The Decade Of The Boiling Frog (w/ Anthony Atamanuik)

Summary

Staying Alive with Jon Gabrus & Adam Pally

Episode: The Decade Of The Boiling Frog (w/ Anthony Atamanuik)

Date: October 16, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Jon Gabrus and Adam Pally welcome their longtime friend and comedy veteran Anthony Atamanuik for a conversation that is equal parts hilarious, philosophical, and candid. With great chemistry and irreverence, the trio explores midlife health challenges, the value of community, the changing landscape of comedy, the allure and perils of gambling, and the deep work of personal growth. Atamanuik shares his own hard-won lessons about staying alive—literally and existentially—in one's 40s and 50s, as well as the spiritual and social tools that keep him moving forward.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Friendship & Comedy Roots

• The episode kicks off with Jon and Adam reflecting on their friendship with Anthony, and the surreal experience of going from fans to peers in the comedy world.
  • (00:44) "He's a good person to check in with. He loves a story. He loves to tell you a story." – Adam Pally
  • (01:17) "We like came up watching him and then eventually we're peers. And that's like a crazy thing people don't talk about in our industry..." – Jon Gabrus

2. Gambling, Rituals, and the Search for Thrill

• The group dives into their shared love for gambling—sports, slots, roulette, poker—swapping wild stories and revealing just how ritualistic (even Pavlovian) their habits have become.
  • (03:08) "My new love is betting the horn. Really? I don't even bet the pass line. I throw money in the horn." – Anthony Atamanuik
  • (04:15) "Think of the amount of people who associate powerful diarrhea with Vegas Matt." – Anthony Atamanuik
  • (04:19) "When I hear Vegas Matt, I have to shit." – Adam Pally

Lucid Dreaming and Roulette "Strategy" [09:02]

• Anthony delves into his unique approach to roulette, blending intuition, lucid dreaming, and quantum field theory:
  • (09:20) "I close my eyes on the casino floor... If a number comes to me, I'll bet it. And if it doesn't, I'm leaving." – Anthony Atamanuik

3. Quantum Philosophy, Consciousness, and Reincarnation

• In a comedic yet earnest detour, the trio explores the nature of consciousness, the multiverse, and what it means to continue after death.
  • (10:48) "I believe that we exist in what you would call collapsed quantum fields... We are a potential intelligence..." – Anthony Atamanuik
  • (14:18) "I am the tree. I am the branch, but I'm also the bud. And the bud comes off. That doesn't mean I'm still not the tree." – Atamanuik, riffing on identity and soul
  • (20:58) "If the feeling I get is a feeling of comfort and catch up from her, what does it matter if I created it or she created it?" – Jon Gabrus, on dreams of deceased loved ones

4. Gut Health, Aging Bodies, and the Reality of Mortality

• The hosts discuss their ongoing gastrointestinal and health challenges with self-deprecating humor. The conversation moves toward candid reflections about the physical changes and health scares that come with middle age.
  • (22:07) "Gut health is important to us because our guts are not in great health." – Adam Pally
  • (25:49) "Have alcohol once in a while if you can handle it. Just relax... I'll say, someone who's hit 50 and had a couple of health scares in the last two years. I had a heart thing..." – Atamanuik

The "Decade of the Boiling Frog" [48:34]

• Anthony introduces his metaphor for aging in your 40s:
  • (48:34) "This is the decade of the boiling frog... between 40 and 50, you're a boiling frog in water, but it's slow heat... By the end of the decade, if you haven't been managing yourself, chronic things start to happen."

5. Community, Connection, and the Importance of Social Health

• Beyond the typical wellness advice, the conversation highlights the foundational role of friendship, communal bits, phone calls, and letter-writing for staying alive—both physically and emotionally.
  • (33:52) "Social interaction is—the lack of it is the leading cause of death in people who are old... Community requires you to not only be part of it, but you have to continue to help foster it." – Atamanuik

6. Comedy, Gatekeeping, and the Decline in Live Performance Engagement

• The group expresses some disillusionment with changes in live comedy post-pandemic, social hesitancy, and the media's favoring of mediocrity over expertise.
  • (31:26) "Post-pandemic has been a huge change... social skills have gone out the window a bit." – Atamanuik
  • (58:41) "There's dynamism in all kinds of people. Why are we celebrating this mediocrity, this hateful mediocrity?" – Atamanuik

7. Personal Growth, Therapeutic Work, and Evolving Habits

• Anthony shares how therapy, self-responsibility, and developing a sense of agency have shaped his midlife approach:
  • (34:55) "In therapy... I finally stopped figuring out how I could blame anyone and everyone else for whatever was going on in me. And I started dealing with myself..."
  • (35:22) "The difference is you don't get rid of emotions... how do I manage not let it run my experience? ...Can I build... a second and a half between when I feel something and when I take action?"

8. Physical Movement, Dietary Changes, and Letting Go of Punishment

• The conversation closes with specific lifestyle shifts, nutrition strategies, and the importance of movement—even as old injuries or past choices linger.
  • (38:08) "Do ten minutes of moving your hips, your knees, your ankles, now. You want to not be some old fuddy duddy who can't move? Do it now." – Atamanuik
  • (41:06) "I stay alive by not punishing myself for the myriad of awful self-destructive choices I made for decades... you are where you are in this moment. You make a new choice." – Atamanuik

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Age, Experience, and Comedy Legacy
  (01:07) Adam Pally: "He's also one of my comedy collaborators, peers, heroes..."
  (30:26) Adam Pally: "...you're a great actor. You played Trump on The President Show... not just an impression, but like a true performance..."

• On Agency in Life and Health
  (35:47) Anthony Atamanuik: "To stay alive is to understand you have options in your conscious experience. And the more options I give myself, the less stress I have, the less my heart's up, the less my blood pressure goes up."

• Aging and Denial
  (50:30) Atamanuik: "I could not get up off the toilet without hoisting myself. My back would hurt so much... And I was still in denial... this will just fix itself."

• Letting Go of Self-Punishment
  (41:45) Atamanuik: "You are where you are in this moment. You make a new choice. That's the choice you live in."

• Community Is Survival
  (33:52) Atamanuik: "Community requires you to not only be part of it, but you have to continue to help foster it."

• Candid Hope for the Future of Comedy
  (60:15) Atamanuik: "I look forward to it changing. I look forward to changing."

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Timestamps for Essential Segments

• Gambling Addiction, Rituals & Vegas Stories........[02:15–07:13]
• Lucid Dreaming & Quantum Fields Discussion..........[09:02–15:56]
• Reflections on Mortality & Dreams of Grandparents...[20:45–21:23]
• Gut Health, Aging, and Medical Scares...............[22:07–26:05]
• Community, Friendship, and Social Health............[33:52–34:55]
• Therapy, Trauma, & Agency...........................[34:55–38:00]
• Aging Metaphor—The Boiling Frog.....................[48:34–50:30]
• Transforming Food Habits & Movement.................[38:54–45:31]
• Comedy, Gatekeepers, & Mediocrity...................[56:06–59:03]

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Tone & Style

The episode balances playful, self-effacing humor ("Dude, my nose starts bleeding!" – Gabrus, 14:26), with earnest, sometimes near-philosophical reflection ("It's a luxury—that's like a century in your mind—build a second and a half between when I feel something and when I take action." – Atamanuik, 35:22). The hosts and guest are grossly forthcoming, weaving between bits, deeply personal stories, and sharp cultural observations.

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Closing & Plug

• Anthony plugs his project:
  (61:25) "Coffee with Tony, believe it or not, is coming back. In May. And it will be Patreon streaming. So the 10 people who watch it... you'll be paying five bucks to my Patreon... We're going to have guests back. We're going to be talking all about pop culture and politics."

