143: Cloud Kiss with Michael Rowland | Soder Podcast | EP 140

Summary

Soder Podcast #143: Cloud Kiss with Michael Rowland

Date: July 14, 2026
Host: Dan Soder
Guest: Michael Rowland (Comedian, "Animal Control" on Fox)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Dan Soder sits down for a candid, hilarious, and sometimes poignant conversation with comedian Michael Rowland. The two comics, both known for their confessional, self-deprecating humor, dig into topics including growing up with mixed parental influences, becoming comedians, substance abuse and sobriety, wild road stories, fraternity and party culture, paying your dues in comedy, and the importance of finding your niche in life. Throughout, they reflect on the realities of chasing creative dreams, the unhealthy aspects of instant gratification culture, and how setbacks, failures, and odd experiences all end up fueling the journey.

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Key Discussion Points & Highlights

White Guys in Hats and Sports Talk (02:12–05:50)

• Soder and Rowland joke about white guys relating over sports trivia, especially while wearing ballcaps.
  • Dan Soder: “White guys with pointing out sports facts and hats is our autism.” (03:00)
• Both reflect on using sports as a way to bond with their fathers.
• Rowland describes his parents’ contrasting sense of humor; one parent with taste, the other with drive.

Comedy Roots and Family Influence (05:51–07:54)

• Both discuss inheriting performative qualities and comedic instincts from their parents.
• Rowland credits his mother for her taste and his father for his stage presence—though neither were full-package performers.
  • Ryan Reynolds (Michael Rowland): “My mom wants me to be clean...she took me to see Bill Cosby when I was 12.” (07:06)
• Soder attributes his fandom and drive to childhood attempts to bond with his largely absent father.

Bill Cosby & Shifting Perspectives (07:54–11:32)

• Rowland talks about having seen Cosby live as a child and the strange position of having once idolized him.
  • “Before Cosby got in trouble, he was the prime standard...Young people now don’t understand that.” (07:35) – Dan Soder
• Both comment on the discomfort that comes from a former comic idol’s real-life infamy and the shifting cultural perspective.

Darker Sides of Comedy (11:32–13:09)

• Discussion of the stereotype of “troubled comedians.”
• Rowland tells a story about someone assuming he must be depressed post-Robin Williams’ death.
• Soder reflects on how, for some, comedy becomes not just an outlet but a healthier path than alternatives like substance abuse or the criminal justice system.

Substance Abuse, Sobriety & Kratom Tales (13:10–20:56)

• Soder talks openly about past addictions: Percocets in high school, heavy drinking, and feeling lucky to have skirted the OxyContin wave.
• Both discuss using weed as a “safer” vice, and Rowland delves into dabbling with kratom and his avoidance of harder prescription drugs.
• They swap stories of quitting booze for periods of time, what brings them back (including stressful relationships or wanting to celebrate), and the eternal temptation of day drinking, especially on the road.
• Dan Soder: “I do still, after all this time, miss day drinking.” (19:31)

1950s & 60s Drinking Culture, DUIs Old & New (20:56–26:01)

• Soder marvels at how normalized business lunches involving heavy mid-day drinking once were—referencing “Martini Lunches.”
• Both share family stories:
  • Rowland: Both grandfathers were heavy alcoholics post-WWII, and the policing culture was lax.
  • Soder: Found evidence, posthumously, that his dad racked up at least four DUIs.
• Discuss how DUI laws evolved and how the normalization of enforcement in the '80s and 2000s changed the landscape.

Michael Rowland’s DUI Story: From Bar Ban to Taco Bell to Jail (26:01–33:44)

• Rowland tells a vivid, funny-but-dark story of picking up a homeless Navy vet, getting him drunk at a biker bar, being banned from that bar, and falling asleep at the wheel after a Taco Bell run—leading to a DUI and brief jail stint.
  • Memorable exchange for a bologna sandwich: "A guy took his sock off and he had, like, a little crack in between his toes, and he gave it to the guy for a bologna sandwich." (30:44-30:57)
  • “You gave that guy. You let him into the chocolate factory, and then you just let the Oompa Loompas deal with them.” (27:57 – Dan Soder)
• Both discuss the social dynamics of jail holding, the humbling experience, and the comic absurdity of it all.

The Hierarchies of College, Frats, and Party Schools (53:09–62:13)

• Soder and Rowland compare stories from their college years about feeling like outsiders in fraternity/club cultures.
• Ongoing theme: “gen pop” (general population) is sometimes more fun and less toxic than exclusive circles.
• Discussion of Arizona State’s legendary party school reputation; the social and economic divides at large universities.

"Delayed Gratification" – Finding Your Tribe (62:13–67:00)

• Soder advises listeners to stick to their true interests rather than contort for fleeting popularity or relationships.
  • “If someone's being a cop to you, have it fuel you and then…wait…”
  • “Don’t change for these bitches, because you will find someone that likes what you like.” (63:36–63:50)
• Both reflect on the importance of delayed gratification—recognizing that you don’t “peak” in college, and real satisfaction might come later.

Moving, Struggling, and Starting Out in Comedy (67:00–80:41)

• Candid tales of couch-surfing, poor living situations, odd jobs, and the early grind in LA (Rowland) and New York (Soder).
• Soder describes moving to NY on a whim, getting ripped off by a gypsy cab, and loving the anonymity and struggle.
• Dan Soder: “It was so exciting to be a loser and then struggling…That’s where you got to find fun in it.” (79:04-79:28)
• Both talk about the open mic scene—barking, bringer shows, and the hustle it takes to get stage time in major cities.

The Comedy Ladder: No Shortcuts, Just Grind (80:41–88:11)

• Discussion about starting over when moving to NY or LA: it doesn’t matter how respected you were before—no one cares, you have to prove yourself anew.
  • Dan Soder: “No one gives a who you were in your scene, what you did in your scene…” (85:49)
• Inside how comics help or gatekeep each other, and shout-outs to early supporters and bookers who “put you up.”

Mentorship & Parental Support: Blessing or Weakness? (73:36–75:07)

• Examining the benefits and pitfalls of having supportive parents as a creative—debating whether it makes them softer or luckier.

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Notable Quotes

• Dan Soder: “White guys with pointing out sports facts and hats is our autism.” (03:00)
• Michael Rowland: “My mom wants me to be clean...she took me to see Bill Cosby when I was 12.” (07:06)
• Dan Soder: “Before Cosby got in trouble, he was the prime standard...Young people now don’t understand that.” (07:35)
• Michael Rowland: “I feel like that's how guys just used to live, dude.” (21:01, referencing 1950s martini lunches)
• Dan Soder: “I do still, after all this time, miss day drinking.” (19:31)
• Michael Rowland (on his DUI video): “Worst DUI video I've ever seen. I've seen a lot. That's the worst I've ever seen.” (42:20)
• Dan Soder (on college relationships): “Don’t change for these bitches, because you will find someone that likes what you like.” (63:36-63:50)
• Dan Soder (on the grind): “It was so exciting to be a loser and then struggling…That’s where you got to find fun in it.” (79:04-79:28)

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Notable Segments & Timestamps

• White Dudes, Hats & Sports: 02:12–05:50
• Comic Roots & Family Woes: 05:51–07:54
• Bill Cosby & the Shifting Role Model: 07:54–11:32
• The Stereotype of Broken Comedians: 11:32–13:09
• Substance Abuse & Day Drinking: 13:10–20:56
• 50s Drinking Culture, Rise of DUIs: 20:56–26:01
• Michael Rowland’s DUI Story: 26:01–33:44
• On Frats, Promiscuity, and Belonging: 53:09–62:13
• Delayed Gratification & Finding Your People: 62:13–67:00
• Comedy Struggles: Barking, Bringer Shows & Starting Over: 67:00–88:11

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Memorable Moments

• Rowland’s DUI tale, involving buying drinks for a homeless Navy vet, Taco Bell, and a slow-motion arrest, is both self-effacing and outrageous.
• Bologna sandwich for crack: “A guy took his sock off and he had, like, a little crack in between his toes, and he gave it to the guy for a bologna sandwich.” (30:44-30:57)
• Both comics laughing at their lack of “real world game” outside the spheres of comedy clubs and restaurants.
• Reflections on bitter fraternal gatekeeping and the joy of making lasting friends in Gen Pop, both in college and comedy.

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Tone and Style

The conversation is raw, irreverent, and introspective. Both comics regularly undercut heavy narratives with quick punchlines and unfiltered honesty. Self-deprecation, dark humor, and stream-of-consciousness storytelling are woven throughout, making the episode relatable whether you’re an aspiring comic, a former party animal, or an outsider looking for your niche.

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For New Listeners

This episode is a quintessential Soder cast: equal parts confession, stand-up riff, and late-night dorm room wisdom. If you’ve ever wondered about the reality of comic life, the invisible social ladders of college and clubs, or how to find your place in the world, there’s plenty here to laugh about, cringe at, and—maybe—feel a little less alone.

Transcript

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[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Ad Voice]

Let's Texas.

[Dan Soder]

Hey everybody. I'm back on the road. I am back on the road working out a new hour. It's a long process and we're at the very beginning of it. But I am going to be at New York Comedy club in Stanford, Connecticut. I'm going to be there July 16th through the 18th doing five shows. Greg Stone will be with me. And then just for laughs, Montreal, we added a late show to club soda on July 25th. It's a late show I believe at 9:30 now might be 9:00'.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Clock.

[Dan Soder]

Dan Soder.com for full ticket info and where you can also get tickets to see me July 31st and August 1st at the Albany. Fuddy Bone might be bringing SAG Daddy to God. It might be happening. Dan Soder.com full ticket info and all tickets available there. I'll see you on the road. Hope you're having a good week. It's just two white guys in hats sitting on a couch.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I know. I saw your hat and I was like, okay, good.

[Dan Soder]

I just did. I got to get up early for the regs. And I was like, dude, I'm. I'm not taking a shower. I'm like this.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I didn't. I didn't show it.

[Dan Soder]

What's funny about white dudes in ball caps now is we just look like ice at lunch.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I know. Also, we have to know about our teams.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, dude, black guys don't have to

[Ryan Reynolds]

know about their teams. People are coming up to me Saying, like. Like different players on the team.

[Dan Soder]

Are you not a Braves guy?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Dude, I don't give a. Because that is, you know, I like being from Atlanta. That's what I care about.

[Dan Soder]

I'll tell you what that is. Michael Rowland, Tell me. Hilarious comedian. For those of you watching the podcast going, so do you need to do intros? Michael Rowland, go watch his stand up. He's also on the show. Animal control. Joel McHale and Fox.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

[Dan Soder]

White guys with pointing out sports facts and hats is our autism.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

It's like, where I see you and I go like, David Justice. And if you don't immediately go, one of the greatest hitters of all time.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Soder]

I go.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I know people. People have. People have really gotten in my ass about it. Sometimes I'll lie. Sometimes I'll just go like, yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Yes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And that's enough. That's enough. That's a trick for somebody.

[Dan Soder]

Any. Anytime you're wearing sports memorabilia and someone says something to you, you just go, yeah, absolutely. Have you see, I'm like, if I see you in a hat, I'm gonna try to relate. That's how I always related to men.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Was talking sports. I didn't have a dad. And I learned when my mom was dating guys, it's how I related to my dad. Yeah, yeah, yeah. My dad didn't like me. He was out of my life. So when he would call me, I better have fodder. I better, like, talk to him about something. So I talked to him about the 49ers or the San Francisco Giants. It's what literally made my sports fan.

[Ryan Reynolds]

This is what I do with my dad. My dad, I think, does like me. We don't have any of the same interests at all.

[Dan Soder]

At all.

[Ryan Reynolds]

At all.

[Dan Soder]

Does he get comedy?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes, but no. Like, no. His sense of humor kind of sucks. He's. But you know what he is. He's like, I watched him give a speech at my sister's wedding, and I watched my mom give a speech. My mom has good taste. My mom was like, we're watching this. We're watching, like the Daily show with J. And she'd be like, this is good.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And then my dad would be like, I heard this joke about a Chinese guy today.

