“Nota Bene” (w/ Mike Birbiglia)

Summary

Podcast Summary: Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang Episode: “Nota Bene” with Mike Birbiglia
Release Date: May 21, 2025
Hosts: Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang
Guest: Mike Birbiglia
Produced by: Big Money Players Network and iHeartPodcasts

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Introduction

In this episode of Las Culturistas, hosts Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang welcome acclaimed comedian and storyteller Mike Birbiglia. The conversation delves deep into Mike's creative process, his experiences in the world of improv and stand-up comedy, and his latest endeavors in filmmaking.

Mike Birbiglia’s Creative Journey

Mike Birbiglia opens up about his transition from comedy to screenwriting, discussing his current project—a movie inspired by his experiences with an improv group. He shares, “I'm writing my next movie... I just want to get it to a point where it's an ensemble, where all eight characters are, like, lovely” (07:11).

Reflections on Past Works

The hosts reminisce about Mike’s previous works, particularly Don't Think Twice. Matt admits, “It shook me to my core when I first watched it... I don't know if this is a depiction of what our community is really like” (08:02). Mike reflects on the film’s impact, emphasizing the raw portrayal of friendship and personal growth: “It's an incredibly intense situation that you're depicting... all sorts of humanity can come out of this” (09:28).

The Power of Storytelling in Film and Comedy

Mike and the hosts discuss the intersection of storytelling in movies and stand-up comedy. Mike shares his admiration for how films like Jerry Maguire evoke emotion and meaning beyond their surface narratives: “That was a beautiful thing... it connects me with Jerry Maguire” (37:24). They highlight the importance of emotional authenticity, with Mike stating, “I'm laughing, I'm crying, I'm feeling emotions” (42:53).

Personal Connections and Emotional Vulnerability

A significant portion of the discussion centers around personal relationships and emotional vulnerability. Mike candidly talks about his relationship with his father, especially after his father's stroke: “My dad's still hanging on after having a stroke... It's devastating every week” (14:00). Matt shares his own experiences, stating, “I had to tell him... you got to let yourself off the hook because nothing you ever did was because you didn't love me” (62:10).

The Role of Improv in Personal Growth

The conversation shifts to the role of improv in both Mike’s and the hosts' lives. Mike emphasizes how improv has been his “most joy outside of being with my family” (17:35) and praises the supportive environment it provides: “They make me so comfortable. It's like a perfect situation” (19:00). Matt and Bowen reflect on their own experiences with improv, highlighting its impact on their creative processes.

Cultural Reflections and Media Influence

Mike discusses the influence of media and culture on personal and collective experiences. He speaks about iconic movies like Clueless, Thelma & Louise, and E.T., analyzing their emotional depth and cultural significance: “These movies are so deep to me” (93:10). The hosts and Mike explore how these films shape and reflect societal values and personal identities.

Navigating Vulnerability in Public Performances

The discussion touches on the challenges of maintaining authenticity while performing. Mike shares his struggles with exposing personal vulnerabilities on stage: “Every step of the way... it's so uncomfortable” (66:50). The hosts relate their own experiences, emphasizing the balance between humor and heartfelt storytelling.

Closing Thoughts and Future Projects

As the episode wraps up, Matt, Bowen, and Mike express their appreciation for the deep and meaningful conversation. Mike enthuses about upcoming projects and the potential for future collaborations, highlighting the importance of genuine connections: “This is such an honor to be here... I love bonding on all of these movies” (97:38).

Notable Quotes

• Matt Rogers: “I want to be part of that, do this because we're having that moment of defying gravity” (42:18).
• Bowen Yang: “The true thing about this special is the way a parent loves their child” (60:41).
• Mike Birbiglia: “I'm in a writer space right now. I'm writing my next movie” (07:14).
• Mike Birbiglia: “Movies are like songs. You can watch them over and over again. And there's something peaceful about that” (43:40).

Conclusion

This episode of Las Culturistas offers an intimate glimpse into Mike Birbiglia’s artistic journey, his personal struggles, and the profound connections between storytelling, culture, and human emotion. Hosts Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang skillfully navigate through heartfelt discussions, making it a must-listen for those interested in the depths of cultural influence and personal growth.

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Note: Timestamps correspond to the moments in the provided transcript where the quotes occur.

Transcript

[Matt Rogers]

You're listening to an iHeart podcast. Get your mother lovin ears on because your big time radio DJs got news. PayPal lets you pay for stuff in store, online or overtime. Now that's a tune you can pay your own way. Don't just pay baby. PayPal.

[Bowen Yang]

Learn [e-mail] Matt I know you agree with me, but I've always felt that it's important to set standards for yourself.

[Matt Rogers]

I think standards are, yeah, important. Yes, I think I do agree.

[Bowen Yang]

I think I have a standard of living and a standard of loving.

[Matt Rogers]

I should have a better standard of loving. Joke, joke, joke, joke, joke, joke. Anyway, the standard Lexus has set for themselves it's to experience amazing Lexus benchmarks.

[Bowen Yang]

Are feelings like exhilaration and joy when you're behind the wheel. A feeling in drivers that their car was built in anticipation of them.

[Matt Rogers]

Because a car that doesn't make you feel something is a car that stops short of amazing experience. Amazing at your Lexus dealer. Ready for another dose of mystery and mind games? The Hulu original series 9 Perfect Strangers is back for an all new season. This season, a new group of visitors with mysterious connections to each other journey to an opulent healing retreat. Subjected to an intense and unorthodox form of therapy and wellness, they peel back the layers in a series of shocking twists and revelations. Starring Nicole Kidman, Nine Perfect Strangers is now streaming on Hulu new episodes Wednesdays.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm Bowen Yang from Las Culturistas and are you a small business owner launching a company or dreaming of starting one? Then check out season three of Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories from Ruby Studio and Intuit QuickBooks.

[Matt Rogers]

Join hosts Austin Hankowitz and Janice Torres as they talk to small business owners about how they've grown and maintain their businesses.

[Bowen Yang]

You don't want to miss these inspiring stories of small business journeys. Listen to Mind the Business small business success Stories on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Matt Rogers]

Look man. Where? Oh, I see my eye. Oh my. Bowen, look over there. Wow. Is that the culture? Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

Las Culturistas Ding dong.

[Matt Rogers]

Las Culturistas calling.

[Bowen Yang]

I think we can switch the count of lovely straight male guests that we've had on the show on two Hands.

[Matt Rogers]

Now skyrocketed with this one I just.

[Bowen Yang]

Wanted to handle and I think that warrants celebration.

[Matt Rogers]

No 100%. Like, well, by the way, you know, I have got my Coke Zero in front of me and of course it says bruh. And that had to be Cosmic.

[Bowen Yang]

Absolutely.

[Matt Rogers]

I have to tell you, I'm a little distracted because Bone and I were eating something spicy today, and our stomachs are in a place, and I think it put me on a bad mood on a call we just had, and I'm concerned about the way that I actually.

[Bowen Yang]

I admired you on that call.

[Matt Rogers]

I mean, you were.

[Bowen Yang]

You were sort of like. It wasn't directed at anyone. It was kind of a rallying cry to get the whole team, everyone on the zoom, on the same page about something.

[Matt Rogers]

Readers Katies Publicist Finalist Kyle's. You know, like, sometimes it's just, like, you get frustrated, and it has to come out, like. And I don't even. I don't like being like that.

[Bowen Yang]

I had a moment like that this morning with you before we ended.

[Matt Rogers]

With me?

[Bowen Yang]

No, with just the people in the room.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

And I was just like. I was just exasperated.

[Matt Rogers]

I think sometimes you get to a certain point where you're just like, I have to vent frustrations. And it's hard because, like, I feel like my modus operandi every day is, like, cheerful. Want to leave places better than I. Than I came in.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

But sometimes you get a little human moment, and your stomach is hurt from eating something spicy, and things are kind of, like, getting to you, and you express.

[Bowen Yang]

Can I point out something else? Your MO lately has been to say the full modus operandi rather than abbreviating it to mo. Because this is, I think, the second time this week that you've said the full modus operandi.

[Matt Rogers]

And can I tell you, every time I say the expression modus operandi, I'm like, I think this is right.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It is.

[Bowen Yang]

It is right. You know what it means?

[Matt Rogers]

I actually did it. I didn't know that MO was operandi.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

I just. I've literally been thinking of them as two totally different things.

[Bowen Yang]

I kind of love that for you, that you're saying the full, that you're modus operandi. You're tripling the vowel, the syllable count.

[Matt Rogers]

I think it's such a beautiful phrase. It is modus operandi. Think about, like, the peaks and valleys of that.

[Bowen Yang]

Of course, you know what I want to kind of work in, which is so insufferable is NB or nota beneath.

[Matt Rogers]

What does that mean?

[Bowen Yang]

Like, you know, like, when someone writes something and they go nb as in, like. It's like a PS but it's, like, within the same paragraph. It's like, I went to the store today. N.B. it was crowded.

[Matt Rogers]

I don't know about NB. No one ever uses NB with me.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, anyway, that's Latin, Italian, and we have an Italian legend with us in the room today.

[Matt Rogers]

Truly Roman Catholic. Italian legend.

[Bowen Yang]

Roman Catholic. We gotta talk about the Pope. The Pope.

[Matt Rogers]

The Conclave. This is. I maybe see, this is why it's fate and karma in the air. Because we have one of the. We have a scholar on the Catholic Church here.

[Bowen Yang]

Met a Pope, met a Pope, maybe met the last great one. Can I say that now that more and more comes out about Leo, I also.

[Matt Rogers]

I know that I'm saying this from like a place of, like, having an upset stomach and also like a little bit ornery because of you're ornery. I had a thing today, but, like, what the fuck did people expect with the Pope?

[Bowen Yang]

No, I know, I know. I'm not surprised. It's just like, it's so funny. It's so funny the way that, like, Popes are like, ripe for, like, literal adulation from, like, Internet people. Like, oh, my God, that the new Pope.

[Matt Rogers]

It's like, let's all get together and watch the Conclave. And like, what then be. Immediately.

[Bowen Yang]

Then you find out that they're Catholic.

[Matt Rogers]

It's like you're. Can I be real? Like, this never going to change? Like, you're never going to. The Pope is never going to be like, yeah, I think gay guys should rock the fuck on. That's never what the Pope is going to say.

[Bowen Yang]

No, but we liked Francis because he was kind of like, gay guys should rock the fuck on. And then still used slurs in a fun way. Literally in a way that made me go, I like him.

[Matt Rogers]

Really?

[Bowen Yang]

Frocagine. Made me go. That is hilarious.

[Matt Rogers]

Frocagini. Okay, I thought I forgot about that. That's like, almost as beautiful as modus operandi.

[Bowen Yang]

Absolutely. Well, anyway, our guest is a real legend. Truly, Truly. This is his fourth Netflix special, the Good Life. The Good Life. It's really sublime. Might have shed a tear, but that's because I was at serotonin zero when I watched it. And that's exactly where I sh. The state in which I should have watched.

[Matt Rogers]

I probably was like, my serotonin probably was a little bit higher than that, but I also cried.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh.

[Matt Rogers]

So, I mean, I'm like, it's. Yeah. This is an incredible storyteller. This is a sensitive, amazing man.

[Bowen Yang]

Cute guy, too. Cute guy.

[Matt Rogers]

Not bad. Look at that.

[Bowen Yang]

Not bad to look at either.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, don't make his head explode.

[Bowen Yang]

Everyone, please welcome Mike Birbiglio.

[Mike Birbiglia]

This is the best introduction to a podcast I've ever received.

[Bowen Yang]

Was it Cute guy?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Not bad.

[Bowen Yang]

Not bad. No, that's a.

[Matt Rogers]

Hey.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Hey. Hey, you.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, it's great to have a front.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Runner for a title of F is his Modus Operandi.

[Bowen Yang]

Operandi. Do you see Die or D? I guess Latin is di.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Di. I think Die. I like getting the Latin in.

[Matt Rogers]

I like that.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Modus operandi.

[Matt Rogers]

Can you talk to us about your current modus operandi?

[Mike Birbiglia]

My current modus operandi mode of working, I guess, is I'm in a writer space right now. I'm writing my next movie.

[Bowen Yang]

Great.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

How is. Okay. And can you share what stage you're at with it?

[Mike Birbiglia]

I'm at the stage of, like, I want to film it next spring, and I've written drafts of it, and I just want to get it to a point where it's an ensemble, where all eight characters are, like, lovely, and it's very, like, Don't Think Twice. And we've all talked about Don't Think Twice a bit because it mirrored the NYU improv. It really did.

[Bowen Yang]

It did.

[Matt Rogers]

I mean, that movie. I remember I told you this when I came on the podcast. I'm sure you guys spoke about Don't Think Twice as well. It shook me to my core when I first watched it, because I was like. I remember it was like, I don't know how you felt. We've never really talked about that.

[Bowen Yang]

We hadn't really talked about Don't Think Twice. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Maybe because it was a sensitive subject at the time, but, like, it really scared me. I was like, oh, there's no way I'd be that much of a dick to my friends as the character you play in that movie. I was like, I don't know if this is, like, a depiction of what our community is really like. And then you go through that experience, you're like, oh, yeah, all sorts of humanity can come out of this, you know?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. It's like an interesting life experience of, like, that first time for me, it was like in my 30s, when you realize, like, life isn't fair and, like, not everyone gets the same thing. In your group of best friends from college.