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Summary

This episode of "Staying Alive" is a sprawling blend of comedy, self-examination, and practical wisdom for anyone facing the slow-brew challenges of midlife. Anthony Atamanuik's openness about his health scares, philosophical musings, and growth through therapy pairs incisively with Gabrus and Pally's camaraderie and wit, delivering inspiration for aging, evolving, and continuing to seek thrills—without boiling over.

Transcript

[A]

Smart. Bless me. Got a great guest coming on today.

[B]

Double A.

[A]

Big A.

[B]

A double A.

[A]

Maybe we should call him aa.

[B]

Yeah, I don't think they'd like that.

[A]

He's not a friend of Bob'. So happy to have Anthony Atamanic. A phone friend. Like, which is like, not. I know. You guys are Chatters. You and I are Chatters. He's one of my few other friends that I love.

[B]

Yeah. I. I feel like he. He's a good person to check in with. He loves a story. He loves to tell you a story.

[A]

And much like us, he's chasing experiences constantly and trying to better himself. Yeah. And trying to better himself. So like, with new food or new things, he's always got something like, you got to go to this casino. Or like, have you had this. Have you. Have you had these kind of styles.

[B]

Life to him.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And I like that. Like, he lives life completely.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. It's a great dude. And he. And he's also one of my comedy like, collaborators, peers, heroes, you know, all those things.

[A]

Yeah. Because he. He's a little bit more of a veteran than us. We like, came up watching him and then eventually we're peers. And that's like a crazy thing people don't talk about in our industry is that, like, you just like, look up to Ascat and then next, you know, you're doing it, you, like, listen to comedy bang bang for four years and then you get asked to do it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then you're sit across from someone who you've listened to 100 like, oh, I'm sitting with a Domian. This guy's genius. I love him. And now I'm cons, as in this moment where consider peers.

[B]

Yeah, but you are. But you know what? You are a peer.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And you always were. John.

[D]

Hey.

[A]

Thank you. This has been a peer to peer review with Adam Pally and.

[B]

Oh, my God, is this an intervention?

[A]

We eventually someone intervenes with us and we don't even realize we have a guest today. They are substance abuse exper.

[B]

All of these have been tried to be interventions and we just blow bits.

[A]

And then they leave.

[B]

I'm realizing. Realizing what this is.

[A]

Speaking of doing bits, let's get to the Anthony convo.

[D]

Yeah. Look at this. I got my gambling money.

[A]

Where are we headed?

[D]

I might go to the Aqueduct.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Playing table games? Playing craps at the f. On the F train stuff.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Can you play table games at the Aqueduct?

[D]

No.

[B]

No, you can't.

[A]

But you can bet on overseas.

[B]

I don't like banging A horse?

[D]

I don't know. But I also play some slots.

[B]

I like slots.

[D]

What you do is you go to.

[A]

Oh, is this the Empire Racino?

[D]

Yeah. You play high limit. So you go to high limit and you make like four. Four or $50 bets, right?

[B]

And then if it hits it.

[D]

If it hits, it hits. You leave.

[B]

Yeah, that's.

[D]

You gotta leave.

[B]

I've been watching. You're gonna get this now.

[D]

Vegas Matt Las Matt, gambling addicts on three.

[B]

One, two.

[D]

Wait, speaking of gambling addicts, him and.

[A]

I just both got dice tattoo. Matching dice tattoos.

[B]

Are you serious? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We had a tattoo on us.

[D]

On dude, the horn. My new love is betting the horn. Really? I don't even bet the pass line. I throw money in the horn. My.

[A]

Our bet our.

[D]

Oh, yeah, the hard 10. Hey, yours is bigger. Yeah, well, to size.

[A]

To be fair, it's. It's the same size.

[D]

Just listen.

[A]

No, you're doing great.

[D]

I love Vegas Matt.

[B]

Vegas Matt is the best. I'm following him. I'm following Lady Lock hq.

[D]

Of course, her husband. Her like pushy, pushy husband.

[B]

Yeah, I don't like him, but like, I love the other dude from Boston.

[D]

Oh, Bretzky.

[B]

Bretzky.

[D]

Oh my God, we know you guys, we're on.

[A]

We're all following the same gambling.

[D]

And this is frightening because I'll tell you, I mean, Vegas Matt's like appointment viewing for me too.

[B]

He's got a new video out two.

[D]

45S when it releases.

[B]

I didn't even know he had an algorithm.

[D]

I didn't even know it releases at 2:45pm and I literally say to Flossy, all right, I'm gonna have like some cottage cheese or like a peanut butter sandwich. I'm gonna watch Vegas work out a.

[B]

Two hour dump and watch Vegas Matt that.

[D]

Oh, a think of the amount of people who associate powerful diarrhea with Vegas.

[A]

Mad.

[B]

Oh, yeah, that's all. He's Pavlovian. When I hear Vegas Matt, I have to shit.

[A]

But like Brett, for me it's duolingo because I do duolingo. I'm on 900 days in a row. So now when I. If I do do a lingo not on the toilet, my asshole starts.

[B]

You're like in your plane seat.

[A]

I'm like, lo.

[D]

Yeah. If you go to Encore, which I do a lot. Me too.

[B]

That's my place.

[D]

You go to Encore also?

[B]

Well, in Vegas.

[D]

No, no, I go to Encore in Boston.

[B]

I love the winning. Encore in Vegas is my.

[D]

I bet it's amazing.

[B]

My. That's the. That's where I hit. Hit two of my big slots. That's like, my.

[D]

What's the biggest hit you've had?

[B]

I don't want to say. I don't talk about it. Tax advice.

[D]

Yeah, you're right. I share mine enough for. It's enough for a first class ticket to pj.

[B]

You're any pj.

[D]

Oh, wow.

[A]

Rental.

[B]

Rental. Yeah.

[D]

I was like, jesus.

[B]

Probably pj. Back and forth.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Mine would be, like, to Dubai.

[A]

Round trip.

[B]

No, I'm.

[D]

Round trip.

[B]

Round trip, pj. Anywhere you want to go, baby.

[D]

Oh, no, no.

[B]

Anywhere you want to go.

[D]

What was the slot?

[B]

It was just this regular old school. Like, you know, it wasn't even three eyes. Three railer. And it was. It was $5 spins.

[D]

Yeah, of course. Yeah.

[B]

But it was not a bonus.

[D]

It was just like, line pay with 777.

[B]

No.

[D]

Or triple. Triple. Triple. Triple, Triple.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

That's the best.

[B]

That was like.

[D]

By the way, I love that this is a health and wellness podcast.

[A]

That night, I watched Adam sleep on the floor with the.

[B]

Oh, but that wasn't even my biggest.

[A]

I know that one was a good.

[B]

One, but I was with gamers when I hit a big one, and I was out of my head. I was. I could not. It was the first time I'd ever hit anything like that.

[A]

I was staying. We were staying in a weird. Outside of the MGM hotel.

[B]

Signature.

[A]

The thing. Because we want it. I wanted a house, a place with a balcony for smoking weed.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

So. And Adam's like, well, I'm coming in late. I'm like, well, you can crash with me, of course. And then we're gambling. I'm like, I got to go up. He's like, yeah, I'll go up, and I'll go up in a second. I'm like, remember, it's a bit of a journey. And like, two hours later, there's a knock on the door. I open it. It's Adam and security. And I'm like. And I don't know if he's being, like, returned here, like, for being in trouble, but then he's. The guys were like, this is you. And he turns, pays those guys, and they walk away.

[D]

And I was just like, the stacks. You know.

[C]

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[B]

You are an intellectual. Poker. Always have been since I've known.

[D]

Yes. I love car. I love poker.

[B]

But you like. We get. We've gambled every which way together. Poker. You enjoy the game of poker?

