TCB Infomercial w. Joanna Hausmann

Summary

The Commercial Break – TCB Infomercial w. Joanna Hausmann (Feb 13, 2024)

Episode Overview

This TCB Infomercial episode welcomes Venezuelan-American comedian and writer Joanna Hausmann for a vibrant, comedic, and insightful conversation about internet culture, identity, growing up between worlds, viral fame, and life as a comedy creator. Hosts Bryan Green and Kristen Joy Hoadly blend their signature irreverent banter with Joanna’s sharp humor, relatable anecdotes, and observations on Latin identity, viral rants, family, and career in diverse comedy spaces. The episode is marked by cultural affection, laughs, cross-cultural comparisons, an inside look at comedy writing, and memorable stories of Venezuelan traditions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Parent-Teacher Conferences & Podcast Secrets (01:10–04:54)

• Bryan reflects on parent-teacher anxieties, joking about his children’s home chaos vs. their "model student" school personas.
  • “Are you sure they're not, like... throwing anybody from the top bunk...? Because that's what's happening at the house.”—Bryan (02:01)
• The hosts riff on how the school's discovery of his podcast "secret" makes these meetings extra awkward.

2. Social Media Parenting Advice & Family Support (03:03–06:24)

• Discussion of the abundance (and suspect quality) of Instagram parenting tips.
• Bryan and Kristen poke fun at the unreliable ways they've tried to monetize the podcast.
  • “Determination and spouses that make money and supportive family members that loan us cash.” —Bryan (06:19)

3. Introducing Joanna Hausmann: Identity Comedy (06:27–08:36)

• Bryan & Kristen praise Joanna’s comedy that explores complex cultural identities with humor.
• “This is identity comedy. And it’s really funny and spot on.” —Bryan (07:22)
• They highlight her viral videos, unique Instagram content, and writing for “Tacoma FD” and “Hamster & Gretel”.

4. Joanna Joins: Viral ‘Weird Girl’ Rant & Instagram Satire (12:10–16:03)

• Joanna shares the backstory to her viral rant skewering the "hashtag weird girl" trend on Instagram.
  • “I recorded that angrily one day and then was like, 'I'm just gonna upload it. Who cares?'” —Joanna (13:35)
  • On the trend: “It’s the appropriation of weird girl culture. It’s appropriating what is not theirs.” —Joanna (15:02)
• The trio joke about social media’s absurdity, performative weirdness, and influencers.
  • Bryan: “Follow your dreams. Here’s my boobs. What are you trying to do?” (16:34)

5. Internet Fame & Content Theft (16:14–18:01)

• Joanna describes seeing her tweet used by others without credit, fueling millions of views on emotionless "reaction" content.
  • “She’s just half her face breathing. I feel old, honestly.” —Joanna (17:24)

6. Identity: Born in England, Raised Venezuelan (18:17–20:23)

• Joanna recounts her complex origins: born in Royal Leamington Spa, England, to Venezuelan parents.
  • “I was just born there by accident during spring break. Like, I have no connection to England at all.” —Joanna (19:04)
• Jokes about and laments her inability to get a British passport due to Thatcher-era laws.
  • “I just wanted to prove Margaret Thatcher wrong. I should have had that British passport all along.” —Joanna (20:14)

7. Family History & Venezuelan Turmoil (21:06–24:34)

• Joanna’s family background: Cuban mother, Caracas-born father; moved between Venezuela, US & England.
• Family classified as ‘persona non grata’ for anti-regime journalism/political writings.
  • “My uncle is a journalist there. He was in jail for two years for being a journalist... Now I'm also persona non grata.” —Joanna (22:15)
• Candid conversation on the risks and realities of visiting Venezuela as dissidents.

8. Tourism in Venezuela: Is It Safe? (25:13–27:20)

• Bryan discusses whether it’s safe for family or tourists to visit Venezuela, given conflicting information.
• Joanna offers insight on the government’s current "China-model" approach: more tolerant toward tourists, but risky for vocal critics.
  • “Pretend everything’s fine to the tourists... but we will put you in jail if you say anything bad.” —Joanna (26:06)
  • “If you just keep your mouth shut, Brian, and go to the waterfall, I think it'll be fine.” (26:54)

9. Comedy Career Origins & Internet Representation (27:27–30:36)

• Joanna’s path from wanting to be a playwright to falling into sketch, improv (Second City), and online comedy.
  • Her breakout: a viral video about misconceptions of being Latino, inspired by feeling out of place.
  • “I look like an Irish barmaid. I belong in a Shtetl... So then I made a video about how ridiculous our assumptions are about Latinos that went viral.” —Joanna (29:14)

10. Comedy & Specificity: Resonating Across Cultures (30:49–36:08)

• How being unapologetic about her specific identity resonated widely across many backgrounds.
  • “I didn’t realize that me being, like, almost so unapologetic on how specific my identity is actually would make people feel, like, relieved.”—Joanna (33:14)
• The rise of granular, culturally specific content on the web (“The Venezuelan Birthday Song” gets millions of views).
• “The more specific you get, the better results you have.” —Joanna (35:30)

11. Tacoma FD & Hollywood Writing Rooms (36:13–41:47)

• Joanna shares how her Argentine connections and friendly roasting of Steve Lemme (show creator, from Argentina) got her on the “Tacoma FD” writers’ room.
  • “There are more Mikes than women.” —Joanna (38:38)
• She notes the show’s “sweetness” and the lessons learned about comedy writing structure.

12. Hamster & Gretel: Venezuelan Cultural Touchstones in Kids’ TV (41:48–45:02)

• Joanna is head writer and co-executive producer of “Hamster & Gretel” (Disney+), created by Dan Povenmire (also married into a Venezuelan family).
  • “It’s been really cool to add even... characters... they have Reina Pepiadas... you see these cultural details... it feels really nice.” —Joanna (43:28)

13. Venezuelan Traditions: Ayacas & Arepas (46:37–49:12)

• The crew riffs on the elaborate tradition of making, gifting, and storing ayacas (Christmas tamales) year-round.
  • “If as an adult I was introduced to this and I had to just tolerate it, I would resent it.” —Joanna (48:43)
• Bryan & Joanna affectionately lampoon the hospitality and party culture of Venezuelans.
  • “If a Venezuelan that you know comes within 300 miles of your house, they are staying at your house for an indefinite amount of time.” —Bryan (49:14)
  • On culture: “There is something so loving and wonderful and warm about [Venezuelans]... in my Irish Catholic culture, we have a game: who can get out of the party faster without saying anything to anybody.” —Bryan (49:30)
  • “That's how we do it. Absolutely.” —Joanna (49:14)