[Bowen Yang]

Exactly. But then as this new film, a lovelier bunch than the Don't Think Twice.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Group, you would say, I think mixed bag. I think it's a fun ensemble film I'm really excited about. I don't even know if I'm gonna be in it. Like, I'm excited to just write and direct.

[Bowen Yang]

That's sexy.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Well, making movies is so fun. And I just love it. I love. I'm obsessed with movies. I think that's my Las Culturistas kind of, like, way in. It's like, I love movies we watch. For example, like, we watch Wicked probably seven or eight times.

[Matt Rogers]

Una loved it. She's a wicked head.

[Mike Birbiglia]

She would lose her mind if she knew I was here right now.

[Bowen Yang]

I don't think the kids care about me.

[Mike Birbiglia]

No, she cares. And she watches snl, and I think maybe you've been on it is a cake.

[Bowen Yang]

Is it possible I have not been on it?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Is it cake?

[Bowen Yang]

A lot of the SNL that we.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Have SNL folks cross over to.

[Bowen Yang]

Is it cake? That's huge for her. Yeah, in the same way that it's huge for me because. And can I tell you the thing that breaks my heart about my summer is that I can't line up with the shooting dates.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, bummer.

[Bowen Yang]

And I'm like, damn it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, interesting.

[Bowen Yang]

So I guess I gotta. Whatever. It's gotta. It's gotta wait. But it's coming back. Always huge.

[Matt Rogers]

There's something, you know, who I feel like would connect with kids, and clearly he has, is Mikey. There's something very, like, infectious about his energy and childlike about it that I.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Think, like, to my daughter, Mikey is like my Steve Martin. I love that.

[Bowen Yang]

I love that.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like, sometimes I'll explain to her, I'll be like, so the way you see Mikey is how I see Steve Martin. And she kind of gets it. I think you have this joke in.

[Bowen Yang]

The special where when people stop you on the street when she's with you, they're a big fan of your comedy, whatever. When they throw praise at you in passing. You finally asked her one day, how does that make you feel when that happens? Can I spoil it?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

And she says, well, you say it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

She goes, it's a waste of my time.

[Matt Rogers]

Right?

[Bowen Yang]

But then.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And I go, that's the meanest thing anyone's ever said to me. And I know Bill Burr is the joke. Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

You know Bill Burr.

[Matt Rogers]

I love that.

[Bowen Yang]

Great joke.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But then someone called me the other day and they go, who's, like, a friend of Bill Burr? And they're like, hey, I think Bill Burr might have some concerns about that. I'm like, it's a compliment.

[Bowen Yang]

It's like a great compliment.

[Matt Rogers]

Does he think he's a sweetheart?

[Mike Birbiglia]

I don't know.

[Bowen Yang]

The reality is, he is.

[Matt Rogers]

His Persona is like, you know, he's a ball buster, Right? That's the way it read to me in This.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I misunderstood.

[Bowen Yang]

No, no, I think. Let's just. Okay, we can just address this here and now.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Let's address it here and now.

[Bowen Yang]

Bill Burr is one of the great swee. Sweethearts of the industry. So lovely Persona is Ball Buster.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think so, yeah. Unless I misunderstood all the specials.

[Bowen Yang]

No, no, no.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, I think that it's like to an audience watching your special, like, I would imagine they watch his specials as well. And the Persona is Ball Buster. So you're speaking to the Persona. You're speaking about this person with the, you know. Well, I was audience.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Well, of course, I overthink everything. So this person says this to me and I go, well, what do you think Kills say? They go, well, he might call you. I go, well, if he calls me, here's what I would say. I would go, if it wasn't your name, it wouldn't get a laugh. Exactly. It's like, that's the meanest thing anyone's ever said to me. And I know Chris Rock.

[Bowen Yang]

No one would laugh.

[Mike Birbiglia]

He doesn't have that Persona.

[Matt Rogers]

They'd be like, wait, is he mean? Whereas other. Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

And there's something about the ear hit of Bill Burr. The sound, pop, pop, pop. But then you say that your daughter. Okay. And I believe that your daughter has said to you that that is a waste of. It's a waste of her time whenever that. But does she understand that, you know, her dad being who he is and doing what he does, ends up like, is the reason why she gets to go to Rome? Or that he gets to be in a Taylor Swift music video or something? Like, can you connect to it on that level?

[Mike Birbiglia]

I'd like to think so. But, you know, it's like. And I make the joke in this special. It's like my parents were not physically affectionate with me, and like, Jenny and I are the opposite, which I'm gonna. We'll find out what problem that creates when she's a grownup. Right. It's like, you know, you're messing up something and you just try to do your best.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm starting to see, like a micro generation under us. Like, we know people. Okay, perfect example, friend of the show, Natalie Rotter Laitman. And then another friend of the show, Celeste Yim, says the reason they love Natalie so much is because Natalie is someone who is a product of their parents loving them so much. And she's just this wonderful, chill, like, just like carefree kind of person. Yeah. And in a way that is, like, so unfettered. And I feel like hopefully that's where Oona ends up?

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think so.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I'd like to think so.

[Bowen Yang]

Like, for her to be able to say, it's a waste of my time. Hilarious.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. I showed her the trailer the other day, and then this week, I'm gonna show her some clips, kind of ease in it. Some of this stuff is a little over the age 10. Yeah. You know what I mean?

[Bowen Yang]

In terms of, like, heaviness or.

[Mike Birbiglia]

In terms of heaviness, I think the stroke stuff is pretty. Pretty heavy for people listening. It's about my dad having a stroke and kind of dealing with that, and, yeah, it's pretty heavy.

[Bowen Yang]

Would it play the same in every iteration that you would do the show where there are these really quick shifts in room tone, even not even just your tone as a performer, but the room. A hush falls in the room so quickly, and then you immediately break that, and it picks back up. But, like, did you see the peaks and valleys every time in the same way?

[Mike Birbiglia]

It definitely varied. And over, you know, over time, it's like calibrating. How do you signal to the audience quickly that I'm gonna say something serious?

[Matt Rogers]

We're dropping in.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. Yeah. And a lot of it is, like, honestly, just silence. Like, there'll be moments where, like, I'll just walk stage right and just not say anything for a second. I think at this point, my audience is like. They kind of know from the old man in the pool and the new one that, like, that's in there.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And that's, like, actually, like, one of the coolest things about making these shows now is that, like, it's not out of nowhere that there's drama.

[Bowen Yang]

I feel like the drama in the past was always. I don't know, maybe my memory's bad, but it felt like it, like, lived a little bit longer. And in this one, it feels like in the good life, it feels like it's the rhythm. The cadence is a little bit more contracted in a way that I'm like, oh, this is really interesting. You kind of toggle between them in a quicker way.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Thanks.

[Bowen Yang]

Does it feel like that?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, I think part of it is my other shows were about kind of pain that I experienced in the past, and this one, for the first time, is about pain I'm experiencing in my present. My dad's still hanging on after having a stroke 15 months ago, and it's like. It's devastating every week. It's just really, really hard. And we have moments. Right. And I talk about that in specials. Going to celebrate his 84th birthday was beautiful. He's surrounded by his children and his grandchildren. And I gave him rosary beads from the Vatican that the last pope blessed. And it's like. I mean, I'm hoping that that's the rawness of it is what connects with people. And you guys were saying you're a little choked up from it. It's like, I want that to be the case, I think. I think for me, the comedy that I connect to most. And that's why I was saying movies is my love language of my culturista movies, I think, do that really well. Like James L. Brooks movies. Or even this weekend we were watching. Cause it's on Netflix now. Cause four seasons, Tina Fey's great series, the original one. We watched the original this weekend. I'm just so choked up. Yeah. Something about those 70s movies that, like, wrecks me.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. What's your favorite?

[Mike Birbiglia]

James L. Brooks Broadcast News.

[Matt Rogers]

Absolutely.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And then in terms of Endearment post.

[Matt Rogers]

Number two, Terms is wild. So I have a question, though, because you talk about, like, how there wasn't a lot of affection from your parents. Like, were you always someone. I have two questions. One, you went to Georgetown, right?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Do you think if your parents had hugged you more, you still would have gone to Georgetown? No, probably not.

[Bowen Yang]

Right, Right.

[Matt Rogers]

So that. Thank you for answering that question. So for thought out there. And another thing is, were you always seeking out emotional outlets as a kid, or is that. Did you arrive at wanting connections with emotional films and media a little bit later because you felt maybe delayed or lacking in that?

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think I found it. When I was a kid, I would write poems and songs. Like, I have these ridiculous. Like a joke book, a poem book, a songbook, and I still have them all, and they're ridiculous. And I had no real outlet for it. I did a little theater in high school, and when I went to college, I auditioned for the improv group, and I didn't know what improv was. And then I was like, I'm all in on this. And so that became my entire existence. And that was. Yeah. And it kind of weirdly still is.

[Matt Rogers]

Like.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like, lately I've been improvising with the PDD boys over at ucb. And, like, it's my most joy outside of being with my family.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, they love it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's so fun.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm a bad friend and I have yet to be at one of those. But they've asked me multiple times to do it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

We would love both of you to come.

[Bowen Yang]

Let's do it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You guys gotta come Improvise. It's so fun.

[Bowen Yang]

We've been doing recently with Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson, and it's been like.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's so fun at you.

[Matt Rogers]

It feels so good.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I'm afraid of that one.

[Bowen Yang]

No, but.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But it's too. I feel like the bell house is. It's too big.

[Matt Rogers]

It's aggressive.

[Mike Birbiglia]

They might do.

[Bowen Yang]

So it's like.

[Matt Rogers]

And that feels weird for a second, but then it kind of becomes part of the bit. The thing with them and the thing with, like. I feel like it's gotta be with PDD too. Cause they're such little joy bubbles, I feel like, is it's like you immediately feel so comfortable and taken care of. And I think that what was stressing me out when I was, like, doing improv and even doing comedy at large when I was younger is I always felt like I had something to prove and I was incapable of clearing the mind and just saying yes and listening. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because you're so concerned about what you say being funny or good or smart or worthwhile that, like, you need to be. You either need time to understand how to do that, or you need to be comfortable right at the jump. And they make. Now that I think time has passed and I understand what comedy is, and they make me so comfortable. It's like a perfect situation.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think part of it is. Well, first of all, I love those guys. I love Dick's the Musical. You're great.

[Bowen Yang]

Thank you.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Second of all, I think part of it is, you're right. Like, I think when you get older, you start to trust what the wisdom of the art form is or anything. Like, literally, like, I played tennis recently. I'm like, I think I'm better than I was, like, in high school when I played.

[Matt Rogers]

You give less of a fuck.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Because. Because you want to know why? There's nothing. There's no one that's going to tell you, hey, that you did a bad job and we were counting on you.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's right. That's so true.

[Matt Rogers]

I mean, it's literally. It's funny because I did a lot of team sports when I was growing up. I was a big athlete, and then I didn't want to do that anymore. And so I went to college, and all of a sudden it was like, oh, get on the improv or sketch team. Or, like, take classes at ucb, where it was unfortunately a team sport and you could disappoint people. And when you're like, when you're at that age and you've got your Hangups and stuff. Disappointing people is the top of the list. That would suck.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. Even because in high school was it like a team structure, was like a ladder or something? In tennis.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Because you had. Because you had like a wrestling thing too.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Where wrestling, tennis and soccer. Those are my high school sports.

[Bowen Yang]

And in all of those situations, it's just there are so many opportunities for someone to be like, hey, you're not good at this or something. Or just making you feel like 100%.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And also I think you, most people me, I didn't have the presence of mind in high school to be like, they're right, I should relax. You know what I mean? Like when you get older, you're like, no, no, you should relax.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like that's how you do things.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, you can't tell a teenager or a young person to chill out.

[Matt Rogers]

No. They don't have to eat.

[Bowen Yang]

They can't do it.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. It's like they haven't experienced enough life to not know that it's end all be all right.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's why it's so weird when you see someone who's like 15 years old and they're like amazing at a thing.

[Matt Rogers]

Yes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And you're like, who told you?

[Matt Rogers]

But you know they make it.

[Bowen Yang]

How do you know?

[Matt Rogers]

They're so fucked up later in life though.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's why I love like queens. Like I was watching that recently for the first time late to the party. It's so good. It's fun to watch a prodigy.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Even though it's fake. Usually it's fun to watch like oh, what would that be like if you were a prodigy?

[Matt Rogers]

You'd get addicted to drugs.

[Bowen Yang]

That's one of the few pieces of media where it does depict the full arc of prodigy. And then it all falls apart later in life. Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And then comes together.

[Bowen Yang]

And then comes together. Yeah. Which is best case scene.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Thank God.

[Bowen Yang]

Thank God.

[Matt Rogers]

It's also really interesting because different adults relationships to her power and psychiatrist success. It really is really. It's very good at exploring that as well. You know what I mean? Like her adopted mother. And then, you know, like all the things that go on with that.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yes, it's.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Really? That actually was a way better at. It was about so much more than that one situation. Like all great art.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Well, that made me think to watch show my daughter searching for Bobby Fischer the other day.

[Bowen Yang]

I've never seen.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh wow.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's a great one.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And then the other day, for my daughter's 10th birthday, five person sleepover and they Watch Clueless.

[Matt Rogers]

Had they never seen it?

