Talking Sopranos Ep #92 "Catching Up" and a Big Announcement!

Summary

Talking Sopranos Ep #92 "Catching Up" and a Big Announcement!

Date: June 18, 2025
Hosts: Michael Imperioli & Steve Schirripa

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Episode Overview

In this lively "catching up" installment of Talking Sopranos, hosts Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa reconnect after a break, offering listeners a candid, often hilarious, and deeply engaging update on their lives, careers, and Sopranos memories. Big announcements include upcoming live shows, a long-awaited UK tour, and side projects. The episode also digs into detailed discussions of classic Sopranos episodes and iconic scenes, illuminating behind-the-scenes anecdotes in their signature banter.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Reuniting and Getting Older

• The hosts open with jokes about aging and being recognized from The Sopranos decades after the fact.

  • [01:20] Steve: “Watching the old Soprano clips...it’s a little scary how I’ve aged.”
  • [01:57] Steve: “You know, forever people have in their mind you always look like that, like you’re frozen in time.”

• Stories about awkward fan encounters and the reality of fame.

  • [02:12] Michael shares a story of a fan commenting on his age: “Well, it happens to all of us.”

• Steve’s Population Theory:

  • [03:18] Steve: “In the normal population of life, 35% of the people are jackoffs.”
  • Michael disagrees, calling himself a “glass half full guy.”

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2. Life Updates: Work, Hobbies, and Big Announcement

• Michael’s Recent Projects:

  • Broadway run last year, preparation and vocal training ([09:47]–[11:12])
  • New movies:
    • Song Sung Blue (with Hugh Jackman & Kate Hudson – out Christmas Day)
    • The Housewife (shot in Montreal with Naomi Watts – out next year)

• Steve’s Recent Work:

  • Filming a Hallmark movie with Joey Pantoliano ("Holiday Touchdown", about the Buffalo Bills) ([14:06])
  • Recent roles: Dexter reboot, finishing Blue Bloods after a 9-year run
  • Working on a children’s book, "Willie Boy Eats the World"

• Their San Pellegrino Commercial:

  • Inspired by their podcast, filmed in Miami.
  • [16:14] Michael: “They were inspired by the podcast.”
  • [16:22] Steve: “It’s really good. I have a friend who puts vodka in it...it’s really good.”

• Band and Live Shows:

  • Michael’s band released an album, touring the West Coast
  • Steve bought a house in Rhode Island

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3. Food, Restaurants & Spirited Arguments

• The hosts swap stories about Italian restaurants, meatball bravado, and pizza recommendations:

  • [18:03] Steve: “Cherry Longo... best meatball I’ve ever had.”
  • [19:24] Favorite NYC spots: Danico, San Sabino, Arturo’s, Song Monopoly, Locale, Manos in Ridgewood

• Steve lauds Michael’s meatless meatballs:

  • [19:00] Steve: “I honestly didn’t know when you gave it to me... those were fantastic.”

• Discussion on drinking habits, aging, and recovery times:

  • [23:38] Steve: “I just can’t fucking bounce back like I used to, man.”

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4. Ghosts, Buddhism, and Tech Troubles

• Ghosts:

  • [04:50] Steve: “I’ve never seen a ghost. I don’t believe in ghosts. I don’t think they exist.”
  • [05:17] Michael: “They’re rare, they’re not around all the time, but you know, lots of people have seen them.”
  • Michael explains his view that ghosts are "trapped" energies tied to places.

• Buddhism:

  • Michael shares his experience with meditation retreats, vows of silence, and spirituality ([06:04]–[07:25])

• Siri issues:

  • Steve complains about Siri ignoring him, threatening to switch to the “Australian guy”

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5. The Sopranos Retrospective – Iconic Episodes and Behind-the-Scenes

a. “From Where to Eternity” (S2E9)

• Michael wrote the episode and details writing process and unused dream sequences ([28:05])
• [28:19] Steve: “One of my favorite lines: Hell is an Irish bar and every day it’s St. Patrick’s Day.”
• Episode explored mobsters reconciling their faith and their crimes.

b. “Another Toothpick” (S3E5)

• Steve gets emotional about his first big role as Bobby’s dad, working opposite Burt Young ([34:00]–[38:05])
• Realism and subtle details praised (Tony’s stomach growling at opening).

c. “The Strong, Silent Type”

• Intervention scene for Christopher; blend of drama and dark humor.

  • [41:57] Steve: “Tracey’s very funny in it. She says that you can no longer function as a man. And Christopher says, is this necessary?”

• TV continuity oddities: different actresses for Christopher’s mom

d. “Whitecaps” (S4 Finale)

• Steve and Michael cite the Tony/Carmela fight as a master class in acting.

  • [44:38] Michael: “That acting is—both of them, Edie and Jim—just some of the best I’ve ever seen anywhere.”

• Subplot: Alan Sapinsley (“Leaving us here fucked again”), Rocky Marciano photo parallel

• Hypocrisy of infidelity discussed with real-life anecdotes

e. “The Ride” (S6E9)

• Chasing Paulie through an Italian feast; Steve shares method acting his anger at Tony Sirico ([51:40])

• Christopher’s relapse, rare moments of comic relief and grounded tension

• Many Easter eggs and callbacks highlighted (e.g., Pagano Realty sign ties back to Christopher’s first hit)

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6. Upcoming Live Shows & UK Tour (Big Announcement)

• Major UK Tour: Announced after postponement due to COVID

  • Cities: Belfast, Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London Palladium, Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle, more ([57:32])
  • Multiple new matinees added due to demand

• US shows also booked in NYC, Chicago, Boston, Philly, New Jersey, DC; Vinnie Pastore and Joey Cola will be joining for US dates

• [64:18] Michael: “If you haven’t seen the show, it’s a behind-the-scenes look at being on The Sopranos...we have a Q&A every show.”

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7. Travel, Culture, and British Slang

• Michael quizzes Steve on British slang before UK tour:

  • [58:20] Michael: “Do you know what a bloke is?” (A guy/dude)
  • [59:12] Steve: “The boot?” (The trunk of a car)
  • [59:57] Steve: “Give me your dog and bone.” (Phone)

• UK food, pub culture, and Michael’s stories about the Rolling Stones’ vegetarian shepherd’s pie backstage ([62:03])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Steve on Aging and Fame

• [01:20] “Watching the old Soprano clips...it’s a little scary how I’ve aged.”
• [03:18] “In the normal population of life, 35% of the people are jackoffs.”

Michael on Live Theater

• [10:01] "I started heavy duty... working on learning the text, working on the character. I worked with a vocal coach because we didn’t have microphones...I really wanted to work on my voice."

On Ghosts

• [05:17] Michael: “They’re rare, they’re not around all the time, but you know, lots of people have seen them.”
• [05:31] Michael: “They’re trapped—that their essence or energy is tied to a place.”

On “Hell is an Irish Bar”

• [28:19] Steve: “One of my favorite lines: Hell is an Irish bar and every day it’s St. Patrick’s Day.”

On Sopranos Magic

• [25:41] Michael: “Oh, yeah. That was like lightning in a bottle, you know. Those things that only...It’s just, you can’t predict it. You can’t force that. There was a little bit of magic in that, that came together, you know?”

On Acting Mastery

• [47:14] Michael: “Despite having all these affairs...she confesses her desire and it’s...he can’t take it.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamps | |------------------------------------|---------------| | Opening Banter & Aging | 01:03–04:35 | | Ghosts & Buddhism | 04:34–07:57 | | Career Catchup & Projects | 09:40–14:56 | | Live Shows, Bands, & San Pellegrino| 15:55–17:37 | | Restaurants & Meatball Debates | 18:03–22:18 | | Sopranos Episode Deep Dives | 28:05–56:08 | | UK Tour & British Slang Quiz | 57:32–61:56 | | Rolling Stones/Paul Simon Story | 62:03–63:12 | | Live Show Promo/Upcoming Dates | 63:12–64:18 | | Closing Banter & Final Thoughts | 65:04–66:32 |

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Tone & Style

The hosts’ language is as frank, playful, and occasionally profane as always. Steve is self-deprecating, brash, and hilarious; Michael is more reserved yet quick-witted, insightful, and the perfect foil. Their personal chemistry is a highlight, giving fans the buddy dynamic they love.

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Conclusion

This episode is a hit for both Sopranos diehards and newcomers alike: rich in nostalgia, packed with juicy showbiz and Sopranos anecdotes, and building hype for the upcoming live shows and UK tour. You’ll come away with insider knowledge, authentic laughs, and even some British rhyming slang for the road. For fans, this is Talking Sopranos at its best: candid, warm, and endlessly entertaining.

Transcript

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[Steve Schirripa]

What's happening, pal?

