TCB Infomercial w. Mo Welch

Summary

The Commercial Break: TCB Infomercial with Mo Welch

Date: July 2, 2024
Hosts: Bryan Green & Kristen Joy Hodlay
Guest: Mo Welch
Episode Theme: A comedic, heartfelt interview with stand-up comedian, writer, and cartoonist Mo Welch about her new docu-special "Dad Jokes," her unconventional family, parenthood, and the realities of comedy today.

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Commercial Break (TCB) features guest Mo Welch, a darkly funny stand-up comedian and New Yorker cartoonist, best known for her unique storytelling and her new comedy special, "Dad Jokes," now available on the 800 Pound Gorilla YouTube channel. The conversation ranges from Mo’s unusual Catholic family dynamics and reconnecting with her estranged father, to parenting, modern comedy crowd work, and backstage mishaps. The hosts and Mo embrace the podcast’s signature style: irreverent, warm, and always ready to riff on the oddities of life.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction & Context (00:00–11:11)

• Opens with a hilarious and painfully relatable anecdote from Mo about pre-Internet sexual misinformation:

  "In the 90s, we didn’t have Google. ...you just believe people. ...this boy, he told me ...your clit is in your butt. And I believed him for way too long."
  — Mo Welch ([00:00])

• Bryan introduces Mo as a comedian from a large, delightfully dysfunctional Catholic family in Normal, Illinois (with siblings fittingly described as a furry, a stripper, and someone "possibly in jail").

• Mo's special "Dad Jokes" is explained as a "docu-comedy" blending stand-up with documentary footage about reconnecting with her estranged dad after 20 years.

• The hosts riff on the challenges of deciphering New Yorker cartoons and share thoughts about 90s/00s music revivals, particularly the resurgence of Creed ([04:03–10:00]).

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2. Mo Welch on “Dad Jokes” & Family (12:06–19:46)

The "Dad Jokes" Special

• Mo explains "Dad Jokes" as a “docuspecial”—about 35 minutes of documentary, 25 minutes of stand-up.

• The impetus: becoming a parent herself, the abundance of "dad jokes," and the desire to resolve long-unfinished business with her father.

• Clarifies her father wasn’t currently in prison; he was during her childhood, and the special returns to a now-abandoned Joliet prison for dramatic effect.

  “I haven’t seen him in 20 years...I just was like, it’s such a rich area to talk about your dad who abandoned you...so like, maybe I’ll just bring a camera and see what happens.”
  — Mo Welch ([15:58])

• Making the special turned out to be cathartic, helping her move past old material and “put it all behind her.”

Siblings, Childhood & Moving On

• Growing up second oldest in a family of five, changes in family dynamics after divorce.

• Moving from rural Illinois to near Chicago (Oak Park), experiencing a personal “movie moment” with new possibilities:

  “I was totally the kid in my own movie that was just like, it’s gonna be different this time. I’m gonna be popular. I’m not gonna be in 4H anymore…”
  — Mo Welch ([22:24])

• Commentary on how siblings turn out wildly different despite same upbringing.

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3. Modern Parenting & Family Structures (24:15–29:53)

• Mo discusses her four-year-old daughter, Cleo, and conceiving via a close friend as their sperm donor (who’s an active part of Cleo’s life):

  “I didn't want any secrets. ...If we can do it, I just want it to be like, open.”
  — Mo Welch ([25:30])

• The beautiful chaos of parenting:

  • Taylor Swift’s ERAS Tour as a nightly ritual—both Mo and Bryan’s daughters are obsessed.
  • Parenting is full of new perspectives:

    “Something flips...all you give a about on daily basis is seeing a smile on their face…”
    — Bryan Green ([26:16])

• Mo quips about only having one child:

  "Let's just have one kid so that you guys don't fight over all this."
  — Mo Welch ([27:45])

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4. The Realities of Comedy & Performing (31:02–42:42)

Touring & Crowd Work

• Mo currently opens for Brett Goldstein ("Ted Lasso"), likening his tour to “comedy heaven.”

• Discusses the boom in "crowd work" in stand-up and how it changes audience expectations:

  “...people just think that everybody wants to talk to you with the crowd work. ...I’m very adamant, I don’t care where you’re from, what you do or how long you’ve been together.”
  — Mo Welch ([31:52])

• Bryan and Mo commiserate about comics who prefer a tight set over improvising with the room.

Getting Started in Comedy

• Mo recounts her shyness, severe stage fright, and using improv training at Second City and IO (she never made a team) to get comfortable on stage:

  "I had the most stage fright on stage and I just needed to get over it."
  — Mo Welch ([40:12])

• Perspective shift after becoming a parent made her braver on stage:

  "Did I miss nighttime to bomb in Hollywood? ...No, I have to go out on stage and at least have a mediocre set because I can't make this all be wasted."
  — Mo Welch ([42:11])

Formative Comedy Influences

• Mo’s Midwest roots made John Candy (Uncle Buck, Blues Brothers, Home Alone) resonate; recalls watching Uncle Buck and feeling a kinship for the oddball, not the kid.