[D]

I enjoy the game, yeah.

[B]

I enjoy the bluffing, the math.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Knowing what people.

[D]

I also like the people. I mean, I.

[A]

You're a guy who loves to have a cheer chat. You love to lie for fun.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

And you like to outsmart people. Like poker makes sense for you.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

I mean, I've seen you adopt a full accent at a table at the.

[A]

Hustler Casino in Los Angeles, just playing full mind games as a German for hours.

[D]

For hours without.

[A]

Without telling me.

[B]

Without telling me, you know, and then I'm just like, well, I guess this is my German friend now. And then you have to deal with the thing, which is always when your buddy's doing a bit at the table and the dealer is like, sn it out, D's. Like, how do you two know each other?

[D]

And I'm like, budweise is the king of theaters.

[B]

Like the. The po. Poker for me. I love in. At your. At your apartment with our friends. That's when I love poker. Poker in the casino gets intense for me. I've. I just, like, get yelled at or, you know, And. And I don't.

[A]

It's not ideal for adhd.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

I do. You know a crazy thing I do with roulet? It works. This is great.

[B]

Everyone's got roulette. First of all, roulette is the worst odds.

[D]

It's a terrible game.

[B]

But if for some reason I think it's the influencers, has roulette has taken a huge jump in popularity?

[D]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, it's easy. It's a stupid person's craps. Yeah.

[B]

It's like, it's. It's social. It's got a craps vibe without the intricacies of what you can do on those roles.

[D]

I do it as a walkout bet. So roulette, only for me is pump and dump. I never. I'm never staying at a roulette table. So I'll finish my night and I'll go whatever I have left over. And I will. And, you know, I do lucid dreaming and all that kind of shit.

[B]

Right. Which we'll get.

[D]

And I will I will stand and.

[A]

You know I do. Lucy, this is the most Anthony conversation ever. We're talking about gambling. And that's like. And of course you know my lucid dream. No, I access.

[D]

Dude, I literally I. I close my eyes on the casino floor. I close my eyes and I stand there and I go. If a number comes to me, I'll bet it. And if it doesn't, I'm leaving. And I will. Sometimes you'll just be like 26 or 14. It'll just show up and I will go and bet it.

[B]

How many times you won?

[D]

Every fucking time. I see the number, but I don't always see the number. Stop yourself.

[A]

Wait, this is my favorite.

[B]

Stop yourself.

[D]

I have a three fucking time. Hold on.

[B]

Stop yourself.

[A]

Hold on. We have to discuss. I have a strategy at roulette that always works. What is it? I close my eyes and the number comes to me. That is not strategy. That is magic.

[D]

Wait, no. Don't know. Okay, first off, I'm going to tell you. You have to discern whether you are telling yourself the number.

[B]

Do you believe you could speak to the dead?

[D]

Yes.

[B]

Of course you believe you can? No. You believe you not. I'm not talking about one of your characters. I'm talking to Lyle Mesmes.

[D]

We all know Lyle Mesmer.

[A]

That's what I'm need to make that reference about Lyles going. The number is 26 red.

[D]

My least popular character.

[A]

My favorite.

[D]

I know a character that cannot even get five audience members.

[B]

Ask you. Let me ask my favorite though.

[A]

Do you personally.

[B]

Do you believe you, Anthony?

[D]

Me?

[B]

Yeah. Like.

[D]

Like I talked to. How's this? This is what I believe. I believe that we exist in what you would call collapsed quantum fields. So we all are collapsed quantum fields. We are a potential intelligence and at some point in some other organic system that we can't conceive of. In this system, which is purposeful. I mean, not purposeful by like God, but like it's a. It's the way that a cell has walls or whatever. We are in this system. When the quantum collapse happens, you then are in the reality that you've chosen. But I want to be very careful about this. Because the hippie.

[B]

You want to misgender.

[D]

No, no. The hippie dippy community will go, oh, well, because you choose this reality. If you get sick, it's because you chose it and all that bullshit, right? That's not. That's not what it means. What it means is that there is a system so deep that is manifesting a reality that we all are collectively experiencing, but we're each also our own power source, creating the way it moves for our experience. Right, but it doesn't mean the world doesn't tangibly happen to you. I can't stand we're finally having the.

[A]

Most podcast conversation we can have.

[B]

I'm glad it happened.

[D]

I'll do it. But what I want to say is that when that quantum field collapse happens, right. It doesn't mean that you can't re access or reverse the flow of the signal box. So if this is the signal box, it's receiving a signal, and the signal then is our experience. Right. So they've already shown that now they understand that there are microtubules that create a magnetic field. Microtubules within our brain, within our. In other words, we always believe in neurons exchanging as being the way consciousness exists.

[B]

Of course.

[D]

But now there's a lot of theory that. That quantum consciousness, which has been a theory for decades, that of course, if. Let's put it this way, if atoms and subatomic material make up our neurons. Correct?

[B]

Yes.

[D]

Those subatomic. That subatomic material. Muons, quarks, strange, charmed, up and down, right. Those move in and out of our perceived reality. They are also have the capacity to have spooky action at a distance, which is we can have a paired atom that's 3 billion light years away that's paired with an atom in our neurons.

[B]

So do you believe in like the multiverse? Do you believe there's leave in the. Do you believe that there's like a sliding doors. A sliding doors reality where every day we're making choices from the moment that string theory. String theory.

[D]

Well, I mean, that's sort of. Though you just kind of push together a couple of things that are different things. String theory has to do with dark matter and sort of how our. Our universe is sort of structured.

[B]

So do you believe in a universe where like, choices. Choices are made that diverge in different ways?

[D]

I don't think it's like a universe. I think it's that there are different field collapses and they're all happening at the same time, but there is no time. So they're just all occurring. Right. So we are at any moment moving through, you know, like a zoetrope, how the horse goes around. Okay. Think of our experience as an animation of all the multiverses happening at the same time. So every moment is a multiverse of choice. So you're living in every universe all the time. It's just that you are making choices that Animate your experience in your quantum field.

[B]

But what about. So then are you. Is your soul.

[A]

Dude, my nose starts bleeding. I mean, all the quantum fields are. Once it's a quantum field collapse, we end this interview. Anthony is 140 years old.

[B]

Do you believe in reincarnation or do you believe in, like, our souls? Like, what I'm saying is, like, is your soul con. Like the consciousness of your soul?

[D]

But so. So it's all about terminology to me in the sense that. Do I believe in multiple permutations of existence? Sure. Do I also feel like the idea of soul is. Is the. Our word for our larger intelligence that we can become, that we're aware of. We've experienced it. Every one of us has had a moment, whether it's through a psychedelic experience or whether it's through a semi conscious waking state or a night terror or whatever. Every one of us has had some. A lot of people listening probably aren't even conscious that they've had it, but they've had it. Where you understand yourself. You're like, oh, I am this intelligence, but you're not you, as in me. Right? Anthony, on this earth, they're two different things, but they're the same thing. So what do you mean you're not.

[A]

You, the ghost in the shell?

[B]

You're like looking at it from a bird's eye view where it's like, yeah.

[D]

Imagine like I am.

[A]

Well, you know, you're tied off of.

[D]

A branch, but I am also the tree. So I am the tree. I am the branch, but I'm also the bud.

[A]

And the bud comes off.

[D]

And the bud comes off. That doesn't mean I'm still not the tree.

[B]

Right? Right.

[A]

Did I answer all your questions?