[Mike Birbiglia]

No, some of them had, some of them hadn't.

[Matt Rogers]

Do they like it?

[Bowen Yang]

What do they think?

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think they loved it.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, good.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, that makes me so happy to hear because I'm like, does this will. Because one of my curiosities is. Will this work on a younger. A way younger generation?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm so glad to hear that it has. Or that it might.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, they seem pretty happy.

[Matt Rogers]

I think. I think it will. 1. Do we want to know why? Because what's. What makes that movie work so well is that that it's a shared language in the movie that, like, you may not understand, but they understand it so well.

[Bowen Yang]

Fantasy is so fun. It's such a fun world.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, it really is.

[Mike Birbiglia]

There's definitely some things over the. Over the kids heads.

[Matt Rogers]

Sure. I remember watching it the first time and being like. I remember the moment I was in an astro van on a road trip with my parents and you know how they put the like big TV in the back of the astro van. So me and my sister, I was. I think I was nine and she was six and we watched Clueless and it ended up. And we both just stared at the screen and I said, I don't know if I vocalized this, but I was like, it was something to the effect of like, I think I loved that. And my sister, who's six, goes, me too. I wanna watch it again right now.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, wow.

[Matt Rogers]

You know what? And it's speaking to what you just said about. It's visually so fun. They're so confident doing. Feels like it still feels. After it's tried to be copied so many times, it feels like it's doing its own thing.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And also Alicia Silverstone just in like a magical period.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like something sometimes stars are having. Like, Val Kilmer's a good example. He passed away recently. And you look at like real genius, you just go, I don't know what.

[Matt Rogers]

Was going on, but something was.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Something was happening with Val Kilmer in that movie is like magic. Who is that person?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, it's so aligned with the era. Yeah, it's one of. Yeah, it's when a performer is aligned with the era. But I mean, well, it's like Tom.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Cruise, like Risky Business. Yeah. She's like, I don't know what you're doing.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. But I would say Lindsay Lohan too.

[Bowen Yang]

I was gonna. I was just Lindsay.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

And like, who else?

[Matt Rogers]

Like Winona Ryder.

[Bowen Yang]

Winona.

[Matt Rogers]

For like a. For like a longer period. That was like a five, six year period. But I was just so Parents trap.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Lindsay Lohan is fantastic. My daughter loves oh my God, the best. Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, tasty high note oh, hi. Don't mind me. I'm practicing my new baritone sax. I just heard PayPal's paying for people's stuff every day for 100 days, and there's 10 million up for grabs. All you have to do is use PayPal checkout online, so there's never been a better time to buy a few things off the old wish list, like this leaf blower. PayPal could pay for your purchase. The Great PayPal Checkout no purchase necessary.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Ends July 18th.

[Matt Rogers]

See official [e-mail] TheGreatPailCheckout Terms Participating merchants.

[Bowen Yang]

Only must use PayPal Checkout online coverage of up to $100 in eligible purchases per cart. Picture yourself going for a drive what comes to mind? Potholes, lane splitting bikers, sleepy truckers, red light runners and distracted pedestrians crossing where they shouldn't.

[Matt Rogers]

The truth is the road can feel unpredictable, like it's out to get you at every turn. But it doesn't have to be that way.

[Bowen Yang]

Hyundai's available Advanced Safety technology is designed to help keep you protected against the many challenges the road throws your way.

[Matt Rogers]

From Forward Collision Avoidance Assistant to Blind Spot View Monitor, our vehicles offer available features designed to help safeguard you and your loved ones.

[Bowen Yang]

You can change lanes with much more confidence thanks to the available Blind Spot View Monitor, which actually shows you a live video feed of your blind spots.

[Matt Rogers]

The standard Forward Collision Avoidance Assist can help prevent or mitigate accidents by alerting you of an imminent collision and automatically applying the brakes if you don't.

[Bowen Yang]

Hyundai vehicles are equipped with the standard Driver Attention Warning System, which constantly monitors your attention levels. Once detected, it sounds alerts and visual cues to help bring you back to focus on the road.

[Matt Rogers]

With available class exclusive safety features, Hyundai lets you enjoy the journey with confidence, knowing that your car is working hard to help avoid the dangers of the road from getting you.

[Bowen Yang]

Learn more about hyundai@hyundai USA.com Call 562-314-4603 for complete details.

[Matt Rogers]

I'm Matt Rogers from Las Cocheristas. You know, for many, the American dream means starting your own business and working for yourself. If you're a small business owner, launching a company or dreaming of starting one, then you'll not only want to make sure you're using a platform like Intuit QuickBooks, but you'll also want to check out season three of Mind the Small Business Success Stories from iHeartm Media's Ruby Studio and Intuit QuickBooks. In every episode, host Austin Hankwitz and Janice Torres talk to small business owners about how they've grown and maintained their business and tackled the hurdles and challenges that come with being your own boss. From tracking money in and out to cutting through the complexity with an all encompassing platform like QuickBooks, you don't want to miss these inspiring stories of small business journeys. Listen to Mind the Business small business success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. We love la. What do you love about Los Angeles? How about the food and drink options? Los Angeles chefs and mixologists draw inspiration from their varied cultural backgrounds in the city's diverse neighborhoods, making for exciting food scene. From game changing taco trucks to Michelin stars. What's your favorite LA dish? How about the arts and culture? Diverse cultures and communities collaborate and mingle, elevating new voices in art, music, film and comedy. Did you know Los Angeles has more museums and theaters than New York? From trailblazing street art to world class museums, art is everywhere in la. Sports. Oh babe, we got you covered. LA knows how to put on a show. The worlds of sports and entertainment collide to create the kinds of events that could only happen here. Wherever you are in the city, you're never far from the next Only in LA moment. And you can get a taste for fame firsthand by attending a star ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard or a glimpse behind the scenes at a world famous studio tour. Need a breather? Don't forget to stop in your tracks and look up. Soak in our legendary blue sky. That's the light that inspires directors around the world. What's your favorite day in LA? Find more ways to love Los Angeles at discoverla.com have you seen this play? John Proctor is the villain I've heard this is wonderful. I wanted to make sure I brought it in today. And they can even use this. It's about a classroom in high school in 2018 who is reading the Crucible under new eyes amidst me too and everything. It's fantastic.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, we'll go see it for sure.

[Matt Rogers]

But it got me in a Winona Ryder wormhole. Oh sure, because she was one of best Abigail Williamses in the Crucible.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh yeah, Winona Ryder's another one. Yes, magical in that era. Yeah, like Heathers.

[Matt Rogers]

Beetlejuice.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Heathers.

[Matt Rogers]

Age of Innocence.

[Mike Birbiglia]

This is the thing I always have to remind myself about living in New York. Sometimes with New York you're like, ah, there's too many people. There's just too many people but then you go see a show like that, and you go, oh, right. Like, we went for Una's birthday to see Wicked after. She's in the movie seven times, and I'm just losing it, crying, dancing through life just like that.

[Bowen Yang]

Ending.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Unbelievable.

[Bowen Yang]

Gets me. Gets me. But what you're saying, there's too many people in New York, and therefore, you don't want to. You want to go and do this.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You want to go to the theater.

[Bowen Yang]

Exactly.

[Mike Birbiglia]

We want to take advantage of what we have.

[Bowen Yang]

I know.

[Matt Rogers]

Do it.

[Bowen Yang]

Do it.

[Matt Rogers]

Because, honestly, I'm on my kick again right now. Obviously, it's like Tony sees it.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, now you have more time.

[Matt Rogers]

Now I have time, but. And I'm seeing a lot. And I try to only come here with, like, the highlights, because I see a lot. So I just saw maybe happy ending, which was amazing. And this John Proctor is the villain is my favorite thing I've seen in quite some time. Yeah, it's. And Sadie Sink is the star. And I'm, like, really excited that she used her star power from Stranger Things to highlight something like this.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, that's great.

[Matt Rogers]

The playwright is Kimberly Bellflower. She's amazing.

[Bowen Yang]

Friends of Josh Sharpener and Jackson.

[Matt Rogers]

Yes, yes, yes. And the whole cast is fantastic. It's just. It's really. I thought, like, at first, like, when I saw, like, it marketed, it looked like Girlboss, the Crucible. Right. And I was like, okay, interesting. But it's like.

[Bowen Yang]

Which we would still gladly see.

[Matt Rogers]

You know what I'm saying? But you never know what, like, mainstream theater is gonna do, of course. But they've been impressing me every time I've gone out lately. I'm just, like, really excited about what's on stage.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I love Good night and good luck.

[Matt Rogers]

I thought it was he, that one.

[Bowen Yang]

George.

[Mike Birbiglia]

What else? What else is up right now? We should see.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm not the person to ask. This is your guy. But now that I've got time, I've.

[Matt Rogers]

Said the things I love.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay.

[Matt Rogers]

You know what I mean?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, I get that. Read the subtext.

[Bowen Yang]

Read the subtext. Are you pre dreading the questions you'll be asked about the Pope and about how this special kind of presciently focuses on the Pope pre conclave, pre election.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's like, it was like a year ago. Jim Gaffigan calls me, who is on behalf of Stephen Colbert, asking me to go meet the puppet. I was very torn. I was an alder boy as a kid, and, you know, in the 80s, like, spotlight. You know what Spotlight Was about, literally in Boston. In Massachusetts.

[Bowen Yang]

Right, Massachusetts. Massachusetts.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That was a movie that. Tom McCarthy's movie Spotlight, that hit me so hard. Incredible movie.

[Matt Rogers]

But wow.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But, like, yeah. So I've always had, like, deep concerns about the Catholic Church. And I thought about it, and ultimately it was just like, this is very important to my parents. Like, they raised me Catholic. My mom went to Latin Mass when she was a kid, like, pre Vatican II Catholic Church. And so I knew, like, and they were going through a hard time, and I was just like, okay, I'm gonna go. And there's an odd synchronicity. Pope Francis's real name was Bergoglio. My last name is Birbilia. And Yeah, so you make a joke that's like.

[Bowen Yang]

He just. He just kind of, like. Kind of like Googled himself or something or. No, he just looked at, though.

[Mike Birbiglia]

He, like, look. Yeah, he just Googled comedian. He's like. He's a beerbelia. I'm Bergolio. It's my longest cousin.

[Matt Rogers]

He's gotta be here. We gotta make sure he's in the room.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But, you know, as far as popes go, he was pretty good.

[Bowen Yang]

I thought so, right?

[Mike Birbiglia]

And, yeah, he busted gay couples, and he was open. This is what Whoopi Goldberg pointed out, because she was one of the people who was there with us. She was a big fan of Pope Francis. He welcomed divorced couples back into the church. I was like, we weren't welcoming divorced couples. I was like, what? I did not get the memo on that one. But then when I was there, there's a lot of talk with the insiders of, like, we're a little worried that it might be a conservative pope because the international side of the church is sometimes very much more conservative than Pope Francis was. And so to your point earlier, of, like, this new Pope Leo, it's like, yes, there's things you can criticize, but also, we dodged a bullet of, like, yeah, that we got the Trump of popes.

[Bowen Yang]

Right, Right.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You know what I mean?

[Matt Rogers]

It could have been that.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Could have been, like.

[Matt Rogers]

Could have been worse.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Bananas.

[Bowen Yang]

Sure, sure, sure. Then we retract what we've said about Pope Leo.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's the first thing I was gonna ask you to do.

[Bowen Yang]

Please retract.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I have really strong feelings with this. Almost nothing about the Pope Leo. Leo guy.

[Matt Rogers]

I mean, all I know is with the way that queer media was up in arms about him being not up in arms, but you know what I mean? Like, people had something to say and expressing disappointment about him saying that marriage is between a Man and a woman. And unfortunately, I would, I would remind those people this is the Catholic Church. Like, it's kind of, that's, that's what, that's their modus operandi.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's their modus operandi.

[Matt Rogers]

So it's, it's like, I don't know, maybe I was more irritated at it being like a news item.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Here's my take on all major world religions. Because I like to disrespect. I disrespect all religions equally.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Is I think a summit. We could have it, the three of us could call a summit.

[Matt Rogers]

Let's do it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

All the major world religions, we'd like to talk about sexuality and gender. How do you feel about gay people? How do you feel about women? Yeah, just like open, open forum. Let's talk about it.

[Bowen Yang]

Make it reality.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Put it on a fucking record.

[Bowen Yang]

Uh huh.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You know what I mean? But if that's how you feel, put it on the record in front of all these people and we're gonna talk about it. Because I think it's weird that we have this vague thing like, this is kind of homophobic. This is, you know, this is sexist. They don't let women be priests. They kind of do, but only sometimes, sometimes in Europe it's okay, whatever. And I'm like, no, no, let's have a sum up.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, let's all feel. Put it on the record and then.

[Bowen Yang]

Put that on a one sheet. You know what I mean?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Put it on a Google Doc.

[Bowen Yang]

Put it on a Google Doc and then have lead PR and IDPR send that out.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, idpr. Get involved.

[Bowen Yang]

Get involved and send that out to Conde Nastenhurst. Yeah, no, because I'm sick of people.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Who are religious of any religion being like, no, no. Are our religions okay with women? I'm like, well, I've heard some things.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, that's right. You know what I mean?

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's like we're okay with gay people. Well, I've heard some things actually.