  “Even as a kid, I think I was like, I’m Uncle Buck. ...I was never Gabby Hoffman. I was always Uncle Buck.”
  — Mo Welch ([37:06])

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5. Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Childhood and Sexual Misinformation:

  “In the 90s...you just believe people. ...mo, if you want to have an orgasm, you have to find your clit and your clit is in your butt.”
  — Mo Welch ([00:00])

• Conan O’Brien Mishap:

  “My first time on Conan...the mic pack dropped completely in the toilet while I was going to the bathroom room...they had to hurry up and give me another mic pack...it was probably like a blessing in disguise.”
  — Mo Welch ([45:23])

• On the unglamorous reality of large Catholic families:

  “Everyone we knew that was Catholic had these large families. ...All of them crazy in their own special way.”
  — Bryan Green ([20:52])

• On being a softie after having kids:

  “Don’t have kids, you’ll get soft.”
  — Mo Welch ([42:47])

• On the futility of resisting children’s snack demands:

  “We would give up so much information in an interrogation, like, immediately. Fine, we’ll buy you McDonald's.”
  — Mo Welch ([44:39])

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Notable Timestamps

• 00:00 Mo’s 90s Sex-Ed Fiasco
• 12:06 Mo Joins the Show; Discusses "Dad Jokes" special, 800lb Gorilla distribution
• 15:18 Concept and Motivation behind the docuspecial
• 19:31 The infamous "I got my period here" scene from the special
• 24:15 Parenting, Cleo, and donor conception
• 28:54 Taylor Swift ERAS Tour obsession among 4-year-olds
• 31:11 On Tour with Brett Goldstein; Modern crowd work in comedy
• 35:42 First things Mo ever found funny (Uncle Buck, growing up without cable)
• 39:02 Second City experiences and overcoming stage fright
• 45:23 Dropping the mic pack in Conan O'Brien's bathroom

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Tone & Style

The episode is quintessentially TCB: off-the-cuff, self-deprecating, and packed with dark and relatable humor. Mo matches Bryan and Krissy’s blend of earnestness and irreverence, making for a lively, empathetic, and laughter-filled conversation.

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Summary Takeaways

• Mo Welch’s "Dad Jokes" is a unique blend of documentary and stand-up, exploring themes of family, estrangement, parenthood, and finding humor in life’s darker corners.
• Parenthood changes everything, including one’s approach to both comedy and judgment of other parents.
• Modern comedy is shifting due to social media, especially in terms of audience expectations around crowd interaction.
• Formative influences (like John Candy movies) and unconventional upbringings fuel distinctive comedic voices.
• No matter how you form a family, transparency and love trump convention.

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Where to Find More

• Watch Mo Welch’s “Dad Jokes”: 800lb Gorilla YouTube Channel
• Follow Mo on Instagram: @momowelch
• The Commercial Break links, live show info, and more: TCBpodcast.com

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Recommendation

If you enjoy intelligent, irreverent comedy with heartfelt storytelling, this episode delivers both belly-laughs and thoughtful moments. Mo Welch’s journey—on stage and off—reminds us that life’s messiest episodes often make the best material.

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“There’s always a punchline—and it’s a fascinating watch.”

— Bryan Green ([47:01])

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[End of summary]

Transcript

[Mo Welsh]

In the 90s, we didn't have Google. Like, we had to do this really weird thing, which was just believe people. Such an odd concept. And in fifth grade, this boy, he told me, mo, if you want to have an orgasm, you have to find your clit and your clit is in your butt. And I believed him for way too long.

[Brian Green]

On this episode of the Commerc. So your daughter does this too? She just snacks the entire time?

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah, she. And I think she knows that we'll, like, she could break us. You know, she already knows that we're not that difficult. We would give up so much information in an interrogation, like, immediately. We'd be fine. We'll buy you McDonald's.

[Brian Green]

The next episode of the commercial break starts now. Yeah, boy. Oh, yeah. Cats and kittens, welcome back to the commercial break. I'm Brian Green. This is the captains of my crunch, Kristen Joy Hodlay. Best to you, Chris. Best to you out there in the podcast universe.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

I like that one.

[Brian Green]

Sometimes I just make up right before. Right before I turn on the microphone. I'm like, what should I say? Captain to my crunch. That sounds good. Okay. All right. That's. Little insight into how Brian's brain works. Little insight into how the entire show works, actually just comes into my brain and I say it out loud. For better or for worse. That's how it goes. Kids, welcome to another episode TCB InfoMercial Today with Ms. Mo Welsh. Well, Mrs. Mo Welsh.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Yes.

[Brian Green]

Who we're excited to have in her brand new special dad jokes on 800lb gorilla channel on YouTube. Please do check it out. I watched it and I thought it was really funny. Let me give you a little insight before she comes on and then we can dig into it. Okay, so Mo comes from a large Catholic family. She's got four siblings. So it's. She's one of five, grew up in this tiny little town in Normal, Illinois, and her dad. Normal, normal. She talks. I don't want to give any of the, you know, let the jokes be hers, but. Yes, but it's not a normal town, basically, is how it goes. And none of her siblings turned out to be normal. You have to watch the special to. To. To kind of get to the bottom of it. But just let's say this. One of her siblings is a furry. One of her siblings is a stripper, and one of her siblings, I think, is in jail or something like that. You can check the special out and watch it, but it is sounds normal here. Yeah, sounds normal. Here's why I think this special is really interesting. It's like a docu comedy, I guess, because it intersperses her stand up comedy with documentary footage of her life. None of her life, of her pilgrimage to find her father and have a chat with him after 20 years of not speaking with him. He was in jail at some point. Then it comes back. Go watch it. It's really funny and interesting. It's an hour, so it's like, it's a good digestible bit. And she's got that dark humor that we are such a big fan of here at the commercial break. So dad jokes. Aptly named Mo. Welsh writer, stand up comedian. And yeah, we'll talk to her in just a cartoonist. Yeah, she did like, she. She does those New Yorker cartoons. I think she's done a few of those.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

I love it.

[Brian Green]

Those are great. I wish I understood them. They're very high brow and I wish I got them, but sometimes I just don't. I agree. You ever look at that New Yorker and go, yeah, that's too smart. Me, I don't know that Mo's done that kind of work. But I'm just sharing that I've seen those cartoons sometimes. And I'm like, I don't get it. Where's the joke? Where's the punchline? But then I remember that, you know, I probably should have gone to college. Yeah, I. I want to talk about something quickly before we. Before we have Mo on what in the good fucking is going on with Creed. I know Mo's gonna be so happy to hear this. At the beginning of her episode, do you know that band?

