← The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers
The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers
152 - The B-52’s - Self Titled - Paul F. Tompkins
01:53:12
Paul F. Tompkins makes his first appearance to talk about the kitschy quality of The B-52’s
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Next Chapter Podcasts.
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On WhatsApp, no one can see or hear your personal messages. Whether it's a voice call message or sending a password to WhatsApp, it's all just this. So whether you're sharing the streaming password in the family chat or trading those late night voice messages that could basically become a podcast, your personal messages stay between you, your friends and your family. No one else, not even us. WhatsApp message privately with everyone. This show is brought to you by Distrokid. Bring your music to the masses. The 500 the 500J been walking us down through that 2012 edition so it ain't nothing to you. Hundreds more to go and in need of a friend. The king of peaceful angelo. Talking the 500 until the end Talking the 500 until the end with my man JL on the 500 Talking the 500 until the end that is Rock Lobster. It's by the B52s from their self titled debut album. It's number 152 out of 500 on the 5500 with Josh Adam Myers. That's me. I'm a comedian and I'm going through Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums and we are chopping away, man. We are two away from 150, which I don't know what that means. It's not like a. I guess that's. I guess that's a big number. I mean we're getting close, man. What are we gonna do when this is over? Over? We're gonna watch the movie Dane. That's what we're gonna do. We're watch Dune with that homo Timothy Chalamet. I'm a comic. I'm going through Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums and we're having a good time My dog is on Prednisone Lekka. Like she almost died because of a shampoo that I used on her. Crazy. I know. $7,000 later. Which means I need you guys to join the Patreon. Patreon.com come on, come on. Subscribe patreon.com backslash the 500 podcast. $25 a month will get you some merch. $5 gets you master Fleece Theater with Wayne Fetty, Watt Federman and DJ Morty Coyle. Myself and JT support the show. If you listen, we love you, we care and we know you care. So if you really want to make this the best show possible, help us out guys. Come on, help us out. Patreon.com why is my computer always dirty? It's always I gotta like it's a brand new computer. It's always dirty. But join the fleece army. So I am in New York until the 29th and then I go to London. I'm doing a bunch of shows in London between the 30th and August 6th. Then I'm going to be with in Ibiza with JT. I'm doing a show there. Then I'm going to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Germany, Poland, Turkey and Greece. I'll be back the end of August. I'm missing a bunch of great concerts, which is kind of a bummer. I only wanted to see My chemical romance at MetLife doing the black Parade. I love that band. But yeah, catch me on tour in Europe and then when I get back I will be at the Plano Mic Drop Comedy club the last weekend of August and then September, I'll be in Pittsburgh. I'll be at Naples, I'll be in Fort Lauderdale. I'll be at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles. I'll still be here in New York. And then October is busy. We got Vancouver, we've got Arizona. I've got New Orleans coming up. I've got Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto. I have a bunch of dates in the fall and the winter. So come out. Josh adamyers.com for tickets. I'll post the links this week for all tickets for the Europe tour and for the fall winter. But support me. And another way to support me if you don't already is follow me on social media at Josh Adam Myers and yeah, man, that's all I got to say. Let's get back to the podcast. Let's get into this. This is a goodie. As you know that me and JT are obsessed with Mr. Show with Bob and David and we got one of them. We Got one of the main dudes, the one and only Paul F. Tompkins. We're gonna talk all about Mr. Show. We're gonna talk all about There Will Be Blood. We're gonna talk all about his comedy career. But this dude is a delight of a human being and I think this is a great episode. We had a lot of problems up front with the audio on my side, but then once he stuck around, he was totally cool and we did about an hour 30 hour 40 of just fun. So dig it, Ray. Review and most Importantly, subscribe to the 500 listen free on all platforms. Follow me at Josh Adam Myers on all social media at the 500 podcast. On all social media, email the podcast@500podcastgmail.com and follow the Facebook group run by Crazy Evan. For all things 500 go to the website the500podcast.com. Not left to say now, but here we go with 152 out of 500 with the B52 self titled debut album. This is what a clusterfuck to start the most exciting podcast we've done in months. Can we fanboy out, Jeremiah? Let's do it. Paul, we love you so much. Yeah, this, your love. This is pure love. And we're going to talk all about this. So when Emily, our booker, said that you wanted to come on for the B52s, I was like, yeah, this sounds great. We're gonna party all night and do some stuff. But, but, but we are just. And I mean it like, you know, with so much of your work, you know, your voiceover. But Mr. Show with Bob and David is arguably the greatest collection of comedic actors, sketch artists, whatever you want to say, but it's just, it really influenced so much of what we've done in our lives and we can't thank you for the amount of laughs that we've had while stoned in my mom's basement. So, so brilliant. And I was like, which shirt do I wear tonight? And I was, which one do you find funny? I was like, me put on a George Thurgood.
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B
There we go. Delaware Destroyer. Absolutely.
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Even though his wrestling nickn name, which I love. We were going through research, you know, we. With something that we like. You know, I don't know if you know this, like, but we were told you're a huge Philadelphia Phillies fan. Yeah, like, I mean, youtown.
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B
That's absolutely. I'm a, I'm a single issue sports fan. I'm only into baseball. That's it. And yeah, I, I love the Phillies. I love rooting for the home team. And, you know, I will always follow them throughout the season until they get knocked out, and then I back the Dodgers till the end of the year.
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A
I get it. No, I get it. That's the thing is, even when I lived in L. A. For many years, like, I'm such a Nationals and Orioles fan that. Yeah. Because I just root for everything Maryland. But to jump on, you know, and give you your flowers about the Phillies is that my mom is from Norristown and my dad went to temple, so.
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B
Okay.
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A
Yeah. And I'm. I'm from the Washington, D.C. area, but I lived in Baltimore, so I kind of have the Philly accent a little bit.
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Absolutely.
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A
Right. Yeah. I swallow the.
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B
Very close on. They're very close.
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A
Yeah. Very. Yay.
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B
You see that, cousins?
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You see that movie Dune with that homo, Timothy Chalamet? Yo, I like that Jason Momoa, though. Jason Momoa. He's a good one.
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B
That's a good. That's a good name to say in the accent.
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Somebody said. Somebody said the best way to say Philly accent is Moses Malone is a hometown hero. Moses Malone, I also like.
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B
Yo, Mike, that's quite a nice bike.
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That's the podcast, everybody. We're not talking about. We're doing Philly accents all day. Philly accents from noon to 9pm on Kroc. Why are you here for the B52s? Let's start right there. Let's dive in into this. There's so much to talk about.
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B
Oh, absolutely. I was thrilled that that was still available. And, you know, that album in particular was when I discovered it in my, like, early 20s, you know, after kind of knowing who the beef I like, I knew Rock Lobster. Right? And then when I. When I heard that whole album, I remember the. The. The excitement of it and the feeling of like, I'm now in on a sort of a secret thing. You know what I mean? Like, I had this feeling like I know this is for only certain people, and now I'm one of those people. And there was an excitement with that because the first time I ever, ever saw the B52s or experienced them was being a little, little kid and seeing them on snl, like, you know, promoting that album and being so fascinated by them and kind of scared of them. Like, these were people that I had never seen anything like this before. And they were so intense and so, you know, like, wild and, you know, doing this music that was like nothing I'd heard before. And I was a little freaked out by them, but I. But absolutely drawn to them, like, I could not look away. But being a little guy and like, what are these people allowed to be like this? You know, that kind of feeling. And so years later, yeah, hearing that album, you know, the thing that's. That's so amazing by them and listening to a few tracks before we got together to record was just. The thing about them is they're one of those bands that was so doing their own thing, that the sound is timeless. You don't listen to that and say that album and say, oh, yeah, that's what people were doing back then, only they were doing that. You know, it's such a weird fusion of. Of influences and sounds that it sounds as fresh to me now as it did when I first heard it.
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A
You know, I. This is the first time I actually went back and listened to any of their stuff previous. Then what is. What was the record? The big one, Cosm. The one with Love Shack and Rome on it.
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B
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Party.
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A
Jared, look it up, because we want to make sure we get it right. But, yeah, that was Cosmic Thing. Okay. Cosmic Thing. And there we almost got it by accident, ladies and gentlemen. Morty's in the corner. He's feeding me notes, if that. So he might pop in every once in a blue Cosmic thing. That was what I. It was Love Shack, actually. I think the first time I even really, like. Because I don't know what came out first, if it was the shiny, happy people where you saw Kate in it, and I was, like, attracted to her and the way she looked because, you know, from spending time in Baltimore in, like, in certain sections, like in the John Waters world, like, that whole. The Beehive hairdo. It's like, I'd see all those women. We'd go visit our cousins who lived, you know, in the city. And so then going back, it was like, of course, Love Shack, which I always thought was, like, a joke song, but it's. It's really like, as a bar mitzvah wedding dj, it was like a banger. You'd put that on. That's on the level with, like, September by Earth, Wind and Fire. Like, you'll absolutely. You'll get the bubby out on the dance floor if you. Yeah, if you see a faded sign. I mean, by the way, one of my favorite jokes that I do on stage is that Fred Schneider, like, he. He's doing the exact job he should be doing, is being a lead singer. The B52s. Like, it would be odd if he had that voice and he worked at a hospital and he's like, the tumor is Benign. It's a $30 copay. But Rome, Rome I was listening to because I listened to this record a few times and I went back and listened to Rome, and it like, it got me, like, emotional because it took me right back to the first time I heard it, reminding me my sister who had that record and how much she loved it. And so then to go back again and then re. Listen to this record another time.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And. And then really getting the full grasp of like, the history of the band after talking to Morty, it's like ahead of their time, but also touching the past and. And bringing the past to the future. And it's like, because I think you guys, you were born. You were born in the 60s, right? Like, you're only a few months old. You're only a few months older than Morty. These guys are born in the. In the 50s. And. And you know, but it's like, of course they're coming of age in the 70s, so. So it's. It's kind of what we do, which is like, you know, the older we get, it's like we're kind of grasping back to go, oh, well, I kind of remember. Of course I remember Tears for Fears. And now I'm this huge Tears for Fears fan. And you're into like new wave and like that.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Did you feel that? Did you feel that when listening to them or. Or like.
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B
Oh, I mean, you know, it was. Because I'm listening to them, I'm getting into them, you know, a full. Like almost 20 years after that album. Right. Yeah, it. So it's, It's. It's. I mean, I've. I have heard at this point things that influence them. I've heard, you know, people that were their contemporaries and stuff like that, but I did not have the, like, you know, I did not have the frame of reference of the. What's interesting about them is, you know, the, the 20 year cycle of. Okay, now it's the. It's the 70s, and so we're going back to the. The 50s, and, and in terms of fashion and like that it's coming, it's becoming pop culture and everything. But these guys in the 70s, in like late 70s, reaching back to like surf guitar and stuff like that, which is a little earlier than the cycle. But they recognize the. The sort of unsettling sound of it, you know, which is like the. The sound that they're trying to create is, you know, let's take this sort of fun thing, but let's make it sound scary, let's make it summertime fun, but let's make it sound, like, dramatic. We're gonna do a song like Rock Lobster, which is insane, you know, we're gonna tell this story of this monster at the beach, you know, and we're gonna use this sound, but we're gonna. We're gonna make it dark. And so it's. It's all on the. The same spectrum for me at the same time, without the frame of reference of everything that has gone before. And so it is sounding to me, discovering it like this is a. I know that this is an old record, but it's like nothing I've heard before. And it exists in its own strange bubble, you know, And. And you're instantly cognizant of that, you know, when you're listening to it, that it's like, wow, this is. I would not put this against other songs, other albums that came out in that same year and say, yeah, these are all like, the same vibe.
