#4447 The Height Of Comedy

Summary

Podcast Summary: TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live - Episode #4447 "The Height Of Comedy"

Release Date: April 17, 2025

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I. Introduction to Episode #4447

In episode #4447 titled "The Height Of Comedy," hosts Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh delve into the intricacies of comedy through their analysis of John Mulaney's show, "Everybody's Live." The episode is rich with critiques, personal anecdotes, and engaging discussions about contemporary comedy and its execution in modern talk shows.

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II. Deep Dive into John Mulaney's "Everybody's Live"

A. Theme and Segment Analysis

The central focus of the episode is John Mulaney's "Everybody's Live," particularly its latest theme, "The Height Of Comedy." Mulaney attempts to explore the concept of height through various segments, most notably the "Know Your Age" project, which aims to categorize individuals based on their height.

• Initiation of the Theme:

  • Luke Burbank introduces the theme by recalling Mulaney's excitement about the height-related project. (02:13)

• "Know Your Age" Segment:

  • Mulaney orchestrates a lineup of men ranging from five feet to over six feet to illustrate height variations.
  • The segment suffers from poor planning, with unclear questions and awkward interactions between Mulaney and guests. (20:34)
  • Gail criticizes the lack of follow-up questions, suggesting that even casual conversation starters could have enhanced the discussion. (20:34)

B. Guest Performances and Interactions

The show features several notable guests, including David Letterman, Lori Morgan, Hannibal Buress, and Nikki Glaser. The interactions between Mulaney and these guests reveal challenges in fostering engaging conversations.

• David Letterman:

  • Andrew Walsh observes that Letterman's attempts to salvage the show fall flat, especially when dealing with mundane topics like height. (26:19)
  • Notable Quote:
    • Andrew Walsh: "There were these moments where Mulaney would say, 'Oh, that's so great,' when what had been said wasn't so great." (21:49)

• Lori Morgan:

  • Gail highlights how Lori Morgan's responses to height-related questions lacked depth, leading to underutilization of her comedic potential. (23:15)
  • Notable Quote:
    • Gail: "What you want is someone to ask Lori Morgan a height-related question that leads to a more engaging conversation."

• Hannibal Buress and Nikki Glaser:

  • While Hannibal Buress is praised for his understated comedic style, the hosts feel he was underutilized during his appearance. (27:42)
  • Notable Quote:
    • Gail: "Hannibal Buress is an absolute national treasure, but he was very underutilized in this show."

C. Host Performance and Show Structure

Luke and Andrew critique Mulaney's hosting abilities, emphasizing that despite his comedic talent, his execution in a talk show format may lack the necessary finesse.

• Awkwardness and Lack of Engagement:

  • The hosts point out that Mulaney struggles to maintain engaging conversations, often defaulting to superficial remarks. (21:49)
  • Andrew notes that Mulaney sometimes misses the subtlety in his jokes, leading to confusion. (27:23)

• Technical Issues and Sketch Execution:

  • The episode discusses technical difficulties during live segments, such as microphone issues and awkward sketch setups. (35:01)
  • Notable Quote:
    • Andrew Walsh: "I was about to bring that up. That was pretty funny."

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III. Notable Moments and Quotes

• Garlic Bread Pizza Debate:

  • Luke Burbank sparks a humorous debate about the merging of garlic bread and pizza, illustrating a broader commentary on culinary trends. (00:00 - 01:20)
  • Notable Quote:
    • Luke Burbank: "There was a time, a simpler time, when you could very clearly tell garlic bread from pizza."

• Hannibal Buress Stand-Up Anecdote:

  • Gail shares her experience performing stand-up comedy, highlighting the stark contrast between her performance and Hannibal Buress's effortless comedic presence. (27:42 - 29:30)
  • Notable Quote:
    • Gail: "He was so funny and so much funnier than I am that I was like, oh, No, I see. I was the problem."

• Randy Newman's Musical Performance:

  • The hosts critique Randy Newman's song selection, contemplating whether it aligned with the show's comedic tone or delivered unintended messages. (47:00 - 53:39)
  • Notable Quote:
    • Andrew Walsh: "Yeah, it's a very famous song. It's called 'Political Science' from 1972."

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IV. Personal Stories and Insights

A. Gail's Comedy Journey

Gail recounts her struggles with stand-up comedy, drawing parallels to Hannibal Buress's success and the challenges of performing in unconventional settings. Her story underscores the importance of confidence and authenticity in comedy.

• Notable Quote:
  • Gail: "You just talk about like the ability. Not some people, like, really lean into their stand up."

B. Andrew's Colonoscopy Appointment

Andrew humorously discusses his upcoming colonoscopy appointment, intertwining it with the show's ongoing comedic narrative and his interactions with Gail. This segment adds a personal touch to the episode, showcasing the hosts' camaraderie.

• Notable Quote:
  • Andrew Walsh: "I can tell you about, you know, me setting up my appointment for my colonoscopy, but, like, that will hold because it's not for several weeks."

C. Support for Foster Youth

Gail passionately advocates for support systems for foster youth, highlighting organizations like Treehouse and CASA. This PSA reflects the hosts' commitment to social causes beyond comedy.

• Notable Quote:
  • Gail: "Anything that we can do to try to help those young people and support them into adulthood is really something we should be trying to do now."

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V. Shout-Outs and Community Engagement

The episode concludes with a series of heartfelt shout-outs to listeners, supporters, and community members. The hosts emphasize the importance of community and gratitude toward their audience.

• Notable Quote:
  • Gail: "Thanks Jackie Justice for some great memories this year. Consider volunteering and donating to organizations such as Treehouse and CASA."

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VI. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Episode #4447 of TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live presents a multifaceted exploration of comedy through the lens of John Mulaney's "Everybody's Live." While the hosts offer critical insights into the show's execution and hosting style, they also share personal anecdotes and advocate for meaningful social causes. The episode balances humor with introspection, providing listeners with both entertainment and thoughtful commentary.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Luke Burbank (00:00): “I think it all started going downhill when they started making garlic bread the same shape as a pizza.”

• Gail (02:29): “Show starts at 7:30. And about the fact that right here in front of me, I'm looking at a TBTL show sheet and it shows episode 4447 in a collector's series.”

• Andrew Walsh (27:23): "I thought that was a joke, though. I thought he's leaning into that because he's saying it almost sardonically."

• Gail (35:01): “So we're gonna be broadcasting live on YouTube, I believe.”

• Andrew Walsh (52:09): “Luckily, I have it on my calendar. I'm not doing that with Fallon, not doing that with Kim.”

• Gail (65:38): “Shout out to my 11 Jared. You make life fun no matter the situation.”

• Andrew Walsh (85:32): “I'm just so glad that you brought that up because I'd completely forgotten about it.”

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the essence of episode #4447, providing a detailed overview of the discussions, critiques, personal stories, and community interactions featured throughout the show. Whether you're a long-time listener or new to TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live, this summary offers valuable insights into the episode's key themes and moments.

Transcript

[Luke Burbank]

I know what you're probably thinking. I wonder what this man's thoughts are on the garlic bread pizza debate. Have you heard about this? Are you keeping up with this? If anybody nodded along, you're a liar. Because I'm the one who sparked the debate, and this is my first time going public with it. There was a time, a simpler time, when you could very clearly tell garlic bread from pizza. Garlic bread was a baguette, a few slits cutting it, and some garlic butter, 65% melted between them. I think it all started going downhill when they started making garlic bread the same shape as a pizza. Then they came out with cheesy garlic bread. This is garlic bread in the shape of a pizza with a bit of cheese that I can take. But I was in a restaurant the other day, went down to the garlic bread section of the menu, checking out what's going on. Used to be a section reserved for garlic bread matters. Garlic pizza bread. Have you heard of this product? It's pizza base garlic butter. So far, so good. Cheese. I'm okay with that. Tomato sauce. That's a pizza with too much garlic in it. Seems like you can call anything you want garlic bread these days.

[Andrew Walsh]

Tbtl.

[Gail]

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it. Just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the.

[Andrew Walsh]

Men'S store, a catnap in your office.

[Gail]

Chair, or two cups of good, hot black coffee. Hi, Luke. This is one of your favorite. My favorite listener is Gail, and I'd like to say that I'm passionate about walking and I'm passionate about tbtl and I think, what a great combo. I love to walk and listen to TBTL at the same time. Think about what you're saying right now. Cause it's the smartest idea anyone's ever had.

[Andrew Walsh]

We have all the facts on this we need. We don't need any more facts.

[Gail]

In the land of truth, my friend, the man with one fact is the king. All right. Taking a run. See you on the flippy flops. All right. Hello, good morning, and welcome, everyone, to a Thursday edition of tbtl, the show that just might be too beautiful to live.

[Andrew Walsh]

We're getting medium play on three independent radio stations in Central Europe.

[Gail]

My name is Luke Burbank. I am your host, coming to you from the Madrona Hill studio, perched high above the mighty Columbia, where we've got a beautiful blue sky day. Oh, my pa. It's just beautiful. Feeling very, very positive about the weather today, about the fact that I'll see some of you down at the Alberta Rose Theater tonight for Livewire. We'll be there. Show starts at 7:30. And about the fact that right here in front of me, I'm looking at a TBTL show sheet and it shows episode 4447 in a collector's series. Let the Fun Begin is the episode that we have arrived at. I dreamed of it, I hoped for it. I prayed on it. And here we are folks, episode 4447 in a collector series, thinking. Speaking of things that people have been hoping and praying for. We've got some, we've got lots of news. Some news about Andrew getting his colonoscopy. Sir, the doctor's appointment to examine the discoloration on your butthole flaps was too loud, Cynthia. Too loud and too specific. Also, it's a Thursday, AKA blursday. So it's a Thursday. Today we'll do the blurs day messages. Oh, and speaking of my good friend Andrew Walsh, the man who brought the.

[Andrew Walsh]

Rock and Rol to the Eagles, he.

[Gail]

Is also the longest running cobra of the program and he joins me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[Andrew Walsh]

Good morning. Sorry, I'm just taking some notes here about, remember we talked about pre approved drops during sound check, not swallowed.

[Gail]

I don't remember, I don't remember that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Clause in the contract because there was.

[Gail]

A certain, there was certain that app for FY 2025.

[Andrew Walsh]

There was a certain drop I just heard there regarding my own personal.

[Gail]

How can I not though, sir, on the day. Here's what happened yesterday.

[Andrew Walsh]

But you know what, you know you're doing something wrong because you hid it from me in soundcheck.

[Gail]

That's right.

[Andrew Walsh]

You did not play the butthole flaps thing in soundcheck. It's like when the cat goes on the counter and you look at him and he jumps down. You're like, you know, you're not allowed up there.

[Gail]

Sunlight is the best disinfectant. And the fact that I played a fake drop for you. That's right, I played you this drop that I, things are going to start.

[Andrew Walsh]

Happening to me now.