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

And we did a show a while back, right, where there was like a DJ playing Creed over in Ibiza.

[Brian Green]

Ibiza. No, it was actually in like some little hotel in California. Yeah. Or somewhere in Italy or something.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Islands.

[Brian Green]

Okay, maybe it was an eye. Let's pretend it was an island, because I don't remember. But I do remember the. The real you're talking about.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Well, well, where she like mixed Creed with, you know, with dance music.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, it was like.

[Mo Welsh]

Right?

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

And people were going nuts.

[Brian Green]

Hold me now I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking, maybe six feet ain't too far down. She. She mixed this set into Creed. And no one over the age of 26 is in that crowd. And they are all just jumping up and down, going crazy. And here's why I asked. Maybe it's the algorithm, the strange algorithm that I have going on on Instagram, but man, am I getting fed a lot of content about Creed and the Creed Revival and Creed's back. And Creed's the best. And who knew Creed was a Christian band? And you know, new metal, which I. I don't know if Creed would. I don't think Creed qualifies as new metal. But that genre of bands, Creed, Limp Bizkit, other new Spin Doctors. I think Spin Doctors are a little. I think Spin Doctors now are officially Spin Doctors. Do you know what I'm saying? That poor bastard. But I'm seeing like all these younger folks. I say younger, you know, I sound like I'm an old man. 20 somethings that are listening to, going to concerts of this. This genre.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Revival.

[Brian Green]

It's a 90s, early 2000s revival of music. And I quite frankly didn't like it the first time, not liking it the second time. Yeah, but I got to appreciate that they're having their moment in the sun. Right?

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Good for them. And the fact that they're still together. There's probably some bands that don't have the same members, but.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, but that Limp Bizkit. What's that guy's name? Buckethead. The bucket dude. You remember, he used to wear a bucket on his head. No, I mean, there was an era of music where the most popular band had a guy with a bucket on top of his head. I mean, there also was a KISS phase too. So I guess I shouldn't cast dispersions. My curiosity really lies in the band Creed. They have some catchy tunes. There are some earwigs there. But why are they getting so much attention? So here's my question to you. Do you think this is just a big corporate marketing push to like, this is being manufactured in some way pushed hard on behalf of some label, some corporations of PR agency to make money on content that already exist, that at one point was popular. I mean, I understand. I'm not dumb dumb. I understand there's some PR machine behind.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Yeah, I was going to say, I think it's a combination of your algorithm on Instagram because I'm seeing none of this. And also, you know, some PR going behind it.

[Brian Green]

So there's a Paramount commercial for Paramount plus and it's got Stewie from. What's that? Family Guy. Yeah, Stewie from Family Guy. Jean Luc Picard that, you know, the guy who plays Jean Luc Picard and Creed is in it also. And the guy is like the lead singer. Scott Stab is like sing singing on top of a mountain with his hair flowing. And I'm like, this is a little suspicious that all these things are coming together at the same time. I find it. I find it not to be a coincidence. I think that somebody's got a hold of their catalog and needs to make money out of it. So they're really hitting it hard. Also, they got that tour that's going to go on and, you know, they got to sell tickets. There's a lot of tours out there not selling tickets right now.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Yes.

[Brian Green]

It's kind of scary.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

I know.

[Brian Green]

Reminds me, please come to our show September 20th. Go to our shows in Florida.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Yes, please.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, but there's a lot of concerts that are having a hard time selling tickets. And I just. It. It just feels suspicious to me. It feels suspicious to me that all of a sudden there's this resurgence of this particular band that I thought was just asleep. Like they would never come back. And they're come back. I'm not hating if you like Creed. Cool. Cool, dude. Awesome. Go, you know, put a chain on your wallet.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Put a Creed on.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, put a chain on your wallet and get back to jamming. But I just. I don't know, you know, you might be right. With the advent of the Internet, I think that we have all become ultra pessimistic. And we think that now we can, like, now we can see through the. No more corporate lies, no more, you know, fancy PR campaigns and MTV pushing down our throats and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I think it's happening. I just think it's happening in a different way.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Exactly.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. That's what I'm trying to say.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Definitely.

[Brian Green]

And I'm wondering if you're different with different outlets.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

So that said, Creed tickets now on sale.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

You could win. Stay tuned. You could win Creed tickets.

[Brian Green]

Stay tuned. You can win Creed stock. Scott stabs Bronco.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

At the 6:00 clock hour. And at the 7:00 clock hour, we're giving tickets away to the Gwinnett Spiders. What a fun weekend you'll have with three other people watching semi professional lacrosse in 100, 115 degree weather here in Atlanta, Georgia.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

It really is so hot.

[Brian Green]

Oh, my God. Is he 100 degrees today?

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

I was driving home yesterday, it said 102 in the car.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, I mean, I'm sure it felt like 102. I think it was like 98 yesterday. It's supposed to be, I mean, here, 98 and it's not supposed to be 100 degrees.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

No rain none.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, it's kind of miserable. Thank God I got that big hole in the ground out there that cost me a ton of money. So that we can go and the Other day. Think, follow my reasoning here. The other day, the kids are like.

[Mo Welsh]

Pool, it's so hot.

[Brian Green]

They're like, let's go in the pool. Let's go in the pool. And I'm like, it's too hot for the pool. It's too hot for the pool too.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

For you to be outside watching the kids.