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A
Oh, my God, what a. What a great way to say that. Yeah, because there's like. If you look at what came out at the same time, it's like, this is the exact opposite.
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Yeah.
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All right, so Morty gave me, like, a little run through, so let's. Let's catch everybody up. And if I. This up, Morty, feel free to interject. So the band gets together in Athens, Georgia, which, by the way, and I. Morty. Morty wasn't getting mad at me when I was telling him about. About how, like, I. I wanted to listen to this record, but I'm also right now obsessed with REM which is also kind of on brand because they're all from the same area. Yeah, but I'm like. I'm like. I had to fight to listen to this record because all I want to listen to is REM And I also know that while I was at the. The gym, I am the only person listening to the B52s while doing CrossFit. So just everybody knows, like, when you listen to your Pantera, I'm listening. I'm over there, and you're doing that, and it's like, I'm in, dude.
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B
So these.
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This group of people, they find their tribe, right? They get together, they go to this tiki place, they get a Scorpion bowl, which is like a big drink with the straws in it. Then they go to this jam session. The drummer, Keith, who is a multi instrumentalist, you know, they start jamming together, they all start vibing. They have this kitschy quality from the 50s that is this. This, that. It's basically a. Like a. Like a proto disco. And then the bell bottoms and the polyester. They go back generations and find this aesthetic. The drummer has a dream that they start a band. And the name of the band is the B52S. B52S, of course. Do you have to add something? Go ahead, please.
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B
I. I did not know that. I never heard that.
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A
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, this is according to Morty, so I don't know if he's just freestyling it. But the B52s, of course, is the hairstyle. Like the beehives. All of the people in the band, they're born in the 50s and like we were talking about, they go back and look at what exists, look at what was existing at the time they were born. All the Eisenhower era stuff. The beach, blanket movies, the surf music. But they're in Georgia, so it's not really, you know, not around. It's not around them like that. But they hit on the formula and they find their groove. They have no bass player, but Kate plays the keys like Ray from the Doors. Morty, if I'm right here, he told me to say far feeza organ, which is. It's a fun word to say.
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B
Might not actually be far fees a.
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A
But it's that style of sort of. I like this with you checking in, dude. I like. I like him. No.
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B
Was he ever really here in the first place?
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A
I don't think he's real. I think he's all of our. He's our bagger vans. So. So she's playing the bass notes. Ricky is playing a mos Right guitar, which is like a surf guitar. Sometimes he's only using four to five strings, so he can do single string melodies. Tuning it in different ways, up and down in different ways to find interesting sounds and melodies, less precision. But Keith eventually became their guitar player after Ricky died a few years later from aids. Fred, who is a vocalist and is considered one of the singers. He's doing something. There is a name for what he does. It's called I'm gonna it Up Sprex Again, which is speak singing. It's musical talking. And. And he had brought up another band that kind of copied their style. Was Bjork's first band. Do you remember, like. Remember the Sugar Cubes? Yeah. There was a guy that was like, you say up, I say it hurts. And yes, she's a girl. Like, there's no real. He's not really singing. But the. But it's but they basically. That is the name of what Fred is doing. The girls, though, they're influenced by Yoko Ono. So when you were talking about the scary noises, all the vocalization, they're into that. Like that famous clip of Chuck Berry playing with John Lennon. And Yoko's there and she just grabs a mic and goes like. You can see Chuck Berry's face. Like, what the is this chick doing? That's basically what they did, but they do it in a much better way. Minimal band, very non traditional. They do their first show in 76 at a house and they're off to the races. They go and get signed. They go to Compass Point, where Chris Blackwell has a studio and he signed and they signed their contracts over there. But they're bummed at the way that he produced the record because Chris wanted it to sound live and raw. So they already had put out a different single, a Rock Lobster. And that's basically what John and Yoga heard. But we're gonna get to that later when we talk. So some interesting stuff about Rock Lobster and. Yeah, I guess. I guess that's kind of, you know, what digs us into the record. And Morty, did I miss anything? Because I saw you wrote this Saturday Night Live thing. I mean, if you want to get to it later when they. We. You talked about Saturday Night Live. But, you know, January of 1980 is when that happened. You know, the record comes out near the end of 79. And so. And to put it in, you know, timeline, you'll know what happened to John Lennon. So this is 1980 and sort of the countdown. Oh, yeah, Terry Gar. By the way, the. The much missed. Let's take a look at that performance. Let's take a look at that performance. Here we go. When you held my hand when you were my man.
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B
Yeah.
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A
I mean, even just the hairstyle, it's like. Yeah, but also like, Fred's kind of dressed very new baby. Yeah, but I mean, yeah, she looks like. She looks like, you know, something from the 1990s 50s with the beehive. And it's just.
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B
It's.
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A
And beautiful, by the way, Fred. I'm gonna give Fred his flowers too. He looks phenomenal still.
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B
Oh, he looks awesome.
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A
One more. Just one more moment.
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B
You didn't mention is that Cindy and.
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A
Ricky, the guitar player and vocalist are brother and sister.
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B
Ah, right.
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A
And so that's, you know, so they already knew each other prior to this. I dig it, man. So. So, yeah, so that's basically to catch us up to what we're. What we're digging on. This is their debut record, came out on. Let's see. It came out in. I don't have it in front of me. When's the exact date that it came out? Yeah, July of 1979. It's. I'm still not alive yet. I'm still in my. No, I think I'm. I'm.
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B
I'm.
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A
I'm in utero at that point.
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B
Yes.
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A
Yes. Yeah, Dude. Thank you. Yesterday was Fred Schneider's birthday and I'm gone. All right. Be gone. Like, really be gone. You're not getting a credit on this episode. You've already got 95. All right, so let's dive into this record. Record. All right, so it opens with Planet Claire. It's really long. They don't start singing until around 2 minutes and 30 seconds into it. Could be the soundtrack to a beach party spy film. This.
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B
There's a little sci fi in there. Like, it's a very spacey sound with the beeps and everything. Well, starts off with.
- [25:26]
A
Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's. It basically typifies the postmodern sound. It's got the Peter Gunn theme, but with a Dwayne Eddy surf version. So much so that the music is credited to Henry Mancini. Because that. That which, I mean, the second I heard that, I was like, wait, did they write that? I was like, I feel like I had heard that. Thoughts on the opening song, Paul? Like, what do you want to add to it? Or, like, what do you think?
- [25:56]
B
I think it's such. A. For them, it is such a perfect opening song. It's. It is telling you, this is. This is our vibe. This is what we're all about. You know, this. If you. If you think this is kind of odd when you listen to it and it's like, what's going on here? That's our vibe. So not every song is going to sound exactly like this, but you are going to ask what's going on here with every song.
- [26:22]
A
Yeah, it's. It's a good. It's a good. Like, hey, we're the B52s. This is a journey you're about to go on. And even the way that lead you in for the first 2 minutes and 30 seconds, it's like you're waiting to hear what you're going to hear, but you're like, is this what it's going to be? And then when it comes in, yeah, it's. You're like, oh, this is different.
- [26:39]
B
And lyrically as well, you know like the. Some say she's from Mars or one of the seven stars that shine after 3:30 in the morning. Well, she isn't. That's like everything about that, it's so, it's so great. Like the idea that we all know the stars that shine after 3:30 in the morning and that you might be guessing this but you're wrong. She isn't from any of those places. She came from planet Claire.
- [27:04]
A
She's from Planet Claire, dude. So, so we were thinking about what, what kind of question and, and I think what we came up with is best is that so they have Henry Mancini credit as a writer. Whose name, like, whose name would you add if you were Planet Paul? Like whose name would you get added to if there was such an inspiration that maybe people wouldn't know? Like who, who added to Planet Paul?
- [27:35]
B
Now let me ask, are we, are we talking me as an artist? We're talking like in terms of musical influences or we're talking about artistic influence?
- [27:46]
A
I think artistic. I think artistic. Yeah, I think or, or even just you know, guided you as a human being. Like a more existential. It doesn't just have to be. It's like who is this, who is like where I would say like my friend Angelo, Angelo Bauer is a brilliant comic who had passed away. It's like I've just applied everything and he is that special sauce inside of me. Or, or like I'm trying to think of. We just had Kenny Wayne Shepard on and you know, Muddy Waters or, or the, the guy, whoever. The album we had just done with him, like Albert King, like he got to play with all these guys and they were the big influences that were there for him. Like who, who would be like, who would be the Henry Mancini on your Planet Paul? The.
- [28:26]
B
The unfortunate one would be Bill Cosby because he was a, a storytelling comedian who was from Philadelphia, which was a huge thing. And I, I. One of the biggest heartbreaks in my life was finding out what a creepy was. I know, but another one that's, that's a little lighter is Bob Newhart. Because my parents had, my parents had the, all the Bob Newhart albums when I was a kid and I remember listening to them as a, as like a comedy kid. I loved comedy. I loved it. And so to hear those albums I was really captivated by. He's doing like these one man sketches. You know, when he's doing the phone bits and everything. He's one guy. You clearly he, his way of communicating it. What was going on in the scene was so masterfully done. And I remember listening to those albums for the first time since I was a little kid, decades later, and I was. I was moving, and so I was packing up all my. And everything, put in boxes, and I'm listening to those albums for the first time since I was a child and could not believe how fresh they were. There's like, maybe a couple dated 60s references, but apart from that, absolutely evergreen and still so, so funny. His style and his, you know, the way he. His performance style were absolutely a big influence on me. And the way that I. The way that I would put together jokes and scenes and things, I. I can't. I cannot ever discount that influence.
- [30:22]
A
Yeah, And I completely agree with everything you're saying about Bob because, I mean, I didn't so much as stand up, but just his TV shows, like the last one he did with Newhart, I mean, I loved that show so much, and. And. And, you know, it's. I could. What's so great about comedy is that you can go back and listen to Lenny Bruce and you can listen to Carlin and you can listen to Richard Pryor, like, and all those. Even in Cosby, of course. And that's the thing that sucks is you're 100, right? It's like such a brilliant comedian that influenced so many people, but unfortunately, I had to tarnish that. And it's like. It's like you say about O.J. simpson is like, you. Yeah, man. I mean, dude, he was one of the greatest running backs to ever play the game. It's the other. And unfortunately, you know, there's removing the art from the artist, but for certain people, you just go, well, you know, you had your time, and unfortunately.