[Michael Imperioli]

How are you, buddy?

[Steve Schirripa]

It's been a while.

[Michael Imperioli]

It's been a long time. Like years, right?

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah. Gee, you got old. I look the same.

[Michael Imperioli]

You look the same.

[Steve Schirripa]

You know, I'm gonna tell you, you know what's scary?

[Michael Imperioli]

What?

[Steve Schirripa]

Watching the old Soprano clips or the show and now you're talking 25 years ago, you know, 20 years ago, 25 years ago. It's a little scary how I've aged,

[Michael Imperioli]

you know, that's it. That's. That's how it goes. What are you going to do? I mean, time ago. Listen, I did, I did the pilot in 1997. That's 28 years ago.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, I'm just saying, you know, forever people have in their mind.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah. How you know that?

[Steve Schirripa]

You always look like that, like you're frozen in time.

[Michael Imperioli]

You know, it doesn't work that way.

[Steve Schirripa]

Well, you know what I mean. You're here all the time. I remember, I think we were out somewhere one night in a restaurant and this older lady came up and she wanted to take a picture and she said to you, my, you got old.

[Michael Imperioli]

Did she really?

[Steve Schirripa]

Did I take the picture and I'm going, this is back 10, over 10 years ago. And you said, well, it happens to all of us.

[Michael Imperioli]

What would she say now? She probably dropped dead.

[Steve Schirripa]

How about when a guy goes, hey, everyone says I look just like you?

[Michael Imperioli]

I get that from time to time.

[Steve Schirripa]

Or when they go, is it you? Is it, is it really you? Are you the guy? And I go, brad Pitt. Yeah, that's me. Am I the Guy. Do you answer that?

[Michael Imperioli]

Has anyone ever told you you look like the guy from the Sopranos?

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, yeah, I get that. I always go, yeah, I hear that all the time. You know, it's, it's. The response is a little. I mean, I love the fans. I love that they still acknowledge us, you know, don't get me wrong. But it is. Sometimes it gets a little awkward.

[Michael Imperioli]

Sometimes it gets awkward. Depends on the person. Most people. Most people are great.

[Steve Schirripa]

Oh, 99.9%. But then you always got a jack off. Can't help it.

[Michael Imperioli]

That's the world though, too, you know, that's in general, you know.

[Steve Schirripa]

Oh, no, in general there's more than the percentage. There's a lot higher percentage of jack off. So I'm going to go a good 30.

[Michael Imperioli]

30 lately or that Is that recent or is that always been?

[Steve Schirripa]

I think always. But it's gotten worse. It's got either that or my tolerance is much lower. In the normal population of life, 35% of the people are jackoffs.

[Michael Imperioli]

Really? You think it's that much?

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, and it's. And it spans all races, religions, you know, money, you know, it's all across the board. It's not like just this group or that group or this group across the board. 35%.

[Michael Imperioli]

Wow, that's a high percentage.

[Steve Schirripa]

You don't think so?

[Michael Imperioli]

I don't know. I mean, I think it's a little less.

[Steve Schirripa]

So if there's 100 people in a room, 35 of them are jack offs.

[Michael Imperioli]

Nah, I think it's less. I'm an optimist. I'm a glass half full guy. You're glass half full?

[Steve Schirripa]

I'm an empty guy. But you hang out with different people. Maybe you hang out with better people, but unnecessarily. Have you seen any ghosts lately?

[Michael Imperioli]

Ghosts?

[Steve Schirripa]

I know. You into the ghost thing.

[Michael Imperioli]

I was never into ghosts. I mean, I've had experiences, but not lately. Those are rare things. Those don't happen very often. Thank you.

[Steve Schirripa]

Since our last podcast, no ghosts, no.

[Michael Imperioli]

Ghosts? No. Have you?

[Steve Schirripa]

No, I've never seen a ghost. I don't believe in ghosts. I don't think they exist. I don't believe aliens.

[Michael Imperioli]

I mean, of course they exist. That's been documented, isn't it?

[Steve Schirripa]

By who?

[Michael Imperioli]

The Catholic church? Exorcist.

[Steve Schirripa]

Ghosts exist?

[Michael Imperioli]

Well, they do. Exorcism. Isn't that a ghost? A spirit, evil spirit or whatever?

[Steve Schirripa]

Well, I don't know that they're full of. What do I know? I haven't seen a ghost. I've never seen One. I know you have, and.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah, you haven't seen one yet. You know, they're rare, they're not around all the time, but they, you know, lots of people have seen them.

[Steve Schirripa]

And what's their purpose? What do you think a ghost purpose is? To scare you? What is the purpose?

[Michael Imperioli]

I don't think they're. I think they're. They're trapped. They're trapped that their. Their essence or energy is. Is tied to a place. They're stuck. They're attached to a place, couldn't let

[Steve Schirripa]

go of it, really.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah. That's why it's good not to get too attached to any place, really. So move on. Right. You want a fresh start. You don't want to stay after everybody's gone.

[Steve Schirripa]

I guess. I mean, I have. I've never heard this theory. This is some theory. I've never looked into it, but this is a theory. The ghost thing.

[Michael Imperioli]

I think that's correct.

[Steve Schirripa]

Now, what about Buddhist? How's the Buddhist thing going?

[Michael Imperioli]

How's the Buddhist thing going?

[Steve Schirripa]

Well, how's the whole Buddhist. I know you go on the retreats, and.

[Michael Imperioli]

I do go to retreats. Yeah.

[Steve Schirripa]

Now, they don't believe in ghost Buddhists?

[Michael Imperioli]

No, not really. They don't really believe in ghosts, no. But, yeah, I go on retreats, keep myself. Keep my head together, you know.

[Steve Schirripa]

And what do you do? You go there, you. You pray, you.

[Michael Imperioli]

It depends on the. It depends on the thing. Sometimes you just go to teaching. Sometimes you do a lot of meditation, you know, but. Yeah, that's a. Yeah, I'm gonna go probably sometime this summer. Yeah.

[Steve Schirripa]

Do you have to take a vow of silence sometimes?

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah, but it's not really a vow. You just, you know, I mean, people always. When I mention that, like a lot of times, retreat is silent. Oh, my God. That's. That's the easiest part of retreat, is not having to talk to anybody. The hard part is like, you know, sitting and meditating for long stretches of time. I mean, not talking is. I don't see why people think that's hard, you know?

[Steve Schirripa]

Well, I tell you, I couldn't be a Buddhist because I can't. You know me, I'm always talking, so I can't.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah, but not when you're in that kind of environment. I mean, if you. You don't have a problem being alone, do you? No, you don't talk when you're alone. You talk to yourself.

[Steve Schirripa]

Talk on the phone.

[Michael Imperioli]

I know you got an iPhone, and you have.

[Steve Schirripa]

Siri finally got an iPhone, finally.

[Michael Imperioli]

I've seen you you know, I've seen you yelling at Siri, you know, you.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, she's a twat a lot of times. And I'll go, hey, Siri. Call Michael Imperial. I say, hey, Siri. She'll go like, she's on the fucking couch and I'm bothering her. She's a twat. And I already threatened to replace her with like that Australian guy or something. So if I have to, I will.

[Michael Imperioli]

You may, you may want to do that.

[Steve Schirripa]

He's got a fucking shitty attitude with me. I'm not joking.

[Michael Imperioli]

Wow. I've never experienced that. I don't use Siri.

[Steve Schirripa]

Why?

[Michael Imperioli]

I just never got into the habit of it. No, I don't.

[Steve Schirripa]

I don't want to text. I'm not a good text. Hey, Siri, call this guy. Siri, call that guy.

[Michael Imperioli]

As I noticed, with people at the Siri up a lot, you know, you say, text Steve, let's meet tomorrow at 3 o'. Clock. And it says, tell Steve. You know, no, 3 o' clock or 3 o' clock is, you know, you're a jerk or.

[Steve Schirripa]

Well, you got to check it. You got to check it.

[Michael Imperioli]

Well, that's the thing. What if you're in a rush, you don't check it. You send the wrong message to the wrong person.

[Steve Schirripa]

Hey, now, I got something I'm very proud of. A Steve Sharipa. Can you see it? Yeah, a Steve Sharipa. Willie boy bobblehead.

[Michael Imperioli]

That looks nothing like you. I'm sorry.

[Steve Schirripa]

Come on. It looks exactly like me. And look, even with this little thing, it looks like Christopher when he had the neck brace.

[Michael Imperioli]

Why does it have that thing? What is that thing?

[Steve Schirripa]

Well, that's. Protect the head from bobbling. But listen to me, it's a little. They may be a little skinnier. What?