[Matt Rogers]

I guess it's like if anyone did gymnastics, you know, enough like you could, you could justify anything. Like, I understand that people find, you know, a lot of peace and solace and, you know, community and these types of things. But it's like, let's just not pretend they're not what they are.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. I mean, every religion is a structure of, is structured meaning. And then people like seek out meaning in religion and then they just have to like reconcile how much of themselves is compatible with like, that meaning. I'm being so general, you know what.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I mean, there actually is a good. There's a really good documentary about the Pope Francis, who passed away, called Pope Francis a man of his word. And it was interesting because he actually did, like, meet with a lot of different religious world leaders of other religions. And I do think that that is, at the moment, we're in a world history. Like, I never talk about this shit, but, like. But, like, that's what we should do. I think the religion should be that because it's like, they have more inclusive in common than not.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's like you look at all the religions, they're arguing with each other. It's like, no, no. You all believe the same kind of fake thing.

[Bowen Yang]

Totally.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like, and no offense, like, maybe it's fake, maybe it's not. Who cares? But it's very similar. What you guys believe in is very similar.

[Matt Rogers]

Right.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Maybe we'll get on the same page about, like, human rights.

[Bowen Yang]

I don't know.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Just an idea.

[Bowen Yang]

Would love.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Mike, for Biglia and Los Culturistas.

[Matt Rogers]

We have to ask you the question of our podcast. We've sort of been dancing around it in several ways, I think. But, Mike, what was the culture that made you say culture was for you?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay. Since I already covered my epiphany of auditioning for an impromptu. It's the movie Jerry Maguire. Oh, wow. Because when it came out, loved it, and it made me feel a thing.

[Matt Rogers]

Yes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And then I went and studied screenwriting at Georgetown, and my professor, John Glavin, taught it. Like it was a text.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like it was a book in a class. We read the script, we watched the movie, we broke down the beats, and I started to understand, like, oh, this is not magic. And this is not just a popcorn movie.

[Bowen Yang]

No.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like, that's the thing is, like, even Wicked's another example. It's like, it's a popcorn movie. A lot of people bought tickets to it, but it's really meaningful. Like, I cried during it. I cried during Jerry Maguire. Like, I take the stigma away from movies that are popular, but make you feel something like, that's a great feat.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm so glad you said that.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. He has formative stuff.

[Bowen Yang]

I have formative stuff with Jerry Maguire, one of the first movies we got from Blockbuster, I think.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Way too young to be watching it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, sure.

[Bowen Yang]

Because watching Tom Cruise, Kelly. Kelly Preston's Brain, surely.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Great. Oh, my God. Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

I was like, don't ever stop fucking.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Me is what she said.

[Matt Rogers]

Don't ever stop.

[Bowen Yang]

And then. And then later. And then later, they're just like post coyotes eat, like. No, no, no.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like, as she, like, eating something.

[Bowen Yang]

Strawberries.

[Matt Rogers]

No, no.

[Bowen Yang]

She, like, dismounts them. She goes, I'm gonna get some fruit. It's like a tight, close up tight single on Kelly Preston. So crazy.

[Matt Rogers]

Wait.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, but that movie made me. Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Kind of a perfect movie.

[Matt Rogers]

A perfect in many ways. And also, you know what I was just thinking? So many elements come together to make it good. Like the song Secret Garden by Bruce.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, my God. Off. I know that song is. You're right. How about when on the radio they would play that song with clips from the movie.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, you had me at hello. Literally, I would be listening to, like, whatever radio station. 106.1 BLI when I was younger. And, like, they would play Secret Garden with Renee doing it. And they also did that for Sometimes My Heart Will Go On In Titanic. There was certain movies they did this with. And it was always, always those, like, emotional peaks of the movie that created lore.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

And this is a time too when I feel like soundtracking was speaking to movies in such a specific way. You know what I mean? Like, it would. Like. I remember having, like the City of Angels soundtrack. You remember the image of her, Meg Ryan, riding the bike with her arms out like this. It's like there was that you kind of need music to evoke, you know, like, do they still do that? I still do. Barbie. Barbie was the most significant.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, yes.

[Bowen Yang]

Barbie did that, I think.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, that song's great.

[Bowen Yang]

So good.

[Matt Rogers]

So many of the songs are great.

[Bowen Yang]

But I was going to say the last time that, like, maybe I'm misremembering this, but I feel like with Star Is Born, when they would play either Shallow or like, Always Remember Us this Way, they would cut in some bits from A Star Is Born as well.

[Matt Rogers]

It was like there was a. You could listen to, like, the radio version of Shallow or there was like a movie version. And you know what you're thinking of is at the end when it's I'll Never Fall. They sometimes will. At the end, she's like singing the last chorus and then they'll cut to him doing it from the movie.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

And that was. Which is what it is in the movie. She doesn't. Because there's a version of that song where she literally just belts her tits off for the last remainder of it. And it ends like. Like one of those ballads does. But then the movie just literally cuts to him finishing the song and then it's back with her crying. Yeah. It's amazing.

[Mike Birbiglia]

The Other thing about Jerry Maguire is, like, it has a love story that's not perfect.

[Matt Rogers]

Right.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's kind of beautiful.

[Bowen Yang]

It is beautiful because you're just like.

[Mike Birbiglia]

At the end, you go, well, maybe they shouldn't be together. I don't even know.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And you're like, that's kind of sweet. Like, they're taking the leap together.

[Bowen Yang]

Of course. And talk about the other kind of. Unless it's hard to capture with language. Like, talk about the magic that you felt watching it growing up. That was dispelled once you got to college.

[Mike Birbiglia]

The magic was, I'm laughing. It's the thing that I try to achieve in my shows. It's like, I'm laughing, I'm crying, I'm feeling emotions. And then somehow you just think, because it's a quote, unquote popular movie, popcorn movie, you're just like, well, that's not important.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, it's so important.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I know. It drives me crazy.

[Bowen Yang]

No, we've never.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Cultural things that are great are viewed as not important because snobs come in. Well, yeah. And, you know, a great example, Wicked, the original Broadway production, people always say this. They're like, you know, it's been running for what, 20 years or whatever. It's like the first reviews were like, snobby. They're like, it's not as good. And it's like, well, actually, let the audiences decide.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Because audiences are crushed by it.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I am crushed at the production of Wicked. I'm just, like, crying. My wife and I were crying, and our daughter was just like, great. You know what I mean?

[Matt Rogers]

I'll never forget.

[Mike Birbiglia]

She loved it.

[Bowen Yang]

She loved it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But it's not like that.

[Matt Rogers]

But not like that. Well, also, because not for nothing, but she does it. She's not old enough yet to understand maybe why. It's like. I think that young girls obviously respond to that movie because of friendship and because of what it feels like to feel outcast or to accept someone and to really work hard on proving loyalty. And all those things are really beautiful. And I think that's why young girls love it. But also, when I saw it with my parents, I took my dad and.

[Mike Birbiglia]

My mom to it.

[Matt Rogers]

I saw it five times as well. You know, bias aside, like, I also fucking love the movie.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

And I turned to my dad and I was like, well, it's about fascism. And he was like. And he just sat there and he was like, yeah, it is. And I think that that is something that's like, oh, I love that. Also part of it for an adult man is. It's like, wow, this movie is literally about speaking truth to power and paying for it. She's just an example of someone who is not strong enough and is not willing to make the sacrifice.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Bowen Yang]

Then she does in the end.

[Matt Rogers]

She does in the end. But specifically, talking about that movement, that moment of defying gravity, it's like, I'm sorry, I cannot give up all the things that make me me to join you. Even if I know it's right.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Matt Rogers]

And that she is in process because she's been so protected and privileged. And it's gonna take a while and she's gonna have to lose real stuff. Spoiler alert for Act 2. For her to do those things. And even then, she doesn't really do it publicly. You know what I'm saying? No, no, of course. So that is complicated shit for an adult. And it is very moving.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And by the way, it's not dissimilar to the thing I'm saying. It connects me with Jerry Maguire. The imperfection.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

The drawing out of the imperfection of just being alive.

[Bowen Yang]

Right.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And how nothing is cut and dry.

[Bowen Yang]

Tom Cruise has never looked better.

[Matt Rogers]

Never looked better. Also, I mean, here's what I'll say. Fucking Renee. Unbelievable.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Unbelievable.

[Matt Rogers]

I think Renee is the reason why it's iconic. Not even just because of her line deliveries, which are spectacular. It's just. It's an example of perfect casting.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

The first kiss thing and he snaps her bra by accident. He laughs and is charming. Tom Cruise.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm gonna watch that tonight.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's perfect.

[Bowen Yang]

You've really influenced it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Jenny and I have. My wife and I. Jen's a poet and we both have this obsessive thing with movies, which is great. Movies are like songs. You can watch them over and over again. And there's something peaceful about.

[Bowen Yang]

Changes your parameters as you're consuming the thing.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. Thelma and Louise.

[Matt Rogers]

It's not Lois, tell me I'm wearing Louise shirt that I got at a vintage. This is one of my favorite movies. Thelma and Louise. And it's the same thing.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Same thing.

[Matt Rogers]

And also there's this, which they don't do in movies that much anymore, where they'll end it on a real curveball that's like. Makes it art. You know what I mean? I feel like there's something non traditional and weird about her stopping him in the middle of his sentence to be like, stop doing the proclamation. You had me at hello.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Matt Rogers]

You know what I mean? And also, like you said, maybe they shouldn't Be doing this. Their relationship's been a little toxic, but it's like. But they're gonna try anyway. And in this movie, Thelma and Louise, obviously. Spoiler. But if you're listening to this podcast, you probably understand they choose to die. They would rather drive off a cliff together.

[Mike Birbiglia]

No course.

[Matt Rogers]

Or get caught. And so I remember when the movie. It's punk rock. It's punk. It is. And also, it's just. It's not. It's clearly ignoring what I'm sure are studio notes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

100%.

[Matt Rogers]

You know?

[Mike Birbiglia]

And by the way, they probably shot it both ways.

[Matt Rogers]

Probably.

[Mike Birbiglia]

They probably shot it without them going off the cliff.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Or.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I don't know.

[Matt Rogers]

It's a good question. We should find that out.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But, you know, this made me realize is like, you're saying, like, what's the epiphany thing for me in culture? The other one was maybe say Anything, which is another Cameron Crowe movie. Because I saw say Anything when I was a kid, and I remember quoting it with Michael Kavanaugh, my best friend, like, back and forth and doing this. You know, the boombox in the air. And we were like, 10.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

I mean, Cameron Crowe was. I'm gonna come up here and say Elizabethtown. Underrated movie. I love Elizabethtown.

[Matt Rogers]

Can I say I love this? I love that. I think it's so.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think Elizabethtown's great. I think Almost Famous is fantastic.

[Bowen Yang]

Of course. Of course. That's just. That's a really. That's quite a good.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And also, he wrote Fast Times.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, he did?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. He wrote. Didn't direct it.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, got it, got it, got it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And I think Fast Times is a classic.

[Bowen Yang]

Classic.

[Matt Rogers]

There's something. Wasn't Fast Times. Amy Heckerling, I think she directed. Yeah, she did Clueless.

[Bowen Yang]

There you go.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. So all these movies, it's like. There's stuff about them that Bowen uses this wonderful word, serrates them, that makes them memorable, like a little bit.

[Bowen Yang]

Literally just wrap around the edges. You know what I mean? Just a little bit askew.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Totally.

[Bowen Yang]

Slightly off.

[Matt Rogers]

No, completely. For example, even in Clueless, you watch that movie and you see the way they're dressed and you think, oh, the early 90s. No, they were dressed, like, badly and stupidly, even for that time. But it's like, that's not how they dressed at Beverly Hills High School, I don't think. But it's overdrawn and makes you remember it. You'll never forget seeing her in that yellow. It wasn't Vivienne Westwood. It couldn't have been, but it feels like it might have. Feels like it speaks in that world. I can't say what designer it was, but there's this stuff that you go out of your way. You have to go out of your way to make it memorable and iconic. This say anything thing.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Come on.

[Matt Rogers]

It's like, who holds a boomerang like that? It doesn't move. No one, but it made it iconic.

[Bowen Yang]

Drama, that's so good.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's crazy. And then the other ones, I mean, I'm obsessed with that whole 70s 80s movies. E.T. is like that. Just like, I could watch it over and over again. It's super emotional. You watch ET now, it's like it's an indie film. Right. You know what I mean? What was like the biggest blockbuster movie?

[Matt Rogers]

Absolutely.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That feels like an indie.

[Bowen Yang]

Jaws feels like an indie film.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, Jaws is. It's unbelievable that that's as huge of a blockbuster as it is because of how slow moving it is.

[Mike Birbiglia]

There's this great story about the director who did Paper Moon Bogdanovich. Peter Bogdanovich runs into Spielberg at the Boston Logan Airport. And Spielberg had just shot on Martha's Vineyard, shot Jaws, and he's like, how did it go? And he was just like, there's a shark. It's a disaster. We don't have the movie. You know what I mean? It's just like one of those funny stories where they leave the movie set thinking they don't have it.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, right, right, right, right, right. They were like, well, this was a huge catastrophe.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And I think they found it a.

[Matt Rogers]

Lot in post in editing.

