Holmberg’s Morning Sickness – In Studio with Bryan Callen

Podcast: 98KUPD Arizona – Holmberg’s Morning Sickness
Episode: Bryan Callen @ Desert Ridge Improv – In Studio (Seg 01)
Date: February 27, 2026

Episode Overview

This lively episode features comedian and actor Bryan Callen joining John Holmberg and the crew in studio ahead of his shows at Desert Ridge Improv. The conversation ranges from the physical hazards of aging, testosterone therapy, and training like maniacs, to the odd paths of career success, stand-up comedy grind, conspiracies, Jewish cultural contributions, the dangers of phones, and the comfort of embracing life’s chaos. Fast, funny, and loaded with sharp banter, the episode bounces between comedy and real talk with a healthy helping of irreverence.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Physical Training, Aging, and Testosterone Therapy

• Both John and Bryan discuss the obsessive routines and injuries of "training for keeps" as middle-aged men.

  • Bryan jokes about working on wrestling moves at age 59, likening their persistence to mental instability.
  • Bryan admits to starting testosterone therapy and commiserates with John’s own T-cream misadventures.
  • [02:41] Bryan Callen: “I am now taking… some testosterone. It's been two weeks and I look in the mirror all the time… ain’t nothing not happening.”

• The banter escalates with comedic homoerotic undertones about application methods (e.g., "ball cream") and the lengths they’ll go to avoid aging.

• They hit on why they keep pushing themselves: an unspoken fear of getting fat and a need for suffering as a badge for not being “normal.”

2. Career Frustrations and Odd Success

• Bryan shares his entertainment industry grind—turning to directing, auditioning, and nearly quitting acting—only to be offered more work the moment he stopped caring.

  • [10:33] Bryan Callen: "I told a famous director friend of mine I said, I'm gonna quit acting... and then I get the Goldbergs on ABC… then I just didn’t stop working."
  • John relates with how he almost bailed from radio, but the best opportunity appeared right after.

• Both reflect on how “letting go” often ironically attracts new opportunities—a universal experience for creative people.

3. Promotion, Stand-Up, and Social Media Exhaustion

• Bryan laments how promoting comedy now falls on the performer, especially with social media’s demands, as opposed to the old radio days.
  • [11:26] Bryan Callen: "I find that exhausting… I don't want to be constantly saying, come see me…"
  • John likens it to "a whore… showing her parts before you buy."
  • They riff on breakups and desperation, noting how people (and offers) flock to you in moments of chaos or disengagement.

4. Training, Masculinity and the Old Warrior Trope

• The duo have fun visualizing themselves as grizzled, slightly mythic martial-arts sages, pruning bonsai trees on the outskirts of Phoenix, returning to battle only when summoned.

  • [06:47] Brian Callen: “We've got scars that tell a thousand stories that'll never be told. And the young Jedi comes in and says, I want to spar…”

• They make running jokes about avoiding politics because it would eat into valuable “training time.”

5. Conspiracies, Comedy, and Jewish Contributions

• The group launches into a whirlwind about conspiracy thinking—with Jewish influence as the recurring comedic theme.

  • Bryan drops a satirical list of Jewish inventions—birth control, the MRI, Christmas songs, fake breasts—to mock bigots' hypocrisy.
    • [16:28] Brian Callen: “If you don’t like the Jews… you’re just not allowed to use any of their inventions. Like the pill. No more raw dogging for you.”
    • [17:13] John Holmberg: “Your wife may not mean [be] Jewish, but her tits are.”
  • They keep the tone irreverent and lampoon antisemitic tropes by overloading the joke with real Jewish success stories in medicine, comedy, and tech.
  • There are riffs on Bond villains, the “invisible circle of Jews,” and the impossibility of controlling the world, with John wryly stating people think he’s Jewish for the perks.

• Bryan steers the discussion to media control and propaganda, conceding some of his younger naivety is gone, calling out Fox News and noting propaganda is nothing new.

6. Smartphones, Modern Addictions, and Cultural Drift

• The conversation pivots to the real culprit behind social decay: the smartphone.

  • [23:29] Brian Callen: “We are a nation of drug addicts. This dopamine thing, this phone is the most dangerous thing… It’s your phone, bro.”
  • John and Bryan joke that everyone focuses on the risks of vaccines or food, but ignores their phone’s pervasive behavioral changes.

• They reflect on how the phone has made us observers, not participants, with Bryan warning of the risks of distraction and disengagement.

7. Comedy as Healing and Coping with Tragedy

• Bryan spins stories about friends with cancer and the pressure for comedy to be “healing.”
  • [26:47] Brian Callen (deadpan): “I made him laugh so hard. Then he died. It didn’t work. He lasted two months. Sorry.”
  • The hosts confess to using humor to cope with illness among loved ones, relishing being able to make the “wrong” joke at the right moment if it helps a friend laugh.

8. Words of Wisdom: Embracing Chaos

• The episode closes on a genuinely philosophical note, as Bryan discusses staying close to the unmeasurable and the comfort in admitting “I’ve got nothing.”
  • [28:38] Brian Callen: “Try to stay close to something you can’t measure… Sometimes when you’re feeling like everything is chaos… it has always been ever thus.”
  • John shares wisdom from his father—life has always felt chaotic; nothing is new here.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [02:26] Brian Callen (on training as you age): “I was working on my blast double yesterday at 59. I have problems.”
• [03:16] John Holmberg (on ball cream): “They said, size of a dime. I said, you haven't seen my ball. How about a silver dollar?”
• [16:29] Brian Callen: “How about the MRI machine? You like that? Give credit to Jewish scientist. Next time you got a little lump, you figure it out. You just feel around.”
• [20:45] Brian Callen (mocking moon conspiracies): “International Bank. You're going to need a loan for that.”
• [23:29] Brian Callen: “We are a nation of drug addicts. This dopamine thing, this phone is the most dangerous thing… It’s your phone, bro.”
• [26:47] Brian Callen (gallows humor): “I made him laugh so hard. Then he died. It didn't work.”
• [28:38] Brian Callen: “Try to stay close to something you can't measure… Sometimes you don't have an answer, and it's okay to shake your head, fall to your knees, and say a prayer.”
• [29:14] John Holmberg (quoting his father): “There is not one time in my life where it didn't feel like this.”

Timestamps for Significant Segments

• [01:21] Bryan Callen introduced
• [02:22-03:20] Testosterone therapy & aging rituals
• [04:11-05:30] Bryan’s new projects & auditioning for a pilot
• [06:25-06:54] Old wise warrior archetypes & aging
• [10:33-11:18] Bryan’s story about quitting acting, end up busier
• [13:15-14:24] Conspiracy theories: Helen Keller and Jewish tropes
• [16:28] List of Jewish inventions (satirical)
• [21:11-22:44] News, propaganda, and why it’s always been “chaos”
• [23:29-24:13] The smartphone: the real “danger”
• [26:33-27:37] Comedy as healing amidst tragedy
• [28:38] Bryan’s closing words of wisdom on embracing chaos

Final Thought

Bryan Callen’s segment on Holmberg’s Morning Sickness is equal parts absurdist banter, comedic therapy, and genuinely insightful reflection on aging, culture, and coping with life. With relentless pace and their signature self-awareness, Bryan and John deliver an hour of laughs and truth bombs—never skirting the line, always crossing it with style.

Catch Bryan Callen at Desert Ridge Improv all weekend. “Try to stay close to something you can’t measure.”