Go Find Some Failure (w/ Chris Gethard)

Summary

Podcast Summary: Staying Alive — "Go Find Some Failure" (w/ Chris Gethard)

Podcast: Staying Alive with Jon Gabrus & Adam Pally
Episode Title: Go Find Some Failure (w/ Chris Gethard)
Date: December 4, 2025
Host Network: SmartLess Media

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Episode Overview

In this episode, comedians and longtime friends Jon Gabrus and Adam Pally sit down with Chris Gethard—comedian, writer, and advocate for mental health—to discuss the intersection of comedy, mental and physical health, aging, and the relentless pursuit of self-improvement (and the limits thereof). With the trademark raw honesty and humor typical of Staying Alive, the hosts and Gethard revisit wild stories from their pasts, reflect on how their relationships with substances and self-care have changed, and dig into why embracing failure and humility is vital to staying "alive" in every sense.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Journey: From Partying to Wellness

• Early Years & Party Culture:

  • The group recalls their 20s in New York: late-night meals, drinking at McManus, and eating food cart delicacies at 2 a.m. ([04:02]–[05:46]).
  • They reflect on how their lifestyles have shifted, emphasizing how unsustainable those habits are in their 40s.

• Sobriety & Family History:

  • Chris shares the story of quitting drinking at 21 after a series of troubling incidents and a family history riddled with alcoholism ([07:02]–[09:27]).
  • Memorable moment: Waking up on the McManus men’s room floor, chased off 7th Ave by “Satan in a clown wig,” which became a wakeup call ([08:05]).

  "I came from a family of drinkers… my mom's family was so beyond the pale riddled with alcoholism when she grew up." — Chris Gethard [08:35]

  • The conversation covers different ways men and women address mental health: therapy vs. exercise ([03:27]–[04:02]).

• Addictive Tendencies & Obsession:

  • Chris and Adam discuss obsessive personalities, and the danger (and utility) of channeling obsession into positive habits instead of self-destruction ([13:56]–[14:51]).

  "I am at my best when I point [my obsessive tendencies] in a healthy direction instead of trying to conquer them or pretend they're not there." — Chris Gethard [14:07]

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2. Finding Healthy Outlets: Jiu Jitsu, Comedy, and Humility

• Discovering Jiu Jitsu to Tame the Mind:

  • Chris details his journey into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as an alternative outlet for his energy, anger, and mania. The physical and mental challenge keeps him present in a way nothing else did ([15:00]–[22:21]).

  "When there is legit a 26-year-old kid who's on steroids... covered in prison tattoos... you're not thinking about your to-do list." — Chris Gethard [21:58]

  • Jiu Jitsu's community roots, its transformation from underground nerd haven to "crypto bro" cliché, and what made it so special for the group in 2006 ([16:09]–[17:38]).
  • A hilarious and memorable retelling of Gabrus and Eli's unskilled, bear-like sparring sessions, which became legendary in the NYC Jiu Jitsu gym ([37:36]–[39:32]).

  "They would make Chewbacca noises and fight each other for hours. It was like pro wrestling almost." — Chris Gethard [39:01]

• Addiction to "The Limit":

  • The hosts reflect on their mutual craving to be pushed to their limits—physically and mentally—through things like Jiu Jitsu, Bikram Yoga, and even standup and improv ([24:33]–[32:00]).
  • Chris acknowledges his need for humility and failure in an otherwise praise-driven career ([26:45]–[27:45]).

  "I love being humbled. Not everybody does... but I think a lot of people would be well served to do something that reminds them that you're not the fucking shit, dude." — Chris Gethard [27:14]

• Improv, Failure, and Growth:

  • The group discusses improv as the ultimate leveler—no matter how seasoned or famous, you’re always a line away from bombing ([28:14]–[30:08]).
  • Improv and sports as healthy training grounds for humility, teamwork, and learning to lose ([35:28]–[36:33]).
  • Notably, Gabrus is praised as a rare improviser comfortable being a rookie and willing to fail for the sake of learning ([33:02]–[33:43]).

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3. Balance, Identity, and the Reality of Success

• Career Recognition, Fame, and Staying Grounded:

  • The trio talk about sustaining a sense of self in show business—Adam is praised for his humility and perseverance despite achieving fame ([45:55]–[47:44]).

  "You're the only person I know that took it to the level you took it where then consistently your morals kept—you kept doubling down on your morals and being like, 'No, no, no, no... Good person has to come first.'" — Chris Gethard to Adam Pally [46:46]

• Cheat Days & Treats: The Reality Check:

  • Chris admits to battling workaholism and food obsession, sometimes using food as a reward for sobriety ([49:34]–[49:58]).
  • Gethard also discusses the evolution in his values after becoming a parent—a shift from self-focus to family and community ([50:12]–[50:51]).

• Isolation and Regret:

  • An honest reflection from Chris about being stricter with himself than necessary and sometimes self-isolating, leading to distance from friends ([51:25]–[52:31]).

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4. Service, Community, and Living for the Plot

• New Obsession: Volunteering as an EMT

  • For the past three years, Chris has been volunteering and driving an ambulance—a daily, anonymous way to serve community and find humility (and stories) ([58:18]–[59:51]).

  "Again, it's all balance. It's like I'm hyper focused on family. Family, family. Like, no, community as well." — Chris Gethard [58:34]

  "You are for the plot in this way that is like positive. Community, friendship, household." — Adam Pally [59:28]

• Why Balance and Failure Matter

  • The group concludes that seeking out humility, embracing new challenges, and leaving space for failure are key to staying healthy—mentally, physically, and artistically ([57:47]–[58:04]).

  "Go find some failure. I think that's a real part of health." — Chris Gethard [58:01]

• Teaching, Legacy, and Giving Back:

  • Gethard reflects on his influence as a teacher and mentor, bridging UCB’s countercultural roots with newer generations and helping people find their voices ([46:45]–[61:57]).

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Memorable Quotes

• On Addiction and Growth:
  "Moderation's never been my thing. But... even my positive habits, I sort of had to train myself to go like, okay, I have some addictive or obsessive tendencies, and I am at my best when I point them in a healthy direction." — Chris Gethard [13:56]

• On Humility:
  "I think a lot of people would be well served to do something that reminds them that you're not the fucking shit, dude." — Chris Gethard [27:14]

• On Balance:
  "You can be this, but that isn’t necessarily the sum of all your parts." — Jon Gabrus [64:19]

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Notable Moments & Timestamps

• [08:05] Chris’s drunken episode at McManus and moment of clarity
• [14:07] Gethard discussing harnessing obsession in positive ways
• [21:58] On why martial arts provides mental clarity
• [27:14] Gethard on why it's good to get humbled
• [33:02] Gabrus on being okay with being bad at something if it's enjoyable
• [39:01] The legendary “bear-like” Jiu Jitsu matches between friends
• [46:46] Chris praises Adam for remaining grounded after fame
• [49:34] Chris on food as a vice and post-sobriety treat
• [58:01] “Go find some failure” - the thematic thesis of the episode
• [58:18] Gethard’s new outlet: volunteering as an EMT
• [59:28] Adam on living "for the plot" and using that drive for good

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Tone & Atmosphere

The tone of the episode is irreverent, candid, supportive, and deeply personal. The hosts and guest are unafraid to share their struggles and dark sides but continually steer the conversation toward growth, humility, and service to others—all with plenty of laughs and inside references for comedy fans.

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Key Takeaways

• Addiction doesn’t disappear, but it can be steered.
• Humility is essential to growth—find something you’re bad at.
• Balance isn’t static; it’s a constant adjustment.
• Service, teaching, and giving back are critical to personal fulfillment.
• Embrace your history, but don’t be defined by it.
• You are more than your biggest success or failure—keep exploring new limits.

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For longtime fans, comics, or anyone wrestling with the tension between ambition and well-being, this is a quintessential Staying Alive episode—funny, vulnerable, and loaded with blunt truth.

Transcript

[Adam Pally]

Smart.

[John Ross Bowie]

Less media.

[John Gabris]

We're still alive, dude.

[Adam Pally]

We're still alive. Amazing. Even after however many episodes.

[John Gabris]

Yeah, we don't know where this episode is airing, but we are at least still alive. Hopefully this isn't like, got a special tag on the end if you want to donate to a memorial fund or whatever.

[Adam Pally]

Welcome to Staying Alive. I'm your host, Adam Pally.

[John Gabris]

I'm also your host, Johnny G. John Gabris.

[Adam Pally]

Today we have one of our longtime.

Favorites.

[John Gabris]

I've had like nine relationships with this guy over the years. Friend, mentor, friend of me, guy I was afraid of, guy I bullied, guy who bullied me.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah, but. But most importantly, one of the funniest and kindest people and one of the.

[John Gabris]

First people I ever really saw out of my friend group, pushing, like, mental health stuff and talking about it a lot.

[Adam Pally]

So, yeah, and again, that goes back to him just being just a good egg. With us today is the great Chris Gethard. And we'll be talking to him about how he's staying alive, about how comedy keeps him alive, um, and what we.