[Bowen Yang]

And then it changed the movie industry.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, I mean, we had that with Don't Think Twice to some degree. You know, there's that speech where Chris Gethard goes, I think your 20s are about hope and your 30s are about realizing how dumb it was to hope. We added that in post because Ira Glass, one of our producers, we were watching the movie, and he goes, the audience doesn't get. When we show cuts to people. They don't get that. They know they're a loser or they know they're underdogs.

[Bowen Yang]

The characters.

[Mike Birbiglia]

The characters know they're underdogs. And so we would have a. We did a screening at NPR downtown, and these two ladies got up and they were like. It was a feedback screening in the early cut. And they go, we don't like it. And we go, why don't you like. Ira goes, why don't you like it? They're losers. And what was so funny, we went back to the edit. And we're like, they're losers. They're losers. But, like, how come we think it's funny that they're losers, but they know it? And it's like, oh, we haven't. The characters haven't acknowledged that they know what they are. Yeah. And so we're like, what if we shot a scene where they're packing up and they're moving out of the theater? And Chris gethard goes, your 20s are about hope, and your 30s are about realizing how dumb it was to hope changed the whole screening. Everyone was like, isn't great.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

But also such a smart way to convey all of that. That's a lot to communicate. And you did it all in that one scene.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Thanks. It's a funny thing, like, even writing my movie right now that I'm writing, it's like, you really have to toe the line between how much do the characters get, what's funny about them?

[Matt Rogers]

That's a really interesting idea.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Because, like, Gilmore Girls is, like, that super witty who's like, they're in on it, but they're almost not.

[Bowen Yang]

Exactly. They know that they're codependent or whatever, and yet to what extent? Or something.

[Matt Rogers]

It's like a really interesting thing that you bring up that these women were like, we don't like the movie because they're losers. Because I actually think one of the things about Don't Think Twice that shook me to my core so much when I watched it. And now I see it. I see it now looking back, and I fucking love the movie and appreciate it in a way I didn't at the time because I felt so defensive. Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

Because I think your movie Don't Think Twice. It really makes you think about yourself.

[Bowen Yang]

Especially if you were doing comedy in that time.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

Doing improv.

[Matt Rogers]

And.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Like, I just remember thinking, like, this is a mean depiction of our community. And I couldn't believe that your character. I'm gonna use an explicit word that upsets people, but your character calls Tammy Sager's character a cunt. And I remember I was just like, I can't believe. But now I think that that was such a brave, bold thing to do, weirdly enough, because it really showed ugliness and envy and in, like, a very abject, painful, personal way.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

And I'm not saying that, like, anyone that we knew, or even us, went as far or as, you know, shallow as any of this. I'm just saying that, like, it's an incredibly intense situation that you're depicting because it's kind of like being a kid and not knowing that the world is bigger when you are confronted with what you assume is the only job in the world for you. And it doesn't go that well. It's about everything else.

[Bowen Yang]

Everything else breaks down.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And friendship's so intense. Like, when I was writing that movie, I was hosting a Q and A with Noah Baumbach for the movie While we're young, I think it was. Or maybe it was Francis. Ha. I forget. And I said to him, I go, I'm writing this movie about an improv group, and they're best friends, and one of them gets on SNL and the rest of them don't. And I go, but the people giving me notes are like, the stakes aren't high enough.

[Matt Rogers]

What are they talking about?

[Mike Birbiglia]

And that was the funniest thing, because it's depicted, you know, indicative of all of his movies. He goes, there's no stakes higher than friendship.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Isn't that great?

[Bowen Yang]

That's great. Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

As we just sit here and say the word yeah 50 times.

[Bowen Yang]

But it's.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I want this to be our engagement of a deeper friendship between the three of us. Yes. Because I feel like whenever I see you guys, whenever we run into each other, it's like, I think there's love. I think there's. There is love, But I'm like, we should spend more time together.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, you. You are good with the gays.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

You know, he is old friends with Jordan Nardino. Really?

[Mike Birbiglia]

He loved the Gilmore Girls.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, he was one of the Gilmore Girls.

[Mike Birbiglia]

My closest high school and college friends.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. Really?

[Bowen Yang]

Wait, Massachusetts?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Jordan in California. California to Massachusetts.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Jordan's amazing. Jordan's a great writer.

[Matt Rogers]

He's a great writer.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. He and I were in that same screenwriting class in college.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, really?

[Mike Birbiglia]

We were close friends in high school, and then he came to visit me when I was in college. He was at Tufts, and then he was just like, I just want to go here.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And so he transferred. We went to college together.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. Wanted to go to Georgetown. That's a lot of nut hugs.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's a lot of nut hugs. Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

That's a really cool number. 30.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You want us to go to Georgetown?

[Bowen Yang]

That's a lot of n hugs. I would say you.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I don't want to speak for Jordan, but I think I can say it's a lot. It's a lot.

[Bowen Yang]

He'll chime in. He'll chime in.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's a lot of nut hugs.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh tasty high note oh, hi. Don't mind me. I'm practicing my new baritone sax. I just heard PayPal's paying for people's stuff every day for 100 days, and.

[Mike Birbiglia]

There'S 10 million up for Grab. All you have to do is use.

[Matt Rogers]

PayPal checkout online, so there's never been a better time to buy a few things off the old wish list, like this leaf blower. PayPal could pay for your purchase. The Great PayPal Checkout no purchase necessary.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Ends July 18th.

[Matt Rogers]

See official [e-mail] TheGreatPayPalCheckout Terms Participating merchants.

[Bowen Yang]

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[Matt Rogers]

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[Bowen Yang]

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[Matt Rogers]

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[Bowen Yang]

You can change lanes with much more confidence thanks to the available Blind Spot View Monitor, which actually shows you a live video feed of your blind spots.

[Matt Rogers]

The standard Forward Collision Avoidance Assist can help prevent or mitigate accidents by alerting you of an imminent collision and automatically applying the brakes if you you don't.

[Bowen Yang]

Hyundai vehicles are equipped with the standard Driver Attention Warning System, which constantly monitors your attention levels. Once detected, it sounds, alerts and visual cues to help bring you back to focus on the road.

[Matt Rogers]

With available class exclusive safety features, Hyundai lets you enjoy the journey with confidence, knowing that your car is working hard to help avoid the dangers of the road from getting you.

[Bowen Yang]

Learn more About [e-mail], call 562-314-4603 for complete details.

[Matt Rogers]

I'm Matt Rogers from Las Cojarisas. You know, for many, the American dream means starting your own business and working for yourself. If you're a small business owner launching a company or dreaming of starting one, then you'll not only want to make sure you're using a platform like Intuit QuickBooks, but you'll also want to check out season three of Mind the Small Business Success Stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Intuit QuickBooks. In every episode, hosts Austin Hankwitz and Janice Torres talk to small business owners about how they've grown and maintained their business and tackled the hurdles and challenges that come with being your own boss. From tracking money in and out to cutting through the complexity with an all encompassing platform like QuickBooks, you don't want to miss these inspiring stories of small business journeys. Listen to Mind the Business small business success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We love la. What do you love about Los Angeles? How about the food and drink options? Los Angeles chefs and mixologists draw inspiration from their varied cultural backgrounds and the city's diverse neighborhoods, making for exciting food scene. From game changing taco trucks to Michelin stars. What's your favorite LA dish? How about the arts and culture? Diverse cultures and communities collaborate and mingle, elevating new voices in art, music, film and comedy. Did you know Los Angeles? More museums and theaters than New York. From trailblazing street art to world class museums, art is everywhere in la. Sports. Oh babe, we got you covered. LA knows how to put on a show. The worlds of sports and entertainment collide to create the kinds of events that could only happen here. Wherever you are in the city, you're never far from the next only in LA moment. And you can get a taste for fame firsthand by attending a star ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard or glimpse behind the scenes at a world famous studio tour. Need a breather? Don't forget to stop in your tracks and look up.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Up.

[Matt Rogers]

Soak in our legendary blue sky. That's the light that inspires directors around the world. What's your favorite day in LA? Find more ways to love Los Angeles@discover la.com.

[Bowen Yang]

You and I both. Well, we don't have to bring in nothing. I don't want to talk about NYU necessarily. I was gonna say you and I both, you and I. You and I got very different amounts of hugs growing up. I would say, well, this is.

[Matt Rogers]

It's funny.

[Bowen Yang]

We both ended up at the same school.

[Matt Rogers]

At the same school. Yeah, NYU was different. But I think we, I think we were both there for different traumas.

[Bowen Yang]

That's right.

[Matt Rogers]

Not related to hu hugging or not hugging. But I think that something that's so clear is like it's good that you hug your daughter a lot and I don't want you to think about that you're making mentality because I think what you're doing is you're teaching her what real love is.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Matt Rogers]

And a lot of people have. And something I don't think I understand because I'm privileged to Genuinely know what real love is. Because my parents have always shown me real love and have always been very good with me. In terms of that is a lot of people just don't. Baseline. Know that they don't baseline. Know what it really is to be cared for and to have someone at the end of the day that's gonna say, I love you.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

And I think that I didn't realize that was such a privilege. Yeah, it's crucial, you know what I'm saying? Like, until. Until I was, you know, having, like, conflicts with people later in life or, you know, things work out, don't work out, whatever with different people. And you're just realizing, oh, I'm operating with a different emotional deck. And thank God.

[Mike Birbiglia]

No, you're right. It's funny when you.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

If you get into, like, a petty disagreement with somebody, and sometimes they go so hard on it, and you have to step back and just be like, no, no. We're all just doing our best.

[Matt Rogers]

Right.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You know? But, yeah, I agree with you. Like, it's. Yeah, no, it's definitely more. Better to love more than less.

[Matt Rogers]

Right.

[Bowen Yang]

And even in the moments in the special, I'll say where you're like, a huge part of my life is going to children's birthday parties. I go to 200 to 300 of them a year. It's like, ooh. And I can grow up and hear that and think, oh, my dad is exasperated by this thing that he had to do for me. And he's like, is that something resentful? But no, even in that, you're like, I do this thing, I show up for my daughter.

[Matt Rogers]

Right.

[Bowen Yang]

And it's this thing that I can joke about hating because it'll make this room full of people and adults laugh.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

But she can. I think it is so clear what that message is to her, which is, my dad loves me. He takes me to these birthday parties.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. Showed up. I had to talk through a joke with her the other day that was in the special because it's gonna be seen by a lot of people. And, you know, I had to be like. Cause there's this joke where I say.

[Matt Rogers]

She doesn't have it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Explain that. Explain that to them. Cause I remember listening to it. I was like, oh, that's a pretty rough joke for my daughter.

[Mike Birbiglia]

So I said to her, I go, there's this joke. And I say, we went. My wife and I went to our daughter's ballet recital, and we're in the audience crying. Crying. Cause she doesn't have it you. And then I go, no, we're crying because we're crying.

[Matt Rogers]

She's not going pros of dollars on.

[Mike Birbiglia]

The lessons and hundreds of hours going to the rehearsal, and she's not going pro.

[Bowen Yang]

And then I go.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I go, no, no, no. We're crying for the right reasons. And then afterwards, I'm squeezing. I go, una, you were so fantastic. And she said to me, it's true to life. She goes, dad, you would say I was fantastic even if I wasn't fantastic. And I said, that is so true. You are so much better at logic than you are at ballet.

[Matt Rogers]

Right.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I left out that last part. I'm gonna say that to when she's 15 and she tells me I'm garbage. And I'm gonna say, I had some cand you as well when you were seven that I withheld out of respect. But I did share with a group of strangers at the Beacon Theater. But I explained it to Una in relation to. I go, sometimes jokes are something that is true and then something that is the opposite of true or completely not true or a variation on true. And the show, the special that I wrote is a series of things where it's true, not true, true, not true, true, silly, True, silly. And then at the end of the movie, or at the end, I sometimes are calling movies at the end of the show, it lands on true. And because it lands on true, I think the audience knows. Oh, okay. This person's in earnest. Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

And the true thing about this special is the way a parent loves their child.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yes. Yeah. And understanding my dad after he's had a stroke and realizing when his defenses are down and he doesn't have the anger that he had before the stroke that I do think, like, he meant.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, of course, that is a whole can of worms. Because. Especially because, you know, men, as they get older and the estrogen creep up. You know what I mean? Like, it's. They get more emotional, I think they get more contemplative. And I think it's just harder for men to look back on being men.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Like. Because so much of it is just not cruel, but it's rough. And it's speaking to this idea of what a man is, which can never really be justified in the way that we accepted it for such a long time. But I think that's really hard for men as they get older, as they look back and they have regrets about trying to attain that idea of what it means to be a man.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Absolutely.

[Matt Rogers]

And all those things. And I've had a Couple emotional conversations with my dad about, you know, one time, it was after we taped my special, and he was expressing. I think we had had a few drinks, and he was expressing some regrets about, you know, whatever, like, have, like, having a gay son and not feeling like he didn't get it right. And I had to, like, tell him. I was like, you got to let yourself off the hook because nothing you ever did was because you didn't love me. You were trying your best.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's beautiful.

[Matt Rogers]

And, like. And it is a moment that I think I'm. I'm obviously very happy. I had and I. And I will have. Can continue to have because of that moment, but it's really hard, like, men relating to each other in that type of way. That's why I think it's so beautiful that, like, you have that, like, open channel with your. With your child, because it's, like, it takes some people a really long time. And I always heard I love you from my dad. I always heard. Proud of you. Always heard those things. But it's just. It's just interesting, like. Like, as. As men get older, like, it can be uncomfortable to have those types of conversations. Like, even just when you put your hand on his shoulder and rub his shoulder. Like, that probably took a lot.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Took a lot.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, but. But those are really. Those are so important because what if. Because what if you didn't? You know what I mean? Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But we talked about that when you were on my podcast a lot with your parents because you had the challenging stuff with which I really hope you should do a solo show someday.

