Owen Smith - Episode 1105

Summary

Fitzdog Radio: Owen Smith - Episode 1105 Summary

Release Date: July 23, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode 1105 of Fitzdog Radio, host Greg Fitzsimmons welcomes stand-up comedian, writer, showrunner, and podcaster Owen Smith. The episode offers an in-depth conversation about Owen's journey in the comedy industry, his experiences on stage, interactions with renowned comedians, and insights into his new podcast, "Good Luck Everybody". Additionally, Owen discusses his role in creating the TV show "Crutch" with Tracy Morgan.

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Comedy Beginnings and Early Experiences

Owen Smith shares his unconventional entry into the comedy scene, starting in the early 1990s after a stint at Notre Dame. His initial foray involved performing at local comedy clubs in Prince George's County, Maryland, where he navigated his first open mic nights.

Owen Smith [05:09]: "So I first entered the porn industry." (Note: Likely a humorous misstatement to segue into his actual comedy beginnings.)

Greg and Owen reminisce about their early days, highlighting the challenges of performing without a built-in support system.

Greg Fitzsimmons [21:08]: "It's not my genuine self."

Owen Smith [21:35]: "Absolutely. Yeah."

Owen recounts his first performance at a comedy club where he didn't have anyone familiar in the audience, leading to a self-conscious experience. Despite initial setbacks, including not being called to perform despite signing up, Owen persisted and eventually earned applause and positive feedback from fellow comedians.

Owen Smith [30:56]: "That's amazing. Cause you talk about comics being generous and supportive."

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Navigating Diverse Audiences

A significant portion of the discussion centers on performing for different audiences, particularly contrasting experiences in predominantly white clubs versus black clubs. Owen emphasizes the importance of humility and authenticity when engaging with diverse crowds.

Owen Smith [41:43]: "There's one difference between black people and white people in this one word. Expectations."

Greg Fitzsimmons [42:08]: "And then they're fine, you know, and not only fine, like, you will never get as much love and excitement."

Owen highlights how expectations shape audience reactions, noting that black audiences often approach comedy with a protective skepticism, making genuine and relatable humor crucial. He contrasts this with white audiences who enter with the expectation of being entertained.

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Mentorship and Influential Figures

Owen discusses the pivotal role mentors played in his career, notably his relationship with Bernie Mac. He describes Bernie Mac as a mentor who provided invaluable guidance and support, helping Owen navigate the complexities of the comedy industry.

Owen Smith [49:39]: "Could not believe how much Bernie saw."

Greg Fitzsimmons [51:50]: "You must have started to build a little name for yourself doing that show every week."

Bernie Mac's influence extended beyond mentorship, as he personally engaged with Owen's family, fostering a supportive environment that bolstered Owen's confidence both on and off the stage.

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Balancing Personal Life and Comedy

The conversation delves into the challenges comedians face in balancing their professional and personal lives. Owen reflects on how open performances, especially in front of family members, impact his sense of self and authenticity.

Owen Smith [16:36]: "You brought your two worlds together."

Greg Fitzsimmons [25:31]: "That's amazing. Cause you were the showrunner on the."

Owen shares a poignant moment where performing stand-up in front of his mother led to a deeper understanding and appreciation of his comedic persona versus his genuine self. This balance between stage character and real-life persona is a recurring theme throughout the episode.

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Development of "Good Luck Everybody" Podcast

Owen introduces his new podcast, "Good Luck Everybody," detailing its unique approach to blending humor with cultural analysis. Unlike traditional podcasts, Owen aims to infuse his comedic insights into topics like humility, cultural phenomena, and the pervasive influence of social media.

Owen Smith [56:04]: "I'm gonna do a funnier version of what Malcolm Gladwell does with stuff that I'm interested in."

The podcast seeks to engage listeners by taking deep dives into subjects, offering fresh perspectives interspersed with humor. Owen aspires to create content that is both entertaining and thought-provoking, setting his podcast apart in the crowded media landscape.

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Creating the TV Show "Crutch"

Towards the end of the episode, Owen shares exciting news about his involvement in creating the TV show "Crutch" alongside Tracy Morgan. He discusses the show's premise, character dynamics, and the collaborative process with Tracy Morgan and Jermaine Fowler.

Owen Smith [70:26]: "So I was able to develop what I created, which is Crutch."

"Crutch" is envisioned as a modern-day sitcom with built-in conflict, drawing inspiration from classic shows like "Family Ties." The show explores the relationship between Tracy Morgan's character and his son, highlighting generational and cultural clashes in a comedic setting.

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Notable Quotes and Highlights

• Owen Smith [08:05]: "So if you're going to cheat, you need to take an acting class."

• Owen Smith [16:38]: "Keep them separate as, as artists and."

• Owen Smith [41:43]: "There's one difference between black people and white people in this one word. Expectations."

• Owen Smith [56:04]: "I'm gonna do a funnier version of what Malcolm Gladwell does with stuff that I'm interested in."

• Owen Smith [70:28]: "So I was able to develop what I created, which is Crutch."

These quotes encapsulate the humor, introspection, and critical insights that define Owen's comedic and professional ethos.

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Conclusion and Future Endeavors

The episode concludes with mutual encouragement as Greg and Owen discuss promoting each other's projects. Owen expresses gratitude for the support and shares his plans to continue expanding his comedic repertoire through his podcast and upcoming TV show.

Greg Fitzsimmons [87:54]: "But no website. So I won't promote that."

Owen Smith [87:56]: "It's splicit.com."

Their camaraderie underscores the supportive network within the comedy community, highlighting the importance of mentorship and collaboration in personal and professional growth.

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Final Thoughts

Episode 1105 of Fitzdog Radio offers listeners a comprehensive look into Owen Smith's multifaceted career in comedy. From his humble beginnings and the mentors who shaped him, to his current projects aimed at blending humor with cultural discourse, Owen provides valuable insights and entertaining anecdotes. The episode serves as both an inspiration and a testament to the resilience and adaptability required in the ever-evolving landscape of comedy.

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Tune in to Fitzdog Radio and subscribe to "Good Luck Everybody" on all major platforms to stay updated with Owen Smith's latest endeavors!

Transcript

[Owen Smith]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

With the price of just about everything going up, we thought we'd bring our prices down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a.

[Owen Smith]

Thing Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium wireless. Better get 30, 30. Better get 30. Better get 20, 20, 20. Better get 20, 20. Everybody get 15, 15, 15, 15. Just 15 bucks a month. Sold.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment.

[Owen Smith]

Of $45 or three month plan equivalent to $15 per month. Required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of network's busy taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com exhale.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Feel your body relax and let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry.

[Owen Smith]

That I wouldn't get my new contacts.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

In time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts. Oh my gosh, they're so fast. And breathe. Oh, sorry.

[Owen Smith]

I almost couldn't breathe when I saw.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

The discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order. 1-800-contacts.

[Owen Smith]

Pro Savings Day's door buster deals are on at Lowes. Mylo's Pro Rewards members save an additional $120 on a GE 21.9 cubic foot top freezer refrigerator. Plus members save $70 on a Bosch hammer drill. Now only $99. Not a pro Rewards member join for free today. Lowes we help you save valid through 723 while supplies last selection varies by location. Loyalty programs subject to terms and conditions. Seeloes.com terms for details subject to change Foreign.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Hey now. Welcome to Fitz Dog Radio. I am your stuffed up host. My nose is congested. I slept about four hours last night. I'm dog sitting for my buddy Mikey Fitzgibbon, who rescued a dog from Tom o', Neill, who rescued the dog and he needed me to babysit for the night. Great dog. Beautiful, well behaved, doesn't bark, doesn't hump other dogs, doesn't lick its own vagina. It's pleasant, doesn't smell. So I said, yeah, let me take the dog for the night. He's like, oh, she's a piece of cake. She'll just sleep, you know, no hassle. So we go to bed and then at 5am, I hear noises inside. So I wake up and I go inside and the dog has torn apart the ottoman. There's stuffing all over the living room. She got into the yarn. That's Ripped up all over the room. Giant shit on the rug, piss on another part of the rug. And is one of the. And she knew, she knew. Called her over to me and she just ran. And I thought, you know, we had, we had dogs for 16 years. Beautiful, cute little dogs and loved the shit out of them. But they've been gone for two years and I gotta tell you, it's nice not having dogs. They. I'm exhausted. I'm so fucking tired. All I want to go to do is go to sleep, but I got to keep walking this dog anyway. Sometimes they say this show needs no introduction. Well, guess what? This show needs no introduction. I just had a great talk with my buddy Owen Smith. And yeah, we just, we just got into it. We had a great conversation and we recorded it about two hours ago. I am coming to see you people. Batavia, illinois, this weekend. July 25th and 26th at the Comedy Vault. Pottstown, Pennsylvania, at Soljol's. July 31st, Point Pleasant, New Jersey, Uncle Vinny's. August 1st and 2nd, La Jolla at the Comedy Store, August 29th through 31. Then I'm coming to Denver, Connecticut, Fairbanks, Alaska, just announced October 1st through 4, Vegas, Chicago, New Orleans. Go to fitzdog.com, get some tickets, come out, see some live comedy. My guest today, he. He's got a new podcast called Good Luck everybody. He just created a TV show called the Crutch with Tracy Morgan that'll be out on Paramount. Plus this fall he wrote on Blackish, Arsenio Hall Show, Whitney, Everybody Hates Chris, the last og. He's done stand up comedy on Conan Colbert is regular on the Joe Rogan Experience. You're gonna love him as much as I do. Here is Owen Smith.

[Owen Smith]

So I first entered the porn industry.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

My guest is a married man.

[Owen Smith]

Yes.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

A father.

[Owen Smith]

Yes.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Stand up comedian, writer, showrunner, and now podcaster.

[Owen Smith]

There you go. Good luck everybody. Everywhere. Podcaster found whatever.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, way to jump in on it in the early stages there.

[Owen Smith]

Let's get it early, man. In case anybody goes seen enough, right?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

That's like the guy who's like, yeah, yeah, I'm. I had sex with Elizabeth Taylor. And he find out. I was like, yeah, when she was 73.

[Owen Smith]

Hey, man, it works.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

It still works.

[Owen Smith]

Halle Berry still counts. Where is she?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Dude, she does still count.