[Brian Green]

Yes. Even the pool is like. The pool's at a good temperature right now, like 88 degrees. Right. It's still a little bit refreshing, but it doesn't feel like bath water. It doesn't feel like you're leaving the heat to get in the heat. You know what I'm saying? But still, even, even after the. And then I just thought to myself, brian, that is the dumbest thing that you've ever said. It's too hot for the pool. Isn't the pool. Why isn't the reason why you have the pool is because when it's too hot you can jump.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Jump in it.

[Brian Green]

Yes. All right, let's get to Mo Welsh. Mo Welsh, a wonderful comedian who has a brand new special on 800 pound gorilla called dad Jokes. She's got a fascinating life story. We'll dig into it. So, Chrissy, I got an idea. Okay, tell me if this works for you. Check your, get out your calendar. Tell me if this works on your schedule. Okay, let's take a break and then when we come back through the magic of telepodcasting, we'll have Mo Welsh here. We'll talk to her about her brand new special and her very interesting life. What do you think?

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Yep, it works. I'm looking at my calendar.

[Brian Green]

Is that clear? Yep. You got that clear.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Let's do it. That's all systems go.

[Brian Green]

Please accept my invitation. And I've accepted. Yes, I'll send a reminder on your calendar and then a confirmation email with all the information. Follow my people, call your people. We'll be back.

[Christina]

Well, thank the baby Jesus. Brian took a breath. And now I will use this opportunity to let you know that we've got a brand new phone number. That's right, it's 212-4333 TCB. And you can text us anytime you want or you can call and leave us a voicemail and we might just use your message on the show once Brian gets through all the messages he missed last year, of course. Anyway, you can also find and DM us on Instagram at the commercial break and on TikTok, CBpodcast, and of course on all of our audio and video is easily found on tcbpodcast.com Now, I'm going to thank G one more time that we have sponsors, so thank G. And here they are.

[Brian Green]

And we're here with Mo now. Mo, thank you very much for spending.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Some time with us this morning. Hello, Mo.

[Mo Welsh]

Good morning. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be up bright and early.

[Brian Green]

I do have to share that I think this is officially the earliest Chrissy and I have ever started a commercial break episode, but we're all too happy to do it with you. Mo. Congratulations on the new special dad jokes on 800 pound gorilla. Explain 800 pound gorilla to those who don't. Who. Those who don't know. It's like a collective, right?

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah, it's a production company that, like, I don't. I mean, I don't really know. I just. So that they do a lot of comedy. They actually produce a lot of comedy specials. Although my special I produced with the people who, like, we did the film with and then we. And then they came on, you know, post. Post dad days.

[Brian Green]

Well, yeah, we've had a lot of people that have had the 800 pound gorilla special, so I was hoping somebody could explain it to me, but you are like the third person who cannot explain it to me.

[Mo Welsh]

I'm like, yeah, well, I just know they're a production company and they do, like, 100% come.

[Brian Green]

Awesome. It's a. It's a great channel. So go check out Mo's new special on that 800 pound gorilla. Mo, I gotta. I'm gonna throw you like a curveball right now a little bit. I find myself frequently in a Jenna Ray hole on Instagram. And I know that you love Jenna Ray. I don't know if you're going through this, but I feel like I'm going through, like, the four stages of Jenna. At first, you find it. And for those of you who don't know, Jenna Ray is an Instagram creator who does some of maybe the most unintentionally hilarious videos out there. But I. I feel like they're satire at first, and then I realize that they're not satire. And I think I'm in, like, the third stage where I actually think she might be right. Some of the shit you don't know, she says, and it's.

[Mo Welsh]

Well, did you say Jenna Gray or Jenna Jenna Gray?

[Brian Green]

I'm sorry, I don't know why.

[Mo Welsh]

Oh, okay. Because I was like, I don't. Yeah, okay. I thought I had it wrong for a second. Yes. I. I mean, once you get to this algorithm, like, your Algorithm sends you here. You can't. I don't know if there's any escape from. Like, we might never be able to get out. But she has a. Yeah, I am, like, I'm obsessed for that same reason. Because I was like, well, maybe she's an improviser. And, like, this is, like, her character. No, it's completely real, which makes it. Which makes it way better. And I. I've seen some other videos of people impersonating her.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

And.

[Mo Welsh]

And no, it's.

[Brian Green]

It's all in. Good. You do a pretty good impersonation, too. For those of you that don't know, Jenna Gray is the girl who does. Where's the girl who usually. Standing in front of a truck holding a big can of Mountain Dew Boner Blaster. And it's too funny. I was watching your Instagram this morning. You did a pretty good impression, I do have to say so. Dad jokes is probably aptly named because it is a. What would you call it? Like, a docu comedy, I guess is probably the best way to explain.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah, like, I think people call it, like, docuspecial. I was going to joke you mentary for a while, which I thought was.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

I like that.

[Brian Green]

I like that.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

And.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah, but It's. It's got 35. It's like 35 minutes documentary and then 25 minutes stand up.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. So there's a. So there's some documentary footage of you taking a. I don't know, a pilgrimage, I guess is the best way to explain it. To go see your father, who is punchline in prison for the last 20 years. And so, like, what prompted this? You just wanted to do something different, or was it really, I want to go see what my dad's up to. Like, I want to face him one time.

[Mo Welsh]

Well, he wasn't in prison. He was in prison when we were little. That. Hilariously, that prison that I went to go visit in the document docu special is. Has been closed down. I don't. I don't know for how long. Wrong. But it's this beautiful building in Juliet, and some. I mean, movies and TV shows have taken place. I think Blues Brothers has taken place over there. Yeah. So. But the reason. The reason I wanted to. I haven't seen him in 20 years. And I realized, like, it, like, started with being like, why do I have so many jokes about my dad? Like, why do I always talk about my dad? Because I just was like, it's such a rich area to talk about your dad who abandoned you. And then out of, like, Because I had just had a child. I was just kind of like, I. Weirdly I'm having this like feeling that I should just go see him and I. And he's never gonna set this up. So like, I have to set it up. And of course I was like, well, maybe I'll just bring a camera and see what happens.

