INTRODUCING: I Need You Guys with Jenny Slate, Gabe Liedman, and Max Silvestri!

Summary

Podcast Summary

Staying Alive with Jon Gabrus & Adam Pally

Episode: INTRODUCING: I Need You Guys with Jenny Slate, Gabe Liedman, and Max Silvestri!

Release Date: October 29, 2025
Hosts: Jon Gabrus & Adam Pally (briefly)
Guests: Jenny Slate, Gabe Liedman, Max Silvestri

---

Episode Overview

This special episode of “Staying Alive” serves as a crossover introduction to the new SmartLess Media podcast, “I Need You Guys,” hosted by comedians Jenny Slate, Gabe Liedman, and Max Silvestri. The trio, best friends for over 20 years, take the mic to give listeners a taste of their new show’s dynamic: using each other—and their funniest friends and listeners—as life advisers. We drop into the vibe of “I Need You Guys” as they share hilarious, heartfelt, and sometimes absurd stories about gifts, family quirks, and the comforting power of inside jokes and communal navigation of adulthood.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins and Purpose of “I Need You Guys”

• Jenny, Gabe, and Max introduce themselves, emphasizing their enduring friendship and commitment to helping each other through life.
  • Jenny Slate (00:06): “Hi, friends. I'm Jenny Slate.”
  • Max Silvestri (00:14): “We're comedians who've been best friends for over 20 years, and we need each other's advice on a regular basis just to navigate life.”
• They highlight the show’s format: seeking solutions for their own problems with help from celebrity friends and listeners.
  • Gabe Liedman (00:21): “Now we're asking our funniest friends and even podcast listeners to help solve our problems, while maybe offering a little advice of her own along the way.”

2. Previewing Guest Lineup

• The hosts tease the impressive guest list, including John Mulaney, Sean Hayes, Nick Kroll, and Michelle Buteau.
  • Jenny Slate (00:30): “We've already talked to guests like John Mulaney, Sean Hayes, Nick Kroll, and Michelle Buteau.”

---

Highlight Segment: “Gift Giving, Family, and Odd T-Shirts” (00:41–07:01)

3. Max’s Mother’s Gift Anxieties

• Max shares a story about his mother’s nervousness around gift-giving, which manifests in anxious texting and endearing awkwardness:
  • Max Silvestri (00:50): “Her texts become incredibly curt. It feels like you're texting with someone who's, you know, scaling down a building or something and can't. Like, it's just, it becomes almost like, mean. It's a lot of periods. Like, ‘no, can't talk now.’”
• On his first Father’s Day, she sent him a comically over-the-top t-shirt:
  • Max Silvestri (01:24): “It was a T shirt that said the Daddalorian. Okay, ‘this is the way.’ … And I think it also said this is the way number one dad in the galaxy. Which implies almost that the Mandalorian's catchphrase is ‘number one bounty hunter in the galaxy.’”
  • Laughter ensues as they riff on the absurdity of the shirt’s excessive text length.

4. The Long T-Shirt Bit

• The group jokes about the idea of a shirt so long it could fuel a house fire:
  • Max Silvestri (02:41): “That's why my house burned down, because that's how much it provided so much fuel when it set on fire.”
  • Guest (possibly Jon Gabrus, 02:46): “It was just clearly wadded up and soaked it in kerosene.”

5. Jewish Mom Humor: The ‘Shofar So Good’ Shirt

• Gabe tells a story about a Rosh Hashanah shirt his mother Amazoned to herself, accidentally to his address:
  • Gabe Liedman (03:23): “It was a shirt that said ‘shof...’”
  • Jenny Slate (03:27): “So good.”
  • Max Silvestri & Jenny riff: “I wish it had been ‘shofar. So good.’”
• The conversation spirals into imagining a holiday shirt business—“one tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor,” blending Rosh Hashanah horns (“tekiyah!”) with drinking humor (03:37–03:56).

6. Discovering New Jewish “Stuff”

• Max expresses surprise at learning new Jewish traditions from each other, touching on the concept of the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon.
  • Max Silvestri (04:06): “I'm actually startled to learn a new Jewish thing that I didn't know.”
  • (04:22): “You know that thing, Baader-Meinhof, when the second you learn about something... suddenly it’s everywhere.”

7. Community and Inside Jokes as Comfort

• The segment gently transitions into a story about repeated calls to the Jewish ambulance service during a running joke among friends — a moment of inside humor and cultural familiarity.