[Michael Imperioli]

Well, that's not the problem. It just doesn't look like you. It looks like someone I know, though.

[Steve Schirripa]

I'm very proud. Got my name on the back. Very proud of this. This looks like me.

[Michael Imperioli]

No, it doesn't.

[Steve Schirripa]

You're just jealous because you don't have a bobblehead. Now, what have you been up to? You did that play.

[Michael Imperioli]

I did. I was on Broadway last year.

[Steve Schirripa]

That was. And I was. You were nice enough to invite me opening night. That was really something. Tell me about that. I mean, that's a solid six months of your life that you.

[Michael Imperioli]

The month of rehearsal. Right, Month of rehearsal and then four months of performance. But I started prepping probably two months before rehearsal. So four or five, seven months. I started heavy duty, you know, Working on learning the text, working on the character. I worked with a vocal coach because we didn't have microphone. We didn't use microphones. We just used our voices. So I really had. I hadn't done a play in a long time, so I really wanted to work on my voice. So I had a. Yeah, you were great.

[Steve Schirripa]

I mean, the play was great. You sold out every show. That's got to be a big thrill. But, boy, I mean, your whole life is the play.

[Michael Imperioli]

You get eight shows. Eight shows a week, six days a week for four months. We did 135 performances. I did it sick. I was sick a couple of times during the run, and I went on anyway. Took some cold medicine and went on and Was really rewarding, really hard. We sold out every show. 135 shows sold out every night.

[Steve Schirripa]

Would you do it again? Would you do a Broadway play?

[Michael Imperioli]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I do it. I might do a play in the next year. We'll see. I'm not sure yet.

[Steve Schirripa]

I just got offered Guys and Dolls in Maine.

[Michael Imperioli]

You did Guys and Dolls, right?

[Steve Schirripa]

I did Guys and Dolls one night. Carnegie Hall. My only time that I did a play. You offered me a play at your theater years ago. I didn't think it was time, but I did Carnegie Hall. I'd never been so scared in my life. It was one night only. Sold out. Every Broadway producer, every Broadway person was there. It turned out pretty well. And then they just offered it to me again. But it's in Maine. It's six weeks or eight weeks and just bad timing. I appreciate the offer, but it was just not the right time for me.

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[Steve Schirripa]

But maybe someday.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a lot of fun. And then I did. I did a movie. I did two movies coming out. One's coming out Christmas Day. That's called Song Sung Blue with Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, directed by Craig Brewer, who did Hustle and Flow and My Name Is Dolomite and That is. Yeah. That's getting a Christmas Day opening. I mean, they have a lot of high hopes for it. It's a really good movie. I played a lot of guitar in that movie and sang. I sang in that movie.

[Steve Schirripa]

Oh, all right. That's good.

[Michael Imperioli]

Hugh does a lot of singing. So does Kate. It's about. It's about musicians. It's. I think it's going to be really good.

[Steve Schirripa]

You. You enjoyed that. You. Jackman's a good guy, right, Kate.

[Michael Imperioli]

Kate's great. And I just shot a movie in Montreal called the Housewife with Naomi Watts, who's a fantastic actress. Yeah, that'll probably come out next year.

[Steve Schirripa]

Did you go to Shea Parade, the best strip club in the entire United States?

[Michael Imperioli]

Oh, I did not.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, come on, don't bullshit me. Oh, I was with you a long time.

[Michael Imperioli]

My wife, the whole time.

[Steve Schirripa]

You know, because it's nude. You know, it's nude with liquor.

[Michael Imperioli]

That's.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, they're beautiful girls. It's nude and liquor.

[Michael Imperioli]

Food with liquor. Yeah. They're more liberal up there than we are in.

[Steve Schirripa]

The lap dance is with the exchange rate. You get a good exchange rate with your money.

[Michael Imperioli]

Fantastic. That's good news.

[Steve Schirripa]

Well, I'm just trying to tell you, don't catch an attitude about it.

[Michael Imperioli]

I'm not.

[Steve Schirripa]

You said you didn't go. You didn't go.

[Michael Imperioli]

What have you been doing?

[Steve Schirripa]

I just did a movie with Joey Pantoliano. Joey Pants in Ralphie on the Sopranos. We have a movie coming out, Christmas movie. Joey's great, a lot of fun. Always a lot of fun. He's a good guy. We went to dinner and. Good place up there called Mulberry. We shot it in Buffalo. The movie is called Holiday Touchdown. It's about Buffalo Bills, you know, romance, you know, Hallmark movie, which I love is my second one that I did. I did one in November called Sisterhood, Inc. I was like a Valentine's Day. And this one's coming out. It's a Christmas movie. My first one. Great cast, a lot of fun. Joey's great. He said to say hello. He's been working again, you know, so that was good.

[Michael Imperioli]

You did a Dexter. I heard you did two.

[Steve Schirripa]

I did a couple of Dexters.

[Michael Imperioli]

That's a good show coming out.

[Steve Schirripa]

Great show.

[Michael Imperioli]

It's a reboot, right? Because it was resurrection. Is that what it's called, Resurrection?

[Steve Schirripa]

A lot of the original cast. I work with Michael C. Hall. I work with David say House. Good guys. I did a few Dexter so far. That was good. I got a book Coming out. Willie Boy Eats the World. It's a kid's book based on the famous Willie Boy who's upstairs.

[Michael Imperioli]

And you wrapped Blue Bloods?

[Steve Schirripa]

Blue Bloods wrapped a year ago. It was a good run. I did 146 episodes. I think it's all over the world now, you know. It was a good run. Nine years. A lot of fun. Time to move on. Enjoyed the cast and all that, but it wrapped last June, you know, but we've been doing some live shows, so that was fun.

[Michael Imperioli]

And we did an ad, a series of ads for San Pellegrino.

[Steve Schirripa]

Ciao, San Pellegrino. I got mine here. What do you like?

[Michael Imperioli]

I like lime and I like blood orange.

[Steve Schirripa]

Well, this is what I got, Blood orange. It was great. We shot that in Miami. I don't know if people have seen it. Go to YouTube.

[Michael Imperioli]

They were inspired by the podcast.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, I know. I know. It's great. Well, I tell you what. And I'm not just.

[Michael Imperioli]

And this stuff is good.

[Steve Schirripa]

It's really good.

[Michael Imperioli]

I drink it all the time.

[Steve Schirripa]

It's really good. I have a friend of mine puts vodka in it. Like a mixture, too. It's really good, right?

[Michael Imperioli]

It's not sweet, you know, but it's. But it's tasty and refreshing, you know,

[Steve Schirripa]

And I'm not bullshitting here, you know, we did it. We shot it down in Miami. We were there for, you know, two days of shooting. And they couldn't have treated us nicer. And I'm not just saying that, really. This isn't a commercial. I mean, they treated us so nice. Everyone. There was a lot of people from Italy and San Pellegrino and the advertising agency. I mean, they treated us really, really nice. And that was a product that you could be proud of. No, because not everything you endorse sometimes, you know, they pay you. You go, this is a really product. So I. I enjoyed that, and I enjoyed the whole experience of doing it with you. That was fun. It's a short film called the Nice Guys.

[Michael Imperioli]

You know, they broke it up into smaller pieces. It's very funny. People really like it.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, yeah, it was really good. So did that and. And working on the book and hanging out. You know, I bought a house in Rhode Island. You know,

[Michael Imperioli]

my band put out an album this year, and we're doing some shows on the West Coast. We played Brooklyn last night and Baltimore.

[Steve Schirripa]

Where are you going? Where in the West Coast?

[Michael Imperioli]

Oh, I'm going to Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, and San Francisco next week. Are you. Are you in Rhode Island?

[Steve Schirripa]

Now, yeah.

[Michael Imperioli]

Are there any good restaurants there?

[Steve Schirripa]

The best restaurant near you. Cherry. Longo. Longo.

[Michael Imperioli]

Oh, our buddy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right.

[Steve Schirripa]

I mean, really. And I'm not saying this, people are going to bullshit. It is the best meatball I've ever had. Now people go, my mother makes the best meatball. My grandmother makes the best meatball. You haven't tasted my fucking meatballs. Listen, does that.

[Michael Imperioli]

Who says that?

[Steve Schirripa]

I walk in the street. I had said it before. I walked down the block of New York. You didn't try my brother's meatball. Listen, I'm sure your brother's meatball is good. I'm sure your mom's is great. This is the best one I've ever had. Jerry also makes zucchini. Last night I had zucchini meatballs and they're delicious. They're great. Now you, a couple of weeks ago, you made meatballs, right? With impossible, impossible meat.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah.

[Steve Schirripa]

And I didn't know. I honestly didn't know when you gave it to me. You made great sauce. You gave me three meatballs. Those were fantastic.

