember white knuckling it as we were doing that part of the musical. And at first there was just like an audible gasp. And then, like, slowly I remember one person laughing. And then, like, it invited everybody to start laughing. And then for the next three years, we workshopped it. And then in 2010, we opened on Broadway and the rest was history.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Was it Hasidiba Ebowai?

[Josh Gad]

Is that the Hasidi bei Hasidi boy.

[Sufi]

It's like a good musical. You leave and you, like, remember things about it. But that I can remember, a made up word is like is just sort of a testament to how good that musical was. And we saw it with you and Rannells. We saw the original Broadway comedy.

[Pashi]

And I was. I had seen it. And Josh, you know, doesn't live in New York, and he was visiting, and I don't think I've. I can't remember the last thing I've seen twice. But I was like, I didn't just want Josh to see it. I wanted to see him see it. Yeah, that's the kind of show it was.

[Sufi]

It's so good.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah, it was. It was. It was unbelievable. And the fact that it's still running 14 years later, I'm going to be honest, I thought we were going to close in three weeks. Yeah, I genuinely was like, we're going to close. And I'll tell you a quick anecdote. As we were. As we were in the second or third preview, I pull Matt Stone aside and I go, all right, I gotta ask, is it possible to maybe lose one of the fucking. The babies in the ass, like, lines? And he's like, why? And I go, I just think it's making people uncomfortable. Like, I'm watching them. I'm on stage watching them watch us. And he goes, you're right. You're absolutely right. And I'm like, oh, thank God. And he says, we gotta add more. I was like, what? That's not what I was saying. He's like, no, we gotta add more. And I was like, are you being serious? He's like, 100%. I'm like, why would we add more? He goes, because if the audience is still uncomfortable, that means we have them. Haven't walked them far enough down the line with us so that we break their discomfort and make them feel comfortable with it. And it was such a brilliant lesson in comedy. My God, like, it was profound. Where I was like, oh, that's. Yeah. And it's why they're, I mean, I think the best satirist of the. Of the last 40 years. Like, they're just. They understand it in a way that like, is just like next level.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

Did you. Only because you mentioned Carnegie Mellon and our dads from the burg. Did you enjoy your time in the.

[Josh Gad]

Berg obsessed, great, most underrated city in the country, by the way.

[Pashi]

If we answer. If the answer had been different, we would have edited it out.

[Josh Gad]

It doesn't have to be different. I. We love the bird Pittsburgh. I don't love the dialect. It's the craziest thing you'll ever hear.

[Pashi]

It's the craziest thing.

[Josh Gad]

Yean scan downtown and all that.

[Pashi]

What was the Kate Winsledge Philly show? Mayor of Eastown.

[Josh Gad]

Oh, yeah.

[Pashi]

I once said a joke that the accent in that or should the Pittsburgh accent makes that sound like the crown.

[Josh Gad]

100%. It's the strangest dialect I've ever.

[Pashi]

But the best for us is we go to go to a Steelers game every year. And that's when the dialect is like in full, you know, full effect.

[Josh Gad]

And it is, you know, that they closed the. They closed the O. Yeah, yeah.

[Sufi]

The original. That was the original hot dog place. Best hot dogs in the world.

[Pashi]

I'm so happy. You know, that was like the price. Worst thing. I mean, outside of the worst thing, one of the true prices of COVID for us is the O did not survive Covid.

[Josh Gad]

No. But Permani brothers did. And in fact, during COVID I ordered Permani brothers sandwiches through Gold Belly and had them shipped to my house and would make it for friends to keep that place afloat.

[Pashi]

The O for the sadly uninformed was the greatest hot dog restaurant in America.

[Josh Gad]

The greatest and the great. And I think they had the greatest French fries as well. And, you know, students who went to either Carnegie Mellon or up literally lived on the O. Yeah, I don't even know what it would be like now without it there.

[Sufi]

Our dad's friend Denny has restaurants and he tried to get like, whoever made the hot dogs for the O. He called and he was like, hey, I want to, you know, sell these. And they were like, no, it's like it's a secret. And like, you can't. So whoever made them.

[Pashi]

Yeah, that's it. You'll never have them again. You'll never have them again.

[Sufi]

I mean, I'm sure someone's sitting on that recipe and they'll.

[Josh Gad]

It's so depressing.

[Sufi]

Reveal it again somewhere.

[Pashi]

It's called the original, but everybody calls it the O or the dirty O or the dirty O. I did stand up in Pittsburgh once and I said they also called the O because that's its health board grade. I mean, we. This is just absolutely been the best. Josh, I'm so excited.

[Josh Gad]

I love you guys.

[Pashi]

For your book in Gad We Trust is a fantastic title. I will also offer that when it comes out in paperback, you should call it Jewish Narcos.

[Josh Gad]

Because I do think, by the way. Yeah, absolutely.

[Pashi]

Ever since you said Jewish Narcos, I'm like, oh, my God. That is either the best or funniest show that will ever be on television.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah. I mean, essentially it's uncut gems, isn't it? That is sort of Jewish Narcos, but it's 100% right. And also quickly, I want to plug my children's book, which is coming.

[Pashi]

Oh, yes, please. Look, Picture face, Lizzy.

[Josh Gad]

Picture face Lizzie.

[Sufi]

Picture face, Lizzie. I read it yesterday.

[Josh Gad]

Did you like it?

[Sufi]

I did. I liked it a lot. Yeah. I will say when they were like, hey, Josh is going to come on the pod. Do you want a copy of his book? And I was like, I'm not going to have time to read his book. But like, yeah, send it over. And then it arrived and it was a children's book. And I was like, oh, yeah, I got it.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah, it's.

[Sufi]

I'm going to sit down right now. Read it.