14. Podcast Plugs & Goodbyes (50:53–52:47)

• Joanna mentions her podcast “Hyphenated” with Jenny Lorenzo.
• Invites listeners to follow @johaus on Instagram and jokes about joining the family’s WhatsApp chat.
  • “Whoever wants to join my family WhatsApp chat, you're also welcome... all we do is talk about Brian’s.”—Joanna (51:55)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Social Media Virality:
  • “All of the comments are people like, 'Thank you so much for telling our truth. This has been an unspoken problem on the Internet.' ...I didn't realize this was hurting people in a way that almost all the comments are really sincere.” —Joanna (15:38)
• On Living Between Cultures:
  • “Comedy for me has always been a way to, like, just go about the world in a way that makes more sense.” —Joanna (29:12)
• On Making Niche Content:
  • “If you had told me a year before, like, you're going to make a video, hire opera singers... and shoot a video called 'The Eternal Venezuelan Birthday Song,' I would have been like, who would watch that?”—Joanna (35:30)
• On Venezuelan Parties vs. Irish Goodbyes:
  • “In Venezuelan culture, you show up four hours late for a party... and they will not leave until 4 the next afternoon. In Irish Catholic culture, we have a game: who can get out of the party faster without saying anything to anybody. It's the Irish goodbye, baby.” —Bryan (49:30)
• On Hyper-Specific Cultural Humor:
  • “Someone's telling these people that we're not all Sofia Vergara copy paste. We are... we're very different.” —Joanna (33:14)
• On Podcast Dynamic:
  • “I want to be the third host... I want to stay there for an indefinite amount of time.” —Joanna (50:44)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:10 – Parenting anecdotes and school awkwardness
• 06:27 – Joanna Hausmann intro and her comedic focus
• 13:35 – Joanna’s viral ‘Weird Girl’ rant explained
• 19:04 – On being born English but wholly Venezuelan
• 21:35 – Venezuelan political dangers and ‘persona non grata’ status
• 26:06 – Tourism vs. government oppression in Venezuela
• 29:14 – Comedy born from complex identity
• 33:14 – Audience resonance with specific representation
• 35:30 – ‘Eternal Venezuelan Birthday Song’ and the power of specificity
• 38:38 – Tacoma FD writers room, comedy and representation
• 43:28 – Bringing Venezuelan culture to Disney’s “Hamster & Gretel”
• 46:37 – Ayacas and the endless supply of Venezuelan Christmas food
• 49:30 – Shifting party traditions: Venezuelan warmth vs Irish exits
• 51:55 – Joanna’s podcast, Instagram, and family WhatsApp chats

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Tone & Style Notes

• Warm, rapid-fire, irreverent banter is the through-line, punctuated with heartfelt moments and cultural pride.
• Joanna's humor is both self-aware and incisively specific, inviting listeners to laugh with (never at) her deeply human, cross-cultural experiences.
• The episode appeals to anyone balancing multiple identities, coping with viral success, or loving someone from another world entirely.

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Follow Joanna:
Instagram: @johaus
Podcast: Hyphenated
Disney+: Hamster & Gretel

Hosts:
Bryan Green, Kristen Joy Hoadly
Podcast: The Commercial Break

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Transcript

[Joanna Hausman]

Were you liked in high school? Yes. You're not a weird girl, okay? Have you been over medicated or under medicated for the entirety of your life? No. You're not a weird girl. Okay? Have. Have people ask you, oh, my God, are you on drugs when you were just being yourself? You're not the weird girl. Guess what? I'm one of them too. No, you're not. Off.

[Brian Green]

On this episode of the commercial break.

[Joanna Hausman]

I. I mean, I need to be fully honest here. I do know Paco from North Carolina. It's a little aw. But having said that, I owe him 60 bucks.

[Brian Green]

I'm not gonna tell you what for, but just tell Paco to calm down.

[Joanna Hausman]

Calm down. Okay, okay. I'll talk to Paco. I'll text him on my WhatsApp chat after this.

[Brian Green]

The next episode of the commercial break starts now. Yeah, cats and kittens, welcome back to the commercial break. I'm Brian Green, and this is the engineer of our Grand Funk Railroad, Kristen Joy Hoadly. Best to you, Chr. Best to you out there in the podcast universe.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Round two.

[Brian Green]

Round two. We just did a really nice episode of the commercial break that you'll never hear and nor neither will we, because we didn't record it.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Warming up.

[Brian Green]

It used to happen every other episode. Doesn't happen that often anymore because I have. Chrissy's also checking. She's like, I don't trust Brian. Let me check and make sure that's recording. But somehow we both. Both missed it. But anyway, whatever, you know, part and parcel of working here at the commercial break, So, you know, it's time for the kiddos to have their little parent teacher conferences. I don't know if I shared this with you. I think I mentioned a couple days ago we had to go to the parent teacher conferences at the school.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

I know. And I'm always wondering, do you. Because I haven't done many of these. Do you get, like a little twinge of nervousness?

[Joanna Hausman]

I do.

[Brian Green]

I find that I do. Again, I think it has nothing. They're good.

[Joanna Hausman]

I think they're good.

[Brian Green]

Well, and here's what the. We walk in, this is what we find ourselves doing. We walk in and they're like, oh, my God, they're so great. He's so great. She's so great. They're awesome. And we're like, are you sure they're not, like, throwing anybody from the top bunk off down onto the floor? They're not gouging each other's eyes out? No one's spitting out food or yelling and screaming in control, uncontrollably, because that's what's happening at the house. So what we find, it's like a therapy session going on in there. We're like, but does she set anybody else's hair on fire? No, because she's on that twice to her little sister already this week. And they're like, no, I haven't seen that.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Be looking for that.

[Joanna Hausman]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

Should we be looking for that? Well, you don't have lighters here, do you? I keep the gasoline away from that one, and then the other, the other thing. Like, I've heard this about parenting before, which is if they're good outside the house and bad inside the house, you're doing a good job of parenting them. That means they feel safe inside the house.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

That means that that just makes you feel better.

[Joanna Hausman]

Yeah, actually, that.

[Brian Green]

That means that someone on Instagram made that up.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

You're doing a good job.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, you're doing a good job. There is so much shitty parenting information on Instagram, I can't even believe it. It's like everybody thinks they're an expert because they had a kid one time and they, you know, oh, try this trick. Work like a charm. We try those tricks, and they never work like a charm. They just aggravate the child even more. That's all they do. That's all it does. So we go in and, you know, they have, like. They don't have report cards, but they got, like, these progress reports, you know, X's if they've. If they're being observed, like, writing in, you know, full sentences or whatever. And O's if they're not being observed doing that. And so they, you know, they've got mostly X's all the way down the line, so we got nothing to complain about. And the kids are good. They are really are wonderful children.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

They really are.

[Brian Green]

Just not with me.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

I mean, it's not 24 hours.

[Brian Green]

No, not 24 hours a day. Yeah, they let loose in the 18 hours a day they happen to be with us, the six hours a day they're at school. It's fine. But the reason why I think I get a nervous twinge now is because the secret is out. They know that Brian Green does the commercial break, and even though they don't talk about it out loud, they know and I know they know.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

That's right.

[Brian Green]

I know you know that they know. Yes, I know you know that that person knows that we do the commercial break. And everybody knows the same reason why these conspiracy theories aren't true. Is because no one keeps a fucking secret. Even though one time one of the teachers was like, your secret is safe with me. She whispered it in my ear and I was like, what? What secret? What are we talking about? Who are we keeping it from? The commercial break.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Oh, please do keep that secret. If you don't mind going down that path.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, if you don't mind, if we could keep that a secret. But of course, no one keeps any secrets. And so I was in the school the other day, and we go into one classroom and we, you know, I was praying that the teacher doesn't say anything about, you know. So do you find you have any trouble because you're such an asshole on your show with your children?

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

I heard that last episode.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, I heard that last episode. You were talking. And then we go into the other one and no, okay, everything's fine. I've dodged a bullet. They're great. Everything's good. They're doing wonderful. But then we get out. There's like this long hallway. It's like a preschool, right? A preschool with a kindergarten. This is long hallway. And we got to walk down the hallway and there's all these other parents waiting to have the parent teacher conferences. So there is one couple that I don't know very well. I haven't met, you know, face to face. Maybe one time I shook a hand at a different event or something. But they are staring me down, Chrissy. And all I can think to myself is that those two have heard from someone, everyone, anyone, that Brian does the commercial break and he's the asshole who's causing, you know, like, now they're blaming their children's activities on me.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

That bad influence.

[Brian Green]

That's right. Well, do you have any time to do the commercial? Do you have any time to teach your children when you're listening to the commercial break? If you don't. If you don't kick them out, we're leaving. It's like that only fans lady.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Yeah, that's why you park across the street. You walk in to pick them up.

[Brian Green]

That's right. Maybe if we had an only fans. I know. They're probably like, how does he make money with that show? It's so stupid. How does anybody listen?

[Joanna Hausman]

We don't.

[Brian Green]

We've been trying to figure that out for nine months ourselves. How exactly are we going to make.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

A living doing this dusting of love?

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Determination and love.

