
EP 710: Bryan and Krissy get some comic relief from Kathleen Madigan's midwest comedy stylings. Kathleen discusses her time golfing with Nate Bargazte , Ron White and others during pandemic lockdowns and shares her life long love of the road as she hides from the impending severe weather in Nashville!
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Brian Green
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Chris Hoadley
Carvana gave me an offer in minutes.
Brian Green
Picked it up, and paid me on the spot. It was so convenient. Just like that. Yeah.
Kathleen Madigan
No hassle?
Brian Green
None.
Kathleen Madigan
That is super convenient.
Ron White
Sell your car to Carvana and swap. Hassle for convenience.
Rachel
Pickup fees may apply.
Lewis Black
My mom was a nurse for 30 years. She's retired. I said, out of nowhere, while we're pushing a cart, God, I have a splitting sinus headache. She goes, oh, here. And roots through a giant purse and goes, take this. And I took it. And about a second later, I hear. I said, what? What was that all about? She goes, you swallow that? Yep. Sure did swallow it. What color was it? I don't know, Mom. I don't know. I didn't look at what color it was. Kathleen, why didn't you look at what color the pill was? Why? Why? Cause you're not somebody I met at a party. You were my mom. You were a nurse for 30 years. I bought the whole story. I did. I trusted you. I ate it blind. I just ate it blind.
Brian Green
On this episode of the commercial break, there's these, you know, thousands of people that are watching you, and it's just you with a microphone. That's it. That's got to be a strange sensation.
Lewis Black
If you think about it too hard, you will run away. Like, you would just go, this is crazy. What do we do? You know, I started at a funny bone in a mall, like, maybe 50 people on a Monday night. You know, not like, this is crazy. You can't overthink it. Me and Ron White always talk about that. He's like, you can't think about. Just act like it's the funny bone. Just walk out. Do what you do. And I'm like, yeah. I mean, I've never freaked out enough to actually think about running away. But if you Thought about it too long. You might.
Brian Green
The next episode of the commercial break starts now. 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. Best to you, Brian, and best to you out there in the podcast universe. Thanks for joining us. Here we are, and yet another Tuesday morning or Tuesday afternoon or whenever you're listening to this. It's a TC MTV infomercial Tuesday with noted storied comedian Kathleen Madigan coming in. This one is years in the making, actually for us. Yeah, we've been trying to get Kathleen on the show for a very long time and we're super excited that it find our schedules collided in the universe and we're finally now getting Kathleen in here. Kathleen has been around for a very long time. I don't want to date her. She's a young lady. But I still want to share that she's, she's grown up with some of the best.
Ron White
Oh, God.
Brian Green
The Jerry Seinfelds of the world. Louis Mitch Hedberg. Jerry Seinfeld. Did I already say Jerry Seinfeld? I'll say it twice. Jerry Seinfeld because, you know, he's a big deal. Chris Rock. She's been around for a very long time.
Ron White
Tons of specials, tons of touring.
Brian Green
Yeah, she's, she grew. I think she kind of hit her stride during the Comedy Central boom when Comedy Central actually had comedians on.
Ron White
That's how it started.
Brian Green
Yeah, that's how it started. That's how Comedy Central started.
Lewis Black
Yeah.
Brian Green
Comedy Central used to be three to five minute clips like MTV was videos, three to five minutes. Comedy Central 24 hours a day would do nothing but play little sets from stand up comedians. They would go in, they would record a set, they would cut it up, they would put it on in rotation. And I will always remember when Comedy Central came on the television watching that endlessly, like just watching comedian after comedian after comedian. I think at first they didn't even have commercials. It was just them doing comedians, which was really cool. But oh, how things have changed. I mean, Comedy Central still a good channel, whatever. They still have good comedy shows. But Kathleen is here and I can't wait to dig into, you know, some of her. I. Whenever somebody comes out like Lewis Black or Margaret Cho or Kathleen Madigan, when you have someone who's been around for a long time, you get to dig into some of the dirt, like figure out, you know, they've been around long enough to See, some things happen. And so I get curious about what was it like when who is your favorite? What did you do? Where did you go?
Ron White
How things changed.
Brian Green
Yeah. How are things changed? Yeah. And you know, listen, when you're an old codger like me, when you're old coot like Brian and you want to reminisce about the old days. Yeah. It's like just two people sitting around the retirement home remembering. Remembering when. You know, when I go to my mom's retirement home and they're always playing that old music. And every time I go there, like I went there the other day, you.
Ron White
Think about Pearl Jam.
Brian Green
I think about Pearl Jam being played. Yeah. Pearl Jam is now classic rock. It is. I'm not even kidding. I heard Alive on a classic rock radio station. This is a couple of months ago. We went down to Florida to have my surgery. And so they didn't have Sirius in the car, so I just.
Ron White
Not Danya Beach.
Brian Green
Not Daniel. Not Dania Beach. Not Daniel. Daniel Point.
Ron White
Daniel Point.
Brian Green
Oh, my God, there's still people asking about that. Did I miss the Daniel Point shows? Yes, you did. But good news. So did we. We also additionally missed the Daniel Point show. There's no Daniel Point on the. Not on the calendar yet, but we're getting there. First we're going to do a Netflix show and then to Daniel Point. You might be waiting a while.
Ron White
I was laughing so hard. We get a group text going the other night. I was laughing so hard thinking about Daniel Point. Oh, Astrid. I was like, your family pawpaw.
Brian Green
I know. They still.
Lewis Black
Waiting.
Brian Green
Here's the funny part. I mean, it's just kind of adjacent, I guess, to Kathleen Madigan Said. She's like, that's what she does. She's just stand up. The funny thing is we were going to go to Daniel Point and it's close to where a lot of Astrid's family lives. So they bought a bunch of tickets and God bless them. And they have no fucking clue what the commercial break is all about. They have no idea. They think it's just some fun project Brian's got going on. They still think I'm in real estate and so. And I'll keep it that way as long as possible.
Ron White
Yeah, keep that perception going.
Brian Green
Yeah, that's right. So we canceled those Danya Point shows because I was not feeling well. But we still managed to make it to Spain a couple weeks before my surgery to go to the. Go to a wedding that I talked about. Everybody, and I mean, everybody is like, oh, I got tickets to Your show. When is the, you know, when are you changing the show for? And I'm like, oh, hold on. On tight.
Ron White
Keep those save in a drawer.
Brian Green
That's right. I'm not even sure cell phones will be a thing anymore by the time we get to Daniel Point. Take a, take a screenshot. We'll get to it, I promise. So I'm anyway, I'm really interested to talk to Kathleen because I know she's been around the block and she's seen a few things and I like to dig in. I like to dig into that stuff. You know, we have a lot of, we have a lot of new comics that come on. I say new comics. They've been doing it for a long time, but they're just kind of hitting their stride. And Kathleen's been doing this for a long time. One thing I've noticed about Kathleen, following her on social media is that she sells out theaters. I mean, she's doing theaters. And to be a comic, she's got.
Ron White
A big fan base.
Brian Green
Yeah. And to be a comic for that long and still be selling out theaters is, you know, it's. There's got to be a real sense of accomplishment about that. You've hit it, you've done it. You. You're moving into your, you know, the later stage of your life and you're still selling out theaters. I wonder if you ever, like, when you're a stand up comic like that, do you think about retirement or do you, you know, like here with the commercial break and this is not a joke. I've actually thought about this. Like, how long can we actually do this?
Ron White
I thought about it too.
Brian Green
Yeah. Do we go to, we're 55. Do we go to. We're 60? I mean, I guess that largely depends on how little money we make over the next couple of years. But it's like, how long do we do this before we just say, okay, I think we're too old to be doing a comedy podcast that's any. That's at all relevant. I, you know.
Ron White
Well, we'll see.
Brian Green
It might be next year, right?
Chris Hoadley
It might be.
Ron White
The market dictate.
Brian Green
Well, the market has already spoken, Chrissy. The market has already spoken. We're just not listening. So kathleenmadigan.com is where you can get tickets to her tour. She's on the Never Ending Tour. This is not like Kathleen is, is doing a tour. It's not Ari Shafir. She's not going away next year to go on long. Yeah. It's not a farewell tour. She is Doing this all the time, so it's likely she's going to be somewhere near you. Kathleen is really funny. If you go check out.
Ron White
Tickets are on sale this week, right?
Brian Green
Tickets are on sale this week for her fall tour. She is currently on her spring tour, spring and summer tour. And I was just looking, there's like 26 more dates still available for the spring, summer tour. I'm sure she takes a little bit of a break and then she'll do the fall tour and that's going to be extensive. Also, she has many specials available. You can go to kathleenmadigan.com she's got Netflix specials, Amazon specials, Comedy Central specials, YouTube specials. She's got all kind of material out there. And she's really funny. She's got that Midwestern charm and politeness with a very witty and edgy sense of humor. You have to be good at what you're doing to do it for 30.