[Josh Gad]

Seth, you were asking me earlier about like my kids relationship to technology and that was the foundation for writing this kid's book. Great is, you know, I think that like, it's really. It's a discussion that we don't have with them a lot. And I wanted to write something from their point of view that also spoke to like the power of imagination versus the power of technology. And it's amazing. And like talking to so many parents, how many people are like dealing with that right now of just trying to get their kids to hang on as long as they can to tactile play. That doesn't involve just, like, being up. Like, it makes me so happy that your kids are coming in not for their iPad, but for their Legos.

[Pashi]

Yeah, no, they came in and they had a full Disney star on the zoom screen, and they couldn't care less.

[Sufi]

They don't know. They can't process that.

[Josh Gad]

Your youngest buzzcut kid couldn't give a shit.

[Sufi]

No.

[Josh Gad]

He's like, oh, Frozen. Yeah. No, I want Lego. Yeah.

[Pashi]

All right, before we let you go, we have a quick series of questions we ask all our guests, and Josh is going to take the lead.

[Josh Gad]

Great.

[Sufi]

All right, you can only pick one of these. Is your ideal vacation relaxing, adventurous, or educational?

[Josh Gad]

Adventurous, hands down.

[Sufi]

What is your favorite means of transportation? Train, plane, automobile, boat, bike, walking, monorail.

[Josh Gad]

I love driving when I go places I don't. I also love renting a boat. So, like, I think if I'm traveling, like, someplace where I can drive, it's. It's driving.

[Pashi]

Great.

[Sufi]

This one gets a little trickier. If you could take a vacation with any family, alive or dead, real or fictional, other than your own family, what family would you like to take a vacation with?

[Josh Gad]

I want to go with the Myers clan.

[Pashi]

You guys, good pick.

[Sufi]

Love to have you.

[Josh Gad]

I want to go with Papa Myers and, like, bond over Pittsburgh.

[Sufi]

Yeah, I mean, love it.

[Pashi]

I mean, you know, he listens to every episode. I think he had. I think he valued you very highly, but you just shot up the charts.

[Josh Gad]

Great. Done. Let's do. Let's plan the trip.

[Sufi]

If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one member of your family, who would it be?

[Josh Gad]

My. Probably my youngest, Izzy. She's the funniest human being I know, but she's also, like, really resourceful. So, like, I think, like, she could probably do more to help me survive than I could.

[Sufi]

Okay, great.

[Pashi]

Funny and resourceful.

[Sufi]

And I feel like just the way you've answered some questions, I feel like I know the answer to this. But you're from Hollywood, Florida. Would you recommend Hollywood, Florida, as a vacation destination?

[Josh Gad]

Oh, God. You know what? All joking aside, I would. It's actually a great place. I appreciated growing up there. Maybe, you know, stay away from the Hard Rock Casino because it can get very packed and smoky. Great place, too.

[Sufi]

But you could see Seth Meyers do stuff.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah, but we have great beaches, great food. Yeah. Go down to Hollywood.

[Sufi]

Great. And then Seth has our final questions.

[Pashi]

Josh, have you been to the Grand Canyon?

[Josh Gad]

Yes, many times.

[Pashi]

Is it worth it?

[Josh Gad]

It's 100% worth it, Seth. But I'm going to tell you something great. I went. We did a Route 66 trip with the family last year. I decided that we were going to walk down the canyon, and we did it. But what that means is that you then have to walk back up the canyon.

[Pashi]

Right, right, right. And a lot of people don't need to actually do a canyon to remember that.

[Josh Gad]

That's about as close to dying as I think I've ever come.

[Pashi]

Wait, with your kids?

[Josh Gad]

Well, it was the sheer amount of difficulty breathing that I thought was going to end me. So my kids were, like, just brightly running back up. I could not catch my breath. I was like. I was literally like. There got to a point where I was like, leave me here. It's okay. Go on without me. You guys have everything you need? Yeah, it was awful going back up that thing.

[Pashi]

Well, all right. That's a good cautionary tale.

[Sufi]

We have a friend that we've spoken to from the Grand Canyon Conservancy, and her line is that hiking down is optional. Hiking back up is mandatory.

[Josh Gad]

Yeah, it's. Yeah, I'll take a donkey next time, I think.

[Pashi]

Okay.

[Sufi]

There you go.

[Pashi]

This is fantastic. Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it.

[Sufi]

Feel better.

[Josh Gad]

Sorry I have no voice.

[Sufi]

No, you're great.

[Josh Gad]

Usually a useful commodity in podcasts, but adore you guys. Let's open. Let's open Green Eggs together.

[Pashi]

All right.

[Sufi]

Wait until the next time.

[Pashi]

All right, bye.

[Sufi]

Thank you, Josh.

[Pashi]

Thank you.

[Sufi]

School's out for vacation. Josh's friends, they boarded a claim to the Caribbean. Josh stayed in Florida, called it a staycation. Thought he'd get some tourists everywhere acting like they own the sand. Tried boardwalk and baseball. It really missed the mark, but nothing.

[Pashi]

Really bites like the alligator park.

[Sufi]

Sometimes they stared at the Marriott, but other times they'd hit a real cool spot. Everyone out there knows Disney. Do they know the contemporary? When Josh was little, he was super into it. It's got a monorail that goes running straight through it. From there, it's all aboard and away you go. Checking out some rides that go real slow. Questions about the future will all be explained. You won't be educated, you'll be eduto games. Don't act the fool. It's so freaking cool. Dinosaurs are fossil fuel. Joshua to Epcot, he says that it's the spot Josh went to Epcot Better than a Vegas slot. Josh went to have got Might be a chevron plot. Josh went to have got what the bomb look like.