- [31:12]
B
Well, especially something like. Something like comedy, which is. Which is very personal. You know, it's. It's. And also the kind of comedy that he did that was so in touch with the human experience, you can't listen to it because you. This guy inside him is this monster.
- [31:31]
A
Yeah.
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B
It's like, why can't hear you be cute about going to the dentist when I. When I know all this other stuff about you that is so contrary to being a human being, you know? So, yeah, it's hard. It's harder with some people than with others.
- [31:46]
A
It is, it is. But. But that's what is so great, you know, about. About, like, new art and those other comics is just like, you can listen to them now. And it's like, yeah, you might not get every reference, but the comedy is still there. The gist is still there. And it's like. And then it also takes you back, like, especially Carlin and Lenny Bruce. It's like, it takes you back to a time when you're like, holy man. Like. Like these guys are getting in trouble for the things they were saying, which now would be like, nothing, nothing. You know, but also new. Hard was like, so vanilla. But that's what makes him so great. Is that, like. Yeah, you know, it's like. It's like Nate Bargazi. It's like he'll be listened to forever because it's. It's not dirty, it's clean, and it's. And it's so just, you know, his experience, which is also our experience. It's like a cleaned up version of Larry David. It's like, oh, no. It's like he's thinking what we're all thinking. But. Yeah, you know, is it just the. The Semitic, angry Jewish version of it, which. Which, you know, a few years ago was very popular. Not right now, though, but. All right, moving on. 52 girls. Most people can't understand the lyrics. It's about. It's got a bunch of girls, names of the era, the white era, 50s names. Kind of like the Animal House characters. I love this song. I think. I think it was a great second track. Thoughts on it?
- [33:03]
B
It's so. It's so good. It's like the. Could you ever come up with this concept? You know what I mean? Like, kids were gonna give all these names. Can you name them that? Like, the. The. The way they have structured the melody with the names. It's. It's just like. It's like nothing else. It's so funny. But it's also so. It's so catchy. It's so much fun to listen to. You could never. You would have to, like, actually sit down and really study to make sure you knew all the lyrics. You know what I mean? If you wanted to say. If you wanted to completely sing along to this song, you'd have to put some work in. Yeah, it's. It's. It's so genius. Just the idea of, like, this is a test for you. Can you name all 52 girls?
- [34:06]
A
My sister. My sister, very smart, who's a doctor. She knows she has a song that. That helped her learn the periodic table. And so she can go through every single thing, and it's like tholium and thalium and thinium, and it's just. It's a way. This. I mean, this is basically the same thing, but it's all just of my. My great Aunts names. It's like Mildred, Pauline, Gy and Blanche. It's all just, yeah, you don't need.
- [34:33]
B
To know this at all. But if, if, but guess what? You might end up knowing this.
- [34:39]
A
25 names is what I was reading. It was only 25, but the 52 relates to the name of the band.
- [34:45]
B
So here's what's also exciting is that it's, it's an exciting thing when your name is in a song. And this gives 25 people the opportunity to have a song with their name that they otherwise would not have. Right. Like, there's a lot of names in this song that are not, you're not gonna find in any song outside of this one.
- [35:07]
A
How do you think Mandy felt when, when Barry Manilow dropped that hit? I mean, you know, there's, I don't know many mandies besides, besides the woman in the song. And then the Nicholas Cage movie, which rules, by the way, if you haven't seen. I just watched it recently again, I still have not seen Mandy. Oh my God. Oh, dude, it's incredible. So speaking of 52 girls, because I, I, we were trying to think of a, of a, you know, we have like, so many fond, like, memories out there. And I think there's like, with, with the comedy community. Much like in this song, there's like, like years later, there was so much like intermingling like in high school. So you find out years later, a lot of comics dated, since they're all from the same world. I mean, I remember when I first started out, like, I had crushes on different comics. I dated a couple who was in like, your dating pool. And much like Tom Kenny and his wife, like, even if you didn't date any, like, who was your comedy crushes when you were starting out?
- [36:09]
B
Oh, my God. When I was starting out, it was still like the, oh, you know what? Back in those days, Margaret Smith would have been one that I thought was the, the coolest because she was really, she was really deadpan. But she was also, she had like, a very classical beauty to her. Like, she looked like somebody from an old movie. And I remember thinking she was really cool. And then later, Janine Garofalo was a big one. And I think a lot of, a lot of guys my age thought she was just like, there was a, you know, she was very attractive, but also the, the confidence that she projected just walking out there. I do my thing. I make it sound like I'm just making it up. You know, I, I just come in here and talk. Was like, it was the hottest thing. It was the most. The most compelling and attractive thing.
- [37:12]
A
Yeah, she still is gorgeous and still the coolest. Like, she comes to the stand here in New York all the time, and she's the sweetest and just big influence.
- [37:22]
B
I will say it forever. Like, she absolutely helped me do the kind of comedy that I wanted to do, because I could see her do it. I could see her talking in a way that was not brick wall, you know, behind me, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. This is the rhythm of comedy.
- [37:40]
A
It was like, yeah.
- [37:40]
B
Oh, wow. You can. It's like, this is what I've always wanted to do. I didn't know how to do it. I didn't know it was possible to do. And now here's somebody that's so effortless. What. Projecting, like, an effortless kind of funniness that I strove for. And to be honest, I'm still striving for, you know, but she was. I. So many people owe so much to her, and I still don't think she gets enough credit.
- [38:09]
A
I don't think so either.
- [38:09]
B
She gets enough credit. I. Completely modern for modern comedy. Yeah.
- [38:13]
A
And. And it's like, I see it, too, because, you know, she kind of, like, pulled back from the limelight, in a sense, and, like, really didn't start. You know, she had such a huge career in the 90s and the 2000s, and then really just, like, pulled back. And now it's like she's doing her spots, she does her touring. But it's like. It's one of those things where it's like, she goes on stage and some of the younger people that maybe go to, like, NYU or the. You know, they're filling out the comedy clubs here in New York, like, they don't even. Because that's. It's. It's just so crazy, the disconnect where it's like, you know, for us, she was like, oh, my God, that's Janine Garofalo. And for other people, they're like, oh, yeah, she's funny. But, like, they don't. They never saw reality bites. Like, they didn't. Yeah, they didn't see a lot of the. That she had done and how important she was to the comics like us, where we're like, oh, my God, that's Janine. And it's. And it's. She's, you know, still just razor sharp. When you said confident, though, I'll tell you this. I do that show the goddamn Comedy Jam, where comedians, you stand up and then they Sing. And we had her do it in Austin, and she picked this monkey song. And, dude, she had such a panic attack, like, doing it that she, like, curled up. And we. It was a very, like, deep cut for the monkeys. Like, we shouldn't. We should have been, like. You should do Daydream Believer. Like, please. It was something deep, but she, like, curled up in a bottom. There's a picture of me, like, her. Like, afraid. Like. And I'm hugging her, and I'm singing it, and I don't know the words, so she's human. I'll just let you know. I forget. Oh, man. I can find it. I'll find it, and I'll DM it to you because it's. Dude, it's wild. It's a deep, deep cut, dude. But, yeah, completely agree with you. Like, so. She's so rad. All right, what are we moving on to? Okay, here we go. Dance this mess around. It's a nostalgia trip. I love that. She says I'm not. No Limburger. It's very Leslie Gore. It's the. It's my party. I'll cry if I want to. Uh, she's talking about all these jilted girl songs from the 50s. And then Fred comes in, and they go to a party, and then they start naming these weird dances, which is such a great, like, interplay with the call and the response. And God knows, many of these dances are real. You know what I mean?
- [40:26]
B
The shukaloo. You're not sure if the shukaloo is real?
- [40:28]
A
No. Dude. What about the. The. I'm still trying to figure out how to make my backbone slip. It's. It's. It's the land of a thousand dances. But their style, and I love that it's nostalgic and weird and it's. And it feels like it's coming out of improv, which I love, you know.
- [40:47]
B
And it feels like what I. Like another thing with them is making it feel like it's. It's from. They exist in an alternate universe.
- [40:57]
A
Yes.
- [40:57]
B
Where these dances are real dances. They have slid into our dimension while they're here. They're gonna sing a song, and then they're gonna slide back out again. And, you know, they're just the. The way that they're listing these dances like they're real. And everybody. The call and response is also like, oh, of course. And then there's this one. Oh, yeah, of course. And then there's this one. You know, like, we all know these. You know, there's somehow the call and response cements it as a real thing. And then the fact that she's so furious, like, who the are you to not dance with me? Yeah, you know, it's. It's. It's so good.
- [41:37]
A
It's Jeremiah. While. While he's getting. Prepping him on asking this question. Will you look up and see if there's a YouTube video on how to do the cuckoo? Because I'd love to know. I'd love to actually see if this is real. Oh, you're doing the jaundice. What is that yellow? And it's crazy, dude. I love that. I love that. When we were talking about this and. And he said, morty, this comes out and sounds like improv and, you know, your world of improv. We've talked with so many comics that have come from the UCB Groundlings. When someone, you know can do improv, it's, It's, it's, you know, it's not just this beautiful thing that I don't think people even realize just how difficult and how many years and how much listening and communication you have to go through to. To figure that out where you can take something, Paul, that is such a mess and turn it into something really special. So, like, how much of your comedy, like, does that come from improv? Like when you're, you know, like, like, like explain it.
- [42:45]
B
I think with. With stand up. With any kind of stand up, you. Listening is so important because you are monitoring the room. You are reading the vibe of the people. You're. You have an ear out for every sound, every, you know, somebody turns away at some point. Like you are. You are clocking everything that's going on in the room while you're still doing your material.
- [43:08]
A
Sure.
- [43:09]
B
And so I came to. To improv. Improv after I'd done stand up for a million years. And I think that is what helped me get up to speed on doing improv so that it was a little easier for me. Like, I. My improv training essentially was, you know, decades of standup and then doing character improv in podcasts. And so after I'd done that for a while, then I was like, okay, now I feel like I can try to go on stage and see how I do. Like, knowing that I could fail miserably because taking a mess and making it something beautiful is a big part of improv, but so is taking something beautiful and making it a mess, because you could come in there and you can think, this is a great idea, and it fucking derailed everything.
- [43:59]
A
Sure, sure, that's.