[John Gabris]

Learned doing all doing improv at the same place, and how we brought those lessons into irl, into non comedy ventures and whatnot.

[Adam Pally]

And.

It'S such a fun thing to get to sit with someone who you've known in so many different capacities and find out, like, how they're doing now.

[John Gabris]

Well, it's pretty wild to be like, yeah, you normally talk to someone in my 20s, it was like this. But we've known him since his 20s. Our 20s, our 30s, our 40s.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah. We've known him through many presidents.

[John Gabris]

Yes.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah. And now through our, our favorite king.

[John Gabris]

Our God king, Emperors. Thank you, sir.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah.

[John Gabris]

Please don't cancel our podcast with a executive order. I don't want them staying alive anymore.

[Adam Pally]

Podcasts are now specifically produced in Austin.

[John Gabris]

I like my podcasters to be dead.

[Ad Read]

Okay.

[Adam Pally]

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Gethard.

Well, Geth, thank you so much for being here.

[John Gabris]

It's rare that we get to talk about aging and getting old and staying alive with someone we've now known for 20 years and seen you change over the years and what that means for us as we. How we become different in our 40s versus our 20s. But we start every conversation with this question. Chris Gethard, what are you doing to stay alive?

[John Ross Bowie]

Oh, well, as you guys know, with me, it has sometimes been a struggle.

To want to.

There's a lot of.

[Adam Pally]

I feel you.

[John Ross Bowie]

For me, a lot of it is working on the mental health.

[John Gabris]

Hell. Yeah.

[John Ross Bowie]

And then understanding that begrudgingly admitting that some of that is also tied to the physical health.

[John Gabris]

That has been. I think my biggest lesson of my late 30s, early 40s so far is that you hear those people who are like, my brain does not work unless I go for a run. And you're like, what the fuck are you? And then you start getting into a pattern of exercise and you're like, I am happier. Yeah, I am. Let me rephrase it. I am less sad.

[Adam Pally]

Are you familiar with that meme or is it a meme? I don't know. So, like, that where it's like, women go to therapy and men start exercising. Have you seen that? Like, do you think that. That. That is maybe some part of it as well that, like, men are so neglectful of their own, you know, like.

[John Gabris]

Instead of, like, we. Instead of going to a therapist, we do like, back and by.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah. And like, sometimes it's like, you really. Again, we talk about balance all the time. Is like the. When you're feeling your best and you're staying alive and you're like feeling like, oh, I'm clicking. It's when you're doing both the mental to feed the physical and the physical. Hell yeah, the mental.

[John Ross Bowie]

I know too. For me, everybody always was like. Especially for us. Like, we were part of a culture where we all knew each other in our 20s and we would stay up all night. Everybody was out, like, drinking and eating at 2am which just sounds insane to me now. The amount of nights a week. I used to eat meals after midnight.

[Adam Pally]

Like, oh, and you'd mark. Well, you'd be like, well, if I have. If I'm coaching and then I'm going to do a show. I'm not gonna get out till 11. But I don't want to e before I'm on stage. I don't want to eat while I'm coaching.

[John Gabris]

I'll sit down and have a full steakums dinner at 1am I'll have a.

[John Ross Bowie]

Knockburst with cheese and bacon melted onto it at literally 1am multiple nights a week. That's so outlandish to me.

[John Gabris]

That is One of the questions we always ask is, what is something you used to do that you can't? Like, that is one of them. I ate after midnight and went to sleep at like 12:40. And it's like, dude, I was like, speaking the food out of my mouth. Like, I had like. It was just like I opened my mouth and I'm like, wow.

[John Ross Bowie]

Weird.

[John Gabris]

Tastes exactly like eggplant parm.

[Adam Pally]

I lived above a grace papaya so there would be nights where I'd be at McManus eating, like, getting hammered and eating and then walk home, and everyone would go to the train or whatever, and I'd get alone. Right When I hit 23rd Street, I get alone, and I'd hit that Grace Papaya again. Because I'd be like, well, I'm walking home.

[John Ross Bowie]

I lived in Jackson Heights, which you get off the train and you walk down Roosevelt.

[Adam Pally]

Everything.

[John Gabris]

You have to pass a thousand food.

[John Ross Bowie]

Carts where you're like, you know, like every six months, there's some article where they'll ask, like, the chef at Per Se, what's your favorite thing to eat? And he'll be like, I get this one type of corn pancake from a food cart, Jackson Heights.

[John Gabris]

And you're walking past it.

[John Ross Bowie]

All of them, every night on my way home.

[Adam Pally]

And that becomes good because you're like, well, it's inexpensive and quick, and I can go do the rest of my day without stopping. Yeah. Which is like the amount.

[John Ross Bowie]

That's the other thing I think of now. When I lived in New York, the amount of meals I had while physically walking from one place to the amount of days that I never actually sat down to eat is insane.

[John Gabris]

Yeah. I'd be like, I'll eat a slice on the walk to coaching. After that, I can grab a sarma. Yeah, I can walk and eat that. This I could eat on the F train. Hopefully I could sit. Nope. I guess I'm standing.

[Adam Pally]

Standing. Eating a rabbit.

[John Gabris]

Everyone hates me. I'm farting.

[Adam Pally]

You're opening up an egg salad bagel. Yeah, I know. It's the. It's. It was. It was wild.

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[Adam Pally]

And Geth. So let's talk about a little. And tell me if, like, we're off something you don't want to talk about, but. So you were always sober to me. I never knew you not. So.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah, I stopped drinking when I was 21. I had a few very bad incidents. One of them at McManus, where I was there with Shannon O'. Neill. None of you will be surprised. John Ross Bowie, mentor of mine before.

[Adam Pally]

He moved to LA this is all holding true. Bowie sober now too though.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah, yeah. And I was drinking. I was still in college and I was going pretty hard. And what they didn't know was that my dad had just been let go from his job.

[Adam Pally]

Ooh.

[John Ross Bowie]

And one of them made a joke that was very innocuous. Like two people who really loved me, like a lot of love. And one of them made a joke that pushed a button that made me think of my dad. And I lost it. And then I just kept drinking on top of it and wound up. I'll say a sentence that you both will react to viscerally and listeners will have no idea. Wound up literally face down on the McManus men's room floor. It was right before Halloween. And I went outside and started vomiting on 7th F. And a homeless man in a clown wig started like running up and yelling at me.

[Adam Pally]

Oh no.

[John Ross Bowie]

And Shannon had to pull me away. Cause I started yelling like, you did this to me, Peter.

[John Gabris]

Satan.

[John Ross Bowie]

Satan's in a clown wig. And the homeless guy got scared.

[John Gabris]

He's like a brother. You're going through something. Obviously I was like crying and vomiting.

[John Ross Bowie]

And Shannon, I remember Shannon telling me that he was like, he was getting away from me and I kept yelling Roy G, Biv, motherfucker. At his rainbow wig. His rainbow wig.

[John Gabris]

Red, orange, yellow. He's like indigo.

[Adam Pally]

I don't know how to take that.

[John Ross Bowie]

And that was. I came from a family of drinkers, my immediate family. My parents never kept alcohol in the house. And a large part of that was. Cause my mom's family was so beyond the pale riddled with alcoholism when she grew up. To the point where she has not even really told me even. Tip of the iceberg of the stories. I've asked her, like, I find it interesting, but I think you're going to.

[John Gabris]

Put this in your one man show.

[John Ross Bowie]

I think there is some part of her that's like, here we go.

[Adam Pally]

You know nothing, Chris.

[John Ross Bowie]

You'll never know anything. But the stories I do know are like, I do know that on one of their first dates, my grandfather opened. My dad knocked on the door and my grandfather opened the door and tried to fight my dad on the front lawn of their house. Like shit. Like hammered in the ass afternoon when he was picking her. Like things like that. That you're like, those are the ones I've heard. And my mom's like, I'm not telling you the ones that aren't. Yeah, funny on something.

[John Gabris]

There's two ways you go there. Because I grew up in A very similar, like, ancestry. But I learned. But I was like, well, that's how you're supposed to be. And I was. Started drinking at 13 and was drinking, like, all the time and getting that level of fucked up where if you're charming enough, people don't think that you have a problem yet, you know? And then now, in hindsight, I'm like. I'm, like, 25, asleep on the L train, missing my stop, both directions. You can't be doing that shit. Have all of my worldly possessions in my backpack, just sitting there, dead asleep, hammered. Like, I'd have to, like, move home if someone took my bag that had a laptop and an ipod in it.

[John Ross Bowie]

I had seen enough of it in my family and had someone very close to me who was in the thick of it back then.

And then there's also. I look back and. And one of the. You know, one of the ways that stumbling into the arts saved my life was I was like, that was a night where a bunch of people I really admired. Like, this was not in New Brunswick where I went to college.

[Adam Pally]

Right, Right.

[John Ross Bowie]

These were not my roommates dealing with me. These were people I really, really respected, and I wanted them to like me.

[Adam Pally]

They're two funny people.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah. And I was 21, and I knew. I was like, when I drink, I knew which relative I was like, when I drink too much, I start acting, like, blank. And I could fill in the name of a relative who I knew very, very clearly. And I was like, they are a.

