Josh Robert Thompson

Summary

Joy, a Podcast: Episode featuring Josh Robert Thompson
Hosted by Craig Ferguson
Release Date: February 4, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of Joy, Craig Ferguson sits down with Josh Robert Thompson, a multifaceted artist known for his work as a voice actor, comedian, and podcaster. The conversation delves deep into their shared history on the "Late Late Show," the evolving landscape of media with the advent of AI, and personal reflections on aging and creative expression.

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Reflections on Past Work

Craig begins by reminiscing about their time on the "Late Late Show," highlighting the unique dynamic they shared, especially through the character Jeff Peterson. Josh acknowledges Craig’s pivotal role in pushing projects like Ghost Rider, emphasizing their creative synergy.

Craig Ferguson [05:13]: "All right. So yours is obviously Ghost Rider."

Josh Robert Thompson [05:19]: "Yes, Ghost Rider. I know that yours was Ghostwriter. I thought you were a big Ghostwriter fan."

They discuss memorable moments, including interactions with fans and the challenges of maintaining creativity within network constraints.

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The Impact of AI and Digital Media

A significant portion of their dialogue centers on the rise of Artificial Intelligence and its implications for creative work. Craig expresses concerns about AI replicating their unique improvisational chemistry, which Josh counters by sharing experiences of AI-generated content mimicking their voices and personas.

Josh Robert Thompson [11:19]: "You know what? Some guy just did that. I don't remember his name, but he built a Jeff Peterson. He was some kind of inventor or roboticist."

They debate the authenticity of AI-driven performances and the irreplaceable nature of human spontaneity in comedy and entertainment.

Craig Ferguson [15:03]: "Oh, you can't make me and Josh Robert Thompson and AI. And maybe they can't."

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Stand-Up vs. Podcasting and Personal Projects

Transitioning to their individual creative endeavors, Josh discusses his move away from stand-up comedy towards more nuanced projects like podcasting and ambient electronic music. Craig shares his own challenges with performing and the satisfaction he derives from behind-the-scenes work.

Craig Ferguson [28:56]: "Do you like Joe Rogan and people like that? Is that who you listen to?"

Josh Robert Thompson [32:24]: "Yeah. Joe Rogan, I think, is interesting."

They explore the benefits of longer-form content, such as podcasts, which allow for deeper exploration of ideas compared to the brevity of stand-up routines.

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Aging and Perspective Changes

Both hosts reflect on reaching their 50s, discussing how aging has shifted their perspectives on life, creativity, and personal priorities. Josh appreciates the newfound peace and selective engagement, while Craig shares regrets and realizations about his own career trajectory.

Craig Ferguson [45:34]: "Do you worry about getting older?"

Josh Robert Thompson [46:14]: "No, man, I love it because. And I wish I had felt this way while we were doing the show."

They touch upon the importance of evolving with age and the liberating effect it has on their creative processes.

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Authenticity in the Digital Age

The conversation delves into the authenticity of digital interactions versus in-person engagements. They express a longing for the genuine connection that comes from being physically present, highlighting the limitations of remote conversations and the superficiality of online interactions.

Craig Ferguson [58:22]: "I feel like in the world of, like, Talking to people for 11 or performative conversations, I think I'm as good as anyone who does it."

Josh Robert Thompson [59:39]: "If we were all together in a studio, be different, be completely different."

Both agree that while digital platforms offer convenience, they often fall short of capturing the essence of real-time, face-to-face communication.

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Personal Anecdotes and Stories

Throughout the episode, Craig and Josh share numerous personal stories that illustrate their points. Notably, Craig recounts meeting two Amtrak drivers who mimicked their Jeff Peterson hand gesture, symbolizing the lasting impact of their work.

Craig Ferguson [65:24]: "There are people in my life, and you are definitely one of them."

Josh opens up about his struggles with his early creative projects and the harsh self-criticism that followed, mirroring Craig’s own reflections on his film work.

Josh Robert Thompson [51:13]: "I can't conceive of speaking that way now. And it's...just how you are now."

These stories underscore the themes of growth, resilience, and the enduring nature of artistic connections.

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Conclusion and Future Outlook

As the episode wraps up, both hosts express mutual admiration and support for each other’s ongoing projects. They contemplate the possibility of future collaborations, such as a live Late Late Show segment hosted on Josh’s lawn, blending their comedic talents with personal creativity.

Craig Ferguson [73:07]: "We'll talk about it."

Josh Robert Thompson [73:12]: "But we'll talk about it."

Their closing remarks reinforce the episode’s underlying message about the importance of joy, creativity, and authentic human connections in an ever-evolving world.

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Notable Quotes

• Craig Ferguson [15:03]: "Oh, you can't make me and Josh Robert Thompson and AI. And maybe they can't."
• Josh Robert Thompson [28:33]: "It's not about me. Someone else's success has zero. I mean, you could be jealous. That's a normal thing."
• Craig Ferguson [26:29]: "Have you seen a British comedian called Stuart Lee? Have to see this guy. The rage in this human being is so awesome."
• Josh Robert Thompson [64:16]: "The name of my band, it's just me, is called Distant Sound of Trains."

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This episode of Joy offers a profound exploration of creativity, technology, and personal growth, enriched by the candid and humorous interplay between Craig Ferguson and Josh Robert Thompson. Listeners are left with a deeper appreciation of the complexities behind finding joy in a rapidly changing world.

Transcript

[Craig Ferguson]

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[Josh Robert Thompson]

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[Craig Ferguson]

Ferguson Pants on Fire Tour is on sale now. It's a new show, it's new material, but I am afraid it's still only me, Craig Ferguson on my own, standing on a stage telling comedy words. Come and see me. Buy tickets, bring your loved ones or don't come and see me. Don't buy tickets and don't bring your loved ones. I'm not your dad. You come or don't come, but you should at least know it's happening. And it is. The tour kicks off late September and goes through the end of the year and beyond. Tickets are [e-mail] tour. They're available at thecraigfergarsonshow.com tour or at your local outlet in your region. My name is Craig Ferguson. The name of this podcast is Joy. I talk to interesting people about what brings them happiness on the podcast. Today is an artist who I consider one of the best and most interesting that I've ever met. He was, of course, the personality, the voice, and the talent of Jeff Peterson on the old Late Late Show. But it's so much more than that. Welcome to the world of my friend Josh Robert Tomst. Enj. First of all, let me apologize to you because I was meant to do your podcast. Your Spielberg podcast. I haven't done it yet.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

That's all right.

[Craig Ferguson]

Are you still doing it?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

We're doing it right after this. We're doing it at noon. Come on, hop on.

[Craig Ferguson]

Do you know what I have to say by the way, as you get older, because I haven't seen you for a little while, you look more and more like John Cassavetes. Do you know that?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

I appreciate that. Thank you. I've never heard that. I've never heard that except from you.

[Craig Ferguson]

Really?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

No, you. You do. It's a little bit like, you know, you broke my heart. You.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

You did.

[Craig Ferguson]

I knew it was you, Josh. So listen, your podcast is.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

There we go.

[Craig Ferguson]

Are we doing Spiel?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Well, that's. You have to do that symbol. That's not Elon Musk, man. I'm trying to do. Come on, man.

[Craig Ferguson]

Do you know I drink my own pee?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

You know, that's. That's good. It's actually good for you.

[Craig Ferguson]

It says, natural Scottish apple juice.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

You can only drink your own piss. That's the thing. You can't drink someone else's piss. I guess that's the rule.

[Craig Ferguson]

Why would you get a disease?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah, I just did a. I did a whole. Well, I'll tell you about it. I did talk about urine recently.

[Craig Ferguson]

Okay. What happened?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

It's a lot going on over here, Ben, but we'll figure out the spiel thing. Don't worry about it. We're just. We book, you know, there's so much shit going on, man.

[Craig Ferguson]

Well, I figured. Here's the thing, because your podcast is about doing your favorite Spielberg movie.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

I thought we could do on my podcast is we could talk about a favorite movie that wasn't a Spielberg movie.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah. Okay.