- [44:01]
B
And that's how it goes. But the. The thing for me was it taught me as a perfectionist how to let go and how to say, like, you know what? It's not the end of the world that this didn't work out. You move on, you brush it off and you move on, you try again. And so for me, a thing in standup that I still struggle with is. And it's harder today than it ever has been is people making noises, people doing dumb in the audience. And now we're at this place where people are wooing and cheering for nothing. And it drives me crazy. And I have to let it go. I have to let it go. But it's so. It takes such an effort for me, such an effort for me to pretend that that noise didn't just happen now, because it's not important. And I have to say, don't acknowledge that. Don't acknowledge that. It doesn't matter. Just go on with the thing that you're going to talk about. Pretend that they didn't just cheer for a building. You know what I mean? Like, that kind of shit, I let go. So there is. There's the push and pull of. I have to be present and be aware of everything that's going on, but I also have to choose the moment where I'm going to say, that's not important, discard it, disregard it, move on. You know, so improv in that sense is focusing on what is important to listen to. So it's not just. You can't just be an open, you know, receiver. You have to. You have to. You have to narrow the signal a little bit for yourself so that you're not getting caught up in dumb shit. You don't need to get caught up in. And that's like an ongoing. Like I. I always say I am. I am proud to admit I'm not done learning yet. I'm still like, my. My journey as an artist is ever evolving. I. The moment I say to myself, oh, I feel like I got it figured out, then I'm. I'm done. I gotta hang it up. Because, oh, yeah, I don't want to stagnate. I don't want to just be staying in one place and say, I got my formula, and now I just rewrite my formula. You know, there are comics that do that masterfully, but I know I'm not one of those people because I get. I get annoyed by what I call the tyranny of the template. Because you get something, you feel like, oh, this works great. I just have to, like, refill this template every once in a while. And that works good for a while, but you can get very bored of that and say, I'm not liking what I'm doing anymore. And it's easy to forget that you are in charge of what you do. Yeah. And you. But it's. It's. It's a very. To me, it always catches me by surprise, like, why do I feel, like, so frustrated and annoyed with what I'm doing? And then it takes me, like, a few days to realize, like, well, you're in charge of that, and you can change it up, you know, and then I can say, okay, I'm gonna move on from that and try something different, challenge myself. I never want to stop being afraid. I never want to stop being nervous about trying a new thing. I never want to stop putting myself in those situations where I'm challenging myself and. And facing failure, you know, because that is where. That's where you do the most learning, and that is also where your. Your most creative things come from, is being afraid and just jumping in.
- [47:26]
A
Oh, I said that. I said that a million times. If I'm doing something with an audience member and I'm trying to get them to participate, I'm like, dude, this is a big moment for you. I know how nervous you are. Are. But if you just try, you don't have to be great. But if you try, dude.
- [47:38]
B
Yeah.
- [47:38]
A
The confidence you will. You will get from this. The crowd wants you to win. Everybody's supporting you. Like, never run if you're. That's. It's. You know, two things, guy. When I was hearing that you're talking about the evolving of a comedian because you can still have your voice, but your material, like. Like Bill Burr, I mean, he was so angry and. And against women at the beginning, and it's. Now he's a dad, and he's completely changed. I mean, he's still got. He's still the old Bill now.
- [48:04]
B
He's.
- [48:05]
A
But now he's evolved. And that is. It's the same with what we talk about here on the podcast. With so many records, it's like, you know, if you're doing the same record over and over, it's. People are good. As the times are changing, people are just gonna drop it. You know, it's the bands, the Radioheads, the Beatles, though, you know, the. The Miles Davis, those great artists that are like, you know what? That's. That was great. But, you know, I'm. I'm onto this thing now, and I think this is where it's at. And we're. We don't know. Like, dude, can you imagine, like, how scared, you know, the. The. The. The record label was when Radiohead was like, here's kid A. You know, and they're like, what the is this? Like, this is insane. And then King of Limbs. It's like, it's.
- [48:48]
B
It's just you.
- [48:49]
A
That's the only way as an artist that you. You really fulfill what you're. You're. What you're trying to do as an artist is created, but constantly just moving the needle forward. And I think that's what's so beautiful about. About improv is that, like, you know, you can be one way at the beginning, and then you see somebody just start getting it and they're listening and it's like. And just the idea. The positivity of the statement, like, of yes. And.
- [49:15]
B
Yeah.
- [49:15]
A
You know, it's such a. It's such a beautiful thing than saying no. But in, like, it's so. You know, it just puts, like, such a period on it with. Yes. And it's like, there's so much growth and.
- [49:26]
B
Absolutely.
- [49:27]
A
It really is. It's. It really is. It's like. I took an improv class, and it was just. Even in conversation. It helped me.
- [49:34]
B
Yeah, absolutely. For sure.
- [49:36]
A
There.
- [49:37]
B
There's so much there for everybody. And it's. It's. You know, it's. It's a great. Even just, you know, people that would never do this in a million years to take a class or something and to try it out. It. It. It's. It can't help but open up things in your. In your mind and in your heart, you know? Yeah, it's. It's a really amazing. It can be a really amazing thing.
- [50:00]
A
It really is. You got the cuckoo. Cuckoo. Jerry. I saw you tried to put it on while he was deep in convo. I was like, what the.
- [50:07]
B
Distracting.
- [50:08]
A
Him making this great point. And it's.
- [50:10]
B
And you got this.
- [50:12]
A
Scandinavian people's doing the Kuka Chew these dildos. All right, there you go.
- [50:16]
B
This is it. My coo cachoo line dance. This is real.
- [50:24]
A
It's like Japanese or something. Oh, this is like. It's like my mom dancing at a bar mitzvah. Really is. All right. Well, you know what's funny is I spelled with a C. I had spelled it. How did I spell it? I wrote. I spelled it. Oh, K, O kook. K O, O, K, A C, H, U. Well, I was close on the last three.
- [50:51]
B
That's it.
- [50:51]
A
I like that spelling it's not wrong. I mean somebody. It's not it like that. Hey everybody. So you guys have probably heard me talk about how I've been in bands my whole life. I love writing songs and performing in front of crowds. Just like with comedy. As a musician it can be kind of hard to cut through the noise and really stand out as an artist. I feel like half the music projects I've been and have ended just because we couldn't figure out the answer to that eternal question of how do we get people to hear us. But then again, that was before there was Distrokid. Distrokid is a digital music distribution service that brings your sound to the masses. It's a one stop shop for getting your songs on itunes, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon, Deezer, Tidal, and many more. What's Deezer? I never even heard of Deezer. How many of them are there? I know that's like the holy grail of streaming services though. And getting paid. We want to get you paid for your music. That's huge because a lot of bands go broke before they get big. But Distrokid collects earnings and payments and sends 100% of these earnings to artists minus banking fees and applicable taxes. And that's just one of the tons of benefits of using Distrokid. You can send big files to anyone with their Instant Share feature. You can use the Hyper Follow feature to promote your release and get pre saves on your song. You can even create personal landing pages for yourself, your band, your brand, and whatever you like. It has a free Spotify Canvas generator too to generate your own Spotify Canvas for your songs. And the Mixia feature instantly masters your tracks for higher quality quality audio. So if you're ready to bring your band to the next level, it's time to check out Distrokid. The Distrokid app is now available on iOS and Android. Go to the app or Play Store to download it. Listeners of this show can get 30% off their first year by going to distrokid.com VIP the 500 that that's distrokid.com VIP the five hundred for 30% off your first year. Dig it? Eczema isn't always obvious, but it's real. And so is the relief from Epglis. After an initial dosing phase, about 4 in 10 people taking EPGLIS achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of the those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing EBGLIS Lebricizumab LBKZ.
- [53:29]
B
A 250mg injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12.
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Years of age and older who weigh.
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At least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, that is not well controlled.
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With prescription therapies used on the skin.
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Or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies.
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A
EBGLIS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids.
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B
Don't use if you're allergic to ebbs. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe.
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A
Eye problems can occur.
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B
Tell your doctor if you have new.
- [53:53]
A
Or worsening eye problems.
- [53:55]
B
You should not receive a live vaccine.
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A
When treated with Epglis. Before starting Epglis, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection searching for real relief. Ask your doctor about epglis and visit epgliss.lily.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979. The big one. Rock lobster, dude.
- [54:13]
B
Man, oh, man.
- [54:14]
A
Seven minutes of just pure heaven. Pure beach party ethos. It's Frankie and Annette. It's the. It's. It's everything, you know, it's gidget. It's so of the era. It takes you right back because I was. I never really dug into that. I think the first one, they did that back to the beach, and that was like my. And I only think I saw that because Paul Reubens was in it and. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my God. Like anything Peewee is in, I'm obsessed with. But this song is so great because it takes you right to where all that stuff happened. And it's all about this mythical rock lobster. And this is the cool thing that, that we found out about this, or at least Morty had told me, is that John and Yoko heard an early recording, I think the first version of this, and they loved it so much and were so inspired that it. It's what. It's what John used and it made him, like. It decided for him to go back into making music. And then we get. You get. You get his last record from this because he was so inspired from hearing this.
- [55:19]
B
Wow.
- [55:19]
A
Which is great. And, you know, it's. It's. Like I said, it's. It's. It's everything that. I think the B52s represent this whole record, even the stuff later in life. It's like you can see how it all comes from this song, you know, and that's.
- [55:34]
B
I'm like The John Lennon story. That's part of what artistry is, too, is being open to styles other than your own, other than the music of your era. Because there's a lot of. There's a lot of people that are like, you know, in my day, we wrote songs like this, and these were. This is what a song is, you know, but to. To be. To be aging, to be moving forward in time and listening to contemporary things and saying this has value to me. I am inspired by this. Like, that's not everybody. And that's a huge thing. And I think that really is a separation of people who are true artists from people who are just, you know, this is. You know, I do my thing and I. And that's it. You know, I like. I like to. I like things that sound like the way I sound. Full stop, you know, this song is. It's still. It's so wild that this song even exists. It's seven minutes long. It has this crazy dramatic progression as it goes on. By the end when he screams, let's rock. And it's. It's. You're. They're hitting that guitar. It is like. It's. I'm getting. I get chills, like, talking about it. It's so exciting. This song is so exciting. It starts out like a weird, funny, you know, kind of thing. And as it goes on, you're like, God damn this. I'm into this. This is like. This is an exciting moment, you know, and it's scary.
- [57:06]
A
It really is. It could be like. It's like. It's like. It's like a. It's like an Ed Wood, like, horror movie, like, sci fi thing with that. It's. It really. It's like. It's more like. It's like a. It's like a post punk psycho theme or something.
- [57:20]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [57:22]
A
But it's about a lobster, which. I'm more of a crab man myself. But I mean, you know, that's the Maryland in me. Maryland. What. What would. What would be. What more. Do you have something to add? I was gonna say one thing that I think, because we talked about Yoko Ono's influence, I think a big thing with John, because, you know, John obviously was.
- [57:41]
B
Was.
- [57:41]
A
Had deference to Yoko, was the fact.
- [57:44]
B
That when you listen to the later.
- [57:45]
A
Part of the song where they're. Where they're naming the fish and they're doing all the vocalizing. I think he thought also besides his own music, that the world had finally figured out Yoko Ono. I think he saw that. The fact that they were so sort of influenced by her vocal vocalizations that when you hear it in the song, they're like, oh, now you guys get what I was telling you about Yoko. You see, guys, I told you. Yoko's ahead of the time, man. She really is. She's not annoying, I swear. Listen to Rock Lobster Man. I promise you.