Ron White
Plus years and love what you're doing, I would think.
Brian Green
Oh, yeah, for sure.
Ron White
And you can tell.
Brian Green
Yeah. I mean, like some other folks we've had here or some comedians who have been doing this for a long time. Chris Rock, you know, Jerry Seinfeld. You have to be really good and you have to really enjoy the art and craft of stand up. And that is not easy because like we've talked about with so many comedians on this show, this is not Led Zeppelin. You don't get to go and play your greatest hits. You have to keep coming up with new material. If Kathleen wants to sell out some shows in Chicago in 2025 and then do it again in 2026, you just can't do the same act over and over again. People aren't going to pay.
Ron White
Coming up with fresh new material.
Brian Green
Yeah, evolve. But the thing about Kathleen is she kind of reminds me of a lot. Ants.
Ron White
Yeah.
Brian Green
Yeah. She's got that same sense of humor. It's dry, it's witty, it's funny. She makes up words, you know, like she makes up words for things. She calls people by little, like terms of endearment, but it's really not a term of endearment. You know, a little chicken.
Ron White
Bless your heart.
Brian Green
Bless your heart. Little chicken. And it's just not, not. It's not in a term of endearment. It's a term of biting and cunning. And she is just like my aunts in that way. Reminds me so much. She actually reminds me of one, specifically my aunt Sandy, who has since passed, who was one of the funniest ladies ever. Aunt Sandy had the Entire family convinced, but not talking about the lady she lived with for 47 years of her life was just her best friend.
Ron White
Oh, yeah.
Brian Green
It was just her best friend. Yeah. It was such a Catholic thing to do.
Ron White
Totally.
Brian Green
Yeah. It was so Catholic. I mean, short hair. Both of them. Short hair. They would work out together. They had naked statues of women everywhere around their house. They both drove a Jaguar. I have never seen a more lesbian couple in my entire life. But no one ever said it out loud. And everyone pretended like they were just best friends living together. And that's what they told the kids. Oh, they're best friends. They live together now. I also lived with my best friend, too, who was a guy, but that lasted for about six months until the apartment got too smelly, too full of beer can, too much. Too much biohazard material around. And then we. Until we forgot to pay rent, and then we got kicked out. I mean, this was. Not that these two were definitely married essentially for so many years, and it was a loving relationship, but the. And I'm not saying that's Kathleen. That's not what I'm. I'm not saying she's trying to hide the fact of anything, but she rem. But Aunt Sandy was so funny because I think she had this different perspective on life, and her comedy was sly, biting under. It was just quiet. It was quiet comedy. And if you didn't. If you weren't picked, she was so smart, too. And if you weren't picking up on it, then you may not have known that Aunt Sandy was actually making fun of you. But I quickly caught onto it, and I loved it. Everything about Aunt Sandy was awesome to me. I really enjoyed it, including the statues of the naked ladies all around her house.
Ron White
That's true.
Brian Green
It was my favorite house to go to. And I don't think my mom brought us over there very often because of all the naked ladies hanging around, all the pictures and portraits of nude women all around the house. Anyway, you get what I'm saying? Okay. Kathleenmadigan.com links in the show notes. Chrissy, let's do this. Why do we not take a break? And then when we get back through the magic of this awkward transition phase and telepodcasting, we'll bring Kathleen Madigan on from wherever in the world she is. I think Nashville. We'll grab her. We'll talk to her. We'll keep her here as long as we can. Like a hostage situation. We'll keep her here just as long as we can.
Ron White
Yes. Let's do it. Let's do it.
Brian Green
All right, we'll be back with Kathleen.
Rachel
Hey, it's Rachel, your new voice of God here on tcb. And just like you, I'm wondering just how much longer this podcast can continue. Let's all rejoice that another episode has made it to your ears. And I'll rejoice that my check is in the mail. Speaking of mail, get your free TCB sticker in the mail by going to tcbpodcast.com and visiting the Contact Us page. You can also find the entire commercial break library audio and video, just in case you want to look at Chrissy at TCB Podcast. Want your voice to be on an episode of the show? Leave us a message at 212-4333, TCB. That's 212-433-3822. Tell us how much you love us and we'll be sure to let the world know on a future episode. Or you could make fun of us. That'd be fine too. We might not air that, but maybe. Oh, and if you're shy, that's okay. Just send a text. We'll respond. Now I'm gonna go check the mailbox for payment while you check out our sponsors, and then we'll return to this episode of the commercial break.
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Brian Green
And thank you Kathleen for joining us. We really appreciate it. How are you?
Ron White
Hello.
Lewis Black
I'm good, I'm good. I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to hide from a tornado tonight with my bottle of Jameson at a hockey.
Ron White
There you go.
Lewis Black
The important things because I don't have a basement in Tennessee because they said it would cost too much money to blow up all that rock.
Brian Green
Yeah. You can't dig in the rock.
Lewis Black
No. When they call it Rocky Top, that song's not kidding. That's. That's real.
Brian Green
What do you got under you? What's under there? That's granite under there. Or what's going on down there?
Lewis Black
Hard White Roc. That's all I know. Like, to build a basement would be like an extra 200 grand because of the dynamite.
Brian Green
Yeah. Don't do it. Yeah. It's. No, it's not worth it.
Lewis Black
You think? 95. 5 rule, right? For that I might die. Yeah, but 95% chance I won't.
Brian Green
Yeah. You could get struck by a bus tomorrow, though. So you take your chances. Where, you know, $200,000, that's a lot of money that could go to good use somewhere else.
Lewis Black
Right?
Brian Green
You get a pool. I mean, you get a pool for 200. You got a pool over there in Nashville?
Lewis Black
Yeah, I got a pool. That one. Cheap either. That was a big dynam. That was a big blast.
Brian Green
You'll be fine from the tornado. Do you live in the city of Nashville? Are you, like, city proper?
Lewis Black
Well, Davidson county, but I'm not like. I'm not downtown. I'm out by the airport, which is even better. It's only eight minutes door to door from the airport, but it's on a lake, which is really a river. I've come to figure out Tennessee. We. We all have different definitions of lakes. Yeah, this is a working river. Like barges come through and stuff. Stuff. Oh, yeah. And I was fishing, like, three coves over, and there were actually cows in it. So, you know, they came down to get a drink and they went all the way in. But I just. Wouldn't wear your best swimming suit here. Yeah, not a white one. Not a white one. Yeah. I mean, I'll still get in and I. I'll still eat the fish. Although I probably should. There's a DuPont chemical factory.
Ron White
Oh, God.
Brian Green
I know.
Lewis Black
Yeah, I know, but I. I ate a bass out of here, like, two years ago. I'm fine.
Brian Green
Yeah, you're still alive and you're looking great. Hey, you know, Chattahoochee river is very much the same way. We've talked about this on the show. The Chattahoochee, which runs through Atlanta, the Chattahoochee Coochie, all the way down there, there's, you know, they have. They find cows floating in there, like upside down cows floating in There you just don't want to eat anything that comes out of the river. And the people who tube down those rivers, they're young and they have immune systems that can deal with it. Not us.
Lewis Black
Yeah, snakes. The good thing though, if you're on a river, the snakes are less likely than a man made lake where they get very comfortable in those coves.
Brian Green
Sit there for years.
Lewis Black
Yeah, for years and years. And the water vacca cents are. They're violent, they're aggressive, and here, the river part at least keeps everything moving.
Brian Green
Yeah. So, yeah, you have been doing stand up comedy for a. A lot of years and I wanted to ask you a question.
Lewis Black
Okay.
Brian Green
Has there ever been a time or a gig, like a specific thing you could think about where you were just like, holy shit, I'm going to. This is the worst. I'm quitting. I'm done with this. This sucks. I've had the worst night of my life or run of my life, and this is it. I'm wondering because, you know, some of the comics that we talk to are fresh face comics. Right. And that they don't have the experience behind them. I think maybe to experience those ups and downs. But there has there been a moment when you could think of where you're like, holy shit, I'm done with this.
Lewis Black
No, I would have, I would never go beyond the night I'm in. But that's just. That's kind of how I live my entire life. Like I. There have been nights or a corporate gig that just terrible. Like I did one in Miami and half of them didn't speak English. I'm like, really? It was, I think it was Deutsche Bank. I'm like, did we have to ask this on the questionnaire? Do you speak English? I thought that was a given. There have been nights that have been very frustrating. But that's the great thing about Stand up to me is that it every. Tomorrow's a brand new day. Like, this is where I was saying to my brother after the, the super bowl, like, if you're Patrick Mahomes, you have to wait all the way till next September to be able to correct that.
Brian Green
Yes.
Lewis Black
Like, like you have to sit with a bad show for months and months and months and months and months versus Stand up. Okay, Say I suck tonight. I'll. I'll go tomorrow.
Ron White
Yeah, A whole new day.