[Gail]

Yesterday at the end of the program or towards the end of the program, you said, oh yeah, I finally got this colonoscopy scheduled. And actually the, you know, the way that, that all sort of came together had me thinking about, I don't know, the medical system or whatever. I mean, the fact that I'm only going to play the beginning of this drop, it's A drop where the. Sir. The doctor's appointment to examine. See? The doctor's appointment to examine. And then it does talk about the posterior. That was. I got to figure out how to make money off it. It's simply too good.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't remember you playing that that much when you were prepping for your colonoscopy.

[Gail]

Well, because I knew that that's a one. No, no, listen. I downloaded that audio from, what, Rick and Morty or something many years ago to play it possibly once a show, including about me and my posterior, but I knew that you. Don't you think it's a little coarse? So I might get to. I get to play that about once a year, and I just deployed it. I shan't do it again. But. But I. I feel good about my. My, you know, getting to use it once a year and that I used it there. And I feel like we got our money's worth.

[Andrew Walsh]

That one. The one. The two.

[Gail]

David Cross, right? Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

David Cross. No, no, no, no. It's. Isn't it Zach Galifianakis. Oh, no, you're saying something else. I was gonna say there are two drops that I have traditionally not liked because of their coarseness. One is that one, which is David Cross, and the other one is the Zach Galifianakis drop.

[Gail]

Yes. Which is Transplant, which is right into my butthole.

[Andrew Walsh]

It' Transplant. I didn't even know what that was from until somebody sent me a link. It's from, like. Is it from a movie? A somewhat obscure movie?

[Gail]

I think it's from a weird movie with, like, him and Kate McKinnon.

[Andrew Walsh]

I knew there was some other, like, famous actor in there with him. Yes.

[Gail]

And I don't know. I. I love, obviously, both Zach Galifianakis and Kate McKinnon. And I do think that movie, whatever the heck it was called, I think it sort of could.

[Andrew Walsh]

It generated Amy Poehler. I'm sorry to interrupt. It might have been Amy Poehler.

[Gail]

No, I would be very surprised because I think I have a specific memory. If we're thinking. Thinking of the same movie where Zach Galifianakis character comes home, I believe he's in a relationship with, again, the person that I. I think is Kate McKinnon.

[Andrew Walsh]

You're right. Kate McKinnon.

[Gail]

And she says there's a very funny piece of tape where. Where she says, like, he's like, sorry, I was late. And she says, it's all right. I've just been crying waiting for you to come home or something. And, like. Which is very funny and very Deadpan. I'll. She delivered like I feel like. Do you have the name of this movie?

[Andrew Walsh]

You know what it does also? Did I say Kristen Wiig? Because it does.

[Gail]

You said Amy Poehler.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I said po scene. Might have been with Kristen Wiig, but okay, so Masterminds is a 2017 mastermind crime comedy film. Let's see here. Based on the 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery in North Carolina. I'm having trouble talking. Directed by Jared Hess. Let's see here.

[Gail]

Our guy from the minion movie, Chicken Zombie.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. That name keeps popping up because these and I have been on a bit of a.

[Gail]

Sorry, that's Chicken Jockey long and by the way, it's Chicken Jockey. Chicken Zombie of But it is a.

[Andrew Walsh]

Zombie though that rides a chicken. So yeah, you actually, you know, you.

[Gail]

Know what I saw the other day very quickly and I do want to talk more about Masterminds. The I. This actually seemed so fun to me. You know how we talked the other day about fact that, you know, young people are going to see a Minecraft movie and they're screaming when Jack Black's character says chicken Jockey. They had Jack Black. Jack Black showed up at like a sold out movie theater full of kids about to see a Minecraft movie. And he's doing an announcement over the PA kind of with a like a phony voice. So you don't realize that it's Jack Black. So you just hear somebody coming over and going like, you know, welcome to whatever the, you know, Regal Cinemas and welcome to the screening of a Minecraft movie. Please know the rules are no throwing popcorn and no freaking out when the Steve character says, you know, Chicken Jockey or whatever. And then as this is happening, you see this figure coming out with like a handheld microphone is that they're talking into and it's Jack Black and he gets down in front of the theater and Andrew, when I tell you that place went bananas. These kids could not contain their joy dough over the fact that Jack Black AKA Minecraft Steve was there saying Chicken Jockey to them. And again it warmed this cold heart of mine. It was just so cute. I loved it.

[Andrew Walsh]

And so when he starts off by kind of like not reprimanding but sort of warning, but then when he says the word Chicken Zombie does he go kind of full Jack Black and say it as it's said in the movie to freak everybody out.

[Gail]

I think eventually he starts to really Jack Black it up. But when he's trying to be the, you know, the announcer, he's trying to be intentionally kind of square and unfun about it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I just noticed on my recording that my microphone was significantly lower than yours. So maybe we'll just cut. You know what? Here's what we should do. Will cut out all of the. Starting right before you played that drop up until now. We'll just cut all of the show out, and then nobody will have to hear any of that talk of drops. So just so you know, Mastermind, you're right. It's Kate McKinnon. And now I remember it. So looks like he's either maybe a sheriff's deputy or somebody. And he comes home, and Kate McKinnon's been waiting for him. And for a photo shoot, she's hired a photographer, and they just do this really ridiculous photo shoot where they're doing weirder and weirder poses, and eventually he's laying kind of. Is the word prostrate?

[Gail]

Sure. That's what you're getting checked on May 18th.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right. But that's the right word. Right. He's laying kind of face down on the ground with the champagne, looking at the camera. She is laying on her back. On his back. So their butts are lined up. And I believe. And this is one of those things on YouTube where you can see. You can see where people have list like, have watched, and we can see where people have fast forwarded. And then you can see the most popular part of the clip. And the most popular part of the clip is right here as they're striking that pose.

[Gail]

Oh, the butthole.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, no. Good lord, Janice.

[Gail]

I've been saving that for you. Farted right into my butthole.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like a fart transplant. I like the whole thing was me not wanting to go low on this stuff. And I want to play a much much.

[Gail]

Yeah. To my credit, I never included the flatulence.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, that was rough.

[Gail]

I.

[Andrew Walsh]

After that.

[Gail]

Here's the thing I was trying to remember. So before. Before the photo shoot, like you said, he gets home late, and she's been waiting for him. And this is the thing that's been. That was memeified on TikTok. Let's see. Okay. I'm glad you got here when you did. I've been crying for hours.

[Andrew Walsh]

Have you?

[Gail]

I mean, a very understated line. But the way that it was. The way it was memeified on TikTok would just be, like, the idea that somebody really was, like, looking forward to seeing their significant other or looking forward to seeing in some spicy nugs from Wendy's, anything where you were, like you were being you were distant from something that you wanted to be closer to. People just talking overall. Kate McKinnon, that movie. I heard a term the other day, Andrew, and we are going to get to your prostrate exam soon enough. But I heard. Oh, by the way, can. Can we save five minutes at some point in the show, and by that I mean 50 minutes for me to download last night's Everybody's Live with John Mulaney to your brain.

[Andrew Walsh]

About 30 seconds ago, I said to myself, as soon as Luke finishes whatever sentence he has, ask if we can talk about last night's Everybody's Live.

[Gail]

Okay, good. Excellent.

[Andrew Walsh]

In fact, I honestly, the. I can tell you about, you know, me setting up my appointment for my colonoscopy, but, like, that will hold because it's not for several weeks.

[Gail]

A couple weeks on that.

[Andrew Walsh]

But we should definitely talk about the Everybody's Live because that is. Well, it just happened and it was live.

[Gail]

It's a fresh wound, Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Okay. I'm really interested in your take.

[Gail]

The bones may knit together stronger, but for now, there is. There's an injury. So I think the reason I thought of Mulaney was. I think it might have been. Mulaney told this story about. And it was. Had to do with Seth Meyer. Is it Myers or Meyer?

[Andrew Walsh]

Seth. Seth Meyers.

[Gail]

Seth Meyers with an S. Right. Well, this is. This is what I'm.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, I always. Yes, Seth Meyers. It never even occurred to me that it wouldn't be. But I don't know why.

[Gail]

I don't. Oscar's Oscar Meyer or something, you know. Okay, so he was talking to Seth Meyers about their time at snl. I think this was Mulaney. And Mulaney was saying that he had, I think, written a sketch and that he was really into a certain joke and that Seth Meyers, who I think was probably the head writer at the time, said to him, isn't that a little bit of a hat on a hat? And Mulaney was like, what do you mean, hat on a hat? And he was like, well, it's like a joke. And then kind of another joke on top of it. You don't need both of those jokes. And I think Mulaney was very like. Like, you know, kind of indignant. And it was like, no, it's going to be great. And then they. They did it at rehearsal, and it totally died. And then he just looked off camera and behind, somewhere out of the film, the view of the camera was Seth Meers being like, hat on a hat.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hat On a hat.

[Gail]

Like.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Gail]

And I feel like that Masterminds movie is probably just all hat on a hat.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Gail]

It's like, all people. I love being funny, but, like, the person farting into someone's butthole.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, that's really rough.

[Gail]

While. While Zach Alvanekis has, like, an intentionally ridiculous bowl cut. And I noticed in the clip, when he gets home to there, of course, they live in a trailer. And he gets home to the trailer late. His car has. One of the doors is made of plywood. Like, a very janky solution to, like. It just seems like the whole movie might be hat on a hat on a hat. Yes. Because otherwise, this should be one of our favorite movies based on all. And the fact that it's directed by Jared Hess, who famously, of course, did Napoleon Dynamite and recently a Minecraft movie. Okay, thank you for letting me foam all of that off. Do we dare dip our toes into the waters of Everybody's Live with John Mulaney right now, or do you want to?

[Andrew Walsh]

Because here's the deal. You and I have not talked about it. You know, I think people. We don't have to. I was dangerously close to recapping our relationship with the show, but I think people have been following along enough. But at the end of yesterday's show, you said that you're definitely going to make a point of watching it. You know, you said tonight, you know, live, and you were excited because David Letterman was going to be on. And that's a really interesting dynamic because whatever everybody's life is supposed to be, it is definitely trying to capture or recapture heavy duty, early Letterman, rappy, early Letterman vibes, and just sort of, like, letting things, like, go.

[Gail]

We're drop a watermelon off this roof above Rupert G's deli.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like, that's the Velcro wall, like you mentioned the other day, that kind of stuff. And so I'm like, oh, that is interesting. I was not sure if I'd be in a position to watch Show Live yesterday, but coincidentally, just where I happened to be, it was, like, perfect. I got two alerts on my phone. One said, it's time to take out the garbage. And the other one says, john Mulaney is about to start. I turned on Netflix. It said, you have 2 minutes and 20 seconds to take out the garbage. And I'm like, will you. Oh, I forgot to. I forgot to post it to Blue sky, though. Anyway, I. So I rush back in, and I do end up watching the whole thing. But I'll just start by saying this There parts of it that absolutely delighted me that I just thought were so great. But for the first time I also just sort of found myself, my mind wandering during parts of it. Like the first time I watched the show, I was kind of on the edge of my seat because of some of the uncomfortable energy. But this time maybe because I'm used to the uncomfortable energy, when it got a little bit plodding, I found myself literally just like kind of getting lost in my phone, which was not something I'd expect to happen on a live show that sort of has me in its grips.