[Dan Soder]

I think. I think that's the recipe for a comedian is one funny parent that gets it and one parent that's just sheer drive.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Drive. And he really was. When he did his. His wedding speech, he was good.

[Dan Soder]

He was.

[Ryan Reynolds]

He's. His wedding speech. People were coming up like, Your dad's great. He just said a bunch of stuff. My mom on stage, awful, but a writer, awful.

[Dan Soder]

But she's a writer. No, no, Offstage.

[Ryan Reynolds]

She's got taste.

[Dan Soder]

That's it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Everything she said, I was like, this is. This is tough. Mom. Mom's coming off is very unlikable right

[Dan Soder]

now, but she's got the taste. You know what? She wants to perform.

[Ryan Reynolds]

She's got taste.

[Dan Soder]

My.

[Ryan Reynolds]

No execution.

[Dan Soder]

My recip. My dad was like world class funny.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Really?

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. And my mom is entertaining. My mom is. She's very entertaining. She can be funny. My mom can be funny. My dad was funny.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

So my dad was always funny. My dad was like. He would throw jokes that. It took me 10 years after I saw him last, like, get it? Be like, oh, that's funny.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Wow.

[Dan Soder]

My mom can perform her ass off.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What do you mean by that?

[Dan Soder]

My mom is like, can, like hold court at a party. She's like a presence. Yeah, my mom's got a large presence. And I realized I was like, oh, that's. It's like when you see athletes in one of their, like an NFL player and their dad played in the NBA, but then you find out their mom was like a track star.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Soder]

That's why you have that mix. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was it. Gary was like, super funny, my dad. And Trish, my mom was like, very. She's. She's very performative. She's like, she's like a dramatic. And I mean this in a positive way.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

She's like, got like stage presence.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And so you're like, oh, yeah. So like, I was just in Tampa and one of my mom's friends that she used to work with, like 30 years ago at this insurance company was like, oh, you got your mom's performance, you know, And I was like, oh, yeah. He was like, your mom's like a large present and.

[Ad Voice]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And when you see that in your

[Ryan Reynolds]

parents, you go, I see it on my dad. Absolutely. When he's on stage. But then my dad's like, I remember when I was a kid, my mom was like, we're going to watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off. You're going to love this.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And I was like, watching it like, oh, my God, this guy's awesome. This guy's getting away with everything. And my dad said, they're like, this kid. My dad's like, that guy's like, this piece of dude.

[Dan Soder]

Of course.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. Dude.

[Dan Soder]

Was he getting that mad, though?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, he was getting riled up. Like, why Are we showing him this? My mom's like, shut up.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, you square.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You square.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. That is. When your parents come and watch you in Atlanta, are they like, have they ever given you notes that hurts?

[Ryan Reynolds]

No. They're like, my parents are night. My parents are nice. They're supportive. They want me to do. My mom wants me to be clean. She. My mom. The first comic she took me to see was Bill Cosby when I was 12. Whoa. Yeah. Very sweet, supportive lady. She's like, we're going to see Bill Cosby.

[Dan Soder]

That didn't age well.

[Ryan Reynolds]

No. And she'd be like, why can't you be clean like Bill? And then everything came out about Bill Cosby. I was like, why don't you just let me do my fucking thing?

[Dan Soder]

It's not great.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Where I'm like, the dirtiest version of myself on stage, and then offstage, I'm

[Dan Soder]

like, you know, sweet boy.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, sweet boy.

[Dan Soder]

That's not fucking sleeping women. That's the craziest shit. That is the craziest shit. Because it really was. People are young people. Young people now don't understand that before Cosby got in trouble, he was the prime standard of like, why don't you act this way? Why aren't you like, Bill Cosby?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm getting goosebumps thinking about that show. It was awesome. He was, oh, my God.

[Dan Soder]

Cosby show is the gr. If not the greatest sitcom of all time.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I never watched that many episodes. I was about to do the baseball thing where I was like, yeah, of course.

[Ad Voice]

Oh, yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I've seen, like, a few episodes.

[Dan Soder]

You're younger than me. Yeah, I grew up when it was on television, when it was like, when the Cosby show came on, you were like, yo, I remember the last Cosby Show. I remember. They're like, this is it. Cosby Show's going away. And you're like, no, this is like a standard. Like, it can't go. Like, people were like, the last cheers. You're like, no, just can't go anywhere.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And then gone. Hannibal took him out, took him off a riff.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Off a riff. That's how hot Hannibal was at the time.

[Dan Soder]

Hannibal is so famous, his riff killed an icon. Killed a icon that couldn't be killed,

[Ryan Reynolds]

that couldn't be taken down. People knew he's on, dude. He's. He's on the news being like, spanish fly. Have you seen those clips, dude, I'll

[Dan Soder]

show you Even better one. Big J showed me one from the Cosby show where he's like, oh, your barbecue sauce. And he goes, it gets you the little bit of the. I put something in it that gives you a little bit of the. Or whatever he does. He does a Cosby thing where he's like. Gives you the weebly wobbles. Jay showed me that clip, and I was like, he's like, the BTK killer.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

He's like bragging about it in letters. He's like, you won't catch me.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Just let.

[Dan Soder]

No one can catch little hints. Waking up sick after a guy like Cosby to you has to be like, no one's gonna believe this. You know what I mean? That's why it's so dastard.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Nobody's gonna believe you when you wake up.

[Dan Soder]

You are not gonna believe. And you're like, you monster. He got out of jail, monster.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't know. I really don't look that up.

[Dan Soder]

I think there was, like, something that they let him out. I'm amazed. This is my. I'm amazed with the human brain that there are people that still defend him that go like, you, he was fine. And you're like,

[Ryan Reynolds]

well, I think usually

[Dan Soder]

he was released in 20, 21.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, really?

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, dude, he's out and he's got those homeless. He's got old dog eye now where it's all cloudy and he's like, puffy. Where are they keeping him?

[Ryan Reynolds]

You see that photo? The.

[Dan Soder]

The video where he goes. You know what that is, though? That's like. You know what that reminds me of is when Kevin Spacey did the video with him in character, and he's like, y' all missed me, didn't you? And you go, kevin, no, you. We don't need this right now. That was like Cosby when he did that, like, because he was trying to be funny. Because back in the day, I still got it. That would have gotten.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Like 90s, him doing that. Everyone would have been like, bill, Bill. And now they're like, crazy.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I know.

[Dan Soder]

Just lives in Pennsylvania. Imagine bumping into old, out of jail Bill Cosby, because I'll tell you right now, I wouldn't have the nuts to say no, I wouldn't. I go, sir himself is the perfect hour of stand up comedy. I watch that Dennis bit.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Got it on vhs, baby.

[Dan Soder]

It is from my mom.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That was my mom just being, like, grooming me, just being like, look at this. How about this? She saw, like, she. She put me into comedy when I was a kid. She was like, check it this, look at this.

[Dan Soder]

Have you ever talked to her about it? Cosby now.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, yeah. She's like, all right.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, she does?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. She's. I get to do whatever I want. She came to a show, I'm like, you know, I'm dirty. She's like, all right, as long as you're not out there like a rascal. So funny.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, this is fine. As long as you're not.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I didn't know how bad it could get for you.

[Dan Soder]

Convenient, man. That's what's so funny is back in the day when your parents found out. I'm talking about, like, before us, your parents had shame that you were going into the entertainment industry, that you were, like, a clown. But now that all these. All this shit's coming up about comics, they go, did I raise a monster?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Did I raise a horrible kid? Because you go, no, I just want to be silly. Most of us are just like, no, I just want to be silly arounds.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's so fun.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. And then to have that, though, where they go, oh, there is a much darker side. I wasn't.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Well, everybody loves that narrative. I've taken, like, trips with my mom where you, like, hang out with other older people, and they're like, these fucking squares. I remember this one guy, I was on, like, a river cruise with my mom, and a guy's like, well, after. After Robin Williams died, it seems like these comedians are just offing themselves left and right. Are you a little depressed? And I was like, what?

[Dan Soder]

I would have looked him down. The eyes go, I'm going to put you in my note. I'm going to name you in my note.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm not that clever. I'm not that quick. I was just like, no, no, we don't know. We don't know. We don't.

[Dan Soder]

That could have been masturbation.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's like a small percentage, honestly. And they already had, like, a bad disease that he just didn't let progress.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. I think my mom saw all the checks and she went, substance abuse problem. No relationship with his father. She goes, it's probably the best place.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

She really looked at it. She was like, man, you're doing great. This or jail.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You turn it into a probably.

[Dan Soder]

All right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, man.

[Dan Soder]

Thank God. I was just old enough to. To Ms. Oxycontin. I was just old.

[Ryan Reynolds]

For real, it. No, for real, though, like, it really.

[Dan Soder]

I'm not joking when I say that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

So many people.

[Dan Soder]

I got addicted to Percocets in high school.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Really?

[Dan Soder]

Because at the time, that was the highest strength oral pain pill you could take. OxyContins came out when I was in college and I was already an alcoholic.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. And I just did. I already got through the pill thing.

[Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

If that would have hit in high school, I absolutely would have done it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You still smoking the Weeds?

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hell, yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Dude, what I got to get back to. No booze, just weed.

[Dan Soder]

No booze, just weed For.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Listen, I keep going up.

[Dan Soder]

There's people that. It doesn't work. I have friends that have quit drinking, and they can't do it. And I get it. If you somehow can do it to me, it's the best mixture.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It is. It's a lovely mixture. I've done it to great success. I've done, like, a year with no booze, just weed. Lovely life. I also got into Kratoms for a little bit.

[Dan Soder]

Kratom is dangerous.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Kratom's a dangerous one. It'll scratch that itch if you got a little.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Painted.

[Dan Soder]

I knew people that were like, Kratom. And also, like, I never got into, like, Zoloft, Xanax.

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, I never got into that stuff.

[Dan Soder]

When I was in college, all the hot girls would take a piece of a Xanax bar and drink on it

[Ryan Reynolds]

and then black out.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. And I mean, it's like, why it. This is when I'm the most insecure, When I have the least amount of money and I'm trying to get. And I'm like, I'm shocked. I never did Danny bars. Shocked.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Why didn't you?

[Dan Soder]

Because I didn't like them.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You didn't like how it felt?

[Dan Soder]

I just didn't. After I got over Percocets when I was in high school, I was like, I don't like pills.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's kind of how I felt. I did them once. I. Once I got them, and I did it on an airplane. I hadn't drank for, like, a year, and I was, like, flying somewhere, and I was like, time to start. Time to start again. And I took his annex, and then I drank a couple drinks on the flight, and my brother was like, you disappeared for an hour? I was like, what? He was like, on the flight. You were gone for an hour, and then eventually a stewardess brought you back to the seat.

[Dan Soder]

Wait, you were gone? I thought you meant mentally.

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, you just got up. I, like, got up. And I have no memory of it. I have no memory of it. I think I went to. Maybe I went to the bathroom.

[Dan Soder]

Maybe you sat down in a different seat. You go, hey, this middle seat's open.

[Ryan Reynolds]

All I know is the store just brought me back to my seat after an hour, and my ID and my credit cards were gone.

[Dan Soder]

We're gone. We're gone. Damn, dude. Someone has your driver's license. I met this guy, and he insisted I take his driver's license.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Just kept saying, take it, take it.

[Dan Soder]

When you quit for a year, I'm always interested about this because I sometimes, like, fantasize what it would be like to come back to booze. But when I have friends that do come back to booze, they're like, I didn't like it. Some people don't like it because you immediately don't feel control.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, I mean, kind of. It's kind of. I mean, it's like, I'm hammered.

[Dan Soder]

When you first came back.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You're not. Like, you're. The thing is, you're thinking, like, okay, I'm gonna. I'm gonna come back to it. I'm gonna do two.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Do three. And then you're like, you remember why you like drinking? You're like, oh, yeah, just run this out.

[Dan Soder]

I feel incredible.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, let's just keep going. Why would we stop More of this?