Lewis Black
It's a, It's a very lucky position to be in because a lot of people, whether it's sports or just other entertainment, it's. It's for you. Don't get that chance the next night.
Brian Green
Yeah, no, it's true. And, and also you depend only on yourself at the end of the, at the end of the day. Right. So it's like you like Patrick Mahomes. He depends on however many other people to make sure that he wins from, from challenge from season to season for you, you can just kind of, you know, throw some cold water on your face and say, okay, Kathleen, you know how to do this. Go up and get them. Go to get them tomorrow night.
Lewis Black
Yeah, I like being solo because I feel like it's all on me, whether it's good or bad. I, that's why I hate improv. Like, I just don't want to rely on other people.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
Like if we're going to win, I'm winning.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
If I lose, I lose. But this whole, you know, there's six of us and let's see what happens. And then I used to do a joke a long time ago about the figure skaters that are the pairs and like, you know, when the other person falls, the other person's always very nice about it. And I, I just don't know that I could control my temper like that. Like I might skate around just to chop off one of his fingers while he's down there and then go, yeah, so this is why we're not on the cereal box. Because you couldn't keep your together and now I don't get a medal. Like I, I, I don't know that I could be that forgiving when that you all you've done for 10 years is work on one thing, right.
Ron White
And then you it up.
Brian Green
You also say at the end of, you also say at the end of the joke you say, I'm skating up to those judges and goes, I don't know who that guy is. I don't know how, why we're wearing the same thing.
Lewis Black
That guy threw me way too far. We practiced that a million times. That was complete bullshit. And I think I deserve another chance. That would be my argument. I just don't, I like that stand ups all by ourselves. The only time I feel weird about it is like in the Chicago theater or something very large. Yeah, I feel like, God, I don't have any dancers or like I'm only five foot tall. I just, I just don't feel like I'm enough for a stage that large. It seems like we're missing people.
Brian Green
You feel like you're like your actual physical presence. You're like, I need something to fill the stage out. That's got to Be a kind of strange feeling is when you're in those. You know, wherever you are, I don't know where you're playing, but. And it's just you sitting on the stage and there's these, you know, thousands of people that are watching you, and it's just you with a microphone. That's it. That's gotta be a strange sensation.
Lewis Black
If you think about it too hard, you will run away. Like, you would just go, this is crazy. What do we do? You know, I started at a Funny bone in a mall. Like, did you maybe 50 people on a Monday night. You know, not like, this is crazy. You can't overthink it. Me and Ron White always talk about that. He's like, you can't think about. Just act like it's the funny bone. Just walk out and do what you do. And I'm like, yeah. I mean, I've never freaked out enough to actually think about running away. But if you thought about it too long, you might. I think if you're a normal person and not some crazy, malignant narcissist.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
I mean, you're gonna go, whoa.
Brian Green
Of course. Do you still get nerves?
Lewis Black
Only at corporate gigs. And I try not to do them anymore because that. People don't understand that a corporate gig, not everybody there wanted to see comedy. They're not my fans. They're whoever they are. It's playing Russian roulette.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
There's gonna be four shows that went fine, but two are gonna be bullets to your soul.
Ron White
Yeah.
Lewis Black
And they will kill you. And it's awful. But otherwise, no, I don't get nervous.
Brian Green
So I get it's good money, but it's not. It's good money, but you just don't know what you're getting. Too many X factors.
Lewis Black
There's too much. Yeah. That's ill defined. And at this point, thankfully, I make enough money. I don't need that money, so I can just. Which is great.
Brian Green
Yeah. You have such a long and storied career and you're still doing it very successfully. Over all of these years, you've seen comedy. When did you get started, Kathleen? When was your first gig at the Bone? The Bone?
Lewis Black
Yeah, the Bone. But I was lucky because I was in St. Louis and that was their headquarters back then.
Brian Green
Oh, okay.
Lewis Black
So as soon as I got good enough to be an opening act, they booked me in all the funny bones twice a year. So, boom. That's a dirty week. Yeah. I started in 88, like, going to open bike nights and stuff. And then in August of 89, I went on the road, like, forever. Like, I never came back.
Ron White
So, yeah, you just travel constantly.
Lewis Black
I'm sure that's why when people go, how long's the tour? I'm like, well, so far, 35 years. Right. I'll let you know when I put my suitcase away for real and the cat doesn't get mad at me. I'll let you know right now.
Brian Green
Yeah, we were talking about this before you came on, and I was telling the people here in the studio, I was like, I don't think Kathleen ever stops touring. I think she. Every time I look, she's doing. There's another reel, there's another post, she's got another set of shows coming on. But I think that's. I guess after 35 years, that feels very normal to you. And, you know, do you enjoy that part of it, like being out and traveling, or would you rather spend more time kind of sitting and doing what you want to do?
Ron White
And do you have any true pet peeves when you're out on the road like that?
Lewis Black
I still love the road. I don't care where it's at. I'll go anywhere. I just like. I like to see what's going on. I like to know. I don't care if it's Cedar Falls or Chicago or Minneapolis, wherever. I don't care if it's cold. I just. I like the. I don't like the. The airport part.
Brian Green
Yeah, that's.
Lewis Black
That. That part. Even if you have all the fancy stuff.
Ron White
Yeah.
Lewis Black
You know, I have cleared. I have TSA pre check.
Brian Green
It doesn't matter.
Lewis Black
No, the flying first class now is really privately. I mean, come on.
Brian Green
Yeah. They put you in a room, essentially.
Lewis Black
Right, right, right. So that part absolutely sucks. And it keeps getting worse every year. Every year. Every year. That's why when I see the older flight attendants, I know they're going to be crabby because they're my age and they've been doing this forever, and the situation gets colossally worse every year. People are crabby. The planes, there's doors flying off, for Christ's sake.
Ron White
I know.
Lewis Black
It's crazy. Like, I don't necess. Really. I never thought about it. Well, if I'm in the exit row, if that door flies off, I used to always go for that. Not anymore. I'm gonna sit where there's no door. So I hate that part. But I like, when I get there, I have so much fun to see what's going on. So I. But I never wanted to do anything else either. Like, I know a lot of people like acting. And now I zero interest. I went one time, Lewis Black's one of my best friends and he was doing an episode of the Big Bang Theory and he made me go. I did not want to go. I'm like, lou, I'll watch it when it's on. I don't want to. Seven hours from 4 to 11. Me and his assistant drank a bottle of wine. I memorized his lines. I memorized the whole script by 11:00 at night. And I'm like, was this fun for you, Lou, because you're not making good money?
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
Like, you'd have made a lot more money going on the road this week. Like, did you enjoy that? Now he does. He likes acting. Lou's been in a bunch of movies and he likes the craft of it or whatever.
Ron White
We had him.
Lewis Black
I don't know.
Brian Green
Yeah, we had Lewis on. It's one of my favorite guests. He's so good at what he does. He's.
Lewis Black
And he's a ton of fun and he's got a lot of interest. He. He writes plays. And I always make fun of him. I'm like, you majored in playwriting. What year was that? Like, that's like saying you're a cobbler. Who does that? Lou? And he's like, oh, they just didn't reach the Midwest, Kathleen. You don't know. There's things going on. There are things going on. He's right. In New York, it's a thing.
Brian Green
Yeah, he was a playwright. His origin story is rather weird. Yeah, he had a rather strange origin story. It was like writing one act plays down in some basement in New York or something. Like. And people. Yeah, people didn't like it.
Lewis Black
Yeah, no, he. He's. He was the weirdest person I think I ever initially met. Like, he. We were at Catch a Rising Star in Chicago. It was like in a high end it. And he went up and I'm like, who is this? He is not doing traditional stand up. I mean, I'd only been doing it maybe four years, so I wasn't. I hadn't seen everything, but I'd seen a lot. And I'd seen the ones, you know, everybody, the Jeff Fox where they say, Seinfeld's in the clubs, Rich, Jenny, all those guys. And then Lou comes. I'm like, oh, he doesn't understand this format at all. But I love it.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
Like, it was crazy. It was, it was a crazy person.
Ron White
Yeah.
Lewis Black
But I liked it.
Brian Green
Yeah. That was when he was on Comedy Central. When he was on the Daily show, which is, I think, where a lot of people got exposed to Lewis Black and in Mass. It's just he's so cantankerous and so smart and so sharp at what he does. It's hard to ignore the brilliance in all that screaming. Right? It's. And I think for me, that just really. That was a really attractive form of comedy to me is the way that he was doing. And he said, I used to take headlines up on stage and that's what I would do. I'd read the newspaper, I'd circle headlines, and that's how I got started. I just yell and scream and people liked it. And he said, okay, why not?
Lewis Black
I had to teach him though. Like in the Midwest, I remember we did Omaha one time and we were, I guess we were co headlining, maybe. I said, I'll go first, you go second. I'm always. I'll go first. First one to the bar as soon as I'm done.