[Craig Ferguson]

All right. So yours is obviously Ghost Rider.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yes, Ghost Rider. I know that yours was Ghostwriter. I thought you were a big Ghostwriter fan.

[Craig Ferguson]

I like it. You know? Can I tell you something about Ghost Rider? So I was. I did a show, and then afterwards at the meet and greet, this nice older lady was at the meet and greet. She said, do you know my son? He's. He's an actor. He was in a movie called Ghost Rider. And I looked at, I looked at. She had a very specific movement. And I said, yeah, you Wes Bentley's mom? And she said, yeah, yes, I am. You know, my son. I went, your son's a giant fucking movie star. He's like on Yellowstone. He's the devil in the Ghost Rider movies. And she was like, oh, I didn't know you knew him. I was like, oh, with a mother like that, I'm surprised he's not a stand up comedian.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Did you share your love of ghost? I mean, you were, you were really the one that was pushing Ghost Rider for years. You know, I think I was pretty.

[Craig Ferguson]

Much the only one. Although they did make Ghost Rider too, so they must have been a market for it.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

And I think, did Nicolas Cage come back for that one? Did you see that one?

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, I think that was the post I bought too many castles.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah, I was going to say, yeah, got to pay off all the iguanas. The Komodo dragon, do you know that.

[Craig Ferguson]

My agent looked at, maybe was thinking about buying his house in la? And she told me that the candle sconces were plaster cast of his arm holding legs.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

This is my arm over here. That's my arm. Pretty cool. Yeah, you should get that, man.

[Craig Ferguson]

I'd like your arm. I'd like your arm impersonating Nicolas Cage's arm.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

This sconce here is Josh Robert Thompson's arm impersonating Nicolas Cage's arm.

[Craig Ferguson]

Oh, I meant to tell you, by the way, you know how it went when we were doing Jeff Pearson on the late night show, there were two Jeffs, Traveling Jeff and regular studio Jeff. I have both Jeffs. I have both Jeffs.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Oh, it was a mystery. Well, this is interesting you bring this up because this has been a source of great mystery for the last decade, since the show went off the air again. It's been a decade. I knew you had the Jeff, you had the in studio Jeff. But the mystery was, where is the other Jeff? Is he in storage? Is he traveling the world? But this whole time you've had both of them.

[Craig Ferguson]

I've had both Jeffs. But I would like to offer you the gift of the Jeff of your choice, Traveling Jeff that I will have shipped to you.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

So what you're saying is you would send me. I can choose whichever Jeff I want. Traveling Jeff. And then you will ship that Jeff somehow. As long as it's one of the two Jeffs. Traveling Jeff.

[Craig Ferguson]

Traveling Jeff. Yeah, yeah. But I feel like it should. First of all, you're famous for your Halloween parade. That you have in your house as a big pager.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah. Put a. Yeah, big show.

[Craig Ferguson]

You're a major figure in the gay community in Los Angeles, and a lot of people come to.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

So good. Have you seen his Halloween? It's fantastic. You've got to come by and see it.

[Craig Ferguson]

Your Halloween is very good, though.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

You're saying Jeff Peterson could be the centerpiece of the newest Halloween display, is what you're thinking.

[Craig Ferguson]

Well, you're famous for your Halloween display in Los Angeles. I don't. Look, whether or not it's the centerpiece of the display, I don't know. That's up to you. I'm just supplying what you do with the traveling Jeff once you get him there. That's up to you. By the way, you can have either Jeff.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Okay, but preferably traveling Jeff.

[Craig Ferguson]

But definitely traveling Jeff.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

What you're saying is I could do a sad, lonely, like, puppet show just on the front lawn at Halloween? You want me to hide behind a bush and have the remote control and. Hey, hey, there. Trick or treat.

[Craig Ferguson]

I actually. Actually, I wasn't suggesting that. But as you bring it up, it does sound pretty good.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

It sounds like Internet. It's a little. It's a little sad, but, you know. Oh, isn't that. Josh Robert Thompson. Hey, remember me? TV's Jeff Peterson. Help yourself to some candy. Go ahead. I don't know.

[Craig Ferguson]

It could be TikTok gold. I think it might be TikTok gold. Yeah.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

You know what? Now from the show, I have something. They at one point made a puppet head beautifully crafted of you. So I have a Craig Ferguson puppet head. It's you in puppet form.

[Craig Ferguson]

Is it creepy?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

It's a little creepy. But what I'm thinking is I could puppeteer your head while I'm puppeteering Jeff. And then on the front lawn at Halloween. Hey, Josh. Hey, Jeff. It's Halloween.

[Craig Ferguson]

Oh, cheeky monkey. Oh, hi. Oh, cheeky monkey. Oh, Josh. What's that? Do you know? I will say this, though, about. I mean, it is a decade since the show went off the air, but because of the way things are now, people still think it's on the air. There are people who genuinely believe it's still on the air.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

They do, and it might as well be. I mean, there are people that have made even recently, very thorough compilations of the entirety of the show. And in most cases, because of. I guess they use AI Somehow they've upgraded the quality. It looks better than it ever looked when it was on television. But, yes, there are people out there that have archives of our Material do you know?

[Craig Ferguson]

But I was thinking about this AI, though, because we did so much Jeff Peterson and TV's Craig Ferguson together, I think AI could probably start making new episodes of you and me. And you and me don't even have to be involved.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

You know what? Some guy just did that. I don't remember his name, but he built a Jeff Peterson. He was some kind of inventor or roboticist. I'm not sure what he does, but he built a working Jeff Peterson and sent me the video of it, and it looked amazing. And in the video, Jeff starts talking and it's clearly my voice as Jeff Peterson. But Jeff is saying all kinds of things. Not offensive things, but he's saying a lot of stuff that I never said. And the guy used AI to replicate Jeff's voice. And I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I was very complimented that he built this robot, but it was an odd thing to present to me, I think. I don't know, seemed a little strange.

[Craig Ferguson]

Well, I don't know, if I think about it, you know, if that is the state the AI is at now. So if anybody digs up any shit from the show and says, I can't believe they said that, and they try and cancel you, you can just say, I, I didn't say that it was AI somebody. I would never say that.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

No, that's, that's not, that's not Craig. That's a deep fake. No, that's somebody else. No, no, no, no, that's James Corden.

[Craig Ferguson]

Joyce Robert Thompson with his puppet head. He used to do in the puppet head and then using the AIs.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

That's Josh, you know, his big Halloween display. Yeah. He does this sad one man puppet show where he does Craig's puppet head. And by the way, I just, you know, I wanted to say this to you this. Over the years, there have been so many people that have messaged me, X'd me. I don't know. Anyway, Facebook, twixt, twixt, twixt. Yeah, about James Corden, you know, wanting me saying the worst things about James Corden. And I just never engaged in it. I always thought it was really fascinating when the version of the show that you did ended. I don't know why people assumed that either one of us would jump on board with that.

[Craig Ferguson]

I got the same thing that people would say. Hey, you know, they would say mean things about James, who in my limited interaction with him was a perfectly sweet, very nice man.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

And they would always try and get say mean things about him to Me, like, I, like, I somehow didn't like him or was. It's weird, isn't it?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Like you were gonna join in and go, you know. Yeah, you're right. You know what? Let me, let me. Because I went to a taping. I went to, I think, the last week of the show. Very strange to go back to CBS Studios, by the way. I mean, it was, it was the same stage where we did our show.

[Craig Ferguson]

Are they going to knock it down?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Are they? Or.

[Craig Ferguson]

I think so.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Are they turning it into a mall? Is that the legacy of. Yeah, I think that might be it.

[Craig Ferguson]

Which is my right.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah, but it was great. I mean, he, it was a great show. The, the writing was great. I thought it was very funny. And. Yeah, I just. Anyway, I, I, I just never understood it. I just never participated in that. No reason to. It's very strange.