[Owen Smith]

I'll take dry vag, Hallie right now.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

What?

[Owen Smith]

This isn't how I imagined it, Ally, but okay.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

I mean, it's like she is eating child's DNA. Something's going on with her.

[Owen Smith]

She just doesn't Age gonna skip her. She thought menopause was gonna skip her.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And then she profited off of menopause.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, did she?

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. She has a company now bringing menopause awareness. Oh, I forget the name of it. I would plug it. I don't know the name of it. And she said, with menopause and stuff. Really? I have a theory. I don't think her vagina is dry at all. I think she's. I think her business managers. Because she's paying, like, child support.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

So I think her business managers were like, we figured out a way you could.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

No money back. What it is, is it's like goop. It's actually her vagina juices that you use as lubricant. Because she's that. She's that wet.

[Owen Smith]

She's that wet.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. She just. Every day, it's like milking a cow. She just puts a bottle down there.

[Owen Smith]

She sends it out.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

It's called Halle's Berry.

[Owen Smith]

Ali's Berry. There it is. That's not how you're supposed to use it on. Oh, sorry.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Salad dressing. You can use it for anything.

[Owen Smith]

I lost £20. Thanks. Hallie's Baron. Which camera? Which is my camera. Oh, my God. We got them going. Oh, my God.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, God.

[Owen Smith]

Man. Are we gonna talk about this Coldplay guy as being two married guys?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Well, Coldplay concert.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

I've been to a Coldplay concert, first of all. It's one of the best concerts you can say. I don't know if that's your music, but dig it. Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I would go, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

But what do you think of it? I mean, he's married, she's divorced, she's separated.

[Owen Smith]

Oh, she was separated.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Interesting.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I think he clearly never cheated before. Like, by his response, right. He was like, oh, it's like, I'm faithful, man. That's why I don't cheat. I can't. I would have done the same thing.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

But if you're going to cheat, you need to take an acting class.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

So when you have those moments, you can just stay in it.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

You know? So now you only have to deal with trouble at home.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yes.

[Owen Smith]

The world is on repeat. Your kids are seeing it. The fact that he cowered, all he.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Had to do was just glance away.

[Owen Smith]

Yep.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Let the arms drop and let the camera move on to the next couple.

[Owen Smith]

And where would you learn that?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

That's right.

[Owen Smith]

You're caught. You're busted. But you're not. You're just staying it.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

That's why.

[Owen Smith]

High fiverr.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right. That's why Burt Reynolds, all these great actors, they cheated like crazy and they never got caught.

[Owen Smith]

I call it. They knew how to just stay.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Moment.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yes.

[Owen Smith]

Was that Bert's wife? I don't know.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

He was so good.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. I mean, it was so. Just watching it.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. Oh, my God. It was cringy. It was cringy.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. You can't be a rookie in these streets. My boy who got caught years ago, he said something, he said while he was going through therapy and trying to figure it out, he said, you know, why you always gonna get caught? I go, why? He goes, cause you don't know how you normally act.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

I was like, yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. But your wife does. Your wife sees you.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yep.

[Owen Smith]

She sees how when you. You walk in the house, what. What hook you put your hat on.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yep.

[Owen Smith]

What hand you drinking. Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Whether you kiss her, all that. Whether or not you come home and go, I'm gonna grab a shower, honey. It's like it's three in the afternoon.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. Why are you showering?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

What's going on? Let me smell your boss.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

You smell like Halle Berry.

[Owen Smith]

Smell like any Halle Berries, they got me. Yeah, man.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

That's why dogs do it. They're checking to see if their partner's cheating. Oh, is that what it is? Yeah. They smell the den.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, that's it. Come on now. We went down the street.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Now we at the dog park.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on now. Come on. Get off me now.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

We got a dog wandering around today. Come here.

[Owen Smith]

Cute.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Come up here. Show everybody your face.

[Owen Smith]

Beautiful. He's like, I am in the union. I.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

This is Lexi.

[Owen Smith]

Hey, Lexi.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

She is my friend Mikey Fitzgerald Fitzgibbon's dog.

[Owen Smith]

Oh, wow.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And he had some kind of procedure done, so he asked me to take the dog. And this is a rescue.

[Owen Smith]

Okay.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right off the street, literally, like a rescue.

[Owen Smith]

Wow.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And. But the sweetest, kindest, never barks. So she stayed over my house last night. Took her for a monster walk. We walked 16,000 steps. And then last night before bed, I took her for another long walk.

[Owen Smith]

Seven miles, eight miles.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And then I woke up this morning at 5am I hear noise inside. I come in, she's ripped apart the furniture on the floor, pissed on the rug. And you know that dogs act when they do that shit. They won't come near you.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Every time I come here, she goes like that. Runs to the next room. They know.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. Oh, that's why she's a rescue.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yup, yup.

[Owen Smith]

Well, she put on her Best face for two days.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, I know.

[Owen Smith]

You gotta give her respect for that.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Then she was like, all right, now I gotta show the real me. I mean, tear this couch up.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. This is why we don't. We had dogs for 16 years. Yeah. We had two of them, which was nice because the kids grew up with them.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. And they keep you healthy. They make you walk, they make you. They keep you active, which is necessary.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

I think they're also good for your endorphins. Every time I walk in the door and that dog comes in and greets me.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

I love it.

[Owen Smith]

You know what? I get that from my kids right now.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, yeah, right?

[Owen Smith]

And I was like, man, when I come in, they're like, daddy, Daddy. And I'm like, man, nobody. And my wife just like, yeah, I'll do that when I come home.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, they don't act like that when she comes home.

[Owen Smith]

They do, but she act. Likes to act.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Sometimes I just be like, hey, mom.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

But for me, it's like, daddy's on, dad. I'm like, oh, y' all really putting it on. Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

That just means you're out more. I know, I know.

[Owen Smith]

You know what I did, that horrified me. But it worked out amazingly. So I went to the Improv to perform and I saw an 11 year old, two 11 year olds in the green room. And I go, who are you with? And they said who they were with. And so then I asked the management, I go, we can bring our kids here. They go, yeah, just. Cause I thought because the liquor license.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

We could just there with us.

[Owen Smith]

They could sit up there. It's cool. So I race home and I tell my son, I go, hey, man, you know how you've been wanting to know where daddy's going all the time? You can come with me to the Improv. He was like, bad. Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

He can't wait.

[Owen Smith]

My son is 8. And it grew too. I was like, now I gotta take my daughter too, because she's gonna feel some type of way. She's six. I go, I'll take both of y' all next time I get a spot at the Improv, it balloons to me. Also bringing their cousins. My.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Get out of here.

[Owen Smith]

Taking four, no, four kiddos with me, ages nine, six to nine, right. To the improv.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I am petrified because I'm thinking, what am I going to talk about that? I don't want to scar them, but I don't know what act I'm going to do.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

So what are they going to sit on the steps on the way up to the green room.

[Owen Smith]

They sit on the steps there and they can peer down. Then there's the TV that they can.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, right, right.

[Owen Smith]

And so I'm like, man, when I was nine, I saw Eddie Murphy Delirious and Eddie didn't know I was watching.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, it is that, right?

[Owen Smith]

And it made me want to do stand up.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And so I was like, do I do my act like that or do I. And I. So I called my friend Sakaya and I say, man, I don't know what to do. He goes, I'm coming. I gotta come see this. So he comes and he's like, this is either gonna be. We're witnessing a moment. Either you're about to send your kids to therapy or it'll just be just a wonderful, precious moment, A great memory. And so my kids come in and my daughter loves the green room. First person we see is Al Madrigal. And Al comes in. Perfect. He goes, listen, we're doing a fucking show.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Ah. He said that?

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. He talks to him like an adult. He doesn't even. Cause he just got off stage, I'm assuming. So he was just talking to adult modes. Talking to him like an adult. They didn't blink or anything. He was like, this is the green room. Get whatever you want. Tear it up, get as much as you want. And they were like, yay.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, there's candy in there. This drape. Yeah, great.

[Owen Smith]

And they're jumping up and down on the couch. And then I showed them the main room. My daughter takes to the seat immediately and is peering over and she sees. What's my man's name? I just lost his name. He does the great one liners from New York.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, cool.

[Owen Smith]

Slick back hair, leather jacket. Look. Jeselnik. Jesel.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Nick Anthony Jeselnik. Okay.

[Owen Smith]

Jeslynick's on stage and my daughter's wearing light up shoes. And so he sees the light up shoes and he goes, who the fuck's wearing light up shoes?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

From the stage? You said that?

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, and my daughter is loving it. So then my daughter comes in and she goes, daddy, he talked about my light up shoes. I go, what do you say? He goes, who? The F word has on light up shoes? So I thought that was very cute that she knew not to say the word.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And so I was like, all right. And so then Anthony comes up. I go, sorry, man, I bought my kids.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

First of all, let me. Can I interject here?

[Owen Smith]

Yes, yes.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

There is probably not an act I would less want my kids to see than Anthony Jesseline. It's pedophilia. It's murder.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They stayed for us. They didn't really ingest it. They just saw the environment.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right, right, right.

[Owen Smith]

Taking it in. And then she became the show. So I don't think she heard any of his. So then she runs back in the room, jumping up and down. I go up after Jeselnik and then they all come out and they watch and I see the light up shoes and I just do my act.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

But I don't. But I tell the audience early, I go, look, my kids are here. So I may wince on a few of these punchlines. And they all like when I get off stage and I had a great set and when I get off stage, my son and daughter are jumping up and down. Like when I walk in the house, they're like, daddy. And they gave me the biggest hug and it was the best feeling. It was like the best. Like showbiz could never give me a greater embrace than. Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

You brought your two worlds together.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

That's amazing.

[Owen Smith]

Keep them separate as, as artists and.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. But the thing that's interesting about that is the first time, and I'm sure my kids had seen me on the Internet a little bit, but the first time my son saw me live, he was probably 15 or so. And I was working the Denver Comedy Works, so I flew the family out so we could go skiing after we did Denver Going out to Vail. And so my daughter was too young, so my wife took her out for pizza. My son came to the Comedy Works, which is maybe the best place for your kid to see you do stand up comedy. You play the Denver comedy?

[Owen Smith]

Not yet. I need, I need to.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

It's insane.