[Dan Soder]

When I first quit drinking, I always would do this thing where I'd go, when I hit 10 years, I'm gonna have one night of drinking. I'm gonna come back for one night. Nice. And I was talking to Nate Bargetzi about it, and I was like, I'm gonna drink on Friday. I go, here's What I want 10 years in, I'm gonna drink, and I'll call you. I'll call Joe Derosa. I'll call Al Jackson. I'll call all people I used to drink with. We'll go to the creek and drink. And he's like, yeah, one night. And I went, you know what, though? I probably should drink beers on Friday night just to, like, get used to it for Saturday. And Nate stops, and he goes, you already had two nights. Like, yeah, this is why I have to quit. It's summertime. Means you're trying to lose weight, probably trying to stay in swimsuit shape. Sometimes you're working a lot, don't have time to make those meals that build around your. Your fitness goals. Well, guess what? Enter Factor Meals factor has meals built around the goals that you have in mind, whether it's weight loss, overall nutrition, if you want to do, you know, more protein, strength, and workout recovery, Whatever it is. Every meal is crafted with functional ingredients like lean proteins, colorful veggies, whole foods, and healthy fats. Almost call them healthy farts. But what I'm saying is factory makes good meals that you can just. It's meal prep for you. That's exactly what it is. And now you can try the newly launched ready to eat salads with ingredients like elote corn and edamame. Plus 70 add ons to round out your nutrition from green juices to peanut butter energy bites. All I'm saying is if you're looking to get into shape and you need a good diet, check out factor. And if you head to factor meals.comsodor50 off and use the code soda50 off. You get 50 off and free daily greens per box with new subscriptions only. And while supplies last until 9-27-2026. See website for more details. I know that I'm afraid of getting into contracts like with cell phone providers. I would, I'm. I'm a sucker. I sign on for a long time and I'm like, what the hell? I'm overpaying. Why in the hell didn't someone teach me better? Because there's things in life that you don't want to be transparent. Like your swimsuit or your search history. But when it comes to your wireless bill, transparency is everything. That's why Mint Mobile's wireless plans have no gimmicks, no gotchas, just high speed data and reliable coverage ON T mobile 5G network. And. And right now all plans are $15 per month, even unlimited. To get your new wireless Plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to mint mobile.com Soder that's mint mobile.com Sodor cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com Soder that's it. No cash upfront payments of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or a $180 for 12 months. Plan required 15 per month equivalent taxes and fees. Extra initial plan term Only greater than 50 GBs. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. Includes up to 20 gigabyte hotspot capable device required Availability, speed and coverage varies. CMIT mobile.com I'll tell you this.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The last season of animal control we did, I didn't drink for the whole season. I was like, I want to be.

[Dan Soder]

I want to be good.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Be focused. And then at the wrap party I was like, I'm gonna do it. And very quickly it was like three nights. You're just like, you wake up the next day and you're like hungover and you're like, well, we gotta let me get a margarita. You gotta take the edge off this.

[Dan Soder]

I do still, after all this time, Ms. Day drinking.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

The idea of getting drunk during the day, to me still sounds so fun. I used to like it on the road. I used to make friends with the people that work at Target because I was half in the bag when I'd go to Target for, like, socks. Hey, what's your name?

[Ryan Reynolds]

When you were on the road, were you.

[Dan Soder]

Were you.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Would. You would day drink up into the show?

[Dan Soder]

Occasionally, yeah. If I was very hungover from what it was. Was Thursday was always travel. Friday, maybe if I drink usually hard on Thursdays, because there's one show. Yeah, Friday, if I went really hard, I would absolutely have to drink on Saturday.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Shout out. My friend Greg Rampage usa, lives in Seattle. I went up there. I was doing shows in. In Kirkland, Washington, and I got blackout on a. On a Friday, completely blacked out and woke up one of the worst hangovers I've ever had in my life. We were supposed to get dinner. Me and Greg were supposed to get dinner Saturday before the shows. I was so hungover that I had to drink three margaritas at dinner just to get even. And I remember watching him watch me be like, the. And I was just like. Like it was medicine. I was like. And then after the third one, I was like, you want to do a shot? You're, like, starting to feel it again.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm back, baby.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, because then you're drunk again.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Look who came back.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Look who's okay.

[Dan Soder]

But I always did feel like a rat packer when I was hammered during the day. Or I was like, baby, everything's fine.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I feel like that's how guys just used to live, dude.

[Ad Voice]

And it.

[Dan Soder]

Martini lunches.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

That really was like, businessmen would go get drunk at work, at lunch, and they make business, and then they sexually harass their secretaries. When they come back, they go, deborah, you look good in that pencil skirt. Hold my meetings. Then they come in the office. I wonder if they got sloppy. No one ever talks about old people at martini lunch.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I know. And they must have. They must have. They must have got. Well, there's. I mean, you've watched Mad Men.

[Dan Soder]

No, no. Never watch Mad Men.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I mean, you want to talk about martini lunches? A retrospective. That's the.

[Dan Soder]

That's the whole show.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's the whole show.

[Dan Soder]

Remarks. Any lunches, they go, dude, it is

[Ryan Reynolds]

like Jon Hamm just like at 3pm on a couch, laying down, being like, I'm brainstorming. And then one guy pisses himself and they fire him because he couldn't handle His.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, that's where. Man, if you were. If you were an alcoholic in the 50s, you could. Which they all were rife. But if you had the actual. Now that we know it's like a gene. Like an addictive gene.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

If you had the genetics to be an alcoholic in the 50s, you were a monster.

[Ryan Reynolds]

My grandfather. Huge out. Both of them.

[Dan Soder]

Shout out.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Shout out. Henry. John. Rolling the first. My boy came back from World War II, just got after it, and he was a salesman. His boss was a drunk. And it would. This was back when if you were driving drunk, the police would be like, john, what are you doing?

[Dan Soder]

Take a nap.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Take a nap. John. John, get in the back of the cruiser. I'm taking you home.

[Dan Soder]

Take you home. Where's the Mrs. You ran it up on a.

[Ryan Reynolds]

On a. On a damn hydrant again. Yeah, I'm taking you home.

[Dan Soder]

They go, the Hendersons are going to be mad, but I'll. I'll cool it off with them. Why don't you go take a nap?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm going to smooth it over. Take a nap, John.

[Dan Soder]

The first. I've talked about this before, but I'm fascinated about it. Adjusting to a world of DUIs must have been like, what the.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Dude?

[Dan Soder]

When did that happen? Can you look up when DUIs went national? Because. Because my dad had so many DUIs that I did not know about until my grandma died and I cleaned her house out and I just found all this.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Wait, really?

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. My dad died in 97. My grandma died in 2023.

[Ryan Reynolds]

RIP. That's what my grandma did.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. And I had to clean out her house. And I just found like all of his. A lot of paperwork. I found a lot of paperwork where I was like, damn. I think he had at least four.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Dude. My dad was telling me his dad would just like. He was just getting up on the regular. Was never bad, was never mean.

[Dan Soder]

They could hold it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

No. I think he was like. He was. He would come home and be like, oh.

[Dan Soder]

He was like, blackout.

[Ryan Reynolds]

He was blackout. And my dad is like a very serious guy because of that. My dad is like, yeah, because he watches. He was the oldest of five. Yeah. He was the oldest boy. And he was just like, I guess this is on me, dude. I guess this is me now.

[Dan Soder]

Kids then knew the position. They were like, I have to be man of the house. Yeah. They couldn't go blog about it. He's a very serious podcast. Like our asses.

[Ad Voice]

I know.

[Dan Soder]

1906.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It took a while to get to the.

[Dan Soder]

You can look up national when was the. When was it federally a dui? Because there were states that probably fought that. Kentucky.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The south is pretty late to stuff.

[Dan Soder]

Well, Georgia. You're from Georgia.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

But Kentucky's obsessed with bourbon and whiskeys.

[Ryan Reynolds]

They are.

[Dan Soder]

So I feel like they were the last ones to go. Like we have to drink.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But then you're from Colorado and that feels like out west. And it feels like, don't tell us what the to do.

[Dan Soder]

It was very lawless. So It's a little scrambled. 80s and 2000s.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's when it really came.

[Dan Soder]

DUI primarily regulated by individual states. But federal involvement grew significantly in the 80s and the 2000s.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

This is why my dad had a lot of DUIs. Because I think. I genuinely think he was coming out

[Ryan Reynolds]

of the 70s being like, we do whatever they want in the Bay Area. Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

They were doing yaks.

[Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

They're doing coke. They were drinking. They were smoking weed. San Francisco in the 60s and 70s was wild. Yeah. So I can't imagine them going, you can't drive anymore. Key milestones include the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age act established a 21 year old minimum. And the 2000 passage of the 08 BAC National Standard.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's it.

[Dan Soder]

That's what it was. 1984, they did that. And in 2000, President Clinton, that kid cannibal, had to go and sign legislation requiring states to adopt. I would. I would hate it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What a. He made the three strike rule. Andy.

[Dan Soder]

You know what's funny though? My dad was dead 97. So he like was getting state DUI.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dan Soder]

He wasn't getting that federal. It became a federal case of committed on federal land.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I gotta do it.

[Dan Soder]

State levels date back to early 1900s. 1906. You got one. I got a bad one. Did you?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Bad, bad.

[Dan Soder]

Can I tell you, that's the one thing I got away from was no kids, no DUIs.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's beautiful.

[Dan Soder]

My drinking was a success. How did you get it?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, man. Well, it was just back in Atlanta when we were doing Stand Up. This is around the time when you came down there? Probably.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Maybe after.

[Dan Soder]

I don't.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Before I did.

[Dan Soder]

I did Punchline and then I did Laughing Skull with Jordan Temple. Yeah. In like 2000.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And I was your host.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And I drove you to do the regular guys. 96 Rock.

[Dan Soder]

96 Rock in the morning. Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

So this might have been before because I wasn't driving for a while after this. But I. It was just so normal for us in Atlanta. Like it was very. We were all Drinking hard. And then it was like, just go home. It got very. It got too normal. And then I was in Laughing Skull, and I had done a show, which

[Dan Soder]

is that a biker was at a biker bar.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And they. That. It's just like a bar with a bunch of biker chicks on the walls and, like, a giant wood penis.

[Dan Soder]

And it was a good bar.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Everybody smokes inside.

[Dan Soder]

It was. That's great.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. What a fun time.

[Dan Soder]

Can't get mad about that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I was. I had already had some drinks, and I went outside, and there was this homeless guy that was like. He had all these American flags. And he was like, I was in the Navy. And I was like, my dad was in the Navy, brother. And he goes, really? What? What part? And I was like, he was a cb, and the guy's like, I always wanted to be a cb. This is the naval engineers. And I was like, get your ass in here. I'm buying you a drink. And then we went into the bar and I just bought this homeless dude a bunch of drinks. We're, like, doing shots and beer, and

[Dan Soder]

that's all he wants.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. And then I got, like, a little. I, like, felt like I hit my limit. I was like, okay, I gotta go. And I left him in the bar and. And I went and I drove to Taco Bell on Ponce in Atlanta. And I get a text from the bar manager that's like, hey, you're banned from the bar. And I was like, why? They was like, you brought a homeless guy in here. You got him wasted, and now he's refusing to leave. I left him with drink, and he was just like. He got up and he refused to leave.

[Dan Soder]

You gave that guy. You let him into the chocolate factory, and then you just let the Oompa Loompas deal with them. You, like, brought him in and you're like, that's the. That's the river of chocolate. Well, I'm taking in there. Please don't.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Please don't. But I got chocolate, so. And then.

[Dan Soder]

So you got banned from the bar.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I got banned from the bar. That was the last message I see. I get all my food from Taco Bell. Fall asleep.

[Dan Soder]

Do you remember your order?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Something big. I would. I had big eyes. Big eyes, bigger than the stomach.

[Dan Soder]

I always would do a gordita and a chalupa. And you're like, who are you?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Like that. And then also a burrito. I was like, on that type of time. And so I don't remember this part, but apparently what happened is I went over and I parked and I ate my. And then I fell asleep with it on my chest.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, you were hammered.