[Craig Ferguson]

I think the, the kind of place I've come to with it, the show that we did in Late Night, I feel we're kind of like, like Fish or the Grateful Dead. We're not for everybody, but for the people that we were for, we were really for them. And I think that they get immensely loyal. And for the people that don't get it, they're like, I don't get it. We're like, that's all right. You don't have to get it. We have enough people who really, really get it. Because whatever the hell we were doing back then, I still don't really understand it, other than, in fact, it's a piece of magical improv. It's chemistry. That's what it is. And actually is the argument I use against AI when I'm discussing it, it's like, oh, you can't make me and Josh Robert Thompson and AI. And maybe they can't.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

No, they could. They can replicate the voices. But I was just thinking about this yesterday. The interactions that you and I had on that show is not something that you can plan for. And I only have that with a few people. You know, you're, you're at the top of the list. It's a very small, short list of people that I have that with. The other guy is a guy name Jeff Richards, who is an astonishing comedian and impressionist, and he has a show called the Jeff Richards show where he's never on his show, he can never make it to his own show. So he plays a celebrity filling in. And a lot of times I'll go on as George Lucas. Hi, this is George Lucas, creator of Star wars. And he'll be Dustin Hoffman and the idea of Dustin Hoffman and George Lucas having a conversation for an hour is so appealing to me. And I think, and I think it's that weirder off center sense of humor that you and I both share as well. It's a little darker. We were doing stuff on the Late, Late show that I can't believe we were doing on television.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah. Oh, we would never get away with now because, you know, people would see it. Like when we were doing it, it was going on late at night and then, and then that was it. But now it's replicated on the Internet. People would see it and go, ah, you can't say that people like. Right. Oh, it wasn't us, it was AI.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

Can I tell you this, though? Well, when you tell me about what was the name of the guy you showed?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Jeff Richards. Jeffrey.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, Jeff Richards. When I heard that, I got a bit. I'm a little jealous. I feel like a little jealous.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

No, man, no. You're. You're number one. You're the first you see, you're, you know.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah. It's kind of like you hear that your ex is dating like a firefighter.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

I knew you were going to. I was like, you know, should I even bring this up? I'm going to, I'm going to mention this.

[Craig Ferguson]

No, no. I'm a little jealous. A little.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

No, it's you, it's you, Jeff. I mean, there's a couple other guys, if you want me to say their names as well.

[Craig Ferguson]

Oh, sure, just tell me. Give me your whole list. By the way, who are they?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Well, listen, you know what? You know what? You know what's very special about what we did is that you couldn't see me. We talked about this before. I came on the show before. But that's the magic trick, man. Like you were improvising to nothing. I mean, I was there, but, you know, you were looking at this skeleton robot thing and so that's an even more difficult form of improv. That's a real magic trick. And the fact that it worked with that, with that is, Is incredible to me.

[Craig Ferguson]

I think that, you know, I mean, I hate to, you know, knock it back, but I think that's more about you than it is about me. I think that the. But you kept throwing stuff to me that I couldn't resist. You know, like you would open the robot's mouth and have a harmonica sound come out. Sure, yeah, the mouth. I mean, things that. There are things now even like, you know, I'll be in the shower or something. And I'll think about stuff that we did and I'll start laughing again. Do you remember that when we were doing that whole thing where you and the horse were going to get in a fight with each other and I had to break it up and.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

Jesus. I mean, all done with body language and shouting. I mean, I mean it was really.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

It's true, it's true. Because. Because Joe Bolter who was at the front of the horse had nothing, right? All he could do was say yes or no. Really. With, with Secretariat and the mileage he got out of those two expressions was just gold. And then I would say, kick his ass. Kick, man. And Jeff obviously couldn't move from the lectern. So I think we were having a good time. I think we were. It was like an in joke. Half the show was just in jokes. I felt it was just trying to make you laugh because I think toward the end, certainly the last year you were just, you know, it's enough already.

[Craig Ferguson]

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[Josh Robert Thompson]

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Hey you guys, I'm Katherine Legge. I'm a racing driver who's literally driven everything with four wheels across the planet, and I've got a new podcast. It's called Throttle Therapy. This season, I'm gearing up to make history, competing in some of the world's most notorious racing events, starting at the Indy 500. Join me as I travel from racetrack to racetrack in my quest to continue a memorable career in racing. I'm also going to bring you inside stories with legends of sports, new faces from the next generation of auto racing, and conversations with the people who've supported me throughout my career. Career. We'll be getting into everything from karting to nascar, even Formula one. Whether you dream about being a pro athlete or an astronaut, we're talking about what it takes to make it. Listen to Throttle Therapy with Katherine Legg, an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

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[Jon Stewart]

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[Craig Ferguson]

I think now looking at the way that the business is now. I don't even know anyone really who works in that arena anymore. And, you know, in kind of broadcast television and those kind of big corporate environments, it seems to be that everything is like what we're doing now. It seems like where comedy exists in that environment. The talk shows, I mean, I guess they're still late night shows. I never watched them, and they're still there, I guess, but for me, they exist on the phone. I mean, that's where I see maybe 30 seconds of a late night show. That's all I ever see.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Right.

[Craig Ferguson]

I would never watch one that started.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Toward the end of our run. I mean, that, that. Yeah, I guess Alan was embracing YouTube and all that stuff. He was good.

[Craig Ferguson]

He. He got on it right away. He got in a Twitter. Remember when it was called Twitter before it was Twix and. Yeah, it was. He got into it. Right, Playing the hashtag game. I tried to play that hashtag game once on Jimmy Fallon's thing because the hashtag was, my co worker is weird. And I put in, he's a fucking robot skeleton. But they never used it. I thought it would have been good.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

But they were like, who? What? Who.

[Craig Ferguson]

What are you talking about? Who's a robot skeleton? That doesn't make sense. And you swore, so it doesn't make sense.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

You know, man, it's amazing how many people are finding the show now, which we talked about, you know, a little bit ago, but it's. I mean, there's so many people just now finding it just now. So it just goes on and on, man. And that's 10 years after it went off the air. So that. I know that's really something special, man. I mean, you.

[Craig Ferguson]

I think what's kind of interesting to me about it as well is I don't know about you, I think you went through this as well. For the. The first couple of years after we were done with it, I kind of. I didn't want to talk about it. I was kind of like, I was, you know, I was respectful to it, but I didn't really want to talk about it. I didn't embrace it. And now I feel the complete opposite of that. I'm like, yes, I'm very proud of it. I'm so proud of what we did. I'm happy we did. Doesn't mean I want to do it again, but I'm very connected to it in a way that I wasn't for a little while.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Right. Yeah, I had the same thing. I mean, I was a Little angrier about things. But the thing about that is anger isn't sexy. That doesn't sell very well. It's not like if I had done cocaine or I had gone off on a bender and then came back, I think people would be like, oh, good for him. Josh is doing well. But if you go, well, Josh isn't angry anymore, people go, yeah, so. So what? Join the club.

[Craig Ferguson]

You know what I mean?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

It's not sexy. It doesn't sell, Craig. It's not. Not a good promotion. It's not good pr.

[Craig Ferguson]

I think that. I think that if you don't get. If you don't get angry, I. I don't know. I. I feel like if you don't get angry, you can't do comedy. I mean, the. Yeah. Or comedy that I'm interested in. I mean, what I always loved about your comedy. Not just Jeff, but the other, you know, the characters that you did on the show and the stuff, they're filled with such an existential rage that I. That I love that. And I'm talking the same rage that fuels, you know, south park. Or the same rage. Have you seen a British comedian called Stuart Lee?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

No. No. Not familiar with.