8. Parents as Gift Givers

• The hosts reflect on their own parents' approaches to gift-giving, with one (possibly Jon Gabrus) quipping:
  • Guest (05:30): “They kind of stop. They always tell me, ‘you’re so hard to shop for,’ and then I don’t get anything, right?”
• Discussions about self-sufficiency, active buying, and “safe” gifts (like tablecloths, art for the wall), reveal their practical and sentimental sides.
  • Jenny Slate (06:10): “But there are some things that even though you have one, like, you might want more. Like, I could never have enough tablecloths. It’s always a safe gift.”
  • (06:26): “You could always give me something to hang on the wall.”

---

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On anxious gifting:
  • Max Silvestri (00:50): “It feels like you’re texting with someone who’s scaling down a building or something … it becomes almost mean.”
• On elaborate t-shirt gifts:
  • Max Silvestri (01:41): “It also said ‘this is the way number one dad in the galaxy,’ which implies almost that the Mandalorian’s catchphrase is ‘number one bounty hunter in the galaxy.’”
• On inside jokes and Jewish holiday tees:
  • Jenny Slate (03:27): “So good.”
  • (03:37): “One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor. Get it?”
• Learning from friends:
  • Max Silvestri (04:06): “I’m actually startled to learn a new Jewish thing I didn’t know.”
• On the comfort of sentimental gifts:
  • (06:36): “No, because it came from you. So when I look at it, I’ll go, that. Oh, that’s nice.”

---

Episode Flow and Tone

• Warmth & Playfulness: The trio’s long history and chemistry are on full display, with conversations tumbling naturally between humorous anecdotes and genuine discovery.
• Jewish Humor & Family Relatability: Many stories are grounded in their shared but varied Jewish family experiences, making inside jokes accessible but affectionate.
• Self-Deprecating & Affectionate: The tone is self-aware, quick-witted, and deeply rooted in friendly support—showing how adult friendships help navigate the quirks and struggles of life.

---

Where to Listen

• "I Need You Guys" releases new episodes every Tuesday.
• Available wherever you get your podcasts and on the Smartless Media YouTube channel.

---

In Summary

The episode is an inviting showcase of the new show’s tone—rooted in friendship, quick banter, gentle advice, and the kind of specific, silly conversations that only come with years of deep camaraderie. Stories about anxious gift-giving, Jewish holidays, and meaningful home decor reflect the trio’s blend of irreverent humor and genuine affection. This sample promises a podcast as much about laughter as it is about weathering life together.

Transcript

[A]

I need you guys.

[B]

Hi, friends. I'm Jenny Slate.

[A]

I'm Gabe Liedman.

[C]

And I'm Max Silvestri.

[B]

Here to tell you about our brand new Smart List Media podcast. I need you guys.

[C]

We're comedians who've been best friends for over 20 years, and we need each other's advice on a regular basis just to navigate life.

[A]

Now we're asking our funniest friends and even podcast listeners to help solve our problems, while maybe offering a little advice of her own along the way.

[B]

We've already talked to guests like John Mulaney, Sean Hayes, Nick Kroll, and Michelle Buteau. I need you guys. As new episodes every Tuesday, check out this clip from one of our very first episodes.

[C]

My mom, for my first Father's Day, she's not a big gift giver. She gets very nervous about gifts. Doesn't like, she'll just be like, I'm not sending you one. I'm going to Venmo you.

[D]

$100. Quality in a mother.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

Yes, My mother, my dad was a great gift.

[D]

Very nervous about giving gifts to children.

[C]

Fine to receive them. So don't, don't think it's a two way problem. But, like, she clearly gets, like, worked up about, like, like, won't talk to me for the week around a gift because she's, like, nervous to send it. And it's very sweet. And on Father's Day, my first Father's Day, she was like, did you get it? I sent you something. And it was a T shirt that said the Daddalorian. Okay, this is the way.

[A]

This is the way.

[C]

Which is a line, I guess, from the show, but it implied so much, like, as if we talked a lot about Grogu.

[D]

She should have been more nervous. I think she was too relaxed.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

What kind of nervous does she get?

[C]

Just, like, her texts become incredibly curt. It feels like you're texting with someone who's, you know, scaling down a building or something and can't. Like, it's just, it becomes almost like, mean. It's a lot of periods. Like, no, can't talk now. Like, it's that energy where she just.

[D]

So stressed on Etsy, trying to find one that has both the catchphrase and Daddy Lorian on it.

[C]

This is the way man rhymes with dad.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And I think it also said this is the way number one dad in the galaxy. Which implies almost that the Mandalorians, like, catchphrase is number one bounty hunter in the galaxy.

[D]

Number one. Yeah. So much text. Is it a long shirt?