[Michael Imperioli]

Those are good.

[Steve Schirripa]

I really enjoyed that, the zucchini meatballs, because my wife doesn't eat meat. Last night I had that. It's really good. Jerry's got a great restaurant. He's a. He's a good friend of ours for a long time. So I like Longo's Danico down on Mulberry Street.

[Michael Imperioli]

Love Danico. We go to Danico a lot. We did a thing there. We did a. We took Eli Manning there.

[Steve Schirripa]

Eli Manning, the great ex quarterback for the New York Giants. We taught him how to eat Italian and that was great. Nikki, if you go there, people always come in from all over, right? They listen to the podcast. I'm in New York, where should I go? Send them to Danico. As for Nikki or Tony, tell him. And no lie. I mean, that's fantastic. I also like San Sabino, great restaurant. I don't think you've been there. It's a tie in Mostly Fish place in the Village. The same owner as Don Angie. You've been to Don Angie on Angie?

[Michael Imperioli]

I like. Yeah, that's good.

[Steve Schirripa]

And then Arturo's is a go to for the pizza. No, Better pizza. And I like the place you go to.

[Michael Imperioli]

Which one?

[Steve Schirripa]

The one on the Upper west side.

[Michael Imperioli]

Oh, that place. That's song Monopoly. That's a good spot.

[Steve Schirripa]

I like that a lot.

[Michael Imperioli]

Last week I was at Locale, which may be my favorite pizza restaurant. Fantastic Mark's, our buddy Mark is a great Guy, the new slice king is monos m a n o apostrophe s. Ridgewood, Queens. Really? They've been getting off the charts, reviews and polls. It's this little slice joint and it's out. It's the best I've had at first Manos. Really, really, really good. Yes.

[Steve Schirripa]

I'm not usually out in Queens, but I like to try that on the

[Michael Imperioli]

border of like Bushwick. It's new. It's kind of the border of Brooklyn and Queens. It's really, really good.

[Steve Schirripa]

Ridgewood. Yeah, it's half and half. What about your place? How's it doing?

[Michael Imperioli]

Scarlet is a cocktail lounge. The Upper west side. Doing really good. It's really. My. My wife designed it. It's really beautiful place.

[Steve Schirripa]

You're doing good.

[Michael Imperioli]

You go in there, I go in there.

[Steve Schirripa]

What happens if there's a drunk out of line? Are you the bouncer? You fucking throw them out? You know that taekwondo shit?

[Michael Imperioli]

Right now we have people to deal with that.

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[Steve Schirripa]

I was about. If I'm not working, I'll take a few days a week.

[Michael Imperioli]

All right, I'll hold you to that. I also been going to harvest a lot. Our friend Jeremy, I like him.

[Steve Schirripa]

That's my go to. To meet someone there for lunch. Yeah, we were there. Easter for Easter lunch. That's on the Upper west side. That's a great place and restaurant. I really like Layla. But you know what? I don't go out as much as I used to.

[Michael Imperioli]

Really.

[Steve Schirripa]

I've been going to Nice Martin a lot down on Amsterdam. 79. I just don't, you know, I can't recover. The other night I had a couple of tequilas. I just can't fucking bounce back like I used to, man. I used to be out five or six nights a week in New York. Now, nevermind. When I was young that I counted. When I lived in Vegas, I went out 70 nights in a row.

[Michael Imperioli]

Really?

[Steve Schirripa]

70 nights in a row. They took a day off or two and then fuck, I did it again.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah, that's what you do there, though, Vegas? You go out. It's an out. It's a going out culture. Right?

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah. Listen, I loved every minute of it. I would work at night, work, you know, get off 4, 5, 6, 7 in the morning, go out, drink, feel like shit, and then go home and say, I'm not going out for a week. And then you do it again the same night, over and over. But even now, I had a few Patron silvers, chilled it up in a martini glass, a few Pacificos, back to Patron.

[Michael Imperioli]

You were off that for a long time.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, I was drinking vodka, but Patron's great fucking crisp in a martini glass. You can't beat that. Just tie it. No headache, just tired. I just can't. I just don't have it in me anymore. It's hard to believe. Getting old. You can't drink like you used. It's a. It's a crying shame.

[Michael Imperioli]

Maybe it's just a phase. And you'll come, you'll bounce back and you'll. You'll hit it hard again.

[Steve Schirripa]

I think you got to get in shape, drinking shape, you know what I mean? And going back to the work. Of course, we haven't talked about on the podcast White Lotus. That was a big. Another Emmy. That was a big fucking deal for you.

[Michael Imperioli]

That was one of the best gigs I've ever had. I mean, on every level. You know, just the material. The other actors. F. Murray Abraham and I have become really, really, really close friends since then. And being in Sicily for four months was just a dream, dream job. I loved every minute of that. That was Mike White, great director and writer. I didn't want that one. And that was really fun.

[Steve Schirripa]

That's a good one. Sometimes along the way, there's some really, really. Well, look, the Sopranos was a good one. That was a.

[Michael Imperioli]

That's a dream gig. Yeah.

[Steve Schirripa]

You never. You never. We're never having that again because I don't think that exists anymore besides the material. And we were all friends and just the whole moment in time at hbo, which is now owned by different people, and that was a once in a lifetime. The Sopranos was a once in a lifetime, you know, experience. Don't you think?

[Michael Imperioli]

Oh, yeah. That was like lightning in a bottle, you know, those things that only. It's just. You can't predict it. You can't force that. It just. There was a little bit of magic in that, that came together, you know?

[Steve Schirripa]

That's what I'm saying, You know, it doesn't happen all that often, you know? You know, I'VE been on two other long running series and they were great. Don't get me wrong, they were both wonderful. Secret Life to American Teenager and Blue Bloods. But Sopranos was a one of a kind, you know? I mean, I think they're going to be watching the Sopranos 50 years from now. Like, what do you watch from the old days? What TV you watch?

[Michael Imperioli]

The Honeymooners. I never get tired of the Honeymooners,

[Steve Schirripa]

which has been off the air a long time now.

[Michael Imperioli]

Seinfeld, I like. I like Colombo. I still watch those. Those are great.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Imperioli]

Odd Couple, I like that. Reruns.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah. Very underrated sitcom. Yeah.

[Michael Imperioli]

Sanford and Son I really like.

[Steve Schirripa]

I told you I knew Red Fox.

[Michael Imperioli]

You know Red Fox? Yeah.

[Steve Schirripa]

And they used to have the violin. His pocket, my medicine. He had a vial of coke in his pocket.

[Michael Imperioli]

All the time was his medicine. He called.

[Steve Schirripa]

That's my medicine.

[Michael Imperioli]

It wasn't really his. It wasn't prescribed by any doctor.

[Steve Schirripa]

I don't think it was. I think he was lying. But what he. When he got the job, when he got in trouble with the taxes, he used to do a show that started like, you know, at midnight, one in the morning, down at the Hacienda. That's how long I'm going back. And on the microphone, when the show was ending, you were leaving, he would say, leave a buck for good luck. So there was a guy with a bucket at the door, like for a tip, like for him. I swear to God, Swear to God. Leave a buck for good luck.

[Michael Imperioli]

Maybe we should do that when we do our shows.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, a buck for good luck.

[Michael Imperioli]

Got a bunch coming up.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, we got a bunch of shows coming up in here in the States and New York. But you know what? Before we get into all that, you know what I wanted to do? I picked out a couple of which. I sent you over a couple of scenes from the show and I wanted to talk about that. Some of our favorite scenes, right, that we've discussed.

[Michael Imperioli]

Which one?

[Steve Schirripa]

The first one was from where to Eternity was season two, episode nine that you wrote.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah, I did write that.

[Steve Schirripa]

You wrote that with David. David write it. You guys got.

[Michael Imperioli]

I wrote that.

[Steve Schirripa]

You wrote that. And I. And it's got one of my favorite lines in there. Hell is an Irish bar and Every day it's St. Patrick's Day, which I find hilarious. I don't know if people in Irish. People do.

[Michael Imperioli]

Well, they do. They get the joke. I mean, it's a. You know, Italians, Italians are more, you know, partial to Italian food. So to be trapped in Eternity and eat nothing but corned beef and cabbage. It's not very appealing to an Italian, you know, there was a scheme.

[Steve Schirripa]

I could eat corned beef and carrots

[Michael Imperioli]

for eternity, I think.

[Steve Schirripa]

So no meatballs. Yeah, that would be tough. I'm a meatball guy. Oh, pizza. I mean, eighth playing guy and a meatball guy.