[Ryan Reynolds]

A cop came up, to be fair. I pulled over. I stopped the car.

[Dan Soder]

Were you in a parking lot?

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, I was. I pulled over on the side of the street, and a cop came and knocked on the window. I don't remember this. He knocked on the window, and apparently what I did was I woke up and I waved at him and I drove away.

[Ad Voice]

Oh.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And I drove away at a very slow speed, and he pursued me for maybe two miles. Two miles. I don't remember this. He pursued me for two miles until I eventually drove over this highway and then over some lanes of traffic, up onto a curb slowly, and then hit a pole. Slowly, slowly, slowly.

[Dan Soder]

Just. You bumped into it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. And what I remember. This is the scary part. This is the part that's not funny to me, is where I remember coming to with my foot on an accelerator and feeling a car not moving and trying to accelerate. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which if it was any. Like, if it was.

[Dan Soder]

Just got his mag light on. You looking at the other cop like, what the. This guy.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And he begs out the window. He goes, stop. And I'm like. That's what I'm like. Oh. Like, I'm like. And so I go to jail.

[Dan Soder]

Night in jail.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I go to holding. Fulton county holding. My mom comes and picks me up. I cry.

[Dan Soder]

I crush.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I was ashamed of myself. You know, jail are holding. Not so bad. They. They put us all in this giant room, and we watched Two and a Half Men.

[Dan Soder]

Hey.

[Ryan Reynolds]

For, like, a long time.

[Dan Soder]

Men, Men, men, men.

[Ryan Reynolds]

We watched so much Two and a Half Men.

[Dan Soder]

They're getting you ready.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And I was like. I remember there were guys over to the right. Yeah, there's guys over to the right. You could see all the DUI guys. And I'm like, I'm not going to sit with the dui. I'm going to sit with the real guys. All the real guys are just homeless guys that they've just taken it.

[Dan Soder]

They go, I heard you take us in and buy us booze as long as we say we're in the Navy.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And I was. I was between these two guys, and one guy they, like, didn't exchange over me where this guy took his sock off and he had, like, a little crack in between his toes, and he gave it to the guy for a bologna sandwich.

[Dan Soder]

Damn. What a good trade, honestly. Bologna sandwich for crack.

[Ryan Reynolds]

A little crack.

[Dan Soder]

You can't find that on. You can't find that trade on the outside.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Sure you can't.

[Dan Soder]

How long were you in there, dude?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Like, hours. You know, I actually got my mom. My mom came and I was like. I was. I was very ashamed. I was very apologetic. And I was also, what, 26, 27 years old? There's nothing to punish. She was just like, yeah, you up?

[Dan Soder]

Damn. They took your license?

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, the cop was new. Oh, this happened. The cop had moved from Alabama. And I was like, where you from, man? I was in the back and I was drunk. I remember this. I was like, where you from? And he goes, alabama. And I was like, you're gonna arrest me in my city?

[Dan Soder]

I was like, so funny. Do you know who runs the ATL outcasted me?

[Ryan Reynolds]

You go, in order that poor police officer.

[Dan Soder]

And then you're gonna arrest me in my city? The guy went, I was. I wouldn't mind shooting you in the chest.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'd love to shoot you in the chest.

[Dan Soder]

Wouldn't mind eliminating you on this earth. You're gonna arrest me in my city? I'd be like, I hate you.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

What?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Very hateable.

[Dan Soder]

Listen, obviously there's bad cops that do up, but there's so many good cops that have to put up with. With like that all the time. Are you gonna arrest me in my city? He goes, I just got shot at in an apartment complex three hours ago. I don't want to deal with you. You like that ego, like, drunk ego of being like, who the are you?

[Ryan Reynolds]

He's also nice enough. I had forgotten something, like, in my car. And he went back to the scene and got it and then brought it back to the jail. I think I was nicer to him after that. Yeah, we had a long ride to the station.

[Dan Soder]

Did you get drunk and cry? Like, when my mom found out the Osco drugs was crazy, she's like, oh. Oh, you. You brought it back for me.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I love you.

[Dan Soder]

The cops, like, holy. You shouldn't have been driving.

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, at that point, I was hardened. I was hardened by the Taco Bell. Thank you.

[Dan Soder]

I wanted my gordina. Yo.

[Ryan Reynolds]

There was a girl like that on the inside. I'll never forget. She wouldn't shut the up.

[Dan Soder]

I think you're talking like you did a nickel. You go, yeah, man, what do I

[Ryan Reynolds]

regret describing it like that?

[Dan Soder]

Just girls. Girls crying on the inside. Shit's different than the outside. You wouldn't get that with your clean hands.

[Ryan Reynolds]

With your clean hands, clean record. This lady wouldn't shut the up. And they put her in just like this glass box. And she just kept screaming, let me out. Let me out, dude.

[Dan Soder]

For hours.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And everybody just had to listen to her. And it was like, shut the upper.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, my God. Your please. Becoming annoyances.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, my God.

[Dan Soder]

Would be my biggest concern about jail.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Insane.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The amount she was yelling and oh, my God.

[Dan Soder]

It's like when you go to a hospital or an emergency room and you realize that you can't complain because there's people with much bigger issues.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes.

[Dan Soder]

I used to go to Bellevue because it was like free if you didn't have health insurance. It's crazy.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's our most messed up hospital. Right.

[Dan Soder]

The expression pimp just made. When I said that, he was like, it's.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's our toughest hospital. Yes. In New York City.

[Dan Soder]

Bellevue is wild. And my buddy Eli, shout out to Eli when we were waiting tables together, had to go see a doctor. And I was like, I don't have insurance, I have no money. And he's like, go down to Bellevue. Bring three your pay stubs. Go to the business office. They're a non profit. This was 20 years ago. They're a non profit hospital. They'll give you a card and it'll only cost you 25 to see a doctor based on your income. But you have to call for an appointment. So I called an appointment and you go in and you go like, oh, you're in a waiting room with people. And they're looking at me like, what are you doing here? You have all your teeth, you have both your eyes. Like, you'd go in there and you'd be like, I can't complain. And one time I went in for an endoscopy because I was having stomach problems and I was in this, like, waiting area with people that were in so much pain that I couldn't complain at all. And I had to wait for hours. Yeah, I still couldn't complain.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

I was like, oh, can you see me? And the Jamaican nurse is like, hold on. And then there's just a guy next to me going, just making a noise that I was like, yeah, yeah, get to him. Yeah, yeah, go him. My tummy hurts.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Have you watched, have you watched the Pit at all?

[Dan Soder]

No.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What a fun show.

[Dan Soder]

That's the 24 hours in the emergency room.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a whole shift in the emergency room. It's great.

[Dan Soder]

I heard a rumor that they were trying to do a reboot of er.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I think that's correct.

[Dan Soder]

And they wouldn't sign off on it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

So they're like, all right, we'll just get that actor.

[Dan Soder]

Just do 24 with one of the guys.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's a great show, but, yeah, it gives you some empathy for, like, the wait times and like, how, like, hard the doctors are working in there, trying to see everybody. People are coming in, people are up

[Dan Soder]

and they're going, help. And you go, I understand, help.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

You're number seven. When we get through the six in front of you, for very good reason, we'll get to you.

[Ryan Reynolds]

We will get to you.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. I don't think. I think people lost touch with that idea of, like, in the age of instant everything in the age of, like, you're the star, this is your. You're the main character. You're not. We're in a big society that relies on other. On people. Like, sometimes other people take priority and that's okay. Yeah. I think a hospital is where you go, like, I'm going to chill the out. Chill the out.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Let me just sit the out.

[Dan Soder]

You got an ear infection. I understand it hurts. Chill a little bit. Yeah. Because then you see that real. I'd go to Bellevue and I'd be like, I'm fine, I'm fine. I'd be waiting for like three hours. And they're like, you. And I'm like, get this guy speaking in a language I don't know. I was like, grabbing his stomach. And you're like, this guy's in so much pain. It was wild. That was like one of the ones where I was like, man, our health insurance is sure is broken.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Our health care system really is.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That is one of the messages of the show.

[Ad Voice]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

They're like, boy, is this system very flawed. And up, up, very.

[Dan Soder]

And then all the. All the insurance guys, when that guy got shot, they went, hey, don't put our faces out there.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Hey. That was the funniest reaction of Luigi was all the CEOs of other insurance companies going, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Guys, guys, this is a bad idea. Yeah, this is a really bad idea. And everyone's like, I think it's a good idea. And they go, it's not, though. It's not.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't know.

[Dan Soder]

It seems like crazy to me that we have all the technology, but you just can't see a doctor.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. This show is sponsored by Better Help. Better Help. Guess who just came fresh from therapy? So he's feeling real connected. No, I genuinely do love. I am coming from therapy and I had a good session today. And I think that's what therapy is. It's like going to the gym for your brain. You get a good workout, you feel better and then you know the next then you go for the next one. It's all about consistency. It's hard to find a therapist, yes, but when you find a therapist it is very rewarding. And BetterHelp has over 30,000 therapists and it's the world's largest online therapy platform, having served over 6 million people globally and gets an average rating at 4.9 out of 5. Which if you're a ratings guy like me, you go with it. Better Help therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the United States. And BetterHelp does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals. A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences and then with their 12 years experience and industry leading match fulfillment rate, it means they typically get it right the first time. But if it isn't right, guess what? You could switch to a different therapist at any time from their tailored from their tailored recommendations. Don't let stigma stand in the way of support. Start therapy with BetterHelp. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com Soder that's BetterHelp H-E-L-P.com Soder this show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

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[Dan Soder]

Oh no.

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[Dan Soder]

41 DUIs arrest made by one Tennessee state trooper. Jesus.

[Ryan Reynolds]

This is a guy that's not just letting you go home.

[Dan Soder]

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which is just a guy. It's just a guy named like Lucky. Yeah, he goes. Well, I watch the streets from sober DUIs four times higher than previously reported.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Wait, sober DUIs?

[Dan Soder]

They're giving people who are sober DUIs. How? The county threw out 41 DUIs arrest made by former Tennessee State Trooper Asa Pearl between 2021 and 2024, with 22 of those cases involving drivers who are later shown not to have blood alcohol content levels above the legal limit. In 14 of the 22 cases, the drivers had some alcohol in their systems at the time of their arrest. But in at least eight cases, the drivers arrested tested negative for both drugs and alcohol. The other 19 DUI cases were reportedly dropped for other reasons, including Pearl being unavailable for court. Isn't that the thing they always say when you get a speeding ticket? Yeah, go to court, the cop will never show up?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. Yeah, always.

[Dan Soder]

I would. I. If I were a cop, I would show up to everyone.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I went to. I went to court for the dui. He showed up.

[Dan Soder]

He did.

[Ryan Reynolds]

He was there. Also. The lawyer. The lawyer was like, if you want to. I got a lawyer because I had run from the police. I had done a lot. I was like, I should go to jail. They were like, usually a DUI gets knocked down to, like, a reckless driving. You try to do that with a lawyer. The lawyer's like, we're going to knock this down to a dui.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, that's really funny.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What we're going to talk about.

[Dan Soder]

I can't even get you dwi cuz you went up on a curb, you're getting a dui.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And he was like, if you want to come to court early. I had done all this stuff preemptively. I'd done all this, you know, community service and all the stuff before I even went to court because the lawyers,

[Dan Soder]

like, hoping you're going to go in, and the judge is going to be like, you're a good kid.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You're a good guy. Get out of here. He goes, if you want to see the video, you come early. And I was like, I. I don't want to see the video because I. I'm very ashamed.

[Dan Soder]

Even as a comic.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's going to live in my head.

[Dan Soder]

I.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's gonna live in my head. I'm gonna be very ashamed. And sure enough, I walk to court. I'm not too early, but I get there and the lawyer's watching it like he's watching, like an episode of Jackass. He's like, oh, Oh. I watch him. He's watching it. He's. He's like, he can't sit still. He's moving. He, like, walks from one side of the court to the other to the cop. He's like, you remember the part, Woody?

