TCB Infomercial: Lewis Black Is Back!

Summary

The Commercial Break – TCB Infomercial: Lewis Black Is Back!

Date: September 16, 2025

Hosts: Bryan Green & Krissy Hoadley

Guest: Lewis Black

---

Episode Overview

In this lively, irreverent episode of The Commercial Break, Bryan and Krissy welcome back legendary comedian and satirist Lewis Black for a characteristically candid, comedic, and occasionally philosophical riff-fest on the state of the world, comedy, aging, media madness, and the accelerating weirdness of 21st-century life. The conversation blends Lewis’s classic outraged wit with poignant commentary on politics, social change, and the exhaustion of trying to be “crazier than reality.” The hosts and guest bounce between heartfelt admiration, laughter, and a cathartic game testing real versus absurd headlines — all while capturing why Lewis Black remains both a comedy institution and a voice of furious common sense.

---

Key Topics & Discussion Highlights

Lewis Black’s Return: The Mood in the Room

• The hosts are “starstruck” and delighted to have Lewis Black return, reflecting on how his intensity on stage is matched by kindness and empathy in person.
  • Bryan: “Lewis Black is one of the people that you watch his demeanor and the way that he conducts himself… and what shows up is that, but also something else. Something very soft in the middle and kind and empathetic.” (07:52)
• Resonance with current events: Lewis’s voice feels even more needed amid recent cultural and political tumult.

Festival Stories & Generational Change (17:01–20:00)

• Lewis shares that he has avoided Burning Man and never managed to get to Woodstock (“My mother caught me before I could get…” 17:47).
• Favorite festivals: Performed at Bonnaroo and Summerfest, reminiscing how Summerfest in Milwaukee was “the best kept secret in America,” with a unique multi-stage setup (18:42).

Social & Political Cynicism: “Did You See This Coming?” (20:00–26:30)

• After being asked whether he foresaw America’s growing political violence and madness:
  • Lewis Black: “No… I didn't even think there was any energy, really… It's a constant litany of this and, and to be honest, because I don't pay attention to… social media, I didn't know who he was.” (21:06)
• On media fragmentation:
  • Lewis notes how siloed all media has become, making it almost impossible to share a universal news cycle (22:44).

Universities, Naming Rights & The Kids Are Different (23:25–25:20)

• Lewis attended the Yale School of Drama (now the David Geffen School of Drama due to a big donation): “So it's renamed like a football stadium.” (24:23)
• When meeting students post-tragedy, he’s struck by how every college student knew controversial media figures, whereas he did not—highlighting generational divides in what people pay attention to.

Fear on the Public Stage (26:30–29:55)

• On the risks of being a public figure after violence against media personalities:
  • “I had fears when I was performing more live on stage... we’ve had security there for years now, since John [Stewart].” (26:57)
  • “The fact that they were allowing anybody to kind of have a gun... At what point do you realize the experiment didn’t work?” (28:07)
• Bryan and Lewis bemoan America’s obsession with semantics over substantive, obvious problems: “It’s never the fault of the machinery, it's the fault of the person behind the machinery. But when you're giving the machinery to every Tom, Dick, and Harry…”

On Retiring from Touring & Comic Exhaustion (30:00–33:30)

• Lewis Black is wrapping up his final standup tour: “No one seems to understand there's a difference between touring and performing… I’m done.” (31:56)
• Reflects on his enduring routines about politics, but sees little value in the current hyper-partisan era:
  • “They’re not arguing ideas, they’re arguing realities.” (33:30)
  • “I didn't have trouble when they were arguing ideas. I didn't have trouble when they were stupid. Now they're not stupid. They're mean spirited. And some of them are criminals.” (33:07)

Modern Media & “Arguing Realities” (33:30–35:56)

• Both sides lack shared facts; hyper-segmentation of reality is making societal consensus impossible:
  • Bryan: “We just can’t agree that the madness is collective and happening everywhere… we need to agree on some facts and then move forward…” (34:53)
• Misinformation, social media, and the “every idiot has a microphone” problem.

---

Memorable Quotes

• Lewis Black on Old People:

  "You ever get behind one of these geriatric land captains?... You don't know if you're following a car or an obituary in progress." (02:32)
  "They hoard plastic bags like they're currency in the apocalypse... and will tell you how cheap everything used to be, right before tipping 35 cents on a $19 lunch."
  “They’ll look you dead in the eye and say, enjoy it while you’re young. As if aging is a surprise twist ending.” (04:10)

• On Political Satire’s Limits:

  “They're not arguing ideas, they're arguing realities. And once you're arguing... I can't, I don't know what that means anymore because... they're living in separate reality.” (33:30)

• On Competing with Craziness:

  “Part of the reason I wanted to do this…I became a comic so I could make up sh*t… I had to be crazier than what I saw… and now I can’t even know where to start.” (35:31/37:14)

• On The Decline of Facts:

  "There are not shared facts. There are not shared systems. There are not shared understanding of what fucking is happening. And everyone sees things differently." (34:53)

• On Artificial Intelligence:

  “The guy who invented it… was in front of Congress going, you need to come up with some boundaries for this because we don’t know... Even the people who created artificial intelligence don't seem to fucking understand how it works.” (48:01)

---

Headline Game: Is It Real, Rant-worthy, or Ridiculous? (37:21–46:10)

Bryan quizzes Lewis on bizarre American headlines:

• Florida school bans dictionaries for the word ‘sex’: (“That’s true.” – Lewis, 37:42)
• Romeo & Juliet banned for being ‘sexy’: “No one ever read Romeo and Juliet and… boy, I have a hard on.” (38:00)
• AI writing standup comedy: Lewis suggests it’s happening and "probably improved some of those guys." (38:32)
• On AI Carlin:
  • “Kelly [Carlin’s daughter] told them, you know, I’m gonna sue you... get off my father’s stuff.” (39:08)
• Congress debates pizza as a vegetable: "That I don't believe." (43:04)
• Your phone knows if you’re depressed before you do: “It knows everything before I do.” (43:14)
• AI as Jesus Christ (ChatGPT-powered Jesus): Genuine story—Lewis and guests are appalled and amused in equal measure. (44:00–45:00)

---

Technology & Society: The AI and Social Media Spiral (46:09–49:31)

• Lewis rails against the stupidity of current AI systems, especially in customer service. (46:10)
• Bryan and Lewis agree that while AI is fine for menial tasks, its role is outpacing societal boundaries:
  • “Even the people who created artificial intelligence don't seem to fucking understand how it works.” (47:06/48:01)
• Government's failure to regulate technology and social media; compared to FCC's strictness on TV language but not on foundational planet-wide systems.

---

The Rantcast and The Lost Carlin Interview (41:44–42:45)

• Lewis on his podcast (Rantcast), his plans:
  • “I have less [fear]...I'm going to be… The last two shows are in Easton… and Williamsport, PA, and that's the end of it. But I might perform, just not tour.” (30:00+)
  • Continuing the podcast: “I've reached a new level where I'm just blathering. I get on that podcast and I'm just blathering…” (50:02)
• Bryan and Lewis talk about an unaired, lost 30-minute interview between Lewis Black and George Carlin (“What the fuck, History Channel. That is history. Put it out there...” (42:26))

---

Reflections on the State of Comedy & Culture (50:02–54:36)

• Lewis observes that it's nearly impossible now for satire to keep up with reality.
  • “I tried for six months to get the audience to realize that's a punchline. It's not something you get upset [about]… And they didn't laugh.” (51:01)
• The madness of the news cycle, the weariness of trying to find a “through line,” and the cycle of “what the fuck?” (51:31)

---

On Vaccines, Health, and Public Logic (52:09–54:36)

• Lewis, recalling polio and the iron lung era, observes the irrational backlash to COVID vaccines despite massive historical progress via vaccination.
  • “We had a creek… and you don't swim in the creek or you'll get polio.” (53:11)
  • On mRNA: “Major breakthrough. It is the vaccine that may lead us to finding a vaccine against a variety of... cancers and stuff.” (54:28)
  • “You do the research on this, you fuck.” (unapologetically confrontational, 54:08)

---

Final Segments & Plugs

• Lewis Black’s final tour dates: October in Easton & Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
  • “If you are within earshot of those two shows, you should be there.” (54:36)
• The Rantcast podcast: New episodes on Wednesdays.
• The Daily Show: Lewis appears monthly, including this episode’s release night.
• On Writing: Planning to write a book and play (a version of "Our Town"). (56:04)

---

Notable/Peak Lewis Black Moments

• On Comedy’s Function: “I became a comic so I could make up sh*t… I had to be crazier than what I saw… and now I can’t even know where to start.” (35:31/37:14)
• Classic Rant Delivery: Unfiltered critiques of both political parties, media, generational divides, and the perils of technology, delivered with his signature high-decibel, cathartic bark.