[Brian Green]

Determination and spouses that make money and supportive family members that loan us cash.

[Joanna Hausman]

Exactly.

[Brian Green]

Oh, thank God for them. Hey, I'm really excited because it's a TCB infomercial day. And today's infomercial guest is Joanna Housman.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

She's so funny. I mean, her Instagram was hilarious. I was checking it out, you know, a couple days ago when I knew she was coming on.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

And it's. Everybody should subscribe.

[Brian Green]

I agree with you. Yeah. Joe House. J O H A U S is you can find her on Instagram. She also has a YouTube channel. I don't think she's been very active on the YouTube channel a little while, but it's called Joanna Rants. It's really funny. Joanna is different than some of our guests in the sense that she's not coming on to promote anything in particular. She's here because we are big fans of hers here at this house. Asterisk. She's a Venezuelan American and she does this kind of line of comedy where it's like, you know, what other people think about my complicated, you know, genetics.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Or my complicated ancestry type. Where you grew up.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, that's right. It's like, you know, identity politics. This is identity comedy. And it's really funny and spot on. And oftentimes she'll do comedy from the perspective of someone that's close to a Venezuelan. So, you know, talking about the food and stuff like that. So we find her to be really funny around the house. She also wrote for Tacoma fd, which was one of my favorite shows shows over the summer because it was the only show that I could actually download onto my phone from Spain for some reason, even with the. I was being chased around the chickens while I'm downloading the latest episode of Tacoma FD because the VPN wouldn't work. And for some reason Tacoma FD just let me watch it. I don't know. They. They didn't. They were like, well, here, anywhere in the world. Go ahead, watch it. Why do we care? Which is how everybody should think about it. But anyway, yeah, and then she's got Hamster and Gretel on Disney plus and Disney, which is. Which is really funny in and of itself. I mean, it's a kids tuned, but it's made for kids that are a little bit older. So I think that if you have children, you can probably get into it. But, you know, we asked her to come on because I identify so much with and as her identifies so much with what she's talking about in her brand of comedy. It's just generally funny, but then it's also funny in a way that's specific and I connect with and so I'm so happy to have, like an insider.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Joke kind of thing.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. And so do yourself a favor and check out Joanna Hausman. She's going to be on here in just a minute. Settle down, everybody. I can hear you all screaming. Okay, get to it. Fucking Brian. All right, we're going to get to it, I promise. But I also wanted to share with the audience that TCB is now TCB Infomercials are now the guest days. So when you see TCB infomercial in the title, that means that we're having a guest. Isn't that a cute little name that we made up that you just figured out about 12 minutes ago? Thanks. Stamped after you said it. It's like when Brian asks if they'll come on if you'll come back on the show to my guests. And we're recording.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Yeah, they're like, every time. Yeah, sure.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, of course. Sure. Why not? I'll never talk to you again on the spot. Yeah. They're already texting their agent. Never again.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

What are you doing to my career?

[Brian Green]

That's right. I've always said, and I'll continue to say, you're either on your way up or on your way down when you meet the commercial break. And so we'll figure out which one that is with Joanna. We'll be back with her after these words.

[TCB Announcer]

Sorry to interrupt, but that's kind of my thing these days. If you're sick of me interrupting, Brian, give us a call at 626-ASKTCB-3. Leave us a voicemail and maybe I'll interrupt you on the show instead. You'd love that, wouldn't ya? You can Also text us at 855-TCB8383 and check out our website, tcbpodcast.com for all things TCV. You know what's coming next. Follow us on Instagra Instagram at the commercial break and on TikTok CB podcast. And now let's listen to some sponsors, because they're the real ones around here.

[Brian Green]

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[Joanna Hausman]

Hello. How are you guys?

[Brian Green]

We're really good. We're really good. This is an exciting day here at the Green household. I do have to tell you, the Boquete Green household because my wife has been such. My wife, my brother in law, my mother in law, my father in law, my other brother in law and then many other Venezuelans that I know find you to be the top clam in the sea. They really think you're the best and they're so excited that you're here on the show.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Or do you find that fluttering around all morning?

[Joanna Hausman]

She's excited. That's so sweet. And I feel so bad because I texted Astrid like, yo, yo, is this happening today? Like, what's going on? I didn't, you know, I didn't Joanna any of it with kindness.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, Joanna got rough rider. She was like, yo, what's up yo batch? I. She, I know she was got so scared. She was like, what happened? And I don't nothing just to tell her that, you know, we it's still on. We're still here. We'd love to have Joanna on the show. I have to say this, first and foremost, you have one of the most hilarious Instagram posts that I've ever seen, ever. And that is weird. Hashtag weird girl. So I'd like to explain this.

[Joanna Hausman]

I'm so glad, I'm so glad that you're. You're bringing this up because just before you explain it, I. To preface, I recorded that angrily one day and then was like, I'm just gonna upload it. Who cares?

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Joanna Hausman]

And it went so viral, I was like, this is almost illegal. Like, I put so much work into other things, and this was just an angry rant anyway. Brian, sorry.

[Brian Green]

No, honestly, we've got a million views on one of our reels, and it's basically me saying, I think I'm more important than I actually am. It was like a throwaway line in an episode and someone cut it up and put it on there. I got a million. I'm like, why? Why? I didn't do anything. I wish you would listen to the fucking show. That's what I want. So Joanna has this post where she. She's basically poking fun at these, like, super regular, rich, popular girls who are out there doing hashtag weird girl because they're eating a French fry or they put something on their head or they're, you know, doing something that most of us would do every 30 seconds. Like, I think all of us are weird when we're not on camera or in front of other people. We do weird. We're humans. That's what happens. But some people post it as if it's some kind of extraordinary nomenclature that they're tied to that makes them extraordinary. And I think it's just, you know, popular girls sharing more, telling you they're more cool than they think they are.

[Joanna Hausman]

So it's the appropriation of weird girl culture.

[Brian Green]

Agreed. Yeah.

[Joanna Hausman]

It's appropriating what is not theirs.

[Brian Green]

What kind of reaction did you get from people?

[Joanna Hausman]

I was, okay, so I uploaded the rant because I was like, I literally can't handle this anymore. If I see one more girl called Ashley with perfectly curled hair just, like, dancing a very normal, like, bat mitzvah approved way in a grocery aisle, I. I will kill myself. So I. I uploaded this. I went to bed the next day. It was like, at, I don't know, 400,000 likes.

[Brian Green]

Jesus.

[Joanna Hausman]

Like, not even views likes. And I was like, what? And all of the comments are people like, thank you so much for telling Our truth. This has been an unspoken problem on the Internet. And I'm like, oh, people. First of all, wow. Second of all, I didn't realize this was like, hurting people in a way that almost of the comments are really sincere.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Joanna Hausman]

A lot of people are like, is this satire? And I'm like, what. What part do you think I'm pretending to be mad? What? There's too many layers.

[Brian Green]

Which one of your brain cells isn't firing off correctly, which is like half the Internet. The other thing that Chrissy and I are always going at is these are these girls and men, to be fair, boys and girl. Girls that are out there and they're in some state of just, you know, disrobing or undress. And then they'll put some inspirational quote right below their nipples. And it's like, what in the.

[Joanna Hausman]

Are you.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, follow your dreams. Here's my boobs. What are you trying to do? I don't understand. What is the message there?

[Joanna Hausman]

I feel like in the future, in the future, some. There's gonna be like an art history class talking specifically about, like this pastiche that has come out of the Internet. Like, how. How. How is this entertainment that. One of my tweets, this woman just took, right? And then she put half of her face on camera with. With no emotion. And then my tweet on top, and she just stared into the camera with some music and it had like a bunch of like millions of views.

[Brian Green]

Holy.

[Joanna Hausman]

And it's her. It's on her.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, it's her Twitter, not mine.