[Owen Smith]

I need a plug.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

I'm there in September. I'm going to bring you in.

[Owen Smith]

Okay. I'll have to go. I'm there, man.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

I'm not bringing you with me. I'm going to plug you to the, to the booker.

[Owen Smith]

Thank you.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Because you got a headline. I mean, open for you.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, yeah. I would love to headline that.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Who did the special where she shot footage there?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Kathleen Madigan.

[Owen Smith]

Kathleen. But it was another more Maria Bamford drawing. I'm blanking on names in my tribe.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, I know.

[Owen Smith]

She has the funny voice. She had to show on Netflix for a second. The bushy hair.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, Wolf. Michelle Wolf.

[Owen Smith]

Michelle Wolf. Yeah. Yeah. And I saw it and I just felt in love with it.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, yeah. No, it's, it's, it's gray to back the Seats raise as they go back. It's pie shaped.

[Owen Smith]

That's great.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And the seats are bolted into the ground and they're all facing the stage.

[Owen Smith]

So you have to pay attention.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

You are staring at the stage and they're tight. I don't think fat people can go to the Denver Comedy Works.

[Owen Smith]

Well, Colorado's the most in shape.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, yeah, right, right. So. And you've got these people. Denver has people that are just like. They're cowboys but they're urban. So they're hip and sophisticated. But they also have that woo. Energy and it's just. And then you don't bring an opener. They have a local comedy scene that's so good that they'll put three or four people on ahead of you and they switch the lineup every night. And I've gotten to know some guys really well over the years. Kevin Fitzgerald and these guys kill. So, yes, I'm there in September. I'm going to push you.

[Owen Smith]

Thank you, man. You hooked me up in Barcelona.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, that's right.

[Owen Smith]

That was so fantastic. Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And the amazing thing is we both did it in Spanish. It was a three minute show.

[Owen Smith]

Three minute show. It was so fast. But they gave us the door.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

They gave us the door. But they give me this weird fucking money. I've been trying to use it here in the States and people working me like I'm crazy.

[Owen Smith]

I wouldn't pull it out. Now that sent your ass right back to where that money came from.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

That's right. Just the Spanish word.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

So anyway, I bring him to the Denver Comedy Works.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And he's sitting there and the waitresses who I've known forever, just spoil him. They give him a great table, they're bringing him sodas, they're bringing him chicken wings and. And the opener, he loves the openers. And then I come on and they told me when I got off stage that he was doubled up laughing and wiping tears the entire time. And we walked outside and he goes, dad, that's the funniest hour. And I crushed. You know when you got somebody special in the crowd, you pull, you draw on shit you didn't know you had.

[Owen Smith]

Yes.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And I annihilated. And he goes, that was the funniest hour I've seen in my life. And then he started saying things like, where do you think of your jokes? And stuff like that. But it sounded, this is the weird part, it sounded like a fan all of a sudden because, you know, he was experiencing it like a fan. And it made me really sad because I had this very personal, customized relationship with my son that was based on playing baseball together, building a fort together, reading him books, giving him baths, watching, introducing the TV shows, and all of a sudden he was just like somebody else. And my self esteem is so tied into myself as a performer and I hide behind that. And that's, that's a. That's a mask. I give people. I'm cockier. I was just talking about it before with them is like, you know, there's this sort of ironic, racist, homophobic, middle aged, CIS white guy character going on and like. And it's not really me.

[Owen Smith]

Right.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And my son saw that and he loved it. And it made me sad because I didn't want it to take the place of the real dad a little bit.

[Owen Smith]

How old is your. How old was he when he saw you?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

15. And now he's 24.

[Owen Smith]

Okay.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

But. And now, now they both come out and see me at the clubs a little bit, and I don't like it because. Does that make sense to you?

[Owen Smith]

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

I mean, it's not my genuine self.

[Owen Smith]

Well, you know, you know what's so funny? And it takes us so many years to figure out who our genuine self is up there.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

And the last person you want sitting in the audience is someone that, you know whose butt you wiped. You know, someone who's like. I remember when I first started my family in Asbury Park, New Jersey, My mom's on my mom's side. They all came to see me.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. Was it a decent club?

[Owen Smith]

No, it was a room back then. You know, I was doing rooms.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

So it was some room. And they were sitting and all of them were wearing these glasses that were like, reflecting. Like, I knew my family. I just saw the lenses and I saw their faces of, like, disappointment. Like, that's not like, like, how do I present, how do I talk in front of them when they have this, you know, specific image of me? Because the room was so small, I didn't know how to rise above being Owen to them as opposed to the performer.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

For this crowd. So I did. Okay. Some of my cousins dug it, but some of the. It just didn't. It wasn't until I did Radio City.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

That they were like, in the audience and I was, I had like, this is what I. For me, my. You know, from my perspective.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

But I mean, they've seen me on TV and things. Yeah. So. But yeah, it is. But for my. I get. I can get that from your kids.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Like, my, My mom, she loves me and she's very supportive, but she has a hard time watching me because I talk about fucking my wife in. In detail, Larry. And it just makes her so uncomfortable.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

It makes. Like, it violates. She's a very Catholic.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Person. And she's pretty conservative about what she likes and doesn't like. And I think my comedy is a reaction to that. You know, I think I am the way I am because I grew up with so much shame and so much like, you know, we did not curse if you cursed in my house.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

You got slapped. There was no cursing. There was, you know, no sexuality was allowed to be discussed or shown.

[Owen Smith]

And this is a. This is a movie. We see you growing up in your household.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

None of that stuff. Cut to you hosting the porn awards. Twice. Twice. Come on, man. It's so beautiful. You try to raise a person a certain way.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And they do this other thing and it all works out.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. Yeah, it all works out. Right, right, right.

[Owen Smith]

You know.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. For me, like, I've had people come to me and say, man, you are so funny. And I. I would think, yeah, wait till both my parents are dead. I'm gonna be really so afraid. Like, it's stuff I wanna talk about.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

But.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Well, you're super close to your mom.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was raised by my mom.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

So when I started doing comedy, she didn't really know how to embrace it because that's when she realized our entire life, I was like a permanent. It was like a permanent record. Button was pressed.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

I just, like, absorbed, like, all of her, you know, how she raised me. Because, you know, you first start. You talk about what you. What, you know. And so. But I made it a point. Whenever I talked about my mom in the bit, she would always win in the bit.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. Right.

[Owen Smith]

Never, like, talk, you know.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And so it took a while for her to kind of see that now. She loves it and it's cool, and I love.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And you have her voice down.

[Owen Smith]

Oh, man.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Her voice is very. Yeah, yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I should play something. I just. I just called her to ask her, when did I start comedy? Because I started in night. Every comedian has two answers. Trying to piece together something for my podcast. Good luck, everybody.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, yes. Coming up. We're gonna talk about that later. Don't worry about it. We're gonna plug you.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, yeah. So I'm doing. I was trying to. I started in 1992 in the summer, and it's not a clean way of saying it. I was home for the summer from Notre Dame. So I just did my freshman year at Notre Dame back home in Prince George's County, Maryland for the summer. And my mom got me a job with the Department of Energy. So I caught the subway to work every day. And while I rode with her, I can't remember. I think we may have rode together. And I worked at the Point.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

What's the name of the town?

[Owen Smith]

Prince George's County.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

They got a subway in Prince George's County, Washington, dc. Oh, it's part of the DC system. Oh, okay. Got it.

[Owen Smith]

And we.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Why did you say dc Because I'm.

[Owen Smith]

Not from dc If I. If we're driving to dc, we both gonna get lost.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I'm gonna be like, I thought you said you were from here. I'm from PG County.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

So. And so I grew up. So back then I was living in Largo. I was living in Largo, Maryland. And we would, I think me and my mom would ride in and then I would go to Department of Energy. And I was just a cut up. I was just funny. And I used to like, they called it Joaning. Where from? I used to Joan on people and, you know, make me laugh at lunch. And this big dude named Kevin came over to me and said, you funny. I'm gonna take you to this comedy club. I was like, what? And I never heard. I didn't know a comedy.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

It was like a threat.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And in true, like BC fashion, he goes, I'mma take you to this comedy club. Then he goes, pick me up.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Bring a lot of money. Yeah, yeah.

[Owen Smith]

On Tuesday. So I pick him up and. And I'm driving through. And this is before gps, all this stuff. It's. Turn left at the light, turn right, you know, make a stop right here. I'mma run in. I'm waiting while he runs in together.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

What?

[Owen Smith]

I was like an Uber driver before. Then we get, we go all the way to Greenbelt, Maryland, me and this cat, and we get there on time. Show starts at 8. It's a black room. I didn't know that that meant it would start. About 8,45 people got there. And it was a list. It was like just a list that was set out. And I signed up first on the list and I sat in the back of the room with bubble guts. Like, I was so nervous. This was right at the tail end of the comedy boom when people started papering rooms.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

So they would, they would have like buffet food.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

So they had like hot dogs and old pizza and stuff. So I'm eating that, which is Making the bubble.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, God, I don't like where this is headed.

[Owen Smith]

Well, and so. And then the host, Chris Paul is his name. He went up and he's super funny and he's doing the show. And I'm sitting there, I'm thinking, you don't know, he might call my name next. He went through the whole list, whole night. I didn't get called.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And I was like, yeah. You know, and I'm competitive. And I kind of took that personal. Yeah. It was messed up. So I go home, go back to work. Da, da, da. Come back the following week with the guy. No, I'll go by myself this time. Sign up and, like, on different slots, sign my name several times.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, nice.

[Owen Smith]

I'm sitting there.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Did you use different names? That would have been.

[Owen Smith]

I was thinking like, that. I didn't know. I would have been so smart.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And I just did Owen Smith Owens with Owen Smith. Owen Smith. Which was like. It sounds. If you're reading, it does sound like you're about to be audited. Owen Smith. Who the hell is this? That's not a comedy name. So he doesn't call my name again.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, shit.

[Owen Smith]

And I sit there and I watch the whole act. And then I go up to him and I go, hey, man. And I was so nervous. I was like, hey, man, I've been coming here the last two weeks, signing up, and you haven't called me. He goes, oh, I just didn't know. You come back next week.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, there you go.

[Owen Smith]

My first showbiz lesson.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

That's right.

[Owen Smith]

So you know.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yep.