[Gail]

So the theme of the night was height because they had started this project a few episodes ago which was know your H, which again I think is a really funny as a concept like, like the premise being a lot of guys either lie about or don't know their height. And so we're going to set up this project where we have a guy starting and I forget what it was, maybe five foot even and a guy who I think was up to like 6:10 or 6:11. And we're going to just have a guy of every single height and then we're going to line them up kind of side by side and we're going to just see this perfect diagonal line of heights. But we're going to also create this kind of, I don't know, quasi public service announcement. Know your age. So that all came to fruition last night when they got a bunch of people in there to line up, a bunch of men to line up there by height. And then so, so the theme of the show each week they have a theme obviously is the, the theme of the show. Wow, Andrew, you can't play that. It was more vibratory. I think it was a military helicopter, but golly, reminds me of my days in namm. That thing was low. It was like, I mean you just.

[Andrew Walsh]

Went there for a CBS story, right?

[Gail]

It wasn't even, yeah, it wasn't even a, it wasn't even a sound. It was a vibration like a deep bass groove that came through my physical body. Anyway, so the theme was height. And they usually have a theme. They always have a theme. And the thing was though, there did not appear to be any prepared questions for any of the guests. And the guests were Lori Morgan, who's a stand up comedian who I think has a very interesting story. My sense of Lori Morgan, she's from the south and she is, I'm going to say maybe in her 50s. And she was one of those comedians that was just grinding for years. I'D read an article about her somewhere that she was very close to quitting comedy because it just never quite clicked for her. She was having a little bit of success, but not breakthrough success. And then at what's considered to be a kind of a later age, she just broke through and now she's become this really popular and kind of beloved comedian. So she was one of the guests. Hannibal Burris was a guest, Nikki Glaser, and then of course, David Letterman. And the thing was, when they got the folks out there, it started with David Letterman and Lori Morgan. I think there did not appear to be. Now, the thing you and I have pointed out, Andrew, is that sometimes, like on a talk show, more like the Tonight show with Fallon or whatever, it feels overly managed to us. This idea that the guest has already told a producer their three best stories and the producer has decided on one of the three best stories. And then the host is prepped and the host will set the person up. Like, I hear you're a softball fan.

[Andrew Walsh]

So I heard you went on vacation.

[Gail]

It's some kind of thing that's like a non naturally occurring question probably that then is supposed to lead into a charming anecdote. And that's kind of how those talk shows work. That does not appear to be the model they're following for everybody's Live. I did like, by the way, in his monologue when he said everybody's live doesn't even make sense. Like it's not English. Yeah, it's English, but it's not even really well constructed as a thing. I thought that was pretty funny.

[Andrew Walsh]

The whole monologue was great. The monologue, his monologues are amazing.

[Gail]

Absolutely. I think the model, I mean, the monologues are clearly, to me, the strongest part.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Turns out John Delaney, beginning with him like live in the lot as they were preparing, like know your age. The know your age segment, like, yeah, that was all the first, like five, ten minutes worked solid.

[Gail]

But then he gets everybody out there and then that is when. I mean, sorry, not everybody gets David Letterman and Laurie Morgan out there. And that is it would appear where the preparation for the show ended. They're just sitting there and it's literally like the question, like it really appeared that at no time had anyone, including John Mulaney, even in their mind, thought up a couple of relevant questions around the topic of height. It doesn't have to be like we're, you know, a pre prepared, you know, thing that's been workshopped, but there could be something that's just a conversation Starter. I felt like sitting in my living room watching this. I had like five height related conversation starters of these two people, neither of whom I've ever met that I could have thrown out there. Just get the ball rolling.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, he was clearly ready. He knew, everybody knew that he was going to measure Letterman because he had, you know, like he had the prop of a tape meas ready to go for that.

[Gail]

Right? But, but it was literally, I, I, I, I should have written down the specific first questions, but it was something like, how tall are you? Okay, well, that's actually not a terrible opening question, but then there should be a follow up question which is like, how tall are you? And then how has that impacted your life? Like, David, that's pretty tall for showbiz, right? Did you ever have a guest who was, did you ever have a guest who was an actor who maybe wasn't as tall and they were like concerned about shaking hands with you and having their cover blown famously? Like actors like Tom Cruise are supposedly very concerned about their, their height because it might not square with their action hero status. I don't know. Again, it doesn't have to be crazy pre planned, but it could be. You could just have some questions in mind that might create more conversation. He had nothing for Lori Morgan. He was like, how tall are you? And she was like 5 8. And he's like, amazing. It's like, is that amazing? I bet you that's maybe one inch above average for the American woman. I don't know what the average American a woman's height is. But like that was another thing. There kept being these moments where Mulaney would say, oh, that's, that's so great when the thing that had been said wasn't so great.

[Andrew Walsh]

I thought that that was a joke, though. I thought that, I thought he's leaning into that because he's saying it almost sardonically, right? Like that's how I take that he said he. Because he'll be like, that is fascinating. He'll say it in this way when it's like, obviously not.

[Gail]

I mean, if that's the joke. It's so subtle. And again, I'm not really good with subtlety. So it's, he's missing me with the subtlety of that joke. But I'm not, I'm not saying that you're incorrect about that. He's, there's one point where he goes to Laurie Morgan, he goes, are you on, are you on the road a lot? And she says, and here's the thing. I think most People, if you watch enough interviews with entertainers, whether they're musicians or comedians, they will say, boy, being out there on the road night after night can be a grind. So he says, are you on the road a lot? And she goes, no, I'm shooting a special right now, but then after that, I'm going to be back grinding on the road. And he goes, oh, that's so great. And I'm like, it's actually not so great because the idea is we don't like being on the road and grinding. Then he says, did you have a corporate event recently? And she goes, yeah, I was performing for these real darling insurance guys. Now, as you mentioned yesterday on the show, Andrew, who were we talking about when you said they make the insurance? Oh, it was the online gambling people. They make the insurance. This is the insurance industry look good. Which I thought was a great. Was a great comment. Like, this is not a time where we want to put Lori Morgan in a position of talking about how she was just paid a bunch of money to go do a corporate event that involved the insurance industry, but she was.

[Andrew Walsh]

A rolling with it, like she was turning it into a bitch. He started saying, you know, there were. She was like, they're wearing golf shirts. They were lovable. They were just like. She was, like, kind of damning them with faint praise, which I thought was really funny. She was.

[Gail]

I think she was trying.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Gail]

I just think as the producer, I would say let's not put the guest in a position of defending in some way or trying to joke their way out of the corner of. I was just making $150,000 for three hours of entertaining the insurance industry. But, I mean, I guess it's edge. Maybe it's edgy comedy. I just. I just felt like that just seemed like, again, just this sort of poor planning. Then they get.

[Andrew Walsh]

Can I jump in before you get off the insurance thing? Because I don't. Did you watch it all the way through? Do you watch the show all the way through? Because I think I watch it till.

[Gail]

The second interminable Randy Newman song, my friend. All the way. All the way through. When he said, let's nuke everyone.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, exactly. I don't think that the audience necessarily got the sarcasm of that either.

[Gail]

Oh, yeah, no, no, that's. We'll talk.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Anyway. But so I really. As weird as it was, there was that funny interstitial that showed Mulaney trying to get tax help.

[Gail]

I love that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, yeah, that was good. But you remember, and I kind of. I had ruminated on this because he references his corporate gig in that pre recorded little bit that he did with Jose's tax preparing. He said something like oh yeah, I just did a corporate gig with. And it was with whatever he mentions later on or previously live, you know. And so I think he knows he's got this sketch he's going to go to where he's going to drop this little joke. So that's why it's top of mind for him to ask what's your name? Lori. To ask Lori, did you do a corporate gig? Because he wanted to talk about his corporate gig to get the reference in there. So that the pre taped thing later will be a callback, I think.

[Gail]

Very good point. I had missed that. But here's how I would have handled that if I was the producer. Xander Mulaney. Hey, do you. You haven't all the success. Lori Morgan on tour, but also most of us that do this, we also do some corporate gigs. Right. How do those usually go? That to me would have. You're totally right. They were setting up that, that taped piece which by the way I absolutely love so good tape. It was genius. It was. That's the thing there. There's always in these episodes something that's just amazing. But I felt also like they didn't really like. It was. The Letterman energy was very weird because I could tell that Letterman. I felt like Letterman was first of all doesn't really know how to not just start hosting something like that.

[Andrew Walsh]

He's right. You could see him trying too.

[Gail]

Although he's trying to save the whole thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

Very great though.

[Gail]

But he wasn't really. He was, he was trying to save it but he wasn't effectively saving it. And he also. There was a power, there was sort of a power struggle because he's David Letterman and because his net, his muscle memory after however many years he did that is to try to salvage things like that that are going on and, and, and you know, obviously Malenia is like very funny and very, very accomplished as well. But it was like you, it felt to me like David Letterman was trying to somehow. I mean at one point he said, you know, I. When they told me this thing was about height, I thought that might be a little boring.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, that was, I was about to bring that up. That was pretty funny.

[Gail]

But I, I couldn't have been. I couldn't be more happy to have been wrong. But it was so boring. There was a point where that was.

[Andrew Walsh]

Pretty funny because it was like that conversation had been dragging for a while and that Was rough. Like, Letterman was trying to do his sort of sarcastic thing a bunch of times, but it was falling flat because it was like he had the. He had the sarcasm in his head, but it wasn't coming out quite right. And so he was making some joke about his son. He's like, oh, well, if my son's watching, let's just say he's 6 2. And you're like, oh, you were joking because men are sensitive about height and you don't want insult. Like, he did several of those things that he was saying something sarcastic, but then sort of had to explain that he was being sarcastic. It was pretty rough. But after like, what felt like 50 minutes of just like really fumbling height talk, at this point, I believe there are four guests out there and Letterman just interrupts and just says, I laughed. I did laugh at that. He's like, boy, when I heard you guys were just going to be talking about height, I was concerned it was going to be really boring. Boy, am I so glad to be wrong about that. Like, I actually thought that was pretty brutal.

[Gail]

Well, and so like the. Then they bring out Hannibal Burrus and Nikki Glaser. And I think literally the only thing that Hannibal Buress even got to say. And Hannibal Burris, who's one of the most funny, droll comedians in the world, like an absolute national treasure. My Hannibal Burris story is, I want.

[Andrew Walsh]

To say my Hannibal Burris impersonation. I'm like, can I stop you right there?