[John Gabris]

Cautionary tale in your mind.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah. And I'm like, and. And, you know, not to put him on a pedestal too much, but when I was 21, I was like, I don't want John Bowie to see me like that.

[Adam Pally]

Right? Yeah.

[John Ross Bowie]

I don't want him to see me.

[Adam Pally]

Like, now you're like, it. You can see me. Big Bang Theory. See me however you want. No, but I. Speechless for me. I hear you. I mean. I mean, I think for me, I've been through so many stages of, like, never sobriety, but so many stages of just, like, figuring it out and trying to balance, you know, My grandfather drank, and I thought it was cool. And then I just started drinking in college, like, you know, and then I.

[John Gabris]

Started getting, like, Arizona State.

[Adam Pally]

Then I started getting fucked up in college. University of Arizona. Even worse, further away from an airport. Like, you're fucking. Like, you get fucked up more in the desert. You get fucked up in Tucson. And, like, you know, and I started with drugs and everything, which are the best. And, like, that you know, you. You just kind of are always looking for balance because you don't want to be one thing or the other. And when I found ucb, I feel like it was one of the first times, especially here in New York when we. Where we were starting, I was like, I don't want these people to see me.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah.

[Adam Pally]

In any other way than someone who is, like, the funniest, funny and hardworking. Yeah. It's like I want them to see me, like. And so the thought of, like, oh, I'm gonna get drugs, or, oh, I'm gonna get wasted. That didn't come in until I had mastered it.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah.

[Adam Pally]

You know, and then I had to feel another.

[John Ross Bowie]

But then.

[John Gabris]

Cause there's a party culture at UCB at the time, but really kind of like theater party culture.

[Adam Pally]

But it was.

[John Ross Bowie]

It went waves, though. Like, where it would. We can be honest at this point, because it's all in the, like, now it's new corporate ownership. It's a new space.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah.

[John Gabris]

It's an accredited universe.

[John Ross Bowie]

A lot of nerds and a lot of drinking. And then every four years, it would be like, everyone is doing Molly twice a week. There'd be these cookies, the pot cookie waves.

[John Gabris]

Shout out John Flynn. I wrote a book about it.

[Adam Pally]

No, you're fine. You're fine.

[John Ross Bowie]

A handful of cocaine waves. But where you go, like. Oh, the whole.

[Adam Pally]

I'd ride those waves pretty hard.

[John Gabris]

I remember Shroom wave. Yeah.

[Adam Pally]

I was a big fan of that.

[John Ross Bowie]

Now, I. I would say I never. Moderation. I. I walked a strange line in my life because I very much. Anytime I have fallen off the wagon, which has been very, very rare. A couple times during that Molly wave where I did, I had friends who were like, molly's the most chill drug. And then they really. I did it at Bonnaroo with a bunch of friends of mine, and they realized I started buying all the Molly I could find and just eating it back. I was like, straight up. And like, when I tell you that my whole life got dangerously fucked up for a summer, and I look back and go, oh. Because I didn't know research on how this drug worked. I had friends telling me, like, dude, you're as high as you're going to get. Save it for another time. At this point, you're just eating chemicals. Like, it's not going to give you any top off. Yeah.

[John Gabris]

You're. You're. And then receptors are.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah, exactly. And like, so moderation's never been my thing. But one of the weird things in thinking about staying alive is like, even my positive habits, I sort of had to train myself to go, like, okay, I have some addictive tendencies or obsessive tendencies, and I am at my best when I point them in a healthy direction instead of trying to conquer them or pretend they're not there.

[John Gabris]

Yes. They, like, harness your OCD force of power. If you're gonna get obsessed over something, it's like, maybe I should be obsessed with hiking rather than.

[Adam Pally]

But even that, I think that there's. What you just said is really insightful, Chris, because I think as someone who shares that obsessive gene, that's one of the hardest things for me is that when I get into something, when I like something, it's like you said, buy up all the mile. You can take it. All right, then. Because you want to experience it. So the hardest thing to manage is that need to go all the way with something all the time. To be so obsessed in everything that you're doing all the time that you were like, oh, no, I. I'm involved in it.

[John Gabris]

It's like, yeah, even healthy shit when you're, like, obsessed with it, and then you, like, miss a day and you're like, I'm not doing six days a week of this. And all of a sudden you're like.

[Adam Pally]

The anxiety with that.

[John Gabris]

Yeah. And then all of a sudden, you're, like, punishing yourself, even though six days of something is more than you've ever done in the past. But, like.

[Adam Pally]

Which leads me to a good question, Chris, which is one of the things that you were doing on your healthy side. I know.

[John Ross Bowie]

I feel like I was just about to bring up the same thing.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah, because you found Muay Thai, right?

[John Ross Bowie]

It was Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

[Adam Pally]

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

[John Ross Bowie]

But this is.

[John Gabris]

We found.

[John Ross Bowie]

I dragged you into.

[Adam Pally]

I was there, dude.

[John Ross Bowie]

You don't know these stories. I feel like.

[Adam Pally]

I feel like I might have been, like, ignoring your side interest in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at this point.

[John Gabris]

You might have you. Because it was very early on in my cuz. We all got into it.

[John Ross Bowie]

2006.

[John Gabris]

Yeah.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah, it was. It was that. That I.

[John Gabris]

Five guys without health insurance started. Really bad idea, terrible idea.

[Adam Pally]

But it was.

[John Ross Bowie]

It was.

[John Gabris]

Dominic Dergas broke his hand doing sambo.

[John Ross Bowie]

Oh, yeah. Like, tore. Tore almost tore his pinky off his hand. Oh, my God. But it was to be clear, too. I want to be clear, because a lot of people here, Jiu Jitsu now might be rolling their eyes because it's become a huge part of the culture also, like, very bro y, like, the best competitors in the world do steroids and just admit it now and like ties into a sort of crypto bro y thing now.

[John Gabris]

Very Podcast host.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah. And.

[John Gabris]

And Mark Zuckerberg.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yes.

[Adam Pally]

Right. Okay.

[John Ross Bowie]

In 2006, I would say it was still.

Pretty underground. Strange thing that you had to seek out. And I had started obsessively watching. This was before the UFC had blown up in America. I had started watching this really intense Japanese fight league called Pride that had almost no rules. And I became obsessed with it.

[Adam Pally]

Is that like one of the videos where like the giant, giant guy in the little.

[John Ross Bowie]

A seven foot man fighting like a 140 pound dude?

[John Gabris]

That's the Van Damme film Bloodsport.

But it is trying to be blood sport.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah. Okay.

[John Gabris]

I mean, even the OG UFC of the late 90s, that before it was MMA, was like Tank Abbott a bouncer, versus Frank Shamrock a karate master. And it would be like a guy would have like sneakers on. It's like since he's wearing sneakers, he's.

[John Ross Bowie]

Not allowed to kick.

Guys wearing Zubass pants. You know what I mean?

[John Gabris]

Well, the dude you're fighting is jean shorts and a tank top on. You're like, I think I'm dead.

[John Ross Bowie]

I was super into it. And one of the best fighters from Pride was a guy named Sakuraba, who was known as the Gracie Hunter because he kept beating members of the Gracie family when they were viewed as unbeatable. And the best fight was Renzo Gracie versus Sakuraba. It's incredible. And then when we were on the 30, UCB had their offices on 30th street and I worked there. My day job was through ucb and I found out, oh, Henzo Gracie has a gym and it's a half a block away.

[John Gabris]

And the Gracie family is Brazilian Jiu jitsu royal.

[John Ross Bowie]

They invented it. And Eli Newell and I both worked there. I was like, eli, come check out this thing with me. And we were just gonna like duck our heads in and be like, is it real that there's these MMA fighters training, like right across 7th Ave. From us? And before he and I exited, we both signed up. And very quickly we convinced Dom Dierkis, Gabris and Jesse Falcon to all do it too, within a few months.

[Adam Pally]

Sounds like a bunch of obsessive dudes. It was five of the most obsessive dudes.

[John Ross Bowie]

Palli, when I tell you so I did it for the longest. Me and Dominic, the two smallest guys, lasted the longest. Cause you big fuckers kept getting hurt. Cause you were maniacs.

[John Gabris]

Issue. And I'VE told this story before, but my issue with that was like, oh, you weigh 250 pounds. Here's the other guy in the class who's 250 pounds.

Shredded. And this dude pins me, pins my wrist down, and I tap, and he's like, you're not even in a move. I'm like, I couldn't breathe.

[John Ross Bowie]

This was also a culture so small, though, Adam, that when I tell you, like, we would be white belts in a class where, like, there was one day where I looked him in a class, and Georges St. Pierre was taking the same class as me, it was like a legend. Matt Serra was the welterweight champ at the time. He'd be taking the class. Rashad Evans. Like, actual UFC fighters are in the class.

[Adam Pally]

And is part of you there? Like, I loved it.

[John Ross Bowie]

I still do it.