Brian Green
True, that's true.
Lewis Black
I don't have a ego thing about being the headliner or going like. But he was going on stage and he's always very political. And we're in Omaha, Nebraska, and he's like, I don't think it's going as well here. I said, here's the thing, Lou. It's the Midwest. We're a little polite and we'd like to. Maybe you could open your act with like something about the weather. Yeah, just a little tiny thing. It's not hard. Like, yeah, you don't need to come out screaming that George W. Bush is an asshole. Like, let's just maybe start with your impression on Nebraska. And he was like, yeah, you're right. I'm probably. I'm a little. I go, you're a lot for the Midwest. You're a lot. You're a big barking dog. And they don't know if you're friendly or not friendly, so come out a little friendly.
Brian Green
That's a smart observation. As a guy who grew up in Chicago, you have a very familiar sense of humor, way of talking that Midwest, that, that flavor of Midwest comes out in you. And I think that's. That feels very familiar to me. It's like what I GRE up around with the, the voices that I heard and the, the kind of sharp witted but quiet and polite comedy that you do is very, is very good. Do you. Is there a place where you feel. Where your comedy feels? I guess people respond to it better. Like, when you go to the Midwest, do you feel like, you get a warmer reception than you do in certain places in the country. Or does your comedy. Have you been doing this for so long, your comedy kind of resonates wherever you're.
Lewis Black
Well, that was the weird thing. I was terrified being from the Midwest. Like, my first road week was the Philadelphia Funny Bone. And Philly. Philly, to this day is. And they know it. Yeah, they're a hard. It's a hard city. They're hardcore. They. And I mean, I got it now, but initially I was like, are they gonna laugh at the same stuff? And they did. I mean, I think always my act will be more. It will resonate more with the Midwest or South than. And, like, I'm not very woke, but I don't like the term woke either. Cause it implies the other side's asleep. I'm like, no. I'm like a dog on an old dog with one eye open on the couch.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
Kind of awake.
Brian Green
You're a blue dog.
Lewis Black
I'm not woke. I'm never gonna be the. The one, like, trying to, I don't know, make new waves or convince people of anything. It's complete nonsense. Like, I view my act like the movie Arthur, which I love. Oh, I love that. It's an hour and a half. It's an hour escape. You're not gonna probably. Well, you might learn a few things, but they won't be valuable. They'll just be. It ain't bad that, like, you know.
Brian Green
That'S the new tagline for our podcast.
Ron White
You might learn some things, but it's not valuable.
Lewis Black
No, I mean, it'll help you. It may be in a fun bar conversation, but it's. It's. And there are a couple legal advice things I throw in there from my dad. It might help if you're like, get a dui. Just keep your mouth shut. But, yeah, you know, like, I'm never going to be known for, like, a lot of comics are like, oh, that's so groundbreaking. Or edgy. Or, I'm edgy in my own Midwest polite way.
Brian Green
Yes.
Lewis Black
But you have to be looking for. You have to know exact. I'm tricking people sometimes.
Brian Green
I see what you're saying, and I agree with you. So here. The funny thing is the. The bit about the ice skating, the ice skaters. Right. And practicing all your life to do this one thing with somebody else who might fuck up comes from one of your Comedy Central specials. That was way back when. And I just watched that last night. It popped up on my YouTube and I'm like, let me Let me watch this. Really funny, but you are edgy in your own way. But it is kind of this polite Midwestern way. You're. You're kind of sneaking in the back door, Right? It's edgy and there's some commentary there, but you have to know where to find it. You have to know how to listen to it in that own Midwestern way. You have worked with probably a lot of the greats, Seinfeld, Lewis Black. And I always wanted to ask a question. Do you ever get advice from one of those people, like one of those huge success stories that you were like, I don't think that's great advice. They gave you advice. And then you were like, I actually don't think that's great advice. You don't have to tell me who.
Lewis Black
No. Yeah, but no, I can't even remember who. It's somebody who paced a lot, like Chris Rock. It might have been like Chris or something. We're like, Madigan. You gotta move it a little bit more. I'm like, no, I don't.
Ron White
Yeah.
Lewis Black
The job says stand up comedy, standing up. It doesn't say walk around. It doesn't say, me and Ron White, who's one of my best friends. We are. Of the opinion for us, if you can stand still for an hour and keep everyone's attention, your material is great. Great.
Brian Green
Fair enough.
Lewis Black
I the like it used to. And I became friends with Robin Williams because we did all those Iraq tours. He's a very sweet man, but the running around and the sweating and the jumping, I want to grab him and go. Just stand still for two jokes.
Brian Green
Yes.
Lewis Black
Just to humor me. Just stand there. But, you know, everybody's got their own little style, Little whatever.
Brian Green
And Robin was one of the best, in my opinion. He. But he was frenetic. And I think watching some of his old stuff, like back in the 80s, sometimes it's a little bit disconcerting how much he's moving around. And obviously I think he's powered by something besides Wheaties. Do you know what I'm saying?
Lewis Black
Back in the 80s, I mean, he admitted what was going on. You also shouldn't be sweating that perfume.
Brian Green
Right?
Lewis Black
I'm like, like in a theater, they'll go, do you need any towels? I'm like, if I need a towel, you need to take me to a hospital. Yeah, I'm going out there talking. There shouldn't be any sweating involved. The lights aren't that hot. Like, come on, you guys. They're not.
Brian Green
So do you want to know where I found the most touching Robin Williams, like, documentary film footage was not on a Robin Williams documentary. It was on that Christopher Reeves documentary. Because I had no idea the two of them were like best friends. And then when they got to the part where they started talking about how when after Chris had his accident, Robin was there, but they never talked about the accident or his disability. And one of his children was saying, I think that Robin gave Chris some sense of normalcy back. And because he never mentioned anything about the accident or anything about being in a wheelchair or anything like that. And I found, I don't know, there was something very touching and sweet about that. He's like, they both kind of confided in each other. Robin was amazing. It's. How sad were you guys? How many shows did you guys do together? How many tours did you go on?
Lewis Black
Well, we went on two, but they were long. They were like all of December. And here was the craziest thing I've ever seen. I'd never been around a global star. Like, I've been around comedians, you know, Gary Shandling, people that were stars here. Even, even Roseanne, like, she really wasn't a movie global star like Robin. Like, so everybody knows Robin. Everybody. And we were in a hospital and they said, there's this. How not paying attention. I was, they're like, oh, there's some soldiers from Georgia. And I was like, like what? Like from Atlanta. They meant the country.
Ron White
Right, right.
Lewis Black
I forgot there was a country in Georgia. But they kind of speak Russian. And Robin went in there to this kid, like 18 year old guy and just started speaking Russian. Really? It was the craziest I've ever seen. I'm like, is that from Moscow on the Hudson. Did you really learn?
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
All that. He's like, yeah, I just became interested.
Brian Green
It.
Lewis Black
It was crazy. I. It was like watching, I don't know, like a, A magic trick.
Brian Green
A magician. Yeah, I was gonna say, yeah.
Lewis Black
He was very sweet and soft spoken. I actually preferred his serious work over the comedy because the comedy was too frenetic for me. But I, I mean, he know, he knew that. I told him that. I'm like, I wish you would just settle down.
Brian Green
Yeah, I, I don't disagree with you. I think some of the stuff that he did on film that was more serious just felt more earnest to me. And sometimes I think he could be more funny when he was delivering a ry line rather than something, you know, jumping out of a box and, you know, with suspenders and trying to make everybody laugh.
Lewis Black
Yeah. Like awakenings was a great Movie where he. That to me was the real Robin. And then the standup. Like, he's an. He went to Juilliard. He's an actor. I felt like sometimes he was an actor acting as a comedian.
Brian Green
Ah, that's a very interesting observation.
Lewis Black
And, you know, no harm, no foul. People can do whatever they want on stage. But I, I just preferred the regular guy that I sat on a bus with for hours riding around Afghanistan. That guy.
Brian Green
Yeah. I preferred his awakenings to his Mork and Mindy years.
Ron White
Yeah.
Lewis Black
Although as a kid, I really did look forward to 7:30 on Tuesday nights. I remember when it was on, it.
Brian Green
Was, it was very interesting. So you, you are a storyteller. By, by nature. I would share that. You're a storyteller. Do you ever tell stories about people in your personal life where they're like, yeah, what's up? I prefer that you don't share that story.
Ron White
Right.
Lewis Black
No. I think I'm a pretty good editor in my mind of what my family will tolerate. Although I did post a joke from a while back about me, quote, ruining Christmas. My sister, My sister goes, this was recently. She goes, hey, all these people are from Facebook. All my friends are calling. I never said you ruined Christmas. I said, you absolutely did. How do you think I. I didn't write that as a joke. That whole situation happened. She goes, oh, well, maybe I did. I said, I have never said anything on stage. It did not happen or was not the truth. Now, like, let's say a sibling gets divorced and is terrible. I'm not gonna. Of course. Yeah. And there's, there's seven of us. And, you know, my dad passed away, but my mom's alive, so I have eight people. So I'll just move off you. If your life is sad, I'll just.