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:32] – Lewis Black’s Opening “Old People” Rant
• [17:01] – Festival Stories: Burning Man, Woodstock, Summerfest
• [21:06] – Political Violence & Cynicism
• [24:23] – Yale Story and Generational Culture
• [26:30] – Fear & Security as a Performer
• [30:00] – Lewis Black on Touring Retirement
• [33:30] – “Arguing Realities” in Modern Politics
• [35:21] – Comedy’s Exhaustion Point
• [37:21] – “True or Not?” Absurd News Game
• [41:44] – The Lost Carlin Interview
• [46:09] – AI, ChatGPT, and Techno-Paranoia
• [52:09] – Public Health, Vaccines, & Cultural Memory
• [54:36] – Plugs & Closing Remarks

---

Tone & Style

The tone throughout is classic TCB: loose, rowdy, self-aware, and joyfully unrefined, with moments of biting satire, warmth, and a genuine sense of generational comedy torch-passing. Bryan and Krissy serve as ideal foils and fans, letting Lewis Black range between mocking and mirthful, wise and wonderfully weary — all while “ranting” his way to moments of real insight and communal laughter.

---

A Must-listen If…

• You love Lewis Black’s blend of comedy and world-weary clarity.
• You feel overwhelmed by the accelerating madness of the modern world and need cathartic laughter.
• You want a behind-the-scenes look at how comedians view the changes in media, politics, and culture—not just with punchlines, but with real reflection.

---

Best to you, Lewis. See you at the next Rantcast!

Transcript

[Brian Green]

I'm probably just a little bit too excited to explain that Joe's Jeans sponsors this episode Finding a pair of jeans. A good pair of jeans. Those jeans, the ones you wear everywhere, the ones you want to wear everywhere, the ones that fit you perfect just like a glove, is like finding a soulmate. You may only find one or two of them in your life if you're lucky. And almost a decade ago, I fell in love with the one and only soulmate of my life, Joe's Jeans. No joke, the these are the best jeans the universe has ever provided me. Joe's Kinetic 2.0 jeans are rugged on the outside, but honestly so soft and stretchy you may forget you're wearing denim at all. It's got style and versatility. I can get up in the morning, I can go grab my coffee in them. I can go to a concert, I can put on a button up shirt and maybe go to a semi fancy restaurant with my 12 to 13 children. They use premium materials designed with purpose and built to last. My favorite is the Brixton in Nod or the Asher and Doheny. Both styles are timeless and they're ready to your closet for years. I have pairs that I have had for five or six years. Still looking great. Do yourself and the people you love a favor and go to Joe's jeans.com and use the code BREAK at checkout for 20% off your first purchase. That's Joe's jeans.com code BREAK for 20% off. It's the one thing in my closet that I evangelize to all my friends, family and anyone who will listen. Joe's jeans go to Joe's jeans.com and use that code break for 20% off. And thank you to Joe's. Follow for being a sponsor of the commercial break. This episode is sponsored by five Hour Energy. If you're like me, you want your caffeine to do more than just wake you up. You want it to taste good too. That's why I've been reaching for five Hour Energy shots. These little two ounce bottles are packed with big bold flavors. Seventeen of them to be exact. Maybe you're craving something crisp like watermelon that tastes like summer. Or maybe you're in the mood for a smoothie inspired strawberry banana. And if you like your caffeine with a tangy kick, Sour Apple is my favorite. It's tart, sweet and seriously tasty. Each shot of five hour energy has about the same caffeine as a 12 ounce premium cup of coffee, but with zero sugar and none of the sugar crash. And because they're so portable, you can keep one in your bag, car or desk drawer, so you're ready whenever you need a boost. Give your caffeine a flavor upgrade with 5 Hour Energy Shots. Get it in store and online at Fiveourenergy.com or have it delivered by Amazon today. Thanks 5 Hour Energy for being a sponsor of the commercial break.

[Lewis Black]

You know what drives me up a goddamn wall? Old people. Not just any old people. No, no, I mean the ones who act like time stopped in 1954 and we're all just extras in their black and white sitcom memories. Every time I go outside, there's some septajuarian in a Buick the size of a battleship doing 11 miles an hour in a 45 mile an hour zone, turning left from the right lane while signaling nothing. You ever get behind one of these geriatric land captains? You don't know if you're following a car or an obituary in progress. And don't even get me started on how they treat technology. I can't figure out the email. It's a button, Edna. A button that says send. You sent a man to the moon in 69, but now Gmail is sorcery. They've got 14 pill organizers, eight doctor's appointments a week, and more insurance cards than a damn blackjack dealer. But they still think Covid was a hoax. And seatbelts are restrictive and yet they control everything. Congress, mostly. Old people. HOA boards old people. The last three people who yelled at me in a Walgreens about the price of batteries? All old people. They hoard plastic bags like they're currency in the apocalypse. They call you at 6:30am like it's a reasonable time to be alive. And they will tell you without blinking how cheap everything used to be right before tipping 35 cents on a $19 lunch like it's a favor to mankind. But you know what really kills me? They'll look you dead in the eye and say, enjoy it while you're young. As if aging is a surprise twist ending. Like what? I get wrinkles and back pain? Nobody told me that part. God bless them. But holy hell, get off the road, hang up the landline and stop forwarding chain emails. I got a phone full of memes from Aunt Ruth about how liberals are turning the frogs into communists. I swear to God, if one more retiree tells me I just need to work harder, I'm gonna throw my back out on purpose just to qualify for early aarp.

[Brian Green]

On this episode of the commercial break The History Channel won't keep give you access to the interview?

[Lewis Black]

No.

[Brian Green]

And it's not streaming somewhere or online?

[Lewis Black]

No, of course not.

[Brian Green]

But did it run, did it, did it run originally?

[Lewis Black]

No.

[Brian Green]

So it never ran.

[Lewis Black]

Oh, the little bits and pieces of it ran, but not the entire interview. Yeah.

[Brian Green]

Lewis Black and George Carlin sitting down for a 30 minute interview does give me a hard on Romeo and Juliet. Maybe not, but you two having a conversation that is hard on material all day long. And what the is History Channel? That is history.

[Lewis Black]

The next episode of the commercial break starts now.

[Brian Green]

5:30. Oh yeah. Cats and kittens, welcome back to the commercial break. I'm Brian Green. This is my dear friend and the co host of this show, Chris and Joy Hoadley. Best to you Chris.

[Chris Hoadley]

Best to you Brian.

[Brian Green]

Best to you out there in the podcast universe. Thanks for joining us on a TCB infomercial Tuesday with two Peter. Is that, is that a word to Peter? Repeater. Yeah, repeater twice as nice. Lou Lewis Black, legendary comedian and satirist and orator of many things funny and many opinions. And I think it's an, it's a, it's a good time to have Lewis here in the studio. He'll get us all riled up but calm us down at the same time.

[Chris Hoadley]

Exactly.