[Adam Pally]

I know. Is part of you there? And the question is not, you know, it's like, when you sign up, are you like, this is a good way to exercise? This is a good way to like. Or is it more like, whoa, this is cool.

[John Ross Bowie]

This is like.

[Adam Pally]

And also skateboarding, or, like, you guys.

[John Ross Bowie]

Know me well enough to know now. I. I kind of feel like my reputation as I came up from the underground became like, here's this nice guy who talks about his feelings a lot. But you guys knew me when I was younger, and my reputation was like, he's a nice guy, and he's in getting in touch with his feelings. And everybody at UCB was watching me become this really honest guy. But also people were like, he's kind of an unpredictable mess. Always has a fucking weird.

[Adam Pally]

I don't remember Nice guy being the.

[John Ross Bowie]

I have told people that they used to view me as a little bit of a fucking maniac.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah, yeah, I would say unpredictable.

[John Gabris]

I physically fought you multiple times. Many times before we started taking Gracie Jiu Jitsu, where we would fight in the hot chicks room or in the back room.

[John Ross Bowie]

We would have.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah, yeah, but. But every, Every, everybody from that era that we came up with was unpredictable.

[John Ross Bowie]

To be frank, though, I had what would later be diagnosed mental illness. And I was still in the phase where I was pretty aware of that, but I was romanticizing that. So that meant sometimes stay up all night or be like, hey, everybody, I rented a bus and we're gonna do a show that takes place in New Jersey. And now it's me and a bunch of kids on a bus, which is like an artistic project, but also reflective of, like, some.

[Adam Pally]

Well, everything's reflective, right?

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah, Right. It's a Main Jiu jitsu is an extension of. I thought it was funny, I thought it was cool. And I also.

There'S a few things about it. Like, I really loved and to a degree still love, but have maybe let the ego go a little bit. I did love doing things that were out of character. I've always been small, I've always been nerdy. I am a physically weak person. But I also, again, not blowing smoke, not trying to sound tough. Like, I grew up in a way where I had scrappy, I had to learn how to fight and like physically fight. I saw shit going, going down. My brother was three grades ahead of me and got horrifically bullied. And my dad's like, why didn't you fight back? My brother goes, I don't know how. My dad goes, pick up a rock and bash in their skull. And you guys knew me in a phase where like, yeah, that was potential.

[Adam Pally]

That was potential.

[John Ross Bowie]

That was the. Like, I wasn't gonna go and murder someone. But no one who knew me in my twenties would be shocked that my dad was saying like that. No, like I was an angry guy at times and, and emotional. And Jiu jitsu was a thing that I quickly found. Probably signed up to be funny to show that it was out of character. But there were two things I w loving about it that keep me kind of dabbling in it today. Not like I used to, it used to be four times a week. But there's two things, which is one, I think for people who have some mania or some workaholism, some adhd, whatever it is, running on an elliptical.

[Adam Pally]

I'm not, I can't do it.

[John Ross Bowie]

I'm still thinking. I'm thinking about my to do list. I'm thinking about work when there is legit. A 26 year old kid who's on steroids and you know it, who's covered in prison tattoos. And I'm not exaggerating, John can tell you these are real people that we would go fight in a basement on 30th Street.

[John Gabris]

You would get choked out by them one week and the next week a young woman would choke you out.

[Adam Pally]

But then you took a class.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah.

[John Gabris]

Unfortunately, that was at ucb.

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[John Ross Bowie]

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[John Ross Bowie]

So there were two things about. It was one, I'm like, I would be. You would finish those classes and I would be sweating so hard that it looked like I just took a shower in my clothes.

[John Gabris]

Yes, because your ghee would stink in one day.

[John Ross Bowie]

This is not like grab a dumbbell and go like this. Like there's a chess match happening and if you lose the chess match, someone chokes you potentially to death. Like, you feel like you're dying every time.

[Adam Pally]

Have you ever. Have you ever. And I don't mean this is like a psychological challenge in any way, but have you ever thought about the need to be pushed to that limit? Yeah, because that is something like a lot of people who stay alive, they're, they're, they're like, like I'm doing this for the potential of being pushed to that limit. You know what I mean?

[John Ross Bowie]

I thought about it a lot.

[Adam Pally]

Why do you need to have that moment in the now?

[John Ross Bowie]

Well, there's a few things, which is one, some of it's clearly rooted in. I have a lot of anger in me historically. And it's good to put it here instead of other areas of my life.

[Adam Pally]

Of course, shouting at someone on the bus, which is something that only the two. Again, going back to what you said before is like the mental and the physical. That's something that you get. That's work you put in on the mental side.

[John Ross Bowie]

Cause I'm also someone who back then, like, if I knocked index cards off my desk, my girlfriend would hear Me going like, I'm a idiot. I should be dead. She'd be like, what I got? Clean up these index cards is what I meant to say.

[John Gabris]

I'm anti gun because if I spill my coffee, there's a chance I can grab the gun and blow my head off. I'll go full Manchester by the sea. And I live.

[John Ross Bowie]

I live in the woods now.

[Adam Pally]

And like, yeah, no one will hear that.

[John Ross Bowie]

Well, do.

[John Gabris]

You are Dad?

[John Ross Bowie]

I have, I have, have. You know, not to get too deep into it. I've had a couple stalkers in my life because I've done some very cult work, of course. And a friend of mine was like, hey, man, you live in the middle of nowhere. You should get a gun now. And I instantly said, no, kill myself. And we started laughing because it's true. And I will kill myself.

[Adam Pally]

Most people, that. That is like, statistically what happens.

[John Ross Bowie]

And me, guns and all me, I'm out.

[John Gabris]

I don't even. I. I haven't. Like, we don't hang out or talk that much, but if I had heard you got a gun, I would reach out.

[John Ross Bowie]

Oh, yeah.

[John Gabris]

This is weird.

[Adam Pally]

How did you hear?

[John Ross Bowie]

If everybody in LA starts hearing I got a gun, something's coming up.

[Adam Pally]

You hear about that? It fell out of his pants. On Pali's podcast.

[John Gabris]

John Ross, Bowie, get on the plane, we're going to save, get married.

[John Ross Bowie]

You know he would. You know he would. It's my boy. But you know what else I think about a lot that was very good about Jiu Jitsu for me was when I realized, like, I'm never going to be great at this. I actually think back to that era of my life, and.

I think a lot of people would be well served to do something that reminds them that you're not the fucking shit dude. If I'm being honest, we all came from a culture where, let's be honest, we're not being cocky because we put in the work and it was competitive as hell. But each of us had a phase at UCB where people were like, that's the fucking thing. Yeah.

[John Gabris]

We were big dogs.

[John Ross Bowie]

We all remember coming into the spotlight as big dogs.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah.

[John Ross Bowie]

And I love. I love being humbled.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah.

[John Ross Bowie]

And not everybody does. And we can see, I think, some of our friends who we won't name names, but like. Like there's some people we know who fell into bad, dark times, either through substances or where some people who we all know went and got famous and became like.

You saw actual mental damage and stress on them.

[Adam Pally]

Right.

[John Ross Bowie]

And I think some of that is when you're told you're the shit over and over again. It's kind of on you to go find an area of life where that will never be true.

[Adam Pally]

Well, I think I took an improv break for very long time, like five years or so, where I just, like, couldn't get on stage.

[John Gabris]

Sounds amazing.

[Adam Pally]

Well, I was scared of it, like, because I just had stopped for a little, and then I did a show where I was not in rhythm, like I hadn't done in a while. And I just became like, you know, all those things. You're like, maybe this isn't for me anymore. Maybe I'm not good. But in order to be good, you just have to do it. You know, you just like, that's the only thing.

[John Ross Bowie]

But you're also at a place now where you've been on TV and people are so excited you're there. But I know you well enough to know that you're like. Like, I don't want to just be, like, the guy who waves. I want to be good.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah. I want to be the best. I want to be in those scenes. I want to be good at it. And I think that improv is like an equalizer in that way. It's interesting you say that, because even though you are one of the best that I've ever seen in. And if we were like, you are one of the best at it, it's humbling because it's the one you can still even a lot line.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah.

[Adam Pally]

You know, like, I remember having killer scenes and doing one bad line. And you're on that line the whole time. You're running through it and you're humbled. And it's like, I think sometimes about people who are. Are doing shows that are just where it's. Where it's set up for success. And it's not that general improv. It's not wide open. You know what I mean? And I look at people who still do it wide open like that.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah.

[Adam Pally]

And I'm like, that's brave. That is really brave to, like, go out and keep doing. Cause you are humbled constantly.

[John Ross Bowie]

But see, I will say. And again, I don't. Who wants to get inside baseball about ucb? Too much? But at least in New York, and I think now that it's back, I get the sense that they're on top of this more. But I really didn't, like. Like, I know that I'm a crazy person, but I sort of felt like it hit a point for a lot of people where it Was like, cool. I'm on one of the weekend teams now. Now I never need to get notes again.

[John Gabris]

Yeah, yeah.

[John Ross Bowie]

Or now I never need to be held accountable again. And that's just not who I. I am.