[Joanna Hausman]

You're not. She's not also not adding anything. She's just half her face breathing. She's just breathing. I. I don't get it. I feel old, honestly. I think this is, you know.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, it's hard. Hard for me to wrap my head around some of this stuff. It. It really is. And there are people too. Like, we get shares on our Instagram posts or on whatever tick tocks sometimes, and people are just like staring at the camera and then they. This guy said it, right? And it's like, did you add anything by saying that? Like, are you doing anything? But then the crazy part is he gets more fucking likes than I do. I'm like, what the hell?

[Joanna Hausman]

I think that this interview is going to be unearthed in like 20 years and someone's going to call me problematic for. For. For destroying these creators that do nothing. I feel like this is what all content is now. Why were you being such a hater?

[Brian Green]

That's it.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Go in that direction.

[Brian Green]

That's it. I am positive of the 600 plus hours we have done of this show, 300 hours of that are going to be highly offensive in five years. Like, in five years, we're definitely headed for cancel culture. What can I do? I don't know. I guess. I guess I'll be canceled at some point. It might be a rite of passage. True. At this time. So you were born in England, but you were born in England, but then you. Your, your mother was from Venezuela, Is that correct?

[Joanna Hausman]

My two of my, like, my two of my parents. My two par. My two parents are from Venezuela. They met in Venezuela and then I'm trying to remember, like, what, what year, but it doesn't even matter. I wasn't around.

[Brian Green]

They.

[Joanna Hausman]

They went to England to study, and I was just born there by accident during spring break. Like, I have no connection to England at all. Yeah, at all. And every, every time people ask me where I'm from, it's like, oh, so then you're. I mean, you're English. So then where does the Venezuelan come in? I'm like 100 Venezuelan. But my parents decided to really ruin the simplicity of my future by just. And plus, Margaret Thatcher changed the law. I'm not even, like, literally British. If you're born in England after 1987, like, your parents have to be English to be considered English. You're not.

[Brian Green]

There's no birth rate. Yeah, there's no birthright.

[Joanna Hausman]

No, there's no birthright. So, like, I hated it. And so, yeah, I wasn't even just born in England or London. I was born in Royal Leamington Spa, which is like, just sounds like a fake town full of, like. Which, by the way, is not very fancy town, but it's called Royal Leamington Spa because the queen would go to a spa there, like, or went once.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, she went there once. And they named it. They named it for. You got a fantastic British accent for someone that's not.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

She's been practicing.

[Brian Green]

That's right.

[Joanna Hausman]

I just wanted to prove Margaret Thatcher wrong. I should have had that British passport all along. You have no idea how problematic the Venezuelan passport is.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Joanna Hausman]

You know, you know, you, through your wife, you understand.

[Brian Green]

I totally understand. And I also have to say, as many passports as you can possibly get. May. May behoove you in the future. So you should go back to England and then you can get a passport. Do you have an English passport? Would you like one?

[Joanna Hausman]

I'm just going to show up and do this accent and they'll be like, blood.

[Brian Green]

Hey, how she Looks like us. She talks like. Let her in.

[Joanna Hausman]

Let her in, please.

[Brian Green]

It's like our immigration policy. Do you look like us? Do you talk like us? All right, come on by. Oh, no, no, no. If you don't, please go away.

[Joanna Hausman]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

I don't like. I. I don't need you here causing trouble, taking my job. Did you have a job to lose in the first place, bud?

[Joanna Hausman]

So probably not.

[Brian Green]

So are your. Your parents are from Caracas or That's where you. That's where you grew up?

[Joanna Hausman]

My mom was born in Havana. My dad was born in Caracas. I. I, like, was there until I was 6 or 7, and then came to the States until I was 13. And then while everyone was leaving Venezuela, because it was super. It was. The murder cannot be capital of the world. At that time, my parents were like, this is the perfect time to go back. To go back and have our teenage daughter go through high school.

[Brian Green]

And.

[Joanna Hausman]

And it was crazy. We'd have, like. I remember I'd go from having snow days in Boston to having, like, political days in Venezuela where there was tire fires everywhere.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Y.

[Joanna Hausman]

Like, rallies, tire fires, like, you know, violence. And my mom be like, you can't go to school today.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. Do you go back? Have you ever been. Have you been back recently to Venezuela?

[Joanna Hausman]

So, no, I haven't been back in, like, 10 years. Part of it is because my dad is, for example, a Persona non grata. He wrote an article in the Economist one time, and now the government wants to put him in jail because that's how it works.

[Brian Green]

He's not a Chavista, I would. I would assume.

[Joanna Hausman]

No, not at all a Chavista. Not at all. A supporter of the regime. And then my uncle is a journalist there. He was in jail for two years for being a journalist. And then I wrote an article, or it was sort of like a vlog. Vlog? No, a video essay. That's how the fancy people call it. Yeah, but in the New York Times, they don't call it a vlog. They call it a video essay. A video op ed.

[Brian Green]

Yes. Well, they went to nice schools. They have to call it something fancy.

[Joanna Hausman]

Yeah, they can't tell their parents now. They just, like, edit vlogs.

[Brian Green]

I'm a vlog. I'm a vlogger.

[Joanna Hausman]

Dad can't do it.

[Brian Green]

You went to Harvard.

[Joanna Hausman]

So I did this, like, video essay on the political situation in Venezuela in, like, 2018. And now I'm also Persona non grata. So, like, technically, maybe I could go back. Well, like, I could be risking.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, yeah. Everything.

[Joanna Hausman]

Yeah. So I'm like. Like, I don't know. I think I like my life a little too much to. To. To go back at this point. I wish I could.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Joanna Hausman]

I absolutely wish I could. I still have a lot of family there.

[Brian Green]

I. So ASD and I have had this debate. When I met as she lived in Venezuela, I had been a best friend of a Venezuelan here. Repatriate, repatriated, here in the United States with his entire family. And they took me under their wing, like I became, you know, Pelones. I'm Mr. Gringo in the family. And I'm Venezuelan. I'm the white Venezuelan, basically. And so that's how I met my wife, through that family. And then she moved to Switzerland and then the whole song and dance that she comes here. She hasn't been back since. But now when I met her father, at first we were talking about would we ever visit Venezuela. And her father, my father in law says I will. First of all, he says I but I about everything. Because he's like a true man. He's like MacGyver. He can fix anything with gum and floss. He built this whole studio, basically. And so. So he could do it in a day. And I have a hard time, like using a screwdriver. Yeah. And so he's always saying I under his breath, walking around the house. So he says to me, listen, I'm not going to let you come to Venezuela unless I am assured that I can keep you safe. Right. So there's. So when we met, he was like, there's no way. Maduro, Guaido, the whole thing, all the political rallies, kidnappings, the economies and the shit, you know, basically the money's not even worth the paper that it's printed on. You cannot come down to Venezuela right now. Just speak one word of English and you're in trouble in some places. And. But recently there has been some discussion that things are a little bit better in Venezuela and maybe now is the time to go visit. And I see all these Americans who are running down there on eco tourist trips and they're running down there to, you know, go see the beautiful waterfalls and all this stuff. And I'm like, do these people not realize that Venezuela, like the majority of Venezuelans, are probably still living at the terrible life right now because of this dictatorial regime that's going on? And so I'm trying to triangulate whether or not I should actually be down there for any particular reason. Yeah.

[Joanna Hausman]

You know what I love? I love that I was invited to this podcast under the guise that it was a comedy podcast. And here I am giving you very serious advice about life or death situations in a. In a dangerous country.

[Brian Green]

That's the only reason that I. That I had you on was like, I'm gonna ask Joanna, and if she says it's okay, then I am gonna go down.

[Joanna Hausman]

Listen, listen. I've heard this a lot. Okay? I've heard Ibrahim. I. I am. Here's the thing. I mean, I think that this is my theory. This is, like, you know, I. I am telling you gossip, like, from, like, a secondhand source. This is like, me giving you advice. Do you know what I mean?

[Brian Green]

It's coming from your mother.