[Brian Green]

Was it cathartic? I mean, I know this is stupid question, but was it like, was there some kind of catharsis about it for you?

[Mo Welsh]

I think definitely it didn't happen until a little later. But like, as far as, like the way that I do my comedy now, I feel like even watching dad jokes for me is like watching like a different version of me. And now like, I think my comedy has evolved a lot just simply because, like that's what happens when people do specials, is then they can put all that material behind them. Because my special was like so personal, I think, just putting all of that behind me. And I mean, I really don't have any jokes about my dad since that special. So now I'm like, I'm back. Now I'm like, at least Talking about my 20s, you know, I'm like, moved on from childhood. Next decade I'll talk about my 30s.

[Brian Green]

Chronologically, I've moved on.

[Mo Welsh]

I'm just like 20 years late.

[Brian Green]

But I read, like, I read an article where you said this also. You say I was doing all these dad jokes and all this dad material. My first, you know, you wrote a comic in the, I think, what was it, the New Yorker? And you're like, my first, you know, published thing was about my dad. And then I'm not really into that anymore because I've kind of moved on, right? I have. It's a different phase. Like a lot of comics do, they, they move on. Is it weird now that you have to come on shows like this and talk about dad the entire time?

[Mo Welsh]

I mean, I learned that a lot of people, you know, it was, the material was so. It was so hard to tell in a regular stand up set because it'd be like, wah, wah, or like, you know, you just get to this point where people like, I don't know if I can laugh at that. And so it's nice putting it all in that chunk because now when I talk about it, you realize, because I was like, well, that's not relatable. And of course it's relatable. So many people have like weird relationships with like, it doesn't even have to be your dad, but like a family member that you can Imagine like, yeah, going, going to like visit.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Mo Welsh]

So it's weirdly like the stuff I thought was like, not like, couldn't be relatable in the stand up set. I was happy it was relatable, but it's not like too sad where I feel like I'm. People are messaging me and it's like, you know, you know, which is fine. But I don't know if I'm the best person to talk to.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. I don't think it, like, I don't think it veers into SAP. Right. I think it's. I think it stays pretty on, like on the button on the nose and it's pretty funny. One my favorite part in that entire thing is when you knock on the door of your child. I don't want to give all of it away, but she knocks on the door of like a childhood home and the lady answers who you don't see in the thing. It's like a. From a far shot.

[Christina]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

And Mo just goes, I got my period here. I got my first period. Did you just hear the door close?

[Mo Welsh]

Did that happen?

[Brian Green]

Exactly? Like, like, it's like we.

[Mo Welsh]

We were. The voice is just like the editor. It was so funny. But like, I did go up to that is the house and we tried to go up to and stuff and nobody was there and we had to get going to go see my dad. So I was like. But I thought it was. So I. I just was like giggling thinking about the fact of me just like talking because I did get my period for the first time. But like, the last time I saw my dad or like went to, you know, had to go stay with him. I got my period, which is like the worst. That was like probably the worst day of my whole life, you know?

[Brian Green]

And I'm so.

[Mo Welsh]

It's like, how funny would it be if I just told the people that live there? I mean, I'm lucky I didn't get shot. Southern Illinois, just like going up to people's houses.

[Brian Green]

So you grew up in Normal, Illinois, and you're one of five, is that right? One of five children. Geez.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Wow.

[Mo Welsh]

Good.

[Brian Green]

Good Catholic family. Like my family. Good Catholic family.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

We've had quite a few guests on from Illinois.

[Brian Green]

Ye.

[Mo Welsh]

There's.

[Brian Green]

I don't know, something about how many siblings.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah. What.

[Brian Green]

What are four of us? There's four of us. I'm a twin and I'm the oldest of the twin. I hold that seven minutes above his head every day of our lives.

[Mo Welsh]

As you should.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, as I should. And my mom Tried for more. I think there may have been a miscarriage in there and they wanted additional children. It just didn't work out that way. She had a hysterectomy after the last child. But it's like everyone we knew that was Catholic had these large families. My mom is one of eight. One of eight. Which is insane. And all of them crazy in their own special way.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Right?

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah. I mean, that's what's, like, so fascinating about siblings, is that, like, you can grow up in the exact same environment and be so different from this person just because of, you know, the favoritism.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Yes, definitely.

[Mo Welsh]

That I didn't get.

[Brian Green]

I didn't either.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Where are you in the order of the 5?

[Mo Welsh]

So I'm second oldest. So, you know, it was. You know, there was a time where I was, like, definitely middle child, and then. Then the younger two came. Came along. So I. And then my sister had, like, a lot of issues when she was a teen, so I became the oldest. But I was also like, I'm not gonna be the oldest. Like, I actually have things to do.

[Brian Green]

So I'm not gonna be responsible for you shitheads. Okay. You gotta do your own thing. Yeah, yeah. Don't tell mom the babysitter's dead. When. When you were. When you were growing up. And then your. Your dad, who you say in the comedy, I think I'm not paraphrasing here, was not a great dude right when he left. That becomes, like, immensely difficult, I have to imagine. Does everyone kind of spray their own way, or do you come together?