[Adam Pally]

And those shows are set up to. For you to succeed, like, very much shows like to. To just to let the audience in on that. Like, yes, those shows are improvised, but they are set up in a way so that you will have a great show every week and you have a great house.

[John Gabris]

And it's not improv ner.

[John Ross Bowie]

You don't need to beg people to come anything. It's just the fact that it's a.

[Adam Pally]

Friday night, you're interviewing the audience, which is like a shortcut to success and sort of lazy.

[John Gabris]

Yes.

[Adam Pally]

It's like.

[John Ross Bowie]

And I know I was on Always pretentious as a tea. Like, I. For again, Inside Baseball. I sort of coached and taught your guys. Generation. I was probably coaching early in your generation.

[John Gabris]

You're big on flan.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah. I've coached your group, like, the best group I ever coached, John's group. But I was always. I don't know. And I'm not trying to be pretentious or say other people are wrong, but I was just like, man, I don't know. Like, I hate myself. I grew up Irish Catholic. I need someone to tell me what I'm doing wrong and what I can be doing better. Or else this isn't totally giving me the dopamine that I need, but something like jiu jitsu, where it's like, oh, right, I'm never gonna be invited to a tier of respect with this that I can coast. You can never coast at this.

[John Gabris]

So, yeah, even black belts can't coast. You know, I mean, it just doesn't happen because you just want.

[John Ross Bowie]

And if they can, they. They go and find the. So is one of the cliche things in jiu jitsu is a lot of people are like, you work for 10, 12, 15 years, then you get a black belt belt, and then you start learning Jiu Jitsu.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah, but yoga is. I was into bikram yoga for a.

[John Gabris]

Long, long after you saw the doc.

[Adam Pally]

Mostly after. Because I saw how. I just saw how easy it was to get your hands on people.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yes. You had not participated in enough pyramid schemes in your life.

[Adam Pally]

No, but I was like, one more. I. I was like, I should give.

[John Gabris]

My money to one more volleyball at night with Nexium. I'm doing Bikram during the day. And I got Thursday night games.

[Adam Pally]

No, my dad, me and my dad, my, especially my dad being like a health note was like really on beram early on because of what you're saying. Like an hour and a half in a sweat box, like that is pushed to your limit. Like those real bikram classes were looking back on it now, like not well.

[John Gabris]

You get like the serotonin release of surviving.

[Adam Pally]

Exactly.

[John Gabris]

Which is like a step, which I feel like you get with Jiu Jitsu when you don't get choked out and die afterwards. You're like, I worked really hard and I didn't.

[John Ross Bowie]

But you walked right up to that game.

[Adam Pally]

You were pushed, which is what you like, pushed to the precipice of survival in the now.

[John Ross Bowie]

But I'm not somebody who wants to go rock climbing. I don't even like roller coasters, like heights. But I, I do think, you know, I wouldn't have been able to articulate this then, but I just think that everybody needs to be responsible for staying balanced on some level. And it's like we were part of an adrenaline dopamine praise based culture where peop. You could become a bigger and bigger fish in this small pond and then eventually bust out beyond that small pond. And to me, I was just, I don't know, like, I just really got so much out of like, that's great. I had a great show on Friday. I had a great show on Sunday. My student, you know, like the classes I'm teaching are selling out, but I also have a fucking black eye right now and my shoulders popped out of the socket. And to me, that is healthy hard work. That's healthy both physically and mentally.

[John Gabris]

There's a part of me and like, I think this is something I say about myself, but I think you could attest to this. My superpower is I'm okay at being bad at something if I enjoy it. So I don't mind. Some people can't do stuff they're bad at. No, I agree, but like, I'm chasing that feeling. When you start getting good at improv and you start to see it and you see the scaffolding and it's like the major. And all of a sudden you're like, yeah.

[John Ross Bowie]

So you're like, here come the green numbers.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah.

[John Gabris]

I started playing rugby in College at 18, you know what I mean? Like, I learned these things late in life. I do martial arts now in la. I do Jeet kundo, Bruce Lee style solely because I enjoy doing it. It's very hard. But I also, I have a great rookie mindset. I'm okay being a rookie That's a.

[John Ross Bowie]

Great way to phrase it.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah, I don't have that. It's something that we. From being friends, like, I envy it completely. Especially when we would do stuff where we be put in situations like on the travel show or something. Because, Gabriel, like you said, like, let me. Let me add it. I'm not scared to fail or whatever. And I. I am. I want to be brief. Like, I want to know how to do it, and I don't want to look like a fool. And I feel like that is what has held me back in. In improv. Like, that's one of the first things I had to let go of. What holds you back as an actor? It's like, that's one of the first things I learned when I got on a set and I learned how to, like, translate this energy is like, oh, you have to let this moment go, because everything that's happening in this moment is out of your control. And people like, you could be in a dress on the. On the gwb and people will be driving by yelling at you, but, like, they don't know what it's for, you know? And so all that, like, letting go, ego killing kind of stuff is something that I am constantly battling is like, how do I approach this? By not being the best. And I think that's why I took an improv break, because I was like, I've never been the best at it. I know that. But I always liked doing it. And it's like, I'm very good at it.

[John Ross Bowie]

But in your head, you're not always underestimated. You've always talked yourself down in the game.

[Adam Pally]

But I. But I. But there's a reality to it, you know? Like, I like. I like knowing where I am. And I feel like part of it was you start to lose faith in it when you don't need it anymore. You start to go like, well, it's just a thing I did. But. But you do need it. And I'm finding. Because it balances. It's like that equal reaction of being like, I'm. You're getting it in the moment that you're just as good as the next line. And, like, I think that's important to people.

[John Gabris]

I think when you're talking about with the UCB stuff, I always found that. That I thought everyone that was on an improviser at UCB when I was coming up could have gained a lot and learned a lot from having to try it out for sports at some point in their lives. I think so, because that's where like, a meritocracy is, like, at its most naked, I think. And you learn that being on the football team, but only doing special teams and goal line offense or goal line defense is a part of the game. No one gives a fuck about you. The coach makes fun of you. No one on the team, like, respects you. But you're part of the football team and you need to learn the plays. And, like, even if I suck, I. I like that I was part of the team. And so, like, then I can bring that energy with me wherever I go and be like, it's okay. Because to me it was like, also, I'm a child of the middle class 80s and 90s, where it was like, you have to go do something. We're working. You have to, like, learn a sport. So I played everything, and I always was fine at being bad at stuff. I was never good at a sport until rugby. And that's only because everyone was learning it at the first time. And.

[Adam Pally]

And what a good lesson for kids, too. Like, I wish, like, this is a kids podcast. Yes, this is for children. Yeah, it's for kids.

[John Gabris]

We have kids producing it. It's like.

[Adam Pally]

It's like a reality show. You remember that reality show? It's like, can kids produce a podcast?

[John Ross Bowie]

They have to create a system of government.

[Adam Pally]

This is a new idea with some 8 year olds.

[John Gabris]

If you're listening and watching this, then they succeeded. The reality show went, can I also.

[John Ross Bowie]

I know this is not as health focused, but I just need this on record. And I don't know how aware you are of this, Gabriel, but, Pali, you'll love this. So Dominic and I stuck with Jiu Jitsu longest out of the five of us. Yeah. Jesse left first because he went so hard that he legitimately. Do you remember this? One of his pecs tore off.

[Adam Pally]

Right?

[John Ross Bowie]

Literally, his pec separated from his body. It was like a back of blood.

[Adam Pally]

Like a spatchcock chicken.

[John Ross Bowie]

It was a bag of blood hanging off his body.

[John Gabris]

You get like a bruise from your sternum to your bicep, more or less. It's disgusting.

[John Ross Bowie]

Then Gabrius and Eli left, in part because our friend Eli is what, six? Three?

[Adam Pally]

Yeah.

[John Ross Bowie]

He's a big guy and he's strong.

[John Gabris]

Yeah.

[John Ross Bowie]

And Gabrius and Eli would show up in the same classes and you have.

[Adam Pally]

To fight each other.

[John Gabris]

They didn't have to. They were the same. We were similar sizes and the same skill level. So a coach's dream is like, well, then you two should square off. But we were friends, and it Was we did not know what we were doing. There were moments where the coach had to come take Eli off of me because he's just got his board happened.

[John Ross Bowie]

To be separated in a gym where they were teaching you to fight. They Adam. It was a gigantic basement space. When I tell you people would be sparring, and there would very often be an entire quarter of the gym where everyone else cleared out to just like Gabrius and Eli.

[John Gabris]

Because we were not doing anything skilled. We were like street fighting without punching, rolling around.

[John Ross Bowie]

Dude, you keep whatever you're thinking can when I tell you because these like, I was this little funny guy who stuck with it forever. And the Brazilian, like, the instructors came to really love me. Like, they. For years after Gabrius and Eli left this gym, the Brazilian instructors would come up to me and they all called me Chris boy. And they'd be like, chris Boy, you're two friends who fought like the bears. Two alpha bears trying to kill each other. Who are those bear guys? And, like, people would be like, what are you talking about? And they. They'd be like, chris Boy brought these other comedians around, and they would make.