[Owen Smith]

So I come back the following week and I sign up in, like, space number five or whatever. He calls me up first. I didn't know that was that. We don't know about him spot.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

He calls me up first. Even. I think even before he did any warmup, as soon as I called, open, boom, go. Yeah, do my act. And I'm talking so fast.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And one of my first jokes was about the Power Rangers. How to. How the Black Power Ranger had to do this. Like, why is he gotta do. That's his karate move, the snake. And I was like, if I'm fighting somebody and they do this, I'm whipping his ass. You know, I was doing my whole, like, where are they teaching the brother? You know, I was leaning into it.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I was so proud of that bit. And then years later. So I'll tell you another story about this.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

So did you do all right?

[Owen Smith]

I did good. Yeah. I was talking so fast. I got some LAUGHS But I remember, like, I was afraid to look at the crowd, and I would glance down, they were just, like, looking up at me, like, with, like, smiles and face like this. And a few people.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Did they say it was your first time?

[Owen Smith]

I don't remember. Yeah, I don't remember, but it. But he brought me up and then.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And you had nobody there to watch?

[Owen Smith]

Nobody.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, that's so sad. You're the only person I've ever met that didn't have anyone in the audience their first time.

[Owen Smith]

I know. Oh, wow. Really?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. You're a renegade.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, man, I'm a loner, man.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

When I got off stage, though, all the comedians and I think this is only a DMV thing, all the comedians on the show came up to me. They gave me applause, they gave me dap. And they were telling you were funny, and they were giving me tips. First of all, slow down. You talking too fast. This bit is funny. You could say they were extremely additive and helpful. It was the first time I was around other black men where it wasn't like, sports wasn't involved. So engaged. And so I was like. I said, I'm home.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And so I stayed and watched the rest of the show. And you know how the comedians progressively get better based on how long they've been doing it? A guy I went to school with in 8th grade goes on stage, and he was one of the more seasoned guys. That's Mike Brooks. He went up to eight. He was up. Joe was up young, and he was funny. He was doing his thing, and I was like, hey, member me say, hey, what's up? And so I became his driver the rest of the summer. Hey, man.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Does that mean he got to open for it?

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, yeah. I would take. We would go to gigs, he would, like, kind of show me the lay of the land. And my goal was to get paid. I was like, if I get paid, I'm a professional, and you can't tell me nothing. And so we were doing all these rooms called, like, cabarets and stuff, where, like, the tables are long and everybody's eating crabs. Yeah. They got a crane and neck back. They look at you like, huh? What do you say? All right, now. Hey, watch something now. Hey, pass me the thing. You know, fights will break out and you on stage, and so then.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Hey, who this cornball? Who that, baby?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

How come he gets to talk?

[Owen Smith]

Who let the police up? Because I used to tuck my shirt in. Hi, guys.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Let the police in.

[Owen Smith]

Police in. Like, the audience would be more ruthless, you up there. Like, hey, man. Yeah. So for me, it was like, if you can get last in these venues that weren't, like, designed for comedy.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I was like, I can only imagine when I get to. Like. I didn't even know. They were, like, nicer places, dude.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Early 90s was pizza places, bowling alleys. All of them. Yeah, all of them.

[Owen Smith]

We did. And Mike always had this blind confidence that was so beautiful. One time, there was this. The mayor of. The mayor of Rap City, Chris Thomas, is from D.C. and he headlined the Comedy Connection in Laurel. And Mike got a call saying Chris was coming down early. Did. Did we want to come down and go up after him? And Mike was like, hell, yeah. Let's go, Joe. So I'm the ride. So I'm driving. We drive to the green belt. I mean, the Comedy Connection to Laurel, Chris, Paul, just obliterate. Like, there is no more laughter.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Are you all ready for more comedy? People, like. Huh? Like, people are ready to go home. Give it up for. And Mike used to tell me to lie with my intro. Because Mike's intros would be. They would be big lies. Yeah. He toured with Martin. You seen him on the Sinbad Show. You seen it. I was like, you didn't do all those things. I figured you'd make it, Joe. Yeah. So I would. I would add, like, fake stuff and give it up for Owen Smith. And I come out, crickets. Crickets. I'm like, how y' all feel, man? Give it up. Whatever. I was doing poop. Poop. You get that sweat. I just ate it for, like, 10 minutes. I get off stage, feel like, why do we do this? And then Mike went up. He got some laughs. But I just remember learning never follow. Like, I had been in the game a month.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

What am I thinking? Going after a seasoned headline.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right?

[Owen Smith]

But at the end of the summer, at that same club, this gentleman named Pops gave me a crumpled up $25.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Nice.

[Owen Smith]

And I was like, I'm a professional.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

So then I went back to Notre Dame. And you couldn't tell me nothing. Cause I was like. I made people in D.C. laugh over the summer. South Bend is light work. And so they came to comedy club in South Bend. A funny bone.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I became the house emcee there.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

While you're in college.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

So you'd go to class during the day, and then you go host there.

[Owen Smith]

At night, go home there at night. And I like the greatest.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. Do you. Do you have that 20th? I have. I got paid $10 at Barnaby's in Haverhill, Massachusetts. And I have a photo album from my first years in comedy. And I saved shit. And I got, I got the, wrote the name of the club on the $10 bill. I put it in there.

[Owen Smith]

I would have tried to save it because I was driving Mike so much. I think I went right to the Shell gas station.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

You actually needed it.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, I was driving some car that burnt so much gas.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, right.

[Owen Smith]

And, but I just remember going back to South Bend being so confident, but I didn't learn. I learned how to perform in front of people. I had no substance.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

But I knew how to be, like, fearless and, you know, and back then we used to talk about the audience. So if you ran out of material, you would talk about the audience and you would, you would.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Well, yeah, I think early on you're learning how to be on stage. You're becoming a performer. You're not an artist yet. You're learning the tools, you know, and just how do I stand? Where do I look? How fast do I go? How loud should I be?

[Owen Smith]

Yes.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

You know, how to behave backstage. Like you're, you're just in, you're in boot camp. And then eventually you get to the point where you start not sounding like everyone's got another comic. They're sounding like when they start, you know, and then you break out of that guy and you start to become, you know, Don Gavin in Boston.

[Owen Smith]

Wow. Okay.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Legendary comic out of Boston. Yeah. And then I came to New York and I was Dave Attell like everybody else. Everybody was Dave Mattel in the. Some guys still are still. I know guys that have been doing it 15, 20 years that are still David Tell.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, yeah, man. I think I was, I used to laugh. I always, always gravitated toward the taller comedians. So I used to do Damon Wayans laugh because he seemed cool. Like, he would laugh.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Owen Smith]

You know, and then Mark Curry was so, like, fluid and like, goofy, but cool.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I, I, I, I was afraid that I would get compared to him. But when I was maybe 40 pounds lighter, I, I, People always said I look like a tall ass Martin.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, yeah, I can see that. Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Martin's from the same area. PG County, Maryland. And so was Chappelle. He was, his dad was from Ohio, but Chappelle grew up in Montgomery county and, and shoot so many people. Taraji P. Henson. A lot of people come from the, from the area. Yeah, but so when I would be sitting, sitting there with a hat on, and then people look at me like, did I stand up man, you look like a tall ass Martin. So I would lean into those, but I didn't really.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

What about Chappelle? Was he around when he was coming down?

[Owen Smith]

I got a great Chappelle story.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Did he have an effect on people's voices or was he still figuring his out?

[Owen Smith]

Well, you know Tony Woods.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, the great Tony Woods.

[Owen Smith]

Yes, Tony Woods. So. So Tony woods kind of had that cadence first, right? I would say first, but this is what I saw, because Chappelle is the same age as I am, so we were both 19, but he had just done Robin Hood. Men in tights, I believe. And when you are, like, young 20s, you have this struggle with how am I in front of black people and how am I in front of white people? Because, like, growing up in PG county, we were the. We weren't the minority. Like, I never had a white person over my house until I went to, like, Notre Dame. You know what I mean? Right. So when you're in front of a white audience for the first time, you're like, they don't get any of my references. And not only do they don't get them, they don't care. They don't get them.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

They're not looking to learn. They're not even curious.

[Owen Smith]

The context proves nothing. They don't even. Yeah. So you're just like, whoa. What? So it's fascinating to see some black performers that are successful in mainstream rooms, kind of like what their moves are.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Versus performers that have made their nut in front of largely black crowds. Right. And so Chappelle had just done Robin Hood man in tight. So I think he had gone through a moment where he was. He had just done Star Search. Not just. He had done Star Search, you know what I mean? He was kind of going through the mainstreaming of it. So he had come back to this urban room, black, working class, middle class, black folks. And he was talking about something, and they started booing him really hard, hard. Just booing him, like, boo. And it just escalated, right? And so then he goes, fuck y'. All. I'm gonna be famous. That's what he was saying, I'm gonna be famous. I was a. He was standing in there, fuck y', all. I'm gonna be famous. That's what he was saying. He was doing that. I'm gonna be famous. I remember. I never forget that. And I was like, damn. Then he walked off stage. In all the comics, how he would generally run up and go, everybody parted. Cause nobody wanted that bomb on there. Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Like, yo, all right, Stink on Him.

[Owen Smith]

And he walked right in front of me and sat down right here. And I go, why is he still here? I would be in my car, like. And he sat down. They go, ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna keep the scope rolling. Y' all ready for Tony Woods? And Tony woods goes up.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And Tony goes, man, wow, that's crazy, man. You ever been fucking a girl? And, like, he did something. And he gets a standing ovation. Standing ovation. Does his whole set, standing ovation. And then he walks off stage. And Dave gets up, and I want them leave together and get in the same car.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And Tony was driving, and Chappelle was in the passenger seat. And I was like, man, I was just like Batman and Rob.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Hey, man, you should have zigged when you should have zagged.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right, right. And, yeah, I can remember when I was in Boston, I'd only been doing it for maybe three years or something.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And maybe four years. And Patrice o' Neill took me to black club in Roxbury, and it was the first time I'd ever been in front of an all black crowd.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Which is. You know, people go, oh, that must be fucking brutal. I mean, my act was so white. I had jokes about the Brady Bunch, about college girls being drunk at Bull, and I went up and I got my ass handed to me, and I'm talking about Teresa. But I go, dude, it was fucking. I go up there. I go up there. I go, I didn't have anything in common with anybody out there, and they couldn't connect. And he just. To me, he's like, yeah, what do you think I go through in Boston? And it fucking hit me. I was like, wow. Yeah. What you're doing is way harder than what I'm doing in front of the white clubs.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. And white clubs are. Well, I would say. Bill Burr used to always tell me I should develop this into a bit, and I never really did, but it was like, I used to tell him, there's one difference, and this may have changed. This was, like, 20 years ago. And I was so passionate about this point. I was like, there's one difference between black people and white people in this one word. Expectations. I said, white people expect everything to work, and black people expect everything to fail.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

So on stage, you mean, or just in general?