[Gail]

Hold on, let me get. I've got a wig around here somewhere. Andrew, let me get in character. My Hannibal Buress story is that years ago I was hired to do comedy. Those words alone should just tell you this story ends badly at Sasquatch in one of those comedy tents. And I said, okay. And then I did my little, I don't know, 45 minute performance. I'm not a stand up comedian, obviously. And the crowd, let's just say, I think was pretty distracted. It made last night's Mulaney show seem like a boffo sacco success in terms of crowd react. And, and then I got off stage and I thought, well, this is a terrible way to do standup comedy. You've got this big open tent, it's daylight, there's cool bands playing all over. Of course, nobody can do this. And then Hannibal Buress went up and just absolutely decimated the crowd with laughter for a solid hour. Just standing on stage, barely moving, just. He was so funny and so much funnier than I am that I was like, oh, No, I see. I was the problem.

[Andrew Walsh]

He is so good.

[Gail]

This. It is not the environment. And by the way, he was less famous then than he is now. This was a person. I bet you a lot of the people there at. In George Washington who had assembled for this were unfamiliar with Hannibal Burris at that time and were mesmerized by his raw comedic talent. So that's.

[Andrew Walsh]

Do you remember that he was one of the secret guests when I went to that, like, kind of secret Chappelle show before Chappelle was.

[Gail]

Oh, yeah. Where they took your phone.

[Andrew Walsh]

Problematic. Yeah, this is in LA in like 2014, 2015. And like, you know, Hannibal Burris was already on Broad City. I'm trying to think I knew him from that. And he had been blowing up because he was the one who like kind of finally made the joke that brought a lot of attention.

[Gail]

Oh yeah, the Cosby thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

And so that was kind of what he was known for. But, you know, certainly not a household name. I don't know if he's a household name now, but I love him. And when he. When Chappelle comes out, he's like, I'm bring one of my friends out here and it's freaking Hannibal Burris. I flipped my wig. He's just. So you just talk about like the ability. Not. Some people, like, really lean into their stand up. They lean into their awkwardness and like kind of of try to amplify that as a joke. But then you have people like Burris who just. I don't know what's going on in his head, but he has the stillness and confidence that you're just. I find it mesmerizing.

[Gail]

It's the opposite energy that we have.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, absolutely. Yes.

[Gail]

Whatever that is, I admire it and I don't have it. It's just like a. He's not in a rush to get to the punchline. He doesn't have some metronome that's on. He doesn't have a metronome that's just like all the time.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like Seth Meyers said the other day, like, we can't. We. The awkwardness is the, The. The dead space is where people realize they don't like us anymore. So we got to keep making noise. Yes, but.

[Gail]

So I feel like. Actually, Mulaney, I. Again, I. I think that you and I. And. And maybe the next time I watch the show, because, yes, Andrew, I will watch it again. Maybe I'll try to watch it. Maybe I'll try an experiment where I interpret everything as actually intentional, like, or a Meta joke or a subtle joke because. Because like the him saying, oh, that's amazing. Like maybe that is what that.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm pretty sure it is like. Because it's pretty funny, I hope. Yeah. Because you'll say it after the most mundane things. And I swear I was.

[Gail]

Because I was taking it as unfortunately his just kind of like a crutch.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sort of a conversational like a verbal tick.

[Gail]

Oh, I want to say one other thing really quickly. I understand to anyone who's listening to us right now and has listened to us for years, us or me, I'll just take, I'll take the blame on this. Me criticizing a program for having a banal conversation. I understand that that feels like the height of hypocrisy considering what we do here. But the difference is like we are not everybody's live with Luke and Andrew with the budget they have and the celebrities they have access to and all the production and everything. We're just two mooks, I guess. I don't know. Can we say that anymore considering it's one of the main characters from White Lotus. We're just two guys just talking to each other. So yes, this is boring a lot of the time, but that's the expectation in my mind. When you have David Letterman and Hannibal Buress and Nikki Glaser and Lori Morgan on stage and the conversation is as boring as me and Andrews is, that's it seems to me like a problem or something that could have been improved upon. So there was like one question to Hannibal Burst that, that I remembered which was basically like, like, is your daughter as tall as you now, now what's funny about that is she's three, I.

[Andrew Walsh]

Think he says she's, she's gaining on me.

[Gail]

Yeah, she's catching up or whatever. And then that was where. And I felt like. And then somehow it became apparent that she's really young. But I feel like they could have played that for a funnier, you know, they could have played that for a little bit bigger punchline. But anyway, you know the idea that you're asking someone if their 3 year old child is as tall as them. But then that was the last I feel like I heard from Hannibal Burruss. Yeah, he said other things I forgot. Like I feel like he was very underutilized.

[Andrew Walsh]

I had the same thought at a certain point. Like I think Mulaney has a little bit of trouble keeping. When he has four guests out there, like trying to keeping them all engaged. And I did feel like he really slipped into the background for the Rest of it. And he also seemed happy to slip into the background. Not like he wasn't like a hostile witness or anything, but like, he just also. It's like there's a lot going on. They're leaning into the awkwardness. But, yeah, I did sort of feel that, like he. He just sort of slipped into the. Into the background a little bit.

[Gail]

There was a point during the group exercise where I had to mute the audio because I was feeling so uncomfortable.

[Andrew Walsh]

The group exercise, I mean, when everybody.

[Gail]

Was on, oh, all four people, when you had everybody out there and there was just kind of nothing happening. And, I mean, the calls kind of helped. It gave them a little bit something to talk about. By the way, they didn't flash the phone number.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, you're right.

[Gail]

I didn't see the phone number. And I was watching it live. It was like, you know, we're gonna take a call now. And there was no phone number that was ever flashed.

[Andrew Walsh]

Not even during the beginning of the show. He might have given it out during the monologue.

[Gail]

I didn't remember ever seeing it because I remember I have a plan to try to call this show.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, you were looking for.

[Gail]

And the call was very set up. I mean, the call was a guy who had leg lengthening surgery in Turkey, which, by the way, I agree with John Mulaney that that should be a whole episode of their show is the particularly male cosmetic modification that goes on in Turkey, whether it's entire flights of guys that have just had hair transplant surgery or what they call turkey teeth, which is getting veneers put on your teeth in Turkey, or I guess leg lengthening surgery, which this guy allegedly had had. I thought the call, that call was pretty interesting, but that was very clearly a setup that's like the best call you could ever hope for if you're talking about height, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

But even that somehow he ends up hanging up on him. Even that, like, somehow got confused or muddled somehow, because the guy claims at first he doesn't care about his height, but he says, I just kind of did it on a lark because I wanted to do something extreme. And so. But then, like, you don't care about your height? He's like, well, maybe I sort of do. And Mulaney was good at sort of picking up on that. He's like, okay, you've had a revelation here. But there were still a lot of follow up questions because, like, the guy starts by saying, well, I had to go to Turkey because it was basically like, what, $70,000 less or something in Turkey. But then unironically says, well, yeah, I gotta go back because there's complications. Like, y. No shit. You just got like, what do you.

[Gail]

Don't overpay for your leg.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right. He went to sars. Super saver to get his legs.

[Gail]

First thing I did was confiscate his back.

[Andrew Walsh]

I just sort of feel. Yeah, right. I feel like there was, like, a lot more.

[Gail]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like, Mulaney got kind of. I don't flustered by.

[Gail]

Because he dropped the guy. And everybody was like, thinking the guy was still on the line. And then he was like, I had to get rid of him. I had to get rid of him. Which, by the way, this brings me to a point, Andrew, that I thought when I was watching it last night. And I want to tell everyone this Saturday, 10am West coast, right. Do I have the time right? 10am West Coast.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Gail]

TBTL Tradio. We're gonna be broadcasting live on YouTube, I believe. You can go to tbtl.net, there'll be a link. Right. And we're gonna be taking calls if you have something that you'd like to sell or trade or if there's something you're looking for. This is a chance for the TBTL10s to exchange things. The thought that I had last night, Andrew, was, did you set. This whole tradio thing was really. Is really your baby. And you've been saying that you love shows where the hosts are dumping the callers kind of unceremoniously. Is this. Is this your attempt to rebrand some of our call in segments so that you can just be dropping people, or in the words of Howard Stern, saying, I gotta get out of this. Like, to the tradio callers on Saturday, are you gonna be nice to the tradio callers or are you gonna be brusque with them?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, here's the problem, Luke. When. When. Let's say some Philadelphia. Let's say when some. Yeah, let's say some Philadelphia sports radio host.

[Gail]

Mother's hometown.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey, let's change this sick. Let's say some Pittsburgh. No. Okay, so you know when. When some sharp elbowed radio host drops a call and says, I can't do this. I can't do this right now, and hangs up on a caller that's going off on the tush push or something. The issue with that is that's. That getting on, not giving money directly to that show. That is not a dazzling.

[Gail]

They may be calling tigers for men. There may be a roundabout way.

[Andrew Walsh]

So my point is, I do I like an alternate universe where I can be a jerky radio host and hang up on people, but I would never be rude to you, would never bite.

[Gail]

The hands that are feeding us.

[Andrew Walsh]

Absolutely.

[Gail]

Okay, good. I wanted to check in on that.

[Andrew Walsh]

You bought my respect, listeners.

[Gail]

Oh, and it's cheap, I want to be clear, very affordable.

[Andrew Walsh]

I do love my new audio board.

[Gail]

Yeah. Because last night when Melania was like, I just had to. I. I couldn't anymore with him because everyone was like confused. Like, well, what happened to the guy who we had.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, we had talk about for a second.

[Gail]

The guy was the guy who's like newly six. Six.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Gail]

Like, who had been six foot and is now six six. So all that, you know, I'm just kind of, I guess, sort of recovering the same ground. But then as far as just like, I kind of just wish that there would have been again, not a overly prepared thing, but a little bit more of a. Just for each guest something that Mulaney would have had on his little clipboard that was just like, like a thing that might get them talking about the topic in a way that was just kind of just like any fun conversation that you're having. Imagine just sitting around at a restaurant with your four of your friends and, and, and there's a topic and no one's engaging really on the topic. It's just like, that's just not a fun way to have a conversation, whether it's being filmed or not. Like, and, and, and good conversationalists will generally kind of like throw some things out. They'll tell a story and then it'll. Other people will have their version of that story or whatever. Like, like we can, we can all sense what a kind of good flowing conversation is. And I feel like I don't know if they're in if again, maybe this is the meta joke of all meta jokes that they literally want the conversation to be bad. But it's.

[Andrew Walsh]

I do think he's got a little bit of perverseness in him in that I think he could do. I think he could do a better job if he wanted to. I do think there's a little bit of perverseness in him wherein that he does want. I can't explain it. I'm not in his head. But he is a man who I believe.

[Gail]

I mean, he's a very talented comedian.

[Andrew Walsh]

He's a very talented comedian. He can read people well, you know what I mean? He's not like, he's not again, a comedian who, when he's standing up on Stage doing his own, like, monologue or stand up or whatever, that he's somebody who's like, I'm so awkward. He's not doing.