[John Gabris]

These noises we've never heard.

Distinct memory of. Eli had my GI in one hand and his forearm just on my throat. Not a move at all up against the wall, which is something that only happens in an octagon. He had me up against the wall, and I'm like, pushing him on.

[John Ross Bowie]

And we're like, when I tell you I would be in the fucking shower in a different room room and would hear literally, like, two unskilled guys yelling versus green. They would make Chewbacca noises and fight each other for hours.

[John Gabris]

It was like pro wrestling almost.

[John Ross Bowie]

People asked me about it for two or three years.

[Adam Pally]

People going to sign up and they'll be like, is that part of the.

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[John Ross Bowie]

Lands we all share and love.

[Adam Pally]

Donate now while gifts are triple matched to help defend public lands. Visit wilderness.org donation Ten years from today.

[Ad Read]

Lisa Schneider will trade in her office job to become the leader of a pack of dogs as the owner of her own dog rescue. That is a second act made possible by the reskilling courses Lisa's taking now with AARP to help make sure her income lives as long as she does. And she can finally run with the big dogs and the small dogs who just think they're big dogs. That's why the younger you are, the more you need AARP. Learn more at aarp.org skills.

What can 160 years of experience teach you about the future? When it comes to protecting what matters? Pacific Life provides life insurance, retirement income and employee benefits for people and businesses building a more confident tomorrow. Strategies rooted in strength and backed by experience. Ask a financial professional how Pacific Life can help you today. Pacific Life Insurance Co. Omaha, Nebraska and in New York, Pacific Life & Annuity, Phoenix.

[John Gabris]

Arizona.

I should say I think one thing being unsaid here, not in a bad way, is that that you finding Brazilian Jiu Jitsu too is something where it's not about brawn, it's about like mindset, skill and tenacity. When you're like three.

[John Ross Bowie]

Things. That was the only thing I had. I had that as much as anyone in the.

[John Gabris]

Gm. You also have the desire to learn like the, you know how they call it chess? Like you know.

[John Ross Bowie]

Whatever. It's like I've entered tournaments, I've like gone to tournaments where there's hundreds and hundreds of people and you walk out in the middle and fight another.

[John Gabris]

Man. One of the best things I've.

[Adam Pally]

Ever seen was a photo of you.

[John Gabris]

In in your non geek like in your rash guard like blue long sleeve rash guard just seeing gather and I'm like homies in a tournament.

[John Ross Bowie]

Dude. I would be.

[John Gabris]

Funny. I thought it was a black and white photo on.

[John Ross Bowie]

Instagram. There was a guy I fought and the dude like afterwards the dude beat my ass. They keep points and it was like 21 to 2 on the point like he thrashed me but he came up to me afterwards and was like dude, holy fucking shit. And I'm like right. We were in it for different reasons. I can respect the fact that you do vertical push ups and work really hard at this and are good and you can respect the fact that I made you work your ass off for it more than you thought. You have heart and we're both kind of accomplishing our goals there. And the where the bar is set now, that's also in an era of my life where I'm doing Sunday nights at UCB and I'm doing three nights a week at the Comedy Cellar and I'm hosting a live Talk show on TruTV which is a national platform which no one saw coming from my public access show. Point being like.

All of those things are demonstrative of probably an obsessive Desire. I have to direct some bad parts of my personality, some maybe addictive parts towards, like, it's on you to keep yourself.

[John Gabris]

Sharp. But even, like, the Chris Gethard show is like, if you're comfortable letting a stranger choke you, you're probably going to be comfortable walking out going, what the fuck is the.

[John Ross Bowie]

Prince? I remember once, and I won't name names because it would be unfair, but I had this talk show and it had a large cast. Adam did it a few times.

[Adam Pally]

And I exercised on it for an hour.

[John Ross Bowie]

Straight. You were always so great on the.

[Adam Pally]

Show. That was one of my favorite bits, because it really did. Like, first of all, my dad was impressed because he was like, you went.

[John Ross Bowie]

Exercise. I'm like a crazy step.

[Adam Pally]

Machine. Yeah, I was on a step climbing. That's like what LeBron does in between sets, you know, for like a minute. I was for, like, 15 straight. But, like.

It was graves chaos. It was like controlled.

[John Ross Bowie]

Chaos. But it was also a little scary to walk onto live, especially when we went to.

[Adam Pally]

Cable. It's pushed to the.

[John Gabris]

Limit. Much like everything you do that's scratching some similar itch to walking into Jiu Jitsu and to walking out on stage and to telling these hyper personal stories on HBO or.

[John Ross Bowie]

Whatever. But also with my show, too. It was like, everybody at UCB has a phase where they're like, put me.

[Ad Read]

Online.

[John Ross Bowie]

Like. Like snl. All of us have to reckon with the day. SNL doesn't want us. When you get good enough, at some point, they will decide if they want you or.

[Adam Pally]

Not. Of course, if you're staying, if you're in New.

[John Ross Bowie]

York. I wrote for two weeks. Was my version of that's Pretty Far. I got so.

[John Gabris]

Close. I submitted an awful audition tape as requested. And I don't do impressions or anything or characters or even learn.

[John Ross Bowie]

Lines. I always felt like with you, there was a very admirable quality. And I'm not trying to blow some smoke. Doesn't get me anything but where I'm like, there is a part of you that knows, like, if I go and crush this the way they want me to, maybe I'm the next.

[Adam Pally]

Letterman. Oh.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah. Like, I could get put in that spot. But I. I have learned over the years that there's a part of you that's like, I can't do it. If I think it's gotta get it, you think it's. I can't do it. I gotta do it the way that tells me it's the right way to do it. Even if I know they're going to cross me off the.

[Adam Pally]

List. Oh, yeah. This thing for sure. But. And that's. And I think that that's the other side of it. I mean, talk about balance, right? Like, I learned through UCB at a young age. Like I was saying to you is like, that's what makes me good. Yeah. You know, everybody has that thing that's what makes me good is that I can do that. And a lot of people don't like, what's good about you in. In is that you have that rookie attitude. Who makes me good? Is that like, like, I'll stick to it. I'll double down. I'll triple down if I like it. But if I don't like it, I'm like.

[John Gabris]

Out. Well, that's when your good taste comes into.

[Adam Pally]

Play. Luckily, I have decent taste, so it like, doesn't being funny. And I think decent morals also.

You know, it's like that if. If it's. I'm not going to hurt someone. And it's like that means a lot in your. In your everyday life. And those, those. Those things can be. If you're a good person, you try to be. Be. You can pertain that to everything you do. Right.

[John Ross Bowie]

See. And another thing, again, not to blow smoke. I also have many good things to say about John, and I get a.

[Adam Pally]

Chance. He gets it a.

[John Gabris]

Lot. I'm.

[John Ross Bowie]

Fine. But another thing that I always was so impressed by with Adam, and I just want to say it on public record because we don't get to see each other much or do it too much, is I have known a lot of people who have gotten very famous. You are one of the only ones I know. Like, I have seen it make people worse. I have seen it make people reclusive. That's always.

[John Gabris]

Heartbreaking. People's teeth white and.

[John Ross Bowie]

Straight. You've seen it make people straight. But you know what I mean? Like, there are friends who I was intensely close with who don't answer a text anymore, and you go, oh, fame fried something in them and we can't connect anymore. And it's sad. I always was like, one of the things about you that again, it ties into health. So I want to bring it up. I'm like, you're the only person I know that took it to the level you took it. Where then consistently your morals kept. You kept doubling down on your morals and being like, no, no, no, no, no. Like you just said, good person has to come.

[Adam Pally]

First.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah. In a way that I've always really.

[John Gabris]

Admired. Always admired a strong, healthy sense of self is what you have too. Like, you know, you are a great actor who can play all different types, but you never ever feel.

[John Ross Bowie]

Inauthentic. And it never fucking chewed you up and spat you out like it did some of our other.

[Adam Pally]

Friends. I think luckily. And those are the sweetest things that I'm not equipped with to. As. As equipped as I'd like to be to take compliments like that, because I really do. It makes me feel great. But you know, and this is not to downplay my career at all, but I've been lucky enough in my career to never have it go the way you think it's going to go. Even if. Even if things are going right, it's never quite that thing. And I think that that's lucky in a lot of ways because I've been around a lot of people that we know who from the moment they stepped on that ship, it's been to outer space and it never slows.

[John Gabris]

Down. I don't know if this is the right terminology, but I think that makes people.

[Adam Pally]

Soft.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yes. And I think you roll with the.

[John Gabris]

Punches. Even being successful, you've still had to grind.

[Adam Pally]

Successfully. You always grind. You always grind. Yes, I've had really lucky and I've been able to get stuff on the air and stuff, but that's a grind. And you get one year usually. I can't remember last year, it's.

[John Gabris]

Like King of the one season show, which is a huge success to get one season.

[Adam Pally]

Huge. But like those. That's. It's all part of what you're saying. Like you are constantly humbled and if you're not humbled by all this stuff, then something's up that you can't see it. If you can't like, you know, and I think that that's a really unhealthy part of this business too. Which leads me to one of our last questions. I'm sorry if we've kept you here longer than. I love.