[D]

No, but that. So therefore, is reincarnation something. I think the point is, is to. To take some things that are difficult for us to do, which is we want to think in terms of time and space, right? So time and space are functions of this reality, right? The mind doesn't know. We all improvise. We all know when we've been improvising. Time and space change, right? We know that we can access multiple layers of information. All three of us are intelligent improvisers. I've watched you both do things that are spectacular, that require more time than is possible in the moment that you went from this thing to this thing, Right? Which means we know that our perception has the capacity to slow and change depending on how we are choosing to use this cable box. Right? So I don't think that when we Say reincarnation. It perceives of the idea of linear existence that like, I'm born, I die, and then there's a new me, and that's down the line of time. That doesn't make sense because that would mean that the, that the exterior of this universe somehow lives by the same physical laws as the one we're inside. That would make no sense because it would also be impossible because things that we consider supernatural, and remember the term supernatural just simply means. It means things that we can't explain. Can't explain that are larger than our natural order. We have turned. And I believe there's a system in place to purposely push down the idea of exploring these things in a legitimate way to. Because if you do that, then you are destroying the Judeo, Judeo Christian structure of a lot of the world. So the idea that we might go, oh, well, maybe we are both. Maybe both. This experience is important because we're in it. And also there are alternative experiences that are going to happen and happened before we were born and after we die. The sad one is, I think we all would admit, for the ego part, the part that's the organic manifestation of the expression of ourselves is going to go. And it will never come back. Right. This, Anthony will never, ever, ever come back.

[B]

It's a computer and that's sad. It's all the laptops in the garbage.

[A]

But is the, Is the hard drive on a server somewhere?

[D]

Yeah, yeah. And that's. And so my belief, if you go back.

[B]

But wait, you just brought up a different thing.

[D]

Oh, you mean. You mean transference, transferring of consciousness. So you mean.

[A]

No, I just mean like a death of the body does not mean a death.

[D]

You mean the incredible Johnny Depp movie Transcendence now?

[A]

Yeah, well, I mean almost any incredible Johnny Depp movie. Rango.

[B]

I was actually talking about pirates for. But, but, like, but, but, but I think what you're saying is like the, the body being the, the computer and the mind being the hard drive. Like, can you upload that some. Someplace else? Is it the same if it's not on the original computer? Right.

[D]

You know, like, I think it's more like the kernel. It's like the, it's the, the root programming, in other words. Or it might even be less that because it's still within a system. So you're still looking at whether it's quantum computing, which is ones, zeros, but those ones and zeros can change depending on all the permutations, or binary computing, which is 1 and 0, you would still be Talking about the math that makes the computer run. So I'm saying the computer dies, we're still the math. The math is forever. So the point of like lucidity or talking to the dead would be this in my mind, if I can. In a dream state, which is a quantum state, because you're existing in a complete total reality, you are not only generating that reality, you're amalgamating it with all the experiences of every single thing you've digested your entire life and then recreating it and experiencing it and having emotional states within it. Right. I have like once a year a very lucid dream that's not like requested, it just happens. And I'm always in my grandparents kitchen and I always see either my grandmother, my grandfather's less there. How are you doing? What's going on with you? What? And it's like a straight catch up. And then I always go, you're dead. And they go, yeah. And then that's it.

[B]

That's nice.

[A]

That's beautiful.

[B]

Beautiful that you get that.

[D]

And do I know? I have no idea. Is it my own mind? I don't know. I can't say for certain. Oh yes, I'm talking to them.

[A]

But at what point does it matter?

[D]

I don't think it does.

[A]

If it's my own brain that I'm playing a full on roleplay of myself or I am engaging with the spirit of my grandmother, if the feeling I get is a feeling of comfort from and catch up from her, what does it matter if I created it or she created it?

[D]

Well. And there's the intersection of what is even any. Like you know, are my grandparents ultimately in some way are only a creation of me.

[B]

Right.

[D]

That isn't again because they're dead and.

[A]

They'Re in your memory as you line them up, as you drew them once, as you create.

[B]

It's like that. It is unfortunate, but you are, you are left to the dust. Like we're all dust of time.

[A]

Dust of time.

[B]

And like once you're gone, you are still someone's grandparent, just the way you are someone's ex boyfriend, just the way you are someone's childhood bully, the way that I am someone's childhood victim, unrequited. My dad was just here.

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[A]

No. Whether it's gas or you know, you know, I'M not gonna list what I'm going through.

[B]

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[A]

Yeah, people can imagine what we mean when we have some bathroom issues. You know, your gut is trying to tell you something. You know, this isn't something I've learned over the course of the show is you're there's something wrong your body's trying to tell you.

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[A]

Welcome back to Staying Alive, where we're trying to stay alive, but not forever. Just a little bit Longer so we could do more cool shit.

[B]

You're basically saying, like, you're blue pilled, right? Like, you don't want to be hooked up to the Matrix, eating delicious steak. I'm Joe Pantaleone being like, don't this steak taste delicious?

[D]

No, I mean, listen, I love VR. I fucking play Half Life. Alex. I like anything that's a tool that I can use. Use to do something fun, right? You know? No. Do I want to have a thing that fools me into eating a protein glob and thinking it's a steak? I think I'll just have, like chicken and fish. I'm fine with that. I don't need to, like, do that. I also would say, unless they can say this is. Listen, they're already saying that about nut milks, that it turns out that macadamia nut milk and all those different nut almond milk and all that, the oils they put in that milk to thicken it are carcinogenic. So every time you try to, like, fuck around, you end up like, you can.

[A]

I can't imagine. We're gonna find out. Neural links are healthy. Living to 107 is good for you.

[D]

Have alcohol once in a while if you can handle it. Just relax. Listen. I'll say someone's hit 50, okay, and had a couple of health scares in the last two years. I had a heart thing, you know, your dad knows all about this. At a heart thing where I, former.

[A]

Guest of the podcast or future guest of the podcast, Dr. Stephen Pally, when he talks about having patients in New York and New Jersey and their concierge, we got one of them right here.

[B]

Are you allowed to say that?

[A]

You're allowed to say who?

[D]

You're allowed to say it because. No, you couldn't say, but I could.

[B]

Say, okay, now I can confirm it.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

Okay.

[D]

He's my dog.

[A]

You could say, you know, your friend's doctor is.

[D]

But you can't, like, you couldn't be like, I know that you had, you know, that weird burnt up little pecker psa. I have a little nod.

[B]

I can't talk to you the way we talk on the phone.

[A]

Funny, funny you say that. Anthony, one of my, like, three friends in life who I speak to on the phone.

[B]

Yeah. Oh, the best.

[D]

I love talking.

[B]

I love talking on the phone.

[A]

I mean, it's like he's always cooking or doing laundry. I'm just walking like half out of breath.

[B]

I think I miss talking to my friends so much because I don't see them as much. No one sees their friends as much.

[D]

This is why I do it.

[B]

And, like, when you talk on the phone, you get more than a text. You get more than a quip of a joke. Like, a text is. Is more of like a remembrance of a personality. You know, it's like, you know, blah, blah, blah. Shoot off my own personality to you, you shoot something back to me.

[A]

I'm still here. You're still here.

[B]

You're still here. When you talk on the phone, you get. You get a certain, like, sense of the person.

[A]

So in 15 minutes on the phone, you could do like three days worth of text.

[D]

Well, the day also texting, I feel like, becomes bit like, texts are bits. Yeah, texts are little blips. They're just a mode of communication that are their own thing. You're not going to have. The only time I've had long text exchanges is when I'm pleading with someone I'm having a fight with.

[B]

Right? Yeah.

[D]

I've never had long text exchanges. Even then.

[B]

Even then, it's like, let's just get on the phone, dude.

[A]

Yeah, well, yeah, I'm from the instant message, where we are from the instant messenger generation. So if I'm at my laptop and my ichat's popping off, I can have like a I am conversation with someone. But frequently I'm just like, call me or FaceTime and we'll just.

[B]

Yeah, let's just rip through it. You know, gil's big on FaceTime. And I got on FaceTime. I can't FaceTime.