- [58:21]
B
It's funny because I never. I never made that connection. But of course, it's. It's obvious now, for sure, hearing about it. And that moment, too, is like such a. It's a moment that I think you could easily dismiss as silly. But the noises they're making are. They're wild, and some of them are really kind of unsettling and spooky, and it's just that kind of unbridled creativity of, we're going to do this. We're going to switch off. You know, you're going to. And instantly, like, okay, what do these fish sound like? What. What do this. You know, we're going to. We're going to provide a noise for each of these that is. This is what this animal sounds like. And I. I love it so much. I love it so much because it never reads to me as. It reads to me as fun, but not silly and not just like we're goofing around. It's like. I feel like there's. They're having fun, but they're serious about it. Like. Like these. We're making these noises for real. We're not.
- [59:30]
A
It must have been. It must have been so fun to record this, too. Just that. Oh, yeah. Like, really think about that. Yeah.
- [59:38]
B
Yeah.
- [59:38]
A
Now do it. Do it differently. Go higher. The question I have. I feel like we already answered. You answered earlier, so I. Because I was going to say, what is your rock, lobster? But I. I kind of want to move on to Lava because for time issues, I really guess I really like the next three questions. We're finally getting into the Mr. Show, but I really want to ask about. But really this next one, and I feel like you're gonna like this connection of how we do this. All right, so the next song is Lava. So I'm just before you. You tell me your thoughts on it, and then I'll. I'll do my spiel. Like, what do you think about Lava? Because I love this song. I really dug.
- [60:16]
B
I love it, too. And I. I think it's the. It's one of the only songs on this album that you could consider even, like, a filler track. You know what I mean? But it's still. It's so much fun. Yeah. And, you know, just the. I gotta go jump in a crater. See you later. Like, it's. It's. It's so much like, this is them. If this is them doing a filler track, it's great. It's still so much fun. It's still them.
- [60:46]
A
It's on brand still.
- [60:48]
B
It's still so catchy. And, you know, the. The girls sound great. It's. It's a. It's a ball, you know, like, there's not one song on this album that I would not gladly listen to. This is probably my. My least favorite, and I still really love it. This isn't.
- [61:05]
A
This is a. This is definitely a no Skip record. I don't think there was anything on this. 100 tired of. I really. And I don't say that a lot because there's a. Even if. Like a hit, I'll be like, all right, let me move on. And Rock Lobster is the song I heard the most, but I still like. Once you get into it, you're. You're there. You gotta hear the whole thing here. So this is. This is. See, where I'm gonna spin this. This is. See, I'm trying to see if I make this connection. So we all know this comes from volcanoes. They get hot, they explode from the earth. You worked with one of the most passionate, explosive actors who is a volcano. In his most volcanic performance, There Will Be Blood. What was that like? Because I saw that they were gonna.
- [61:48]
B
Talk about Bob Odenkirk.
- [61:50]
A
No, no, I'm getting.
- [61:53]
B
Because when you say Mr. Show and Explosive, I think of Bob.
- [61:57]
A
Sure. Which is really out of everybody. You think of Bob. I just met him because. Oh, my God, he did the play with Bill, and so I got to spend time with him. And yeah, we're trying to get him on because we had David Cross on to do the Replacements.
- [62:11]
B
Oh, great.
- [62:12]
A
And. And Bob. Bob is supposedly even bigger Replacements fan. So I. I didn't, like. I didn't pitch it, but I definitely was like, you know, David came on and did. He did. I think he did. Let it be. And I was like, we got Tim coming up. And he was like, okay, great. Yeah. And then he moved. I was like, okay, well, I won't push it. No. Hey, dude, we'll get to the Mr. Show. That's. That's in hero worship. Because that's.
- [62:35]
B
You.
- [62:35]
A
Obviously, we're. That's more. That's a question for me.
- [62:38]
B
Right?
- [62:39]
A
No, but with Lava, your joke is so great about talking about working with Daniel Day. Lewis, like, what was that like? Because the next question is about getting in with pt. But it's like, you know, working with a guy that is, you know, arguably the greatest actor that might have ever lived in a performance that. I mean, it's like if. Jer. If you haven't watched There Will Be Blood in a while. Re. Watch that. And I mean, even. Even watch Gangs in New York just as, like, up to that to see where it's like, you almost see a little piece of that in this. And yet it's the most. It's the most. It builds and builds and builds. He is the biggest. Oh, just.
- [63:20]
B
Just.
- [63:21]
A
Just the hardest character in anything I've ever seen. So what was that like? And I know it's such a small scene, but it's definitely one of the most important scenes of the movie.
- [63:30]
B
Small scene in a long day, which is the story of movie making, you know.
- [63:34]
A
Sure.
- [63:34]
B
But. But I. Remains the most. Maybe the most surreal moment of my life. To be on that set at all was really strange. But to. To be given that opportunity, which was such a generous and sweet thing from Paul Thomas Anderson, because I was in the movie Magnolia, I had a very similarly tiny role, but I was cut out for, you know, for every good reason. You could still hear my voice on the phone, but you didn't need to see my guy. You know what I mean? So he said, I'll make it up to you, you know, And I didn't think anything of that. And then years go by, and he puts me in this movie and gives me this very brief but extremely fun and strange experience. You know, to be directing lines to Daniel Day Lewis and have him turn around and yell at me was extremely exciting, you know, And. And also to be. To be on a set like that and just watch how things are done and, you know, get to see him working in that way with that actor was, you know, what a privilege and what. What a. What a gift that was to. To just be able to witness that, you know, was. You know, I'm forever grateful for that, and it will forever be, you know, a huge, exciting thing that happened in my life and also the weirdest day I've ever had.
- [65:16]
A
Oh, your joke about it is just so great. He's the most intense guy, truly.
- [65:23]
B
Like, it was. Yeah, it was never. And it was never off putting. It was just that you kind of knew, like, this is this guy's thing, you know, this is. This is. This is who he is, and this is. This is his process, you know, You. I am One who certainly will hear stories of people in their process, and a lot of times it makes me roll my fucking eyes. But, yeah, he did not do it in a way that was a. It did not interfere in anyone else doing their job. You know what I mean? Like, he. He. And that's all you can ask for. Like, if you have an intense process and you feel it's necessary for what you do, that's one thing. But making it somebody else's problem, I think, is when it gets into, you know what you. Dude, you know, you don't need to do all that. You know what I mean?
- [66:13]
A
It's like Jared Leto sending like. Like. Like bullets to the cast and dead rats playing the Joker. You're like, dude, just. You didn't need to do that. Like, it's like, yeah, actor dude.
- [66:24]
B
You're doing something to them. You know what I mean? That's not. That's nothing to do with your process.
- [66:29]
A
Did he break? Did he. Was he. Was he in character the whole time, like, or did he. Did he ever.
- [66:34]
B
He was, like, half in, half out of it. Like, he kept the voice, but he could talk about things that were outside of the world, you know? But he would kind of stay in the voice, and he would stay very measured and everything. It was. He was not, like, garrulous. You know what I mean? Yeah, but he. The only time I saw him break, because I was there with Flanagan, who is the owner of Largo in Los Angeles and a friend of Paul Thomas Anderson's. And so he and I were there together. And Flanagan is Irish. He's from Northern Ireland. And the only time I saw Daniel Day Lewis break character completely and talk in his own voice was talking with Flanagan. I just overheard a little bit of their conversation, and he was very animated, talking about how big Irish money used to be. Like, the bills used to be like these huge, you know, banknotes. And he's talking very excited, like he used to be. You know, just these gigantic notes. Like, that was the only time I saw him break character. The whole day. That was it.
- [67:47]
A
I was hoping you were gonna say he, like, leaned over and went. You know, I used to have a Mike Schmidt rookie card. And you'll think, oh, wait, really? How did you get that from?
- [67:57]
B
Well, that would have been. I would have left show business after that. You know what I mean?
- [68:02]
A
But also. And then. And the next song, too, which. Which we were, you know, is There's a Moon in the sky and Earth is. My question was also, like, how did you link up with Paul Thomas Anderson. I might as well just lump these in together. Like. Like, how did you. How did that connection. Because, I mean, arguably. And going off of like, There Will Be Blood as well. Which, by the way, it's like, like your reaction when he says, I wouldn't accept it if you give it to me as a gift. It's like, it's just so great. And I mean, to not be intimidated. And you really, dude, you hold your own in the scene, which even, Even I know that's like, I'm not. I don't. I mean, that is the most Compliment. Compliment.
- [68:37]
B
No, I take it that way. Thank you very much.
- [68:38]
A
Literally performing with.
- [68:40]
B
With.
- [68:40]
A
With Brando, with, you know, Henry Fonda, like, just Henry. All. All the greats. Like, this is. He's arguably one of the greatest actors to ever do it, for sure. And.
- [68:51]
B
Yeah.
- [68:51]
A
And in probably his most iconic role. I don't give a. My Left Foot Lincoln. No, There Will Be Blood is one of the greatest movies ever made. It's Paul Thomas Anderson's masterpiece next to Boogie Nights. Because I think Boogie Nights. Yeah, you got the touch. Just that part alone, you got me. I think I just shared my head.
- [69:12]
B
That's in my fucking head.
- [69:13]
A
So much earworm.
- [69:15]
B
Oh, God. But yeah, I mean, doing that and realizing, like, okay, this is a very. This is a very brief amount of acting that I'm about to do, but I am going to, without apology, do my best for Mr. Daniel Day Lewis as a scene partner and say, you know, if it matters at all, I'm going to try my hardest. You probably don't need anything from me, but I'm going to give you whatever I have. Yeah.
- [69:42]
A
He loved it. I bet he loved it. I bet, like, I mean, even just because you, You. He knows that he probably intimidates people, especially, you know, when he's dealing with, like, DiCaprio or a guy that's, like, used to, like, you know, like. But when, you know, it's like in these other parts, he still has to interact with them. And I mean, he doesn't seem like a. Like a mean person. He actually seems like a. Probably like every interview. He's like the sweetest guy ever.
- [70:05]
B
Yeah.
- [70:05]
A
You know, but has that intensity of someone that has lived many lives and really actually has.
- [70:12]
B
I mean, it's like a character like that and he becomes that guy. You know, as cliche as that sounds, it's like, this has to be a person that feels this way to other people in order for it to. In order for it to project onto the screen. And that's. I mean, that's the thing about. About film acting that is so amazing to me is it's harder than people think that it is. I think it helps if you come from the theater because you have to. You have to embody that so that people really feel it. Especially in the theater where there's a million distractions. You're seeing the audience around you, you're seeing the exit signs. You know what I mean? Like, you. In order to be transported onto just that square, you have to be so good and you have to be so committed to doing it that you have to bring the audience onto the stage with you and they forget about all these other things and that. And using that to then do it on to film, which is, you know that the camera is going to be right in your fucking face. You're going to be so big, then you have to bring it down. It's like the skill to do that is. Is enormous. You have to have enormous skill to do all of those things. And so, you know, to. To have somebody like that in front of you in real life when, you know, now you can't be distracted. Now you have to be in it too, because you can see the cameras, you can see the lights, you can see all the people standing around, you know, and all that. You know, you have to. You have to try your best. If he's gonna. If he's gonna do that, you have to do whatever. You gotta take it up to your max as well.