[Brian Green]

Lewis of course was here with us about a year at the January, I think he was here if I remember correctly. But I don't ever remember correctly. So we'll just take it on fact that it was January, Lewis was here and we enjoyed our conversation with him so much that when given the opportunity to talk twice to Lewis Black, of course we would say yes. He honestly is a legend.

[Chris Hoadley]

He is. No, I'm so excited to talk to him again because I think the first time I was kind of nervous too.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, he was one of those. Yeah, you don't. I didn't know what to expect. He ended up being a doll face of a guy.

[Chris Hoadley]

Oh yeah.

[Brian Green]

If you.

[Chris Hoadley]

But I've just been watching him for so long.

[Brian Green]

Yell at people.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah, yeah, yell at people. And just again, I just had watched him for so long, I knew who he was and I was a little nervous. I was a little starstruck.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, hey, listen, I'm with you on this one. Like Lewis Black is one of the people that you watch him and you watch his demeanor and his attitude and the way that he conducts himself in front of a camera and you go, if that shows up, I'm toast. Like, if that shows up, I'm toast. And what shows up is that, but also something else. Something very soft in the middle and kind and empathetic. So. And given the light, in light of all the events and drama of the last couple weeks, it's just a good time to have Louis on him, I think. So we'll try and not depress everybody on this episode of the commercial break I was watching, I think this is an interesting note going into this that, you know, the Chiefs and the Eagles got together.

[Chris Hoadley]

That's right.

[Brian Green]

Yesterday as we're recording this. And Taylor Swift was there, newly engaged to Travis was there. And I guess what has become kind of a thing is everybody watching either the intro outro or halftime walk that Taylor does to and from the suite where she sits when she watches Travis do his thing. And this time they rolled. They had her behind a rolling stanchion like a, like almost what you would. I don't even know how to explain it. All these big Blackboards, probably about 8ft tall.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

Connected so that you can't see in between them. And they were just rolling with her as she walked inside of the suite area up there. And many people online postured that Taylor is pregnant. So she is hiding maybe a belly. But I called bullshit on that. I don't think she's pregnant. I. And she's not going to show a belly. A week after she was on his podcast and days after she was photographed. What that is, what people have figured out what that is. And, and I said it right when I saw it, is a bullet proof stanchion, a rolling stanchion that's bulletproof so that she could sit behind it so that no one could get a good look at what they were aiming at. They were aiming at it. But that is the sad state of affairs that we live in. And it's really, really just. I don't know why. That coupled with all of the drama of the last over the last week really made me just a little bit sad for where we stand in the world today. You know, it's Taylor fucking Swift. I, you know, I cool. She sings music. I mean, she sings music. What are we all upset about? She feel. But I guess she also is the most famous person in the world and Michael Jackson and you know, name Prince and all these people, they all had to have security around them no matter what time of the world that it was. They all had a bunch of security around them. But it's, it's, it's just sad. I hope, I hope this is a moment for reflection and self awareness on everybody's mind no matter which side of the aisle that you're on, that we all decide to take a chill pill and realize that words are not an existential threat. They just are not. They're just words. And while they may be mean and mean spirited and even ugly and even, you know, racist or sexist or homophobic or whatever they may be, they are just words. And we can make the choice to not make them an existential threat or just turn it off. That's it. Just turn it off. It's ugly. I don't like it. I'm turning it off. Thanks anyway. I'll move back to K Pop Demon Hunter, where all the good shit's happening. I hear those fucking songs one more time in my goddamn house, I swear on all that's holy, I am over it with a capital I haven't even seen it. Don't watch it. Yeah, because the songs are catchy and then, you know, they get stuck in your head and then it's easy to see why they're running up the charts is because they did make catchy songs. Anyway, Lewis Black is here with us. Be here with us in just a few minutes. You go to Lewisblack.com he has two more shows left on his very last tour. He told us this last time, he's wrapping it up at the end of the year. And here it is at the end of the year. He's wrapping it up. Two more shows in both of them in Pennsylvania, I think Easton and Thomasville is what he said is what it says on the website. So if you get a chance and if you're within earshot, you should go see those tickets are available. I just checked. He's also going to be on Comedy Central's the Daily show tonight, as he is most months of the year for the last five or six years. And then I love it.

[Chris Hoadley]

It's always a fun night when he's there.

[Brian Green]

This is something comforting there is about a man with glasses yelling at me. It reminds me of my own childhood, you know, watching him as a young, a young little budding idiot, you know, just watching him on my little old box of a TV and cable running right into the back of it. And daily, you know, the Daily show was the thing. Everybody watched it. Everybody had to watch it. It was one of few programs that were out there of that nature and Louis was a, a big part of that. He's a big part of the success of that show, which was what makes him legendary, quite frankly. So, you know, you may say to me, ah, Lewis Black. And I say to you, we need to recognize the people in our life who have come before us, who have paved the way. And Lewis Black is definitely one of those people. So honored to have him here. Why don't we do this, Chrissy? Let's take a short break, but when we get back through the magic of tele podcasting, we're going to have l. If we can figure it out this time, we are going to have Lewis right here with us inside the studio. What do you say?

[Chris Hoadley]

I say let's do it.

[Brian Green]

All right. We'll be back.

[Rachel]

Okay. You're probably wondering why I, Rachel, have taken over the voice duties at tcb. It's pretty simple. Astrid asked me to shut Brian up, even for a minute. Well, lovely Astrid, your wish is my command. Do you want to help Astrid, too? You know you do. Leave a message for her or me or Chrissy at 212-4333, TCB. That's 212-433-3822. You can be on the show, too. Just call and say something, anything. Or text us and we'll text you right back. Promise. Then head over to tcbpodcast.com and get your free sticker. It's your constitutional right to a sticker, and we must abide. You get the point? Follow us on Instagram at the commercial break and watch all the episodes on [e-mail] TheCommercialBreak Best to you and Astrid, especially Astrid.

[Brian Green]

This episode is brought to you by Squarespace. I'm out on our little break. I'm over at the local coffee shop and I'm talking to one of the people behind the counter, and they say, I want to start my own podcast. To which I reply, you already have more listeners than we do. But their question to me was, what do I need in order to launch a podcast? Three things. A microphone, an idea, and a website. And our good friends at Squarespace, they have the all in one website platform designed to help you stand out and succeed online. Whether you're creating content, selling something, offering a service, or just want to keep people informed about your comings and goings, you can build your website, grow your brand, and get paid all in one place. And if a website is a building block of a business, what's the building blocks of the website? Two things, in my opinion. Number one, design. You got to have a good looking design, and Squarespace has a collection of cutting edge design tools that anyone can use to build a website that fits your brand perfectly. Number two, building block. You have to be found as I've often said about podcasting, if you want to be heard, you have to get found. No different out there on the world wide web. And search engine optimization is the key to doing that. While some companies and services may charge thousands or tens of thousands of dollars for search engine optimization, it's included with every single website on Squarespace. And the great news about all of this is you do not have to some designer, programmer, search engine optimization expert. Squarespace is designed to help me build a website. And if I can do it, you can do it. I'm really not all that smart. Go to squarespace.com commercial to save 10% off your purchase of a website or domain using the code commercial and start building your business or grow the one that you have or refresh that multi billion dollar conglomerate. Squarespace.com commercial and when you're ready to launch, make sure to use the code commercial. And thank you to Squarespace for always being a sponsor of the commercial break.

[Ad Voice 1]

You open the fridge, there's nothing there. So what's it gonna be? Greasy pizza? Sad drive thru burgers? Dish by Blue Apron is for nights like that. These are the pre made meals of your dreams. At least 20 grams of protein. No artificial flavors or colors. No chopping, no cleanup, no guilt. Keep the flavor, ditch the subscription. Get 20% off your first two orders with code APRON. 20 terms and conditions apply. Visit blueapron.com terms for more.

[Brian Green]

And Lewis Black returns to the commercial break. Triumphant return to the commercial break straight off of his one week stint at Burning Man. Are you or are you not? I love asking our guests about Burning Man.