[D]

He always face.

[B]

I don't like FaceTime because I don't. I can't focus with my image anywhere near in front of me.

[D]

I wish there was a way to blank your image.

[B]

You can if you're driving. But Gil doesn't like to talk to me like that because it's. Usually there's a visual bit along with it. You know what I mean? And like, yeah, so it's like I.

[A]

He spent all morning duct taping his face up. You got to play along.

[B]

Yeah. Picked up. And he's like. Because, like, that's the worst part is, like, when Emily tapes him up and she's like. And he's like, try Schwartz. Schwartz doesn't pick up. He's like, try, Gabriel. You don't pick up. He's like, try Pally and Anthony at the same time. Like, they don't pick up. He's like stuck, like tape taped to his cabinet.

[A]

He's like, fine, let's put this on Instagram reels.

[B]

Yeah. Which is. There's something nice about that mode of thinking.

[A]

Well, we should say Gil does some of the most elaborate comedy bits that are never seen by the public.

[D]

Yeah. Yes. Yeah.

[A]

That's more so than anyone. More so than anyone else I know. He does an extremely specific comedy bit. It, for you, as a private comedy.

[D]

Bits, I think, is a thing, a really amazing thing that people, a lot of people outside of it would not. Do not know that are done between people.

[A]

To me, it's like if a group of chefs and one guy is like, hey, I made you a turkey sandwich.

[B]

To me, it's a pure expression of love.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, when I do a bit that's just for someone else that I keep going for weeks or whatever. Like a voicemail or like, it's like, this is just me being like. Like, I love you. I'm checking in with you and I don't really have anything new to report or say, so I just want to, like, joke around with you a little.

[A]

Bit, you know, And I know you will like this.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

This is like, for you.

[D]

I've been doing letter writing with a friend of mine who she wrote me and said, would you want to do letter writing at Mitra? And I went, yeah, I would like to do that. And like, send a postcard.

[B]

I mean, to be fair, you. You still should send help to get her out of that well.

[A]

Yeah, let her not.

[B]

Let her not.

[D]

Let her.

[A]

Or not pay the ransom.

[D]

Yeah, no, I will. I refuse.

[B]

Are you still writing the letters thing out of each spot.

[D]

Magazine? Because I'm sending hostage ransom notes. I'm the one trapped her in the well. But it is interesting because talk about a truly old school art, which is writing a letter to. Yeah.

[A]

One step past email.

[D]

Way past.

[B]

When you say old school art, that's interesting. And. And you're an improviser and one of my favorite improvisers as an actor as well. Like, you're a great actor. You played Trump on the President show, which we created, which is, you know, an amazing performance. Don Jr. Not just. Not just a impression, but like a true performance and everyone with something to say. With something to say. And anyone that saw it would agree. Would agree on that on that front.

[D]

And that would be very few people.

[B]

Do you find?

[A]

I'm definitely one of the dozens every minute.

[B]

Do you find that improvising?

[D]

Yes.

[B]

In itself, acting.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

On stage is an old school art form that I find lately even that is like not breaking through the phone, like where I just see more and more people on the phone and less and less of the audience Noticing or caring.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

And less and less of the performer caring.

[D]

And it's just become like, you know, post pandemic. Post pandemic has been a huge change in.

[A]

In just how live comedy audiences.

[D]

Yeah. I think that. Do you have multiple layers, which is. You have, I think, strangely, the caution people have to laugh or to make noise, which I don't always think is like rude. I think they actually think they're being polite.

[B]

Right. Because they're not coughing on someone.

[D]

Well, just making noise. I think our social skills have gone out the window a bit. And, you know, I don't see too many people on their phone and audiences, I have to say, although I have very small audiences. But I will say that even when I've been at a large, rarely do I see I. People. To me, at least in New York, generally, they're watching. I think people are far more cautious when you do something controversial. People check with each other.

[A]

Like, you're like co signing it.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

More than just. You can just laugh at it. But it's like, well, if I laugh at that, am I saying I agree with the character of Lyle Mesmer or whatever? And it's like, that's not how this works. I mean, it's like you can. You can watch Rosemary's Baby. And that isn't saying, like, I'm okay with Satanism with. Or with Satanism or with what he did, Plansky did. Like, I could just watch that movie. And that doesn't. It's not a cosine of.

[D]

Of behavior. Rosemary's Baby is an amazing movie, and I watch every Woody Allen movie every day.

[A]

I could barely sleep.

[C]

Dude.

[D]

Wait, I watch anything else.

[B]

Before we got here. Love B. I was beating it to.

[D]

Beat it, but no, but I think.

[B]

I have a girl trapped in my closet.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

A couple of things we talked about that have come up. I just want to, like. I want to put a little umbrella on it.

[D]

Like.

[A]

Like the live performance, the thinking on this level of where I exist, how I matter, and then the writing letters to each other, keeping in touch. These are things that you don't talk about when you talk about staying alive and health. And like, you talk about. I mean, therapy is newly rolled in. Fitness, nutrition, that's all rolled in. But you hear a lot about things that keep old people alive is community. And community requires you to not only be part of it, but you have to continue to help foster it.

[D]

Social interaction is leading. Like, lack of social interaction is the leading cause of death of people who are old.

[A]

And I feel like, we benefit from being part of a scene and having so many friends and quote, unquote, colleagues that you can do things with and like, people that like, I've moved out of the New York 12 years ago and we are still in touch constantly, you know, of course. And it's like having a friend like that in your life is important and like for both of us and for, and to do that with a group of people, it's a thing that I think we don't realize the benefits of that. And then I'll go one step further and say we are absolutely spoiled that the people we all keep in touch with are some of the smartiest, smartest and funniest people around. It's like, it makes it very much easier to keep in touch. When I don't have to call my aunt to hear about like a root canal. I call Anthony to hear about spiritual collapse, his double root canal that he thinks he needs.

[B]

We ask this to everyone. It's the only segment we, we thought about. What are you doing to stay alive? Like, what are your little.

[D]

What I do to stay alive. Recently, I, I, I had a couple of things that happen for me and one of them was in therapy. I, in the last like five years, I finally stopped figuring out how I could blame anyone and everyone else for, for whatever was going on in me. And I started dealing with myself and. By dealing. Yeah. And hard and people. I don't think people understand that you could be a therapy for years and not. You are working, but you're not doing the work. Yeah. And to be like, I did not hit this yet. It's just you, you said you don't feel bitter. No, I mean, I, there are moments when I will. I feel all kinds of things, but they don't grip me. That's different. The difference is you don't get rid of emotions, you don't get rid of self, you don't get R parts. They all exist all the time. The question is, is how do I manage not let it run my experience? And how do I. Who's in charge? In me, who's in charge? And this is the thing about time prior, which is, can I build? And I think I'm at about like a second and a half, which is a luxury that's like a century in your mind, build a, a second and a half between when I feel something and when I take action so that I have a second and a half where I go. I don't need to get angry or go eat or go get high or Go do anything because I feel this thing. I can just accept I feel this thing, or I can make a different choice that's more constructive, or I can go take a walk if that's what I need to do. I have options. And I think for me, and I know there's people probably listening who've had worse experiences, who are in worse experiences right now, who didn't have the luxury to go and work at a pizza place and off and be on unemployment and do improv and all that. I get it. I'm not. I do not expect or think that my experience is the only one. But what I know, that's sort of universal is how many options do I have when I feel something. And I think when you come up in whatever trauma you come up in, abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, self abuse, bullying, whatever the thing is, and everyone has their thing. I don't. There. There is not a person. I don't care. The richest person from the best family who with all the. All the. The benefits, still has something that they dealt with. How if you. You let your trauma inform you, you believe you have no options. So to stay alive is to understand you have options in your conscious experience. And the more options I give myself, the less stress I have, the less my heart's up, the less my blood pressure goes up. And the other one is movement. And I'm gonna sound like an old person right now.