Ron White
Move on to somebody else.
Lewis Black
I'll just focus on somebody else for a while.
Ron White
Yeah, exactly.
Brian Green
Yeah. We do a lot of content here. We do. I mean, we're on 700 plus episodes at this point. Thousand hours of content.
Ron White
We pull from everything.
Brian Green
Yeah, we pull from everything. But I have learned, and I learned very quickly, there are. People aren't volunteering to be on your show. This wasn't their life choice. And you have to be careful about what you say. But it's easy to edit and change names and, you know, flip things around when you tell the story. You just change the faces and the names just get changed to protect the innocent. Chrissy. That's how you do it. But still, some people know, like, you know, if I tell a Story about my brother. I'll change some of the details, but sometimes he's like, dude, I really didn't want that, Shay. Or that's. And I'm like, I didn't even say, you know, you know how no one would ever piece that together, but they know. And he gets up, you know, sometimes he's gotten upset and I'm like, okay, I'll.
Lewis Black
I will.
Ron White
I wanted to be on the show.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
I will run it by him if I think I'm on the edge.
Brian Green
That's okay. That's a. That's a fair policy.
Ron White
Yeah.
Lewis Black
Like, I'm like, do you care if I say, Matt, that's my sister, one of my sister's husbands, that when you met Matt, he didn't know what religion he was like, is that gonna make him seem stupid or. And she goes, oh, I don't think he'd care at all. I'm like, great, great. Because I'm already doing it on stage. I just wanted permission to do it on film on April 26th.
Brian Green
Wait, can we follow this down the rabbit hole just for a second? What? Your. Your brother in law did not know what religion he was?
Lewis Black
Not really, no. So my sister, we're all Catholic. And like, if I married you, I don't really care if you become Catholic. What my sister did, because they're going to have kids and she wants this cohesive. And I think on some level my sister still thinks you might not make it into heaven if you didn't sign up. Like, I don't agree with that. But this is where we part ways.
Brian Green
She's got Catholic.
Lewis Black
And Matt's like, well, I'm Christian. He's like a rural guy, will rule to us. I go, right, but what kind of Christian? He goes, well, Kathleen, I don't. I don't really know. I go, okay, Matt, when you drove up to the building, what did it say? Did it say like United Methodist or Lutheran? He goes, well, I don't mind. I don't think it really said anything. Just a white building. It was cr. I'm like, well, this is some Little House on the Prairie ship, man. Like, wow, it's just a white country building. Yeah. I go, so you were obviously some form of Protestant? He goes, no, no, we weren't protesting nothing. I'm like, okay, all right, Matt, I'm just telling you, don't agree to her terms. Because if you have, it's like six weeks of classes. It's not like joining a mega church where you just walk right in. Yeah, that's no, no, no, no, no.
Brian Green
It's six weeks of classes, and then you got a whole lent situation you got to deal with every year. You got to give up smoking, drinking. Yes.
Lewis Black
Here was the greatest part, though, about making fun of people in your own personal life. So the last Amazon special I did, or it might have been a Netflix, one of them. I don't know. It doesn't matter. They were like, oh, you have all these jokes about your parents, and do you think you could get them to sign a. Like a disclosure saying it's okay? I go, not.
Ron White
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Lewis Black
I go, no, I don't. I go, I've been making fun of my parents for 35 years. And I go, you know what's going to be great if you want to get that? They go, well, we email you the disclosure, and then they could scan, print it out and scan it and say, oh, I go, you know what? I'm going to give you their cell phone number. And if they answer, which they won't, because the cell phones are never charged, Right? And I'm going to give you their email. They'll probably open it in 20. So I'm not doing that. I'm not going through that with my mom and dad. So you're just going to have to take the risk that I've made a lot of fun of Jack and Vicki and I. I just. That's the first time anybody ever said.
Brian Green
That's a ridiculous amount of ass covering right there, isn't it?
Lewis Black
Like, well, you really think my own family is going to sue you for employing me?
Brian Green
Yes.
Lewis Black
Like, I was just like, this is really. I guess it's cover your ass. But, I mean, Jack and Vicky at age 78, really. I mean, he was a lawyer, but he's not even licensed anymore. He can't do anything that expired years ago.
Brian Green
He's a shark who's lost his teeth. He's not gonna do anything. You're not gonna worry about it. Don't get all fussy about something. If that's the level of ass covering that Amazon is doing with all of these specials, I can only imagine, right?
Lewis Black
But then on Baby Rainier, you didn't check anything, right? I'm like, oh, my God, you're telling me that I need to get clearance to make fun of my mom and dad at Home Depot or something. Meanwhile, you've got a. You're. You have a lady's life that you said is a true story. And that's not the lady.
Brian Green
Yeah, that's true. It's True.
Lewis Black
Oh, my God. I'm like, where were your lawyers then? Where? I don't get that. I never did get that one.
Brian Green
That is selective. L. Were you the wrong woman?
Lewis Black
Well, you said they didn't do one thing to change her identity, but they matched it identically. She was a little overweight, Scottish, a lawyer. Those were her jobs. So all you would have had to do is make her American or why can't a crazy person be skinny? Yeah, make it a skinny lady.
Brian Green
Or make her.
Lewis Black
Make her British. Or they just copied exact. And then the Internet immediately knew exactly who she was. It's Fiona. Oh. And you presented it as a true story. And then when you go look at it all. She didn't go to prison. Isn't. There's all kinds of stuff in there that's not true.
Brian Green
Well, he presented it as a true story to Netflix. Netflix took it on. On verbatim. They didn't do. They didn't check. And now the judge went. So she sued them for like 150 million. She's gonna win. Yes, because they did nothing to protect her identity. And she. And. And Kathleen's right. All they had to do was skinny African American church secretary. And then you. You could have made the case that, oh, this was a fictional story that we made up whole cloth, even though it was very similar to something that happened to me. So while this guy got all these props and it was a true story. That makes that. It makes it interesting. But it would have been interesting even without the true story part. Right.
Lewis Black
There's just one word missing. Based on. Yeah, that's it. They were two words. They just said, this is a true story.
Brian Green
Yes.
Lewis Black
I mean that they. I'm not the first one to bring that up. I'm not saying I. And I'm a genius, but that's it. Based on.
Ron White
Based on is different.
Brian Green
And then they will. And then they could have just said, well, kind of loosely based on you, but it wasn't you.
Ron White
Yeah.
Brian Green
Do you remember every time we think I think about, like, based on true story. Do you remember when Fargo came out? The movie Fargo, and the beginning of the movie, it said, you know, the events in this movie are all true. Right. And everybody was like, when did this happen? Where did this happen? Well, the thing that the Coen brothers didn't mention is, yeah, all the events are true, but they didn't happen in one story. That's like 100 stories they took the pieces from. Those guys are so genius.
Ron White
I think I know my favorite movies.
Brian Green
Is quintessential Midwestern Fargo. And I know that it's exaggerated, you know, accents and, you know, kind of tropes, but when you see that movie, if you grew up in the Midwest, if you've ever been up there, then you. That really hits home to you. Like, oh, yeah, that's. That's how they talk. Oh, yeah, that's how they act. Oh, yeah, that's how polite they are in the face of murder. Do you have a. Do you. Over the years that you've been doing comedy, has there been, like, trends that you've seen in comedy? Have you changed your comedy over? I mean, I'm sure I know your comedy's evolved over the years, but is there like a trend and you're like, I'm not jumping on that bandwagon. No, thanks. Like, like now I, I feel like comedy is. Some comedians, they're not really comedians. They're. They're clickbait, so to speak. Right. They are going for shock value. The louder we can be, the more edgy things we can say, the more people we can offend, then the better off I'll be because I'm doing it for the algorithm and not for comedy purposes. Now, some people, I'm sure like that, but that's how some comedy, some comedy feels to me right now. Have you seen trends where you're like, oh, no, no, no, this is just not, not great.
Lewis Black
Well, this is. This wasn't really a trend that would have affected me, but I never stopped laughing. For a two year period, every guy sounded like Mitch Hedberg. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I would just sit in the back of the room and go, no, no, no. There was only one Mitch. There was only, he's not here anymore. We're moving on. The trends that I always see and they come and they go is dirty comedy, clean comedy, and like this whole not cussing thing. I'm going on stage and being who I am. Exactly. You can take it or leave it. I'm clean at a corporate event because I am paid specifically not to cuss.
Brian Green
Yes.