[Bowen Yang]

We'll see. Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Do you think that might be something there?

[Bowen Yang]

There's. There's definitely. I hit underground, so. Such a jumbled mess of a show. I don't even know what I was trying to do with it, but there's something there for sure. I just am still making sense of it, and we're still talking about it as a family, and it's all. Okay. It's all true.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Do they say, I'm proud of you now?

[Bowen Yang]

They do. Do they now? They do, but it took them a while, and they came to the show a few weeks ago and. And just. I took them out for Mother's Day, and we have a lovely time now.

[Matt Rogers]

I also want to say your show was not a mess. You were just. It was not a mess. You were just in process on. You were so in process in the feelings. It's kind of like what we were saying last week about, like, Marsha P. Johnson not having correct Recollection of Stonewall, because she was Stonewall. It's like you were literally going through.

[Bowen Yang]

I was the pit.

[Matt Rogers]

You were the pit.

[Bowen Yang]

I was the pit Underground.

[Matt Rogers]

You were all. All those experiences and emotions at the time. So of course, you weren't gonna create, like, you know what? Especially you with a high bar for yourself. Feels like cohesive, salient art about this thing that you were, like, enduring.

[Bowen Yang]

That was me squarely in the zone of what Ira Glass talks about, which is there's that gap between, like, the taste that you have and, like, what you can accomplish as someone who makes things. And so, anyway, when I remember doing.

[Mike Birbiglia]

A completely messy version of Sleepwalk with me, my first solo show, which eventually years later was off Broadway, and Nathan Lane presented it, and it was just a really beautiful thing that I was lucky enough to do.

[Bowen Yang]

Naira made the movie, and.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, Naira made the movie, and it was. But the first versions of it at UCB were so rough because it was like, me just being like, here's this breakup I had, and the emotions are so raw, and I've been sleepwalking. And it's a metaphor for this. I was so on the nose. And then I remember the artistic director at the time pulled me aside, and he was like, hey, I think you should see Demetri Martin's show. You should do more jokes.

[Bowen Yang]

Was this Anthony King? Who was this?

[Mike Birbiglia]

No, it was the one before. I can say he's a great guy, Owen Burke. And I feel like we've talked about it since then. He's like, you figured it out. Yeah, but it was funny. Sometimes when you're in the wilderness, artistically, like, it's not because you're not going at the right thing.

[Bowen Yang]

No.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like, I was going at, like, I want to make an emotional show, but also, I hadn't figured out the joke side of it. I haven't figured to your nice thing you were saying about my shows, how it's like, silences and then jokes and then serious moments and then jokes. It's like, I hadn't figured that out yet.

[Bowen Yang]

Sure.

[Matt Rogers]

I'm also, like. I'm really feeling very seen by you talking about, like, an, like, true, false, true, false, true, false, and then it ends on a false or a true. Like, my special. The one I've done ends on a false, and I think it's. And I'm so happy about it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

That being said, like, I do think that that's one extension of myself, and I want so badly to say something real and true about myself.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

But it's the hardest thing to do. I think that's why you had strife with it all those years ago, like, doing that, because you were deeply trying to say something true about yourself. Which is. Which is fucking hard. Especially when you're at, like, a comedy festival, but yet also tasked with, like, this thing of, like, this is a solo show, an opportunity that you're being given.

[Bowen Yang]

Right.

[Matt Rogers]

And it's like, I think we all want to be poignant, but it doesn't always happen.

[Bowen Yang]

Right.

[Matt Rogers]

If there's a question here that I'm saying is it's like, how uncomfortable is your process?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Very uncomfortable.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like. Like every step of the way. Like, some nights I'm on stage and I'm like, there's that moment in the show where I go, I didn't have a sex talk when I was a kid, but when I was 12, I had hard nipples from puberty.

[Matt Rogers]

And suddenly you're exposed out there with your hard nipples again.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. And then I go, exactly. And so I go. I tell my dad, because I thought I was a hypochondriac as a kid. And so I told my dad, like, I think I have cancer, right? He's like, take your shirt off. We're in my living room. It's like a true, completely true story. What's weird, actually, I'll tell you the variation. I'll tell you the variation on it is like, I had to take this part out. It wasn't in the living room. It was in his bed. But it was so weird because the audience was reading. It's like, oh, he's gonna get fucking molested in the scene. Right?

[Matt Rogers]

You had to walk them away from that.

[Bowen Yang]

Right?

[Mike Birbiglia]

I got. So he was like, take your shirt off in the living room. Take my shirt off. And he felt my hard, hard nipples. And I. And I go. And it was nice, you know, I go, there wasn't a lot of physical.

[Matt Rogers]

Affection in the family, but you were being reassured by a doctor and your father.

[Mike Birbiglia]

So the first few times. Exactly the first few times I said it, first fucking 40 times I said it, I was just like, this is so uncomfortable.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Wow.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And I even had people, like, in my inner circle creatively be like, take out the nipples part. Because you do get that sometimes where even people who are close to what your process is are like, I think the audience is not here for that. But then you got. Sometimes you just gotta be like, no, this is like, this has happened. It's fully happened. And it's, like, part of the story. I'm Telling.

[Bowen Yang]

But what you're saying with, like, sleepwalk with me, like, you were in the wilderness. It's like, like, well, process in general for anybody is just in the wilderness. Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

The movie I'm writing right now, I'm in the wilderness.

[Bowen Yang]

Great. That's all part of it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

I think something, too. And I think often when we have, like, music artists in this chair, too, this question comes up. And also with even reality stars or anyone that's, like, exposing the part of themselves, which is obviously anyone in that chair probably is. I don't think I ever really understood the stakes of. Of what happens when you involve a depiction of someone else in your life, in your work. And that is what trips me up sometimes. It is really hard for me to think if I say this thing about myself, I'm saying this thing about someone else.

[Mike Birbiglia]

No, I know.

[Matt Rogers]

And I feel like that's. Unfortunately, if you're someone that wants to create work and art, it's probably the ugly stuff. You know what I mean? And that's not just ugly stuff about you. It's ugly stuff about people you probably care about or. Or don't ever want to talk to again. So it's like, it's never someone in the middle. You know what I mean? It's either, like, I either really care about this person and therefore they're worthwhile including, or this person has hurt me.

[Bowen Yang]

In a deep way.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But even fictional is that, like, I had people in my life come up to me and be like, I'm the character in Don't Think Twice. Who's the rich girl?

[Matt Rogers]

And you were like, yeah, no, I.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Was like, no, you're the Gillian. Sometimes they're wrong. Sometimes they guess wrong.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, that's humiliating, too.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Die Pants saw Sleepwalk With Me, the movie, and Carole Kane and James Rebhorn, as my parents, say these lines that literally my parents said in real life. And I was worried about my parents seeing it, and they came out of the movie and they go, they're nothing like us. Somehow we can't even see ourselves.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, yeah, you never can.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Only you have the real bibliography on your experiences with them. Because you saw it, they didn't see it. They were it.

[Bowen Yang]

Right, Right. But either, like, someone comes up to you and, like, validates or, like, I don't know, like, entrenches those things even more, where you're like, oh, I, like, had. It was a huge decision to include you in some way in this depiction of reality, or it's your parents being like, that was enough. It's like, you can't really even win with that. It never goes the way you want it to.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You guys have a lucky thing, I think, which is your close friends, and you have, like, a creative partnership with this show, which I think is so lovely because you get to share that people like. I love the show. Like, everyone, like, I know tons of people love the show. It's like, you guys get that together, which I think is not less lonely. I think we're very fortunate. Than being a lone wolf.

[Bowen Yang]

I wouldn't do it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Really do it alone.

[Matt Rogers]

What do you mean?

[Bowen Yang]

Like, I couldn't have my own podcast where I was just kind of riffing on culture and then commenting on things and then like. Like, I. Like, you're always my gut check in terms of, like, do I share this little anecdote?

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, it is. It's kind of nice to, like. It's really interesting because. Because we're also so close like, that we. We have this. We protect the same things pretty much. But also, like, in. In terms of, like, the sharing of it all. Like, you know what I mean? Like, it's also like, you can never. We can never give everything about, like, about everything, but you know what I'm saying? Because it's like, it's. That's. I think that's, like, why the don't think twice of it all. It just recalls such a specific era.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

That, like, it's drama.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, totally. Of course it is.

[Matt Rogers]

But I think that's why I love it now.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Meanwhile, like, I wanted to live your life. Like, I. When I was at Georgetown, I. I was like, saying to my parents, I want to transfer to NYU and be a theater kid. And they're like, no, I got a full no.

[Bowen Yang]

You got a full no.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, good.

[Bowen Yang]

I mean, I know it's good.

[Matt Rogers]

Everyone wanted to be someone else.

[Bowen Yang]

Exactly.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It still does.

[Bowen Yang]

Literally, it still does.

[Matt Rogers]

But I remember, like, I was in school at nyu and I wanted to be doing something else.

[Bowen Yang]

Of course.

[Matt Rogers]

Everyone's always like, I'm sure you.

[Bowen Yang]

Because I was pre med. Of course. But I was doing improv. You know what I mean? Like, I wanted to be something else. Did you not know that I knew that?

[Matt Rogers]

Of course.

[Mike Birbiglia]

When I was a kid, I wanted to be like, I would. I'd be like, I want to go to Boston and audition for commercials.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Parents were like, no, going to Boston to audition for commercials.

[Matt Rogers]

What the fuck are you talking about? Prior to commercial auditioning is such a tell that you don't know what the fuck it is. It's like he looks at the camera and half smirks. It's like that's the audition.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm gonna go into rooms and do bite and smiles.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Exactly.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Bite and smiles. Have you ever done a bite and smile?

[Mike Birbiglia]

No, I've never done one.

[Bowen Yang]

We've had to do a bite and smile.

[Mike Birbiglia]

What is that?

[Matt Rogers]

Want to see a sip and smile?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

And that was probably too big. I'd be noted. Is that it? Is that it? That was something else.

[Bowen Yang]

Dunkin Donuts.

[Matt Rogers]

Did you ever book a commercial?

[Mike Birbiglia]

I'm trying to think. I think I was a spokesperson for like a cable and Internet company in the south for a while.

[Matt Rogers]

That's great.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, they're not. I don't love it. I don't love it. I don't love it. I kind of wish it didn't coexist, but also. Yeah, it's fine.

[Bowen Yang]

Sure, it's fine.

[Matt Rogers]

Did you ever do straight up commercial?

[Bowen Yang]

I never did a straight up commercial, but I went to one commercial audition because someone at UCB was like, yeah, I'm going on this thing if you want to come. And it was so humiliating.

[Matt Rogers]

It was really impossible to leave feeling good.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Get your mother lovin ears on because.

[Matt Rogers]

Your big time radio DJs got news. PayPal lets you choose how you want to pay for all the stuff.

[Mike Birbiglia]

With PayPal, I can pay in store.

[Matt Rogers]

Pay online, or pay over time.

[Mike Birbiglia]

What's that?

[Matt Rogers]

You want this translated into song? I hope you're sitting down. You can pay your own way. You keep those ears on, you hear. Don't just pay, baby.

[Mike Birbiglia]

PayPal.

[Bowen Yang]

Learn [e-mail] Picture yourself going for a drive. What comes to mind? Potholes, lane splitting bikers, sleepy truckers, red light runners and distracted pedestrians crossing where they shouldn't.

[Matt Rogers]

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[Bowen Yang]

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[Matt Rogers]

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[Bowen Yang]

You can change lanes with much more confidence thanks to the available Blind Spot View monitor, which actually shows you a live video feed of your blind spots.

[Matt Rogers]

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[Bowen Yang]

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[Matt Rogers]

With available class exclusive safety features, Hyundai lets you enjoy the journey with confidence, knowing that your car is working hard to help avoid the dangers of the road from getting you.

[Bowen Yang]

Learn more About [e-mail], call 562-314-4603 for complete details.

[Matt Rogers]

I'm Matt Rogers from Las Cosuritas. You know, for many, the American Dream means starting your own business and working for yourself. If you're a small business owner, launching a company or dreaming of starting one, then you'll not only want to make sure you're using a platform like Intuit QuickBooks, but you'll also want to check out season three of Mind the Small Business Success Stories from iHear Media's Ruby Studio and Intuit QuickBooks. In every episode, hosts Austin Hankwitz and Janice Torres talk to small business owners about how they've grown and maintained their business and tackled the hurdles and challenges that come with being your own boss. From tracking money in and out to cutting through the complexity with an all encompassing platform like QuickBooks, you don't want to miss these inspiring stories of small business journeys. Listen to Mind the Business Small business Success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast guests. We love la. What do you love about Los Angeles? How about the food and drink options? Los Angeles chefs and mixologists draw inspiration from their varied cultural backgrounds in the city's diverse neighborhoods, making for exciting food scene. From game changing taco trucks to Michelin stars, what's your favorite LA dish? How about the arts and culture? Diverse cultures and communities collaborate and mingle, elevating new voices in art, music, film and comedy. Did you know Los Angeles has more museums and theaters than New York York? From trailblazing street art to world class museums, art is everywhere in la. Sports? Oh babe, we got you covered. LA knows how to put on a show. The worlds of sports and entertainment collide to create the kinds of events that could only happen here. Wherever you are in the city, you're never far from the next, only in LA moment. And you can get a taste for fame firsthand by attending a star ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard or glimpse behind the scenes at a world famous studio tour. Need a breather? Don't forget to stop in your tracks and look up. Soak in our legendary blue sky. That's the light that inspires directors around the world. What's your favorite day in la? Find more ways to love Los Angeles at Discover la dot com.