[Craig Ferguson]

Have to see this guy. The rage in this human being is so awesome. Like, he would be angry at me. Being complimentary about his standup. I'm sure he would. He'd be like, fuck. You know, it would be awful. But it's amazing stuff. And I think converting that kind of. It's almost despair, I think, into comedy is what a lot of people, they don't understand about it. I think comedians maybe understand it, and that's kind of behind the curtain. But audiences, I think, think, oh, that's funny. He's a funny guy. I'm like, no, no, he's a funny guy.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

But, you know, you can't get people to. The audience just wants you to entertain them and be funny or whatever it is that you do. That is your particular talent. They're not really interested in how you get there. And that's what I found out, you know, And I think the big thing I learned was it's not about me. You know, I used to get really angry about. Look at these YouTubers. This is Years ago. Look at. Look at the, you know, Chewbacca mom or somebody going viral and getting all this stuff. And, you know, I'm over here making this TV pilot that I spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on, and, you know, and one day it just clicks and you realize it's not about me. It's not about me always sounded like such a hostile phrase whenever I heard people say, you know, it's not about Josh, it's not about you. But it's actually very helpful to remember that because it frees you from that. That upset, that anger. It's. It's not about. Has nothing to do with me. Someone else's success has zero. I mean, you could be jealous. That's a normal thing. We've talked about that before, but sure. I just don't. It doesn't have anything to do with you. It's. It's, it's. What a lovely idea. What a great thought. I think.

[Craig Ferguson]

Well, I think the, the idea also is the. Really, when it comes down to it, the only thing you've got control over is your attitude towards anything, really.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

I mean it. You don't really have any control over the outside world beyond a certain amount. You don't know how somebody's going to react. You don't. I, I love when writers would say to me, this joke's gonna kill. And I'm like, you don't know that. You're just. You just want me to try it, you know? But, yeah, I don't know. You don't know. I mean, you can guess. Have you been doing any stand up?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

No. No.

[Craig Ferguson]

Recently?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Not at all. Not at all. I made a decision that that's not the format for me. That's not where I need to be.

[Craig Ferguson]

Where? Stand up.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah. That's not. I did it with you for, for a number of years and.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

And then that cured me of ever wanting to do it again, is what I'm saying.

[Craig Ferguson]

I don't know, man. I feel like. I feel like I. Yeah, you know, Joshi, I do. You know, I love you and I feel like it is that you have great lakes of despair inside you that I think can be mined for gold in the world of standup.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah. But you know what? The stuff that excites me the most is the improv character stuff. We've talked about this before, but I think I've finally figured it out with impressions. I. I enjoy doing impressions. I don't consider myself an impressionist. I don't. I don't get up in the morning and think like, what voice am I going to learn today? And there are guys that are really good at that and that's what they live for. However, if I'm in the right company, such as yourself, and I won't name the list of the five other guys, but. No, I'm saying, you know, but If, If I'm around those guys, I mean, in the right frame of mind, in the right company, I'll do it if it's, if it's organic. But I, I don't like the. You get up there and you, you be fun. I just. I don't know. My stuff is more. I don't know. I don't want to say performance art, but I like the improv aspect of things. I like just being.

[Craig Ferguson]

I get it. I mean, I, I. For a long time, the hardest thing I found was to start the show. I always wonder, how do you go up there and say, good evening, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to now try and say some things, and hopefully it will make you laugh. And it took me a long time to know I can get up there and say, good evening, ladies and gentlemen, I am going to say some things and hopefully it will make you laugh. And that's all you really have to say. But there was a sense of. I don't know, I feel like you may have this. I kind of know you do. There's some kind of weird sense of shame or embarrassment or something that lives inside you that as a performer. Yeah, yeah. You kind of. You have to wrestle with a little bit. It's because when I see some people go up and just talk about how great they are, I am in awe of that level of confidence. I don't have it.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah, yeah. No, I. Well, we're seeing something interesting happening though, too, where a lot of these comedians that have podcasts, I find that their podcast is more entertaining and interesting than their standup, and they're very good at stand up. But, But I find that the longer format of a podcast gives some people the room to find those beats and present themselves in a different kind of way that I find more appealing. You know, there's. There's a number. There's a bunch of big comics that do their podcasts, and then they use that as the platform to get you to go see, obviously, go see their show. But I think, you know, that somehow that's more appealing to me. Listening to their, to their podcast, it's just a different animal.

[Craig Ferguson]

Do you like Joe Rogan and people like that? Is that who you listen to?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah. Joe Rogan, I think, is. Is interesting. You know, I, I find it entertaining, sometime educational. You know, I don't, I don't. I don't swear by it, but like Theo Vaughn, I think is very. Theo Vaughn is, Is a guy who is so unique in his voice. He's so. He. I'VE watched him become more confident as a host, as a. As a person, as a human being. So we're, you know, that's the other thing. You're watching people. You're spending time with these people on a podcast in a way that you don't get to necessarily in stand up. And I think, like with Theo Vaughn, it's been really nice to watch him grow over the years, and I think he's a fantastic host.

[Craig Ferguson]

You know, I'm less familiar with Theo Vaughn's work. I'm obviously aware of Joe Rogan, who kind of almost created it. He created this thing. It's like he created a new type of discussion, a new type of way of dealing with things, which is fascinating to me. And I think he adopted it early and he investigated it and he went at it and he found and created a thing. It's so unusual and rare to see a person do that. I think it's fantastic.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah, I like that he talks to. I just like that he talks to anybody. That's kind of. I mean, it's not as silly as when I used to watch the Morton Downey Jr. Show in the 80s. We had Geraldo and Morton Downey Jr. Show. A lot of that stuff was staged, but. But it. It retains some of the essence of that in the sense that it takes chances. You know, Joe can do whatever he wants. It's his own format, and it speaks to what broadcasting used to be. You know, the. Especially coming from the public access local TV world, as I do.

[Craig Ferguson]

Which is what you're saying, right? That's.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

And that's what our show was. Are we. You joked about that the show was broadcast from CBS's basement, but we were essentially doing public access TV on network television. And I think the show was better for it. That's the free. We had such freedom that we would never have now. I don't think we would ever have that freedom now. I just don't think.

[Craig Ferguson]

I think it's weird because there are so many. Whenever I rub up against the executive world. It used to be when you talk to executives in show business, in Hollywood, they were people who were fans of show business. They had things that they liked, they had. You know, I feel that there's less and less and less of that. When I talk to executives now, they're people who worry about spreadsheets and algorithms and two screen interaction and all these things that they say now. And they worry about the business of it being successful rather than being excited about what they're making now. I think there's always been an element of that, but I think it's kind of like tipped into this weird mensing machine that. I mean, look, there were always the factory. You know, my mother of the car type shows, if you just want to throw shit out there and try and. But they don't try anything now. It's like when I see something new, I'm genuinely shocked. You know, I can tell you that even like, you know, procedural, like crime dramas, you go, that's the. That's him. You know, that's who did it. That's, you know, that's the guy. And this is the thing. And you're meant to think of this guy. Maybe I'm just getting old. There is that possibility. I've seen too many things and it's time to.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Still, doesn't it get to that? I think it does get to that point where you. Yeah, all the themes, you recognize all the themes. There's only a few basic themes and plots and it's just variations, variations, variations, you know, but. But that's what, that's why someone like Joe Rogan is important. You may not agree with what Joe Rogan is doing. You may, you know, you don't have to. That's not the point. That's. That's impossible. That's a silly thing to strive for. You're never going to agree with what everything that somebody says. But it has to exist. The fact that Joe's show exists is important, and we don't need networks for that. I mean, then again, he made a, you know, multibillion dollar deal with big network. But still, fair play to him, though.

[Craig Ferguson]

I mean, I would have to if I was him. I mean, that is absolutely the right thing to do. You know, it's like what people say, you know, when MD is ever accused of selling out. I'm thinking, have you ever met a performer in your life? Is the goal. That's what you want to see on that. On the poster is sold out. You know, that's. That's what you want. Sold out. Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

By the way, I will do impressions if it's with friends that I enjoy working with or if they're paying me money. That's. You see, that's the thing. If I'm being paid, I'll do it. You know, if it's good money, I'll do it.