[A]

You are an old person.

[D]

I am an old person.

[B]

I'm just gonna get up and get a water.

[D]

Yeah, that's fine.

[B]

You were just safe. Movement.

[D]

Whoa, whoa. Okay. Oh God. Really? He does have Covid. This is the telltale sign right here that he needs water and balance.

[A]

My inner ear, guys condition.

[D]

No, but is that my dad actually is the one. Cuz my dad's a professional drummer and he's still touring and drumming and he's 80. Okay. And he was like, I do. You know, I run every other day. I do, I do upper body lifting, lower body weights, I do cry, crunches, all this stuff. I. I took pot out of the equation. For me, that's what worked for me. Me, I smoked pot for 30 years and loved it. And then I stopped liking it. And the minute I went, I'm not enjoying this experience anymore. Why am I doing it? If you enjoy that experience? Good. I'm glad you still get to get something good out of it.

[A]

Right?

[D]

I stopped.

[A]

It wasn't working for you.

[D]

It wasn't working for me anymore. I just had panic attacks. But the point is, is that smoking or not physical movement and beyond that, just. I'll tell this anybody. I don't care if you're 30 right now. You're 40 right now. Do 10 minutes of moving your hips, moving your knees, moving your ankles. Now you do it now. You want to not be some old fuddy duddy who's like tippy toeing around on the chicken and they can't move, do it now. You mock and deride the elderly who are all up and move for, you know, like move like four feet an hour.

[B]

Well, I do it for fun.

[D]

Yeah, well, I do it for fun.

[B]

That's why I mocked them.

[A]

Yeah, I'm an old senior.

[B]

It's punching down, but it's easy.

[D]

Well, especially if you, if they're on.

[A]

The ground, we're not saying it, but like avoiding that old personal for as long as possible where you can get your ass beat because you're gonna.

[D]

Here's the thing, you're. You're gonna. I'm in the state.

[A]

We're gonna lose capacity.

[D]

I am getting older. But like, look, look at your dad. Look at my dad. I even look at, you know, people who are just in their 60s. It's, it is a lot of mentality. It's a lot of. So I meditate, I stretch and I change my diet and I. And what I did was, I understood as you know, because you're foodie. You're foodie, which is there is no reason you can't have great food no matter what the category is. So like if I have to have turkey smash burger, I know how to make a turkey smash burger taste great. If I need to have salmon with fennel and saffron, I know how to make that. Now I'm. Now I know everyone's not cooked, but come on. Like this, this idea people have of this rigidity where they're like, I want to have my Stouffers, you know, steppers. It's like, come on guys, right? Like, get your shit.

[B]

That as much lately. Why Stauffer stuffers?

[D]

I talk, I talk.

[A]

I maybe have spoken about like 80s. That's an 80s laugh. First key children.

[B]

I'm very familiar with Hungry Man. What are we having for dinner again?

[D]

Oh, and I last. I just want to say I stay alive by not punishing myself for the myriad of awful self destructive choices I made for decades between risking myself sexually risking myself health wise, doing every drug under the sun, son, all the things I did to undermine myself and my body and. And nearly die multiple times in different ways. Guns in my mouth, you know, overdosing, overdosing, whatever that if you live in going, well, but I did this, so what can I do?

[A]

There's no one doing this.

[D]

You are where you are in this moment. You make a new choice. That's the choice you live in. That's my last piece of.

[A]

Oh, I love that.

[B]

I like that.

[A]

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[D]

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[C]

If there's one thing more important than the game, it's the snacks. That's why Gorton's Seafood is bringing the ultimate crunch to game day. Try seafood sliders with our crispy fish fillets or pair our popcorn shrimp with a sauce lineup for an appetizer every fan will love. Whether you're a sports super fan or just here for the snacks, Gorton's has the crunch to keep any crowd satisfied for game day. Visit gortons.com for game day recipes.

[D]

And you know, another thing I do you talk about along the lines of like dirty food, right. Is like if I want a sweet, sweet. There's two things. If I want a sweet, I have to make it. Oh, I can't get.

[B]

You're not going to Billy's.

[D]

No. And if I like, if I want a Milky Way bar, I have to make a Milky Way bar. Like let's put that. If I really need to. Yes. It's actually if you make your own Milky Way bar, I'm sure it's delicious.

[A]

Like that's the exact opposite of the convenience of buying a good bar. But that's the point.

[D]

But here's the thing. Most times it'll stop you.

[B]

So you struggle with it. You struggle. These sound like barriers to me. And yes. You know, these sound like Barry self barriers.

[D]

But I love fruit.

[B]

Right. But it seems like you struggle. It Seems like food is not just a.

[D]

Food's a huge struggle.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

I love.

[B]

It's not just something that you, that you are like passionate about because you're saying like you're using these things as barriers, you know, like. Yes, like so. So replacement replacements.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

So what in your head, like you, you are you like a dessert person where it's like, I need a sweet after dinner every night.

[D]

I'm everything. If I had my druthers, I would make. And I've done this before. I will make two double smash burgers. Okay. Two double smash burgers with my own homemade sauce. Four patties, double cheese on each one pressed. I will make also with that homemade Friday's style potato skins. And they taste like Friday's potato skins. TGI Friday crave some real dark. I am.

[A]

You are such a child of the hater.

[D]

And then I.

[B]

You and Trump are not that.

[D]

No. And I mean, that's why you're so good at them. And I make my buffalo. I know how to. I mean, I make blue. I'm a blue cheese dressing snob. People who serve like that only mayo based blue cheese dress. I'm like, you're disgusting.

[B]

I got to have some texture.

[D]

Well, the way it has texture is you incorporate sour cream, blue cheese, chives, pepper, a little bit of mayo. Like there's, you know, all these ways and to enhance it. And also the type of blue cheese you use, like, you can't use a too creamy blue cheese. It has to have a crumble to it anyway. But the point being that I, I used to eat, for instance, two bagels, a whole pack of bacon, four eggs, and home fries. That's what I made for myself when I was like 24.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Like a pig. So, yeah, I have a huge food problem. I converted that by like learning how to really cook well and learning how to cook a variety of cuisines. So now I just have barriers and, you know, replacements that over time I'm now better at. And also, I'll tell you, the threat of dying of shit cancer is like enough for you to go, okay, yeah, now I'm not. You know, this was. I punted this podcast twice. Once cause I had Covid and the other time because fortunately, and your father even said like, don't worry, you're gonna be fine. But I had like pre cancerous cells in my colon. Apparently everyone has those when it's a polyp. But they can be benign. But they have to test them. And because of the circumstance for me, I probably have had a digestive issue my whole life. But when you were a kid in the 80s, someone goes, he's got a nervous stomach. Stomach. That's it.

[A]

Yeah. There's no diarrhea since 91.

[B]

Or I'll say maybe a little anti Semitism. He's Jewish. It's probably his Jewish stomach.

[D]

Yes, that's really true. And I had a Jewish doctor. Yeah, well, I mean self. Self Jewish. Self Jewish hate. And so I. That was. There are certain things where. When I got the benign reports back just on Monday, I broke down and I didn't realize what you were. What I was holding.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[D]

And the thing was, listen, I know I'm gonna die and I know I'm closer to death now than I ever have been. And as I think Bill Burr said, it's so aptly. Which is your 50s, is when like the widowmaker happens or like you could just go, you know, and so like, I think like I have an awareness of, like, what do I want to complete and how do I want to prepare as best I can my consciousness for whatever is going to happen, even if it's blanking out for all time. How do I prepare? Because I don't have the answer. I'm saying I think that's what happens. I don't know.