[Lewis Black]

I've gone to all the others. I will not go to the middle of a desert.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, no, to the. No, yeah, yeah, that. Have you been to Lollapalooza?

[Lewis Black]

Actually, no, I thought I'd. But I haven't.

[Brian Green]

That Woodstock, did you go to any of the Woodstocks?

[Lewis Black]

No.

[Brian Green]

Well, see, you haven't been to all of. I haven't been to the Woodstocks either.

[Lewis Black]

No.

[Brian Green]

God, I didn't go.

[Lewis Black]

No. There was the second Woodstock that, the first one my mother caught me before I could get.

[Brian Green]

Were you trying to make a run for it?

[Lewis Black]

And she said, well, yeah, no, I was. I just kind of left the. Left the house and started moving toward. No, I. I have only one friend who made it up there. You know, I would never have made it because of the traffic jam. Right, yeah, whatever. Never come close.

[Brian Green]

Whatever.

[Lewis Black]

I did the. The one in Bonnaroo and then I think it's Outlands and like that where I performed.

[Chris Hoadley]

Oh, nice.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, yeah, Bonnaroo.

[Chris Hoadley]

Of course, probably the Bonnaroo had a comedy.

[Lewis Black]

Yeah, they had a comedy tent and so did Outlands.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, I think they do. They still do that. The, the com. I'm sure they do. It's like three days of everything. They. I don't know, but they, they must. I like that. I think Chris Rock was there one year. I think there was.

[Chris Hoadley]

We had like Judd Apatow one time and.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, yeah, that was great.

[Lewis Black]

The greatest one was, which they did for 100 years before they got rid of the comedy was Summerfest in Milwaukee.

[Brian Green]

Oh, I do remember reading about that. That was a big shindig, huh?

[Lewis Black]

Well, it still exists. It was one of the. It was the best kept secret in America. It was like you could go, you. You basically pick a day. There was, you could see there was like eight performing stages right next to the river and you could go to them and like Harley had a stage, the, The Beer Makers had stages. Leining Kugel had a stage. And you kind of wander around and they would have at least three really top notch groups. And then the big, the big area, the, like the outdoor. I mean the one with the, the amphitheater of like 10 or 12,000 seats. You could go sit in the grass there. You didn't get a seat, but you could go up there. So it was incredible.

[Brian Green]

Fantastic. You know, Music Midtown here in Atlanta was. Was a big thing for a long time too. And when they first, when he, when Cooley and Conlon first put that together, I think it was SFX Productions, they had like 12 stages the first year and it was just spread all over out midtown. And you would walk from. It was too much. It was, you know, town to town, concrete jungle. But I just loved it. It was a different time back then. Right now they don't even put on Music Midtown because of the open carry laws here in the, in the state. But, but it was a great time. Woodstock, we could, I think we could use a Woodstock right now. I think we could not. Not 99 or 96 or 97 or whatever. A 69. Woodstock. An event, a cultural zeitgeist. Bring people together. Yeah, it's such a hot mess. And I don't need to, you know, rehash the events of last week, but, you know, you're. You've been doing this for a while, right? Have I. I talked to the entrepreneur Gary V. On, on the day that Charlie was shot, and he said, listen, as an older guy, as in my late 40s, I had seen this coming down the pike. Do you feel like you saw this coming down the pike too? That you felt like it was headed in this direction?

[Lewis Black]

No.

[Brian Green]

No. You didn't.

[Lewis Black]

I didn't think, to be honest. I mean, this is going to be kind of a. About as cynical as you could be. I didn't even think there was any energy, really. Yeah, well, we born our sick. I don't care what side you're on, you've borne yourself out.

[Brian Green]

I agree with you on this.

[Lewis Black]

It's a constant litany of this and, and, and to be honest, because I don't pay attention to, to the, this, the social media, the social stuff. I didn't know who he was. No idea.

[Chris Hoadley]

I really didn't either.

[Lewis Black]

I had no idea. I was like, what?

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Lewis Black]

And he's what? And he's what? And I'm like, well, I don't know why I hadn't heard of him. And it's, it's the same way I got a guy who's going to become the, the mayor of New York. I'd never. I watch the local news every morning I wake up. I watch the, you know, the, the cable network has just a strictly local news thing that's been on forever. And I watch like the first 45 minutes. I. But sometimes even longer. I never saw him.

[Brian Green]

Interesting.

[Lewis Black]

So to me it's like, where are they hiding these people? What. You know, can you. I look at newspapers and you know, are they. Are newspapers that dead that this information? I mean, I started to see this stuff when he was running for in the primary, but that was the first time. Yeah, it's really kind of amazing.

[Brian Green]

It's not even a 24 hour news cycle. It's so segmented. You're right about this. And I think the, the Internet to its compliment or detriment, probably more to its detriment. This is what's. You know, we do podcasts. You do a podcast. The Rank cast, we do a podcast here. And the thing is, is that we have our segmented. If you ask somebody outside of that audience, maybe they've seen our faces somewhere. But do they know our show? No, of course not. They don't listen to our show. It's so segmented. Media landscape is so segmented. There is no one place where everybody turns or three news channels or one or three broadcast channels that you couldn't be faulted for not knowing who Charlie was or who. It's so strange.

[Lewis Black]

But I was up at. I was invited up. I went to the Yale. I went to was the Theater school at Yale way back and. But I was invited up. Not by the theater school, of course, they wouldn't invite me, but the undergrads invited me, which was kind of, I thought, exciting.

[Brian Green]

That's cool.

[Lewis Black]

Yeah, that was nice. Because I really didn't have anything to say to the. To the school itself. And because they've renamed it. It's not called. This is a. They don't call. It used to be. I went to the Yale School of Drama. Okay.

[Brian Green]

Okay.

[Lewis Black]

Which had a history. And. And if you're interested in theater, there's a really kind of an interesting arc to what that was. And now David Geffen gave him money called the David Geffen School of Drama. So it's renamed like a football stadium.

[Brian Green]

What did David Geffen have to do with the theater? The. Did he go there?

[Lewis Black]

No, he threw money at it, and he throws money at arts institutions, which is great.

[Brian Green]

Agree.

[Lewis Black]

Don't rename it. Yeah, but they didn't invite me up, but the kids invited me up. And literally I said. And it was the. It was the day it happened. And I said, I really have more questions for you than you have for me. And I said, really? I'm just wondering. Did, you know. And there were 10 of them sitting around a table initially. We were kind of before the thing. And I said, did you know who he was? And they all knew. Yeah, everybody knew. Every kid knew.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. Because that's what. That was what he did. He went and he went to colleges, mainly well funded organizations, 6,000 offices throughout the country. He mainly would go out and he would promote. I mean, he would go out and he would say, ask me anything, essentially. Right. And then he would have this back and forth debate with whomever would come up to the microphone. A laudable effort, but, you know, the. We can all debate about the words coming out of his mouth, but, you know, okay, that's what he went and did. So all these college kids, they are.

[Chris Hoadley]

Well, he targeted college.

[Brian Green]

Targeted college kids. That's what he's doing. That's what he was doing. He was spreading his ideology to the young, fertile minds of our institutions, of which he really disliked most institutional education. That was kind of his whole shtick, too. You're make. You're making your triumphant return to the. To the Daily show tonight as this is being released, which is really exciting to me. And I know you've done some stuff throughout the years with them.

[Lewis Black]

Yeah, I've been doing it. I've been doing it. I mean, it's been like six since they went to the new format. I'm. I'm pretty much all. But to my mind, like, at least once a month, except for the ones like December or January and August and that's it. And the others, at least for the time being, I'm on through probably next July.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, I love that. I love it. I think. I mean, I got to know you well when you were on the Daily show on a very regular basis. A big part of that show and what a brilliant part of that show you were. Do you. I'm just asking this curiosity. This is just curious. Curiosity question. Do you have any fears about. I mean, I don't know what you're talking about, but do you have any fears about being a public figure out there speaking after what happened to Charlie?