[Dan Soder]

Oh, my God. Oh, no. You had such a fuck up.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And I was like, Watching. I was like, no. And then he came out and he goes, I'm gonna be honest with you, man. Worst DUI video I've ever seen. I've seen a lot. That's the worst I've ever seen. And I was like, oh, my God.

[Dan Soder]

Was there any moment of pride in that? Was there any moment where you're like, if you're gonna fail, fail spectacular? Where you're like, yeah, that's right, bitch, you're gonna remember me.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I mean, I definitely, like, tell the story of him, like, watching it. Watching it like a black dude watches magic.

[Dan Soder]

Just.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Just, like, watching running. Yeah, just like, sprinting.

[Dan Soder]

Terrified half needs to watch the end of it, dude.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It was. I mean, it was nuts.

[Dan Soder]

That's crazy. You never want your lawyer going, that's the worst one I've ever seen in my life, dude.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And he was. Before that, he was comforting me. I was very ashamed when I first met with him. I was like, I can't believe I did this. And everybody kept saying this. He. He said this. My dad said this. He's like, everybody gets one man. Is your one. You just hold it. And he goes, now I'm about to drive to Alpharetta because the fell I went to high school with been boning the 16 year old. So keep it all in perspective, buddy. Oh, yeah. And then I found out afterwards, they let me back into the bar, and the manager that had banned me from that bar was like, your lawyer that you hired comes in here every lunch period and runs. He has a two martini lunch every lunch. He's a lush.

[Dan Soder]

Which means that's how bad your video was, is that. It's not even a guy that doesn't understand alcohol culture. It's a guy that goes, holy, holy, I'm drunk right now.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I didn't drink for a year after that. That was like, when I was like, I'm gonna. I'm gonna take a year.

[Dan Soder]

What brought you back after a year?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I got a girlfriend, and it was

[Dan Soder]

stressing me out, and you said, I need it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I was like, I'm gonna go take your country.

[Dan Soder]

So it really is like a country song where you're like, I got me a woman and she's driving me to drink.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's what it was, dude.

[Dan Soder]

I try to think every time I slipped, it was always, like, an inconvenience that made me upset.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Like, what? Airports, delayed flight. I mean, that's. I mean, if you're gonna drink, it's an airport. Airport rules are out the window. It doesn't matter what Time it is.

[Dan Soder]

I said, I miss day drinking.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You miss airport? Yes, I miss white drinking.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, I miss getting drunk enough that I'm willing to leave and come back through security. Just smoke a cigarette. St. Louis Airport. I. I was flying Chicago, St. Louis, St. Louis, back to New York. This is like when I had to buy like flights with six layovers to afford them. And it was. I was coming home from Lollapalooza, I went to Lollapuza and I was. This is like 2011, 2012. And I get to the St. Louis airport and our flight gets delayed. And I went, I just went to the bar, started drinking, and I was like, what's your security like here? And they're like, it's not that bad. And I was like, I remember exactly which part of the parking garage I went to in the St. Louis airport. Smoked like two or three cigarettes, came back through, was late, was the last person to board the flight, and came on smelling like cigarettes and whiskey and. And wanted to talk to everybody. And I went like, sorry to keep you guys waiting, thinking it would kill. And no one was having it done that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I remember there was like a flight where they're like, we had all boarded and then they're like, hey, we're actually not going to be able to take off for a couple hours or like an hour if you guys want to get off for a little bit. I was like, sure enough, get off, crush a few whiskeys, get back on right before they're about to take off.

[Dan Soder]

Like, dude, you come in hot.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I ended up kissing the lady next to me in my seat. Consensually, we had. I was like. I was.

[Dan Soder]

I was freakingly made out with a

[Ryan Reynolds]

woman on all cylinders. I had a charm I'd never had. And.

[Dan Soder]

And you guys made out.

[Ryan Reynolds]

We made out.

[Dan Soder]

Did you guys hang out after that? No.

[Ryan Reynolds]

No. She wanted to. And I was like, that was just for the. That was on the slide.

[Dan Soder]

Sky kiss.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That was the sky kiss, baby. You get a little cloud kissing. First and only time it's ever happened.

[Dan Soder]

Kiss me in the clouds.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Kiss me in the clouds, baby. Leave me alone. She was like, I never do this.

[Dan Soder]

This dick ain't. This dick isn't yours on the ground. Only in the sky. Yeah, I have. You don't realize how annoying you are when you get on a plane drunk. No. You think.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You think everybody loves you.

[Dan Soder]

Think it's a sitcom.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Like, I'm the neighbor that gets the cheer when I used to go visit my mom for Christmas when I was like, you know still waiting tables and drinking here. She. I wanted to smoke a cigarette. And the only place you could smoke a cigarette in Dia was this like bar on the second level of the terminal. And I was like, I'll go up there. I had like an hour to my flight. I was like, I'll go up there, smoke a cigarette, get a burger, go to the thing, whatever, sit down at the bar. A couple Jameson's, couple fat tires. Turns out Raven Steelers was kicking off. I was flying home on a Sunday. So I go, raven Steelers. I'm smoking cigarettes. I don't want to leave. Yeah, this is everything I need. I don't look at my phone and then I'm like, oh, they. It's 15 minutes past boarding.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And I, I get drunkenly on the plane and want to talk to everybody about Steelers, Ravens, no one cares. Oh, you guys watching this Raven Steelers game? And they were like, yeah, buddy, get to your seat. I'm like buckling in and being like, flacco looks pretty good. Flacco looks like he had Antoine Smith on a slant.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You're a big man. You're a presence. You're getting on late. Somebody thought they had an open seat.

[Dan Soder]

Burly, I'm really sorry about this. I really enjoy watching Ray Lewis play the position of linebacker. And they're like, I don't think he

[Ryan Reynolds]

did what they said he did.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. Two people, he could kill one guy, but not two. Yeah, it was. Airport drinking is in your head the greatest. And for everyone else, a huge problem. Because now when I'm traveling and I see people blackout in an airport, I'm like, oh brother, I get it. Stay the away from me.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Don't bring that over here.

[Dan Soder]

But I do get jealous when I see a two thirds empty beer at a bar at an airport. You make the best of friends. You made out with a girl.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I made out with a girl.

[Dan Soder]

That is crazy.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It is crazy. It only happened the one time. I've never talked about it. Okay. I was like, I'm bragging.

[Dan Soder]

You know what's funny is sometimes, you know, I don't know about you, but self admittedly I don't think I ever had a lot of game. And I remember I went to Florida with my friends and I got blacked out at the pool and I ended up going on a date with one of the waitresses that worked there.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Don't remember it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

They're like, do you remember going on a date last night? And I went, I don't know. Yeah, you like took a girl from the Restaurant. You guys went to the beach and got dinner. I was like, I don't remember that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You got out of your own way.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, I got out of my own way. I got out of my own way. It was just like, whatever.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I've heard you had game. I heard you. I heard you're getting around.

[Dan Soder]

Who? That I got around? No, I think it was comics. We're all carnies. So you spend time around each other. That. It happens. Yeah, but it like, real world game zero.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, that's real. The game is different if it's like you just got off stage.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And you're like, yeah, how about that?

[Dan Soder]

Patrice used to call it the yellow sun. He's like, it's. It's like Superman. The yellow sun, it gives us powers.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

But the farther you get away from it, the less power you have.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's true. And you feel like a weak little.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, my God.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Why would anybody ever touch me?

[Dan Soder]

Oh, my God. Dude. I'd go to, like, regular. This is, like, 2010. And I'd meet people, and they'd be like, I don't know. And you're like, well, then I'll go get drunk. Because that's where it was. Bars or comedy clubs.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The idea of going to, like, a club, like a dance club. Terrifying to me, dude. Terrifying.

[Dan Soder]

So that trip to Florida. The same trip to Florida was. It was in Miami, and we were all going because one of my friends was turning 30.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The idea of Miami is scary to be.

[Dan Soder]

I hate Miami. But I was still drinking, and I was like, yeah, it. Let's go to Miami. And we go down to Miami. We're in South Beach. We go to the Fountain blue or, like, Fontaine blue. I forget what it is. It's like, a nice club. My friends want to go to the club. My friend whose birthday is. All the guys I grew up with, they wait in line to get into the club.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And then the club's like, six dudes. No, it was seven of us. He goes, I can let five of you in. And me and my buddy went.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The math.

[Dan Soder]

Me and my buddy went, you want to go drink at the bar? And he went, yeah. And we went and drank at the lobby bar of the. And it was more fun.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

My friends went to the club, and they're like, it sucked. It cost this. I was like, oh, we got blown.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't think I've ever been to a club. I've never done the thing where I, like, waited in line for some.

[Dan Soder]

I remember people love club culture.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I know. I went and met a girl at a club. I was like, meeting her outside. She was coming out. We had already gone on a couple dates.

[Dan Soder]

And oh, okay.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I had my backpack. I'm always walking around with my backpack. Because I need my notebooks. Because I need my notebooks.

[Dan Soder]

I just got over that. Dude, I'm about to be 43. I got over that three years ago.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm out of there. I'm outside of there with my dumb little backpack. And there's a guy, this piece of just like, with this big dumb mustache and a fur coat, and he controls the list. And I'm watching him and he's just relishing, like, looking at people and being like, no, look at somebody. And he'll go. And he'll lift the velvet rope. And I'm like, this piece of. I would never stand here and let this pass judgment on me.

[Dan Soder]

Oh. But trying to go center field some outside of a club that you know, and you're like, with your glove, yo.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I felt. I felt. I felt cool. I was like, hey, I'm not going in there for that.

[Dan Soder]

When she comes out, though, it's like being at airport when someone lands on a flight. You go, over here, over here.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Let's get out of here. Alyssa.

[Dan Soder]

I hope we tonight. Dude, that was. That was. I would. That's what I mean. I had no game if you took me outside of the comedy scene or waiting tables because of the co worker game.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes.

[Dan Soder]

I either had co worker game or I had. You saw me perform. Everything else besides that, but I think this is normal.

[Ryan Reynolds]

This is like most guys. Most guys have their sphere of. What is it? Aptitude, Sphere of knowledge. And that's where you. That's where you.

[Dan Soder]

Where you got strike.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. Dude. There's guys that are, like, good at going to clubs. I'm friends with some of them. They're like, good at going to clubs and buying a drink and going up and being like. They're good at having this conversation. What do you do? Oh, yeah, that's really. They can do that. I can't do that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I can't do it

[Dan Soder]

now. You put me at a diner, you're in trouble. You put a diner. You put me a friend and two ladies at a diner. I'm running that. Yeah, I'm running that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's where you come alive.

[Dan Soder]

Club Zero Arizona. I did horrible at when I was in college.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Really?

[Dan Soder]

Because I did not have bar or club energy.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Terrible.

[Dan Soder]

And where'd you go to school?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I went to Cal State University, Northridge.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, hell yeah. So you're like Northern California?

[Ryan Reynolds]

No.

[Dan Soder]

Where's north?

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, no, that's. It's a suburb of Los Angeles. It's Northridge. It's where the big earthquake happened.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, that's right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

San Fernando Valley.

[Dan Soder]

So you went Cal.

[Ryan Reynolds]

How did you have the Cal State Northridge out there? Because my parents were supportive. I was like, I'm gonna do film production stuff. I had gone to this like arts high school in Atlanta. I got into like film. I was like, I want to film stuff. And I didn't get into any. I didn't get. The film schools were like usc, ucla, Chapman, nyu.

[Dan Soder]

None of them.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Emerson. None of them.

[Dan Soder]

I got no.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I got wait listed to Everson. And I remember my mom looked up Cal State Northridge cuz she'd heard like, people that work in the industry go to Cal State Northridge. And she was like, a good mom.

[Dan Soder]

That's a good mom.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's a good mom.

[Dan Soder]

She knew in the shorthand. Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

She knew what I was capable of. And I remember she looked at the school and she got excited. She's like, you can get in here. You can do it. You can get in here.