Lewis Black
But in real life, I cuss. Like, I. It just proved that to me. Like the cussing debate. Words don't matter. It's the person receiving the words. It's on you. Because, like, I had this homeless lady lady come down the street in Oklahoma City and she was dragging a blue tarp and she was, she, she clearly, she was smoking like an unlit cig and I had a lighter. So I thought, well, I'll let you see if she wants a light. But she Already came up yelling at me in Spanish, just screaming. And I was like, I don't know, lady. Yeah, I don't know what she said. She could have called me a hundred cuss words. It doesn't matter because I didn't understand it.
Brian Green
Right.
Lewis Black
It's your interpretation of, of that, that. So the clean, dirty thing, I've just always. Well, I've never been like dirty. Like, I'm not gonna get up and do the, the, the.
Brian Green
Yeah, you're not doing stick jokes.
Lewis Black
Yeah, no, I'm not, I'm not. I just would never. Don't we have anything else to talk about? I mean, my God, like, I just always thought that was low hanging fruit. I'm not doing it. And clean. Define clean. I, I don't, I don't even like the labels of all that. Like. Yeah, I mean, people are making money off of it. Good for you guys. But I, I just don't. What does that mean? So it's not offensive to an eight year old, but I mean, that's fine if that's what you want to do. But you know, I think I'm 38. I'm 48, I'm 50, I'm not 8.
Brian Green
Like that's true. Yeah, it's true. And I, I think that there are comedians who do that to great effect. Like, I think Nick Bargazi is an example of this. Right. His comedy is slow, it's plotted, but it's funny. And there's not a cuss word in there. Right. And I think there are other comedy comedians who I won't name. I don't want to offend anybody who just don't do it to. Great. I think they're just like the. I agree with you. Why are you not saying the words that you could say? You could punctuate these things with something a little bit more.
Lewis Black
If it's your normal.
Brian Green
If it's your normal way of doing.
Ron White
Yeah. Conversation.
Lewis Black
I mean, my parents, it was always, it was always breaking news to me that like in the south specifically, God damn is more offensive than other words that you would be more. But like when my, my mom, I mean, that was said every week in my house. But like when my mom would say God damn it, I really thought she was asking God to damn it. I mean, it wasn't just a throwaway word. She was pissed. Like, yes, the crock pot didn't broke or something. And then it would be like, God damn it. And I thought, okay, okay.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
And they never seem to care if we said it.
Ron White
Yeah.
Lewis Black
I Mean as when we're like 18, not when we're 8. 8, 18. So I, I don't have the same relationship. Like cursing was going on in my house all the time. Not they wouldn't go say. Or they wouldn't go that far, but. And God damn it. And all that.
Ron White
Yeah.
Lewis Black
So to me, that's just the way you talk.
Brian Green
I, I couldn't agree with you more. I don't shy away from cussing around the kids. Again. There are some words that I just choose. Not like I'm not going to teach them at their young, tender age, but then I let them know that this may word you want to say in public because other people might be offended by it. Right. But words are just words. It's not, you know, it's not going to slice anybody open. Their eyeball's not going to come out because you said shit, it's not going to happen. And I think the general attitude toward cussing has got much more loose since the 80s. I mean, if you heard the word on broadcast television.
Lewis Black
Yeah.
Ron White
On tv, that was a big deal.
Brian Green
Now there's a shit every 15 seconds on NBC at 7:00 at night. You can't even watch Jeopardy. Without hearing the word. I mean, it's.
Lewis Black
Yeah, they keep expanding the. And not that everybody needs to talk. It's the clean, dirty. And then there's specifically a lot of women comics that I think go dirty.
Brian Green
Er.
Lewis Black
To try to be one of the guys.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
And say that you can. I can feel it when it's happening. I'm like, oh, man. And I know they're smarter than that.
Brian Green
Yes.
Lewis Black
Like, that's the frustrating part. Like there are some really dumb road comics out there that get up and do dick jokes, but you go drinking with it. I'm like, oh, oh, sweet, sweet little. Sweet little rabbit's not smart. Sweet little rabbit can't think of nothing. This is. I literally don't hate him. Then I'm like, okay. Oh, tiny dancer. You just can't, you know, this is all he's got.
Brian Green
So.
Lewis Black
Okay. Yeah, I, that those people never, never make me frustrated because they're doing what they can do. Yeah. That's the best they can do.
Brian Green
I bet off air we could name three of them. I bet we'd be thinking about the same people.
Lewis Black
There's at least 10 throughout the years I could put on, on a vision board that I remember from the day. And they, they make their money, they get their free drinks and they're happy. So, you know, it's a Nice little job, if you don't mind being gone. We got. We got a dumb rabbit with a dumb act, but, hey, there's five bucks to get in, and it's a Tuesday.
Brian Green
They got three drink tickets and a shitty cheeseburger, and they're gonna. The Howard Johnson at the HoJo. What are you. What are you gonna do in Schaumburg, Illinois? What are you gonna do?
Lewis Black
Right? Right?
Brian Green
You. You have got to have seen and done a lot of sets with very successful, famous comedians. Ron White, you've been mentioning, is. Is one of your friends. You guys. You guys hang out a lot? You and Ron?
Lewis Black
Oh, yeah. He came up here during COVID He had. He had nowhere to go.
Brian Green
Oh, you guys just hung out during COVID Yeah.
Lewis Black
I go, well, you. Last I heard, you have a bus and a plane. Yeah, and, like, the golf course. We like to golf, and he loves to fish. I'm like, yeah, come on up. So he was here for a while, a few weeks at least. And he was like, after a week of it, he goes, maddie, isn't it just amazing how seamlessly we've slipped into retirement? Love it. I go, I love it. I love it. I don't miss the road. I don't need to be on stage. I mean, I love the road, but this is awesome. I might get a cat. This is crazy. I've never been home for more than two weeks in a row since I was 23 years old. We had a blast. We got up, we went fishing, then we go golfing. Then we come back and go fishing again. It was just.
Ron White
That's fun.
Lewis Black
And, like, anything we wanted to do was still open. Like, you go on the lake, you can go golfing. Even the. The golf course up by my house has, like, outdoors, outdoor bar and all that so we could still drink. And, like. Like, Lewis was trapped in an apartment in New York.
Brian Green
Yeah. Couldn't go.
Lewis Black
And he started going crazier and crazier, like, week by week, like this cooped up, crazy person. And I'm like, dude, you need to get out. Out of there. Yeah. So then he came here, and I'm like, you're gonna have to. He was screaming at the television. Yeah, dude, I am already in realization fun mode.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
And you're gonna need to catch. Catch up.
Ron White
Yes.
Lewis Black
Or you're going back to New York to your little chicken. Put you back there, because I can't live like this. Yeah, I know, I know. It's just so maddening. Like, he. That Raj is like, let's go get a 12 pack of Michelob Ultra and Fireball shots in case we get a birdie. Yeah, right. Yes. That's.
Ron White
That's what I want to do.
Brian Green
To be the bartender at the outdoor bar where Lewis Black, Kathleen Madigan, and Rob.
Ron White
Yes.
Brian Green
It's like a life's achievement. Die happy if I'm the bartender at the golf course. And for a few weeks, that's all what I've got at my bar is those three just entertaining me.
Lewis Black
And I felt so bad saying, like, well, I'm having a blast during COVID because, like, I have relatives that are nurses and teachers. And it was brutal. My one sister's a teacher, and the Zooms and the kids aren't showing up, and people are yelling and hollering. And I was like, oh, yeah, I don't know. I caught three crappie, two bass, and.
Brian Green
Adam Margarita and a Ron White. Yeah.
Lewis Black
And me and Ron saw two snakes. That's my day. That's my day.
Brian Green
You know, that was when Covid happened. Our first episode was released, like, the same week that all of the lockdowns started happening. So April 15, 2020. And this podcast may have saved my life because at least I had something to come do. Like, I had some outlet, some way. And we just didn't talk about any of it. I mean, occasionally, you know, of course, mentioned masks or whatever on occasion, but we just didn't talk about any of it. That's why the show's named the Commercial Break, but so we would just kind of shut it out. And I gotta be honest, that hour and a half or two hours at that time. Once a week. That.
Lewis Black
Yeah.
Ron White
Once a week.
Brian Green
Yeah. Now it's four times a week. That really, like, allowed me to decompress in a way that I think saved me from just going absolutely stir crazy.
Lewis Black
Were you guys in Atlanta then?
Brian Green
Yeah, we were in Atlanta.
Lewis Black
Okay. The south was a lot more loosey goosey with the rules.
Brian Green
If you remember, our governor opened up the bowling alleys and the nail salons.
Ron White
That's right.
Brian Green
And I thought to myself, I mean, at the time. Now, at hindsight, I think it was a good idea that he was saying, hey, we can't just shut down everything forever. Right? But at the time, it was the funniest thing ever to know that our governor had made some decision somewhere at the highest powers of local government. Government, he said. Nail salons, bowling.
Ron White
His wife had to get her nails done.
Brian Green
That's it. And he liked bowling or something.