[Joanna Hausman]

From what I've heard. Yeah, absolutely. Of course. And from a WhatsApp group. 70 people with, like, too many forwards.

[Brian Green]

I'm in 40 of them. I get it. I'm in 40 of them. Yeah. Yes.

[Joanna Hausman]

So what I've heard is that Venezuela and the Venezuelan government right now, they're like, you know how we were being really oppressive, and that's not really working for us, so let's just be oppressive to people that speak out against us and then pretend everything's fine to the. With the tourists and. And sort of, like, show off this. This image of, like. Like, wealth and. And that everything's going great so that people feel good coming here. But we will put you in jail if you say anything bad. So it's kind of like, more like the China model than the Cuba model. So they're, like, kind of, like, switching it up. They're in their, like, China era.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Joanna Hausman]

And so I do think it's. It's. It's less unsafe, but it is. It is definitely unsafe for people that are outspoken.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Joanna Hausman]

And if you just keep your mouth shut, Brian, and go to the waterfall, I think it'll be fine.

[Brian Green]

I have 600 hours of content, and I don't know if I've always said the right thing about Venezuela. So it makes. Honestly makes. And now I've had Joanna Houseman on. I'm on the blacklist for sure.

[Joanna Hausman]

Oh, for sure. You should publish this after you go. If you do go, I'll publish.

[Brian Green]

I'll publish it as I'm walking through immigration offices. As I'm walking through.

[Joanna Hausman]

Oh, good. That's a brilliant time. That's brilliant timing.

[Brian Green]

When you come to the United States. When you come back to the United States, what sets you off kind of on this. You had this wonderful YouTube. Joanna Rance. What. First of all, how did you get, like, what. When did you decide, I'm gonna go in front of camera. I know. Be a personality and be a comic and write this stuff. If you always felt like that was something that you wanted to do.

[Joanna Hausman]

I always knew I wanted to get into some iteration of comedy. Growing up back home, I wasn't. I didn't realize comedy was this very, you know, complex career that. That has sort of like, comprises of many different elements.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Joanna Hausman]

So when I came here, I was like, I want to be a playwright. I don't know. And then I went to a city. Yeah. I was like, what's some. Something that is funny and that I can write an act in that isn't so impossible, like television.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Joanna Hausman]

And I was like, I guess maybe playwright, which is still very hard. I don't know what I was thinking. But then I went to Second City right after college and it was like, oh, there's this whole type of, like, there's sketches, there's improv, there's stand up. Like, I didn't know these things.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Joanna Hausman]

Like, yeah, there's late night shows. There's. You know, and I was like, okay, I know what I. I sort of want to do. And I've always. Since I moved around so much, and my identity is so utterly complicated and just existing is sort of like, I have to explain it to people.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Joanna Hausman]

Like, why are you. I always used.

[Brian Green]

We just spent the last 50.

[Joanna Hausman]

Yeah. We literally just spent the entire time. Thank you for setting me up for this. You're welcome. So I think comedy for me has always been a way to, like, I don't know, just. Just go about the world in a way that makes more sense.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Joanna Hausman]

And, yeah, I. I don't know, I. I started doing stand up, and then I got hired to be basically a glorified assistant for this channel called Flama on Univision. It was like Univision's attempt to do, like a college humor. And we were working with all these creators and stuff, and then my boss was. I actually asked my boss to just let me borrow the studio for a day with my friend Chris and just, we're just gonna make a video and see if it works. And we published a video where I rant about the, you know, the misconceptions of being Latino, because on the page, I didn't feel like I would belong. Like, one of the reasons I didn't push for myself for a while was because, you know, I look like an Irish barmaid. And I was born in Royal Leamington Spa. My last name is Houseman. I belong in a Shtetl. And, like, you know, I was like, no one's gonna believe that I'm Venezuelan. Like, this is just gonna be. So then I made a video about how ridiculous, like, our assumptions are about Latinos that went viral. And that sort of, like, gave my boss sort of the. A reassurance that maybe I could have some interesting videos and points of view. And then I just started publishing videos, and they did very, very well. And I just got very granular and specific with my existence.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, I love that.

[Joanna Hausman]

And here we are. And here we are. This brought us here.

[Brian Green]

We always say, last stop is the commercial break, Chrissy. And I like to think you're either on your way up or on your way down when you visit the commercial break. So congratulations either way.

[Joanna Hausman]

I think I'm at the peak. I'm at the.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

This is the top.

[Joanna Hausman]

Yes.

[Brian Green]

I think one of the things that I like about your humor, that I connect with about your humor, because I am. Because we do a mixed family here, is that there are so many misconceptions. The identities of Latin Americans get tied up with one another. And it's in the most ridiculous of ways. We're just talking about this before we came on air, right? When we see someone else, when. When someone meets Astrid and they say, oh, you're Venezuelan, do you know Paco from Maracaibo? It's like, no, she doesn't know fucking Paco from Maracaibo. First of all, she's like any other human being. Her knowledge of other human beings is limited to her circle of influence. Influence. Like, she doesn't know Paco from Maracaibo. But it's the ridiculous nature of how some people think. And I can only take on the American perspective because that's where we are. Excuse me, the US Perspective. I also learned from my wife that it's wrong to call ourselves Americans because they are also Americans. Venezuelans. So is this. Was your brand of humor, like, spurred on by kind of this. I don't say identity crises, but this weird lumping in. Everybody thinks everything about the same, about Central Americans and South Americans are all the same. And, you know, they just kind of lump everybody together. So many misconceptions, and it must feel uncomfortable sometimes to be in those situations where you could derive a lot of humor.

[Joanna Hausman]

Yes. And I. I mean, I. I need to be fully honest here. I do know Paco from Arochaigo, so this is a little awkward, but having said that, I owe him 60 bucks.

[Brian Green]

I'm not going to tell you what for but just tell Paco to calm down.

[Joanna Hausman]

Okay. Okay, I'll talk to Paco. I'll text him on my WhatsApp chat after this. Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think what sort of shocked me as I was making comedy was how many people felt represented in someone like me being like, hey, like, I'm also. I'm from Venezuela, and I am also Latina in my own way. Like, you don't know how many people were like, yeah, man, I am an Afro Nicaraguan. And I totally get you. You. I'm a. You know, I'm an. A Korean, a Peruvian, and I. And I totally understand. It's like, I didn't. I didn't realize that me being, like, almost so unapologetic on how specific my identity is actually would make people feel, like, relieved. Yeah. Like, oh, my God, someone's doing it. Someone's telling these people that we're not all Sofia Vergara copy paste.

[Brian Green]

Right?

[Joanna Hausman]

We are. We are. You know, we're very different. And. And I do think it's changed. I think that when I started doing Internet comedy, dude, that was like. I hate saying this. I was 10 years ago. Okay. I couldn't even say it. It was 10 years ago. And that era of the Internet was really different.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Totally.

[Joanna Hausman]

And even the barriers to entry to make content on the Internet was very different. Now you have, like, editing software on your freaking phone. I see Venezuelans in the middle of, like, the Amazon uploading videos with their capivaras.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Joanna Hausman]

And their chiwuires. Yes. And so, like, there was a time where it wasn't that easy to access the Internet and publish and edit. And now I think there's, like, more variety out there. But right when I began these big companies like Buzzfeed and CollegeHumor, they were making all these really funny sketches and sort of like, no one was talking about, like, oh, there's, like, other types of people that could be doing this and be very specific about their content. And I remember I made a video called the Venezuelan Birthday Song. And if you had told me a year before, like, you're gonna make an Internet video.

[Brian Green]

Hold on one second. Hold on one second. Because my kid was born in July and Astrid's just finishing up the birthday song now. Just.

[Joanna Hausman]

Oh, now if you want, we can wait for her. It might be another two hours.

[Brian Green]

Fucking unbelievable, dude.