[John Ross Bowie]

It. I love getting to catch up with you.

[Adam Pally]

Guys. I always looked at you as like a.

Sober. Even though you were unpredictable, you very good head on your shoulders. Like you knew. I tried. You knew what was right and wrong and how to get there. You know.

[John Ross Bowie]

Sometimes. Sometimes kill my.

[Adam Pally]

Detriment. You might kill someone, but like they probably deserved. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Then they were ready. Then they were.

[John Ross Bowie]

Ready. I will say this. If I had ever flipped out and killed someone, at the very least my friends would have been like, yeah, no, that's really fucked.

[Adam Pally]

Up. I would be like, what'd that guy.

[John Ross Bowie]

Do? That being said, we all kind of knew.

[Adam Pally]

That. Yeah, but what do you do that's maybe a cheat? Like, what do you do in your life that balances it out on the other side where you're like, whether it's like a levain's cookie or like, you know, a video game, like what? Cause we all have things that fill a hole differently. And like, what are some things that you.

[John Gabris]

Do? What do you do to treat.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yourself?

I have struggled with food in a way where I've realized, oh, I have justified in my mind that because I don't drink and because I don't do drugs, that I can just pound insane food relatable.

[John Gabris]

Men. Like the second I take time off drinking is when I'm ordering way.

[John Ross Bowie]

More food because I'm like, well, I'm not drinking. There's workaholic tendencies in me that I've really had to battle back against and that I'm not.

Thrilled.

[Adam Pally]

About. You know, so you get joy. Joy, like when you're cooking on an idea and, and, and I know you some. So you get obsessed with.

[John Ross Bowie]

It.

[Adam Pally]

Yeah. And it's like, oh, I got a good one here. That's joyous for.

[John Ross Bowie]

You. Yeah. But I've also, I don't know, it's so cheesy to say, but there's also truth where I'm like, now that I have a kid, I kind of don't give a about any of that. Like, I just, I just wanna, you know, I've always viewed myself as like, I'm a worker. Like when. Right. I blue collar and like, you know, and you knew, you know, where I grew.

[Adam Pally]

Up. Yeah, that was our, always our.

[John Ross Bowie]

Bit. Like every, every, you know.

When the strikes come up, like, I'm never more motivated, never more active than when I can hit a strike line because I'm like, right, we're fucking workers, let's go show them. You know, like. And I know that sounds pretentious, but it's real.

It's tough to almost say like, I don't know that I have any cheats because that sounds like moralistic. I would actually say like the question is almost making me regret an aspect of myself which is like, I'm sorry. No, no, no. In the sense of like, I wish like you guys know me. Like, you guys are so kind and we did come up in a way where when you're saying like I was a mentor to your guys generation, it means so much to me, but nobody would ever be like, gethard was the life of the party back then, you know what I mean? Like, I never, I never have learned how to let my guard down in a way. So I think there's also some, some.

Self isolating tendencies or some like, go live in your own head and create a dialogue that's not totally rooted in what people are actually saying or thinking. Or some like self pitying that I've always fallen into. You know, I can sometimes like look back at old stuff I did where I'm like going off about the injustice of the world and I'm like, oh, I was like scared and self pitying and that's not an appealing thing to see. So I think I sometimes almost. There's a part of me that's like, I wish that I trusted myself enough to just have a glass of wine and trust that it wouldn't bring out a demon in.

[Adam Pally]

Me. Right.

[John Ross Bowie]

Right. Cause I think, if anything I do think I have a good head on my shoulders and a good sense of ethics. But I also think that has at times made.

[John Gabris]

Me.

Sort of like stricter with yourself than you would.

[John Ross Bowie]

Have. You sort of like closed off and at times unable to. I often see people like.

There are a lot of people who stayed close with each other who would say that I had a major impact on their lives and we are not.

[Adam Pally]

Close. Right? No, I know that.

[John Ross Bowie]

Feeling. A lot of that's on me. You know what I.

[Adam Pally]

Mean? I know that feeling. Then there's also like, you know, you're a Nick fan, you like sports. It's like that on some level that is. We used to play basketball together. That is, that is, is one of those things that as I've gotten older and it hurts to play basketball, it's like, you know, that is a morning of another kind too where you're starting to like let go of those.

[John Ross Bowie]

Things. Have you joined the old man game at the Y.

[Adam Pally]

Yet? No, I haven't. I am, I. It hurts. Like I played three weeks ago and it was.

[John Ross Bowie]

Bad. I go to a Y where there's always like a court with the younger athletic guys and then you play with the old guys and then the.

[Ad Read]

Court with the old.

[John Ross Bowie]

Guys. And like the first time I always go with my butt buddy who lives down the block. And the first time that I was like, have fun man, I'm going with the senior citizens. He was like, yeah, I knew this day would.

[Adam Pally]

Come. I stopped in on my old LA game which was just Dad's like three weeks ago. And I got worked to the point where like it was one of those things where I was sweating walking back, and I think I said to someone, God, I forgot how big the courts are. You know, it's like, yeah, no, you're where you're.

[John Ross Bowie]

Like. But for all Gabrius craziness and your reputation as this, like, big, bombastic guy, I've told many students, probably the only. Actually, what I would say was technically perfect improv scene I've ever seen start to.

[Adam Pally]

Finish. This guy with.

[John Ross Bowie]

Who? Fuand running a group.

[Adam Pally]

Game. A group game is the best.

[John Ross Bowie]

Group game I've ever.

[Adam Pally]

Seen. Wow. What was the initiative? Did he.

[John Ross Bowie]

Initiate? I didn't tell you the whole thing. I've told so many.

[John Gabris]

Students. Tell me. Remind me, because I.

[John Ross Bowie]

Don'T. Gabrius walks out into the middle of the state. And fond was this group that was known for just, like, take the experimental biggest fucking swing you can and then get each other's backs, everybody. And, like, if it doesn't look right or feel right and the students don't know what they're looking at, great. So, dude, Gabris steps out to the center of the stage and just goes and freezes. And because Fuan was really daring. Yeah, everybody else just.

[John Gabris]

Freezes. Now I'm.

[John Ross Bowie]

Remembering. And they all, like, start glancing at Gabris, and he just stays still. But when you're teaching beginning improv, it's like, well, what if his move is stay.

[Adam Pally]

Still? Stay still?

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah. How do you say yes, you stay still too. How do you say. And you stay.

[Adam Pally]

Still. More of you.

[John Ross Bowie]

Stay. So how do you stay still more? You just keep doing it. And they just fucking stood there for way too long. And then it got. I'll never, ever forget, it got this round of giggles where the whole crowd was like, I guess they're just gonna, like, stand there for a. And they still didn't fucking.

[Adam Pally]

Move. Love.

[John Ross Bowie]

That. And stayed there. And it went silent again. And that's where I as the coach in the room was like, ooh, we're past the laughs. Like, that probably should have been quick. And then you edit up. No, Gabriel's just fucking stood there. And I see them all, like, not. Not even that hard. Just, like, glancing over at John every now and then. And then everybody starts laughing again. And then the whole room just starts fucking clapping and doing that thing at UCB that would sometimes happen where they would stomp their feet on the rafters when it was really.

[Adam Pally]

Weird. We gotta nail that.

[John Ross Bowie]

Down. And it. Dude, it just, like, built into this fucking thing. Thing that brought the house down. And then just as that was cresting not the first one where I would have bailed and been like, cool. This is almost like a blackout thing. Gabriel's waited it out. As that one's cresting, he goes, she's gone. And they all go, huh? The whole scene was.

[Adam Pally]

Just. Yeah. Waiting for.

[John Ross Bowie]

It. This woman might see us. Everybody stay.

[John Gabris]

Still. It made no sense, but it.

[John Ross Bowie]

Was, yeah, I love it. I sit there and I go, when you teach improv, you're like, the let, like, part of ucb. Why I think their system works is like, hey, get to the very first thing you need and then stop working hard and just keep milking the first thing. Right? So I'm like, the fact that you guys could find a thing, nobody said a word, and nobody moved. And it heightened to the point where everybody's stomping and clapping and cheering, and then you put a button on it that was three words long and got an extended ovation for literally doing nothing. I'm like, I would argue that in many ways I've never seen. And how many improv scenes have I done and watched over the years where I'm like, I don't think I've ever seen one. That the fuel burned that.

[Adam Pally]

Efficiently.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, every single thing got burned to its maximum possible efficiency with zero fat on it. Not an extra word, not an extra movement. Nobody twitched a muscle that didn't need to be.

[John Gabris]

Twitched. That's.

[John Ross Bowie]

Crazy. And you had a standing ovation for it. So everybody out there who's like, john's the big crazy guy who's always doing the crazy. It's like, well, I also saw him do something that was almost like the Bonsai tree version of a group game in an improv scene. So don't let this man fool you. He's also really.

[Adam Pally]

Smart. And wait till you see him take a flat chicken wing off the bone with no hands.