[Mo Welsh]

You know, it was really. It was a culture shock because we. You saw in the. In the docu special, we. We basically. We grew up outside of normal, so in these tiny towns, and there was. You know, there's no business in that town. There used to be a gas station closed down, so it was, like, so country. And we moved up near Chicago after they got divorced. So it was a culture shock. And I was, like, so excited to. To go to Chicago. And, like, you know, I was totally the kid in my own movie that was just like, it's gonna be different this time. I'm gonna be popular. I'm not gonna be in 4H anymore because they don't have it up here. I'm gonna. You know, and so. So I was so busy. And, you know, I think that that just, like, that helped me. Not really. I mean, I wouldn't even say, like, shove it down. I think, like, in a really good way. I was, like, so distracted moving to Chicago that I was like, you know, forgetting about the country.

[Brian Green]

It was like, beautiful coincidence. It happened at the right time. It helped you kind of paper over what was going on. Where near Chicago did you live live?

[Mo Welsh]

Oak Park.

[Brian Green]

I lived in Oak Forest. There you go.

[Mo Welsh]

So funny. It's just not like. I mean, who named these towns up near Chicago? It's like River, River, Forest, Forest Park. Like, there's just four words daily. Forest.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, it really is. Well, I mean, you know, you gotta imagine the people, the pretty white people who are around Chicago fleeing the city. Lake Forest, Oak Forest, Oak Park. It's. To be fair, it's not all that green for some places. I don't even know why they say that. Yeah. Yes, you have. You talk about your child. Is it Cleo? Is it Cleo? Am I saying that right? How old is Cleo?

[Mo Welsh]

She was just screaming. I could hear her upstairs.

[Brian Green]

Welcome to an episode of the commercial break. I have 15 children. They're all running. They're all running around. She.

[Mo Welsh]

She's four now, so when I. Yeah, in the documentary, she was two.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, she is. She is adorable, but it. So you and your wife had quite the time conceiving, didn't you?

[Mo Welsh]

Yes. I mean, she was. It's such a. It's such a great story in a lot of ways because she has so much love in her life, but, you know, we always knew we wanted to have kids and. And so our. One of our best friends is our sperm donor.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Oh, nice.

[Mo Welsh]

And so, you know, he's. He lives in LA and went to college with my wife. And he looks like. They look a lot alike and. Yeah. Which is kind of nice because my. I. I think that, like, if we were out and someone were to guess, like, who, like, genetically, you know, who gave birth to Cleo and has half her genetics, they would guess my wife. So it's kind of nice in a lot of ways because I'm like, okay, well, we picked the right donor.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. And so does, does she see. Does she see the. The biological father?

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Do you guys interact?

[Brian Green]

Yeah. How does that work? Tell us about that.

[Mo Welsh]

So, yeah, he's like, you know, he's our. Yeah, because he's one of our best friends. He sees her all the time. And, and so she doesn't. She's, like, too young to really know what's, like, happening. But I'm. I mean, it's been in her life the entire my, Like, I don't. There's no wrong way to, like, have a baby. But, like, with ours, I just, like, I didn't want Any. I mean, you spend so much time in the closet when you're gay that I was just like, I just don't want any secrets. I want everything to be open if it's possible. And so just having like. And I. And I mean, in the way of, like having like an anonymous donor too, I think I'd have too many questions. She would have too many questions. I'm just like, I just like, if. If we can do it, I just want it to be like, open.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

That sounds wonderful, actually. It's a loving family.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

I think it's beautiful because as a parent, you like and I know you know this. Something changes, something flips. Your entire world is turned upside down in a lot of great ways. In some ways, maybe sometimes it's a little frustrating and irritating. But all of the sudden you are laser focused with love on this being, if you're a good parent, on this being and their happiness that you've conceived. And all you give a about on daily basis is seeing a smile on their face and putting guardrails to make sure that they can make it to the next phase of their life. And I don't think it matters. I mean, it's how you get there. Do the parents. Do the parents in. In kind of encase them in that love is all that matters. And so when you have to go through so much drama to get there, like, you know, you have to take extra steps to get there and you really want it. And then you show this child love. It's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful thing. And I think it's also beautiful that it's open. Like she. Like she may. Or, you know, she may choose to know her dad in the future.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah, yeah. Like, I mean, what I think is beautiful is that she has like all of these, you know, she has my family, my wife's family, and then she has our donor's family as well. All these people that just like, love her. She's all these grandparents, all these. And I'm just like, yeah, it's so. It's so sweet. And that's why we're like, let's just have one kid so that you guys don't fight over all this.

[Brian Green]

One kid is so much easier. Stop where you're at. You're good. It's all good.

[Mo Welsh]

I know everyone says, yeah, I mean, I mean, I had friends that were low key. Like, don't, you know, they let me know, which was nice. But my wife is already like, I don't want another kid.

[Brian Green]

Let me. Let me High key. Tell you don't have another kid. Shit.

[Mo Welsh]

Gets too many sleep schedules. I was, like, afraid of the sleep.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Schedules and potty training and all of that.

[Brian Green]

But she's four now, so she should be kind of relatively sleeping. But if your house is anything like my house, the witching hour is the worst hour of the day. Like the hour before bed. I hate it.

[Mo Welsh]

You also just don't. The bedtime just keeps moving these days where I'm just like, okay, full Taylor Swift ERAS concert before bed. This is a very long concert. And it just gets more and more. And you're just like, seeing her, like, you're like, oh, God, I've been there. Like, I've been. I'm this person when it hits midnight and I'm like, I could write a joke. Wait, let me figure out that joke before I go to bed. And then my brain's still going. And then I'm like, let's watch House of Dragon. Just one episode.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

I'm the same way.

[Brian Green]

Late at night, four hours later. Yeah. One of my daughters is the exact same way with the ERAS tour. Like that Disney fudgeing Plus. Fuck Disney plus and fuck their eras to her. Not because I have anything against either of them, but because it's every night. It's like, daddy tour. It's fudgeing with my brain. Yeah.