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. So if a place says comedy club, white people will walk in going, it's supposed to be laughs. They said, it's supposed to be laughs here. Black people go, if I haven't heard of any of These people. There's about to be some bullshit. Let's get ready for some bullshit. And so then. So the laughs come from a skeptical you was all right. You know what I mean? But they aren't coming in expecting interesting for it to deliver.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

You know what I mean? And that's just kind of like how we operate as a protective tool. But then once you become. Once you pierce through that.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Get it? No, there's no better. I got. As I got more seasoned, I started doing black clubs in New York. We go to Harlem and do clubs sometimes in the Bronx. And as long as you addressed the elephant in the living room, when he walked on stage, you were fine.

[Owen Smith]

You were fine.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

You had to. I mean, it's the same way, you know, just the hacky version of like when a black guy goes on in a white crowd and goes, I'm the only chocolate chip in the cookie. Like just something. It doesn't have to be a whole long bit, but just so we're not at a disconnect about what's happening right now.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And then they're. And then they're fine, you know, and not only fine, like, you will never get as much love and excitement, you know, Literally, the doubled over is the best.

[Owen Smith]

Slapping the table, running around in the back, bro. It's the best, man. I remember one time I told this joke, I watched olden Polonies, these pieces playing NBA get up and run back and forth from howling from laughter. And I was like, oh, that's so dope. Like, it's just stuff I thought of.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, it is.

[Owen Smith]

It is a connection. But you have to be. You just have to be more honest.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yes.

[Owen Smith]

Or if you. If you are lying, you have to be honest about the lying.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

No, it's like the greatest set I've ever seen. Like, when I see young comics, these LA comics that have never worked the road and they do these alt rooms, and I'm backstage at the west side Comedy Theater, and somebody goes, oh, yeah, I just saw Jimmy over at what's he destroyed. And I just want to stop and go, you know what? I wasn't there for the set. Jimmy did not destroy. I said, do you want to see somebody destroy? Put on Bernie Mac when he comes out at Def Comedy Jam. You know this story, right?

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And the crowd is dead, everybody's bombing. And he walks out. And here's this guy who's. What was he out of St. Louis?

[Owen Smith]

I don't know, but somebody bombed in front of him.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, he was from the Midwest and somebody.

[Owen Smith]

Oh, Bernie's from Chicago.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, Chicago.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

So he. He comes out and he walks on stage in his fucking zoot suit. And the music's playing, and he walks up to the mic. The first thing is, I ain't scared of you, motherfuckers.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, kick ass, Kick ass.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And then the music would kick in and, like, the first beat, they weren't on board. And then by the second beat, it was euphoria. And he kept. He didn't let them breathe. He cut off his own laughs halfway through to start the next line.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, I ain't scared of you, mother. Early season.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

That's killing.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. And just a slight correction for people that are watching that said he didn't have on the suit that was in Kings of Comedy. Oh, he had on just. It was like a white shirt that had a cool design on it. And some. Some jeans, some. Some kind of.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, they were very marble jeans. Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Hung low.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. Yeah, Right.

[Owen Smith]

Ernie told my mom. So. So. So when I was doing. When I was living in Chicago, I was living in a small. An apartment smaller than this drome on the north side of Chicago. And Ali Laroi, you know, Ali sure used to write for Bernie.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And Bernie, before he got the Bernie Mac show, he had wanted to be Bob Hope. And he was doing. He had a show called Mac Out All Night on Mac on hbo, briefly.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, shit.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. And so he used to perform every Tuesday in a small room called Milt Trenier's. Milt Trenier is a jazz musician. He's a part of, I think, a jazz trio. His brothers, they played on Ed Sullivan. So when you go downstairs, it's like it was all these, like, jazz records and in the corner, it was a small stage, but it was a full band set.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And Bernie would do 45 minutes up top every Tuesday that he wrote, he wrote. And Ali would work on with him.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Like a new set every week.

[Owen Smith]

Set, bro. And it was amazing. And he demanded you, you know, dress nice, you know, you come and bring your best self. The crowd was like middle class, upper class black folk. It was beautiful. It was just a beautiful, beautiful scene.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Amazing.

[Owen Smith]

And so Ali saw me perform at the Funny Firm. Then it turned into the fallout, and he saw me.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Funny Firm had two floors. And when you worked there, when you headline there, you did two shows downstairs and three shows upstairs. So you would finish one set, run upstairs, do another one back and forth.

[Owen Smith]

All night, and you can get five shows out. Yeah, And I loved it. Even though I didn't pay anything And Lenny.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Ostrich.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, he ran it. And so.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Ran into the ground.

[Owen Smith]

Eventually ran into the ground. And so. And I also didn't know he taught comedy. He taught Alonzo Bowden in a comedy class.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, really?

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, man.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh.

[Owen Smith]

And so I had just come to town. I had done my. Can I showcase. I'm showcasing this night. On this night, I meet Dwayne Kennedy.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, really?

[Owen Smith]

He was on the show. He was hilarious. Met this guy named Ted Lide. And I met. And Ali was there, but I didn't see him perform. So I did all five rooms. And then he goes, pays Dwayne. He paid Ty Phipps, who was the host. He paid Ted. He paid everybody, but he didn't pay me. He was calling for spots. And Dwayne goes, man, that's fucked up, man. And Dwayne gave me some money. And then Ty Phipps gave me some money, and I thought, man, comedians, man.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I drive home that night and I turn on the tv. It's like three in the morning. An episode of Amen comes on. And Duane Kennedy is acting in that episode. And he's playing Halle Berry's boyfriend with her.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

No shit.

[Owen Smith]

No shit, bro. Like, he had a moment when he was out. He had a deal and all that stuff.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

I didn't know that.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, Dwayne is such an amazing artist that he's had. He's lived many.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

He's a Boston guy.

[Owen Smith]

No, Dwayne Kennedy's from Chicago.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, he is. Oh, yeah.

[Owen Smith]

He got dreads and so. But that night, I got money from time to. And that night also, Ali saw him. He goes, hey, man, you funny? Yeah, I want you to do Bernie Mac's room. I was like, all right. I was like, let me give you my number. He goes, I'll find you. I'm like, gotcha.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Like before the Internet.

[Owen Smith]

And I'm. I get a call. I think her name's Carolyn. I forget her last name. I get a call. Hi, Owen. Ali Leroy gave me a number. I want you there. And this Tuesday, dress appropriate. Be there some such time. And I get there, and I'm blown away, man. Small room. Miltra nears. Bernie Mac does 45 minutes. He brings up two singers and two comedians.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Nice.

[Owen Smith]

And he is crushing it.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And is there a band on stage?

[Owen Smith]

Full band on stage. And Bernie sits behind you when you perform. And he called me Owens. Owens. Give me 10 minutes, Owens. And then it goes. Then it come back over, Owens. Give me five. All right, Owens. Now give me seven. And luckily, when I used to host at the funny bone, I knew I could. I knew how to be on time. Mentally.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

I knew calculated seven.

[Owen Smith]

Knew it. So I was on it. I was like, all right, y. So I'm standing there on stage and he's sitting behind me. I do my first joke, he start laughing, hit me on the lick. Give him five more on. So like. Oh, God dang. All right, Bernie. So I stayed and got five more, and he had me come back. Like, he enjoyed what I did.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Wow, that's so cool.

[Owen Smith]

Had me come back. And I would come back almost as many Tuesdays as I could.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

So this was. This was the spot. I said I was going to break the news to my mom that I'm doing this.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

You must have started to build a little name for yourself doing that show every week.

[Owen Smith]

Probably. I never even thought about it that way. I was, like, just so enamored with just finding a space where I could literally talk about everything that came into my head in front of a receptive that I didn't have to explain it to.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

Because Zany's was great. But you still had to. You still had to kind of explain some stuff there. Boom. I could get right into it.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right, right.

[Owen Smith]

And it was just. It was just a joy for me to be able to do that. And then, so my mom comes to town, and I'm bringing her milchin, and I'm performing, but she doesn't know I'm performing. We're at the show just sitting as an audience, you know, and she's having a good time. Our next performer coming, and he brings me up. She's like, what? And I go on stage and I rip it.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And I'm like. Cause she didn't know I was doing this. And then afterwards, Bernie. After the whole show went down, Bernie talked to my mom for over an hour.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

No.

[Owen Smith]

And it made her go from straight fear to my biggest supporter. Okay. Bernie says, you gotta make these calls. You gotta do this. Da, da, da. And so she. Because no one in my family was in showbiz.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. Right.

[Owen Smith]

Like, you don't know how you can make a living doing it, But. Because he talked to her, and she never told me everything he said, but she would divulge some things. Like when he got his show. Oh, he told me about his sister. Like, she would just, like, you know, it would come out. I remember that. I remember. But yeah, man. I'm so forever grateful for the way Bernie saw. He saw, like, the panic on my face. Like, I think. I don't know how he knew yeah. But he talked to her for over an hour.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

It's amazing. Cause you talk about comics being generous and supportive, and there's always, like, you always get one or two mentors sent your way, you know, God sends you some mentors. I had Kevin Meaney, Big pants people walking around with the big pants. That's not right.

[Owen Smith]

Amazing.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

We're loose pants people.