- [71:57]
A
Yeah. Yeah, dude.
- [71:58]
B
Even though nobody's gonna be like, how did you do that? You know, we did.
- [72:04]
A
We're at that.
- [72:05]
B
I know you still. I mean, the story. The story of that, of. Of that movie and. And Paul Dano playing Eli is that there was another actor originally cast who was he psyched himself out of working with, with Daniel Day Lewis. He couldn't. It was too much for him. And that's how. And so it's like on short notice. Paul Dano is like, okay, I guess I'm this guy now. You know what I mean? Wow. And it's like, good job. It's heartbreaking that any actor would be given that opportunity and then be too freaked out to do it is so sad to me. It's so sad, you know, So I. I feel bad for that dude.
- [72:46]
A
Yeah. You know, there's another. That's not the same thing, but it's like that guy, James Remar, I think his name.
- [72:53]
B
He was.
- [72:54]
A
He was supposed to play the Hicks character in Aliens, but because. And he's in it for like a split second, but then they. He got busted for like, buying heroin and then got kicked off the set. The J. You know, the James Cameron Alien movie. And then, yeah, filled it in with Michael Bean and it's like he got sober years later and it's like just. Yeah, looking back at it, it's not the same, but it's like, you know, to be a part of such an iconic film like Aliens, which is my favorite movie of all time, and then something like There Will Be Blood of just being intimidated. I mean, dude, it's. It's self sabotage. As an artist, I've done it a million times where you're just like, I shouldn't be here. Like, oh, this is. Why am I on this lineup? Yeah. So I, I feel like it's your.
- [73:38]
B
Responsibility, not just as an artist, but as a human being to exist with other human beings, I think, is to manage your mental health and make sure that you are taking care of yourself in that way. Because, you know, it's. It's a. All we have is other people. You know what I mean? That's all there are is people. And we gotta. We got especially like, the way things are now. It's like we gotta stick together and we gotta take care of ourselves and we gotta take care of each other. But you really do have to take care of yourself. You really do have to manage your own brain and emotions and make sure that you're in good health. Because it. It is. Although it's. It's a marathon, not a sprint. It sure does feel like a sprint a lot.
- [74:21]
A
It really does. Oh, my God, you can say that. Did. How did you link up with PT Anderson, though? Like, I remember from Largo, back in.
- [74:29]
B
The old days of the. The original Largo, which was a tiny little club on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. I mean, small. And they would do John Bryan, who's a. A singer, songwriter and a composer for a lot of great stuff, PTA stuff included. He would do shows there every Friday night. And John's thing was he was a multi instrumentalist. He could play anything. He. His. His capacity to remember songs is infinite. In addition to his own music, in addition to just making up shit on the spot, he could also remember anything, any fucking song. And so he would play, he would do a lot of covers, and then he would do covers in different styles. He would take suggestions from the audience. And, you know, so I was a regular there every Friday night. And PTA was as well, because he was dating Fiona at the time. Fiona Apple. She Was playing there a lot. She was playing with John a lot. You know, she would get up and sing with him sometimes. So like there was a group of us that were all there every Friday without fail. And it became like a little, a little family. And so Paul like would. Would sprinkle us into his movies. So it was me and Pat Noswal, Mary Lynn Rice Cub, Karen Kilgariff. Like all these people that he knew from, from hanging out and seeing us on stage on those Friday nights. He just for fun, like would stick us in these, these weird little roles here and there. And yeah, it was a very exciting time. Like people were figuring out a lot of stuff creatively. People were actively evolving in that space. Like Largo is responsible for a lot of us being given the room and the time to figure out what we wanted to do next and to see other artists be influenced by musicians and musicians being influenced by comedians. We were very much cross pollinating a lot, doing each other's shows. And it was an extremely exciting and vibrant time in my life that even though at the time I was a fucking mess, personally I was the biggest mess I'd ever been. But on the cusp of figuring things out. So it was, it was part of leading to me like going to therapy for the first time and understanding myself better and becoming a better artist because of that. You know, like I think a lot of things, a lot of us, there's, there's an age old, you know, very, very. An old wives tale that if you, if you start to become healthy mentally, it will damage you as an artist. It will take away the special thing about you and it's like no, it's only going to, it's only going to work better because you're going to understand yourself better. You're going to understand your, your demons. That shit's by the way, never going to go away entirely. Sure if that's what you're worried about, don't worry. You will still have plenty of insecurities, plenty of self doubt. You're gonna have plenty of demons. You're just gonna deal with them in a different way. But you're still going to be. You're still going to be you. Just a better version of you that enjoys life more. Which is never going to, you know, be being aware of how precious life is, is never going to diminish your artistic capacity. It's only going to improve it.
- [78:14]
A
Well said, well said. And man, that like Largo, I've done it a few times. I've seen so many incredible shows There. And all of those people that you mentioned have either been on the podcast. Karen is a very close friend of mine. Mary Lynn. It's just that group, and especially when everybody is, like, young and just the ideas and all doing cool, like, that must have been. I mean, you did. I mean, you must have had so many moments where you, like, looked around and were like, I can't believe I'm like, I'm in this circle with these.
- [78:45]
B
Absolutely, yeah. I am glad that I. I'm glad that I. As, you know, as many personal problems as I had, I never took it for granted. I always realized, like, this is a special thing. This is very exciting. We were all fans of each other. You know, even though, like, somebody would get something, you'd be happy for them, you might feel a little sad for yourself, why didn't I get that thing? But you never were. Like, I never resented anybody's success. I never. I never felt like that should have been me. I was like, well, of course that's you, because you're great, you know? Yeah, we were. We were very supportive, and it was. It was such an exciting time. It was such an exciting time.
- [79:28]
A
All right, hero worship. Because this is. This is the Mr. Show question, and we've been waiting for the whole time. Thoughts on the song before we get into it? Because, I mean, I have nothing about it because I'm more excited about the question. But your thoughts on hero worship.
- [79:44]
B
I honestly, I cannot picture this song in my mind now that we're talking about it. I don't remember how it goes. I forgot. I completely forgot.
- [79:54]
A
Like, heroes and heroes and worshiping guests, and then we're worshiping heroes, and there's heroes there. Let me see if I got a little. The song starts with the line heroes falling to the ground, followed by Hell's Magnet pulling Wilson down to her knees to try to please his idol's eyes. Morty, do you want to add anything you got? Because I could just read this. You want to pop? I want you to get to the Mr. Show question. But I had one beat that will make. This is prolonging the agony and the Ecstasy. The one question I have. So we were at the Kibbutz Room at Tuesdays across the from Largo. I came up with John. I came up with Paul Anderson since the 80s. He used to stick me in movies, like, in short films.
- [80:36]
B
But I have to ask, first of.
- [80:39]
A
All, did you wear your street clothes on There Will Be Blood? Because you are. You have an Algonquin Round Table look that I was like, you're like the Alexander Wolcott or the Robert Benchley of the comedy, of the alternative comedy scene where everybody else had sung. Now I can wear.
- [80:57]
B
You have this quality where, if I.
- [80:59]
A
Were to say, you know, Paul Tompkins, he's the guy that dresses up for his performances, but like a Leon Redbone sort of iconoclastic, anachronistic vibe. I just want to know where that came from, because that's how I would say, like, you are a throwback to an era of sort of a debonair, like a gentleman quality.
- [81:23]
B
Well, in your performance.
- [81:25]
A
And now I will Harvey Corman myself, but also, you know, and adding what Morty's saying. He's 100, right? It's like, you, dude, you, you. It's like. It's like almost like Sebastian, where Sebastian treats the audience. He dresses up and he. It's almost like he's making it. He's like, no, these people spent money. I'm. They're coming out. I wanna. I take this seriously. Like, you know, I mean, it's hard.
- [81:46]
B
Yeah. I've always loved clothes. I've always loved dressing up. And I came from. When I started stand up, it was still the era where you would dress up for like, the weekend show, you know what I mean? Because it's a. It's a. You're getting paid more and it's. It's a night out and all this. And comedians wore suits on tv. So when I would watch the Tonight show or Letterman or Conan or whatever, comics still dressed up to go on tv. So it was just. That's what I knew. And so by the time that started to relax, I was like, I still like dressing up. You know, I still like.
- [82:24]
A
It's fun for me.
- [82:25]
B
Like, I like, really tie, like, yeah, it's fun. So that just remained my aesthetic. And then as I got older, I started to have more fun with it. It's like, well, I don't want to look like I work in an office. I want to look like, you know, like I'm in showbiz. And so I started to find more, you know, fun stuff and. And be a little more daring with my look and everything. And it's still, like, I still enjoy it so much. I really. I love. I. I love getting suited up for a show and TV and like that. I just. It's still really fun for me.
- [82:58]
A
There's something about putting on a suit. So to add to that is I bought a comedian, got married in December of 2019, and I bought my first. First nice suit. I Bought a John Varvatos, 2500 bucks, black. I got the white shirt, very Reservoir Dogs. I got some. But I got, like, some really fresh chucks, because I'm like, I'm still gonna keep it. Rock and roll. And I wore it to the wedding, and everybody loved it, and I was so happy. And then the world shut down, and it just sat in my closet. And in the thick of the pandemic, I was like, I'm putting on my suit, and I'm going to Gelson's. And I put on the suit, suit, and I put my mask on. And everybody that was back when you had to wait outside and they'd only put a certain amount in. And yeah, yeah, everybody's wearing their Covid comfies.
- [83:45]
B
Yeah.
- [83:47]
A
And I'm dressed to steal my suit. Like, I got a place to go. And I'm like, yeah, man, I didn't mention it anybody.
- [83:53]
B
It just.
- [83:53]
A
It feels. It just feels so great to, like, when you're. When you know, you. You know, you look good and you feel good. It's like when you look out on the outside. I always say to people, it's like, dude, if you're depressed, go to the gym, workout. Because even if your outside, if you're you.
- [84:08]
B
If you.
- [84:08]
A
You make your inside can match your outside, even if it's like, if you might not feel it on the inside, just put out that image. And it's like, even if you're lying to yourself, your brain will trick it and you'll go, no. It's like, I feel good. And especially with stand up, when you go up there wearing something that you know you. You look good in, you're confident in, like, it affects. It affects your performance. Because when you're wearing.
- [84:30]
B
Absolutely.
- [84:30]
A
I mean. I mean, dude, I remember one time I wore like, a flannel that I wasn't too, like, sold on, and I bombed. And my buddy ran the show goes, what the dude? I go, it was a flannel, dude. I'm sorry. Yeah, absolutely.
- [84:41]
B
Yeah. If you go. If you go on stage wearing an iffy thing, all you can picture, you're just picturing yourself in that thing. And as the audience, you automatically shift to audience pov. It's wild.