[Bowen Yang]

And you've become straight and I've become straight. And I never thought that would happen.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Jordan Nardino texted me last night, just crying, laughing at the bo. And straight.

[Matt Rogers]

It's the only. It's the only one. I can barely watch. For some reason, when I watch him make out with women, I have. I have an outrage.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Why are you outraged?

[Matt Rogers]

I don't like it. I want you gay.

[Mike Birbiglia]

The thing that gets me is her showing up at your place and you're playing video games at 2 in the morning. It's so fucking not.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, by the way, that's him. And then Heidi in the Las Coltrista shirt. And honestly, it is my favorite sketch because it's clearly it elicits your reaction to me, but it's just like we were watching it. We were in his dressing room for the finale and you were watching it with us in the room.

[Bowen Yang]

I wanted to see. I wanted to surprise Matt with the Las Colta Rista shirt. I wanted to.

[Matt Rogers]

It's so fun. And then he comes in making out with sorry checks notes Scarlett Johansson. And I just go like. I scream like it's a horror movie. I'm like, I can't believe it. Like, maybe it's because college is going.

[Mike Birbiglia]

To have a 2025 because it's lost Culture Awards too.

[Bowen Yang]

That's right.

[Mike Birbiglia]

So it's in that sketch. It's Lost Culture Awards.

[Bowen Yang]

It's going to be huge.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. I mean, we're putting it together now and it's going to be. It's going to be something. Are you campaigning huge?

[Bowen Yang]

I'm gonna campaign.

[Mike Birbiglia]

What can I do? What can I do to campaign? Do you guys have a strategy? Can you strategize with me?

[Bowen Yang]

We can strategize with you.

[Matt Rogers]

You can definitely strategize.

[Mike Birbiglia]

What can I do as step one, Best Dad Award.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, sorry, sorry. I'm just brainstorming categories.

[Matt Rogers]

Daddy Award. There's a Daddy Award and a Father Award.

[Bowen Yang]

The Daddy awarded Father Award.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, the Daddy Award was won by Pedro Pascal.

[Bowen Yang]

The Father Award was. Who won the Father Award last year anyway?

[Matt Rogers]

It wasn't Seth Meyers. It wasn't John.

[Bowen Yang]

I don't think you have to campaign necessarily. I think you being on, on this episode, this is bag. Like, you're absolutely top of mind with the special and with the listeners being like you're in the mix.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm, I, I just feel like this was an amazing six straight man to have.

[Bowen Yang]

Absolutely.

[Matt Rogers]

This is.

[Bowen Yang]

This is straight male guest.

[Matt Rogers]

Six straight meal.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's huge. It's an honor. It's a deep honor.

[Bowen Yang]

It's six.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's six.

[Matt Rogers]

Northern.

[Bowen Yang]

It's not eight.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, it's not.

[Bowen Yang]

It's six or seven and we're not listening. We don't want to make a big thing out of this but. But it's a big deal.

[Matt Rogers]

Do you feel like gays come up to you on the street?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

They're like, hey girl.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think I get a lot of gays.

[Matt Rogers]

My gay guy impression.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think like the thing that's hilarious about my audience is sometimes when people come up to me they're. And it's like, it's like some like pear shaped, middle aged ogre dad who's just like. I totally relate to everything he said. Ah, come on.

[Bowen Yang]

I want the. I want the dads.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I know, but sometimes wouldn't it be great if someone came up to you and they're so hot and they're like. I totally relate to everything you say. It's just like my pilates class.

[Matt Rogers]

That's why we have the Kyles now.

[Bowen Yang]

That's why we have the Kyle's now.

[Matt Rogers]

We have a new subsect of a fan community called the Kyles. And sometimes a Kyle will come up and I just can't believe that they almost dropped their weights at the gym. They laugh so hard.

[Bowen Yang]

Exactly. Which is what they say sometimes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's nice.

[Bowen Yang]

You should come up with your own buckets of your fans. Really visualize the person, give them a name and then you will start to see them as well.

[Matt Rogers]

But you know what it is? It is Katie. You have a ton of Katies.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

Katie's is 28 year old. 28 to 35 year old communications major from the midwest named Katie. They're all named Katie. Start asking them their names. For now.

[Mike Birbiglia]

The thing I'm most proud of with my audience is I always say like it's age 12 through 112. Like when I see the spectrum of.

[Bowen Yang]

Age, I was gonna say you are really four quadrupl. Whereas we are people who are constantly approached by men and go, my girlfriend loves you.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, that's right.

[Bowen Yang]

Which is so sweet. But also it's never like I'm a fan, which is okay.

[Matt Rogers]

You know what though? A lot of them I've been noticing because they're excited to initiate the conversation. Cause their girlfriends are nervous, but they come up and they initiate the conversation and I can tell it gets them laid. So they're so excited. And that I think will make them worse. Listen, because I think and you know, some of them, they want to be shy about how much they know because, as I said, masculinity is hard to deal with when you're still, I guess, like, you know, when it's all ahead of you still.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Sure.

[Matt Rogers]

I'm just saying don't be shy, boys. It's okay to like Lost Cult.

[Bowen Yang]

It's okay.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's right.

[Matt Rogers]

Look. Look who's here.

[Bowen Yang]

You know who's great at a great straight male who will often say how much he loves the show.

[Matt Rogers]

Jon Hamm.

[Bowen Yang]

Jon Hamm. Will Steven, writer of Bonus Straight, but both times with August White.

[Matt Rogers]

Anyway, that's a real ally.

[Bowen Yang]

That's a real ally. We love you. Well, okay, it's time for.

[Matt Rogers]

I don't think so.

[Bowen Yang]

I don't think so, honey.

[Matt Rogers]

We're going to go first. Did you type it out?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. He's in the world. You'll see why.

[Matt Rogers]

So we wing it. Here. I have something that, you know, I. I didn't realize was a thing until last night. I was at dinner and I was made aware. And this has rocked my world. I can't wait to go after restaurant culture here.

[Bowen Yang]

This is Matt Rogers. I don't think so, honey's time starts now.

[Matt Rogers]

I don't think so, honey. When mocktails are almost as expensive or as expensive as cockt. I am not even a part of the sober community, and I am outraged on behalf of the sober community because let me tell you what the expensive part of a cocktail is. The alcohol. So why for grenadine, orange juice, bitters maybe, and like, a little bit of soda water. Am I paying $12? I don't think it's fair. I don't think so, honey. I also want to directly say where this is happening, which is where I have my new home, Lower Man Manhattan. I don't think so, honey. This is a lot of you guys. I'm telling you, you throw a rock, you hit a $14 mocktail. And I don't care how big the orange is. No, because I'll tell you what's only a couple bucks a whole thing. So I don't care that the slice is that big. Yes. You made it look expensive. That's so different than being expensive. I mean, for example, I could walk in here wearing a white suit. I'm not Zendaya or Anna Sawai at the Met guy. They cost a million dollars. I cast six. I don't think so, honey.

[Bowen Yang]

And that's woman. You are more than $6.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, but you know what, though? Not. Not really. And I'M saying that, like these. These cocktails and mocktails, it's infuriating.

[Bowen Yang]

It's infuriating. Well, I mean, I feel like they are maybe offsetting that by like. No, actually, there's no explanation. I was just gonna try to do this only.

[Matt Rogers]

And you know what it's like? It's like, I'll tell you what, the alcoholics don't miss paying for the alcohol, right? Okay. So it's like they might miss the alcohol. They're not missing the prices. It's not like, ugh, you know what I really miss? Hitting it hard and paying $9 for a Heineken. You know what would be great? Nine bucks for a Heineken. Zero. Which is essentially piss.

[Mike Birbiglia]

They should be like, here's an orange juice and an edible. Honestly, it's $15.

[Bowen Yang]

$15?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Really good idea. Right?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Let's give them something else.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. Or it's. But you know what, it's like, what would that even be? I mean, it's like they also, I guess, you know what they try to get away with. They're using the N elsewhere too.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, but.

[Matt Rogers]

But you don't pay for that.

[Bowen Yang]

No, no, no, no, no, no. That's not part of the experience. Or you get to keep it. You should get to keep it.

[Matt Rogers]

Like a souvenir glass. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay.

[Matt Rogers]

I used to be big into souvenir glass culture. And then I'll tell you what, you have a lot of huge cups you never drink out of.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, it's true.

[Matt Rogers]

Cuz that's really what they are.

[Bowen Yang]

On a shelf.

[Mike Birbiglia]

My Mar. Maroo mug. That's totally. That.

[Matt Rogers]

That's really good, though.

[Bowen Yang]

I want to Maroo mug. And you're talking about la. Like, you always struck me as pure New York, but I just.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I am.

[Bowen Yang]

But you do have this really good worldliness about Los Angeles that I like.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I've been, you know, I've been in show business for like, what, 23 years?

[Bowen Yang]

You know, where I go back and.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Forth and, you know, I have my spots. I like Los Feliz Maru. I mean, I have places I really like.

[Bowen Yang]

It's aspirational.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, aspirational.

[Bowen Yang]

It is.

[Matt Rogers]

But you are New York.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, no, I'm through and through New York. I can't imagine living anywhere else. I saw this Adam Gopnik solo show the other day, and he has this beautiful piece where he talks about how his favorite place on the planet is Central Park. Because it's just this place where everyone is in a social pact to be like, we're gonna come to this place that's completely manufactured and completely fake, but there's beautiful trees and beautiful statues, and there's no premium pricing for a different part of the park. We're all just at the goddamn city, Central park, and it's great.

[Matt Rogers]

Wow.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's like that. I love New York. It's like. It's like.

[Matt Rogers]

And.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And I have frustrations with it, of course, but also, you know, look, we're all in it.

[Matt Rogers]

It's so funny coming back to New York and being like, a New Yorker again, too, because the first thing that happens is you start to be real opinionated about New York.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Shit.

[Matt Rogers]

I am ready to crack skulls about the subway, by the way. Like, I'll get my one time, I'll get political. I can't believe Cuomo is this far ahead. It's fucking crazy.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's fucking insane even following that. Is he a head?

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, it's 60, 40 with head.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, really?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. But, like, I think it's just. It's just name recognition is what's kind of.

[Matt Rogers]

It's name recognition.

[Bowen Yang]

I've got a frivolous one.

[Matt Rogers]

Frivola.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Maybe that's a good dragon.

[Bowen Yang]

That's a great dragon.

[Mike Birbiglia]

No, no.

[Bowen Yang]

This is what I wanted to say. The only good drag name that I've come up with. And this is what I wanted to say. This is the most annoying sentence in the world. This is what I wanted to say at the end of my Criterion Closet video. My drag name would be Janis Films.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay? Oh, Janice Films is great.

[Matt Rogers]

I just opened my calculator instead of my timer and.

[Bowen Yang]

10 million.

[Matt Rogers]

10 million. How much money do I want?

[Mike Birbiglia]

And that's how much.

[Matt Rogers]

Or like, I just added 5 million and 5 million.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You were just brainstorming what Kevin Hart makes per movie.

[Bowen Yang]

Seven figures.

[Matt Rogers]

I was like, it's probably.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

This is Bowen Yang's. I don't think so, honey. His time starts now.

[Bowen Yang]

I don't think so, honey. Do you guys know what I'm talking about? Plastic hooks on gift bags that you purchase at the gift store. You buy a little paper gift bag and there's a plastic thing to make it hook.

[Matt Rogers]

Yep.

[Bowen Yang]

You cannot take that off. Even with all the gorilla strength in the world. Even when there's a perforated little thing there that mocks you because you try to tear it off. It's not coming off. Now you got. I get a damn pair of scissors. Like, I have the time in my life, 30 seconds to find scissors to trim off this little plastic hook thing. So That I can actually make it presentable to you so that you don't receive my gift and see the plastic hook. And the first thought you have is of me sliding it off a little paper source. Please find a better way to hang gift bags. Maybe, I don't know, by these string handles that are already on them. Rather than put a use. Single use plastic. Might I add element to these things.

[Matt Rogers]

And that's one minute. Wow. Really clean. Oh, my God. You know what I mean?

[Bowen Yang]

We know what I'm talking about.

[Matt Rogers]

No, of course we do. I didn't even know they're impossible to rip off. I didn't know that they were forehanging. Really. I kind of thought it was one of those just annoying things about like.

[Bowen Yang]

No, there's no reason.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Single use plastic sneak attack. Because it doesn't even seem like it's part of it. No, but then it's like that thing is going to go in a landfill forever.

[Bowen Yang]

Absolutely. It's never. It's. It's. Or it'll go to our brains. I don't know.