[Michael Imperioli]

There was a scene, you know, like, often you'll overwrite at least the first draft and they'll be longer and you'll throw everything in it and, you know, you're gonna cut some stuff. But there was a dream sequence. Well, it was like a, you know, a vision sequence where it would be. And Christopher mentions it, but I wrote it. That actually. You actually see it. It was Mike, Mikey Palmici and Brendan Fillone, played by Al Sapienza and Anthony Desando, dressed like gangsters from the 20s, you know, in pinstripe suits with the hats and the Tommy guns and machine guns, imitating James Cagney and shooting Paulie or something like that. That was a dream kind of afterlife vision sequence that never made it into the final.

[Steve Schirripa]

Made it in. That's funny.

[Michael Imperioli]

I think it was too weird.

[Steve Schirripa]

That would have been great. But, you know, I mean, you're great. You're in the hospital room. Paulie is paranoid because, you know, as we see later on when he pays off the priest, he's like paying insurance. He tries every which way to repent for his sins and he's trying to make it into heaven. And a lot of real wise guys in real life do that. You know that, right? They give.

[Michael Imperioli]

That was. The point of the episode was really to explore. Okay. These guys are very Catholic. They're brought up Catholic. They believe in Jesus and God and what. How do they, you know, kind of process what they do in terms of Catholicism? That was the. That was what I wanted to kind of explore with the episode.

[Steve Schirripa]

Oh, you did? But. But it's in real life, as you know, Michael, a lot of guys, a lot of wise guys, a lot of people in general that have done bad things in their life, they find God later in life, hoping to get into fucking heaven.

[Michael Imperioli]

The Son of Sam, didn't he find God in jail or something?

[Steve Schirripa]

A lot of people find God after they did a lot of bad things, you know, so they think that that's the way Paul. Tony Sirico, who we haven't talked about, he never made our podcast. People kept asking us the reason we didn't have Tony on, because Tony wasn't well while we were doing the podcast. And we certainly. He would have Came on, but we didn't think it was the right space for him. And we miss him dearly.

[Michael Imperioli]

We miss him a lot.

[Steve Schirripa]

He's a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. Nobody made me laugh like Tony Sirico, but he kind of was like that in real life too, you know. Oh yeah, Paranoid, you know, you kind of. So he's asking, do they have horns? You were in purgatory. And then of course, Carmela, who is as hypocritical. And I've said this a million times, Jesus, Jesus. She's telling you, you need to find God. She prayed and that's why you made it. Christopher made it.

[Michael Imperioli]

She prayed and said, get, grant him vision. And then Christopher saw things. Tony tells Carmelo that Christopher saw Jesus and God and he's. Which was a lie. And Christopher says, no, I was in hell. My father was in hell. We're going to hell. Paulie's really was really fun to write for.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, fun carry to write for.

[Michael Imperioli]

Because he's just so. He's. He's. He's a little crazy, you know, he's out there, you know, he believed like Tony. You couldn't spook him that way. And you know, Tone, Tony just thinks it was bullshit. And, you know, doesn't think he's going to hell. Only the bad, really bad people go to hell. Like the child killers and the Hitlers and, and. But Paulie gets paranoid. Three o', clock, then he starts. He's waking up at three o' clock thinking something's gonna happen at three o'. Clock.

[Steve Schirripa]

And that's the big thing about three o' clock started. But as we know and you have admitted to 3 o' clock is a red herring. It means nothing. Well, you already admitted it. You can't go back.

[Michael Imperioli]

That's the party line, let's put it that way.

[Steve Schirripa]

But the thing about Paulie, and we've talked about Paulie and Tony Sirico being similar, you know, and you were there. I did it to Tony. If I did it once, I did it 10 times. When we would travel together to do an appearance or whatever, I would be telling you or somebody else, you gotta see my suite, Mike. I got a butler, I got a two bedroom suite. I got the fucking best room in this whole hotel. And Tony, I would always do it within earshot of Tony and he would go, what? You got what? Get the fuck out. Get the fuck out of here. Because he was in a regular room and I would, I would do it to him all the time.

[Michael Imperioli]

And he always fell for it.

[Steve Schirripa]

He fell for it every time, so. But that was a great episode. I mean, one of my favorite.

[Michael Imperioli]

And it was fun to write that one.

[Steve Schirripa]

And you got to act in it. Another one, Another toothpick. Okay. David wrote it with Terry Winter. It was directed by Jack Bender.

[Michael Imperioli]

You know what A little detail in the beginning when Tony and Carmela at Melfi's, right? That's how it opens. And you hear somebody. I guess it's Tony's stomach growling before anybody talks. It's, you know, that's the thing. The details on that show. Like somebody actually thought, let's have Tony stomach growl. It doesn't just open with Tony talking. It opens with somebody's stomach growling.

[Steve Schirripa]

Well, that's how a regular show opens. Just. You know what I mean? But that's what. That was the kind of stuff that made the Sopranos different. And the great show that. That it is and was. Right. But another toothpick. Burt Young played my dad.

[Michael Imperioli]

Great actor. Great, great, great actor.

[Steve Schirripa]

Very underrated actor. Burt Young, you know, he worked with Stella Adler over the years, right? Maybe Strasburg, too, but Stella Adler, he was in Chinatown with Jack Nicholson. People remember him most from Paulie Rocky movies, but he was so much more than that.

[Michael Imperioli]

Oh, Once Upon a Time in America. Cinderella, Liberty. Remember that movie with.

[Steve Schirripa]

Just great. Just great. And you know what, Michael, you could see it here in this episode. And they looked high and low. They even asked me, the casting people, if my father was alive.

[Michael Imperioli]

Wow. Really?

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah. They looked high and low for someone to play Bobby Bacalar Senior. And when they finally gave it to Burt, I mean, it was so good that, you know, and at one point, Jack Bender, who I like. I like Jack Bender. He was the director. And this is the first episode where I had a cry in ever. And he was very comforting and very helpful to me because some guys could, like, you know, some directors aren't so understanding. And Jack helped me get through it. He's a good guy. We had him on the podcast in the past, but in the scene in the kitchen where Uncle Junior is paranoid about dying because everyone's dying and he's worried about him dying and he's asking questions.

[Michael Imperioli]

He.

[Steve Schirripa]

Jack kept giving him notes, and finally Bert kind of snapped at him, hey, would you just let me try to do something here? You know, he had some. An idea process he was trying to do, and he kept getting interrupted. And Bert, you know, you know, and the. The episode was so good. And when he goes to kill Mustang

[Michael Imperioli]

Sally, who's played by an old friend of mine, Brian Tarantino, way, way too young, but always brought something interesting to everything he did.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, he was a good actor. He died, you know, But. But when. When Bert, after he kills the other kid and he shoots Mustang Sally, he knows he's dying and he lights up the cigarette. And the look on his face, that

[Michael Imperioli]

whole sequence, you know, it's like he. Because he grazes Mustang Sally at first and Mustang Sally attacks him. It's just such a sloppy, off kilter, messy fight to the death. They both know it's. This is gonna go to the death. And. And then after he killed, the other guy's got the chair in front of him, he's on the floor. And then Burt lights a cigarette. And then in the car, it kind of keeps going in the car and he crashes the car. And the sign. I mean, it's that whole choreography, the way it's designed was just incredible.

[Steve Schirripa]

It was great. And when he did the look on his face when he smokes, he was like in heaven. Because he probably hadn't smoked in a while. It wasn't his cigarettes. And it was just, I miss Bert. He was a good guy. I did a book signing in Long island and I hadn't seen him in many years. And then we did a sitcom together. And I always enjoyed Burt. He always gave me a big hello. Very underrated actor. You had a lot of good stuff on the tv. On the tv. Another little thing like you said, Tony, stomach growling. Sally Jesse Raphael show is on. That's what they're watching. When Bobby Senior goes to the house to kill it up.

[Michael Imperioli]

You had some good stuff in that, and really good.

[Steve Schirripa]

That was the first time they gave me something. That was the first time they gave me something to do, something big to do. And obviously they must have liked what I did because they kept writing. It was a little test, I think, you know. And like I said, Jack Bender was a big help there, you know. But Sally Jesse Raphael, that was a good one.

[Michael Imperioli]

The R and B tour, starring Usher Raymond and Chris Brown. Uniting two of R&Bs. Defining hitmakers, Chris Brown and Usher Raymond get tickets [e-mail]

[Steve Schirripa]

the strong silent type. One of the best scenes in the entire 86 episodes. The intervention scene.

[Michael Imperioli]

Oh, you know, I gotta point something interesting out on this episode because this episode opens with Christopher watching the Little Rascals. There's an episode called bear shooters from 1930. And I'm thinking, why did they put that episode. Why the Little Rascals? And because Christopher's cooking heroin and I Think I found the connection, why they chose it. That gorilla in that episode, his real name was Jerry Boy, that gorilla. And they used to give him opium so he wouldn't eat the. The other actors or attack them.