[Gail]

Yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Reference there for the geek heads out there. But do you remember Geeky Guy, by the way? He was a weird comedian. One of my favorite things about my relationship with Genevieve is that when we were early. When we were kind of early in our relationship, we both realized that we had watched way, way, way too much, like MTV and VH1 comedy specials in the 90s, and we already had like, plenty of, like, geeky guy material to go over. Anyway, my point is, like, I think that he's actually, I'll bet you if you were to meet him, he's the type of person who makes you feel comfortable. If he wants to, he can add a dinner party or whatever. He seems so socially.

[Gail]

Why would he suddenly lose all of that ability?

[Andrew Walsh]

I swear he's doing something there. And that's. And I want to go back to something you said before about, like, maybe the irony, especially of me potentially criticizing his talk show efforts or whatever. I mean, listen, you and I have now spent hours talking about this show, and I have. I literally have it on my calendar. I'm not doing that with Fallon, not doing that with Kim. I'm not even doing that with. With Colbert, who I love and I think is like the definition of a genius.

[Gail]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

But there we're having this conversation because there's love in our hearts for this.

[Gail]

Yeah, we only throw our phones related to Mulaney.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's kind of interesting. Yes. A really. That's a really interesting. That's a really interesting sort of comparison there. The throwing our phones or throwing your phones in TBTL parlance, because Luke and I drive you crazy. And I'll say more and more recently, I've been even more thin skinned about things because I'm just a raw nerve.

[Gail]

This is why you make Saturday a hang up.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's why I'm just like, join us for the hang up fest. Sorry, I just needed a boom boom. But anyway, I find myself even more, like graded by people who are just like, my nerves are graded by people who are just like writing in. Just like make a big deal about some small correction or something and then be like, you're welcome, or whatever people like to do when they sharpshoot. And I've never been a big fan of that. But also part of me can just be like, just relax. Like, oh, well, I don't have to get into details, but sometimes there's just A tone of things. Like when I miss. I was looking for through my baseball cards live on the show, and I accidentally was looking through the G's because the player's first name was G instead of his last name, T. And I got like a voicemail from somebody who's like, my God, Andrew. No, it was like, for God's sake, Andrew, you don't look it up by the first name. I'm just like, we're do. I'm live. I'm talking bullshit for like two hours a day. Not that's an excuse, like we should be professional or whatever, but like this idea that I'm just like the dumbest idiot in the world for doing this on the fly for 15 seconds while I'm talking to you and running an audio board and doing these things. And I'm sure this person who left that voicemail and is probably listening right now, and I'm sure they're a beautiful person who were just feeling a little snarky in the moment. Not a big deal, but it can really, like, kind of grate me a little bit. All of that is to say we're taught we're kind of doing that to Mulaney right now, and I guess it does. I should maybe watch my tone, although he would never hear this, but it's the same thing. I'm not doing this. Like, I can't believe the show is out here. I'm doing this because I love this show and honestly, I want it to succeed past its 10 episode run. I want this to be something that we look back on, like, literally a decade from now and be like, remember when this show was new?

[Gail]

That's great. That's incredible. I'm trying a new meta joke where I just respond to everything we love.

[Andrew Walsh]

It doesn't work in this space.

[Gail]

Well, that's actually. You raised an interesting question, Andrew, which is, is it possible that this thing could actually go long term? And I wonder if John Mulaney would want to do it. He said something in his monologue that, again, I found so personally relatable, even though the stuff that I do is very, very, very, very, very, very small potatoes compared to the stuff that he's doing. But he said he was talking about. I think he was talking about his son doing a performance or something or, you know, at school and somehow the topic of like, you know, being nervous about stuff. And he was saying, I think, to his son that, you know, yeah, you get. Daddy always feels nervous before he does this show, but then when he's done, he feels really good. And then his son asked him some other question about it or whatever and then he said for about a minute and then he starts to realize he has to do it again. And then he feels really bad. And I was like, oh man.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like he says, no, once you go out here, you feel really good for one minute. Then you feel numb for a few hours. Then you realize you have to go out there and do it again and you feel awful and scared again.

[Gail]

That will be me tonight, post Livewire. I will be at about 9, 10 o'clock, 10:05 actually. I will be in my car. I'll be driving north again, back towards home. I will be feeling really, really. I'll go through that exact phase. I will feel really great and happy that the show is done. Livewire's done. I'll be listening to Philosophy Talk on opb. It's my Thursday night. Livewire is over. Like, unwinding, listening for some reason. Like it has to be like, this is my ritual now, Andrew. I have to listen to this crazy show called Philosophy Talk that they just happened to play from 10 to 11 on Thursday nights, which comes out of like, I think it's Stanford. It's like the Stanford Philosophy department or something. I think I've talked about it before. It's such a crazy show because it's philosophy professors. But they've scripted out the entire show. But they try to read it like they all have these arguments, these philosophical disagreements where they basically one has to take one side and the other has to take the other for there to be a dynamism. There's. But then they write out their entire conversation. But then they read it and try to make it sound like they're just talking.

[Andrew Walsh]

By the way, listeners, in all seriousness, don't do that on the voicemail line. I say that with love. I think that some people get this doesn't happen all that often. But in public radio I was always like very. And so I'm not, I'm not calling out anybody specific here. I'm just giving this as advice for any voicemail line that you if it's for broadcast. I know that some people are like, well, I'm a little bit nervous. My thoughts and I have them in front of me. But it's very clear when somebody is reading something. And you even for me, like you'd be able to tell even if I scripted out something that is supposed to be in my voice right now, it would take some work for me to like kind of get into the character and deliver that In a way that doesn't sound like I'm reading. And it's been my experience that when you're reading on something like that, whether you're calling in live to a talk show or on, you know, like a voicemail kind of situation, it. You usually end up sort of sinking your chances of getting on the air because it just has a different. It's a very clear, obvious different sound.

[Gail]

You could use bullet points.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, sure.

[Gail]

Not the worst idea. Like, if you want to make sure you remember a couple of deets, you could, you know, make a little note to yourself of like a few bullet points and. But that should probably be the extent of the, of the scripting anyway. Okay, so here's the last piece of this, which was Randy Newman. The musical guest was Randy Newman. Now, I know that we have some listeners that are like, you know, love Randy. Randy Newman has a fan base that is very fierce, you know, from his days, long before he was writing you Got a Friend in Me for the, for the Toy Story movies. Like, he was a, to certain people, very beloved, considered a kind of a, A social critic and you know, whatever, like a beloved figure in music to a lot of people. I, I do like the song. I love la. I've talked about that song a lot. I think just I was living in LA and falling in love with that city and again before the Dodgers were evil, going to Dodgers games and when they would win, they would play that song, which is both very on the nose and in that moment of my life, very happy making for me, I formed a positive association with that song. Generally speaking, though, I don't have a strong opinion on Randy Newman other than that song Short People got no Reason to Live, which at some point on this show, you and I were talking about it and I think I said something like, why? Like, what is he even talking about? Like. And then I think we had some listeners that emailed in and were like, no, you don't understand. It's a song that's about bigotry and judging people for no reason. And it's giving you an example of bigotry that shouldn't exist in its most extreme form. Okay, fine. That is probably the intention of that song. I can tell you that. There's plenty of people that have missed that memo and that are just like, if they had a friend who was short, were singing, short people got no reason to live to them, I promise you that is a thing that has happened. Probably more than people being like, this is a meta commentary on bigotry. So last night, Randy Newman's doing two songs, does his first song. They're, you know, pretty, beautiful songs, but very spare, very sparse. Randy Newman's also not extremely young at this point, and he goes to play his final song, and I forget what his lead up to. It was, was like, here's another happy number or something about whatever, like, politics. I got the sense. Now I could be wrong. I have the feeling that this is a new Randy Newman song.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, no, I think there's a classic Randy Newman.

[Gail]

It's a classic. So it's a classic song about how all of our allies hate us because it just felt the lyrics of the song seemed. Maybe this is a credit to Randy Newman. The lyrics of the song were just basically about how none of our allies are treating us right. And he's going through a list of, like, Asia and Europe. And then the song is like, basically, let's nuke him.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, it's a very famous song. It's called political science from 1972.

[Gail]

Oh, geez. Okay. Well, good for Randy N. Newman, I guess, for. For writing a song back then that feels extremely relevant today. But, like, again, it was a weird moment because it's totally silent. It's Randy Newman, who we're taught to revere, and he's playing this song that. Again, my sense is it's meant with arch sarcasm, which is. I guess the idea would be that, like, America's allies are not conforming with our wants and what we see as our needs and desires, so, hey, we might as well just nuke all of them. But it just came off as like, a quiet, somber moment of Randy Newman saying, let's just nuke the world. It just was like. I don't know. It struck me. The whole thing struck me as weird. And I wondered if, like, somebody at the show tried to talk him out of playing that song. Or like, hey, could you go out with I love la? I mean, the song's called Everybody's, or the show's called Everybody's Live with John Mulaney. It starts off with all this LA scenery. Wouldn't I love LA have been a nice little ender for the whole thing?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I'll be honest with you. I do think that maybe you not realizing what a huge. Because I believe I don't listen. And I want to be clear here. And I've been clear on the show. Like, I have. I have been the. The. The head co host in charge of throwing shade towards Randy Newman. Like, I have have said some not so nice things about him. I am not a fan of Randy Newman's, generally speaking, but I do know that that song was a famous song. And I think that it's a very serious moment. I mean, obvious is moment right now in. In America and in the world. And while I don't appreciate Randy Newman's approach to social commentary like. Like you, it doesn't work for me. But I did recognize that that was a moment that he was having because when he said political. Because you said he led into it by saying this is another song about political science or something. I did not know that that was the name of the song at the time. But you heard some. Some like, kind of chipper, some chatter of recognition when he said that. And I do think not realizing that that's a pretty famous now classic political kind of protest song. Changes the vibe. Your interpretation of it there.

[Gail]

I'm gonna push back on that and say even if I had known that it was a Randy Newman classic, I would still have the same personal problem with it in that it's this idea of, like, you're just saying the worst thing you can think of. And as long as we know that you're saying that's a thing other people say. Now we're all in agreement that I.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, no, I don't like the song either. That's where I'm. That's where I'm splitting off from you. Like, I'm agreeing with you. I don't like that song. I understand the message of that song is him playing a character of a. Like a jingoistic guy that we don't agree with. He's playing a villain in that song. I don't like that approach. I don't like his approach to political. Like, yeah, again, protest song. So. So yes, I will go lockstep with you on the idea that that is not my particular favorite way of getting that message across. But I guess I would just sort of say that, like, if it was an artist who I did like their approach more, I would appreciate them not just going out with a happy go lucky song. I'm appreciating people who are trying to use whatever platform they have to say or do something that recognizes the time we're living in.