[Joanna Hausman]

The Venezuelan. Okay. I'm so glad you know this, Brian. Okay, okay. The Venezuelan. But, Chrissy, I don't know if you know this.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

I do not know about the Venezuelan Birthday Song.

[Joanna Hausman]

It Is. I'm not. I'm not with you. It is, I think, nine minutes long. It's crazy.

[Brian Green]

Imagine it's insane.

[Joanna Hausman]

You sit there. You sit there.

[Brian Green]

There's no candle that can outlast it. So don't light the candles till you're halfway through. Yes.

[Joanna Hausman]

You sit there for nine minutes, and people are screaming and clapping. It's not even, like, happy Birds. Like, it's like you're being an exercise. So if you had told me a year before, like, you're gonna make a video, you're gonna hire opera singers, you're gonna hire a cast and crew, and you're gonna shoot a video called the Eternal Venezuelan Birthday Song, I would have been like, who would watch that, though? Yeah, no one's gonna watch that. It had 8 million views in 24 hours. Because. Because they're. When you're on the Internet, you do have your audience. The more specific you get, the better. The better results you have.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. So.

[Joanna Hausman]

So it sort of. Of showed. I think a lot of. And. And many other Latino creators that came out in that era did the same, but I think it showed people like, oh, you don't have to be general market. You don't have to be. Hi, I am actually the first Ashley. The first Internet video I did was called Middle Class White Chick that I made with my friend, because I was like, I guess I can make fun of what I look like.

[TCB Announcer]

Yeah.

[Joanna Hausman]

And it didn't do well. And then, you know, obviously, because I didn't know what I was, I was like, uggs. What rhymes with Uggs? Let's make a song about. But I feel like that showed people that, you know, the audience is out there. It's very diverse. You can get really granular.

[Brian Green]

So there's riches and niches. That's what they say, and there's riches. And.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Did you just come up with that?

[Brian Green]

I. I did. Well, I. I've been saying it for a long time, but I just said it out loud.

[Joanna Hausman]

Wow. I love that.

[Brian Green]

So I. I also believe that while a lot of people probably identify very much with what you're saying, like, they say, like, you know, hey, I'm Afro Nicaraguan. And, you know, thank you for sharing your complicated story, because mine's compl. You know, seems complicated once you get out there in the wild. But I also think that there genuinely is a thirst by people to learn more about other cultures. Like, hey, I'm just kind of dumb about this stuff. And now that I see it, comedy is the unified. It's the unify yeah, it's a thread. It's an ability to. When people are laughing and learning. There's something really cool about that mix, I think. And that's why I really appreciate satirical humor and people who do it well. And I think you do it really well. Well, and then there is Tacoma fd. I want to ask you about Tacoma fd. Let me tell you a story. I went to. Astrid is Spanish. Like, a lot has. You know, her dad is Spanish. Like, a lot of Venezuelans are partly Spanish. So we go to Spain often because that's where we have some extended family also. So we went to Spain for, I don't know, a long time. A month in the last year, in the summer. Summer. And we went to a series of Airbnbs that seemed like the world's most terrible. Airbnbs that looked really pretty. You know what I'm saying? Like, you show up, there's no Internet, but they have an indoor pool. And you're like, great, but I can't call anybody like that, kind of.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

So weren't you out with the chickens?

[Joanna Hausman]

Like.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. Yes. Then there was. I was on some Spanish hillside, and I was trying. It was the middle of the night, trying to get Internet from the neighbor, and there were chickens. Chickens for chasing me. I didn't even know they. I didn't even know chickens were nocturnal, but there you go. So in a. In a mad dash to get anything familiar that I could watch at night when we had Internet service, I downloaded one of the only things that was available to me, which was Tacoma. And I watched all of it, and I loved it. It was so stupid and fun. I just loved every minute of it. I thought it was great. How did you. You. You write. You have Hamster and Gretel on Disney plus. You've written for Stephen Colbert, You've written for Tacoma fd. How did you get mixed up with those guys? It's because you were part of Upright Citizens Brigade or.

[Joanna Hausman]

Dude. I don't. I still don't understand because, I mean, I love those guys. So the broken lizard guys, you know, they. They've been around for forever. They're, you know, icons in. In comedy. But, like, you know, they're very different than. Than me, obviously. Like, they're. They're. They're dude comedy, and they're. They're shows about a bunch of firefighters in the rainiest city in America, Tacoma. And it's. And, you know, there's. It. There's a bunch of dudes called Mike in the writers room. I think there's More mics than women. And, and, but like, Steve Lemmy, who is one of those show creators, is actually from Argentina, and they were looking for a new writer. I think they were specifically looking for a female writer. And in the interview, I guess they read my sample. Then in the interview, I started like, making fun of Steve Lemmy because he's Argentine. I was like, oh, what now, Steve? You think you're like all this shit, right? Cause you're from Argentina? And he was like, wait, wait, wait, why, why, why are you tagging me? I'm interviewing.

[Brian Green]

I'm actually gonna be your boss. You realize that, don't you?

[Joanna Hausman]

Yeah, I was like, dude, Argentinians. And I started, you know, I started razzing him a little bit and I, I, I don't know if that's the reason. I'd like to believe it is, but I, it, ironically, it's actually, I think a lot of it was this sort of connection to Latin culture. A lot of people don't know that he, his dad is from Argentina. And we talked about it and we still to this day, sort of like, you know, when we text, I call him Bolulo. So that, that, that is sort of, that is sort of like a secret in. I think I had Tacoma.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, I, what a, what a fun show to watch. I mean, it is certainly white guy down the middle, working class comedy, right? But it is also pretty funny at times. I, I found myself laughing at.

[Joanna Hausman]

They're such nice people. Like, it's, I got, I was like overwhelmed because, like, I, I, that was out of my comfort zone in many ways. And, and they were just so nice and sweet and, and I had a really great time working on that show and I learned a lot. They, they really taught me a lot about structure and, and how to work in a writer's room. And when we did this during the pandemic. Oh, wow. It was like, you know, it was all remote and, and we were able to, to make a show. And obviously they bore the brunt of it as the creators and executive producers, but they were able to make a show in the middle of a pandemic.

[Brian Green]

Crazy.

[Joanna Hausman]

Following the rules. They're badass. Yeah.

[Brian Green]

And not to get too deep about Tacoma fd, but I do have to say this. It's very funny, but there's a, it's very sweet also. Like, at the end of the day, I don't feel like anything is like, you know, there's like mean, spirited comedy out there, which can be good in and of itself. You know, that can Be a great deal of fun. Also that dark, you know, kind of mean, pokey in the. Pokey in the belly kind of thing. But there's something very sweet about Tacoma FD and I just found it to be, to be great.

[Joanna Hausman]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Brian Green]

So my kids are gonna not. They're gonna kill me if I don't ask this question. How do you. You're working on Hamster and Gretel. Tell us, tell us about this show.

[Joanna Hausman]

So Hamster and Gretel, created by Dan Palmer Meyer, who. Who was the co. Creator of Phineas and Ferb. He was married to a Venezuelan woman. So I swear to God, this is a constant.

[Brian Green]

Wow.

[Joanna Hausman]

This is literally my life.

[Brian Green]

We should start a club. White guys. White gu. Venezuelan white guys.

[Joanna Hausman]

It's. And, and, and the same. He said the same about that. You did. Which is like, I, I have a Venezuelan family. They adopted me.

[Brian Green]

They did.