[Dan Soder]

God. Me and you have the same level of dumbassery where our moms knew where we could get in.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Because like, I applied to cu, they were like, wait list. CSU was like, maybe. And then my mom was like, try out of state. And I went to Arizona and Arizona was like, and then write a letter about how your dad died. And I wrote a letter in Arizona was like, okay. And I was like, yeah, go to Arizona. I got. Truth is, no one in Colorado wanted me.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. I got into Florida State. Oh. But I didn't get into the film production program, which is probably good. If I had gone to Florida State, I would have been a totally different guy.

[Dan Soder]

You'd be dead.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I would have died. I would have died.

[Dan Soder]

There's certain schools that I think about if I would have gone to, I would have been dead.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

University of Indiana.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Why?

[Dan Soder]

It's a party school.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

I had friends that went to Bloomington and they're like, it's a drinking school.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Does not get enough credit.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

So if you're a Hoosier, congratulations on the national title in football. But also you deserve more credit as a party school.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Because the people that I used to party with and drink with that, that went to Indiana were like pros. Indiana. I went to Arizona and everyone's like, arizona's a party.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Talk about it like, it's the biggest party school. In the country.

[Dan Soder]

Arizona State is.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, right.

[Dan Soder]

Arizona. If you're a rich kid and you're in a frat, you're gonna have the best time in the world.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

If you're a rich kid and your dad's just gonna give you endless amounts of money, go to Arizona.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Join a frat. You'll do the. You'll do good cocaine. You'll hang out with beautiful women that are tan and bleach blonde. If you just are a low life piece of. And you want to party, go to Arizona State. You can get in and every night there, there's a party. We'd drive up from Tucson to Tempe.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And be like, I talked to Santino about this all the time. Because Santino went to asu.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

I was like, you went to the party school. We'd go up there and you'd be like, you'd see pool parties in an apartment complex on a Wednesday that you're like, this is like an Entourage episode. It's like crazy.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Y.

[Dan Soder]

Like, the women there. And also Arizona State, they're dumb asses. You just need to go Wildcats. I'm always going to be a wildcat 2.5 GPA to get into Arizona State.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

So that was always the knock was that we had the slightly ugly, uglier, smarter women.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And they just had the greatest party school of all time.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Arizona State. It's like, it's bonkers. I don't know if it's still like that, but at the turn of the century, back when I was there, 01 to 05 Arizona State.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I mean, when I was coming up, there was still. People still talked about Arizona State.

[Dan Soder]

Dude. They were like.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The list would come out like, yeah, Playboy rules.

[Dan Soder]

Playboy would do Arizona State. And people at Arizona would always go like, yeah, Arizona's up there. And you go up Benitempi. We're not touching that. Yeah, maybe they are in the frats, but not in regular. Not the Gen Pop.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I tried the Gen Pop. I love throwing Gen Pop.

[Dan Soder]

How's Gen Pop? Dude, I was just a regular.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I tried the fret thing.

[Dan Soder]

You did?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I did.

[Dan Soder]

You rushed?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I rushed, but I didn't plan to. There was just this group of guys that were like, you should join. And I was like, oh, they were.

[Dan Soder]

They recruit.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I realized we were like. We were like the Bad News Bears for Turn. We were like, yo, zvt, those are still my.

[Dan Soder]

That was the Jewish frat. Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

We weren't Jewish. It was a Jewish.

[Dan Soder]

But it was a Jewish frat.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Jewish frat. Yes. But we were not. We were not super Jewish.

[Dan Soder]

My roommate at the time, who was a drug dealer in Israeli, moved weight through zbt.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. Oh, those heaves connected. And they were slang. And we were, like, chronic.

[Ryan Reynolds]

We were like a very Mexican friend.

[Dan Soder]

That's great. The Jewish Cal State Northridge, them showing up and being like, there's the zbt. I want to see my brothers. And then they're like, hola, we're of a different tribe. They come from a different level, bro.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And then I. I quit. But I did it. I tried it because I was like, maybe this will help me get women. And it just instilled a lot of really terrible drinking habits.

[Dan Soder]

Did you? Yeah, because they. That rush process.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But, dude, it was like, no, their women weren't coming to the Fred either. Like, I watched, like, bad.

[Dan Soder]

The people at Arizona in my freshman dorms that rushed. A lot of them got laid. And I was like, immediately saw the benefit.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And I was like, just in jean shorts in my room, drinking Milwaukee's Best and smoking cigarettes. Straight up, dude. Shout out. Apache, Santa Cruz. I would just be chilling outside, smoking cigarettes. And then my friend Morgan would come with a girl and be like, yeah, we met at this Theta SAE social. And I'd be like, cool, cool, cool. You guys want to smoke resin and play Madden 02?

[Ryan Reynolds]

This is what I was about. It's like, there were dudes you could smoke weed with and drink with. It was like, they would do these events, and I'd be like, I get. I can't.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm not built for this. Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Where I started really resenting it at Arizona was once they got into the frats, they were like, you can't come to our parties. And what I liked about the University of Colorado when I lived in Denver was when we would go visit our friend's older brother who went to see you. Yeah. You could get into frat parties.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Just pay five bucks for a cupcake. A keg cup. And you were in. She had a red cup. And then you were drinking, and it was like. It literally reminded me of the movies where it's like a house party. And you're like, oh, excuse me. And everyone's drinking. And they're like, who are you? And you're like, I live in this dorm. And they're like, fine. Arizona was like, yeah. Like, they were mean.

[Ryan Reynolds]

They were gatekeeping the whole thing.

[Dan Soder]

And you were like, I don't. My roommate one time our junior year went to go sell a quarter pound to One of the frats, which will remain nameless. If you see me live, I'll tell you who it was. He was selling a quarter pound to a guy, 4 ounces. Yeah, he's like, going to sell this guy. And this is like, they want the weed. He had really good weed. And I'm like, chilling with him. I was always the weed dealer's roommate. Yeah, that was always what I was. And I'm like, just chilling there, and this guy's like, who the are you? And I was like, oh, my roommates. I. I didn't want to say anything, so I go, my roommate's doing business with so and so. And the guy. I remember this clear as day. The guy goes, cool, cool. You got three minutes to get out of this house or I'm gonna kick the out of you. And I go, I don't think that's a good idea for you. Not saying I was a badass just because I knew. And he was like, nah, that. You got three minutes or I'm gonna kick out you. And there was a. They were in the bedroom.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Did he seem capable?

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, they would have kicked out of me. They're all very good shape.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Probably steroids.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Would it beat the brakes off me? I would have picked one of them.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

I would have scratched one of their eyes out.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm a little guy. You're a big guy. I always figure, hey, you're a big fella.

[Dan Soder]

I'm a big guy. That gouges. Yeah, I like the gouge eyes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Long fingers.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, I got piano fingers. I'll press your point.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Play your eyes like a goddamn sonata.

[Dan Soder]

But I remember knocking on the door, being like, amir. And he was like, in the room, and I was like, amir. And the guy's like, I don't know who you're knocking for. And the. You know, like when doors would open at fraternity houses and you'd see into the room, like, you saw their personality.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Soder]

This was like the kid that sold weed at the frat. And I remember opening the door and being like, hey, this kid's saying he's gonna kick out of me if I don't leave in three minutes. And they like got. I got double mad at. So this guy's mad at me because I'm at the frat and then I opened the door and they're in the middle of a thousand. Over a thousand dollar weed deal.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And I go, guys, I'm being yelled at. And then they're like, shut the door. And I'm like, and I just left and went out front and smoked a cigarette on the sidewalk. Amir, like, comes up. This is before cell phones.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

It's before texting.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

So he just comes outside and he's like, where were you? And I was like, I tried to tell you I got kicked out, but, dude, that guy made me just like. I was so mad.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I know. I've never.

[Dan Soder]

I was like, you, dude, I don't even want to be here. Yeah, I don't want to be. I don't like your frat.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I've remembered every slight like that in my life all the time. All the time.

[Dan Soder]

It made me genuinely dislike the University of Arizona because there were so many guys that were. It's like that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

They're like, what are you doing? You're like, nothing, man. I just want to get high.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Where the are they now?

[Dan Soder]

They act like they're your friends. There's some guys, all my friends from Arizona, I still like. If they reach out, I'll be like, what's up, dude?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

But there's been guys that I genuinely hated in college that I remember. Yeah. That someone else will go. I was talking to so and so, and he remembers, you know, can you keep my name out of that motherfucker's mouth?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

I didn't like it. Because now that you're public, now that you're in the public, you know, you're on a FOX TV show. Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

I'm sure there's people that reach out to you that you're like, leave me the alone some. Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Not like, not a ton. It's not a ton, which is good.

[Dan Soder]

And by the way, I didn't have, like, a lot of enemies in Arizona, but there's a couple dildos. I remember that. I'm like, we're not friends.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I know.

[Dan Soder]

You were never friends with me.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

You didn't come to my house and take bong loads and play PlayStation 2 with me.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Think about comeuppance for them. What would that look like?

[Dan Soder]

You know, it is a lot of times what you don't realize is when you're young and you're going through something like that, you don't realize that you're in a bad position, but these people are in the best they're ever going to do position. So just wait.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

It's literally. It's like being mad at the Internet. Just wait a little bit and it'll change.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Like, don't comment back, as I say to comments comics all the time, don't comment back when someone talks what are you doing? Yeah, just give it a little, and then you won't care.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, that's really. That's genuinely very true.

[Dan Soder]

Same advice to college students. If someone's being a cop to you, have it fuel you, and then. Wait.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Use that fuel. That's kind of been. I mean, it's. It's. It's worked for me this far. That's kind of been the game plan. I remember in so many situations, just being the bottom of the totem pole and being like, you know what? You.

[Dan Soder]

You don't. Yeah. And I don't think enough people talk about that, because they go like, no, you got to be above it and do that. You go. That have it motivate you.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Especially when you're young.

[Dan Soder]

Do you know how many times. And I say this for guys that are lonely right now, that are in their 20s, and you're like, I can't meet a woman that's into the things I'm into. Stay yourself. Don't change for these bitches, because you will find someone that likes what you like.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes.

[Dan Soder]

It took me forever, but I kept. In college, I always had girls that I had crushes on, and they were like, I like you like a friend.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

So you're like, oh, I just. I suck. And you think you suck. And you go, I just think you like the wrong people. Yeah, you're. You're liking women that you wouldn't like if you dated anyways.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Because they're into different stuff. They want to go to the farmer's market. They want to go hiking and all this. And you don't want to do that. And you go, well, I got to do that to get a woman. You don't. You just gotta look for what you want in a woman. Because when I started. When I met Katie, I was like, oh, I was wrong. My whole life.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Who I was going after, I always thought, like, oh, well. Oh, a girl like Katie wouldn't like me or whatever. It's like, we have the same interests. We like the same. Just find someone that you're into that shares the same stuff, and then hope they like you back. Yeah, that's the hard part.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

But I was going after, like, hot blonde girls at Arizona that were like, no. They're like, this guy has a Range Rover, wants to me. I'm like, I got a Dodge Stratus, and you can come hang out with me while I do the overnight at kfma.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And they're like, no, the overnight at kfma.

[Dan Soder]

I used to be an Overnight dj, so.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, that's sick.

[Dan Soder]

I didn't like Arizona. I wanted to leave.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And then I was going to transfer. My mom gave me this speech where she was like. She didn't even really give me a speech. She goes, I don't know. I just didn't really think. I raised you to be a quitter like that. And I was like, damn. Because she was right. I did. It was my freshman year, and I wasn't having fun because I was doing the same thing. I was going to try to hang out with people that weren't like me. Yeah. I was trying to go to these parties with people that weren't rich kids from San Diego. Yeah. That had money. They weren't like me. They didn't. And I didn't like them. And so I was like, oh. And then I got a job. I started doing college radio, and I started working at the radio station in Tucson. And I met all my dogs.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

I met everybody. And that gave me the confidence to start doing stand up.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And then I just was at laughs. I was either at KFMA or laughs.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

All the time. And people were like, arizona. It's like, what Paid for my whole school. So I will support that team.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Especially this march. Let's go, Wildcats. But I'm never gonna do the thing where it's like, it was the greatest time of my life. It wasn't. It set me up for the greatest time of my life, which was moving here and doing stand up, which was like, oh, this is like, I think how a lot of people feel when they go to college is how I felt when I moved to New York with stand up.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Where I went. Oh, you're like me. So I don't fault people that have a good time in college. Just maybe finding people that are like, minded. Like you. Like, there are guys that join frats and they go like, this is what I wanted. Shirtless, arms over each other, going, right, brothers. And they need that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And now they're in the corporate world and they go like, do you remember when I was getting my dick sucked at Boise State?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

You're like, I'm glad you had that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Delayed gratification.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes.