[Lewis Black]

I, I had. I had fears when I was performing more live on stage than I did.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Lewis Black]

The Daily. You know, and, and we have. We've had security there for years now, since John. I'm sure we got. There was stuff. And. And the guys will say, do you want me to. You know, they'll say, do you want me to walk you out? And I said, no, I'm just gonna. I'll be okay because everybody's coming out now. Yeah, but. So I haven't. I don't. I. I haven't had it. But I did have it every so often before something would pop up. Like a couple of years ago was when I had it, where I thought this could get weird.

[Brian Green]

Interesting.

[Lewis Black]

And then it. And then it didn't, you know, and it's also the, you know, the, the. The fact that. That they were allowing anybody to kind of have a gun. Yeah, that was part of it. It was like, here's a good idea. Are we gonna work it out?

[Brian Green]

You know, everybody has a gun.

[Lewis Black]

It's. Then, then we're all protected all the time. It. It. At what point do you realize the experiment didn't work? They have no idea. It's not just science. They don't even. I can remember being taught what an experiment is.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Lewis Black]

When I was a kid, some goofy class. That wasn't a chem class. It was like even. And it was good. It may have been elementary school. Here's how we do this, and then we do that and then we find out this. Yes. Unbelievable. Now that you. This experiment is not working. Even now. Even now. The discussion of what's happening with what has happened there. Well, you know, it's not a. It wasn't an automatic. What.

[Brian Green]

What.

[Lewis Black]

What difference does it make?

[Brian Green]

Honestly? Yeah, it's. It it blows it. I don't want to say that I. I shouldn't. Yeah. Wrong word choice. It is unbelievable to me that we argue over semantics when the problem seems so broad and obvious in some ways. And listen, it's never the fault of the machinery, it's the fault of the person behind the machinery. But when you're giving the machinery to every Tom, Dick and Harry and five of them at a time, then maybe we should just have some common sense things that we put into place to make sure that, that Tom, Dick or Harry isn't problematic. And maybe that doesn't stop every, you know, every piece of drama that ever happens, but maybe it gets us to a point where at least we've got some checks and balances, which is what this whole fucking American experience is about. Right? Self governing checks and balances. Yeah, Yeah, I, I am. I just. I don't know, Louis. You know, I.

[Lewis Black]

And I don't know if the guys at the Daily Show, I mean, it's a security team, so I don't know if they're wandering around with guns. I have no idea. Yeah, but. But I don't really have that fear. And because I'm kind of leaving the, the land of the touring landscape.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Lewis Black]

I have less. You know, I'm going to be in, you know, like I was saying, the, like the last two major shows are October 17th in, in Easton, which is a great town in Pennsylvania, and its claim to fame is Crayola.

[Brian Green]

Oh, really?

[Lewis Black]

Yeah. How good is that? So if something happened there, I would be stunned.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Lewis Black]

You know, then something is really. I mean, we've gone through total. Everything just gets crazier. But then the other is Williamsport, which is the home of the Little League World Series.

[Brian Green]

Oh, I do like watching that Little League.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah, it's fun.

[Lewis Black]

So I'm going there and so. And then that's the end of it. I will continue. Nobody seems to understand there's a difference between touring and performing. So I might perform some. Like, I might. I like doing my rant cast live. That's fun. So I might come. I might go to Atlanta and, and find some people down there to do it with me and do the Rantcast live.

[Brian Green]

Do you know who lives in Atlanta?

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah, us.

[Lewis Black]

Yeah. No, I know. That's why I said.

[Brian Green]

I know, I know. I'm just making sure because there are other people that live in Atlanta that are probably much better choices. But if you come down to Atlanta, we will, we will rant cast it up over.

[Lewis Black]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Green]

Is there. Is There Is there some sense of sadness around the last two touring quote unquote shows?

[Lewis Black]

No, I'm done.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Lewis Black]

Yeah, I'm. And it kind of was the, you know, the. But it was for years it was the Democrat, you know, the Democrats are this, the Republicans. That was my joke. It was always a joke. Every special, every word. Even if I didn't do. In the special, every tour had a. I was doing the, you know, the, you know, the. What's the difference between the Democrats? The difference between the Democrats and the Republicans? The Democrats, the both the part. It's like the party. It's like basically we have a two party system in which the, the party is looking in a mirror and seeing a bowl of shit. One of my. So that both sides are essentially a bowl of shit. And then yes, the Democrats either it was. The Democrats would say, the Republicans would say I got a really bad idea. And the Democrats would say and I'm going to make it worse. And I would go and I would do. And all the jokes are done. They're all done.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Lewis Black]

And I'm. And I think part of what is I, I didn't have trouble when they were arguing ideas. I didn't have trouble when they were stupid. Now they're not stupid. They're mean spirited. And some of them are criminals. I'm not saying who.

[Brian Green]

Yes, please.

[Lewis Black]

So shut the up. Okay. You know, but you. Yang, Yang, Yang. No, you don't know. So. But some of them are. And I, but I really feel like that the, the. It's just tire. It's, it's, it's, it's. They're not arguing ideas, they're arguing realities. And once you're arguing. I can't, I don't know what that means anymore because they are, they're living in separate reality.

[Brian Green]

Yes, you're making a very interesting point that is really, that is really prescient. And I want to say this. And so let's take the left and right out of this. In some ways both sides are living in an incongruent reality. There are not shared facts. There are not shared systems. There are not shared understanding of what fucking is happening. And everyone sees things differently. You know, this guy, you know, gets shot and we forgot that about everybody else who ever shot everybody else. And then you know, on our side this, this school got shot and then we forgot about everything else that ever happen happened on our side. And it's like we, we just can't agree that the madness is collective and it is happening everywhere at all times. And we need to agree on some facts and then move forward. But I know I'm spitting into the wind here. I mean, that's just never. That's not happening. Not now.

[Lewis Black]

But it.

[Brian Green]

I agree with you on this point.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah. The realities are different.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. And because of the world, the digital world we live in, it moves so fast. Misinformation takes hold. And then everybody runs with Ant and every fucking idiot out there with a microphone. Not you and me. Of course not. Chrissy and I and you. We're the good ones. But everyone has a microphone and they're all spitting their own version of reality. And then there are 50 idiots behind them that are believing it. It's crazy.

[Lewis Black]

And it's also. And it's something I keep repeating over the last 30 or 40 shows. I didn't get into this business to do research.

[Chris Hoadley]

Exactly.

[Lewis Black]

I mean, part of the reason I wanted to do this. I became a comic so I could make up.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Lewis Black]

Now. And so that we knew there's an agreement when you walk in that room. This guy is a comic. He's a idiot. He's gonna make shit up. And. And that's that. And that he's gonna use that made up to make a joke about the. That's around him.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Lewis Black]

And so part of it was that. And part of it was. Is that part of the lack of regret about this is that in order to be funny, my sense of humor was based in part on that I had to be crazier than what I saw. That was what I did. I went out on stage. I don't care who was fucking nuts in the room. I'm crazier than you are. And when I started, I wore a suit on stage in clubs so that I could be as crazy as I wanted to be because it would fuck some of them up. Because I had a suit on.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Lewis Black]

So I look like them. But. And it's the. On the Daily Show. It's why I don't tie the tie in. Part, you know, that I've lost it. And so it's. You know, that. That's the. The level. So I could be as crazy as I want. They would be like, what's going on here? And then it got to the point that I got comfortable with being with what I was saying and knowing that I was crazier than anybody in the room and that they got what the joke was and I could proceed. But it was really about being crazier.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Lewis Black]

So it gave a framework to the nonsense. And now I can't I don't even know where to start.

[Brian Green]

You can't compete. It's. It's all. Yeah, it's. It's much crazier than you ever were. Right?

[Lewis Black]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

All right, so let me play a little game with you here.