[Joanna Hausman]

And I don't know what they say half the time, but they go, I, then I, then. So Dan and I connected for the same reason you and me are connecting right now. Yeah, he, he watched my content like several years ago and we, we connected and were friends and he, during the pandemic again made a, a small, like 8 minute minute short about a girl with superpowers and her brother that doesn't get any. And a talking hamster and all this. And Disney greenlit it and then he was like, do you want to head write this? I've never worked in animation before, Dan. And he's like, that's fine. You'll figure it out. And so, so I've. Yeah, I've been head writing and now co executive producing the show for, for three years. We're almost done with season two. It's been really fun. We incorporated a Venezuelan. Thank you. We incorporated a Venezuelan mom as, you know, sort of like a cultural linchpin in it. And she, it, she is like, you know, she's like our Astrid.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Joanna Hausman]

And it's been really cool to add even like, I, I hate, you know, this is like a sincere comment, but I hate being sincere because I'm a comedian and it's actually, it's. It's against my nature. It' I may, I may combust. I may combust. But it's actually really heartwarming to see like characters because the grandma is based on my grandma. Then, you know, they eat arepas. They have Reina Pepias. They have like deos. You see like a lot of, you know, a lot of these, like cultural, like details are sprinkled in. We don't make a big deal out of it in every episode. Yeah, but it's just, just, it's just there, it's, it's just part of who these characters are. And it, it feels really nice to, you know, going from convincing my boss to let me work like, you know, record and yell in a studio for an hour and uploading onto YouTube to then like incorporating these elements into an animated show has been, has been cool. Now I will combust self destruct.

[Brian Green]

Really cool. And then your target audience, audience is up and coming, blossoming kids with big brains that are, you know, just exploding and then they're getting, they're soaking up these details that hopefully will make a difference in the future and how they think about different cultures. And I think that's really cool. Now the question is, do you work for the like the Disney Corporation or do you work for a production company that then sells to the Disney court? You don't have to tell me the details if you can't. But I'm just curious to how all that works.

[Joanna Hausman]

I, I work for Disney, but I actually don't. Okay. I feel like I'm an accountant now, but I have a loan out company and I have a company and they hired my company. So technically I work, I work for my company that works for Disney.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Joanna Hausman]

Does that make sense?

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Yes.

[Brian Green]

So here's the question. Since we are family, can you get us into Disney World for free? Because it costs $27,000 per child and I have 30 of them.

[Joanna Hausman]

I. Okay, first of all, well, I think I can. I'm not even kidding. As of like a month ago, I think I can.

[Brian Green]

Wow.

[Joanna Hausman]

So. So yes. And I'm, I'm being honest. If you guys do come here, just seriously let me know. I'm going to Disney World for land but I'll go.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. We're close to the world. You know, we're over here in Atlanta, so we're close to the Disney World. But you can come and you and Astrid would kick it off swimmingly. You, you. There's something about the. And I know that like, you know, we spent a good portion of this particular interview talking about your Venezuelan and you're probably so much more than just Venezuelan, but I find so that that's what connects me to you. That's why when I watch your and your, your brand of comedy, I'm connected to it because I understand it and to Canos are the love of my life and I haven't met in Arepa that I dislike is lovely and the only thing I Dislike is that Christmas roll that y' all make, whatever that is. Oh, no, panda jamon, the other one. I love panda homon. That's good. It's the other one where you put the meat and the mayonnaise and the pickles and the whatever.

[Joanna Hausman]

Oh, the ayaka. It's an acquired taste.

[Brian Green]

Do you like us?

[Joanna Hausman]

I didn't like ayakas until it became sort of a symbol of nostalgia. Like when I was in Venezuela, I was like, get this actual lump of trash away from me. And now I'm like, I love this. It's a little present. It's wrapped. I love it so much, you know.

[Brian Green]

So here's a funny story. So we're. We go to box something up and send it to Venezuela and there's a shipping company owned by a Venezuelan guy, tiny. You, like, go to this self storage area and then you back your truck up and then there's a guy in the self storage with a light bulb hanging out. He's tape and stuff and he's like, don't worry, brother, I'll get it to you. You know, and you're like, okay, all right.

[Joanna Hausman]

Right.

[Brian Green]

So he goes. And they, Astrid and him connect because of course they're Venezuelan. He does, you know, he speaks, he mainly speaks Spanish. He goes, you have to wait here one second. And we're okay. Fantastic. It's like the second year that she's here. He goes into a freezer that's sitting on this storage floor the size of this room. He opens up the freezer and he takes out 100 ayakas. It's. It's September and he takes out 100 ayakas in a box and he puts it in the back of our car.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

How big are these?

[Brian Green]

They're like, they're corn husks. They look like they're made.

[Joanna Hausman]

And to be clear, ayakas are not eaten in any other time other than Christmas. No, it is a Christmas food.

[Brian Green]

And that's the only time that you eat it or you. The only time that you should, you should eat it. And then on top of that, my mother in law comes and now we clear the entire kitchen. There's a picnic table seven and a half feet long, and we're making 100 more aya ayakas. And I'm like, who the do you think is coming to dinner? Who's gonna eat all these? I have ayakas from 2012 in my freezer. I swear to God I do. And I dislike them so much, but.

[Joanna Hausman]

I'm sorry, but I'm so sorry. I know. I know how it is. And at least I have, like, the nostalgia element of, like, childhood. But if as an adult I was introduced to this and I had to just tolerate it, I would resent it. I would resent.

[Brian Green]

I dislike it. Yeah. And even my kids dislike it. They try and make it with different things so that they can try and me and appease me. And I'm like, I just don't. Even the word ayakas turns me off. So let's just skip it. Everything else is lovely. Please bring it on. But the ayakas. But what I wanted to say is there is something about the Venezuelan culture that, like the Raphael's family took me in when things were tough with my own family. And for years I just felt such love. There was no judgment. Such love. I mean, they were judging me behind my back and speaking.

[Joanna Hausman]

For sure. That's how we do it.

[Brian Green]

Absolutely.

[Joanna Hausman]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

But when I learned to speak Spanish, finished. They went into the other room, so. And. And then there's something so loving and wonderful and warm about the culture. And I wonder. I wonder about why that is and why my Irish in Venezuela. In the Venezuelan culture, at least around my house, you show up four hours late for a party. So if you wanted to start at 8, you have to say you need to be there by 4, and then they will not leave until 4 the next afternoon, no matter how much you try and telegraph to them that the party has been over for a long time. If a Venezuelan that you know comes within 300 miles of your house, they are staying at your house for an indefinite amount of time. It doesn't matter how many other Venezuelans happen to be staying at your house at the same time. And they will always, always, always greet you with a hug and a smile. There. Wonderful culture. And I'm so happy to be a part of it because I am, ironically, Irish and in my Irish Catholic culture. We have a game. Yes, we have a game. It's who can get out of the party faster without saying anything to anybody. It's the Irish goodbye, baby. That's it. Yep. The Irish goodbye. I would love to have you on again. We've already gone 45 minutes. I know I'm wasting a bunch of your time.

[Joanna Hausman]

Oh, my God. I just happened project.

[Brian Green]

I know what's happening.

[Joanna Hausman]

I feel like. I feel like.

[Brian Green]

Feel like we can go on.

[Joanna Hausman]

I feel like we just started talking.

[Brian Green]

I know this is.

[Joanna Hausman]

Guys, What? No.

[Brian Green]

You want to keep going? I'll keep going.

[Joanna Hausman]

Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt you, Chris. I just wanted to say I love this conversation so much. I want to be the third host, so.

[Brian Green]

Absolutely.

[Joanna Hausman]

I'm moving in.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

I'm moving in.

[Brian Green]

Come on in.

[Joanna Hausman]

Don't you.

[Brian Green]

Don't you have a podcast?

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Did you restart a podcast here too? Stay at the.

[Brian Green]

Stay here.

[Joanna Hausman]

I want to stay there for an indefinite amount of time. Yeah. I have a podcast called Hyphenated with Cuban Americans. American comedian Jenny Lorenzo. Yes. Check out Hamster and Gretel. We really want that. Season three. So the more you guys watch it, the more probable it is. And I'm working on some other. Some other projects that I, according to contracts, can't talk about.

[Brian Green]

Don't. Don't talk about it. We don't want to get anybody in trouble here. We're already blacklisted from Venezuela. We don't want to get blacklisted from Hollywood also.