[Owen Smith]

That made me laugh so hard.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Your father's not wearing tight pants. Your brother's not wearing tight pants. And so he took me under his wing. He gave me guidance. He became a dear. He was at my wedding party, and I ended up in his wedding party. We became like the closest friends and. Yeah. And then just back in Boston, there was a lot of guys that just put their arm around you and just said, hey, man, you got something. Stay with it. They'd give you taglines. That was a big thing in Boston. People giving each other taglines. We'd all do, you know, open mic night on Sunday nights at Nick's Comedy Stop. And it was me, it was Rogan, it was Burr, it was Dane Cook. And we would get off stage and just be like, it was a workshop.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

You know, and you stay all day. It was a two and a half hour show, and we stayed to the end and. And then we go out afterwards and. Yeah, it's great. And so I. I try to be like that to comics now myself.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And it's funny because sometimes they hang on every word and you stay in touch with them, and then sometimes they just look at you like, all right.

[Owen Smith]

OG yeah, I got this.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. You got 100,000 Instagram followers. I'm good.

[Owen Smith]

How many people watch Instagram again?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, yeah.

[Owen Smith]

They have no idea. I know, man. I'm good. I'm not going, right? Yeah. When I lived in Chicago, all jokes aside, was kind of that. And a guy named Damon Williams used to have some great rooms. I would do both rooms. I would do Zany's and then I would do, like, the rooms. Or I would do all jokes aside and all jokes aside, at that time, it was Deon Cole, Corey Holcomb, D. Ray Davis was.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Damn. Those are all Chicago guys.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. B. Cole. A bunch of. A bunch of funny. Just George Wilbourne, Damon Williams. A bunch of really. Just funny, like, in their own way. Oh, man. My man. I can't remember his name. He's going, this dude was so funny. Mark. Mark. Mark Simmons. Mark Simmons. Just great guys, right?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

So it was kind of like I was. I wasn't from Chicago, but they embraced me and we. And me. It was a point when me, Dion and T. Rex used to write every Tuesday.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, I love that.

[Owen Smith]

Meet and write. Yeah, Every Tuesday. And T was into smoking weed. I wasn't really into it, but I would, I would. This is when I tried. I go, maybe this, maybe. And I, I. I don't know what kind of help I was in those sessions.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, yeah.

[Owen Smith]

We wasn't my thing to be able to tap into, like, what, what we were there to do, but we used to write some great stuff.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, we used to do that shit, man. During the week.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Because this is before social media. We weren't doing radio interviews. We didn't have an agent sending us on bad auditions. We just did stand up. And then the next day, we woke up at noon. And then we met and we'd go to a movie, we'd write.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

We'd go to a restaurant. We used to play softball Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays. Then me and Rogan, we'd write. We would write almost every day. We just get together and riff on shit. Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

It's like. And then you, Then life.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And now it's like, I mean, forget the kids and all that stuff, but. But just all the. I mean, I love podcasting, but I do three podcasts a week. You do? Then I'm doing other people's podcasts, then I'm trying to do social media. Then I'm flying to gigs instead of, you know, in Boston. We just drove to the gig that night, staying at hotels. All right, listen, what do you got, Owen Smith? We're gonna get to some.

[Owen Smith]

You got some prepared stuff.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

We gotta. Well, first of all, I wanna talk about. Good luck, Everybody is a brand new podcast. Now, listen, everybody. Is this my camera? Owen Smith, as you've seen on this podcast, he can spin a yarn. He's funny as shit. He's got an interesting life. And this podcast is something you want to watch, follow it, whatever, download it, subscribe, do all that shit and give it a shot.

[Owen Smith]

Give it a shot, guys.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And let's get his numbers up. So tell me about. Why is this podcast different than any other podcast out there?

[Owen Smith]

Well, it's going to have a little more polish to it for me because I'm afraid to. Like, I feel safe with you, so I can talk with you, but I don't want to just be talking.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

So I've always been a fan of funny. I want to do a funnier version of what Malcolm Gladwell does with stuff that I'm interested in.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

So cultural.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, cultural.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Deconstructing cultural.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, yeah. With funny bits, like, interspersed and between.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

So that's the kind of thing. I love that. Because you can go from that to going, oh, that's a bit. I can put. I can do that on stage at the Comedy Store tonight.

[Owen Smith]

Yes. Yes. And it's also. I'm also enamored with how much time we spend on our phones.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Going. Taking deep dives down things.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

And so I'm gonna do. Take you on some stuff that basically, I went on a deep dive on that I didn't. And, you know, just asking more questions about it and.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And. But looking at it. Looking at some things that happen just from a different perspective.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

So, like, are you gonna have a.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Video up at all or is it just you talking?

[Owen Smith]

It's going to be me talking, and you'll see some video. And then it would enter. Enter. We would also mix it in so it keeps. So it feels like it's moving again. Emotions, not just me just telling you the whole thing.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Guests.

[Owen Smith]

Yes, I do. I also want to have guests because there are some things that some people in my. I've been in Showbiz for over 30 years, and there's some amazing stories. So I want to. I want to see if I can get. I want to do this whole piece on humility, Right?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Every. Every. Every episode, I kind of have, like, a light, a loose topic like humility. And so I'm gonna be talking about how a lot of people that I've written shows for, the ones that I knew were gonna make it, they all had one thing in common, is humility.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Like when I worked on Ice Cube's sitcom Are We There Yet? He invited me to go see. I was afraid to talk to Cube.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Cause Cube has this energy that if you don't have nothing to say, don't be over there. You know what I mean? Even though you just wanna be. But one time he was like, I recognize you from them commercials. You better say hi to me. I was like, hey, what's up, man? Cause I was just working on the show, man. Just like, I didn't wanna. And so. But I still didn't waste words. But it was cool enough that he invited me to one of his performances.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

At BB Kings. He was doing.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

In New York.

[Owen Smith]

In New York, he was doing the America's Most Wanted album, which was, like, for my youth. It was one of the best rap albums that I'd ever heard at the time because he was a West coast guy paired up with these east coast beat makers that did Public Enemies beats and made this insane album. To me, it just. It was just funny. It was poignant. It was all these things. So he goes and he does it and I'm there. And the crowd isn't really vibing. And what was so funny is, the show started at 8:00'.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Clock.

[Owen Smith]

Ice Cube's getting older. So at 8:03. Yay. Yay. He came right out. He didn't have to wait till 11:30. They tried.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

The crowd isn't even there yet.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. And he's doing it. And I'm in there, like, I'm going crazy. Like, this is my. I'm looking at the crowd. It just wasn't matching.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And I'm going, man, this is what's going on. And so I thought, man, I wish I got to see this in la.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Cause people would be tearing down the paint, tearing the paint off the walls. So I get back to the gear, get back to work. And I go, hey, man, thanks so much for inviting me to the show. He goes, what you think about it? I said, man, I loved it. Like, I was very specific. Like, I love. Cause I. But I didn't want to be like. But the crowd wouldn't.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

He was like, for real? He said, Cause that was our worst show. He said, the crowd. He said, New York, they. You know, they, like, they feel a certain way about. And I was like, that's why you're great. Cause you could. You not only witnessed what I witnessed, you acknowledged.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

And he wasn't. He wasn't like. He. He was like, yeah, I knew what it was.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

And then I saw.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

It's like Chappelle bombing that night at the club. And then I'm gonna be fine hanging out.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right, Right.

[Owen Smith]

And so. And so I want to talk about, like, I'm enamored with people that can't turn it off. Like, they had to be like, Jim Brown had to be a certain way to be great.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

But then when he got older, he couldn't stop being that way.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

So I have a friend who has a Jim Brown story, and I want to bring him on. He's a famous actor and I want to. I want him to tell the story about how. Because if you talk to Jim Brown now, he's like, so tell me, you do podcasts. Tell me about your podcast. Just start telling me. I'll tell you what. Jim Brown.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Well, it's.

[Owen Smith]

You know, what you talking about? You don't know shit about podcast. You want to talk about Podcasts, you got to come. That's how Jim Brown was as old as.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Hey, I don't know. Yeah. I mean, I get the humility thing, but I think it's a humility that is kind of intertwined with a belief in self that's so entrenched that it goes beyond. Like, I remember I have a friend who used to bartend with Bruce Willis, and he was a struggling actor, and he'd go out on an audition and he'd come back and he'd say to him, how did it go? And he goes, I didn't get it. They don't know what the fuck they're doing. It was always, they don't get it. Like, I know I have it.

[Owen Smith]

Instead of what you're doing, what could you improve on?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

That's the lack of humility.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

No, no, no, no. I think what I'm saying is there's humility, but there's also such a deep belief that you're going to make it.

[Owen Smith]

Oh.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Interesting and that these are obstacles, but they're not going to stop you.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. I think I'm talking about it. I'm talking about from a different. I'm talking about it once you.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

So how you handle success.

[Owen Smith]

I'm talking about, like, I've dealt with so many successful people.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Like, I wrote in this one guy show, and I was. I wanted to know why it wasn't hitting. So I took this gig, and once I figured it out, I go, oh, that guy has no humility.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I was like, hey, man, you should do this. You should do this. Why would I do that?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Well, because it's funny. And if you did this. Why would I do that?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I said, all right. I said, you won't be canceled then. And that's what happened. The show got canceled.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And I was like, what about Tracy Morgan? Does he have humility?

[Owen Smith]

Of course. And he is one of the.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Cause you were the showrunner on the.

[Owen Smith]

Last og, Last og, And Crutch. The show Crutch. He gave me this thing.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, nice.

[Owen Smith]

Tracy Morgan is one of the smartest people I've ever met, and I've never met anyone who knows how every cell of their body looks on camera.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Really?

[Owen Smith]

He can decide to be funny if he wants, or he can make you cry if he wants. He is the epitome of, like, always living in the moment.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And he has, like, a photographic memory. So when I was working on the last og, I would give him the script. He would go, let's go. Let's go. Let's go, baby.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Really?

[Owen Smith]

If it made sense, it didn't make sense to his character. Yo, why the fuck would I do this? Like, he would want to know because it just didn't register with the character that he already built. Like, he worked so hard, and he is a great leader, man. He knows where he understands this business.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Like, that's crazy, because that is not the perception of Tracy Morgan. People see him as out of control, irresponsible.

[Owen Smith]

I didn't experience any of that. I would say to me, do you.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Think he plays that as a character?

[Owen Smith]

No, I really do think that. Because here's a full circle Tracy Morgan moment. So again, back to when I was living in Chicago after my mom was Team Owen doing stand up. I took her to see Tracy Morgan at Zany's. Tracy was headlining at Zany's Comedy Club, downtown Chicago. Audience was 90% white. Me and my mom were in, like, the back. And Traci does this set that has those Chicago white folks, like.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And at the end, he's ending on this porn bit. Porn sound. Fuck me. Fuck me. And I'm like, watching my mom, and I'm like, what the fuck?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Who are you?