[Craig Ferguson]

You see all these posh English actors who come from, you know, very wealthy family saying, well, I wanted to see if the part was something that I wanted to do. Come on, here's How I know I want to do it.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

It's like, you got how many? Then I'll do it. How many zeros are there? Yeah, I'll do it. That's fine.

[Craig Ferguson]

I mean, even. It was like. Was it Michael Caine when they said, have seen that Jaws thing that he did? Is. Have you ever even seen it? He's like, no, but I've seen the house that it built. And that's enough. You know?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

It's true. That's why Nicholas Cage has sconces of his own arms, made of his own arms. These bills. Got to pay off the bills.

[Craig Ferguson]

Oh, he didn't he go bankrupt, though. He bought too many houses.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

He's probably gone bankrupt, you know, five or six times. He seems like he's doing okay. He seems like he'd be all right.

[Craig Ferguson]

He's. He's having a resurgence.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

He is. But, like, it's. It's all good stuff. I don't know. It's. It's a more sanitized. I like. Like when Nicholas Cage did the sequel to Bad Lieutenant. You remember Bad Lieutenant with Harvey Kite?

[Craig Ferguson]

I kind of remember a sequel. Bad Lieutenant as a sequel.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah, yeah, he did a. He did Bad Lieutenant. Port. Port of Call. Port of Call, New Orleans. It's. It's amazing.

[Craig Ferguson]

Oh, it's worth it. I haven't seen it. I know the one you're talking about.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah. Because the first one was Harvey Keitel. Harvey Keitel was nude through most of the movie. Be walking around dancing naked and doing all kinds of. It's a. It's a. It's a fun two hours to spend with the family. You're gonna really enjoy that one, but that's easier. That's the film I miss. I mean, like, Abel Ferrara directed that. I missed that early 90s. You know, a lot of these films now that, like a 24, they're fine, but they say they're taking these big swings and they're doing all these controversial things. I don't. I don't get. Maybe it's because it's not shot on film anymore. I don't know. I don't get that. I miss that early 90s, late 80s, the seediness of film, you know, those kind of movies that were taking chances.

[Craig Ferguson]

Did you see Saltburn?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

I did see Saltburn.

[Craig Ferguson]

It's funny because. No, like, spoiler, but you know, when the. The guy with the big penis wins the day and gets the big castle.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Sure, yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

Speaking as. Speaking of someone who's owned a castle and like, you wait till the first heating bill Comes in and we'll see how good you feel about that. Mr. Big Penis.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

I want to see the sequel to that. Mr. Big penis pays his bills.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Mr. Big penis has a mortgage.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah. Mr. Big penis gets the heating bill. And then, you know, the roof has to be redone because it hasn't been done since 1528 and all that. It all gets old pretty fast.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Coming soon from A24, the sequel to Saltburn, Mr. Big Penis Pays the bills.

[Craig Ferguson]

And in it, he pays the bills, and he has to pay the bills by selling his big penis in installments.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

He sells his big penis.

[Craig Ferguson]

I thought.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Okay, I thought that's.

[Craig Ferguson]

I mean, he sells. Maybe he sells. He rents it out. What I'm saying is he becomes a prostitute. He becomes a prostitute.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Okay, that's good. But maybe the sconces in his castle are cast of his penis.

[Craig Ferguson]

The sconces are his penis.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

The sconces are my penis. Oh, my penis.

[Craig Ferguson]

Would you ever have a body part as a sconce? What part of your body part could be a sconce?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

I don't think my.

[Craig Ferguson]

I'm.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

No. You don't think your penis.

[Craig Ferguson]

My penis?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

No.

[Craig Ferguson]

I think my penis could maybe be a candle holder. Wall sconce.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

No, I think my wall scones days are behind me. I think that I'd be more. Maybe a light. Maybe a reading light.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah, a little reading lamp.

[Craig Ferguson]

You know, these reading lights at the.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Side of the bag. Maybe a book. A book light. Maybe a small book light that you clamp to the. To the back of the book.

[Craig Ferguson]

You clamp.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Because, look, man, I'm getting into my penis sconce years. I'm about to turn 50. I'm about to be the age that you were. You were maybe a year older than me when the show ended.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, Yeah, I was 52. Maybe some of that. 52.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

So I'm. I'm gonna turn 50. So it's penis sconce time. This is my penis sconce era, man.

[Katherine Legge]

Hey, you guys, I'm Katherine Legg. I'm a racing driver who's literally driven everything with four wheels across the planet. And I've got a new podcast. It's called Throttle Therapy. This season, I'm gearing up to make history, competing in some of the world's most notorious racing events, starting at the Indy 500. Join me as I travel from racetrack to racetrack in my quest to continue a memorable career in racing. I'm also going to bring you inside stories with legends of sports, new faces from the next generation of auto racing, and conversations with the people who've supported me throughout my career. We'll be getting into everything from karting to nascar, even Formula One. Whether you dream about being a pro athlete or an astronaut, we're talking about what it takes to make it. Listen to Throttle Therapy with Katherine Legg, an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of.

[Jon Stewart]

Iheart Women's Sports, Jon Stewart is back at the Daily show, and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Dive into John's unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports and more. Joined by the sharp voices of the show's correspondents and contributors, and with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups, this this podcast gives you content you won't find anywhere else. Ready to laugh and stay informed? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[A.J. Stephens]

Ever wonder what it's like to be on the phone with an NFL general manager as you finalize the biggest contract in NFL history? I'm A.J. stephens, Vice President of Client strategy at Athletes first, where we've negotiated $1.4 billion in current NFL quarterback contracts. Introducing the Athlete's First Family podcast, the Quarterback Series, along with my co host Brian Murphy, athlete's first CEO, we're pulling back the curtain on how these historic deals come together. You'll hear directly from the agents who shaped the NFL's financial landscape, the ones who negotiated Justin Herbert's extension into Sean Watson's fully guaranteed contract that sent shockwave waves through the league. This isn't just about the numbers, though. It's about the untold stories behind these massive negotiations and the relationships the NFL superstars like Dak Prescott, Tua Tungavaloa and Jordan Love have with their agents at Athletes First. For the first time ever, the agents who orchestrate these deals are sharing the details of the negotiations and everything that led up to their clients signing on the dotted line. Listen to the Athletes First Family podcast on the Iron Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Welcome. My name is Paola Pedrosa, a medium and the host of the Ghost Therapy podcast, where it's not just about connecting with deceased loved ones, it's about learning through them and their new perspective. Join me on the Ghost Therapy Podcast Whoa.

[Craig Ferguson]

My lights in my living room just flickered. I'M a little nervous.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

I'm excited. I'm excited nervous. You know, I'm a very spiritual person.

[Katherine Legge]

So I'm like, I'm ready and open.

[Craig Ferguson]

That was amazing.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

I feel so grateful right now. I got to speak to my great grandmother, Abuela, and she gave me a lot of really good advice that I'm gonna have to really think about.

[Katherine Legge]

Wow.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Okay. That's crazy. Yes, that is accurate.

Listen to the Ghost Therapy podcast as part of the My Cultura Podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Craig Ferguson]

Are you worried about turning 50? I hated turning 50. It freaked me out. I was.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Now, why, why, why were you so upset?

[Craig Ferguson]

I just thought, oh, my God, this is off. I mean, look, the. The day after I turned 50, I was like, ridiculous. Doesn't matter at all. But yeah, on the lead up to my 50th birthday, I was getting very tense, but I wouldn't let the kids talk about it or answer like, I don't want to talk about it. And they're like, yeah, we better get your present. I'm like, no, get back to work.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Because they nobody mentioned a thing. I'm turning. Get the out of here. Put the penis guns away.