[B]

But can you prepare? Can you be prepared? Or is it something that you just. That you're just. No matter if you're prepared or not, you're gonna have to deal with it.

[D]

I think what you can do is this. No, obviously you cannot prepare for things that you cannot know the outcome or what. How they'll come. But what you can do is, is shore up the temple. And if you look at every society, pre Christian society, most societies of antiquity there were. And I don't want to sound like some alpha bro, pseudo secret Nazi project, I'm not Graham Hancock. Right.

[A]

Way too familiar with. Mr. Hancock.

[D]

This isn't this pot.

[A]

No, not yet. We want to make more money. We might need to.

[D]

We might. But I think that like both you're in your early, early 40s, which is. This is the decade of the boiling frog.

[B]

Right.

[D]

Because I was thinking about it and I was like, if you are relatively active and you don't even need to be sporty, whether it's that you are.

[A]

Get your steps in, or you get.

[D]

Your steps in, you live in a city, you walk around, or you do a job with some kind of manual labor, or you're just young, up to about 40, you're gonna generally feel fine. Not everybody, I'm sure There's people who don't feel, but generally you're gonna feel okay. The problem is between 40 and 50, my experience was that you are a boiling frog in water, but it's slow heat. And so what will happen is, you know, 41, 42, you'll be like, oh, I hurt my back. But it goes away after two months or two weeks, and then nothing for two years. And then suddenly you have another problem and you're like, oh, what's that? And they're minor, they're not major. And then by the end of the decade, if you haven't been managing yourself chronic, things start to happen. Right, right. So just to give an example, with Shadows, I would live away in Toronto, right. For months at a time. And I remember the last season of Shadows. I said this to Matt. I was like, this is my last time kind of living alone. Like, I'm living alone, you know, so I'm really gonna rock out, you know? And so I was smoking weed, I was drinking, I was eaten. Smash Bird. Toronto's got some of the best food. We were going out to dinner, we were going to steakhouses, we were going to get Thai food and Indian food and whatever. I was 220, which is the heaviest I've ever been. I was 220 when I got back at 48.

[A]

You're 49?

[D]

48, yeah. At 49, yeah. 220 pounds in 20, 24 in May. Okay. I got home.

[A]

We are one year. That's one year ago from when we were starting.

[D]

One year ago, about 10 months.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

I could not get up off the toilet without hoisting myself. My back would hurt so much in the morning. And I was still in denial. I was still like, this is temporary. This will move on, this will change. And I was.

[A]

Without me doing anything, without me doing anything. This will just fix itself.

[D]

And my wife was looking at me like, come on, dude, like already, like.

[A]

I hurry up, get off the toilet, I have to go.

[D]

Yeah. So that is a common statement. And I, I sort of faced it down where I had lost weight very unhealthily two years prior. I was doing a lot of vaping, nicotine vaping, which like really slims you down and not eating. And like, I was in like a weird competition with gambling to like lose weight and I was not doing in a healthy way. I. I lost cuz I gained a lot of weight.

[A]

And gambling is a little tiny.

[D]

Yeah, you got to get him on. He's like a fit boy. Yeah, he's a real example of like Total change. Yeah. And the thing was is I was not doing it and I'm by the way quite sporty and have always done it healthily. You. All through my teaching days at ucb I was always pretty fit. I used to bike into.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

So I turned the corner and you know, through the summer and I thought, oh, it'll never come back. This is one thing I would say about the stairs and all that. It'll never come back. It'll never come back. Come back. I finally got serious in November and by February of 2025, so only like three months, right. I'm got down to 181 from so 220 to 181 in like 10 months.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

And I have not run a 9:15 mile and that's still. Oh no, I'm sorry. 8:45 mile. I'm not running 8:45 mile. I don't even know probably. Well, no, I used to run six. I used to run a 6:30 when I was 42. Whoa. Okay.

[A]

Excuse us.

[D]

So I hadn't run an 8:30 mile, you know, since like probably early president show. I got back to an 8:30 mile at 50 years old.

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

I mean, you look better than you have in the last like several years. You know what I mean?

[D]

Yeah. I looked on my president show press pictures. I go, there's a sad fat man.

[A]

Well, you were playing drum. Yeah.

[D]

What do you att, what do you.

[A]

Attest that to this, this, this change in the last 10 months? I obviously, besides the scare tactic. But, but what have you done? What have you done for yourself? I mean, obviously, Dr. Stephen Po.

[D]

Well, I will say Dr. Stephen P. Really, you know, made me face some stuff that I didn't want to face age wise and do some things I want not didn't want to do. I didn't want to have three feet of tubing up my ass. But I did it.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

And it was, it was fantastic.

[B]

But that's just Hanukkah at my house. That's just Hanuk house. What about medical stuff?

[A]

I can only do like, I can only do like 6 to 8 inches.

[D]

I'm like, they're like, where's the Kofi?

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

At his house. I would call it the Kofi Annan, which I think is probably layers of terrible.

[A]

Yeah, like it's layers.

[B]

My family was like, I don't even.

[D]

Want to bother with that. They're like, please don't do that. We have enough issues going on so.

[B]

We got to do a prayer for Israel after this.

[D]

But so. Oh God. But so I think I attributed it. I'll. I'll say it a weird way. I hit 50 and a lot of things happen, which was. I even went, why do I do this? What. What am I doing? I had no plan when I got an improv. I left LA because I was a drug addict and I couldn't figure out what the I was.

[B]

Can I ask you another question? Did this also happen? You're turning. I'm just putting the timing in my mind. Are you turning 50 during the stream strike?

[D]

No, no, it's after the strike.

[B]

Okay.

[D]

Cuz I was working. I. I was 48 during the strike.

[B]

Okay. Cuz the strike to me was.

[D]

Well, that was one big change.

[B]

Was a big. The strike to me was a big hit, mentally.

[D]

Well, that's when I knew I would never work again. After Shadows, the.

[A]

The pandemic and the strike made me have to figure out how I can have enjoyment and validation outside of my job.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I had to find during the pandemic, I'm like, yes. Oh, wait, I don't realize how much. Much I'm. How much I need the laugh of an audience or my life. Yeah. And I. And when that was removed, I'm like, well, it's time to find joy elsewhere.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah, truly.

[A]

And like, my therapist would tell me, go within. Like, go within. Yeah.

[D]

That's why it's interesting how. How much of what I do is tied up in approval.

[A]

Yes. And bro, this is. This was huge for me. I'll let you keep speaking. Well, no, that hits for me insanely because I kept realizing I'm like, like, what can I do that makes. Brings me joy that doesn't put a gatekeeper in front of me. And I'm waiting to hear back from a stranger if I can continue to do what I think is my art. And that was kind of the impetus to action boys, like the Patreon podcast I do, where we're just like, it's just us, it's behind a paywall. We don't owe anything to advertisers or anything.

[D]

We don't have to.

[A]

We just go, like, if we get another person listening, we make a little more money and we just get to be in the. And like, for the first time, that was very freeing for me where I'm like, I'm enjoying this. It's not what I ever thought my job would be or how I would earn money, but I'm enjoying this in this moment. And there's nobody to say no, but my two collaborators but my. The three of us can. And that is. Feels like the closest I've ever come to doing art.

[D]

Besides doing it for yourself. Doing your shot. And to your point, which is like, it doesn't matter how big you are, it ends and it doesn't matter how big you are, are the biggest person. Someone made this point to me. Oh, Connor made this point, which I thought was a great point. Jim Henson, who I worked. I worked for his company. Huge company. Right. But there was a point where Jim was the biggest thing in the world. The Muppets was the number one show in the world because it could translate and all that. Right. And then you flash forward 10 years, he cannot get a season. Reason.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

On net. So the point being that the system that we show ourselves is sort of built on this idea of not only success worship, but this idea of gatekeeping. People will play the other role, they'll play the other side. There's always someone to play the role for you. Right. If you want them to. So again, it comes back to. To am I working on me? Because if I go, well, that person, they were manipulating me because they were gatekeeping me. It's like, no, you chose Anthony to put them as your gate, to make them your gatekeeper. You chose to make them your permission giver. They didn't do that. They might have been primed. They might have be a perfect protein receptor where whatever their psychology is that plugs into their thing of being like, I'm going to like, you know, run you. Or you ch.