[Dan Soder]

You're not having it in college. It's just delayed gratification. You'll find it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Absolutely. But you got to keep working.

[Dan Soder]

That's what it is. I really feel like that's what sucks about the instant culture.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Because everyone goes, you should be happy right now. Because. No, you shouldn't.

[Ryan Reynolds]

No.

[Dan Soder]

Should actually be A little miserable.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Especially in your 20s, man. You're trying to piece it together. It's like. Like painful. It's painful.

[Dan Soder]

Enjoy your skin being tight.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Enjoy being able to sleep wherever you can without your neck hurting. I could sleep nine hours uninterrupted on a couch and maybe flip.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I was living on couches.

[Dan Soder]

I lived on a couch, genuinely. When I moved out to Hoboken to do stand up, I lived on a futon.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You were in Hoboken on a futon for seven months. God damn.

[Dan Soder]

And. And shout out to Morgan and Norberto and Jimmy Balls. My roommates, they let me live on the futon. We could smoke cigarettes inside, which was.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, I've dropped out of school for a year. And I. Part of the time I lived in a hostel. I lived and worked in a hostel on Venice beach. And we could smoke cigarettes.

[Dan Soder]

Everywhere changes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And it was. I was 21 years old. I didn't have any money, and I would clean rooms at night to sleep there and just crush Marlboro Reds. Yes.

[Dan Soder]

What a cowboy. Killers. What did you find in those rooms?

[Ryan Reynolds]

What did I find?

[Dan Soder]

Nothing crazy. Nothing crazy.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Nothing crazy.

[Dan Soder]

Because. How you think? Probably because Eli Roth.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I met interesting people, for sure. You meet so many cool people.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. People that travel.

[Ryan Reynolds]

People that travel.

[Dan Soder]

It's like meeting with someone like Ari Shaffir who goes, oh, I just go there and I live there for a little bit.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Like, I never had those. That kind of.

[Ryan Reynolds]

So many crazy people. It was awesome. But that was, man, the smoking cigarettes inside.

[Dan Soder]

Dude. When I used to wake up, up when I lived on, when I lived with them, and I would just swing my feet over the futon and pull my pack of Camel Lights.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Pull one out and be like, the. We got going on today. Light it out the side, you know, turn on the TV and watch Sports center and be like, hungover. Definitely hungover from the night before. Just being like, dude, those guys I took. I saw Morgan for, like, the first time in years, and he always would be like. He'd call me gay because of how much I liked stand up because we were college friends. And then I moved out here, and he'd be like, like, you're so gay for comedy. Because I'd be like, oh, because I rest in peace to Shaq, the old bouncer at the Cellar. But Big J introduced me to him.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

When I first moved here and I became friends with, like, Lewis and Jay and all them, and Jay was like, oh, you should know Shaq. And I wasn't in at the Cellar.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

But Shaq was like, yeah, dude, I'll let you sit on the runners and watch the shows. And I'd watch, like, Geraldo and Patrice. Patrice wasn't in a. He had already been kicked out of the Cellar, so it was Geraldo, Mike Di Stefano, a tell. But I would just, like, Todd Lynn. I'm just coming to watch him. And I would, like. I was obsessed with it, and then I just go get drunk at, like, a shitty bar and, like, whoever I was with, comedy wise.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

We just talk about the sets we watched, and then I just come home blacked out. But Morgan would always be like, dude, so gay. Just follow other men around to watch it. They go, no, I want to do this. And I haven't seen him in, like. Like 12 years.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And then we got dinner in the city, and he's like, I can't believe you're like, you're a comic now. And you're like, I know. So gay for it that I became it. But that's what I think is, like, a lot. What's missed now with the culture of, like, instant celebrity and YouTube fame and that. Go get into something.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And go get so into it that you, like, like, live it. Yeah. Like, give yourself to it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

I think that's missed on a lot of, like, what you're talking about with film.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Film.

[Dan Soder]

I think that's a great idea. What your mom did was awesome.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

She's like, this is la. This is where they make film. I mean, now Atlanta, but I know you. The place you left became the la. But, like, her having the. The, like, the idea of, like, Northridge, Cal State Northridge. You could just be right there in la, in the Valley and. Or wherever it is in the Mic.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And all my boys, I went to school with there. They all work in the industry.

[Dan Soder]

That's what I'm all doing.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Great. They all work in the industry.

[Dan Soder]

Having that parent that can do that. My mom was like, listen, I work. She worked for an insurance company. She's like, I cover five states. You can go to college in one of those five states. Because I need to know I could touch down and call a lawyer if you need help. And I was like, great piece of advice.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dan Soder]

I was like, Arizona. She's like, yeah. I was like, all right, I'll go to Arizona.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Texas, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico or one other one. And I was like, utah? Yeah, it was that. That was her territory, dude.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And so she would travel all the time. And then she was like, you can go to one of those.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But you're like, yeah, that's wide open country, brother.

[Dan Soder]

But that's what it is. You got to go somewhere that makes sense. Take shots you can make. Yeah, people don't do that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's true.

[Dan Soder]

People go like, I want to be famous. You see that in Stand up all the time. To go. I remember barking in the West Village, and I met this guy named Scott. I hope he's all right. But I remember meeting him and he went, yeah, dude, I'm gonna get in two weeks here. Then I'm gonna try to get into the seller. He's like, within a year, I'm gonna be on snl. And I was like, oh, brother.

[Ryan Reynolds]

So many delusional people.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, brother.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Because I really started hitting it in la, which is even more.

[Dan Soder]

You started in la?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Because I was just out there for school.

[Dan Soder]

I didn't know that's where you started.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I technically started as a kid. I started as a kid in Atlanta. My mom got me into stand up as a kid.

[Dan Soder]

I didn't realize. How old were you, Dude?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I was like. There was. I mean, I went to a summer camp for comedy called Kid Comedy when I was, like, like 12, and where they just teach you, like, Abbott and Costello bits. They teach who's on first.

[Dan Soder]

That's great, though. That's basic structures.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Amazing. And then my mom was so in tune with what I was good at. She was like, all right, we'll try this. And then that lady had a class, and she would, like, write jokes for you, and it would be like, last week, I got a 70, my highest grade ever, on a spelling test. I know, I know. I've got to start cheating off smarter kids. She'd write you like that. And then your graduation. Our graduation was at the Punchline in Atlanta next to the diner. She got Dom Herrera to come out because Dom Aero's like, niece was in the. Was in the program. So it was similar to, like, what Tiffany Haddish did when she was a kid at the.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, Laugh Factory.

[Ryan Reynolds]

At the Laugh Factory. It was like. It was one of thems. But in Atlanta, it didn't last that long. Janet Schultz, she's still my dog, so I love that. And then I got into, like, you know.

[Dan Soder]

So when you're doing it in la, when you're at Northridge, are you like, let me go do stand up, dude?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I was like. Like, I had done it a couple times because another kid in the dorm was interested in Stand up. He was really good, this guy, Dylan Niles. He Was like, he's really into, like one liners. He was great. He's a very smart dude. And I was like, I used to do this and I would just get, you know, get hammered and old hat. Yeah, yeah. It just sucked. But then I remember I was trying to do homework one day. It was like, physics of music. Some class that they give to dummies where you have to have a math, and they're like, how about the physics of music? And I was even bad at that. And I was like, this. I'm gonna try doing stand up again. I went to the Haha Cafe. I took the bus. I was like 20. And I was like, I did that. And I was like, I'm gonna drop out and just do stand up.

[Dan Soder]

Really?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I dropped out.

[Dan Soder]

And it was your mom mad when you dropped out?

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, supportive. Really supportive.

[Dan Soder]

That's. You know what's crazy, man, is like, you do comedy long enough that you realize how lucky we are to have supportive.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I know, but I, I, I'm a little jealous of people that didn't have parents that were supportive or sort of did it on their own. Because I sometimes think there's like, there's a weakness to me and a strength to them that they like, threw it all were like, no, I actually think this is going to work.

[Dan Soder]

I see that. I understand.

[Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I wonder what I would have done if I didn't have people behind me being like, you could do this.

[Dan Soder]

I understand that. That's like, that there is something about that where you're like, oh, I, I admire that. You were like, suck. And you're like, I don't.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

I just go, I know, I know. I. Let me hang it up, dude, I suck. I, I remember, like, telling my mom, like, I'm doing standup. And my mom was like, great. And then I was like, I think this is because I was doing it at the University of Arizona. I was doing like open mics every Thursday, doing like, MC weekends.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And then like going to Albuquerque and doing like, laughs out there, like, as an mc and then like the casino gigs. And finally I was like, I think I'm going to do stand up. And my mom went, listen, I just need you to get your college degree. She's like, that truly is, as a single mom, the only thing I care about. I feel like if you got your degree, it says, I did my job.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And I was like, fair. And then she's like, but after that, do whatever the you want.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

So then I graduated college and I was like, hey, I'm gonna do a year of stand up and working at KFMA here. Then I'm gonna move to New York and my mom, without even breaking batting, and I went, yeah, yeah, go for it. Go do that. And you were like, that's where I feel lucky. That's where I think it's a strength where other people had. Because I think a lot of guys get stopped that don't have the. Like, you, I am funny. And their parents go, no, you're not. You go, yeah, you're right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah, you're right. How many people are actually.

[Dan Soder]

Because me and you might have been crushed by that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. And I did it. My mom wanted the same thing. I dropped out for a year. And I did stand up. Towards the end, I wasn't doing. So I bombed so bad, I stopped for a few months.

[Dan Soder]

Those early bombs, oh, my God, it was brutal.

[Ryan Reynolds]

This guy had booked me. It was when I was living in the Hustle on Venice beach. And I just talked to him at a bar and he was like, there's this. This reggae band that's playing. You should come and do stand up in between them. And then he was like, it's the best reggae band in Venice Beach. They like, they were. And. And I did it. And I invited people from the hostel that I just started working at. I got so drunk, I went up there, bombed my tits off. And the guy that had booked me through the silence, looks at me and goes, I thought you were funny, man.

[Dan Soder]

Oh.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Through the silence. Oh, I got off. I was so embarrassed. The people from the hostel had seen it. People I have to live and work with. But I'll never forget the drummer, like this cool, like, blonde dude. I come out and I was like, I really goofed it. And he goes, hey, man, you know what they call that? Experience.

[Dan Soder]

Hey, yo, thanks, dude.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Thank you, dude.

[Dan Soder]

He goes, I'm gonna be dead in two years. Fun thing about me, I'm gonna be gone.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'll never forget that. But I stopped for like three months after that, and then I went back to school and just did stand up on the side and got my degree, stayed in LA for a year, drove for Uber doing standup. And then I was like, let me go back to Atlanta where it, like, you just can get better faster.

[Dan Soder]

I mean, it's a be from where I'm from.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I didn't want to be like a comic from Los Angeles. I wanted to be from Atlanta.

[Dan Soder]

That was always the thing. I thought, because I was in Tucson, which is close to la.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And I was, like, always obsessed with the New York guys. And I was like, no, no, I got to go to New York. And everyone that I did comedy with was like, l. A. Is right here. Like, I know. And they're like, who do you know in New York? And I was like, I know Morgan.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's sick.

[Dan Soder]

I know Morgan from school. And I called him. I still remember I was watching a Yankees Tigers playoff game, and I was smoking resin on and out on my little balcony on my porch in Tucson, and I went. Went, let me see if Morgan's living in New York. And I. I thought Hoboken was part of New York. That's how out. That's how stupid I was. And I called him, and I went, where do you live? And he goes, I live in Hoboken. And I was like, I think I'm gonna move out there. And he was like, you can live on my couch.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What a guy.