Like a cartoon cat. But that's the duality. That's the. The balance. I think, like, that's the thing that we've really learned and talked about a lot here with you, Gu, is like.

It'S not all one thing. I mean, you're the guy who could, you know, recite big lyrics and Morrissey songs. And, like, that is the duality.

[John Ross Bowie]

Right. Like, you want to know about this balance, right? Of, like, the big crazy guy is also really smart. Like, getting really famous. You gotta make choices that go with morals, even if they alienate. Like, you're getting a lot of success and praise for it. Go find some.

[Adam Pally]

Failure.

[John Ross Bowie]

Exactly. I think that's a real part of.

[Adam Pally]

Hell. So the way I'm going to look into this, I'm going to. I'm going to go back on stage again.

[John Gabris]

More. I'm going to take this little double XL sticker off my sweater that I've accidentally left.

I mean.

[John Ross Bowie]

Xl.

I didn't even tell you guys what my new thing I do.

[John Gabris]

For. Please.

[John Ross Bowie]

Please. At the time, my new obsession. And it, again, one of these things that brings some balance to my life is for the past three years, I've been volunteering and driving an.

[Adam Pally]

Ambulance. Oh, you did send me this.

[John Ross Bowie]

Yes. And I'm obsessed with.

[Adam Pally]

It.

[John Ross Bowie]

Magnanimous. But again, it's all balance. It's like I'm hyper focused on family. Family, family. Like, no, community as.

[Adam Pally]

Well. But that's such an anonymous thing now. Have you saved. How many lives have you saved? Like, can you count? Like, do.

[John Ross Bowie]

You. I had one neighbor who rang my doorbell and she was. We had picked her up. She lived three hours away from me, and she was like, I went into emergency surgery. I would have died. And it's like, crazy, you know.

[Adam Pally]

I mean, that's an.

[John Gabris]

Amazing. This touches on a lot of gethard stuff too, because.

It'S nice. It's a.

[John Ross Bowie]

Good. But it's also.

[John Gabris]

Weird. But it's also weird. And it also lets you, and I would say, even more important than it being weird, AKA the author of Weird New Jersey. But also it lets you be around people who aren't comedians, who are.

[Adam Pally]

Locals and who need.

[John Gabris]

Help. But you love. You love that world. You love that world of like. Like, I.

[John Ross Bowie]

Met. And you get to go into other people's.

[John Gabris]

Houses.

[Adam Pally]

Exactly. What.

[John Ross Bowie]

The. Is going on in.

[Adam Pally]

Here. I mean, g, you are truly like, for the. You. You know how people, young kids say, like, for the plot, there's you. You are for the plot in the positive way where it's like, you know that that power can be used in darkness too, by like, tanking something and making it. I've seen it, I've done it. But like, you, you are for the plot in it in this way that is like positive. Community, friendship.

[John Gabris]

Household. It's like, we should talk about that on Nights of Our Lives. Yeah, I think sometimes we're doing stuff to have the.

[John Ross Bowie]

Stories.

If you go like, this is who I am and have these instincts, you go, I'm built like, I get scared because I'm like, kids like me now are built to get sucked into like 4chan and Reddit and like, real dark corners of Internet. Could have been you that would have been me. And I was on like the early Internet and was participating in some real weird stuff, looking back on it. But it's so dangerous now where I'm like, I think there's something healthier about take that instinct and be like, what if you go sign up to fight UFC fighters.

[John Gabris]

Instead? What if you do jujitsu? What if you drive an.

[John Ross Bowie]

Ambulance? What if you get out to.

[Adam Pally]

Life? What if you teach improv to people who are like, maybe weren't able to come out of a shell? I mean like a lot of that gethard. I mean, you're responsible for a lot of people's like, you know, kind of burgeoning awakenings in a lot of ways, whether it's physically saving their lives or.

[John Ross Bowie]

Mentally. Well, you know, with UCB 2, we were there when it was still legitimately had some shades of counterculture. And I do look back and I'm like, oh, my older brother taught me about punk rock and independent radio and underground comic books and fanzines. So when I got there and met there was John Bowie and Dinah Moe and Brian Husky. They all came from the punk rock world too. And I was like, oh, there's the counterculture crossover here. And I was happy because I straddled it. I was the youngest of the first generation and then kind of the big brother to the people after me. And I felt like I looking back on it, I wasn't necessarily intentionally doing this, but I think a lot of the people after me, it had become a thing of like, you could get on SNL coming here. And I was one of the last people that was like.

[John Gabris]

Or.

Do you know, have you heard of mnn.

[Adam Pally]

Or, or you'll find your own voice and make something that.

[John Ross Bowie]

You. I have a key to the theater. We can go do a secret show at 3:30 in the morning and not tell anyone we're doing it to see who shows.

[John Gabris]

Up. General shows up in a pizza with the Thursday night brew.

[John Ross Bowie]

Crew. Yeah, I was happy to maybe.

[Adam Pally]

Help some people go, I did, before.

[John Ross Bowie]

You get famous, get.

[Adam Pally]

Good. I really think you did. And those people may, may not be able to give you like the.

[John Ross Bowie]

Thanks. I'm not hung up on.

[Adam Pally]

That. We will. We, we.

[John Ross Bowie]

Will. You guys are very kind and.

[Adam Pally]

Say thank you again for coming.

[John Ross Bowie]

In. Oh, thanks for having.

[Adam Pally]

Me. And we hope you come back.

[John Gabris]

And.

We hope to see you again. Just not while you're in the driver's seat of your ambulance and we're lying.

[Adam Pally]

Down. I mean, that's where I assume you'll.

[John Ross Bowie]

See.

I Went on a call a few weeks ago where.

A girl passed out. And when we got there, she was very. She was okay. She was very out of it, but she was in her. It was his. She was with her boyfriend, his parents. Basement home for winter break. They were college. And we were like, dude, just tell us honestly what you guys were up to that made her pass out. And we thought it was drugs. Yeah, right. Like, that's what you think. He's like, well, I'll be really honest. He was the sweetest kid. He's like, I'll be really honest. Like, we were having sex, and then right when we finished, she just passed out. And I don't know. And I was like, oh, he thinks he fucked his girlfriend to death. Like, no, dude, she has an underlying condition. You're good, dude. Like, I promise.

[John Gabris]

You. But for real, let that sit in your head. However you want. Now that she's.

[Adam Pally]

Okay. I would have paid Eddie to be the other paramedic there and be.

[John Gabris]

Like, yeah, doc, my wife only passes out before.

[John Ross Bowie]

Sex.

It's crazy. She has this medical condition where as soon as I indicate I want.

[John Gabris]

Sex, she gets woozy and falls checking her egg. I don't know what happens.

[Adam Pally]

With.

Oh, dude, this is the best. Thank.

[John Gabris]

You. Thanks for coming.

[John Ross Bowie]

On. So.

[Adam Pally]

Fun.

That was so. Honestly, that was really.

[John Gabris]

Heartwarming. Yeah, it was very nostalgic for me and hearing about. Hearing some old memories that I forgot about was. Was really fun. Fun. Remembering taking Henzo Gracie's Brazilian jiu Jitsu together was really.

[Adam Pally]

Interesting. I. I really enjoyed talking to Gethard and just being kind of back in that space again. You forget sometimes that these people who maybe you don't see all the time, but we spent an intense amount of time together and, like, it's nice to see him doing so well and be so balanced and. And to still be so.

[John Gabris]

Funny. And I think our big takeaway from talking to him is that idea of balance of just, like, you can be the this, but you don't. That doesn't have to be who you totally are. You can be that, but that isn't necessarily the sum of all your.

[Adam Pally]

Parts. Exactly. And I think especially in the. In. In this space, so often it's like you're looked at or labeled as one thing. And. Yeah. Get third is a prime example of someone who's a lot of different.

[John Gabris]

Things. Yes. Yeah. And it was. It was cool to catch up. I hope you guys enjoyed it as.

[Adam Pally]

Well.

[John Gabris]

Bye.

You have been listening to Staying Alive with John Gabris and Adam Adam Pally A Smartless Media production in association with Sirius.

[Adam Pally]

Xm. Produced by Devin Tory Bryant and Anne Harris. Engineered and edited by Devin Tory Bryant, who also wrote the.

[John Gabris]

Music. Associate producer and video producer is Maddie McCann social media producer Tommy Galgano assistant engineer Kyle.

[Adam Pally]

McGraw. Special thanks to Jared O' Connell at.

[John Gabris]

SiriusXM. Executive producers are John Gabriel Ooh me. Adam Pally Ooh you. Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Richard Corson and Bernie Kaminsky. Do us a favor. Just rate and review the podcast. It actually.

[Adam Pally]

Helps. Just so everyone knows we do not have a.

[John Gabris]

Discord. Don't reach out to.

[Adam Pally]

Us. See us on the street. Walk the other way or you'll catch hands.

Yeah, even though we're not in Austin, Texas, we still try to videotape these.

[John Gabris]

Everything.

We have two porn stars coming on later that we're gonna rate their b.

Our wives are like, wait, what's your guys.

[John Ross Bowie]

Show.

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