- [84:56]
A
It really is. He never forgives me. He's like, never wear that planel again. I'm like, it's gone. All right. Hero worship. Hero worship. We've been waiting, you know, to ask you. This is. How did that come about, being with Mr. Show? Like, I mean, I'm assuming it's just Being in LA and being around everybody. But if. How did meeting. Tell me about the first meeting of you with Bob and David.
- [85:16]
B
Oh, man. So I had been. I'd already been a fan of theirs. I was a fan of Bob's first from. I want to say, like, from when I still lived in Philly, like, seeing him on the A list. Remember the A list on Comedy Central?
- [85:30]
A
That's a deep cut, dude.
- [85:32]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, like, and then seeing him on the Ben Stiller show, I just thought he was hilarious. And then, then seeing them do stuff together, like pre Mr. Show, this was the stuff that led to Mr. Show. Whereas they would put on these sketch shows and, you know, you just. We would all go see them. They would be at these dingy little places and everybody in the community. It was a very exciting time because a bunch of us got to LA around the same time. So there were people from. People coming down from San Francisco, a bunch of people from Chicago, some people from New York. I was like one of the only people from Philly. Like, nobody that I kind of came up with was here. And so I was lucky enough to get here at the time that I did, to meet all these people and get accepted into this group. So we would all. We all hung out all the time. We were all doing shows together. We were putting on sketch shows. We were putting on all this stuff and we would always, always go see whatever Bob and David were doing. And it was, it was thrilling, like, to watch them. It was like, these guys are doing it right now. Like they are the next step in sketch. You know, there's, there's, you know, generationally, there's like a show for everybody. And they were clearly going to be the next thing, like, very close on the heels of, like, Kids in the hall, you know.
- [86:57]
A
Yeah, yeah.
- [86:58]
B
And like, to have those two things happening so close to each other was wild, like, especially for a, For a comedy fan, for somebody who devoured comedy, that it was religion to have the kids. And then Mr. Show so soon after, it was like unprecedented, you know, but so I was hugely a fan of theirs. And then I was doing sketch stuff with another guy who'd gotten to LA from Chicago. A mutual friend introduced us to each other. That was how we got the attention of Bob and David. And then we got hired on the second season to write.
- [87:39]
A
And.
- [87:41]
B
Obviously that was life changing. That was the, the, you know, the, the. The last day job I had before that job was the last day job I ever had. And it was profoundly impactful. Not just on My life, but on my comedy, on the way I understood comedy, wrote it, how to. How to make a sketch, how to like. The same lessons that I learned from them are the lessons that I use to this day of how to be, you know, how to heighten things, how to be concise. Although I. I could always be more concise in my sketch writing. But how to, like, how to figure out what is the point of this sketch, what is the thrust of it, and how to end a sketch. How to end a sketch still remains the biggest challenge of, I think any sketchwriter. How to have a satisfying ending to a sketch is the hardest fucking thing. You start it, you heighten it, you have fun. We're having a great time. Now what? Now we have to kill the fun. How do we do that in a way that doesn't feel like okay, you know, is still the biggest challenge. I mean, hats off to Tim Robinson with. I think you should leave. Who is like, oh, yeah, just stop the sketch. Just go on to a. You just stop the sketch. Have fun. When you're tired of having fun, just stop it. Don't worry about a resolution. Just move on the next fun thing. Yeah, like, man, I didn't know you could do that.
- [89:17]
A
Breaking the rules.
- [89:17]
B
But we had.
- [89:18]
A
We had David on, who also talked about being inspired by what, David Letterman in the transitions between sketches, which was so innovative, wasn't it, Mr. Show?
- [89:27]
B
Oh, it was Python, because Python would always. They would lead from one sketch to another sketch. And the biggest headache, but also the most satisfying thing with writing Mr. Show was how do we make the transitions. Not just a cop out, like, oh, and then we pull out, that's on the tv, and then whatever. It has to connect to that in some way. It has to lead into the next thing, but it also has to be its own satisfying little sketch all by itself. And that, of course, was the. That took the most amount of time. And we would be there till late at night trying to figure out, how do we make this good on its own but still bridge these two things.
- [90:11]
A
Yeah. What was the biggest fight you ever had for. For keeping that transition? Like. Or like, this is it. And they're like, no, it's not. You're like, I'm telling you.
- [90:19]
B
Like, I. I mean, there were so many of those. It would not be a single thing. And, you know, because that we would really, like, we would really get into it. I mean, it was always respectful. Sure. Nobody was ever like, especially for me, who was a guy who, you know, this was a big learning experience. Of your way is not necessarily the right way, even though you see it so clearly. Your job then is to. To explain it to everybody else like, this is how. This is the right way. And if they don't see it, you got to fucking let it go, man. Like, you can only. You can only argue for so long of my way is the right way. Here's how it is. If you give it a couple tries and people are still not on board, you have to let that go. It's the same with pitching an idea, any idea. It's like, if you can't make it translate, then you have to. You have to just chalk it up to, I can't make this as funny to other people as it is in my head. Because the job of comedy, of creating comedy, is you are a translator. How do I get this to the audience in a. In its. In its purest possible form to where it's still the same idea that I had, but now it's funny to other people outside of, you know, the movie that I have in my head? That's what the job is. And so if you're talking to other comedy people and you can't do that, you let that idea go. You. You can. You can be pissed about it, and you could be like, these guys are dumb. My idea was great, but you can't hold onto it. You got to move on. And you have to also, you know, talk about the. What we talked about with listening earlier. You have to be so open because your eye. Your job now is to help other people's idea. If your idea was beyond repair, you have to be as open as possible to somebody else's idea to. To get it to where it's like, guys, we did it. We figured out, you know, the puzzle. We. We solved it. And what it took was this person saying that, this person building on that person, that. Or this person's saying, what if instead of this idea, we tweak it to where it's this idea, but then it's. It's more like this, like, all that kind of shit. That's what you're supposed to do as a functioning writer's room. And, you know, so when we would have discussions or even minor arguments about this stuff, we knew it was all in the service of the one idea. It was all in the service of making this good. And that was the thing that I'm really proud of about that writer's room. I'm really proud to have been a part of it, and I'm really proud to have been Able to have participated in that way of saying, we all want this to be good. This is not about us getting our individual ideas in there. It's all about saying, how can we make this as good as possible? And, you know, and sometimes that was harder than other times. Sometimes you'd hit it right away, and that was exciting. But other times it was like, man, we're just. We just don't have it yet. And I. I heard, like, I left the show as a writer after the third season, and then I heard in the fourth season, it got a little. I think everybody kind of knew this is the last season.
- [93:37]
A
And, yeah.
- [93:37]
B
So it got the. The rules, like, loosened a little bit on what constituted a good. A good transition from one.
- [93:44]
A
Yeah.
- [93:45]
B
To the next.
- [93:45]
A
Oh, he said that. Yeah. He would be like, why don't we do it? Just. I don't just zoom. Like, you said it, to zoom in on the television.
- [93:50]
B
Yeah.
- [93:51]
A
Pull out.
- [93:52]
B
But to the.
- [93:53]
A
To the watcher. Like, it never felt like that. It always felt fresh. It always.
- [93:57]
B
This is the thing, is that nobody.
- [93:59]
A
Would have blamed us ever.
- [94:01]
B
Nobody would have blamed us.
- [94:02]
A
There never would have been anybody that.
- [94:04]
B
Said, I don't know, that was kind of cheap. Nobody cared except us. But that's, of course, what makes it good, you know?
- [94:09]
A
Exactly. And that's why. And trust me, it showed and everything. What sketch are you most proud of writing or being in? In, like, what is one that, like, almost like your swan song that you're like, it can never get better than this moment.
- [94:23]
B
Man. I mean, it's funny because, you know, in the. In the immediate wake of Mr. Show, when we were, like, when that book came out and everything, that was like, kind of the oral history of the show, it was very important to me to say, I, I, I wrote that line. I did that. I. And then as it. That with distance, it's like, I. It's like, did I contribute that much? I mean, I was there. I must have, you know, but, you know, the things that I was very proud of. Any. Any contribution in the writer's room that moved things along. Like my sketches, the sketches that I wrote, they're like, okay, there's none that I'm really that jazzed about. You know what I mean?
- [95:20]
A
Really?
- [95:21]
B
Like, yeah, I think they're funny, but I. But I like other sketches more. You know, I like stuff that other people wrote. I mean, also, with Bob and David, you were writing for them. You were trying to get as close to their style, their voice as possible. But then when they would take it and do their pass on it. You'd be like, oh, I wasn't even fucking close. Like, of course this is what they sound like. Of course. You know?
- [95:48]
A
Yeah.
- [95:48]
B
And I mean, that is. But that is the job. It's not like you're supposed to be able to perfectly mimic them. It's. It's. Here's something that I am getting as close to possible as in your wheelhouse, in your world. And then if you can take it over the finish line with. With minimal effort, then I have done my job. You know, as long as you don't have to do, like, a page one rewrite of a sketch, then great. I have helped and I have contributed. So, yeah, I don't. It's. It's very. Like, when I'm asked a question like that, it's always hard because I'm thinking of every moment at the same time. It's very like Dr. Manhattan. You know what I mean?
- [96:28]
A
So it's hard.
- [96:29]
B
I don't have, like, a single moment that jumps out. I will say that my favorite contribution that I had was in the. The sketch about East Coast, west coast ventriloquist. There's a moment where they. There's a character played by Karen Kilgariff, who's the wife of one of these guys.
- [96:55]
A
And I know you're talking.
- [96:57]
B
She's supposed to. She's gonna have a comment on all of this. And so it was written as. And this was my description was. You know, she's kind of this boozy, you know, lady. She's got a cigarette and a drink in her hand, and her only response is, oh, you men.
- [97:15]
A
Yeah, yeah.
- [97:15]
B
And so then when they originally cut it, they had a long, silent lead up of her before she says, oh, you men. And then it cuts to something else. And I said, actually, I think it works better if, you know, that's the voiceover over her just standing there. Then she says, oh, you men. Then a long pause where you realize she's not going to say anything else. And so that's a. That's. And it worked a thousand percent better. And that. That is my. If you want to say that is my proudest achievement. That is my proudest achievement. I love that.
- [97:56]
A
I love it. I don't know why. I keep thinking about the sketch of the lie detector test where you have the realization at the end. It's like, well, I was touched by my parents, which is why I'm a man.
- [98:09]
B
What a breakthrough. That's one of the funnest sketches we ever did. Just all of us Asking Bob these questions was. That was such a ball. That sketch was so much fun to shoot, it looks like, especially in front of an audience, was. Was great.
- [98:24]
A
Yeah, I could imagine. But it also. That's what's so great about that sketch is it really seems like when you guys keep getting more and more excited about him going like, yes. And you're like, yeah, I mean, it really felt like you. I mean, but that's. That's comedy. I mean, when the performers are having fun, then it translates to the audience. And especially to do that show in front of a live audience. I mean, the high of that. That must have just been to get that feedback right then and there. I mean, it's. It's. It's priceless. And. And. And then to be working with. I mean, everybody on that cast is just either gone on to do great stuff, but is also just. They were so perfect in their roles, whether it was Mary or Karen or Tom. You know, you, Bob, Brian, we.