[Dan Soder]

And I was like, are you for real? And I just remember that because I was watching that playoff game, and the Yankees were what reminded me of, like, oh, yeah, I could call Morgan. He was out there, there. And he let me move out here. And then, like, January 6, 2007, I moved out to New York and had zero idea about this city. I had no idea where anything was exciting. This city is terrifying when you move here. I bet.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And how old are you?

[Dan Soder]

20, 22, 23. Yeah, you just, like, move out here. And I literally took a gypsy cab from LaGuardia that ripped me off. Ripped me off just to take me to Penn State. Yeah, rip me off. Me and another country bumpkin that landed at LaGuardia. And now I have, like, heat for gypsy cab guys. Dude, ask Sagala. We landed on Sunday. And the guy's like, get away from me. You took 200 from me when I had nothing.

[Ryan Reynolds]

200 is crazy.

[Dan Soder]

Ripped off. I'm an idiot. And I was a country pumpkin. And they good for them. That's how they survive. It's the law of the jungle. And they got me, dude.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I got one of those.

[Dan Soder]

But I remember being like, dude, it's like when you go to a difficult level in a video game and it's not unlocked.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And you're just, like, doing small moves, and you're like, I don't even know where I'm at. Moving into the city, I still missed that. Like, taking the subway the wrong way and being like, I'm in Queens. I was supposed to go downtown, like, just not knowing where I was. It was so exciting to be a loser and then struggling. Yeah, just struggling. That's where you got to find fun in it. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And that's where the booze really comes into play. The early year, early years of New York, dude. Just fumbling through open mics. Nothing better than get a little loose for that.

[Dan Soder]

Drinking at a bar, telling people at the bar you're gonna go do stand up. And they go, well, you got more balls than I do. Yeah, dude. I used to love the Shout Out, Stand up, New York's Sunday open mic. And I would do like, just hitting the mics. There used to be a website called Giggle Chick where she would list every open mic in New York. And I had it in my notebook. I had that notebook in la.

[Ryan Reynolds]

La. It was bad, Slava. Bad.

[Dan Soder]

I do. I remember that because the first time I went to la, they were like, oh, you look up bad Slava. All the mics you can get on. Because la. I. I would probably been in New York seven or eight years before I tried to go out there and do a set. And LA was not having it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, out. No, it was fine to come up. But, dude, I was doing like the hot cafe in this place called Marty's, which is just a guy who had an office space with three rooms in it. People from LA back ten years ago will tell you about Marty's three rooms in it. And you would just give them five dollars and you would go do stand up in the three rooms for other comics. One or two. One or two guys. And you were just running through your dude.

[Dan Soder]

I mean, Monday nights, barking for the Comedy Village in the West Village.

[Ad Voice]

Did it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You barked?

[Dan Soder]

Oh, yeah, Barked. You and dude, at the time I was barking, List was hosting the Monday night show. So he didn't have to bark. He was hosting. But the barking crew was like, me, Graham K, Andrew Schultz, Thomas Dale, what a couple other people. We were all wild. Yeah. And we'd all bark in the West Village.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I didn't bark in la. What I did was I did. You would. I worked at the Haha Cafe, these sketchers. And I would send a text blast. Text blast. It was like you just won two free tickets with comics from hbo Showtime call center. And half of the text back would be like, take me off this list. How many fucking. And I did that to do the open mic for free instead of paying $5.

[Dan Soder]

So texts weren't prevalent. When I was in Tucson in 04, because I started in 0405 06. I did Tucson 0426 and laughs. The comedy club had a Call room where open micrs would go in there and then just blast their phone list being like, hey, coming up, we got T.C. hatter and Marcian. Come check them out Friday, Saturday. And then they would get like, that was how they got into the club. And I. I. My buddy Matt, a bunch of people I knew do that. And I was like, I can't do that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I ran. I. I wasn't above. I ran like a bringer.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. I used to make calls for a bringer show.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Really?

[Dan Soder]

I have my old in that notebook. Gary Veder was on that. Gary Veter was on the list where I'd call for this lady. This lady picked me up, like, at a bus stop. She didn't. It was at the Stand Up, Stand Up New York, Stand Up New York open mic. And she was like, hey, I need help. I'll give you a spot every Monday on this show that, like, Jim Norton would do. Geraldo, Patrick. Yeah, the guys I idolized. And she was like, all you have to do is call these 10 people, get 10 people to bring 10 friends. And I didn't know what a bringer was. And then the second someone told me what that was, I was like, that's gross. And they're like, well, you're helping out. And I was like, oh, no, I'm not joking. I think I started doing that. I moved here January, started doing that in February, was done by April.

[Ryan Reynolds]

God damn.

[Dan Soder]

Being like, I don't want to do that. That's up. And she was like, well, then you'll have to bark. And I was like, I'll bark. I'd much rather bark than call people.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, the dirty dude.

[Ryan Reynolds]

This system that they did, it would be like, you'd ask. They would ask somebody to do the Monday competition show, and they'd be like, you give us $20, we give you 20 tickets. And then you sell those tickets however you want. And I think I was so hard up for stage time. I never pressed anybody to sell tickets. I never was the one that, like, pushed people to sell tickets. I just ran the soundboard, and I got to do my 10 minutes on the show.

[Dan Soder]

God, I wonder who is this equivalent in the Epstein files? I didn't. I didn't. Sending the kids. You go, all I would do is make sure that there was shrimp on the island for Jeffrey.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I feel shame. I've never admitted to this. This is like you just told your story of how you were morally above it. And I was like, well, no, dude.

[Dan Soder]

But here's the thing. I was morally above It. But I kind of knew what I was doing was dirty. And then when it was, Joe List was the one that put it crystal clear to me. He goes, you're helping book a bringer show? Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And I was like, oh. And he's like, you can't do that. And I was like, I got him.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Did you ever. Did you ever do a bringer show? Yeah, I did bring her.

[Dan Soder]

I brought Shout Out. Caitlyn Allgood. She's been married for a long time, but she was a high school friend. And she brought. She was in the city working at a. I forget where she was working. I think Hillstone. She's working at a restaurant. And I was like, you gotta come see me. You gotta come see me do stand up. And her and her boyfriend at the time came with my buddy. My buddy Vic. And I remember the lady was mad at me because I was supposed to have five people. And I brought three. And she went there. She went, well, now you're gonna go on late. And the show started at 8pm I went up second to last in front of five people. Three of them are mine. Two of them were the guy that went last.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Jesus.

[Dan Soder]

And the only reason I went second to last excited three. And he had two. And I remember going like. And I was so mad because the beginning of the show was packed, and it was. It was like, Jim Norton. Jim Norton specifically went up and I watched him, and I was, like, obsessed with Opie and Anthony. I couldn't say, yeah. And he walked out, and I was like, oh. And then I went up at. Like. I was mad because I'd been featuring. I'd been co. Featuring at Laughs with horseshit jokes. Yeah, horseshit jokes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You were featuring.

[Dan Soder]

But I was like, dude, I was doing 20. Now I can't even get three minutes on this bringer show. I was so mad. I was so mad. Yeah, that's what it was.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You said what it was. You moved that.

[Dan Soder]

But, you know.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Absolutely. When I moved from Atlanta, I waited till I was, like, pretty. Like, I was. I was good in the Atlanta scene. I. I was, you know, baby, I was working.

[Dan Soder]

Then you come here and I was good.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And they were like, you.

[Dan Soder]

And that's the thing about New York that I'll tell any comic that's in another city, no, you should move to New York. It's good for stage time. But just know, no one gives a.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, also, the sooner.

[Dan Soder]

No one gives a who you were in your scene, what you did in your scene. I moved. I convinced I was one of the people that convinced Shane to move here. And he was over in Philly.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And I remember walking him to the stand, in the stand, going, I don't give a. I remember him walking in the Cellar and going, this guy's hilarious. And they go, I don't give a, dude.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I remember when Shane. They were doing the. The auditions for this week at the Comedy Cellar.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. It was Fat Black at the Fat Black.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And Shane did a set and didn't get it.

[Dan Soder]

I talk about that with Liz all the time.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And I went up.

[Dan Soder]

I had to go to Liz and go, I promise you, he's hilarious. She was like, well, he didn't do well on his first. Estee watched me. He didn't do well. And I was like, I swear to God, this guy is good. Good.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The first time I saw him was. What the. Was that place? I forget the name of it. It was upstairs. It was up a long flight of stairs.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, on 44th Street?

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, down more. Closer to Union square, maybe off 14th.

[Dan Soder]

Long stairs.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Long stairs. Sort of had. It had a curtain. It was a long, thin room. Anyway, it was the first place I saw Shane, and I was just hanging in the back. And it was so. He was so funny. It was the joke about, like, his sister being on heroin.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, yeah, yeah. He's like, it's great if you hit her a guitar, but she just a nail tech or she works at a hair salon.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

You're talking about taking her to the amusement park.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah. It's great.

[Dan Soder]

It's online.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Great. And then I remember seeing that audition because I did the same audition the next night, and I went the first night just to see, and I just walked in. I was like, dude, you're so funny. And he's been so nice to me ever since then.

[Dan Soder]

He's the best. Yeah, he's just a good dude. But I. He was. He was king in Philly.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And I was like, well, you graduated. You beat the level. Come up to New York thinking, like, this is going to be a layup. No, this is a layup. And everyone was like, I don't give a.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's brutal.

[Dan Soder]

And you're like, so just know if you're a comic and you're thinking about moving to New York, get over the idea of them being excited you're here.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

You just have to be here. Show up, do well. People will take notice.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I was doing mad open mics. I was just muscling through it, and then eventually something catches and you start to. You get an idea what the scene is. You make your friends and then shout

[Dan Soder]

out to Rebecca Trent at the creek. Shout out to Lewis at Poster Dog. I found people that went, you're funny. Come, we'll give you regular spots. Because I was doing check spots and open mics, and finally when I got a real. Like, in front of a real crowd, you go, oh, I'm doing stand up.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. And then you just build.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Shout out to Maala.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. She put you up.

[Ryan Reynolds]

She put me up. She was one of the first people to put me up.

[Dan Soder]

Guys. Got to remember the first people that put you up, dude. Shout out to Chloe Ifshin, Wayne Raa, Louis J. Gomez, and Rebecca Trent were the three people that were like, I'll give you spots. Oh, and Dennis at the Laugh Factory. I hope you're all right, dude. He was the bartender. The booker got. It was the Laugh Factory in Times Square. It got. They sold it to a different company. It became Times Square Art Center. And then Dennis was the bartender that became the booker, and he was like, I think you're funny. I'll give you spots. And I was like, what's up? I was like, what's up? This is awesome. And then I'd get wasted too drunk. That was another thing. Michael Rowland's hilarious. Watch him on YouTube. Watch him on animal Control on Fox.

[Ryan Reynolds]

See him live season one through three on Netflix. Now, is it.

[Dan Soder]

They moved it to Netflix?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, we got something on Netflix.

[Dan Soder]

That's awesome.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's really helpful.

[Dan Soder]

Are you on the road at all?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Seen it now, dude, I'm gonna be. I was just in Rutherford, New Jersey, at Bananas.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. Shout out.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Shout out. Fun.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, not bad. Hotel, but it's fun.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hotel, but it's fun. They.

[Dan Soder]

They.

[Ryan Reynolds]

They're doing a good thing over there.

[Dan Soder]

They're doing all right. They've been around since the 80s.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I got no road dates after that, so hopefully something shakes loose.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, I mean, if I. I'm getting some new dates on the books, we'll go out together.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I would love to.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, we'll hang out.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I would love to.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. Hell, yeah. Michael. Rolling rules. And so do you. Thanks for watching this. Goodbye.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal, so there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment

[Dan Soder]

of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for a 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent to taxes and fees Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes me slow when network is busy see terms

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[Dan Soder]

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