[Craig Ferguson]

The book reading light the penis. But I. I feel like it. I worried about that. Do you worry about that? You worry about getting older?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

No, man, I love it because. And I wish I had felt this way while we were doing the show. I wish I had this perspective 10 years ago, but isn't that always the way? The way that I feel now is. I don't want to say Zen, but I can't remember why any of the stuff that I thought was such a big fucking deal. I know, was a big. I can't even figure it out. And it's a very peaceful place to be because I just make stuff for myself. And if people like it, fine. If they don't, I really don't care. I don't mean that in a derogatory, negative way. I just. It's fine, man. Like, I don't know, you just sort of come into your own. And as you get older, you. You also, like, what am I going to spend my time with? I used to say yes to everything because there was that desperation. I mean, after the show ended, I didn't have a lot of money. I was like, oh, shit. I guess this is it for me. I guess it's over. So I'm going to say yes to everything, and I have to say yes to everything. But now I don't, because, you know, you've only got so much time, man. We got to be selective.

[Craig Ferguson]

If you're talking about the end of the show, that was one of the things that I had to come to terms with because I was the age you are now, which was when I was 50 years old. They were coming to me and saying, well, we can do another set of years and another set of numbers of money. And I realized that I was negotiating with a commodity that I didn't really have, which was time. Well, it's only another year. It's only another two years. It's only another five years or whatever it was. And you go, but. But I don't know if I have that. It would be. And I. I felt like, you know, looking back on it now, I clearly, I did have that time, but I didn't know, you know, And I. And I didn't want to keep. I didn't want to hate the show. I didn't want to get to a point where I hated it. You know, there were nice. I think they were nice in any job where you think, oh, fuck this, I can't do this again. But I didn't. I really. I was so rare that I ever felt that when we were doing Late Night, but maybe about a year or maybe 18 months before we actually finished, that's when I was getting the closest to it, when I was like, again with this again. And the only thing that made me laugh, actually, was the shit that we were doing. And that was the only thing. And I feel like now, if I'd have known then what I know now. They said, well, let's just cut everything and we'll just do, you know, the Jeff and Craig Comedy Hour, and that's what we'll do, you know?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

And that's what we should have done. You know, I think it's just like, we'll just do that. Just do what we want. But they would have fired us. You understand that?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Well, yeah, sure. We probably would have gone another couple months at least. You could have. You could have squeezed a few more months out of that show. Yeah, but, you know. You know, when. You know, like. But I have also, as I've gotten older, realized that two things can be true. Like, I used to have this attitude of, I'm sick of doing impressions, and that's it. I want to write. I want to be a writer, and I'm a filmmaker. That's what I do. So. So I have to just fuck doing impressions, and I'm done. Being a voice actor. But now it's like, no, dude, you can do both things. And by the way, what. What an incredible job I have. I am so grateful. It's like my commute is 12ft from the bedroom down to my studio, which is in my home. And everything I do is from home. So it's like I get up early in the morning and I write and I work on, you know, some of these other projects that are really near and dear to my heart. The stuff that really gets me up in the morning and keeps me excited about creating. And then I do the other stuff. The other stuff's fine. It's not my first love, but I just don't say that publicly. I just, you know, people. People enjoy that stuff, and that's great. They enjoy the silly things, and that's the right attitude.

[Craig Ferguson]

I think that is right. I mean, I think that sometimes I would do a show and someone would come backstage afterwards and I didn't feel it was a good show, and they'd enjoy the show, and they say, I love the show. And you go, ah, it wasn't a good one. And I felt like, you're robbing them of that thing. So now, no matter what, I'm like, great, because I'm not the best judge of it either. I'm not the best judge of. Of what I do. And. And sometimes I think, I mean, look, I know you pretty well over the years. You're kind of like that too, you know, you're not the best judge of. Of how it played out. You know, it's like, so true.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

It's, like, true, man.

[Craig Ferguson]

You. You throw your thing out there and then stay out of the result. It's like you're not, you know, being asked to judge it. You're being asked to judge it before it happens, after it happens. It's somebody else's joke.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

It's true. Years ago, I did an indie film. I was the star of a romantic comedy that a then friend of mine made. And you know, when. When the film came out, I got. I just. I'm thinking about this now, and I'm just getting douche chills, man. I feel like I just. I can't. I want to call the guy right after this and just go, hey, man, I was so publicly rude about that film. I think now about how much it takes to make a film and what an accomplishment it was and just, you know.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

And I just so cavalierly was like, nah, you like that movie? That movie sucked. That was a piece of movie. I just could not conceive of speaking that way now. And it's. You know, I did.

[Craig Ferguson]

I've done exactly the same thing. I did exactly the same thing about a movie that I wrote and I directed and I starred in. And I've bad mouthed that film for the last 20 years. And, you know, and the truth of the matter is, it's an okay film. It's an okay film, and if you enjoy that film, that's great. I'm really glad you enjoy it. And I deeply regret. Exactly as you say. Like. Like, I'm such a. I'm so great. I shouldn't have made that film. What a dick. You know, I mean, it's like I. That's the film I made. And there is. I hope you enjoy it. See you next time.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah, you got it. You got to do it. You got to do it like George Lucas does it. You just have to. You just quietly recut your film and then you. All right, no, this is the. This is the film. I'm destroying all the other films, and this is the only one that exists. This is the one that exists, which I. Which I admire. But, yeah, dude, I mean, it's a big accomplishment. I mean, you. You made a film. I think it's a great film, but you were in a different. Who you were at that time, when you made it, when you wrote it, when you were talking about it. That's. It's a whole different. It's a whole different world from where you are now.

[Craig Ferguson]

It is. And I think the idea, the kind of it is that thing you're talking about, about the aging process, but you just kind of go, why would I care? Why would I care about. So I was talking to, you know, the film critic A.O. scott on. Oh, yeah, sure, yeah, right. And he's given me some pretty tough reviews over the years. But I had him on this podcast and I was talking about that, and we were kind of laughing like it doesn't matter. And also, he had said when he was younger, when he saw a bad film or a film he didn't like, he would take it as a personal affront. Like, he'd get angry, and he doesn't get that way anymore. Is there an earthquake where you're happening?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

I'm sorry, man. My camera's got a mind of its own. I apologize.

[Craig Ferguson]

That's interesting. It went to. Is there a scary picture next to you?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

No, no, don't. Don't worry about that, Craig. That's the penis wall. Sconce. I really didn't want you to see that. Yeah, it's back there. But you were talking to A.O. scott. I'm so sorry. The. The camera was going crazy.

[Craig Ferguson]

Well, just the fact that he was saying when he saw a movie that he didn't like when he was young, he would consider it a personal affront and he can't understand why he felt that way now. It seems so odd.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Oh, it's so true. I, when I worked at Blockbuster Video, I was a, I was a manager at Blockbuster Video and man, the, that I. It was like that movie High Fidelity, one of my favorite films with John Cusack. It's a brilliant film. I think it was really good film. The Nick Hornby novel.

[Craig Ferguson]

Nick Hornby Boot.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah, yeah. It's a fantastic. I mean it's a great, great film. Folks, if listening, if you haven't seen it, please check it out. But, but I felt like that guy. I felt like Rob in, in that movie, working at Blockbuster Video because I was just anybody's movie choice. Any movie that they brought up to the front desk, I would just go, oh really? You're gonna, you're gonna watch Armageddon? You know, Armageddon's a piece of shit. Oh, the shit that I would talk on. Michael Bay, who by the way, I absolutely have so much admiration for. I think I own most of Michael Bay's films. There's no way I could do what Michael Bay does. Michael Bay is so fucking good at what he does. He is incredible. I would love to meet him. I'd love to hang out and watch him work. But at the time when you're 20, 21 and you're full of piss and vinegar, you know, that's what you did. But now you get a YouTube channel and you do that instead. I guess that's how that works.