- [99:11]
B
We're a tremendous group of people.
- [99:13]
A
It really is.
- [99:14]
B
And I mean, you know, it's. It's funny because I think of that as a very emotionally fraught time for me because it was. I'm hitting my 30s and I am, you know, as previously established, emotionally a wreck, and I have so much anxiety. I have so much imposter syndrome. All this stuff that's going on. It was such a tense time, but it was also so much fun. We had such a good time. We laughed so much. And I. I like the. Of course, like, negative memories always, like, come to the fore first, but I am so glad that I can now remember all the times that I had just laughing and really being so grateful to. To have to be any small part of that on camera on the live shows, you know, was. Was such an. It was such an amazing gift.
- [100:10]
A
Yeah.
- [100:10]
B
Truly.
- [100:10]
A
How excited were you when they. When they came back and they did the. With. What is it was called With Bob and Tom. With Bob and David. Yeah. Which is like. I mean, no one knew that was coming. I mean, do you have an idea, or was it just like they just called you one day?
- [100:24]
B
I couldn't believe it as it was happening. Like, it was so strange that of all. We never felt like a reunion show kind of show.
- [100:33]
A
Yeah.
- [100:33]
B
But, yeah, man, it was. Was. It was fun to go back to it with now, none of that baggage, you know, and anytime it would start to come up, you're like, wait, I. I don't need to care about this. This is not.
- [100:46]
A
Yeah, this is not.
- [100:47]
B
This is not A. This does not factor into who I am as a person now. This is just like. It's like family, you know, where it's like you start to become the person you were with your family, you know, when you were growing up, and then you're like, oh, wait, I don't have to. I don't have to be that person. I mean, now, you know, many, many years have passed, and then. Then it was fun to, like, do warm up for the live tapings again. Was such a strange thing. You know, it was. It was really. It was funny to see how, like, oh, this is a. This is a moment where this would have bothered me for days and days and days that somebody said this, and now I don't give a. You know what I mean?
- [101:25]
A
Yeah.
- [101:26]
B
And this is something that I would have thought, like, oh, how come I don't get to do more of this? And now it's like, you know what? Know what? I'm kind of busy.
- [101:33]
A
I'm glad.
- [101:35]
B
Yeah, I'm glad I get to be in it, but it's not like. It's not a thing that's causing me anxiety. Oh, yeah, yeah, it was. It was great. It was great to see everybody. Yeah, it was great to be silly with everybody again. I mean, you know, the end result was like, you know, I feel like everybody gave it their best shot. I think it was as good as that was going to be. I don't think it was as good as the original show, but, you know, if it's. It's the best you could ask for, I think, for a. A reunion show in a modern iteration of Mr. Show, you know, it's hard with comedy, man. I mean, the world moves on. And, you know, the. The energy that you have and the viewpoint you have is not necessarily going to be the same, you know, as. As you do when you're a little older and wiser and the world has changed. And so is the approach that you have to comedy going to be. How do you. How do you manage your style, which has been your collective style, which has been kind of dormant for a long time now? You have to evolve it very, very quickly for the world as it is now? And that's a tall order, you know.
- [102:55]
A
Yeah.
- [102:55]
B
And so there's a lot of funny stuff in there. I. I'm still very glad that. That I got to be a part of it. And, you know, and I think it was. It was. For a lot of people, it was. It was very. For fans, it was very meaningful to see everybody together again. And. Yeah, so I'm really glad that it happened. I'm really glad that I got to be a of part of it.
- [103:17]
A
It was great. It was great. And I. I totally see what you're saying, but also, it's like, that's the. The gift of getting older is that you realize, you know, you can look, you can. You can really, especially all of you have had careers. It's not like this thing is everything, and you need this to be successful, you guys. We can just have fun and enjoy just being together with one another. That's a beautiful thing.
- [103:35]
B
Absolutely.
- [103:35]
A
And it show. It showed in the sketches, too, so good. We. So we have. We have two more songs, but I feel like we'll just mention these and let's. Let's wrap this up. Up. You know, it's 6, 6060, 842. Morty, what do you. What do you want to say? Tail of the tape.
- [103:49]
B
Just wanted to get.
- [103:49]
A
For the fleece army playing at home. I think this almost completes your Mr. Show roster. I think Bob might be the only holdout. We've also had, I think five from the state. We've had a bunch, and we've had nobody from kids in the Hall. All right, I'll see you guys. Not yet. Not yet, not yet. But we will know. We've actually had everybody from Saturday Night Live, including Eddie Murphy. Joe Piscobo was a weird episode, but now we. We still, like, listen. We. I know, Like. Like Bob I've become friends with through his opener, Sean. So. So he's. He was just great. And having him on, man, was. Was. Was incredible. No, I'm sorry. We had David on. Bob is the. Bob is the holdout. And who else are we? We've not had. There's a couple people, but it's like. You know what's great is that, like, through comedy, I met Mary Lynn, Karen and I became really close from doing the podcast, and we used to go watch movies together. We saw the new Rambo movie together. Actually, the last movie before the pandemic. We saw this. This, like, terrible Will Forte vampire ghost movie. So we, like, risked our lives to go to the Arc Light, as the world was like, you shouldn't go outside. You shouldn't do anything. We're like, we're gonna see this new.
- [105:07]
B
Will Forte, surely, for this.
- [105:11]
A
I mean, we saw Parasite. It's got to be the same as Parasite.
- [105:14]
B
Let history be the judge.
- [105:17]
A
But. But it's just. It's like, you know, for me, Jeremiah, and so many of our friends, man, it's just like it's, you know, doing this podcast is what I love about it is that we get to sit down with these people and talk music and life and. And so this is just a gift to us today for you to come on, man and. And be such a cool guy. Like, that makes it even that much sweeter. So we can't thank you enough for coming on. Let's do the final questions and let's get you out of here, buddy. What's your favorite song on this album?
- [105:48]
B
I mean, I. I think it is Rock Lobster. And I think a second. Second runner up is probably 52 girls.
- [106:01]
A
Now, I know we said this isn't a skip over record, but what song on here is probably your least favorite? I mean, yes.
- [106:07]
B
Hero worship. It's. I can't remember what it sounds like it.
- [106:11]
A
Dude, it cut it. We don't need it. Got us a Mr. Show.
- [106:17]
B
You can bet I'm gonna listen to it immediately after we're done recording.
- [106:22]
A
Can. Can you to this record? I don't think so.
- [106:28]
B
I wouldn't advise it. No, I wouldn't advise it. I think it would stir up unwanted things you don't want to have. You don't want to have that because if it does, then the next time you have sex, it's over. That's all you're going to think of is whatever came up during that session.
- [106:48]
A
Like, who is that cult leader from like the 1920s and 30s that used to wear like the pyramid on his head? And he was like, like, oh, you know what I'm talking about. Like, he was like, he might. No, that's the. That's Edgar Casey. Or was it. Wait, pull it up. Pull up the guy because that's. He would. To this Anton.
- [107:08]
B
Oh, Aleister Crowley. Yes, Aleister Crowley.
- [107:11]
A
He would shock to this. Aleister Crowley would.
- [107:14]
B
178.
- [107:18]
A
There's a moon in the sky they call the moon. Gotta hear the record. Like. And what would be your elevator pitch to get someone to listen to this album?
- [107:29]
B
Paul, if you like Love Shack, this album knocks that song's dick in the dirt. I just love that you like. You thought about it. You.
- [107:42]
A
That's good. Like a laugh. And then you said it. Promote away, please, dude, please. Anything. You want to promote or you want to tour, where can everybody find you?
- [107:50]
B
Oh, sure. I host a. A live variety show called Varietyopia, which is a modern variety show. It's. It's, you know, great comedy and music and other forms of entertainment all on one stage. It's my favorite thing to do. We are in the the middle of a break on our tour. We're going back out in October. You can go to variotopia.com and get tickets and we're going to be doing a live stream Sunday, July 13th from our home here here at Lodroom in Los Angeles. Live stream. We've all been burned by live streams. This one's actually good. Multi camera setup, sound is pristine. You will feel like you're in the room.
- [108:31]
A
Go to variotopia.com oh my God. And by the way, I, I, I'm gonna throw it out here. I don't do this very often. We're doing the anniversary show, the goddamn Comedy Jam at the Comedy Store in either probably, it's probably gonna be September because I'm going to Europe most of August.
- [108:45]
B
August.
- [108:45]
A
But we're doing it. It'll be 11 years we've been doing it.
- [108:49]
B
Congratulations.
- [108:50]
A
Thank you. Well then I'm gonna send you a dm. I would love for you to be on it. It'll probably be her, you. We'll stay in touch. Paul, this was such a gift. It's, it's one of those things that like that you were talking about. It's like these are the moments that you know, it's Bill said this, I quote him a lot but it's like when you follow your dreams, cool happens. And to be able to sit down and know that, you know, 20 some odd years ago when me and him were watching, we had the VHS of Mr. Show. We ran that tape to the, to the. Just wore it out. And just to be able to like meet all you guys, it's just, it's a gift. Dude, this was so much fun. Please come back. We would love to have you for another record. We've got great records and I'll be, I'll DM you and we'll set up the jam. Thank you for coming.
- [109:34]
B
Thank you so much. This was so much fun.
- [109:36]
A
What did I tell you? What did I tell you? The one and only Paul F. Tompkins. Follow him on Instagram at P F Tompkins on TikTok at Paul f. Tompkins and Paul.com for all tickets go check out his Variety Topia tour right now. He's got a show this Sunday at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles and dates later this year in South Carolina, Kansas City, St. Louis and Louisville. Now we just listened to this, the B52 self titled debut from 79. Our new music pick this week brought to you in part by Distrokid is the Ballad of the Last Payphone by the New Pornographers. You can find links to their music on the website the500podcast.com and if you were in a band and were directly influenced by one of these albums or artists and you want your music featured on the 500, send your song to 500podcastmail.com and make sure you put the album and artists that influenced you in the subject line. Next week it's Arcade 5 Fire Week as we go into their debut record Funeral. Very important record from the early 2000s, some say one of the best. It's not Kid A, but it's up there. If you haven't heard the album yet, do your homework, listen to it and stay Flee yeah first comes love then comes pity Then it's terminal velocity Nothing major man it's just less painful Nothing major man it's just less painful and see it with my very eyes for advice from the just left behind behind Reverse the charges I tried but it had no lightning inside did you get a good look at their face Cuz often thieves have not gone very far they're not strangers they they really are they're not strangers they really are Major man it's just less painful Nothing major man it's just a last page oh nothing major Mad it's just less painful Nothing major man it's just less painful yeah first comes love then comes pain Then it's channel velocity yeah first comes love then comes the yeah first comes love then comes pity Then it's terminal the last the 500 keeping it please see for the fleece nation on the 500 next chapter podcasts.