Lewis Black
The nail one makes more sense to me than the bowling.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
I mean, I'm not against bowling. I've done it when I bartended. Like, it for fun and all that, but that's a very odd. Yes, especially if you're not a professional bowler. Like, I'm touching strange bowling balls.
Brian Green
That's it.
Lewis Black
Strange shoes.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
Everything's. Everything's borrowed.
Brian Green
Yeah, you're touching everything.
Lewis Black
Everybody else is. Yeah.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
I think there'd be an indoor sport that would be less kind of gross. Like, you know, I'm wearing someone else's gross shoes.
Brian Green
At the time, no one would have accused Brian Kemp of being the sharpest tool in the shed. Now, he's proven to be somewhat smart on occasion, but at the time, you would have gone, well, that makes a lot of sense for Brian Kemp. But we were doing video. We were doing it over video for, like, the first month and a half, and then we're like, okay, let's just test and get together and then when. And that just kind of saved us. And I can't. I. I can only imagine that for you, like, your entire life changes. No more shows out. You know, we're not doing any more shows. We're not doing any more traveling. A complete disruption. But then you've got Lewis Black and Ron White to come over and keep you company. That must be.
Lewis Black
Yeah. And then there's, like, Brian who owns Zany's here in Nashville. Little. Little Dorf. He's out there golfing every day. Like, all my. Nate was here. All. All my good golf buddies are here and friends are here. And we all. Still. Nothing really changed, except we're outside. I mean, but we're out there anyway. Like, I don't really. Turns out I don't do much inside, so. Yeah, I mean, you could still go on these. Awesome. Then I got every hike that was available. Tennessee I always wanted to do. I could drive up to Missouri and hang out in the Ozarks.
Brian Green
That was.
Lewis Black
We went viral.
Ron White
Yeah.
Lewis Black
Remember that? Yeah. No, I did not partake in that. But that's just because I know everyone's pissing in those pools. They're drinking, and I'm not. That's not about COVID Yeah, that's just. That's too many young people. Not for me anymore. But. Yeah, I. I. I just feel like the. The south in the Midwest was a little more unleashed than New York. Oh, my God. New York. Yeah. Yeah.
Ron White
And how long did it take you to actually go back on the road after?
Lewis Black
Well, as soon as they let us. I wasn't gonna do that. Like, let's do a comedy show on Zoom. I know younger people need the money, so they took the gigs. I get it. But I. I didn't have to do any of that. Thank God. But as soon as they said, okay, we're back up and rolling, and then I was like, huh, I better get my. I'm gonna get my ass down to Zanies and remember my act. Because that's the problem with me. You can't tell me I'm off for a year and expect me to do anything.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
Until that 11th. The 11th month, I'll go, okay, I gotta get serious now.
Ron White
I gotta get the muscle.
Lewis Black
But I'm not gonna. Those other. Except have fun. Just off and. Yeah, yeah. There's an old saying, never give an Irish person enough money. And it's very true. Don't. Like, I have enough. I don't. I don't need. I. I'll never understand the. The people, the Elon's, the Dick Cheney's.
Ron White
Like, how much money do you have to have? Yeah.
Lewis Black
Well, when is it enough? When is enough enough for me? I know it's enough when all the bills are paid.
Brian Green
Yep.
Lewis Black
And then there's a retirement savings. And my brother says, I'm good.
Ron White
Yeah.
Lewis Black
Then I'm. That's enough.
Brian Green
My grandfather put out. And I've said this a couple times on the show. He was in a nursing home with. He was unable to walk because he had so many broken hips. Colon cancer for the second time. You know, he was like 98 years old. And he was taking his resume and giving it to the nurses in the nursing home and telling them to please fax it to this phone number. He tried to find work until the day that he died because he had a very. He was Irish too. I mean, of Irish descent. And he had a very similar way of thinking. It's that you work or you die. Right. Number one. Number two, never give me too much money. Because, you know, what do they say? They say an addict's worst enemy is time and money. I really think that's an Irish person's worst, worst enemy is time and money. You don't want either of those things. Yeah.
Lewis Black
Because time, it was always the devil's workshop. According to my grandma. You've got too much free time. Devil's workshop. The devil's workshop. Yeah. Yeah.
Brian Green
Kathleen is on the Never Ending Tour. She will one of your dates. The tickets go on sale this week. So the tickets are either now available or will be available over the next couple of days for your fall dates. Yes. And then there'll be the Winter dates and then the spring dates and then the summer dates until, you know, Ron comes back over and kills another three or four weeks with you.
Lewis Black
That's right. Until he retired, and then he unretired. So I lost my retirement buddy. He's got to retire. Retire again.
Brian Green
Yeah. Then, listen, I know we aren't great friends, but next time you, Ron, Lewis, and Nate get together up there to play around the golf, it's a. I'll carry your bag.
Ron White
From Atlanta.
Lewis Black
There's really. There's no rules in our golf course. We could go out as a fivesome. It's no problem. They don't care. There's no rules.
Brian Green
Yeah, I love it. I will. I love golf. And I'll be happy to play around with you. I'll even. I'll pay for the fireball. I'll put a link to all of Kathleen's stuff inside of the show. Notes, notes. I could talk to you for another hour and a half. Kathleen, I hope that you come back because I. I enjoy your comedy and I think you're a great person to talk to. This is a ton of fun.
Lewis Black
Thanks, guys. I had a good time, too. I watched some of your other ones, too. So I'm just here to say, as a custom viewer person, you should go watch their other ones. The one with Fortune, I liked a lot. I love Fortune. And I watched. I watched. I watched a lot of Lewis's, but I. I just feel like. Like he's just in my living room.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
I'm like, okay. He's. Yeah.
Brian Green
I feel the same way about my own voice.
Lewis Black
It's a good podcast, so it's obvious.
Ron White
Thank you.
Lewis Black
Congratulations.
Brian Green
Your podcast is great, too, pubcast. Which. And can I just share one thing with you, Kathleen? Please don't take any offense to this. Put a microphone on your producer because we want to.
Lewis Black
No, they don't. No.
Brian Green
No. Okay. All right. She says no.
Lewis Black
She says no. I have to respect that.
Brian Green
Oh, she says no.
Lewis Black
Yeah.
Ron White
She doesn't want it.
Brian Green
I can't. But I want to hear what she has to say, and I can't hear her.
Lewis Black
She doesn't want it. She wants no part of like. So I'll. I do the comic trick. I repeat what she says.
Brian Green
Yeah, yeah.
Lewis Black
But. But I can't make another adult. And. And that was my tech guru during when Covid. When I started the podcast, so I can't camp fire paddles.
Brian Green
Yeah, well, no, don't fire her. I just. I was listening to or watching it actually on YouTube this morning, and I was like, I can't hear what she's saying. But you do repeat a lot of the stuff that she says.
Lewis Black
I try to repeat it. I take no offense to the. Believe me, I've heard it before through the team email and stuff. And they're like, give, give her a microphone. I'm like, I can't make adults do what they don't want to do.
Brian Green
Well.
Lewis Black
And then I just say, it's free, man.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Lewis Black
You hate it.
Ron White
Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
Lewis Black
That's what we've said, too.
Brian Green
That's what we've said, too.
Ron White
Sorry we've offended.
Brian Green
It's not for everyone. We've had a million text back lines. Yeah. And we'll have a new one after this, too. So. Kathleen Madigan, you're fantastic. Thanks. And you're welcome back anytime. And we hope you do come back. Bye. See you soon.
Lewis Black
See you in Atlanta. Okay, Bye.
Brian Green
Bye.
Rachel
Let me do something Brian has never done.
Lewis Black
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 videos@YouTube.com the commercial 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.
Brian Green
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Brian Green
Kathleen Madigan.
Ron White
What a delight. She was honestly fun.
Brian Green
Yeah, we say this a lot, but it is true. I mean, I don't want to just sound repetitive, but it is. But it is fun talking to these people because, you know, they. They're human beings, but they don't have to be interesting and fun to talk to. You know what I'm saying? If I went to a bar tomorrow and I talked to 20 people, I think probably 10 of them at least, I would be like, okay, all right, whatever. I don't. I don't wish to have another conversation with them. And then five of them would be kind of interesting. And then five of them you would want to follow up with. You'd be like, those are cool people. You know, I want to hang out with. I think 90% of the guests that we've had on the commercial break are people you want to hang out with again, Definitely. They probably aren't saying the same thing about us, but at least. At least we have a good impression, at least from our perspective. It was a lot of fun, and Kathleen was. And I swear to God, that is, like, my dream date. Get Nate Bargazzi, Lewis Black, Ron White, Kathleen Madigan in a bottle of Fireball, and let's go play 18. Yeah. That's awesome.
Ron White
And fish. Yeah.
Brian Green
Yeah. And go see fish. Let's all go see fish. That's what it is.
Ron White
Well, we also have a tagline. I mean, that's it. You're gonna hear a lot of stuff.