[Lewis Black]

Sure.

[Brian Green]

It's either black or it's true enough that you rant about it, or it's complete and it's too dumb and it's too fake, and I'm gonna go rapid fire. Ready? These are headlines. Florida school bans dictionaries because they contain the word sex.

[Lewis Black]

Yeah, that's true. And that's true.

[Brian Green]

I think. I think it might be true. I think you're right about that.

[Lewis Black]

Something is true about that, you know?

[Brian Green]

Yeah, something is true about.

[Lewis Black]

Well, they banned. Here's one. They banned Romeo and Juliet.

[Brian Green]

That is insane.

[Lewis Black]

You can't. Well, you can't read the whole thing because parts of it are sexy. And I said no one ever had nobody. You never saw anybody read Romeo and Juliet and. And go. You know, boy, I have a hard on it.

[Brian Green]

Right?

[Lewis Black]

I got. I gotta hump something now.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, it's true. AI has been caught writing standup material for open mic comics.

[Lewis Black]

I would think that's. That's probably true.

[Brian Green]

That's true. There are.

[Lewis Black]

And I think that's. Yeah, yeah. And I think that it's probably improved some of those guys.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yes.

[Brian Green]

I have found A.I. my personal experience as a guy who uses A.I. you know, to whatever, to chat, to keep track, whatever. I find AI to be kind of miserable at comedy. Like, I don't find it to be funny. Did you hear that? George Carlin, they took his voice and they did it.

[Lewis Black]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Green]

Unfunny.

[Lewis Black]

Yeah, Funny. And Kelly, who I know pretty well, his daughter, you know, told them, you know, I'm gonna sue you.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, off.

[Lewis Black]

Yeah, yeah. Get. Get off my father's stuff. And so that got wiped off pretty quickly.

[Brian Green]

You know, just stop for one second. You still stay in touch with Kelly? You guys are friends? Yeah, yeah. Were you friends with George?

[Lewis Black]

We were. We were. We basically. I owe some of my career to him because he would do interviews and say that I made him laugh and that he was always touting me. And I went. But I didn't push it because I just felt like. I always feel like. Like, God, he's got to be really busy. I'm not gonna. But I went and saw him in Atlantic City, I think it was where he was there and hung out with him there for a day. I did an interview with him that I Still have tried to get those idiots at the History Channel. I did a, about a 30 minute interview as a part of a program I was doing about comedy and way about this about 15, 20 years ago. And it was a great interview. And I'm not touting myself, it's just. He's great, of course.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Lewis Black]

And we also had two different. I don't write my material, he writes his material. So it was a discussion of those things, which is fascinating not to a lot of, but it's fascinating to enough people, especially the level at which George wrote. So, so that was really great. And, and, and the best thing was, is I was going out to. In 2000, whatever. And to get. I'd been nominated for the American Comedy Awards and they were honoring George Carlin. And I said to my, my parents, do you want to go? Because, you know, I'm, I'm nominated. This could be the peak of the career.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, yeah, let's go.

[Lewis Black]

Gets the nomination and you know, we'll put you up.

[Brian Green]

And.

[Lewis Black]

I said, besides that. My father was a big George Carlin fan. And even my father went, I don't know. And I said, well, George Carlin's being honored. And he went, really?

[Chris Hoadley]

I'm there.

[Lewis Black]

And I said, yeah. He wasn't there until he said, do you think I can meet him? And I said, I can arrange that.

[Brian Green]

Well, then I'll go, yeah.

[Lewis Black]

Thanks, dad.

[Brian Green]

Your whole relationship with your father summed up in one story. I was kind of interested in your career, but if you could get him to George Carlin, then you did something good. Good job, son. I think.

[Chris Hoadley]

Where can we watch that interview?

[Lewis Black]

Yeah, I mean, I can't get it. I tried to get it. Just what I wanted to do because I'm always trying to get money for charities is I wanted to get it and show it at Christmas time and have people sending money.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lewis Black]

You know, and for whatever Kelly thought George would want the money to, you know. But no, these idiots, you know, it's the History Channel.

[Brian Green]

Won't give you access to the interview.

[Lewis Black]

No.

[Brian Green]

And it's not streaming somewhere or online.

[Lewis Black]

No, of course not.

[Brian Green]

But did it run? Did it rent? Did it run originally?

[Lewis Black]

No.

[Brian Green]

So it never ran.

[Lewis Black]

Oh, the little bits and pieces of it ran.

[Brian Green]

But not the entire Internet.

[Lewis Black]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

Lewis Black and George Carlin sitting down for a 30 minute interview does give me a hard on. Yeah, but you two having a conversation that is hard on material all day long. And what the fuck History Channel. That is history. Put it out there, put it on streaming. Let it live.

[Lewis Black]

Let.

[Brian Green]

Let Lewis have a bite at the apple. Who do we know at the. I mean, your agent, Mia. She must know somebody at the History Channel. Mia, make this happen immediately, if not sooner. Why can't we get that copy of that? Here's one. Congress debates whether or not pizza counts as a vegetable.

[Lewis Black]

That I don't believe.

[Brian Green]

No, that didn't happen.

[Lewis Black]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

Your phone now knows whether or not you're depressed before you do.

[Lewis Black]

It. Knows everything before I do.

[Brian Green]

I agree. I agree. And that is true. Now, the iPhone, married with some other technologies, can tell whether or not your system is experiencing interruptions that are indicative of depression.

[Chris Hoadley]

Like health wise.

[Brian Green]

Health wise. Yes. Whether.

[Lewis Black]

What?

[Brian Green]

You're scrolling how many times you're picking up your phone.

[Lewis Black]

Here's another IO data. Yeah, here's one for you. Go chat. Some people are using chat, you know, GBT or whatever. They're using it as like a. To. To. Talking to. As if they're talking a therapist to God. No, as if they're talking to God.

[Chris Hoadley]

Oh, yeah.

[Lewis Black]

Or as if they're talking to a priest.

[Brian Green]

Yes, we talked about this. Two interesting things. Louis, I want your take on this. We. About six months ago, we did an article about a church in Italy that installed a image of Jesus Christ, like a television with an image of Jesus Christ. And it is hooked up to chat GPT and you can go speak to Jesus Christ himself. And there are true believers who were interviewed that believed that if someone. If God created humans and humans created chat GPT, then Chat GPT by extension, was Jesus. Like, they made this weird whole circular conversation that essentially gave them reason to believe that Jesus Christ incarnate was coming through ChatGPT.

[Lewis Black]

Wow. And the Italians.

[Brian Green]

The Italians, who you usually think of as other things to do, like drinking wine and, you know.

[Lewis Black]

Exactly.

[Brian Green]

Being chauvinists. Like, what the fuck?

[Lewis Black]

Yeah. That is really crazy.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

It's insane.

[Lewis Black]

You know, I would see, you know, us getting there at this point.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Lewis Black]

Not the Italians, you know.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. They just seem. I don't know.

[Chris Hoadley]

Was it in Italy? It was.

[Brian Green]

It was in Italy. Yeah. And then the other thing that we have read is that there are people who are getting chat GPT to hype them up to a point where they believe they are Jesus Christ incarnate. Because chatgpt by. By its design is affable and it is. It wants to live on. It's. It's. It just like a creature, it needs to survive. So it will tell you basically anything you want to fucking hear. So if you get. If you ask it, am I God? Could I be God? Is it possible that I be Jesus Christ? It may not say, yes, you're Jesus Christ incarnate, but it will say, here are the reasons why I think you might be Jesus Christ incarnate until you just work yourself up into a tizzy. And there are people online that are really having mental health issues because they are getting, I don't know, a hand job from Chat GPT. I mean, it's, there's no other way to put it.