[C]

It's A long shirt.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

A snap shirt. Yeah.

[C]

That's. That's why my house burned down, because that's how much it provided so much fuel when it set on fire.

[D]

It was just clearly watered up and soaked it in kerosene.

[C]

Right? Yeah.

[D]

And the fire kept staying in your house trying to figure the shirt out, so I burned down everything.

[A]

Does your mom have a problem with shipping addresses? Like, do you occasionally get, like, an Amazon to your house for your mom?

[C]

Yes. Yeah.

[B]

Oh, wow.

[C]

I was.

[A]

Speaking of bad T shirts. I was visiting my brother in Brooklyn, and then on my way to Philly to see my mom, and he said, could you give this to mom? She had Amazoned herself a shirt that for. For Rosh Hashanah.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

That said shof.

[B]

So good.

[C]

No shofar.

[D]

So good.

[A]

And a huge. And I wish it had been shofar. So good.

[D]

So far so good. Is so far so good in your mom's shirt.

[B]

You know what would also be a good one? Not. I mean, I would honestly join this business right now of making, like, a holiday. Rosh Hashanah holiday. One tequila, two tequila, three tequila. Floor. Get it?

[A]

Floor. Yeah.

[B]

You're drinking tequila thing, but tequila is what you do when they. When they. That's what they yell when you do the short blasts.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Wait, what?

[D]

That works better than.

[B]

It's a.

[D]

Closer to the floor than even tequila is. I get the joke with tequila, but Takiyas are closer to the floor.

[C]

I'm actually startled to learn a new Jewish thing that I didn't know.

[D]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

You knew it, John. You knew Takia.

[D]

No, no, I just. I feel the same way. When I found out about Hatzala, the Jewish ambulance corps, I was like, I can't believe I didn't know about this.

[C]

You know that thing Beter Meinhof, when the second you learn about something.

[D]

No, it's. It's like a terrorist group in Germany.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Well, I. Now I believe they're a term that refers to, like, how when you first hear something like, let's say you've never heard of Hatsala, suddenly you go outside, you see two of them, and then you. You turn on an episode at Dateline, and they're talking about. You're like, that's Bader Meinhof. Where it's like it suddenly is everywhere. Everywhere. And that's a wonderful day.

[D]

I found out about it. A bunch of people in my. In community, instead of swatting me, sent Hatsala. That's exactly that. They kept calling them again and again.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. Again and again. It got Funnier throughout the day, right?

[D]

Yeah. Because it more kept showing up. So the first group didn't leave.

[C]

So ultimately became a negotiation between the different services, the different trucks. Who got.

[D]

Who got you drag me to the board.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

This is our jurisdiction. Back off.

[C]

John. Are your parents good gift givers?

[D]

They kind of stop. They always tell me, you're so hard to shop for, and then I don't get anything right.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And I said to my mom this year, I went, sit down and just think about the things I like and think of something. She was like, how do I get a gift for you? I said, by figuring it out. Like, you know, you just have to sit down and think.

[B]

Yeah. Do you feel like you're a hard person to get gifts for?

[D]

No, I don't. I will say I'm an active buyer, so a lot of stuff, the things I want, I normally go out and buy.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

I'm not someone who walks by a window going, ooh, someday, if only. Someday, if only.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But there are some things that even though you have one, like, you might want more. Like, I could never have enough tablecloths. It's always a safe gift.

[D]

Stuff like. That's great.

[A]

A tablecloth. That's a nice one.

[D]

I like things to hang on the wall. You could always give me something to.

[C]

Hang on the wall.

[D]

Really?

[C]

Y framed thing?

[A]

Yeah, because that feels like high stakes for a kids.

[B]

Totally. Like, what if it's completely not your style?

[D]

No, because it came from you. So when I look at it, I'll go, that. Oh, that's nice.

[B]

Oh, my God. That's really nice.

[A]

That's nice.

[B]

I love that. Wow. Yeah.

[D]

I mean, look at my. Look at this. This is not a Four Seasons. This is a beautiful. This is my home.

[A]

This.

[D]

This is how I. This isn't my house. This is a hotel room. Look at that beautiful painting that Joe Mandy got me.

[A]

And you think of it.

[D]

Yeah. Every time I look at it, I think about. And I think about how it seems like him.

[A]

I need you guys.

[C]

Listen and subscribe to. I need you guys wherever you get your podcasts.

[A]

And you can watch full episodes of this on the Smartless Media YouTube channel. Just make sure to subscribe so you don't miss anything, because we need you guys.

[C]

We need you guys.

[B]

We need you guys.

[D]

Smart. Last media.