[Steve Schirripa]

Really?

[Michael Imperioli]

And. Yeah, and they didn't give him enough. And he. During the shooting of that, he grabbed Little Darla and climbed a tree, and they couldn't get him down. And they put ladders up and he would swat them down. And the producers watching this, and it inspired the movie he directed, he produced next King Kong three years later.

[Steve Schirripa]

Really?

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah.

[Steve Schirripa]

That's incredible story. What was the name of the gorilla?

[Michael Imperioli]

Jerry Boy.

[Steve Schirripa]

They used a real gorilla.

[Michael Imperioli]

They stopped doing it after that, I think. You know, they used to use, during Cagney movies, real live ammunition in machine guns. They didn't have squibs. So when you see a wall getting shot up, that's real bullets. So the actors would just have to be careful and get out of the way. They didn't have squibs back then.

[Steve Schirripa]

My goodness.

[Michael Imperioli]

People would take their life in their own hands.

[Steve Schirripa]

Doing movies and TV for show, for your entertainment.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah.

[Steve Schirripa]

That's unbelievable. The. The intervention scene.

[Michael Imperioli]

One more detail. When. When Adriana comes home and Christopher's sleeping on the dog. There's a movie on called the Oscar from 66 with Elkie Summer, Ernest Borgnine, Frank Sinatra and Milton Berle.

[Steve Schirripa]

Big Cock. Big Cock is good at that. This is very spooky.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah, it's all coming back together, Steve.

[Steve Schirripa]

Big Cock Melbourne, you know. Yeah. The intervention scene, Trey is very funny in it. She says that you can no longer function as a man. And Christopher says, is this necessary?

[Michael Imperioli]

It's a. You know, the show. When the show has these characters doing something out of their element, it's always funny. You know, they're not. You know, these people don't reveal, you know, their problems to other people. That's not what they do. You know what I mean? So you're trying to put them in this therapeutic, you know, situation of group therapy or whatever the hell it is, and they just. It just. It just doesn't work.

[Steve Schirripa]

That's really funny. Silvio reads his statement, then Christopher goes off on everybody. Paulie. And then they give Christopher a beating. He takes care of Benny a little bit.

[Michael Imperioli]

He calls his mother, his own mother, a whore or whatever.

[Steve Schirripa]

There was two. You had two different mothers?

[Michael Imperioli]

Yes. In my. In the episode from where to Eternity, it's a different actress playing my mother. And then Marianne Leonel eventually became.

[Steve Schirripa]

We've had her on the podcast. She's. What she's great. Now, why did they. Why they switch?

[Michael Imperioli]

I'm not sure. I don't remember. I don't remember.

[Steve Schirripa]

Nobody's kind of noticed, I bet.

[Michael Imperioli]

No, I don't know. They do that on TV sometimes. Aren't they changed?

[Steve Schirripa]

Oh, the biggest thing was, you know, Bewitch. There was some comic used to have a joke. They. They switch sticks, you know, because one was Dick Sargent, one was Dick. Dick York. Yeah, you know, they switched sticks and Mainstream or something. There was a comic had a funny joke. I forget who it was, but yeah, they do that. They do it in soap operas all the time.

[Michael Imperioli]

They do it in soap operas and

[Steve Schirripa]

all of a sudden there's one guy, then it's another guy. A contract dispute or whatever the fuck it may be. But I enjoyed the intervention scene. One of my favorite scenes. Next. White Caps Season 4 Episode 13 Season Finale of Season 4 There, the argument scene. She's throwing all the shit out the window when they come upstairs. Edie Falco. It is just spooky how good she is. And she looks like she's gonna. I mean, she does break down, just a complete, complete mess. She's hyperventilating while she's talking there. She's so hurt, you know, because the. His mistress. What was the mistress's name?

[Michael Imperioli]

Irina.

[Steve Schirripa]

You know, when she tells her that.

[Michael Imperioli]

That he slept with her, her cousin. And then Carmela says, well, I found the fingernail, but it was Valentina's fingernail. But Tony can't say that.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, Tony really, really good. I think she was so betrayed. Not so much even that. But she had befriended the cousin with the one leg.

[Michael Imperioli]

He liked her. She liked her. When, you know, she would go over there when Livia was dying and they were. They would kind of connect a few times. But that acting is both of them. Edn Jim. Just some of the best I've ever seen anywhere. My movie or TV or whatever. It's also a good. The whole subplot with the house is a guy named Bruce Altman who plays Alan Sapinsley, who calls himself as you know. And he says, leaving as here fucked again.

[Steve Schirripa]

Let's start with this fucking thing as again.

[Michael Imperioli]

But Bruce Allman's in the movie that I just did with Naomi Watts, actually, he has a part. You know what's weird, though? There's a scene when Tony's on the phone in the Bing. He calls Bruce Altman, he calls Alan Sappensley. And Tony has that photo of Rocky Marciano holding the championship belt. And they cut. I don't know if we talked about this when we did the episode years ago. When they cut to Alan Sapinsley, who's in his office, he has the same photo behind him.

[Steve Schirripa]

Oh, I didn't know that.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah, exact same photo. Now, what do you think the point of that is?

[Steve Schirripa]

Maybe nothing. Well, they both fighters. Don't forget he's a big high powered attorney. He's. He's not letting shit go. I mean, he's stupid to go up against Tony Soprano, but in his world, he's a tough guy. He's a bully. He's a tough guy, very arrogant, as you could see. And he fucked with the wrong guy. Tony Soprano, how could you not give this guy his deposit back and move on with your life?

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah, that would have been the smart thing to do.

[Steve Schirripa]

It's beyond me. Right? He's a good New York actor. He's done Broadway. I believe He's a good New York actor. Pretty good. But the other scene when he comes into the guest house, Carmela, where she tells him all these years of. With Furio and Tony is just beyond. I mean, I thought. He starts punching the wall. I thought he was going to start punching Carmella. I mean, he's beyond furious.

[Michael Imperioli]

Beyond furious. Despite having all these affairs and all these mistresses over the years and everything, she confesses her desire and it's. He can't take it.

[Steve Schirripa]

Well, who could take that? Does that make it any better? If somebody. Somebody cheated on. If my wife cheated on me, I cheated on my wife. And then she comes home and says, oh, by the way, I just suck some guy's buzzard. I'm supposed to just. All right, that's okay.

[Michael Imperioli]

No, it's not okay, but it's just the hypocrisy of the whole thing, right?

[Steve Schirripa]

Well, of course, the whole thing.

[Michael Imperioli]

You know, he also has an attitude like he deserves to be able to do what he does. You know, he's. You know, when she confronts him with all this, he's just like kind of annoyed that she's making a big deal of it.

[Steve Schirripa]

So you knew who I. When you married me, you knew what my father was like. You knew all this. She was just supposed to accept it?

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah, she's supposed to accept it. It's.

[Steve Schirripa]

You know, I told you a story a while back. A friend of mine in Vegas cheating on his wife. He tells I'm going to leave my. Having an affair. He says, I'm going to leave my wife. She's going to leave her husband. Next day she tells her husband he can't tell his wife, he backs out. I told you this.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah.

[Steve Schirripa]

Then he comes home a week later, she. She's sitting in the living room with his wife, telling her everything. Everything. He confided. Pillow talk with the mistress. I don't have sex with my wife. This, that, the other thing. She asked the wife in front of him, when's the last time you had sex? She said, we had sex two nights ago. The wife says, if that was me, I would have got. I would have ran out the door, got in my car, and you would

[Michael Imperioli]

have never heard, never came back. That's a horror show.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, but then she goes back with him, the wife, and she says. She told me, listen, my. My father cheated on my mother. My grandfather cheated on my grandmother. That's just how it is where we're from.

[Michael Imperioli]

Well, that doesn't. That doesn't work out with everybody, though.

[Steve Schirripa]

No. Won't work out for me. What about you?

[Michael Imperioli]

No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Steve Schirripa]

So that is just. You want to get into acting. You want to master class in acting. Watch that.

[Michael Imperioli]

I also like the scene when Junior comes home. They say, let's have a party. And he says, just get some pizza. You know, he doesn't want to spit. There's burgundy in the fridge. And then you are dancing. Rare moment of Steve Sherpa dancing. And Junior don't like it. He's watching and he's. He doesn't like seeing you happy and in love and enjoying that moment. He just. He interrupts it and says, go. Go find the payment down below the flagstone or something like that. He can't see you happy. He's a miserable guy.

[Steve Schirripa]

Well, I don't think he likes to see anyone happy.