[Joanna Hausman]

Too many. Too many places.

[Brian Green]

Or from Disney.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Yeah, you just got an end.

[Brian Green]

I just got a free ride to Disney. Now I gotta go. Joanna, you are welcome back anytime. Astrid will be texting you in that WhatsApp group. As a matter of fact, let's have you back when you can talk about what's next for you.

[Joanna Hausman]

Awesome.

[Brian Green]

Let's do it. Love you. Thank you, Joanna. Appreciate it. Give us your Instagram handle. Give us your.

[Joanna Hausman]

Oh, yes, my Instagram handle. Hamble. Hamble is at Joe House. J O H A U S Please follow me and we can. And you know what? Whoever wants to join my family, WhatsApp chat, you're also welcome. And join it. It's all in Spanish. And all we do is talk about Brian's. All the Brian's of the world.

[Brian Green]

That's what everybody does. Brian's are just bad news all together.

[Joanna Hausman]

We love him. We love him. He leaves parties without saying goodbyes.

[Brian Green]

I don't anymore. The Venezuelans. Cut that out real quick. You can't sneak out of a door when Venezuela's are there. Where are you going? You don't take. You need to take. Take some. Okay. We love you, Joanna.

[Joanna Hausman]

We'll talk to you soon, guys. Bye.

[TCB Announcer]

G. Finally. I feel like I was waiting forever for my turn to talk now that I have you. Go to tcbpodcast.com to find all of our audio and video content and follow us on Instagram at the commercial break and on TikTok. CBpodcast want it to be your turn to talk. Call us and spill the tea at 626-ASKTCB-3 and you may hear your voice on the show. You can also text us your T@855, TCB8383. And boy, do we love to hear it. Anyway, take a listen to our sponsors. Sponsors. And let's get back to the show.

[Brian Green]

Wow. Now I feel kind of bad that I just. Like, I was trying to wrap it up, and Joanna's like, wait, we're just getting going. And I know.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Oh, you know, she's amazing.

[Brian Green]

She was so spectacular. Spectacular, not amazing. We're gonna.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

We're trying to get away from.

[Brian Green]

Delete the word amazing from this show, because it's amazing how many times I've said that word in this time. But Joanna really was. Was fun. Remember, we had Felicia Day on.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Yes.

[Brian Green]

I thought Felicia Day was so much fun. And Joanna had that similar vibe to her. And, yeah, we were just connecting. But I'm. I always. I often feel like with our guests, it's kind of like when I was on the dating scene. I broke up with you before you could break up with me. Like, I saw it coming, so I just. I just said it early.

[Joanna Hausman]

Right.

[Brian Green]

You know I'm gonna hurt you now. You don't hurt me. I didn't want Joanna to say, well, it's been fun, but the last 13 minutes have been fun. But I do have to go, which I think is what.

[Joanna Hausman]

Is what.

[Brian Green]

Oh. Oh.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Somebody's calling me from the other room.

[Brian Green]

Blue's parking. I gotta go. Landscapers are here.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Which is all true.

[Brian Green]

Oh, my God, those landscapers. Holy. I. He came again today, like, two days after he last came. This time, I had to text him. I had to be like, juan, listen, we have no grass. You cutting it is not helping it grow. It's the middle of winter. It's 22 degrees out at night. You do not need to cut my mud. Mud. You don't. My mud doesn't need cutting.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

I was thinking that the other day.

[Brian Green]

I know he's just making dents. He's just rolling his ivory machinery over it. And I'm like, dude, first of all. Second of all, I thought we talked about 12 to 4. Like, those are the. No, no times. Those are no nos. And then you have go, go times. Right? And I know. I realize you're. You actually do work for a living. And I sit here and talk shit about you while you do that. But if you could, please. He probably knows about the commercial break. That's why everybody knows. Everybody knows. Everybody in the school, the landscapers, the pool guy, they all figure it out because it's 20, 24, and it's not that hard. I'm waiting for the people at Starbucks to realize that I have the commercial break, and then I'll have to go to a different Starbucks because I'll be embarrassed to go in there. We had a babysitter that came in, and then Astrid was. Astrid has. Astrid loves the commercial break. She loves the fact that we have the commercial break. So she. I come out the other day from the studio. We're wrapping up, up. And then I hear them talking about the commercial break. And the babysitter was like, the lady helps with the kids was like, oh, I'm gonna take a listen today on the way home. And I'm like, no, please don't. It was a long time.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Say that it took a long time.

[Brian Green]

To find a good one. You're good. I don't want to check it out. It's called Smart List.

[Joanna Hausman]

Right.

[Brian Green]

But Joanna was wonderful. I hope we can have her back. Now I got a free trip to Disney. Or do you think she just said yes? Because, like, that those times when I asked them to come back and they.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Have to say, she seems sincere.

[Brian Green]

She did.

[Joanna Hausman]

I know.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

And now you're gonna hold her to it.

[Brian Green]

I'm gonna hold her to it. And I'm gonna make her come to my house so that we can all go to Disney World together. It's gonna be like, what I get myself into.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

You're like, you and Astrid. I'll hit it off right away. We'll all go together.

[Brian Green]

You'll stay here.

[Joanna Hausman]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

Hey, you take the kids. We're going on Space Mountain. You're Venezuelan. You're all the same. Don't worry about it. You're just like their mother. But I don't know, maybe that one kid might have a total meltdown. Yeah, one of our kids doesn't like anybody but me, apparently. All right, okay. Enough fun for one day. Stop it. Stop it. Everybody go home. Turn it off. It's enough already. Yeah. So thanks to Joanna Hausman. Joe House on Instagram. J O H A U S We'll put a link in the description so that you guys can follow her on her Instas and watch Tacoma fd I'm serious. Have you ever seen the show?

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

I haven't.

[Joanna Hausman]

It is.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

It is funny and it's endearing.

[Brian Green]

It is endearing. Yeah. It's sweet. It's, like, got this sweet undertone to it where you're like, oh, okay, that's cool. I like that. You know, it's not everybody's brand of humor, but I think you'll find at least some of it funny. There's a lot of slapstick stuff in there too, which I'm like a 3 year old. If it's slapstick, I'm all about it. I like a good Pratt fall every once in a while. In case you couldn't tell no. In case you couldn't tell.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

No.

[Brian Green]

All right, so tcbpodcast.com that's where you go. You find out more information, information about Chrissy and I. You can watch all the video, you can listen to all the audio right there from one location. Also get your free piggy fronting sticker. We're sending them to you. No problems, no pluses about it, kids. We'll be happy to send them off to you if you hit the contact us button on the website. The drop down menu says I want my free sticker. You give us your physical address and then we'll send it off to you. And you know, seven to 12 months, you'll get it. Don't worry.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

No problem.

[Brian Green]

Problem, boss. We'll just start sending you one every two days. See how you feel about it. Also, 1626 Ask TCB and the number 3. That's 1626 Ask TCB and the Number 3. You can text us questions, comments, concerns, content, ideas. You can also leave us a voicemail. Yeah, please, for the love of the Lord. Or you know what? I was thinking about this the other day. If you think you think of an interesting guest you might like us to have. We have an amazing booking agency and their tagline is your wish is our command. And so I said, I said president Biden and President Trump on the same interview.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

Yeah, they said, well, commercial break.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, they said, well, within reason, Right? We have a with. With within reason clause in our contract where we can't ask for names that are too big. So text us, leave us a voicemail at the commercial break on Instagram, TCB podcast on tik tok and YouTube.com the commercial break. This will be a change a day in your life. All right, Chrissy. I suppose that's all that I can do for today.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

I think so.

[Brian Green]

But I will tell you that I love you.

[Kristen Joy Hoadly]

I love you.

[Brian Green]

I'll say best to you and I'll tell you best to you out there in the podcast universe. Until next time, Chrissy. And I do say, we will say and we must say goodbye.

[Joanna Hausman]

Check your patties.