[Mo Welsh]

How old is she?

[Brian Green]

She's four. So there you go to turn four. So we have. Yeah, our daughters are very close in age.

[Mo Welsh]

It really, like, that's the thing with Taylor Swift is like, it's like, obviously we can get the lyrics, but, like, I think it works in a way. The way that she makes her music, like, really, like, connects with. If you know, my. My kid is just like. She's very musical, but, like, I. I can't believe it. She. She can name any song. Like, you'd be like, what. What album is this song on? And she'll tell you what album it's on. And I was just like, I don't. Oh, wow. I can't even remember a lyric of a song.

[Brian Green]

Wow, this makes me feel better. Like, I'm like, my. My kid isn't the only one that's brainwashed out there.

[Mo Welsh]

Do we need to, though? We need to, like, come up with.

[Brian Green]

Some sort of group.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

Parents of Swifties. We had a party the other day here at the house. Not a party. Like, we have a pool. And so we have people over and there's a pool. And then in our family room, we have this big round coffee table, which often substitutes As a stage. If your daughter is anything like my daughter. And so. And my son became the promoter of the concert that was going to happen fully equipped with popcorn. This is incredible souvenirs. He went around turning off the light, lights. And we have this microphone that like, you know, self. It just, you know, it's a microphone in a, in a microphone. It just. It does, yeah. I swear on all that's holy, my daughter did half an eras tour concert to like 16 people here at my house. How do you know these words? How do you know these? And then I thought to myself, every night we're watching the ERAS tours.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

As the brain is, you thought to.

[Mo Welsh]

Yourself, you know what we put in these hours. Yeah. She put in the reps. She's halfway to 10,000. She's not even.

[Brian Green]

She put in the reps for sure. I wanted to. Are you currently touring?

[Mo Welsh]

You know, I was, because I have a writing job right now. I'm not technically on the road, but I'm. I've been on Brett Goldstein's tour, so since last year. So I opened for him on the road and it's incredible. He is like, go ahead. The best fan. No, he just has the best fans, the best theaters, the best ever. It's like not, it's not, it's not even fair to call it touring because I know what touring actually is and it's like hell on it.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Mo Welsh]

If I'm going out and doing my tour of stand up clubs, getting heckled, you know.

[Brian Green]

Do you, when you go on stage you get heckles? Is that a true story?

[Mo Welsh]

I mean, I mean, everybody does.

[Brian Green]

I know.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

We've had lots of people say that still happens.

[Mo Welsh]

It does, yeah, of course. I mean, actually I think it happens more now because people just think that everybody wants to talk to you with the crowd work. So I'm. But. And I really don't like, I mean, I really have my set and you know, there's times where maybe I'll like engage but. But now I just, I try not to engage because I don't want it to like open up this like, you know, I don't, you know, I'm very adamant. I don't care. I don't care where you're from, what you do or how long you've been together.

[Brian Green]

There is a whole trend that's been going, I don't know, five, seven since the pandemic. It feels like, like crowd work is everything. Everything is crowd work, which is fine. There are some comics who do that really well and they're very good at it. But I. I think you're pointing out something that's very interesting about stand up comedy, is that when you're constantly fed all of this crowd work, then people go to a show and they expect to be part of the show. Like it's some improv comedy theater, right? And you're like, no, I'm gonna tell a series of jokes and you buy drinks, and then if you laugh, they tip your waitresses and then we'll all go.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

At the end of the night, you.

[Mo Welsh]

I mean, you can feel it now in the front rows, you can feel those people and, like, you can point them out pretty quickly of, like, who's trying to, like, say something. You know, who's like, audibly saying something after your jokes, or who's, like, wanting you to talk to them. And you could see my body language. It's like I'm a teenager again and I'm trying to get away from the conversations. And I'm just like, I'm gonna go over here for a little while because I know you want to talk to me.

[Brian Green]

Oh, that's so interesting, Mo. You can, like, feel the energy. Like they're eager to say something. Like they're eager for you to engage with them.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah. And sometimes, I mean, it's like, not that I never do it. I just like. Like, I just, you know, I also have my. My jokes. I want to. That's why I'm out on the road, is to work on this.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

That's why I did all of this prep work. If you don't mind, I'd like to share my tickets to my show. Exactly. I went to, I think it was Pete Davidson, stand up in a very small club. It was like one of those working on material shows. Right. And there was the front row, and the front row was really quite rowdy. And so there was a couple of openers. One of the openers was engaging with the crowd. He was doing crowd work in a desperate attempt to get them to laugh at anything he said. It was like, one of the worst things I've ever seen in my entire life. He bombed super hard, poor guy. But then when Pete got on stage, you could tell that these people were, like, piping up. And he just, like. He did. He did the same thing that I think you do. He, like, walked to the other end of the state. He didn't even give it any. Any oxygen whatsoever. He was just like, I'm gonna go over here where it's a little. It's a little less rowdy so that you don't get involved. Show.

[Mo Welsh]

I mean, most time when you're, like, opening for someone, usually there is like. I mean, at least this is how it used to be. It used to be this thing where it's just like, just don't do crowd work because you can't really. If crowd work goes really well, it's, like, also really hard for somebody to follow that, especially if they want to do their jokes. So I don't ever do crowd work. You know, it's like, if you point one thing out, like, that's fine. Or if something's going on that's rowdy and you have to say something. But. Yeah, I. I have such, like, a written act when I open.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

And I can imagine it was not involved. It would get hard to come back. Like, once you're engaging with the crowd, then to come back to what you originally were saying, so.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah, exactly. They're like, we don't care about your dog.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Mo Welsh]

Talk to us again.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

All right.