[Michael Imperioli]

No.

[Steve Schirripa]

Remember in one of the episodes, he spoils the surprise party?

[Michael Imperioli]

That's. That's Marco Polo. Yeah, he was.

[Steve Schirripa]

He ruins the surprise party, but he also. Junior despised Janice for when she was a kid, right? So some of that too. And he knows what Bobby was going to get himself into, you know, so. Great. Great acting class. The Ride Directed by Alan Taylor Season 6 Episode 9 David Terry Winter David Chase wrote it. Bobby chases Paulie through the carnival because Paulie cheaped out. He wouldn't pay the. The right price for the ride. So he got a cheaper rides and there was an accident and his kid was on the ride. And it wasn't hard for. For me to get mad at Tony Sirico. I kept thinking about things over the years, like he would insult me, pull away from the table. I kept. Just kept thinking when I Had a rush at him because it looked like

[Michael Imperioli]

you were pretty mad with him.

[Steve Schirripa]

I had to do it a lot of times, and I was just getting madder and mad. At one point, he said, hey, take it fucking easy. I said, I'm not going to get to you. They're holding me. You know, what are you worried about?

[Michael Imperioli]

You know?

[Steve Schirripa]

But, yeah, I don't think Tony like that so much because he's always aggressive. No one.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah, I liked. I like that episode a lot. I like the scene with Christopher and Tony when they. They steal the wine. That was really fun. I have that suit and shirt. I just found it in my closet from that episode. Really? I still have that one.

[Steve Schirripa]

And then put it on ebay. You're gonna sell it?

[Michael Imperioli]

Maybe. We'll see.

[Steve Schirripa]

I liked.

[Michael Imperioli]

They're drinking that wine. That wine now today goes for 300 a bottle in a store. So in a restaurant, it's probably like seven or eight. And it was just a. You know, it's. It was a. It was a fun thing to act when they're drunk. And it's the first step to Christopher going back to heroin because he's been sober since the intervention. And now he takes that, you know, he starts drinking wine and figures he can handle wine, and it's just from there, it's just a slippery slope. And later in that episode, he's back doing heroin.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah. I mean, I don't know, you know, when he's sitting there and. What's the other character's name?

[Michael Imperioli]

Porky. Played by Eduardo Ballerini.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, I mean, you know, he's watching him shoot up. You could see Christopher. His eyes just light up. It's like a fat guy on a diet and he wants some ice cream and he's just fucking craving it, dying to have it. And Christopher goes south. And then there's a great sequence of, you know, where you're high and you're. You're walking around the carnival at night and you're with the dog and you're allergic to dogs.

[Michael Imperioli]

Stray dog.

[Steve Schirripa]

What's that about?

[Michael Imperioli]

Well, Christopher was high, you know.

[Steve Schirripa]

I know. What about Michael? Well, I'm.

[Michael Imperioli]

I'm acting that I wasn't allergic to dogs.

[Steve Schirripa]

I don't think you're allergic to dogs. I think you don't like fucking dogs.

[Michael Imperioli]

I love dogs.

[Steve Schirripa]

I don't think you like Willie, my dog.

[Michael Imperioli]

I love Willie. Willie likes me.

[Steve Schirripa]

He does like you, but I don't. Do you kind of shunned him?

[Michael Imperioli]

No, because I'm allergic. I can't be around him.

[Steve Schirripa]

But that one you were hugging and pain. That's really.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah, that was.

[Steve Schirripa]

What's the song that they were playing during.

[Michael Imperioli]

That's Fred. Dolphins by Fred Neal. Fred Neal also wrote Everybody's Talking at Me, which was the famous song from that Harry Nielsen did for Midnight Cowboy. But Fred Neal wrote that song. He was a famous guy in the 60s. Kind of came out of, I think the old folk scene in New York in the Village where Dylan came out of. But there's a scene that was cut from Long Term Parking from the episode 512. This is episodes season six, episode nine. But long term Parking when Adriana tells that he she's with the feds. This scene when Christopher goes to see Tony and tells him that she's with the feds. That originally was going to be in Long Term Parking but it gave away the fact they were going to kill Adriana. So it was cut from that. But the scene, you know, was such a good scene, they wanted to have it in the story so they brought it back in in this episode.

[Steve Schirripa]

That was a. That was an absolute wonderful episode. I enjoyed that. And you know, they built a real feast. Yeah, it's, you know, a real Italian feast. They spent a fortune having, you know, it was real working feast, you know. You know, and then they have the gun only eating contest, of course. And it was good stuff.

[Michael Imperioli]

I do love this scene with Paulie and Tony in the bathroom and he's worried about prostate cancer. And Tony's like, you, you, you always, you're susceptible to this with your psychics and your dream messages and the dirty toilet seats and you know, and then you, you notice Paulie is calling his doctor and it's three o'. Clock. They put that on there. And also now this is weird when Christopher goes to see his house, the house that he's going to buy. The sign is Pagano Realty. Pagano Realty. Little Sonny Pagano was his first hit. That the psychic from where to Eternity noticed and saw the ghost of Little Sonny Pagano.

[Steve Schirripa]

Really incredible. It's really incredible how all these things piece together. You know, it's the details, like you said, like we've talked about every little thing. That's what's got to be on the tv. Sally, Jesse Raphael, this kind of pasta, these kind of candies in the candy dish. Really, really something. Now we got a bunch of good stuff coming up and we're excited. I mean, people know it by now that we are headed to the uk. February, this February. Along the way, the UK tour that was Postponed because of COVID But now we're doing it. So you please go to the Live Nation. Let me. Let me get Ticketmaster.co.uk and you'll see all our tour. We're gonna. We're hitting Belfast, Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, the London Palladium, Bristol, Beacon, Apollo, Manchester and City Hall, Newcastle. We added three new shows because they're selling out. We added three new. Two matinees. Right.

[Michael Imperioli]

Have you been to the uk?

[Steve Schirripa]

I have not been to the uk. Never? No, I've not been to the.

[Michael Imperioli]

Are you a fan of the food from the uk? I mean, are, you know?

[Steve Schirripa]

I know not. I listen, I can't wait to go. I'm very excited. I'm very excited about doing these shows. I wanted to go back then. I have no idea what the food is like. I don't know anything, honestly. You know me, I know a little bit about a lot of things. I know nothing about this.

[Michael Imperioli]

No, the thing in England, they obviously, they speak English, but there are different words for different things. You know the different words for things than we have here. So maybe you should brush up a little bit.

[Steve Schirripa]

Okay.

[Michael Imperioli]

I can give you a little quiz.

[Steve Schirripa]

I gotta get Rosetta Stone.

[Michael Imperioli]

Well, I'll give you a little quiz.

[Steve Schirripa]

Okay, bloke.

[Michael Imperioli]

Do you know what a bloke is, friend?

[Steve Schirripa]

Right.

[Michael Imperioli]

It's like a guy, like a dude. Yeah, mate, it's a friend. And Goomba, your buddy. Holiday.

[Steve Schirripa]

Vacation, Right?

[Michael Imperioli]

Holiday is not like. Like we go on.

[Steve Schirripa]

I'm going on holiday. I'm going on. Here we say we're going on a vacation.

[Michael Imperioli]

Now we're going in the winter time. So you may need. You may need to wear a jumper. Do you know what a jumper is? Do you have a jumper?

[Steve Schirripa]

A sweater.

[Michael Imperioli]

That's right. Okay, now we're going to be driving in a car.

[Steve Schirripa]

I have sweatshirt.

[Michael Imperioli]

Do you know what a bonnet is? A hat. Bonnet is the hood of a car. So we're going to be driving through these cities. So you got to know if we got. If the car breaks down, you got to know where the bonnet is.

[Steve Schirripa]

I'm not driving. I'm not driving. The boot.

[Michael Imperioli]

You know where the boot is?

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, that. I know. It's a trunk.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yes, but then there's. Those are like normal kind of words. But then there's like, you know, there's rhyming slang. So somebody might say something to you like, take the apples and pears. You know what that means?

[Steve Schirripa]

Take the apples and pears.

[Michael Imperioli]

Don't take the elevator. Well, they wouldn't Say elevator. You know what they say? Lift. Instead of the lift. Take the apples and pears. You know what the apples and stairs. Pears.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, apple and pears.

[Michael Imperioli]

I need to call someone. Give me your dog.

[Steve Schirripa]

You're fucking around with me.

[Michael Imperioli]

No, no, no, this is real. I need to call someone. Give me your dog and bone.

[Steve Schirripa]

What's that? A phone.

[Michael Imperioli]

Phone? Yeah, yeah. Look me in the mince pies in the eyes.

[Steve Schirripa]

Are you sure about. Where'd you get this?