[Craig Ferguson]

Well, and you know what? It makes me feel bad for the, the younger a little bit because there's documentary evidence of everything now. So if you go like, like 25 year old, 35 year old Craig fragrance and the. That he's speaking, it'd be pretty hard to find. There's some out there, I'm sure. But. Yeah, but most of it wasn't recorded. You know, I wasn't speaking it into the ether that is going to live forever in digital form. You know, I'm so glad I wasn't, you know, recording my standout when I was 24, 25 years old. God knows what I was saying. Oh God, nothing is gonna endear me to people now. You know, I mean that's.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Sure I was gonna Ask you that because, yeah, imagine if you, if you had. If you were live streaming while you were drunkenly wandering the streets of Scotland. Can you imagine? Because I did. I'm saying it because I did. Because I did. And you know, it was kind of a weird performance art. Some of it was bullshit, a lot of it was real. But. And I think in a weird way, for this new audience in this new era of social media, in a very strange way, it endeared me to a lot of people. It actually made me more vulnerable and real to a lot of people. But it's also something I would never do again. It also did fuck me up for. For quite a number of years. And, you know, but you're right, it's forever. Someone out there still has those things, I'm sure, just waiting for the right moment. And you know what my response would be? Ah, what am I gonna do? That was then I'm. I was an idiot. What can I do? Spend the rest of my life atoning for just being who I was?

[Craig Ferguson]

It's, I mean, look, it's to a different. I mean, I. I mean, I've written books and I've gone back and look what I wrote in the book and go, ah, Jesus Christ.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Right?

[Craig Ferguson]

Like. But it's there now. It's in a book. So, you know, man, if someone reads that 100, 150 years from now, they'll think, well, that's what he thought. And went, well, I thought it at the time I wrote the book. But. Right. You know, six months later, I didn't think that, you know, then I was like, oh, that's wrong. But it was out. There's nothing I could do. And.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

But see that, that's interesting. That's interesting because my obsession years ago was to make sure that every single person that had that feeling about my work, every single person that took anything I said out of context, I was going to go ahead and reply to them and email them and message them and try to turn them back around to my. And you will go insane if you do.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, you will. Yeah. You can't interact with people that way. I just don't think you can. I don't think it works.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

No.

[Craig Ferguson]

And I think also, particularly if you're talking about, like comments or things that people post on online, a lot of that, it's not really even about you. It's about, you know, I hate my life. I think his life is better than my life. I'm annoyed at that. Or I feel that his point of view is. Doesn't line up with my politics. And so I'm annoyed at that. You know, it's like, I don't think that it's. It really works. It's not like being in a room with someone. It's kind of the way I feel about this podcast, actually, which is. I feel like in. In the world of, like, Talking to people for 11 or performative conversations, I think I'm as good as anyone who does it. But I think when it's done online like this, I'm as good as anyone who does it online like this, which is not as good as I can do in the room. I'd rather be like, I'd rather be in the room with you right now, talking always. Yeah, yeah, right. And. And I feel like that's something that's kind of lost a little bit on a lot of people, that the conversation that exists online, even between. We know each other pretty well, but even this conversation would be different if we were in the room.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

It would be. Yeah, I agree. I have that same problem with the. It's not a problem, but it's with. With the podcast that I'm doing now, the. The Spielberg podcast, where we. Where we. When we record the show. My co host, Eric Vespi is in Austin, and we. We do it obviously online, but there's no visual element. So not only do we. Not we don't see each other, so it's like talking out into the ether. And I never have any visual cue of when someone's going to start. Then you add a guest in there. And I often on the show still feel kind of lost, and it's. And. But. But I don't beat myself up about it, which is what I would have done years ago. I just kind of go, yeah, this is just the format. It's like what you're saying, this is it. This is just the nature of this beast. If we were all together in a studio, be different, be completely different. So I'm not gonna sweat it. I'm not gonna worry about it. It's like doing a talk show. I do the Kelly Clarkson show. Pretty. I did it just this morning, and that's an amazing show to do. It's so much fun. It's very easy. I do her game show segments as the voice of God who sounds a lot like Morgan Freeman. Hey, Kelly, what's going on down there, girl? But they're in New York now. They moved the show from LA to New York. Thankfully, I still get to do the show from here remotely again. The 12 foot commute 12 foot from an outlet, you see? But I just go right into my booth and do the show. It's just kind of a thing where if a show doesn't go well, I only have five minutes to do it. I only have five. We had an entire show, an episode, an hour. I only have five minutes within the context of someone else's talk show, where they've got a lot of other things to get to, and this is my moment to shine. But it's not about me, because sometimes you'll get a guest on who plays one of the games, and it's about them. They're really cooking. They're really funny. And I know now just to back off, that's from. From all the years, you know, doing the show that we did together. I just know intrinsically how to do that. I go, all right, I'm gonna let them have this. But I used to really beat myself up and go, fuck, man, I should have done this. I should have done that. I should have said that line. Fuck. It doesn't matter because there's another show tomorrow. That's what you. That's what you said. I remember you saying, it doesn't matter. There's another show tomorrow. No one's gonna remember. It doesn't matter. Onto the next. Onto the next. That's really the attitude.

[Craig Ferguson]

I still kind of feel that way as well. But there are people in my life, and you are definitely one of them. There's five other guys, but I'm not going to tell you who they are.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Oh, my God.

[Craig Ferguson]

But there are people in my life, no matter what you do next, I. I'm interested. I'm interested, and I want to see it because I know that it will be. It will be unusual. And I'm not a big sports fan, but I used to watch Kenny Dalglish when he played for Celtic, for Scotland, in. When he played football, soccer. And he's one of those players that whenever he was in 30ft or 30 yards from the goal, he wouldn't score every time, but something really exciting would happen every time. And that's what I think it's about. It's like. It's not always going to be a goal, but it's always going to be worth seeing.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

And that, I think, is. That's the mark of an artist. That's all right. You look at every Picasso and go, oh, they're all great. Come on. A lot of them are. But, you know, he gets there in the end.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

That's.

[Craig Ferguson]

I think that.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

You know what, man? I go. Even. I go one step further with my photography and my music. You know, I. I like to do a lot of ambient electronic music, guys. I grew up listening to Steve Roach Vangelis, Robert Rich, Tangerine Dream, but I do this stuff and I put it out into the world, but nobody knows. Some people will find it. I've built a tiny little audience of people on my Instagram, my other Instagram, which is my music and my photography, and it's about a hundred followers. And this is not to downplay the many other thousands of followers I have for the other stuff, but somehow it means even more to me because it's like this secret, safe place I go to to do the stuff I really like to do. And it's not. I don't even care if anybody sees it. And because I've been doing it now for the last couple of years, it's really gotten me into that headspace where now I'm ready to do some bigger things, and I just really need that. I have to have that place to go to. It's very, very important to me. Keeps me kind of centered, you know.

[Craig Ferguson]

I would like to see that.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

I will send it to you.

[Craig Ferguson]

Are you keeping it secret? Or can just. Just say it to me? Nah.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Well, I'll say it, you know. Yeah, well.

[Craig Ferguson]

Or send it to me.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

No, I'll say it to you. The name of my band, it's just me, is called Distant Sound of Trains. And the name of my Instagram is Distant Sound of Trains. My favorite noise as a little boy growing up was the distant sound of trains.

[Craig Ferguson]

I know the exact sound you mean. I love it.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

You know.

[Craig Ferguson]

Whistle at night. Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. It's the greatest.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

The sound travels, you know, the, the. The. The air is different at night and the sound travels further.

[Craig Ferguson]

No.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

And there was something haunting and the idea of, like, there's somebody there in that train, you know, somebody manning that train. There's somebody. There's some person inside that in the distance.

[Craig Ferguson]

I have a great story for you. You just reminded. And I swore I was going to tell you, and I forgot and you just reminded me. So about a couple of months ago, I was doing these live shows, and I do these meet and greets after the show.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

And. And these two guys come up after the show, very well dressed. I don't know if they were a couple or they were just buddies who were just like. But they were both very handsome and very kind of like, put together guys. And they said, hey, we want to tell you about ourselves. I was like, okay. Said we're both Amtrak drivers, and whenever we drive past each other on Amtrak, we do this. We do the Jeff Peterson hat.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

No way. Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

I was like, that's so awesome.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Wow.

[Craig Ferguson]

Isn't that great?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

That's amazing, man.