[A]

Chose to try to sell it to Hulu. So that puts the Hulu gatekeeper, as a person that you're purposely engaging. Engaging with, to use the Jim Henson thing. It's like, you gotta like the puppets, not the paychecks.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Because it's like when the paychecks stop coming in, when you're. When you stop getting booked, you gotta still like to get up there, put your hand up felt ass.

[B]

I mean. Yeah.

[D]

Another great stand up in my mind who now has a show, Survival of the Thickest.

[A]

Oh, Michelle.

[D]

Michelle. Bto. Believably funny. Yeah, unbelievably funny. Right. And. And I look at that and go, there are great people doing great work. But we just have created an ecosystem that for some reason we've created this like weird media zoo of mediocre, untalented, semi bearded white guys. It's like as if, like we couldn't just. Sorry, guys.

[A]

Thanks for tuning in, by the way. Sorry. Just clip this and play it as our promo.

[D]

Sorry.

[B]

I know.

[D]

You guys are like, you.

[A]

No, no, no. I don't care.

[D]

We agree. But you guys aren't mediocre.

[B]

I wasn't here.

[D]

You're not mediocre. The point is, is that there's dynamism in all kinds of people. Why are we celebrating this mediocrity, this hateful mediocrity? I will not understand it. And that's an outcropping that's happened in comedy, which has changed. Changed what buyers want to look at. It's changed.

[A]

What changed the entire economy of doing comedy.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah. Well, I think one of the main reasons. I think one of the.

[A]

Sorry.

[B]

Yeah, no, I think one of the main reasons is because we've been talking about this in almost every industry that, like, knowledge is negative, right?

[D]

Yes.

[A]

So, like.

[B]

Expertise is an issue. Ignorance is bliss. And don't you dare try to educate me. Education is my right to ignore, you know, And.

[A]

And I don't have to learn anything.

[B]

And I don't have to learn anything new because there's a podcast for the uninformed.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

And that's who I have decided to be.

[A]

I can snap that on as my personality.

[B]

Exactly.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I can just take this part of.

[B]

The uninformed, and that's okay with me. And it doesn't matter. And those headphones are on.

[D]

And, like, that's.

[B]

I think that, that. That the. The market will always reflect where the money is. And so if there's enough people who get excited by. By feeling part of the. The.

[D]

The.

[B]

The. I don't even know what it's called, like, the class of fish. And that if they swim out of it, they'll get eaten.

[D]

The school.

[B]

The school.

[D]

Then.

[B]

Then that is where the money is. But it's cyclical. It'll change.

[D]

Of course.

[A]

I look forward to it changing.

[D]

I look forward to changing. I would say that, you know. O. Yeah. Does. Connor does that. He does that. Conspiracy.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Captures. Exactly. Which is. It's not just ignorance. It's. It's ignorance of reality coupled with. Here's this real secret info. Here's the real secret truth. That's the energy I love about those things. He's like, oh, have you heard about the. But. And it's like, it's crazy that we haven't just said, oh, we're ignorant. We're not just ignorant. We believe.

[B]

But we don't need someone to blame. I mean, that's.

[A]

It always lets us not have to think about the reality.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And when you're not thinking about reality is someone to blame. I mean, that's the oldest thing. And that's why it usually comes down to juice.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Thank you for being here, Anthony.

[A]

What a way to end the show.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

And I believe that and agree that it is the Juice.

[B]

I know. That's why I didn't let you speak, because I knew I speak for you.

[A]

Been told to stop saying that on podcast, so I don't say what I think anymore. Dude, it's such a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much.

[D]

Thank you.

[A]

Can I one thing, please plug away.

[D]

Coffee with Tony.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Believe it or not. Is coming back.

[A]

Hell yeah.

[D]

In May. And it will be Patreon.

[B]

Hell yeah.

[D]

Patreon streaming. So the 10 people who watch it. You'll be paying five bucks to my Patreon. Really want people to watch. We're going to have guests back. We're going to be talking all about the. In a fun way, pop culture and politics.

[B]

Will Trump show up?

[D]

I think RFK will be more likely to show up, but Trump might show up once in a while as a call in.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's in the link. Click on his name in the show notes and that'll get you there. Tamanic, you're our favorite. Thank you so much for coming, brother.

[D]

Thank you.

[A]

Oh, man. People have no idea how on brand that conversation with Anthony was. It was. It was the spiritual at moments. It was wildly personal. And then we got into, like, anger about this comedy. Like, that's like. Those are, like tent poles of talking conversation.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That felt like a phone call where I got to look at him.

[B]

Yeah. No, it was great. And it's good to see him.

[A]

I'm glad. He looks amazing.

[B]

It's the first time I haven't heard he has Covid in, like, six conversations.

[A]

I know. I'm so glad he does it. I'm so glad he's. He's turning the corner. Holy 50.

[D]

Dude looks good.

[A]

He's kind of an inspiration.

[B]

He looks amazing.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

I hope I look. I know I won't, but I hope they look that good.

[A]

I mean, I got seven years.

[B]

He's rode hard. He's done a. He's put miles on that tank.

[A]

Well, I think that's why I look to him with such reverence. With reverence. And. And he's so inspiring to me because I know he's not like. Well, yeah, I was a triathlete until I was 35. You know, like, the dude.

[B]

He's coming at it from your lens.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. We have very similar upbringing, so that makes me feel really good.

[B]

And he's come through the other side.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And he's. That was an inspiration. Like I need to get. I need to get my 8:30 mile. I'm not, I'm. I didn't even do an 8:30 mile when I was 14. To be fair, when I was 14, I weighed like 185 pounds.

[B]

Maybe he's talk 8 mile, which I believe is just a train track.

[A]

I've done an eight mile.

[B]

Yeah. I've eaten mom's spaghetti.

[A]

Oh, man, I can't. I. I wish we had another hour with him.

[B]

Yeah, we'll get one.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Non consensually. We'll have another hour.

[B]

Stay alive.

[A]

We're doing it out like wild west.

[B]

We should have to walk drools.

[D]

We're drooling.

[A]

We're jewels. Mango, Jewel, baby.

[B]

Or I was thinking like pick up the cup and let my hair taste down. You know how different from the no one around.

[A]

I'm living in a car in Alaska.

[B]

Dreams last was so long. All right. Stay alive.

[A]

Stay alive. You have been listening to Staying Alive with John Gabris and Adam Pally. A smartless media production in a association with Sirius xm.

[B]

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

[A]

Associate producer and video producer is Matty McCann. Social media producer Tommy Galgano.

[B]

Assistant engineer Kyle McGraw. Special thanks to Jared O' Connell at SiriusXM.

[A]

Executive producers are John Gabris.

[B]

Ooh, me.

[A]

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 helps.

[B]

Just so everyone knows we do not have a discord.

[A]

Don't reach out to us.

[B]

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

[D]

See Christ. Yeah, he died. I mean, not I believe this, but like, he died. He's in the cave. They roll it out, he comes out like super ghost Jesus shoots up to the sky. Kidding.

[A]

And I'm alive, jk.

[D]

And then he's gonna come back someday, whatever. But ever felt defeated by cravings. You're not alone. Henry Meds is here to help support your weight management journey. Since I joined four months ago, I've.

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