Brian Green
You're gonna hear a lot of stuff. Most of it's not valuable.
Ron White
Not. Not of any. Not anything of real value.
Brian Green
No value in this. Yeah, there's no value.
Ron White
Fun stuff.
Brian Green
We're not Joe Rogan. We're not informing you about how Doge is saving you money. That's not our lot in life. Good old Joe. I wanted to really ask her about her thoughts on. Well, never mind. I'm not gonna get into It. I wanted to ask her her thoughts on something, but I refrained. Maybe conversation number two. I'll ask her about.
Ron White
I hope she comes back.
Brian Green
Yeah, some of the. The quote unquote comedians that are out there right now doing their thing. Anyway, she's got pubcast, which is her. I think it's weekly podcast. You can find that wherever you're listening to this, you can go on the free Odyssey app. Of course, all of the podcasts are free. You can download that. You can also get the commercial break there and a lot of other great podcasts where. That's our home. But Kathleen's podcast is available everywhere. You're listening to this podcast. Apple, Spotify, Google, and then of. And of course tickets to her fall tour are now on sale@kathleen madigan.com. i will put that link in the show notes for you and Lincoln bio.
Ron White
Lincoln bio.
Brian Green
Lincoln bio. Lincoln bio. And yeah, of course there's a special right around the corner, but we can't talk about it. Keep an eye out for Kathleen's new special sometime later on this year, I would imagine.
Ron White
Working on it.
Brian Green
She's working on it. As are we. We're working on it, too. All right, well, what else is there to say?
Ron White
Say she was great.
Lewis Black
I just.
Ron White
It was so easy and so. Just relatable and fun.
Brian Green
She's my Aunt Sandy. Well, without the gay part. I mean, I don't know if she's gay and who gives a. Anyway, it doesn't really matter. Anyway, it doesn't really matter. But I'm saying Aunt Sandy is Kathleen. Kathleen is Aunt Sandy. They are both. They both have the exact same sense of humor. It's so familiar and relatable to me.
Ron White
That's so good.
Brian Green
Yeah. I wish Aunt Sandy was still here.
Ron White
I know.
Brian Green
I wish she could come on the phone and. And talk because you would be like, she's a laugh a minute. Yeah. She made and lost hundreds of millions of dollars in her life. Hundreds of millions of dollars when I.
Ron White
Was the cat lady.
Brian Green
Not as much as the cat lady who lost billions of dollars. Well, Aunt Sandy lost it for a different reason. But I won't get into all the family drama, but I will just share this. That Aunt Sandy, for one of our birthdays, came to our house in Chicago, picked Kevin an eye up, took us two Toys R Us, gave us each a cart and said, go for it. Can you imagine?
Ron White
Of course.
Brian Green
Best day of my life.
Ron White
Oh, God.
Brian Green
I saw GI Joe's Left and Right. A Teddy Ruxpin.
Ron White
Crazy.
Brian Green
I think I got a speaking spell. I think I even got a Cabbage Patch doll, which my mom, like, you know, went to war over to get us for Christmas. And then Aunt Sandy comes and we just throw in the basket. Yeah, swooped in. Mom got us one Cabbage Patch Dolphin.
Ron White
I'll be that ant. I think I'm going to be that aunt.
Brian Green
You should be that ant. You're going to need a different job, but you can be that ant.
Ron White
Right?
Brian Green
You're going to need a different line of work. Or at least not this podcast Anyway. All right. 212-4333, tcb 212-433-3822. Questions, comments, concerns, content, ideas, we take them all right. Right there. Also, if you want to be the next voice to open the commercial break, leave us a voicemail. Make it short, make it sweet. Say what you're going to say. And if you don't want your name said, don't say your name.
Ron White
Or just change it.
Brian Green
Yeah. Or just change it. That's what I do. I call. I call customer service and just change my name.
Ron White
Yeah.
Brian Green
Also, at the commercial break on Instagram, please follow us there. TCB podcast on Tick Tock. For every episode on video, you can go to YouTube.com the commercial break the same day they air here on the audio feed 99 of the time they're out there already, unless YouTube has flagged the video and tcbpodcast.com for audio, video and your free swag. Just give us your address and we'll send it off. Okay, Chrissy, I guess that's all I can do for now.
Ron White
I think so.
Brian Green
But I'll tell you that I love you.
Ron White
I love you.
Brian Green
Best to you and best you out there in the podcast universe. Until next time, Chrissy and I will say we do say, and we must say goodbye.
Kathleen Madigan
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Podcast Summary: The Commercial Break – TCB Infomercial with Kathleen Madigan Release Date: March 11, 2025
Introduction to the Episode In this episode of The Commercial Break, hosts Bryan Green and Krissy Hoadley welcome renowned stand-up comedian Kathleen Madigan as their special guest. Known for her sharp wit and engaging storytelling, Kathleen brings her seasoned perspective to the show, enriching the conversation with her extensive experience in the comedy scene.
Kathleen Madigan’s Career and Accomplishments Bryan Green enthusiastically introduces Kathleen Madigan, highlighting her successful career that spans decades. He remarks, “Kathleen has been around for a very long time… she grew up with some of the best—the Jerry Seinfelds of the world” (04:01). Kathleen’s impressive tour schedule and sold-out theaters are emphasized, showcasing her enduring popularity and commitment to her craft. Bryan notes, “Following her on social media is that she sells out theaters… moving into later stages of her life and still selling out theaters” (08:43).
Personal Anecdotes and Comparisons The conversation takes a personal turn as Bryan shares memories of his Aunt Sandy, drawing parallels to Kathleen’s comedic style. He describes Aunt Sandy as “one of the funniest ladies ever” with a “sly, biting undertone” to her humor, likening her to Kathleen’s “Midwestern charm and politeness with a very witty and edgy sense of humor” (12:18). This comparison underscores Kathleen’s ability to infuse depth and relatability into her performances.
Stand-Up Comedy Insights and Experiences Lewis Black and Ron White join the discussion, delving into their own experiences in stand-up comedy. Lewis shares insights on handling challenging gigs, stating, “If you think about it too hard, you will run away. Like, you would just go, this is crazy” (26:02). The trio discusses the resilience required in the comedy industry, emphasizing the importance of adaptability and persistence. Lewis recounts a particularly tough experience, saying, “I did one in Miami and half of them didn’t speak English… it was Deutsche Bank” (22:15), highlighting the unpredictable nature of stand-up gigs.
Impact of COVID-19 on Podcasting and Touring Bryan reflects on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected their podcasting routine, mentioning that transitioning to a weekly format provided a crucial outlet during lockdowns. “Once a week,” Bryan notes, “that allowed me to decompress in a way that I think saved me from just going absolutely stir crazy” (60:03). Lewis adds that the pandemic led to unexpected changes in their touring plans, but camaraderie among comedians like Ron White helped them navigate these challenges. Lewis shares, “We went on two tours, but they were long. They were like all of December” (39:45), illustrating the adaptability required during unprecedented times.
Comedy Styles: Clean vs. Dirty Comedy A significant portion of the conversation revolves around different styles of comedy. Lewis Black expresses his preference for a more reserved, thought-provoking style, contrasting it with the prevalent trend of shock value and explicit content. “I’m clean at a corporate event because I am paid specifically not to cuss… Words don’t matter. It’s the person receiving the words” (52:44). Bryan and Ron White echo similar sentiments, advocating for authenticity and meaningful humor over trending but shallow comedic approaches.
Interactions with Other Comedians The hosts reminisce about interactions with legendary comedians like Robin Williams and Lewis Black, sharing stories that highlight the diverse approaches within the comedy community. Lewis describes Robin Williams as “very sweet and soft-spoken” compared to his own straightforward style, stating, “He was very sweet and soft-spoken. I actually preferred his serious work over the comedy because the comedy was too frenetic for me” (41:23). These anecdotes emphasize the varied personalities and methods that contribute to the rich tapestry of stand-up comedy.
Promoting Kathleen Madigan’s Tour As the episode draws to a close, Bryan and his co-hosts enthusiastically promote Kathleen Madigan’s ongoing and upcoming tours. “Tickets are on sale this week for her fall tour… she has many specials available on Netflix, Amazon, Comedy Central, and YouTube” (10:07). They encourage listeners to visit her website, kathleenmadigan.com, for more information and to secure their seats for her highly anticipated performances.
Conclusion This episode of The Commercial Break offers an engaging blend of personal stories, professional insights, and heartfelt appreciation for Kathleen Madigan’s contributions to the comedy world. By weaving together experiences from seasoned comedians and celebrating Kathleen’s enduring success, the hosts create a rich and entertaining narrative that resonates with both longtime fans and newcomers alike.
Notable Quotes:
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This summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting key discussions, personal anecdotes, insights into the comedy industry, and promoting Kathleen Madigan’s ongoing work. Notable quotes are included with speaker attribution and timestamps to provide depth and authenticity to the summary.