[Matt Rogers]

Like, you know what's also crazy? When you go to CVS and get a receipt, like, just talk to crazy to talk about how, how much. How much room it takes off or like how much you don't need it. It's like those receipts are. It's crazy. And I'm like, I'm just going to throw this out. And they don't even give you the option to not have the receipts. And I feel like with these things, it's like, what is the. What is it?

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's weird. Like, I think in our lifetime it has been this thing where we're like, we're going to recycle. We're going to save the planet to like, the planet's. Yeah, we're not going to even try. And it's such a bummer.

[Matt Rogers]

I've never been angrier than a few. I feel comfortable saying this. A few years ago, we were on Fire island and a friend of ours had a new boyfriend and this boy, and he walks back to us. We're sitting at the canteen and he comes back and he goes, the gays at the, at the, at the, the docks were so annoying. Guess what just happened? Happened? And we go, what? He goes, I threw my plastic cup in the bay and they yelled at me.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, my God.

[Matt Rogers]

We were like, we're like, excuse me, the bay. Excuse me. And the guy goes, yeah. Like, I was done with my drink and I threw my plastic cup in the bay and they all yelled to me, it's like, okay, the planet is dying already. And then our friend goes, yeah, isn't that crazy? And I had to walk away. I was like, look, I know love is blind. I know.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, Dick.

[Matt Rogers]

Feel good in whole. But no, not.

[Bowen Yang]

No. They did break up.

[Matt Rogers]

Thank God.

[Bowen Yang]

Thank God.

[Matt Rogers]

That was a moment where I had to check my respect.

[Bowen Yang]

Proudly. Being a litter bug is nuts to me.

[Matt Rogers]

I hate littering. It drives me nuts.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And also, you know, there's the fish in there.

[Bowen Yang]

The fish.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You know, there's the fish in there.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, it's what he said. They're gonna die anyway.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, God.

[Matt Rogers]

It's like, okay, kill me, then. I'm on my way out at some point.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Point.

[Bowen Yang]

That is actually textbook. I'm sorry to get a little academic here. This is nyu, maybe. And I think they taught this at Georgetown as well. Metabolic rift theory, where it's the human disconnect between. The disconnect between man and nature, and it makes it so that you don't understand that this came from something and that you throwing it out the window or throwing it into the water is actually the reason why you are broken as a person and why Literally. Literally. The phrase touch grass is important because you need to connect to that.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Anyway, Mike Birbiglia. You have a written. I don't think so, honey. And we are very. And there's a reason for this, that it's typed out.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And you'll see it at the end.

[Matt Rogers]

You'll see it at the end. Okay.

[Bowen Yang]

Cause it could have been on your phone. Yeah, this is Mike Brabrigle's. I don't think so, honey. And his time starts now.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I don't think so, honey. Hating on people who try hard. Literally everyone good at anything tries hard. You know who tries hard? You know who else? Beyonce. You know who else? Ray Gunn. The breakdancer. I'm more suspicious of people who don't try hard or people who lie and say they're not trying hard when they are. If someone does something amazing and they say it was easy, be suspicious. Not only are they lying about it, they also committed crime. Remember when Anne Hathaway and James Franco bombed so hard hosting the Oscars? James Franco just left.

[Bowen Yang]

Left.

[Mike Birbiglia]

He's a loser. And I'm hashtag Team Anne Hathaway. Han Hathaway. You know who else tries hard? Fantine and Les Mis. You know who else? Andrea Sacks.

[Matt Rogers]

Devil Wears Purple.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, my God. 15 working for Miranda Priestley's hard. She has to show up to work every day. Sacrificing her relationship with Adrian Grenier's character, Nate, who I think is a chef, but never has to go to work.

[Matt Rogers]

For a reason that's never explained.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I'm reaching the end of my minute, but I want you to know this is my fifth draft of this. You know why I'm telling you? Cause if you're a fellow, try hard. You deserve to know.

[Matt Rogers]

Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, that's one minute.

[Matt Rogers]

Really good. And you know what? You're right. And I never liked Nate in devilworth's Pride.

[Bowen Yang]

I never liked Nate.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's ridiculous.

[Bowen Yang]

Adrian.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's an outrageous character.

[Bowen Yang]

Outrageous. And this is the thing I'm gonna misquote. Dorian Gray. But the people who are not in the arena don't know the pleasures of. Of don't know the triumphs. And so therefore, how could they know anything about defeat or something like that? You know what I mean?

[Matt Rogers]

You know what it is? Yes. And also, it's just like. It's like you talking about your hard nipples on stage or having strife, emotional strife about being vulnerable. It's. Cause you know, it's gonna take work to get there. And then you are exposed. And it's like, it's so easy for people to be like, heh, fuck her. About someone who tried because they're trying to.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I know.

[Matt Rogers]

It's like, I'm so over that.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And it also takes so much effort to hate on people.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Especially online. You gotta create a login.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. You know who's a workaholic? Charli xcx.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh.

[Matt Rogers]

Literally noted, admitted workaholic. Always has to work. And it's just like, maybe that can help, like, people stop being such assholes. It's like someone who's effortless and cool looking is working to be that.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You know what I mean?

[Matt Rogers]

Like, I can't stand that because I am a try hard and a type A millennial. And it's like for that to be uncool, it's like, okay, ridiculous. Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

That was a wonderful, wonderful. I don't think so, honey.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Fifth draft.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, I do have to ask. Why print it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Print it. Just because it's like draft over draft over draft. And then I like the paper. It's like a touch grass thing. I like the paper.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, that's good.

[Matt Rogers]

You're, in a way, touching tree.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, I'm touching tree.

[Bowen Yang]

You're touching tree.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, touching tree.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But I wanted to get it right because I'm a huge fan of the segment and I just want. Wanted to lay something down that felt. That felt true to me.

[Matt Rogers]

Thank You. That was really. I feel like we're taking it back, the narrative. I really do. Because the thing about people that don't try hard having the narrative for a second, they didn't work hard enough to keep the narrative. So now it's just, like, it's gone. You know, power can be wrestled very easily from those who wield power carelessly and thoughtlessly.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

What is that from?

[Matt Rogers]

That actually was our guest last week, Tormund Tourmaline. That's from Incredible biography on Marsha P. Johnson. And that was the educational moment of our episode.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Also, if we try harder, maybe we'll win the next election.

[Bowen Yang]

Interesting.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think maybe we need to try hard enough. Yeah, I think it's part of it.

[Bowen Yang]

That's probably part of it.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's in the mix.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, it's in the mix.

[Matt Rogers]

I think it's in the mix. Do you think AOC will win the presidency?

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think it's possible. AOC is fired.

[Bowen Yang]

Cool. Could be pretty cool.

[Matt Rogers]

She has a message that hits.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I also think Buddha J Is great. I mean, it might be controversial. I love him.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

I don't think it's controversial.

[Matt Rogers]

No.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Sometimes people.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, whatever.

[Mike Birbiglia]

They think he's too moderate. This, that, whatever.

[Bowen Yang]

They think he's trying too hard.

[Mike Birbiglia]

They think he's trying too hard. But, man, I. I like how he mixes it up on Fox, stuff like that.

[Bowen Yang]

I know. Like, he's willing to. He's willing to go there.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Willing to go there. And so is aoc, by the way.

[Bowen Yang]

And Bernie.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And Bernie. And Bernie's obviously right. Kind of a legend, but. But, like, yeah, I think both of those people are phenomenal.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. Yeah. It is interesting.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I hope they can catch a. Catch a wave.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, I. I think they are catching waves. It's just like, I think after everything that's gone on, it's like, I don't want to be that person that's like, oh, I'm nervous to put up a gay guy, or I'm nervous to put up, like, a young Latino woman.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, I agree.

[Bowen Yang]

You can't be.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You can't be the person. You can't be the nervous person.

[Matt Rogers]

I refuse to be.

[Bowen Yang]

But.

[Matt Rogers]

But it's like, there's truly people out there who just solely think Kamala lost because she's a black woman or black Indian woman. And it's just like, I feel like we need to. I. I don't think that's why she lost. And I do think we need to stop saying that, because if that's the ideology that we go down like, we're just gonna end up with Cuomo's forever.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I also. I think if we knew for a year out, the whole thing is people Googling day of who's running. Yeah, that's real.

[Matt Rogers]

Is that really real?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Millions of people. People Googling who's running.

[Bowen Yang]

And some of us didn't know. Okay. And some of us just had to. Some of us just, like, had been reminded.

[Matt Rogers]

Do you know how busy he is?

[Bowen Yang]

I'm busy.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I mean, I don't want to hit him. I don't want to hit Biden while he's down because I'm sympathetic to the health stuff, but it's like. Yeah, I think there's a lot of things he could have done for the four years also to safeguard democracy.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like, there's a lot.

[Bowen Yang]

There's a lot.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I mean, there's a lot going on. There's a lot going on, but still. And just introducing Kamala to everyone. Hey, hey, hey.

[Matt Rogers]

I don't think he knew she was there.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, exactly. I'm 100 years old. There's this other lady who's fantastic, you know?

[Matt Rogers]

Anyway, go pick up Jake Tapper's book, everybody. Who, by the way, was shaming people for suggesting that there was something wrong. Maybe not. Or maybe not. Right. With Biden for a while. And now all of a sudden, there's a book. So, anyway. Love that.

[Bowen Yang]

Love that gu.

[Matt Rogers]

Love that, dude.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, I love that we ended on Jake Tapper.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. Yeah. This whole thing just plugged for Jake Tapper's book.

[Bowen Yang]

The Good Life is on Netflix May 26th.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

You're gonna love it.

[Matt Rogers]

We loved it.

[Bowen Yang]

We loved it.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, I mean, you're just the greatest. You really are such. You're one of the preeminent storytellers. You're just so good up there. You feel so safe when you watch. You. You always have, and you're getting better.

[Bowen Yang]

Sublime.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I love you guys so much. This is such an honor to be here. If I could only be on one podcast, it would be this and this whole. But this has been so beautiful for me because I love bonding also on all of these movies.

[Matt Rogers]

I know.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's, like, so deep to me. All those movies are so deep to me.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. Jeremy Maguire is going to be a good watch for you later.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes. I can't wait. Thank you for bringing that in. And we love you very much. And there is love and there is friendship, and we're all in New York now, so let's hang.

[Matt Rogers]

Yes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I've returned.

[Matt Rogers]

Returned.

[Mike Birbiglia]

When Bowen wrote an email to me about my special last night. It made me quell. And I wrote about my journal.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, the email that we were all on on. Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't email. I watched it this morning.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, it's okay.

[Matt Rogers]

I'll send you an email.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay. I'll write about my journal tonight.

[Matt Rogers]

Yes, we end every episode with a song. I wish I was off book to Secret Garden. I know.

[Bowen Yang]

Me too.

[Matt Rogers]

And I don't want the world to see me? Cause I don't think that they understand when everything's meant to be broken? I just want you to know Know who I am? I just want you to know who I am. This is how the song ends. I just want you to know who I am. Yeah, it's so good.

[Bowen Yang]

Bye. Las Culturistas is a Production by Will Ferrell's Big Money Players in iHeartRadio podcasts.

[Matt Rogers]

Created and hosted by Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, executive produced by Anna Hosnier.

[Bowen Yang]

And produced by Becca Ramos, edited and mixed by Doug Baime and Monique Laborde.

[Matt Rogers]

And our music is by Henry Kabirski. This podcast is sponsored by PayPal.

[Bowen Yang]

All right, readers, Katie's Publicist finalist Kyle's it's time to talk about one of the most iconic payment brands out there. That's right, it's PayPal. PayPal lets you do you, meaning you can pay your own way.

[Matt Rogers]

PayPal offers people flexibility on how they can pay. Once you click the PayPal button, you can choose from a bunch of payment.

[Bowen Yang]

Options, including paying later with PayPal at millions of online stores.

[Matt Rogers]

Iconic pay in store, pay online, pay overtime. Don't just pay PayPal.

[Bowen Yang]

Learn [e-mail] we love LA.

[Matt Rogers]

What do you love about Los Angeles? How about the food and drink options? Los Angeles chefs and mixologists draw inspiration from their varied cultural backgrounds and the city's diverse neighborhood neighborhoods making for exciting food scene. Did you know Los Angeles has more museums and theaters than New York? From trailblazing street art to world class museums, art is everywhere in la. Wherever you are in the city, you're never far from the next only in LA moment. Don't forget to stop in your tracks and look up soak in our legendary blue sky. What's your favorite day in LA? Find more ways to love Los [e-mail].

[Mike Birbiglia]

This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. May is Mental Health Awareness Month and Talkspace, the leading virtual therapy provider, is telling everyone let's face it in therapy therapy, by talking or texting with a supportive licensed therapist at Talkspace, you can face whatever is holding you back. Whether it's mental health symptoms, relationship drama, past trauma, bad habits, or another challenge that you need support to work through, it's easy to sign up. Just go to talkspace.com and you'll be paired with a provider, typically within 48 hours. And because you'll meet your therapist online, you don't have to take time off work or arrange childcare. You'll meet on your schedule. Plus, Talkspace is in network with most major insurers, and most insured members have a zero dollar copay. Make your mental health a priority and start today. If you're not covered by insurance, get $80 off your first month with Talkspace when you go to talkspace.com and enter promo code SPACE80. That's S P A CE80 to match with a licensed therapist today, go to talkspace.com and Enter promo code SPACE80.

[Matt Rogers]

You're listening to an iHeart podcast.