[Gail]

That's a fair point. That's a fair point. I guess you're right. I guess you could say that I love LA would be like kind of, you know, maybe whistling past the graveyard. Maybe you start. Maybe you do the political science song first.

[Andrew Walsh]

I could have seen that. And then I love la. You do?

[Gail]

I love la. Because that's the duality of life or something.

[Andrew Walsh]

I could have seen that or even vice versa if you wanted to kind of say, now I want to end to something more serious or something. So.

[Gail]

No, that's a, that's a fair point. I, I, I will, I'll totally give you that. Again, I, I, my problem with, because again, we've talked about short people got no reason to live a lot now on the show. My problem with that version of social critique is I think it goes over the head of a lot of people, including me for many years with the song Short People. And I would bet a lot of people. Well, maybe not a lot of people. I don't know who's watching that Mulaney show. I'm guessing it's a certain kind of person that tends to be drawn towards it. And that certain kind of person is probably predisposed to understand the sarcasm. So as far as people that you're going to be reaching with it, maybe it's actually a good group of folks. But I, I, I don't know. I guess it's just like the idea of, like, okay, I'm saying something, but I'm, I, I think this, but I'm saying the opposite. And isn't this droll? Like, I just, that's, that version of comedy or satire is just kind of like, it's maybe it's just not my favorite. And I also just worry that it's lost on a lot of people, and then all they're hearing is somebody saying, nuke them. And they're like, yeah, we should nuke them. Now, I don't know how many MAGA folks are tuning into, how many protectionists are tuning into everybody's life with John Mullaney? Probably not that many. So I, I guess that's not a real danger.

[Andrew Walsh]

I got a little, I was worried about the generational gap, not the, like, you know, I, what I thought I heard. And this could have been me just putting, you know, whatever my expectations on the audience. But when he started singing about nuking, I kind of what I heard, what I thought was either a gasp or a weird silence from the audience because I think that there were younger people who. He hadn't gotten far enough into the song yet to reveal how over the top it was. And I sort of got the impression that there might have been younger people who, at the first mention of the dropping of the bomb, didn't realize that he was being sarcastic. And they're like, who is this old white man singing a song about how we should nuke them all.

[Gail]

Totally. I could. I mean, imagine you're 25 years old. It would be very. Again, maybe you've got the Toy Story context, but other than be very reasonable, I'm sorry, You've got the.

[Andrew Walsh]

You're a young, cool person. Person who loves you.

[Gail]

Get the Monk theme song. Then you got Toy Story. It could be. It's really conceivable that, like, yeah, if you're under a certain age, you literally wouldn't even know what a Randy Newman is. And then all of a sudden he's there singing this song that you know is. Again, I think coming from the right political persuasion. The persuasion I agree with. But anyway, it could be hard to interpret the whole thing. I guess what I would say is, for a show, for an episode where there was a lot of just kind of. Of sort of like awkward moments of people sitting around and kind of not knowing what to do next and kind of feeling like this is just a really stalled conversation. And then for it to go out with two very spare songs played with the second of which was We Should Nuke Everybody. It was just like, energetically. The show was pretty weird.

[Andrew Walsh]

Let me. But there's one other big thing that we haven't talked, I feel like enough about, which was. And again, I think the way he set it up at the beginning and actually set it up in previous episodes made me so excited about. We're actually going to do this thing that felt very Letterman to me of we're literally going to line up everybody from. What was it, five feet to six? Five. Is that what it was?

[Gail]

I think it was 611, maybe 611. Something north of six, five.

[Andrew Walsh]

And we're literally going to find. And they were all men, right? Yeah. We're going to find a man who represents every single inch along the way and line them all up. And when he starts the show, he's like, kind of almost like Kermit the Frog hearing it, like, kind of live in the lot saying, we're going to do it. He's like. At this very serious tone. We had talked about, like, finding all of these people and lining them up. We are going to do it. And starts talking about ridiculous security measures that they went through to make this happen. Like, I was, like, totally excited about that. He even made a really hilarious joke. He's like, we have all this security because remember, to mess this up, you don't have to kill all 25, you just have to kill one. And I was just like, this is so great. He says, I was going to start with a trenchant commentary about the state of political affairs in this country that wouldn't get any laughs but would have gotten a lot of applause. But we had to leave that all aside. It would start at off so strong with such good jokes. And I just loved this bit. And then throughout the show they're kind of showing, quote unquote, kind of behind the scenes of all these guys wearing plain white T shirts with their specific height and big black numbers on the front of it. Like I loved all of that. But then it sort of fell apart when they tried to make it too sketchy and acty and they gave one actor a line that she definitely, she didn't deliver it well at all. And then there was another guy that she's talking to who clearly was told, don't say anything. He might not have been mic'd up, but he's trying to act. And it was like so cringy. And I was like, oh, this is so good. Just don't put the acting in it. Or like the idea.

[Gail]

Yeah, they basically, the joke is the person who is six feet tall has lied about their height and is now going to be kicked out of the thing. And now there's a problem which is we don't have someone who's a natural perfect six footer. Her ends up being Jimmy Kimmel showing up. That's the bit. But I agree 100 Andrew, the acting of the guy lying about being 6ft being exposed. All they had to do was say Mulaney just needed to point to like put his finger to his ear and go, I'm, I'm getting breaking news from backstage. We have found out that the person who was supposed to be our six footer had lied about their height and has been disqualified. That's all you needed to do.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly.

[Gail]

And just get him out of there and don't show him being like, ah, I don't know. Oh, and like, you know, like you said, gesticulating like that. I, I, I agree. That part of the bit was, was really, really bad. And, and again, these are like professional. I feel like these are professional. Unless you think, Andrew, that was supposed to be a meta bit about how bad that part of the bit was.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I think that was actually where.

[Gail]

You draw your line.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, no, I mean now I feel like you're going after me. Like that was clearly bad acting. I feel like Malay. I mean I guess there's room for interpretation here.

[Gail]

But like, well like Larry Bud Melman was pretty bad at acting in those Letterman Days like, I guess they could have been. I mean, I don't think that, by the way.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know. I don't think that. But Mulaney saying fascinating after some of the least fast. I mean, let me just put it this way. Before you came on here today and said that you don't like that tick, I was literally laughing at it last night. So I find it funny whether or not he means it to be or not. I think it's a funny affectation to say fascinating after the least fascinating thing in the world. But no, that was clearly bad acting. And also, but I also want to talk about a technical detail, which was like, I was literally excited at the end of the show. Like all. Obviously it's ridiculous and obviously it's a big setup and obviously it's comedy. But I was actually legitimately interested in saying but they really are doing a real life thing here, which is lining men up from shortest to tallest, specifically one inch at a time. I actually do think that's interesting. But you realize that they had, and I know, I'll bet you they had so many days of meetings trying to fix this, they couldn't get the right shot on it because you have so many people lined up across the stage. They never got a straight on shot. They kept on going from the left or the right a little bit, which totally you can't see when you're going at an angle like that, you, you diminish the, the availability to see like how drastic the change is or step by step, you know what I mean? Like, by taking shots of this line of men from angles, you never got the full satisfaction. I was like, that is the most frustrating thing. You've set this up for weeks now and you couldn't get the shot. Could you not get a camera far enough back in the studio? It must have been some sort of technical, like, just barrier.

[Gail]

Yeah, I, I, I guess I, I didn't notice that as much, but I was with you. That it was like, I felt like it was, was. It didn't pay off as much as I hoped it would because I like you. I was, I was excited about literally seeing this. I couldn't tell if the gr. If the, like graduation hats were helping or hurting. That was another part of the bit. It just, you weren't getting. Yeah, it was not quite as. Also, when Charlie Wilson from the Gap Band came out to sing, you could tell like his mic wasn't working at first. He was having.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, is that what was happening? He was pausing. It was like he was. I thought he was waiting for the laughter to die. I couldn't tell what was going on.

[Gail]

But I'm with you. That, like, that, like that final thing, which I was really looking forward to and which it was kind of funny, them like, marching from backstage and you're kind of following them and the anticipation is really building. And you're right. There was somehow never quite that sort of final. Like, we got the wide shot. Here's the shortest guy. Here's the tallest guy. Let's all just drink this in with our eyes. We're seeing this. You know, it always. You're right. It felt like they were cutting between shots. The guys were moving. They were all sort of standing in single file. Then they all kind of turned out towards the audience. Then they started doing this. H. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Know your age.

[Gail]

I still love hat on a hat there.

[Andrew Walsh]

But, yeah, I don't know. I love the know your age bit. I wish it had come off a little bit better. I wish they hadn't ruined it by trying to make people who can't act act in that. Or at least I don't know those people's background. But the woman who's playing, like, the clipboard holding, you know, coordinator, maybe she's awesome in other things, but that was in. In this live, weird, awkward setting. It just was such bad acting.

[Gail]

Yeah, well, maybe since we are a show, Andrew, that has never botched any bits. That's why we have dazzling donors. That's why we have people paying for this. Maybe we should thank them. We was hoping for some razzle dazzle. Razzle dazzle. That's right, man. Razzle dazzle. On your mark.

[Andrew Walsh]

On your mark.

[Gail]

Get set, get set now. Ready, ready, Ready. Go. Everybody rattle dazzle. Let's thank those dazzling donors, folks who are donating a dazzling amount of dough and who never have conversations amongst themselves about things we could do better on this program. That's one thing I know. Having not been to the Stens page in over five years, having burned all.

[Andrew Walsh]

Of the computers in your home, the.

[Gail]

Only conversations that happen there and on the Slack channel are about how perfect we are and how we nail it every single time. And you know who tells me that every time I see her? Andrew, is Jackie Justice.

[Andrew Walsh]

Jackie now.