[Owen Smith]

He does it. It feels like he does it for 20 minutes. Ugh, fuck me. Fuck me. He's doing, like, all these things.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

So what's the crowd?

[Owen Smith]

They just.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

You know, a few dudes are, like, laughing at the end. He says, thank you for letting me be me. And I go, wow, I didn't know. You didn't have to give the crowd permission. That should be you. You could just be you, and whatever happens, happens. Like, that was the first time I saw. And Tracy is always 100% himself.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

But I grew up around Tracy Morgan, so. Well, I grew up, right. I grew up in a neighborhood where everybody. It felt like everybody was yelling at you, so I didn't. But they were telling you positive things. Like my friend Anthony Griffith, great comedian. We would laugh about when we used to play basketball. We'd go about the time when coaches could hit you.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, man.

[Owen Smith]

Get that fucking rebound. And so that was like. So when Tracy would say stuff that to other people would seem. All those things I would hear, oh, he's just asking for one thing. He's just not being heard.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right?

[Owen Smith]

So when I got the gig, I go, oh, you just want. That's easy. Once I fixed that one thing that he didn't like easy, it wasn't a problem. But to other people, Tracy's doing this. Nah. What is he saying? Oh, he's not wrong. Let's just fix that. And then it wasn't hard. But it's a frequency thing, right? Like, I remember when Patrice o'. Neal, we should start referring to him as the honorable, the late, great Patrice o'. Neal. He was on some show on Fox, and this always stayed with me. There was a point where Fox was having comedians on and they would be sitting him next to like, I don't know, serious cultural thinkers. Or they would always put him next.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

To like a roundtable discussion.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. But it would always be him sitting next to like a feminist maybe. Whatever. What happened? And then the host would be doing this bad Jerry Springer impression. Tell me more. You know, and Patrisse said something. When they were like butting heads on a perspective, Patrisse said something. He goes, everything I think is funny first, and you don't operate like that. And I'm paraphrasing. He didn't say. But when he said that, I got it. It was like, yeah. When you put us in rooms next to serious, that's why comedians go, hey, I'm just a comedian. Don't ask me about politics. Cause we're thinking when we're at our. When we're around our friends and we're not so in our heads about our bills or our kids, we are thinking funny first. And that doesn't always translate next to like the bean counters who were thinking, that's like, well, yeah, that's when I.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Feel like I don't want to tell people to stay in their lane. But there are a lot of comedians getting into politics that don't know what.

[Owen Smith]

The fuck they're talking about, the fuck they're talking about. And they don't know how to do follow up questions.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

That's the, that's the only issue I have with the new media. I'm happy that people are finding their voice, but their follow up game is so terrible. Yeah. Because they don't know, you know, how to do that yet. And so you get like all these. Yeah, you're getting kind of like what you're getting like.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Well, because the problem is that politics has become culture. And so when comedians used to talk about whatever's in the zeitgeist, what's culturally happening right now, whether it's fashion or, you know, this crazy couple at the Coldplay concert. But so much of that space is dominated by politics right now that comics are sort of forced to be drawn into it. And they don't know what the hell they're talking about. Half the Time. I don't know. I try to avoid it. It pops up a little bit. I try to avoid it because what do I know? You know, it's like, I can't name the congresspeople from California.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, no, I know, I know. Yeah. And it's like. Yeah. And we. And you also watch a lot of your friends. It's like they're still working out. It's almost like them working out a bit. They're still working out their point of view.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

And then there's also this disconnect.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

But also they're going to take the funny take on it. They're not going to take the responsible take on it. They're not going to fact. And I'm not saying they should. Like, I'm not saying, you know, Theo Vaughn should be thinking about how his listeners. Theo Vaughn is trying to be funny in his own way. Maybe he gets a little too serious sometimes, but that's what's in the zeitgeist right now. That's what you have to talk about. But don't look at comedians as. Like you said, it's funny first.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, that's right. If everyone can. If you take one thing from this podcast, just know when you. You see a comedian, a real comedian, they are thinking funny first. So it's kind of like I've been married for a long time now and one of the things I've learned is grace. Gotta give grace to things you may not immediately agree with or understand. When you do that, you can get an understanding of it. Comedians are leading with funny first. If your life isn't like that, then you may be offended because you're not fun thinking that this guy is trying. This guy or woman is trying to lead the funny first perspective and just let them work it out.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And that's the problem with. That's the challenge that the Internet prevent. We used to work the road and get it polished and then present it.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

You know, in like on late night forums or what have you.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And now it's the opposite. It's like what I just said with your podcast. You're going to shoot the shit about it and then take it on the road.

[Owen Smith]

Then take it on the road.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

All right, listen, it's time. Oh, for fat. Well, actually, I want to talk about. So. All right, so good luck everybody. We'll be out on Wednesday. Yeah, you got a TV show called Crutch Crush. Crutch with Tracy Morgan and Jermaine Fallon. You created it.

[Owen Smith]

Created it, yeah. It's a spin off of the neighborhood, I had fallen into showrunning, Man. I ended up Showrunning the last OG season 4. And then we got wind early that TBS was gonna discontinue making what they call live action comedies.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

So they just cleaned out their whole slate. So that meant the last OG wasn't coming back for season five. Cedric had. Cedric the Entertainer had reached out to me and said, you know, I have a deal over here at cbs. I think we could do a funny spin off with Tracy Morgan. Here's our take. What do you think? And I was like, I like that take. But. But here's something. I pitched this and they liked that better. And so I was able to develop what I created, which is Crutch. His last name is Crutchfield, so we call him Crutch. And it's basically I took. Cause Tracy Morgan wanted to make a modern day sampling son because it had to be multicam. And so what I always loved for multicam, you gotta have built in conflict. And so I always loved how Family Ties had that because there were these two liberal parents and they birthed the most conservative kids right at the time.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

That Reagan was coming to power, at.

[Owen Smith]

The time of Reagan. So it was just like a beautiful. This like every time Alex walks in the room and you're going to have something. And so I was like, what is our version of that today? And a lot of my friends who have heavy degrees in everything, so it's my, my, my. One of my best friends, Floyd, he is a. He graduated from Notre Dame, he went to Columbia undergrad, graduated from Notre Dame Law School, was practicing lawyer. His father, I don't even know if his father got his GED or not. I don't. He may have, but his father was more a blue collar type energy. And a lot of my friends have that. Like my mom only got her associate's degree, you know, I mean, so. Because they had that theory, you have to do better than me, right? So. But Floyd was living at home with his dad, so their conflict. Floyd would know everything. Dad, you don't do that because you're so smart. Why the fuck you living here like that? I was like, this is, this is the show. So I made Jermaine Fowler be a lawyer who had a big job job. He just passed the bar on the pilot. He has a big job with corporate law firm, but he decides to turn it down to work for the people.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Huh.

[Owen Smith]

And Floyd and Crush still say, all right, that's cool. What that mean? He go, well, that means I'm gonna have to live with you. So. So that's. So now you have, like, the internal conflict of, like, his super smart son, but he's still, like, right. Living at the crib.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

So Tracy is Jermaine's dad.

[Owen Smith]

Tracy's Jermaine's dad.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

I love. I love Jermaine Fallon.

[Owen Smith]

He's great actor, bro.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

So that's coming out on Paramount plus in the fall.

[Owen Smith]

Yep.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

All right. Look for that. And then it's time to do a little thing called Fastballs with Fits.

[Owen Smith]

I love the alliteration. The F's. Fastballs with fits. The look, Greg.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

All right. Inside joke. All right. Who's the worst opening act that's ever gone on in front of you?

[Owen Smith]

Damn, bro. You know, I block out negative stuff, but there was this one dude when I was in. I did Charlie Goodnights in Raleigh, North Carolina.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And I remember he used to come up and he bought a entourage with him. And he was just music Q Central. And every bit was about fucking. Something he was always fucking. And I used to just go on stage and erase his whole app and going, damn. I think he got this Sting pregnant. Like, we should check. Just get it over. But every fucking DJ hit me a whole bunch of like. But I remember, I used to. I get it. Cause he just had no substance. He was all just like, yeah, so you from California? Hollywood, you can't. I was like. It was like. He just gets so mad.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

I know the guy you're talking about. And he was one of those features for life guys. He never made it as a headliner. And he used to come on. And I remember he kept going long.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

He kept doing hacky. And I'm out there selling my CDs. And then he wanted to sell something.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And I go, nope.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

I go, you're not. You're not selling your.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And normally I always let people sell their.

[Owen Smith]

And you help promote it.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And I remember that. I just. That was my only way of getting at that guy.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, man.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

He was so pissed, he couldn't sell his shit. That guy. Who is your best Asian friend.

[Owen Smith]

Oh, my God. I love this question.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

I should preface it by saying you can't say Bobby Lee.

[Owen Smith]

No, it's not.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Because that's everybody's.

[Owen Smith]

That's everybody's pass I'm trying to think of. Because, you know, it's so funny. My wife really is annoyed with me. When we were. When we were having. When we were raising, when we had our first child, we would go to places and we would always be Sat next to, like, an Asian family that seemed to have this shit way more together.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I was like, baby, we need Asian females. Like, go say hi. We really, like, seriously, look at this, right? Look at us. We look terrible.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Look at the order, in shape.

[Owen Smith]

They just.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Their clothes are tailored. Even the kids. The cuff was right on the shoe. Yeah, yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I'm drawing a blank.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

That's why I asked this question. I love to see people struggle.

[Owen Smith]

I don't process it as them being Asian. I just process it as I'm being human.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Oh, shut the fuck up. All right, I'm going to let you go to the next question.

[Owen Smith]

Thank you. Let me. Let me think.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Have you ever not finished a set on stage?

[Owen Smith]

I've bailed.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I would say. I would say this one time, I was doing this club in Chicago, south side, south, like, south suburb. D. Ray. D Ray's room.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Who?

[Owen Smith]

D. Ray. I don't want to start no shit. But he. He has stolen a lot of my material. Really? This room?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

No.