[Michael Imperioli]

We're not telling the truth. You're telling porky pies

[Steve Schirripa]

lies. Are you making this up?

[Michael Imperioli]

Oh, this is all real. Come on now.

[Steve Schirripa]

Is this people from the uk? We have a lot of listeners. They're gonna. They're gonna agree with all this?

[Michael Imperioli]

Of course.

[Steve Schirripa]

Are these words really used or. It's just.

[Michael Imperioli]

I mean, I. I would assume so. I mean, there's also regular words like, you know, if you got to go to the bathroom, don't say. You can't ask where the toilet is. You have to ask where the lou is.

[Steve Schirripa]

Really? You can't say, where's the bathroom?

[Michael Imperioli]

No.

[Steve Schirripa]

They used to take a big steamy dump. What's that called?

[Michael Imperioli]

Where's the loo?

[Steve Schirripa]

Where's the. Speak steamy dump. It's the same in every language.

[Michael Imperioli]

You might say Forrest Gump instead of steamy dump.

[Steve Schirripa]

I gotta take a forest Gump.

[Michael Imperioli]

Maybe that might work.

[Steve Schirripa]

That's bullshit, because that's fairly new.

[Michael Imperioli]

You know what a lump is? Sugar? Tough. A tough guy.

[Steve Schirripa]

A lump.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah, Yeah. So you got. You got to brush up a little bit.

[Steve Schirripa]

I got a lot of work to do. It's in February.

[Michael Imperioli]

You like shepherd's pie?

[Steve Schirripa]

February 15th is our first show. Got a lot of work to do. Now I just want to. That we added shows, right? What we got Edinburgh, Scotland, on February 21st at 3pm yeah, we added another one in Glasgow, Scotland, at 3pm on February 22nd. And then we're at the London Palladium. A whole new show, February 24, 7:30. So there's a lot to be had.

[Michael Imperioli]

You like shepherd's pie? You've had that.

[Steve Schirripa]

I'm okay with that.

[Michael Imperioli]

That's what the Rolling Stones eat before they do concerts, Every one of them. Definitely. Keith and Ronnie, they have that in their dressing room. Ronnie has vegetarian shepherd's pie in his dressing room. I went to see him last summer at the MetLife. That's what they had on the. Invited me. Yeah. And he had it vegetarian.

[Steve Schirripa]

What about Mick Jagger? What's that?

[Michael Imperioli]

I don't know what he eats. I Haven't been in his dressing room, Only Keith and Ronnie's.

[Steve Schirripa]

You don't like Keith. You don't like Mick Jagger. I could tell he snubbed you a little.

[Michael Imperioli]

No, he was nice.

[Steve Schirripa]

He gave you a little bit of a snuff. It's all right.

[Michael Imperioli]

Have you seen the concert? Have you seen that?

[Steve Schirripa]

No, no, no, I don't. I'm not a big concert goer, though. I am going to see Paul Simon tonight.

[Michael Imperioli]

I'm going Monday to the Beacon.

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah, I'm going. Well, this isn't air until the 18th.

[Michael Imperioli]

When are you. Oh, you're going on the 18th. All right, whatever. I'm going to see him, too. Who are you going with on the 16th?

[Steve Schirripa]

They invited you?

[Michael Imperioli]

My neighbor's taking me for my birthday. It was a birthday gift.

[Steve Schirripa]

That's nice. Yeah, I'm going. I'm going to the second show. I'm a Paul Simon fan, but I like the Stones and we've been in Keith Richards Company. He's a good guy, a really good guy. You know, people don't know that. That he's as good a guy as he is. We have shows in New York, New York city, Sony Hall. August 16th, we're in Chicago. September 6th, we're in Shubert in Boston. October 11th, Rivers Casino in Philly. November 8th, the Walmont Theater in Montclair, New Jersey. The 29th, and the Warner Theater in D.C. january 10th, go to talkingsopranos.com you'll see all that stuff. Get some tickets, come out, see us. We do our live show. Vinnie Pastor will be with us on the US Shows. He's always funny. Vinnie's a good guy. A lot of funny stuff. Comedian Joey Cola comes along.

[Michael Imperioli]

If you haven't seen the show, it's behind the scenes. Look at being on the Sopranos. We go into a little bit about other work from our career, and we have a Q and A every show. And the audience gets to ask us whatever they like. It's always different.

[Steve Schirripa]

That's good. I enjoy doing the live shows. We've been doing it for quite a while now, and this UK tour is selling quick. So I would suggest you get your tickets and hopefully we will see you out there. We still have Andy with us, our drunken producer. He's still part of our group. He'll be coming to the UK with us. So if you want to meet Drunken Andy, his. He's still doing the same shit. Andy, right?

[Michael Imperioli]

I don't know. I mean, Andy's very mysterious. You know what I mean? He's Hard to pin down. Yeah. There's lots to drink in the UK pubs. There's, you know, great beers and ales and stouts and bitters and all that

[Steve Schirripa]

stuff, but I couldn't get drunk on beer. I would get more full than drunk. I can't.

[Michael Imperioli]

Whiskey. They drink whiskey, too.

[Steve Schirripa]

No, tequila.

[Michael Imperioli]

I'm sure you could find tequila there. But it's not a traditional vodka thing, probably.

[Steve Schirripa]

What the.

[Michael Imperioli]

I think they got everything there.

[Steve Schirripa]

I would think so. We're not going to a third world country. We're going to the uk. I'm excited.

[Michael Imperioli]

When in Rome. You know, when in Rome, we gotta drink beer. I think it would be nice. I think they'd appreciate it.

[Steve Schirripa]

I gotta drink beer and eat shepherd's pie. Yeah. What about pizza? They gotta have good pizza there.

[Michael Imperioli]

That probably depends. Fish and chips? You like fish and chips?

[Steve Schirripa]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I like that a lot.

[Michael Imperioli]

You're gonna be fine. They're gonna take care of us. I'm sure.

[Steve Schirripa]

I'm not worried about. I'm very excited about going and to get this tour that we missed out on, but it was good catching up with you and what you're doing. And I think you're full of shit with the ghost stuff. I think you're still not telling me the truth.

[Michael Imperioli]

About what?

[Steve Schirripa]

About that ghost exists and all of this stuff, and they're trapped.

[Michael Imperioli]

And, you know, that's what I've heard. What do I know? I mean, I'm not a ghost expert.

[Steve Schirripa]

Shea. Paris, I think you're lying. You know, you'll tell me when we hang up. You're gonna go. I did go to the club.

[Michael Imperioli]

I was with my wife the whole time. Wait, you know, what am I gonna do?

[Steve Schirripa]

You didn't tell her. I want to go out, get some fresh air. And you go over. That's. That's the move. You gotta tell your wife. Hey, honey, I gotta go take a walk. I want to get some fresh air. I'll be back. And then you go to the strip club.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah. Wow.

[Steve Schirripa]

They use some of the Canadian money. Do I have to teach you everything?

[Michael Imperioli]

You get a good. What do you call? Right. You got a good exchange rate also,

[Steve Schirripa]

you know, I told you about my friend. You want to cheat on your wife? You're on vacation with your wife, right? And you don't want it.

[Michael Imperioli]

Just for the record, I don't want to cheat.

[Steve Schirripa]

So I'm talking about people, not you.

[Michael Imperioli]

Right? Okay, okay. The other people.

[Steve Schirripa]

Listen to me. You go on vacation with your wife, you check into the hotel, you Stay on the fifth floor. You put your Gomata mistress on the eighth floor. Then you tell your wife in the day, I'm going to go out for a walk. You just get on the elevator, get on the lift.

[Michael Imperioli]

Boom.

[Steve Schirripa]

Upstairs, you sht up the mistress and then you come down. How was your walk, honey? It was wonderful.

[Michael Imperioli]

That sounds like a lot.

[Steve Schirripa]

How come you're all sweaty? It was a walk. It's hot out there.

[Michael Imperioli]

Yeah, it sounds a little horrible.

[Steve Schirripa]

You don't like that idea?

[Michael Imperioli]

No. Complicated.

[Steve Schirripa]

All right, thanks for listening. Follow us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and X. That's where we post news about upcoming live shows and new podcast. We have a lot of live shows coming up, so go to Ticketmaster for tickets. Go ahead, Michael.

[Michael Imperioli]

All our dates and the links are available below. UK tour selling fast. So UK fans, get your tickets early, please. Maybe today. Our producers, Andy Verm executive producer Jeff Sussman. Talking Sopranos is a pod Jams production

[Steve Schirripa]

and drink Chow San Pellegrino. It's not a commercial. It's not a commercial. I'll see you soon, man.

[Michael Imperioli]

See you.

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