[Gail]

And, Jackie, I'm sorry to go on and on about this. This came up. We're at the bead party. But I. If you told me somebody was an attorney who works with foster kids, and you said you asked me what's the perfect name for that person, I'd Say probably Jackie Justice.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Gail]

I mean, how this is in a Netflix show, I don't know.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Gail]

Jackie justice of Tacoma, Washington says a big thank you to the TENS community for some great memories this year. What a fun special time for us. On to my psa. As some folks know, I work as an attorney for foster kids. These kids need extra support with school and mental health. Only about 8% of kids with foster care experience obtain a college degree by age 25. And nearly 80% of foster youth experience mental health challenges. The current political climate raises many concerns regarding funding from both federal and state sources. There are some community based nonprofits, but they often rely heavily on government funds. I cordially invite my fellow tens to get involved in supporting local foster youth. Consider volunteering and donating to organizations such as Treehouse. We love that. And that's by the way, treehouseforkids.org is the Treehouse website and also CASA. You know, Becca was a CASA volunteer and that's how I learned about it. It's a really amazing organization. Their website is national casa gal.org these are just a couple of organizations that provide critical support to these at risk kids. And feel free to connect with me to learn about how you can support foster youth. I was saying on the show the other day, Andrew, at some point I was talking about my childhood and how I sort of, because, you know, grew up in this evangelical movement and I just felt embarrassed a lot and we didn't have a ton of dough. How sometimes it's easy for me to sort of, I don't know, get a little Dickensian on my childhood, but also the fact that I got to grow up feeling safe in the world and living in a, in a city where I felt safe and with parents who loved me for all of their quirks, like just what a privilege that was and how that just, that informs the rest of your life. Like if you get to grow up feeling like there are adults that are looking out for you and keeping you safe and that they love you, I mean, that's, that's the launchpad that any of us could hope for. And to, to grow up without that launchpad, to grow up in the foster care system, to possibly move from home to home, to wonder about what's been going on with your biological parents, you know, whatever they might be dealing with, like, that is, I mean, that is an incredible thing to try to work through and sort of get on with the rest of your adult life. So anything that we can do to try to help those young people and Support them into adulthood is really something we should be trying to do now. We can't leave it all to Jackie Justice. Andrew, despite the name, despite the perfect name for the job, there's only so much Jackie justice do.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. I'm not sure that I was familiar with Jackie's work, or maybe I didn't remember that, but that's very admirable. And Jackie herself has just been such an amazing friend of the show for so long too. Thank you so much, Jackie. It's always amazing to see your name here.

[Gail]

Yeah. Check out Treehouse and Casa if you're looking for some folks to help out. Maestro, on your mark.

[Andrew Walsh]

On your mark.

[Gail]

Get set, get set now. Ready, ready, go. Everybody rattle. We've also got to thank Air Aaron Nelson from Seattle, Washington.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey, Luke, I'm sorry to interrupt really quickly here, but you're keeping track of these names, right? These are people I cannot hang up on Saturday.

[Gail]

Yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, I've got a list. Okay, gotcha.

[Gail]

So we can extensive. And I will. I will hang up on you before. I will hang up on them now. The problem is you are the person in charge of.

[Andrew Walsh]

It will cause some down synthesis.

[Gail]

The recording, the phone line, the streaming, everything passes through your studio. So if I hang up on you, I don't know, you just hang up on yourself.

[Andrew Walsh]

Really, it just means that you've left the chat.

[Gail]

Essentially, Luke has logged off. Aaron is another person we cannot hang up on in Seattle, Washington. Aaron says, ahoy hoy. Thanks for always being my good time, boys. That's a. That's a Matthew Berry thing, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Matt Berry.

[Gail]

Matt Berry. I can hear you, Clem Fandango.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, I can hear you, Clem Fandango.

[Gail]

Thanks John, for all that you do. True dat. True, dad. As we've recently stopped saying, John is our friend and colleague, TBTL employee numero uno John Sklarov is always out there making sure that this thing still happens in a million ways, both public and private. I'm so happy that this year again I can donate to one of my favorite things in life. Heart thanks for always making. Making me laugh out loud or shake my head. Especially you, Luke, huh? Peace and love. Peace and love. You know, Aaron, that just tells you much like you heard our 50 minute discussion of Mulaney. That just tells you that it's working. That you know, the fact that you experience a whole range of emotions related to the stuff that I say, that just means my system is working here of drawing you in. Also, thanks for the introduction to the text Me Back podcast. It complements TBTL so well. That's, of course, our friend Lindy and Megan's great, great podcast. Text me back, which everybody should check out. You're the best imaginary friendos a gal could ask for. Shout out to my 11 Jared. You make life fun no matter the situation. I love you. Shout out to my 10 friendos. Krista G Show and Sarah at Magpie Mouse. They're all, like, the coolest people I've ever met. Treat yourself to some Magpie Mouse earrings. You won't stop. I have a pair in every color of the rainbow. You can always check out Magpie Mouse down there at Pike Place Market, by the way.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, new location in the market too, by the way, Right next to my favorite hat shop.

[Gail]

Oh, very cool. I. Andrew, I'm not proud of this, but I feel like I was a little bit of. I was a little bit of Seattle snobbery. A week or two ago, Becca and I were in Seattle. We had done Livewire. I'd done Livewire there, and it was the next day, and we went out on a little jog along the. The waterfront there, which is so great. Now, man, I know it cost $10 billion or whatever to take down that viaduct and dig that tunnel. I know it was a whole thing. It was like half of my lifetime was spent doing that. But, man, is it cool down there now with the new aquarium and. And the ocean breeze blowing in off of Elliot Bay, et cetera. But we were out there yogging, and a couple of tourists came up and stopped us. And the woman asked, which way is Pike's Place Market? Now, listen, that woman is not responsible to know that it's Pike Place Market. Who cares? She doesn't live here. She's visiting. She's pumping money into the local economy. I'm not saying I intentionally sent her on a longer route to Pike Place Market. I didn't really on purpose. This. What happened was I, you know, me, I'm like, have a terrible sense of direction. And I kind of lost track of where we were vis a vis the market. But I definitely realized later that I had made her take a longer route up the harbor steps, because that's my locator point. I was like, you go up the harbor steps, and then you hang a left, you go up, like, three or four blocks and you're there. So I told her that. And then as we continued on our jog, we got around the aquarium, and I looked up. I was like, oh, it's right there. I should have just said you just go up there. But I also told myself, yeah, but she called it Pike's Place Market, so I don't.

[Andrew Walsh]

Maybe that reminds me, I almost texted you during Mulaney last night that I forgot. I'm like, if we talk about it, this has got to lead the conversation. Did you hear John Mulaney refer to Oregon as Oregon? We had just had that conversation two days ago, I think.

[Gail]

Oh, yes, I heard that. And I clocked it. Anyway, all of these folks. Not all these folks. Magpie Mouse. Anyway, they're up there in Pike's Place Market it. And Aaron says, let's see, I'm just trying to get my 1000 characters worth since I paid for it.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right.

[Gail]

Hey, it's your dime. Hahaha. How about one of my favorite dad jokes? Hold on, let me. I'm going to get a. Some kind of a celebratory rim shot. Ready to go here. Okay. Yes. All right, here we have it. I've located it. And now I'm going to read you this joke. What did the buffalo say when he dropped his son off at school? It's pretty good, actually.

[Andrew Walsh]

I can see the answer. The reason I'm not answering is because I don't want to pretend like I know.

[Gail]

Bye, son.

[Andrew Walsh]

Bye, son.

[Gail]

Very nice. Thanks, fellas. What you do is so important. Power out from Aaron. Well, thank you, Aaron. What you do is so important. We couldn't have this job without you. And thanks, Jackie as well. There's a right way to rock and a wrong way to roll?

[Andrew Walsh]

You can just listen to your soul. Just remember that life is number one. You can be having so much fun. Just remember that life is much fun. You can be nothing number one. Oh, that always scares me when you play that. No, it's good, it's good.

[Gail]

You know, I think that there's a. Some kind of a loose dog in your neighborhood, right outside.

[Andrew Walsh]

It always sounds like a real dog in the studio.

[Gail]

Of these sound effects, it's definitely the most lifelike.

[Andrew Walsh]

Now, what you could do is if you could pitch shift that and create a whole bunch of versions of it and then play Jingle Bells with it, that would be.

[Gail]

Oh, that could be great. And I bet you that this thing will let me do that too.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey, listen, I. Before I get into blurs days here, I realized I had forgotten to do a shout out about some upcoming 10 meetups that Krista G, who was just shouted out during the dazzling donor segment, has been setting up. And there was one just this last Sunday that it looks like Some folks showed up for and had a really, really great time, including somebody who showed up for her first TBTL meetup, even though she's been a radio listener or a listener listener since the radio days. That was really cool. So a couple more if you want to get in on that in this general Seattle area. You got Tacoma, Seattle, Saturday, Justices on Seattle Day, April 26, in Tacoma, 4pm Cig Brewing Company. And again in Seattle, April 27, 4pm at Stoop Brewery. So both of those are coming up. Seattle. Let's see here. Saturday and Sunday, two in a row. Tacoma, then Seattle. There you go.

[Gail]

I'm guessing. Is that information also on, like, the Stens page?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, I believe so.

[Gail]

Check it out.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, and I put it in a newsletter a couple of weeks ago if you want to go rifling through your email for that. In the meantime, this is the segment where we wish people happy blurs days. If you want to wish somebody a happy birthday, email me [e-mail] that's the address. Luke, question for you. How do you feel about poetry?

[Gail]

I love it, actually. I mean, I can't claim to always understand it, but I always enjoy it and I think it's very enriching, honestly.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, then, good. You're gonna love this because this is from Lisa and Nova, who want to wish Christian a happy blursday with this poem. Roses are red, violets are blue, mandolins and bikes are awesome. And you are, too. We are thrilled. That's the end of the rhyming part. We're thrilled to celebrate your day and hope it was fantastic. Enjoy your weekend away. We love you.

[Gail]

I'm a poet and didn't even know I was making those things rhyme. Oh, Tenacious Ray.

[Andrew Walsh]

Tenacious. That's what they call him down at the club. Kathy in Marilyn says, please wish A happy 17th blursday to my five. Emma. Happy 17th birthday, Emma. I am the luckiest mom in the world to have her. I love all of our adventures together and planning the ones we will have in the future.

[Gail]

17. What an age. What an age.

[Andrew Walsh]

I was gonna start singing the edge of 17, but I can't get it in my head with this music playing.

[Gail]

The Fleetwood Mac song Just Like a White Wing. You know, I always thought that song was. I thought the song was called like, Just like the World We Know.

[Andrew Walsh]

Just like the World We Know. Yeah. I bet you I thought that growing up, too. I'll bet you I didn't know it was White Winged Dove until later in life. That song is great by the way.

[Gail]

I mean, it is. I'm. You know what? I'm gonna go out on a limb. I think that Fleetwood Mac was a really good band.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't think that was Fleetwood Mac. I think there's a solo track just.

[Gail]

Just Stevie. I could be wrong.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm not an actor. I think that might be Stevie, but yeah. Anyway, happy blursay to Emma, middle shelf. Maggie checking in. I would love to wish my daughter Erica a very happy blurs day. Of course, Maggie and Erica, two longtime friends of the show. And Maggie says Erica is an Arlington, as you know, and she is quite literally the most amazing person on earth. I know you probably think that's impossible, but I assure you it is not impossible. Anywho, shout out to you, Erica, my angel. Happy blurs day to you.

[Gail]

I love it. We've been knowing Maggie and Erica for like a long time too. Like, it's incredible that they're both still listening. I mean, I know Maggie's listening because she emailed in, but. And assuming Erica's still somewhere in the mix, that's pretty cool.

[Andrew Walsh]

Absolutely. Erica drops me texts from time to time. Love those. Nice. Happy blurs, Erica. Thanks for everything. Arpel. Brian in Portland says wishing a happy blurs day to Christian, the mandolin man. Wait a second, that's Christian the mandolin man.

[Gail]

He's getting two shout outs I don't have. And I don't have a mandolin sound effect here.