[Craig Ferguson]

I know.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

That's amazing. That's really out there. That's. I mean, that. That's the. That. I love that. That's. And, you know, you, man, that's great. You were talking about right after the show ended where you didn't want to talk about it. Yeah, I don't want to talk about it. Totally normal. I was like, jeff Peterson, f you. I could have probably handled it a bit better. Sorry again. My apologies to those of you. But, you know. Anyway, there's a guy named Bob Runkle. It's a great name. Bob Runkle. How you doing? I'm Bob Runkle. DJ Bob. He has a podcast. He's been doing it for close to 20 years. Bob is a lovely, lovely human being. He has cerebral palsy, and he wanted to be a broadcaster his entire life, and he's been doing it. I've been fortunate enough to go on his show, and Bob was the one who turned me around on all of this. I mean, I appreciated that people loved the show and Jeff, but the way that Bob talked about just affected me so deeply. And I realized, my God, there's all these people that got through terrible situations in their lives. Breakups.

[Craig Ferguson]

How many times I've heard it.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah. Yeah, man. Like, I. And you go, oh, I. Like, I was so focused on the two or three people that were criticizing me, and I realize now what a horrible insult that was really, to all of these other people that were like, hey, over here, dummy. We love what you do, but to hear that people do the Jeff Peterson hand motion or say, here come the playas. And I mean, all people, even careful Icarus, used to bug the shit out of me because it was like. It was like, no. Don't you guys understand? This was a very painful thing for me. And now I'm like, it's amazing. Some dude tweeted that to me, that guy should be given royalties. I mean, it's like, it's on T shirts. I have my own T shirts as well. I don't know if you guys, but it's a. Careful Icarus and balls and in your pants and all the stuff that we did. Here Come the Playas is, like, the greatest one, though. Like, I don't even. I don't even know where this stuff came From. But it connected with people. And I think that's the thing that I always have to remember about what we did. That's the most important thing. That's it.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, I think that. I think that. And we'll continue to do separate and together. That does that.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

We'll.

[Craig Ferguson]

We'll still be the players.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

We'll. We'll sell our own respective T shirts. I mean, you can buy Craig's. You could buy mine. I mean, you know. You know, it's.

[Craig Ferguson]

You can buy them and wear them at different occasions.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah, just whatever you guys like. If you buy one of Craig's shirts, don't, like, tag me in it and go, hey, I got your shirt. Because, you know, come on, man. That's not my shirt. You know what I mean? And vice versa.

[Craig Ferguson]

If you buy one of my shirts, buy Joyce's shirts. They're the originals and they're. They're the real one.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Listen. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Two. Two guys on Amtrak trains in the night waving their arms at each other.

[Craig Ferguson]

I just fucking loved that story, though. It's the great.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

That says it all, man. That's very poetic.

[Craig Ferguson]

It does. And we've said it all.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

We're done.

[Craig Ferguson]

We're out of time. Get out of here.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

That's it, man.

[Craig Ferguson]

I. I'll see you when I'm next in la. Did you survive? All right? Did you get smoke inhalation and.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Yeah, had a lot of that, but thankfully, you know, in an area where not really affected Silver Lake. Not really in any danger over here.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah. From.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Danger from a lot of other things, but. Yeah, it's a horrible thing, man. I. I have. I don't know if you have any friends that.

[Craig Ferguson]

Oh, God. Yeah. Lost their houses and stuff. Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

More than one.

[Craig Ferguson]

I mean, bad man.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

You know, it's just California's. It's all. It's always something. There's always fires, there's always earthquakes. This particular. But this particular one, the wrong. Right. Set of terrible circumstances. So. Yeah, man. Yeah. But thankfully, I'm glad you're. You're in Scotland, though, right?

[Craig Ferguson]

You.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Were you not here right now. I am.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, you are. I'm. I'm in Scotland right now. I'm actually in the very. The furthest north you can go before it becomes Santa's house. Oh, is that right? That's right. Very far north right now.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Tell him I said hi. I will do Evil Santa.

[Craig Ferguson]

And the next time I'm in la, I'll get to see you, right?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

I. Yeah, I'd love to, man.

[Craig Ferguson]

All Right. And let's do a Hollywood moment.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

We're having a Hollywood moment here, folks, if you're listening. We're having a Hollywood moment.

[Craig Ferguson]

We're having a Hollywood. But I will come and do the, the Spiel podcast, please.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

We'd love to have you on the Spielberg.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, I'd love to do it. I'd love to do it.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

You know, ask, ask first by name, all Spielberg, all the time.

[Craig Ferguson]

Does Poltergeist count because he didn't direct Poltergeist? I don't think. But does it count?

[Josh Robert Thompson]

It does count. I maintain that he did direct it. All due respect to Toby Hooper, we can get into that. I know you've, you've met Spielberg. We don't have to talk about it now.

[Craig Ferguson]

Many times.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

We can't talk about it. Yeah, sure, yeah. You know, and sometimes I'll do my Steven Spielberg impression. I just put my fingers like this and Craig, it's fantastic. I just think you're won and everything you do is wonderful. You're fantastic. Why don't we, let's, let's hang out. Let's do lunch. Why not? It's great. Everything's great.

[Craig Ferguson]

Do you know when he called me? You know when you, that thing, you wait when you're, when you go to Hollywood and you think, you know, I'm gonna, one day Steven Spielberg's gonna call me. I was in my car and I put on the voicemail and it was Steven Spielberg. And it was, I can't do the thing. But he said, hi, Craig, Steven Spielberg. I just want to talk to you about something. Can you give me a call back? And he left a number. And I was like, oh my God. And I kept that voice for years. I kept that voice thing. I was like, this is, I think that's what I went to Hollywood for. Just from the moment to hear you go, oh yeah, I'm done.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Steven Spielberg. I got a great idea for a movie. It's about penis shaped sconces that come to life. I think it'd be great. You'd be so weirdly.

[Craig Ferguson]

That's what it was. But even he couldn't get that made. Even he can't do it.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

I just, I just can't figure out how to get the emotional connection. I mean, everything's there. It's just not going to work, Greg. It's just not going to work for me. It was Carol Burnett. My Spielberg was meeting Carol Burnett at the late, Late Show. Man, those are the moments you live for, buddy.

[Craig Ferguson]

Sure.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Really are.

[Craig Ferguson]

And so many of them all right, pal, I'll see you in a minute. Thanks for coming on the podcast and yet again convincing me of your dark, brooding, hilarious and off center genius.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Thank you, buddy. I promise you're still at the top of the list. And come by and participate in the Halloween pageant anytime you like.

[Craig Ferguson]

I should. We should do a live late, late show on your lawn in Silver Lake.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Let's see. Let's see how many people show up.

[Craig Ferguson]

You know what? I feel like we could probably make that a little flash Moby. I think we could get something going funny.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Let's. Let's talk about it, folks. We're not promising anything. Calm down. But we'll talk about it.

[Craig Ferguson]

We'll do it. We'll do it. All right. All right. Get out of here.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

All right, man.

[Craig Ferguson]

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[Katherine Legge]

I'm a racing driver who's literally driven everything with four wheels across the planet. And I've got a new podcast. It's called Throttle Therapy. This season, I'm competing in some of the world's most notorious racing events. Tune in to my new podcast, Throttle Therapy with Kathy Catherine Legg, an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I heart women's sports. I'm so sick of hearing men talk about women's basketball. This is Lexi Brown and Mariah Rose, and we've got a new podcast, Full Circle. Every Wednesday, we're catching you up on what's going on in women's women's basketball. We've got you with analysis, inside stories.

[Katherine Legge]

And a little bit of tea.

[Josh Robert Thompson]

Full circle is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. Listen to Full circle on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.

I'm Maura Aarons Mele, host of the Anxious Achiever on the show business leaders and experts unpack the intersection of mental well being, neurodiversity, leadership and career. We offer tools and strategies to enjoy better mental health and find the best way to work for you. Listen to the Anxious achiever on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.