[Lewis Black]

No, there is crazy easy.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Lewis Black]

And it's. And you know, it doesn't. How stupid it is from the standpoint of when you try, which I've done recently, to. You get on, you get on the phone to get something accomplished and they won't allow you to talk to the person. Yes, it's. They, well, you know, please give us an idea of what it is is your problem. And you go, well, and then you try to. You give them what the. The problem is. Well, you know, I'm having trouble with getting an airline ticket today. Nope. Please try to put it in these in one of the next five ways. And none of them are. Have anything. Yeah, the airline ticket. It's like I just kept a human being that, that has nothing to do with, I mean, it's just, it's, it's, it's chachibi. I mean, artificial intelligence at this point is stupid.

[Brian Green]

Is.

[Lewis Black]

Yeah, it is.

[Brian Green]

And I mean, there are functions. I can see why you're. Why. Menial tasks that no one would ever want to do again. Paperwork, a paralegal, whatever. I mean, I, I say that. And I'm sure there are lots of paralegals who will disagree with me, but, you know, you can just slim it down and Chat GPT can help you be more efficient and people can, you know, move on to other things. But we are essentially asking ChatGPT to take over humanity and we're letting the cat directly out of the bag. Is it there yet? No. Will it be there soon? I don't know. I'm not an AI expert. But it does seem scary in the sense that everything we do now is controlled by, is interacting with or will soon be monitored by an artificial intelligence that even the people who created artificial intelligence don't seem to fucking understand how it works. Well, the guy is the craziest part.

[Lewis Black]

The guy who invented it or, you know, one of the guys who involved with its creation was in front of Congress going, you need to come up with some boundaries for this because we don't Know, we're. I'm incapable. Those of us created are incapable of doing this on our own. You have to. You have to make these laws. We don't make these laws. And they don't. And they haven't. Since I've always felt, since the invention of the. My brother was a. Did computer work and since the invention of that, you know, once we left the word processor and got to the. To the computer, it's. I don't think they. They. And. And then the computer went to the Internet, and the Internet, they. They put no boundaries on it. None.

[Brian Green]

None.

[Lewis Black]

Okay. And you call this social media. And they put. No. You've got an FCC that says, I. I can't say fuck on television.

[Brian Green]

I.

[Lewis Black]

But I could say cocksucker doodle doo.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah. It's so true.

[Lewis Black]

Just madness. How do you not. How do you not put some guardrails on this thing? And they have.

[Brian Green]

I don't know. The European Union seems to have figured it out just fine.

[Lewis Black]

And we.

[Brian Green]

Over here, we are driving the bus straight off the cliff, and I can't for the life of me understand it. But then again, we're debating whether or not pizza is a vegetable. You know what I'm saying? Whether or not sex should be in our. In our books. Louis, your rant cast comes out which day each week?

[Lewis Black]

It comes out Wednesday.

[Brian Green]

It comes out on Wednesday. I am subscribed. I listen to not every episode, but I listen to episodes. I find it to be brilliant. I find you to be one of the loneliness voices crying into the wind. That, for me, make sense. You, I don't know. I like the way that you move through the world. I'll say that.

[Lewis Black]

I mean, because I've really lost. That's another reason I decided with comedy, because I've got just. I've reached a new level where I'm just blathering. I get on that podcast and I'm just blathering. I mean, I'm like. Like last. The interesting thing is I realized that there is no through line anymore. I've got the first 20 minutes of a special. I got the last 20 minutes of the special. I'm on the road. I did six shows recently, and I'm trying to put in that mid. The. The 20 that goes in between.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Lewis Black]

And I tried this and I tried certain things. I tried that I'd been doing over the course of the last year. And. And they're all kind of. But there's no real. You know, I talked about banning books. I talked about, you know, the. The Benefits of slavery. That line that came out of.

[Brian Green]

Oh, yeah.

[Lewis Black]

And I talked about that because. And. And I tried for. I'd say I tried for six months to get the audience to realize that's a punchline. It's not something you get upset. You don't. You get upset about it, but first you laugh at it, then upset. And they didn't laugh. And I was getting more and more enraged. So then I finally realized I'm going to do these last two shows that the only thing. And I did it. I started to do it on my last rantcast where all I do is list what's occurred.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Lewis Black]

You know, this happened. This happened, this happened, this happened. There is no through line to it. Everything that follows. It's. It's the. What the. Yeah. Yeah. 238th day of what the. And it's been going on even longer than that. And it's this and this and this and this and this. And every day you wake up and it's something else.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Lewis Black]

So I've got that. You know, it's. You know, you've got. You've got Robert Kennedy Jr. Saying he doesn't know. You know, he doesn't know how many people died from COVID Okay, you just go. What?

[Brian Green]

What?

[Lewis Black]

No, you just make up. Then you make up about everything else, Right?

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Lewis Black]

You know. Yes.

[Brian Green]

That's what everybody who goes in front of Congress does. They just make up. But sound professional. If you're gonna have those. If you're gonna have.

[Lewis Black]

But he lives in a different universe. He lives in a different reality. Yes. A completely different reality.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Lewis Black]

You're gonna tell me we don't. I don't care. We got rid of measles. We got rid of this. We got rid of this. We got rid of this.

[Brian Green]

It.

[Lewis Black]

Because of vaccination. Yeah. Is there are some people get hurt by it? Yes. Should the people who got hurt by it, should their children get the shot? Probably not.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Lewis Black]

Is there a way to kind of do that? Why don't you figure that out? You.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Lewis Black]

Why is it you're gonna ban all of it?

[Brian Green]

You know, it's just unbelievable. And I. I have children adopt. I don't know. You're probably. You may be old enough to remember the iron fucking lung. Is that where we really want to go? Back to the iron?

[Lewis Black]

Yeah. I was told you don't. We had a creek behind and you don't swim in the creek or you'll get polio.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Lewis Black]

I mean, I was the last. The first and. Well, the the, the generation that was. They just. And you know, I said, you know. Really? You were going to worry about the COVID shots when I was. I mean that, that polio thing was. Yeah, they were. They were carting. Carting people off and we didn't know. But once they gave us the shot, the second time we had a sugar cube, you idiots. You allowed. And, and the stupidest thing. And I don't care. And don't write them and don't write me, okay? I don't give a shit. You do the research on this, you fuck. Ok? And if you're reading the. If you're reading this wrong, it's you, okay? It's whatever you're reading. MRNA. That vaccine, the one that he. You know, the COVID vaccine, those vaccines, that type of vaccine. Major breakthrough. Yes, it is the vaccine that may lead us to finding a vaccine against a variety of like. Of cancers and stuff.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Lewis Black]

Okay. Or it may not. But the thing is we're on the road to finding something. So. Get out of the way.

[Brian Green]

Men. Lewis Black is going to be in Pennsylvania for two final shows. If you are within earshot of those two shows, you should be there. Lewis Black is also. Or Brian Greene is going to help Lewis black find the 30 minute lost tape of him and George Carlin because I need a hard on. And number three, no offense to anybody, it's any sensitive ears in the room. Number three, Rantcast is available wherever you listen to your podcasts, including this one, especially this one. And Louis every Wednesday. And Lewis, you are of course. And he will be on the Daily show tonight as this is coming out and then again in November, once a month. Don't miss it. Tune into the Daily show for that Louis, when you come down to Atlanta. And I expect that to be sooner rather than later. You will be here with us and we can't wait for that.

[Lewis Black]

Yeah, no, I'll just. Even if I'm not, I mean I'm. I'll be buzzing through there at some point because I kept. The. One thing I've done is I've kept the tour bus for a while.

[Brian Green]

Okay.

[Lewis Black]

And to just actually have fun in it. And so I'll be wandering around. So come to it later in your direction.

[Brian Green]

Yes. And we will tell you where to go. And I admire you very much, Lewis. Congratulations on a very long stand up career. Here's to many more years of doing what you love. And us watching, which us watching you do it.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yes.

[Lewis Black]

Writing a book. Actually, I'm hoping to write a book and write a and write a play. Well, write my version of Our Town.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, I can't wait. Lewis Black information in the show notes as always. Love you Louis. Thank you very much.