[Andrew Walsh]

I do have.

[Gail]

I have this.

[Andrew Walsh]

That was not a mandolin. What you just playing?

[Gail]

Not that I'm aware of. It says bike bell, but I guess.

[Andrew Walsh]

It kind of depends on how you play exactly. Like a mandolin to me. Anyway, another shout out to Christian and Brian says he's the king of the tuk tuk sound and one of the most solid people I've ever met. Happy blurs day to Christian. Oh, another. Another one of these. You got Brad saying Happy 23rd birthday to Nolan from Norfolk from his dad. I can't wait to celebrate your birthday and your college graduation in a few weeks. Nice. Now, happy blursday, Nolan. Now we got this from Anders who says I want to wish a slightly belated blursday to my brother in law Brad. So that's Brad, who just left that last message, by the way.

[Gail]

Oh, okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. So Anders says happy belated blursday to my brother in law Brad. That's a lot of B's. Who's my TBTL progenitor and who has supported me through the many stages of my life and names and also happy pre birthday to his actual son. And his TBTL progeny, Nolan, my nephew, who is now a new nurse. I'm so proud of you, Nolan.

[Gail]

Congrats.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nice.

[Gail]

Here's the thing. For all these dang sound effects that they give me. I've got this helicopter.

[Andrew Walsh]

This is a mandolin.

[Gail]

I've got the mandolin here. I've got jet planes. They did not give me anything maritime related, which is what I would play for Norfolk, which is very famously, you know, a big naval installation and stuff. I wanted to play that for Nolan in Norfolk, but I don't. I just have to play this charmed sound effect.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that's kind of nice. No, there's no. Like, they should have a ship horn, right? Like, is that an air horn or something? Like, what would that be? Not an air.

[Gail]

I've got. Let's see, what else do I have? I have street ambience.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's nice.

[Gail]

Why is that somehow comforting to my brain?

[Andrew Walsh]

It really was. I was actually thinking that that was really nice, actually. I kind of like that.

[Gail]

Anyway, well, Nolan, congrats. And on. On the nursing degree and also, you know, happy blurs day.

[Andrew Walsh]

A lot of good stuff going on for Nolan. Happy birthday to Nolan and to Brad. Man. Again, Luke. Two people wishing the same person a happy blurs day.

[Gail]

I'll allow it.

[Andrew Walsh]

The people who are wishing this are both Jesse in Cincinnati and listener Michael, who are both checking in to say happy birthday to my boy, Lawn Chair Larry. Surprises every year.

[Gail]

I did not see it coming.

[Andrew Walsh]

Lawn Chair Larry getting the shout outs. What's it been like five. More than five years since we've been thinking Lawn Chair Larry now, I believe.

[Gail]

Yes, Lawn Chair Larry. I mean, you know, I do have this. I guess you could say this was.

[Andrew Walsh]

Larry, look out. It's behind you, Larry. It missed him.

[Gail]

Yeah. That was what it was like up there for old Lawn Chair Larry.

[Andrew Walsh]

He.

[Gail]

He survived, right? You think I would know this?

[Andrew Walsh]

He survived that, but then did have a tragic end, I believe.

[Gail]

Okay, but that. That incident, and if you don't know now, you know. No. Lawn Chair Larry was a guy who rigged up a lawn chair with a bunch of helium balloons to try to take flight, I think near LAX and did. But immediately dropped his pellet gun that he was going to use to shoot out the balloons and slowly lower himself to earth and then just ended up floating around for a long time. Time.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, and you know, those are broad.

[Gail]

Strokes of the Lawn Chair Larry experience.

[Andrew Walsh]

That is it. Although he, he, he. I was sort of looking something up while you're talking, so I don't know if you mentioned this. Didn't he drop his BB gun that he was supposed to?

[Gail]

Yes. So then he could no longer control his elevation, I think. Also, I heard there was helicopters up there.

[Andrew Walsh]

Huh? Sure.

[Gail]

By the way, people on the ground screaming.

[Andrew Walsh]

I made a mistake last year. I don't know if I've ever cleaned this up. But if you go to tbtl.net, which I encourage everybody to do, especially if you want to tune into the live radio stream on Saturday, if you go to tbtl.net, and you look really closely at the tab, the little icon up in the tab of your browser, I said, that's a photo of Lawn Chair Larry. It's like mostly a blue background when you see tiny little dots of balloons. Now, there's one thing that I need to correct that is not actually Lawn Chair Larry. That is a photo that I took from Wikipedia. Idea from the Lawn Chair Larry's Wikipedia page. I thought it was Lawn Chair Larry. It's just an example of cluster ballooning that was inspired by Larry Walters.

[Gail]

Do we have. Are we still in the blurs? Do we have blurses?

[Andrew Walsh]

We're done with blurs.

[Gail]

Can I then please can I retract a statement I made yesterday based on some post show research that you did today? Well, when I went to tbtl.net to check out the Lawn Chair Larry thumbnail, or the one that is in, you know, inspired by, I remembered that yesterday on the show I told the story of my night before at PDX airport and how it seemed like it was just almost like a Guillermo del Toro World of Wonders happening. It's a real pans labyrinth there of like guys rollerblading and, and people who had improvised autonomous floor sweepers. And you found a picture of a floor sweeper and you sent it to me and goes, this what it looked like? And I said it absolutely did. And I guess what I took to be somebody rigging up. Now, here's what I would like to.

[Andrew Walsh]

Say because you mentioned specifically that there were a couple of straps on this thing that made it look like it was like kind of a, a post construction rig job.

[Gail]

Somebody had kind of like modified. Yeah, like an aftermarket modification.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, that's the word I was looking for.

[Gail]

Floor sweeper that you normally ride on. Floor polisher. And I thought somebody had rigged it up with these little like nylon straps. Well, the picture you found, it shows these straps and the straps say cleaning in progress on the straps. It's clearly so that nobody gets onto the chair while this Thing is doing its deal while this thing is out there Roomba. Ing. Yeah, now.

[Andrew Walsh]

So it's designed.

[Gail]

I will say this about the. I will say this about the ones at pdx. I don't remember seeing cleaning in progress on there now. It was 1:30 in the morning. I might have just missed it. I. So first of all, I was wrong. It was designed to be self driving. I feel like if I would have seen cleaning in progress printed on these nylon straps, if I would have noticed it anyway, then I would have realized, well, of course that's what these are for. But in my bleary state, I just thought somebody had like found a couple of straps and been like, this will work.

[Andrew Walsh]

Strap this off. Don't let anybody sit on it. And honestly, it could have been.

[Gail]

I thought they were controlling some, which makes total sense because it's a wheel. I thought the straps were keeping it locked in a certain like course, which of course doesn't make sense. But.

[Andrew Walsh]

And if the letters were like, and I could absolutely see on straps that kind of retract into the machine constantly, day in and day out, that the lettering could have been maybe worn, worn off or faded, I would have probably said, I probably would have maybe assumed the same thing as you. But you know what? I'm just remembering I'd kind of forgotten about this. I was just looking for a show pick yesterday. I was like, I don't know, maybe what a. About a floor buffer. And I typed in self driving floor buff or whatever. And then I saw this thing. I'm like, oh, this is exactly what Luke was describing. Wonder if it was. And it was on a website that was like, look what they make now. Self driving thingamajigs. So I send it to you just as I was like, is this the thing you saw? And then I kind of forgot about it. I moved on. And then I was picking up my car from the dealership yesterday. No charge, by the way. Fully under warranty. Not just the part, but the labor. Loved it. And so I'm driving my free car back home yesterday and I got a text message from you. And it just. And the text message just said in the robot voice, yes. And I was like, what is?

[Gail]

You had no idea what I was referring to?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, then I was like, what is. Yes. And then I was like, oh, it's that. It's probably that, that self driving thing. And then I thought, and this is a. This is a lesson about tone and punctuation. I thought, oh, maybe, like, maybe you thought I was sort of sharp shooting you a little bit, and you didn't really need me. Like, what you saw was built this. Like, I didn't remember my tone in the moment, and I thought you were just kind of. Of like, yes. Like, I don't need this from you right now. Which is not our tone. So that's kind of weird that I would jump there. But then later on, I pick. You know, I pick up my phone much later in the day or evening, and I'm going through some text messages, and I saw that your text message was yes with two exclamation marks. And the robots need.

[Gail]

The robot did me dirty.

[Andrew Walsh]

The robot said yes.

[Gail]

Yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Gail]

I could hear you, Clem. Fandango.

[Andrew Walsh]

I said yes. Yes, Queen. Fandango.

[Gail]

Yes, Queen. Need to start writing it. Yeah, you know, that's.

[Andrew Walsh]

I got to say, that would help. You're right.

[Gail]

That robot. That. That robot. Yeah, it should. They should have built something into the. The robot reading of the text that if I've added two exclamation points, I mean, that's a real indicator of. Of what my emotional state is as I'm responding. It should go up a couple of octaves or something.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. And like, if you. If you end it with a period. Yes. Then I know it's terse, but it's a couple of. Exclamation point. Yes. But I guess from now on, you just have to write yes when you.

[Gail]

Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

That way.

[Gail]

I like it. I like it. That's. You know, that's a good workaround. I'll. I'll start writing that all the time, just in case you're. It's one of your, like, I don't know, five days a month, you're in the car. Yeah, right. And hitting my text message.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm glad you. Sorry. I'm sorry to interrupt.

[Gail]

What were you gonna say?

[Andrew Walsh]

I was just gonna say I'm just so glad that you brought that up because I'd completely forgotten about it. But I did think it was, like, really funny when I saw your text message later in the day, and I wanted to tell you that I was.

[Gail]

Like, the whole journey you've been on.

[Andrew Walsh]

Misunderstood your tone in that moment.

[Gail]

So funny how, like. Yeah, how. How sort of dialed into each other's vibrations we are of things like, you know, just text messages, usually about show stuff or, you know, something where we're like, oh, I hope the other person is, like, isn't annoyed, or they're reading this in the spirit it's intended or whatever ever.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. Yes. Yes.

[Gail]

I think you meant yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Gail]

Yes, we are at the end of today's episode, but even though we're at the end of today's show, we are.

[Andrew Walsh]

What are we.

[Gail]

How many hours? I'm bad with math. 22 hours from tomorrow's show.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Gail]

Is that how that works?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, it is.

[Gail]

So we're about 22 hours from tomorrow Friday episode of the program, and we hope you'll be able to join us for that. In the meantime, hope you all have a great Thursday. And also maybe I'll see some of you tonight at Livewire Portland Alberta Rose Theater. For the rest of you, we'll see you on the imaginary radio tomorrow. Once again, have a great Thursday. Take care of yourselves and please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Andrew Walsh]

And good luck to all.

[Gail]

With the love of God, Andrew Gorman.

[Andrew Walsh]

Thomas would be alphabetized under T for Thomas, not G for Gorman. Power out.