[Owen Smith]

But I sent him a text about it. I'm not trying to start nothing.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

They were observational bits.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

But still, he observed you doing them first.

[Owen Smith]

I would have appreciated a call, like, yo, I'm kind of stuck here, and we could have worked out something else together. I don't want to see my material. Not. But it was stuff I'm not doing anymore. But I was like, oh, D, just call me, man. Hit me is my point. I'm not trying to say don't go. I think he's a fantastic artist, performer, all that stuff. But anyway, he used to have this room, and it was young, young, young, young black from, like, first time in the club. And I was up there doing my act, and they just started booing me hard. Boo. Boo. Yeah. And I could see, like. See them, like, everybody starting to boo.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. It becomes contagious.

[Owen Smith]

And I was like, it ain't going nowhere. I just stood there going, all right, get it out. Yeah, get it out. And then they all stopped booing. Then I finished my act. I ended up getting a standing ovation.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

You did?

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

That's not bailing.

[Owen Smith]

I was like, y' all don't know.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

How to be obvious.

[Owen Smith]

Y' all don't even know what y' all doing.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Y' all just following right then once they pick up on that. And the thing is with black crowds is they want to boo one person that night.

[Owen Smith]

Oh, yeah. They can't wait.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Somebody's getting the. Yeah, you know, the. The trump card.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Oh, Yeah, I would say. I would say in South. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. South Bend, Indiana. This is. God, this bit. This will haunt me forever. So I was a big deal on campus. I'd won every competition, all this stuff. But material was college.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

The Doritos Comedy Championship. That's what there was when I was in college.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. Something I wanted to find.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Sear Bus, whatever you want. Doing all the stuff. But it was. No agents. No, this is Midwest. But this club in town called Kevin's on the Hill was. They had a comedy night and they wanted me to perform in town. And so I said, yeah, I'mma do it. Word spreads. Every black student at Notre Dame comes to Kevin's on the Hill, Jerome Bettis being one the of. So all these future hall of Famers are, like, in this club. So it was the Townies meets the Notre Dame.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Hilarious, but.

[Owen Smith]

And so all the townies feel some type of way that all these, like, muscular, like, no, like these doing here, you know, and all the ladies like, ooh. And it was in a room. It was a nightclub. And it was. So the stage wasn't lit. It had Christmas lights and shit. Like, the multicolored Christmas lights. That was my lighting. Look at my skin. You're not gonna see me. Microphone, whatever. And the show was supposed to start at 8 or something like that. I didn't go up till 11.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Cool.

[Owen Smith]

So everybody's been there.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And then the dance club is just starting to get hot. People are really starting to, you know, make bad decisions. All right, y' all ready for some comedy? And I go on stage, and I'm like, how y'. All. Dave, what's up, y'?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

All?

[Owen Smith]

Everybody. Hey. All right. And I'm like, man, you ever been in your dorm and somebody go, fuck no today? And I had been out there so much that my muscle. My DMV muscle from. What the you say, you know, that was. That atrophied. So I was like, hey, man, I tried to bargain with him. Can't we all just get along easily? And I saw Jerome better start laughing at me bombing, like. And I was like, hey. So like I said, man, get the fuck off thing. All right, guys, thanks for coming out. And I. I kind of just conceded and everybody. It's all right, man.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

That's rough, because all those people came to see you.

[Owen Smith]

Came to see me. But then about two years later, I conquered Kevin's on the Hill. I went back and had a great set, but I still have not.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Didn't open with that dorm joke, did you?

[Owen Smith]

Fuck No, I was doing.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

You were doing the. You were doing the Power Ranger.

[Owen Smith]

And I was ready again. I was ready. Like, I want somebody to say something. I was ready to, you know, but that's the thing about comedy. You can. It's the most humbling profession in the world, but you can always. You know, it's always there for you.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Well, that's what's great about it, is no matter how many years you've been doing it, you can't ever mail it in. If you got a big name, you've done movies, whatever. They'll give you five minutes.

[Owen Smith]

Yep.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

But if you're doing an hour, you got to earn it. Every single time.

[Owen Smith]

Every single time.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. Which is great.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

I leave for work, people go, hey, you know, I go to Denver. I got friends. Yeah, let's. Let's have dinner before the show. No, no. I got to get fucking ready. I got to get centered. I got to get grounded. I'm not saying I'm sitting there writing jokes for three hours, but I'm going to review my material. I just need to be centered. I can't be at a dinner table and talking to someone I don't like, and then all of a sudden, you know, it's. It's hard.

[Owen Smith]

No, I'm with you. These are great questions.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

These are great questions. Here's another one. When's the last time you apologized?

[Owen Smith]

Shit. I'm married, bro. Probably this morning. If not, I got one.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

But, I mean. I mean, a heartfelt like. You had to think about it. You had to be vulnerable. Not a cursory apology.

[Owen Smith]

Probably some. To my wife. Maybe. Maybe I'm bad with timelines, but it was. It was reason. So we just celebrated 11 years. I say on stage now. You know how it takes you 10 years to find your voice as a comedian?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I feel like it took me and my wife 10 years to find our voice in our marriage.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

So I think I apologize to her for ways that I may have made her not feel seen, even though I see everything.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

But just not being a good communicator with that. You know what I mean? Like. Because that stuff, like, builds and can birth resentment, but it's kind of like. So I think I.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

You cleared the slate on that.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. Yeah. I was able to acknowledge that I may not be the. You know. Yeah, you have. You have to. As. As a leader in your family. You have to. Leading is exhausting, man.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Because, like, as a showrunner, you're a leader. You have to cater to everyone's. You have over 150 people that you have to make sure that they're, you know, feel safe enough to be their best self. Then you come home and you have to make sure that everybody is, you know, feeling seen, hurt. And there's some casualties of war in that.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

You may assume that your wife is in it with you, but you just don't go, hey, I really appreciate how you've been holding it down when I was out of town, and I see the things that you do, but my wife is slick, though. If I go too far, it turns. She'll make it feel like I'm patronizing her. Yeah, yeah. It's like a portal. It's like that Mission impossible door is closing. I gotta get through that bright spot.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right, right, right, right. If you lay it on too thick that, like, you're trying to build credit for the future.

[Owen Smith]

But the last. I would say the last time I popped out was to my son. Was to my son. I had said I had gotten upset with him about something, and I could have communicated the way I said it to him better.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

So I wanted. I had to acknowledge to him that. I know I didn't say that the best way.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Right.

[Owen Smith]

But the message still remains the same. But I am sorry for that. And it was cool. He. I think he appreciated, and I just try to do stuff I wish was said or done to me.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

No, I think it's profound to apologize to your child because they see you as human and you're modeling apologizing for them. Yeah. I like that. Good for you, man.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

All right. Last. The last thing I'll ask you is, what's the hackiest bit that you've ever done?

[Owen Smith]

I can tell you. Let me see. Oh, yeah. Sometimes you just want to vomit in your mouth while you're doing them. I mean, early on, it'll be black people, white people stuff.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Would just be like, ugh. But I remember, so when I first started, this was a genuine, genuine experience I had. But then once I started, kept doing. I go, this is fucking terrible. When I won a competition at Notre Dame, one of the prizes I won was a week's pass to a tanning salon. Real shit. Because then, you know, it was the environment I would tell. I would tell the story. So then here comes the hyperbole.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

That's like the white guy winning Magnum condoms.

[Owen Smith]

And you win these men.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Hey, man, I'll trade you for the tanning session.

[Owen Smith]

Right, Right. Second place is a no, and you want chef. So I would say, then. So then the priority Was. So then I went to the Tangelon and I'll wait till it gets good and packed and then I'll bust in and go, hey, hey. You said you wake me up in 20 minutes. Like that was my. That was.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

That's not hacky at all. That's fucking great.

[Owen Smith]

Thank you, man. I guess after a while I just felt like. Cause I was so far removed from it. Yeah, it felt hacky. But I would say. Then I would say. I would say it has to be. If ever I'm doing like. I don't know, man. I always try to run from it, which to my fault. Sometimes I miss great bits because I don't fight through the hacky.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, because sometimes people can categorically say you can't do airplane jokes because it's hacky. It's like. No, that's untrue. It's. Yeah, whatever, You're. I mean, people don't. I remember when I first had kids. Oh, you're gonna be the guy who talks about their kids. No, I'm gonna be the guy that talks about my life, which is what I've done since I was 19 years old.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. And I like my perspective on having kids and being married. I would say. I don't know, I've always kind of run away from. Probably to my detriment. I should probably lean more into.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, you gotta hack it up a little bit.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

I would just still want to deraise Betsy.

[Owen Smith]

That's hilarious. That motherfuckers. If you just look at his early stuff. He was so funny. Yeah.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

I was like, why. Why do you need to do this, man? Just call me, man. But anyway.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

All right, listen, Owen Smith. The podcast is called Good Luck Everybody. It's on all the platforms out on Wednesday. Watch the Crutch in the fall.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, Watch Crutch.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

And you don't have a website, so I won't promote that.

[Owen Smith]

Owen Smith for real. On all things. All things social media or on my. You. My YouTube is. I think it's Owen Smith TV.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

But no website.

[Owen Smith]

Nah, I stopped it. I was. I. I wasn't getting much traffic.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

All right.

[Owen Smith]

You know what I mean? I was. I would look at the analytics.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

And be like two people. And it'd be like my mom checking on.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Nah, the people you don't want knowing your personal shit. Right. Right.

[Owen Smith]

Yeah. You got a website?

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah. Fitzdog.com. i don't know who looks. I never checked the analytics. I just. I put. I put my dates on there, you know, links to my special. The podcasts are all on there.

[Owen Smith]

You think I should get one back? I have.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, get it.

[Owen Smith]

It's owensmithlive.com.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Keep it simple. Put your dates out there. Whatever. All right, listen, you are one of my favorite people. Same always. Love seeing you put a smile on my face. Always.

[Owen Smith]

We love coming to your house, me and my wife.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah.

[Owen Smith]

Was like, this house is so nice.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

Yeah, well.

[Owen Smith]

All right, stop talking. All right, that's enough.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

All right. We want to come to your house next.

[Owen Smith]

Yes. Yes. You got to come.

[Greg Fitzsimmons]

All right. Thanks for doing this. Love you, too.

[Owen Smith]

Love you.