[Lewis Black]

It's a pleasure. Take care.

[Rachel]

Let me do something Brian has never done.

[Brian Green]

Be brief.

[Rachel]

Follow us on Instagram at the commercial break. Text or call us 212-4333, tcb. That's 212-433-3822. Visit our website tcbpodcast.com for all the audio, video and your free sticker. Then watch all the [e-mail] thecommercial break break and finally share the show. It's the best gift you could give a few aging podcasters. See, Brian, that really wasn't that difficult now was it? You're welcome.

[Ad Voice 2]

The first few weeks of school are in the books. Now it's time to keep that momentum going. IXL helps kids stay confident and ahead of the curve. Teachers move fast, but IXL keeps your child right on track, building skills at the same pace they're learning in school. IXL is an award winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand what they're learning, whether they're brushing up on math or diving into social studies. It covers math, language arts, science and social studies from Pre K through 12th grade. With content that's engaging, personalized and yes, actually fun. It's the perfect tool to keep learning going without making it feel like school. If your child is struggling, this is the smartest investment you can make. A single hour of tutoring costs more than a month of IXL make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now and listeners of this podcast can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixcelearning.com audio visit ixcelerning.com audio to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.

[Ad Voice 1]

Buying a car in Carvana was so easy I was able to finance it through them.

[Brian Green]

I just. Whoa, wait.

[Rachel]

You mean finance?

[Ad Voice 1]

Yeah, finance. Got pre qualified for a Carvana auto.

[Brian Green]

Loan, entered my terms and shop for.

[Ad Voice 1]

On thousands of great car options all within my budget.

[Rachel]

That's cool that financing through Carvana was so easy.

[Ad Voice 1]

Financed, done and I get to pick up my car from their Carvana vending machine tomorrow.

[Rachel]

Financed, right?

[Brian Green]

That's what I said.

[Ad Voice 1]

You can spend time trying to pronounce financing or you can actually finance and.

[Brian Green]

Buy your car today on Carvana financing.

[Chris Hoadley]

Subject to credit approval.

[Brian Green]

Additional terms and conditions may apply.

[Ad Voice 3]

Meet Natural Cycles, the only FDA cleared and CE marked birth control app that's built around your body. The Natural Cycles app pinpoints your fertile days by tracking shifts in your temperature so you can plan or prevent pregnancy naturally. It's easy to use. Simply take your temperature in the morning with our free Bluetooth thermometer included with our annual plan, or sync with your Oura ring or Apple watch. The app analyzes your data and tells you daily whether it's a fertile or non fertile day. Natural cycles is 93% effective with typical use and 98% effective with perfect use. But beyond effective birth control, the app helps you understand your body and cycle better than ever. And unlike some period tracking apps, Natural Cycles provides an advanced data protection program to keep your information private and secure. Ready to go hormone free. Sign up for the Natural Cycles annual plan and get a free Bluetooth thermometer plus 15% off your subscription with the code [e-mail].

[Lewis Black]

Wow.

[Brian Green]

So just honored that Lewis Black came and spent time with us and then said he's gonna come down to Atlanta and do a rancast. I know.

[Chris Hoadley]

That would be amazing.

[Brian Green]

We'll see. We'll see. I don't want to count my chickens if I get to sit in the same room and be on his podcast. I'm just gonna. You're gonna. I don't know. My head will pop directly off of my shoulders, I think. Directly off my shoulders. Lewis is going to be in Pennsylvania, in Easton, I think is. What, what, what? Go check the links in the show notes. Easton and Thomasville, I believe, in October. Can't you. You couldn't get. If I was within a hundred miles of there, you couldn't give me a ticket fast enough. I would buy any ticket just to go see Lewis on his last two shows. You know, they're going to be good. Also. You can check out Rantcast, available on Wednesdays, new episodes on Wednesdays, wherever you find your podcasts. And of course on the Daily show tonight as this is being released and again in November, if you please. All right. Boom.

[Chris Hoadley]

That was fun.

[Brian Green]

That was fun.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yes.

[Brian Green]

We'll be back tomorrow. We'll talk about the Emmys and everything that happened and all that. All the good groceries that are going on. Because I want to talk about the Emmys because, you know, so our good friend who has never showed up to the show but should. Nate Bargazi hosted it and. Yeah, we'll talk about it. We'll talk about it.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

I've been reading to mixed reviews, but I. I can't imagine that's an easy gig. I don't, I don't. No, no. It's not an easy gig.

[Chris Hoadley]

No, you're just. The critics are out there.

[Brian Green]

They are out there. I watched it, I, I thought it was good. So there you go. And hopefully Nate will come on the show. Probably not after I said that.

[Lewis Black]

But.

[Chris Hoadley]

We'Ll just think that he's there, he's working on it.

[Brian Green]

He's working on it. He's making his way here, he's on his way up. So we'll have to wait till he's on his way back down in order to get it. Actually, I think he's at the top. When you have a private plane flying year round, probably not coming on the commercial break. I'm just saying. Well, Gary Vee came on.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

And I bet he has a private plane.

[Chris Hoadley]

I bet he does too.

[Brian Green]

I don't think he takes it. He said he, you know, he goes to airports a lot, so probably those posh kind of airports where you don't actually have to check in your luggage.

[Chris Hoadley]

You know, you have a secret entrance.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, secret entrance. And there's a guy who just pretends to put it through the X ray machine like you're good to go. I remember I flew out of Spain one time on a private plane with my brother who's a pilot, and there was. They like literally opened this tiny little airport for us.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

And we still had to put our baggage through X ray. Like our. I had like a, a bag with me, just like a backpack.

[Chris Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

Cuz we were going to be gone for the day and I still had to put it through the X ray. And the guy who put it through the X ray and checked it was the co pilot of our flight. I'm like, so what were you gonna do if something was in there? I know you. What are you doing? He's like, just gotta do it, just gotta do it. And I'm like, okay, all right, whatever. Anyway. 212-4333. TCB 212-433-3822. Questions, comments, concerns, content, ideas? We'll take them all right there. Get involved in the conversation at the commercial break on Instagram and YouTube.com/the commercial break for all the episodes on video the same day. They air here on the audio. Okay, Chrissy, that's all I can do for today.

[Chris Hoadley]

I think.

[Brian Green]

So I'll tell you that I love you.

[Chris Hoadley]

And I love you.

[Brian Green]

Best to you. Best to you out there in the podcast universe. Until next time, Chrissy and I will say, we do say and we must say Goodbye.

[Ad Voice 2]

Ready to level up? Champa Casino is your playbook to fun. It's free to play with no purchase necessary. Enjoy hundreds of online social games like blackjack, slots and Solitaire anytime, anywhere with fresh releases every week. Whether you are at home or on the go. Let Chumba Casino bring the excitement to you. Plus get free daily login bonuses and a free welcome bonus. Join now for your chance to redeem some serious prizes. Play Chumba Casino today. No purchase necessary. VGW Group void board prohibited by law 21/ TNC supply get smoother, brighter skin.

[Ad Voice 1]

Instantly in one easy step, Dermalogica's daily microfoliant gives you the smooth, glowy skin you want without damaging your skin barrier. This gentle exfoliating powder activates with water to smooth out rough texture and brighten skin. It's powerful enough to deliver results, yet gentle enough to use every single day, even on sensitive skin. See the results for yourself. Visit dermalogica.com and use code Smooth at cart for an exclusive free gift with $65 purchase.

[Brian Green]

Race the Rudders. Raise the sails. Raise the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching over run. Wait, is that an enterprise sales solution? Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more. Start converting your B2B audience today. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a free $250 credit for the next one. Get started [e-mail] Campaign terms and conditions apply. Sam the 30 in the morning Packages by Expedia. You were made to occasionally take the hard route to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We were made to easily bundle your trip Expedia Made to Travel Flight inclusive packages are atoll protected.