[Brian Green]

You have been doing comedy for a while. This is like your. This special is awesome, but it's not your first turn on the rodeo. What. I want to ask a question that. That I ask some comics. What was the first thing that you found funny? Like, what was the first thing you remember finding funny?

[Mo Welsh]

I mean, I can remember movies that made me laugh. Really? You know, I remember I'm, like, a huge fan of Uncle Buck, and I've actually talked about it.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

That's a great movie.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah, like, totally of my era. And just like, like, you know. Yeah, Uncle Buck made me laugh so hard. And then my. It's really weird, though, because, I mean, you saw where I grew up, like, most of the time there was no cable. There was maybe there's never cable. And so we just, like, we just played, like, my. My memories as a kid, like, I didn't know stand up was a thing until, like, in my 20s. I'm like, what. What the hell is this?

[Brian Green]

But.

[Mo Welsh]

But I. So it was like, just with my, you know, with my friends, those are the times I laugh the hardest. Yeah, exactly. Like almost peeing your pants.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

I love that.

[Mo Welsh]

It's like food in their braces or whatever.

[Brian Green]

Do you think you find. Because Uncle Buck is one of my favorites, too, as is the Blues Brothers, as is Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Do you think you. Do you think you are also like. I mean, everybody finds one of those movies funny, right? But does it connect with you? Because, you know, those characters, like, you lived in that town, you know, those Characters you were around that kind of vernacular and. And I don't know, it. It felt very home to me. Like, those movies felt very home to me. I knew that. That scene.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah, they definitely felt. They. They all felt like my friends, you know, parents and Uncle Buck. Like. I mean, it's just like, so obvious why I love Uncle Buck because he's like the comedian, the clown of the family. The guy that, like, didn't have his together and couldn't make a decision. And. And so I was like, I. Even as a kid, I think I was like, I'm Uncle Buck. Like, I was never the kid. I was never Gabby Hoffman. I was always Uncle Buck.

[Brian Green]

That is too funny, that, in my opinion. Planes, Trains, Automobiles. Uncle Buck. John Candy's best work, hands down.

[Mo Welsh]

He was so incredible there. He's just like one of those stars that, like, I'll think about him. I'm like, oh, my God, I wish he were so here. He'd be making the funniest stuff.

[Brian Green]

He has.

[Mo Welsh]

I know.

[Brian Green]

He has like a total of a minute and 30 seconds in the Blues Brothers movie. And he steals the show by saying, Orange Whip, Orange Whip, three, Orange Whip. Just the, like, the way he says everything, it was so funny. I think you're right. Like, I. I wonder what. I wonder what brilliance we would have if he was still alive and making movies.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah. And I mean, he was in Home Alone and he's like, such a sweetheart in it. And so he had that great, like, you know, it could be really funny, but he could be empathetic and he's so lovable. And, you know, when I was like, doing. Because I did some Second City in Chicago as well, and they had the photos of, like, him, you know, in Second City, Toronto or whatever. Like, black and white photos, and you're just. Yeah, it just felt like you were like, amongst royalty.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

You know, when you do Second City and you are walking down those halls and you're up on that stage. Does is that feel intimidating the first couple of times? Like, maybe surreal? I don't know. For me, Second City is. It's almost like a. I don't know, like Mecca. Right. You know, places where people that I find really funny got their start or. Or at some point along their journey, made a stop.

[Mo Welsh]

I think if I still walked in that building today, I'd still get the feelings I had when I walked in the first time.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Mo Welsh]

You know, I watched it when I was. I was 17 or 18. I watched my. My Friend's Sister's Graduation channel and I Still remember some of the sketches.

[Brian Green]

That's crazy.

[Mo Welsh]

You know? Yeah. And I just thought, like. And I had no feeling. I didn't think I'd be a comedian at all at that time. And I was, like, so nervous for her and butterflies. And I was like, whoa, this is so incredible. And I'm sure, you know, I. I didn't even think about doing that. But looking back, I was like, obviously resonated with.

[Brian Green]

How did you get to Second City?

[Mo Welsh]

Well, I. I was like doing Second City and IO and annoyance. I did all the improv theaters and I was not good. So I. But I was doing stand up at the same time. I, like, never made a team or anything. I was like, I mean, if anyone had any of that on video, I would be so horrified. But of course, I would show how bad I was.

[Brian Green]

So you never made. How long were you there if you never made a team?

[Mo Welsh]

Forever. Like, I'm telling you. I did all the classes. I. And you know, I thought, you know, I think this is gonna help with my stand up. And I'm sure it did. It helped me get comfortable on stage. I was the most. I had the most stage fright on stage and I just needed to get over it. And that was part of it.

[Brian Green]

I always wonder, like, you know, we have a lot of comics on and most of them say if. If. When asked, of course there's nerves. That's what drives the performance. Right. If you don't. If you're not feeling it, then you're dead. With maybe the notable exception of Joe Dombrowski. Yeah. Who says, like, no. Yeah.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

I feel most at home.

[Brian Green]

That's my home. That's where I go.

[Mo Welsh]

No nerves.

[Brian Green]

But you had, like. Did you have, like, real stage fright? Like, oh, my God, paralyzing. My knees are shaking. I can't get out there.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah, I'm telling you that. I mean, like, I, you know, my friends knew I was funny growing up, but most people are like that. Oh, that girl that said one word in class, you know, very, very shy. So shy. And, you know, like, it was give and take. It was like. And then sometimes I'd feel like I could be funny, but I. Getting on stage, I. I just, I was like, I just did it. I mean, I chugged a few PBRs.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, of course.

[Mo Welsh]

And did my five minute set and. Oh, my God, for a year. I mean, like, really for like seven years, it was just like the nerves. Like, you get here. I could just like feel the heart pound. And then eventually it probably helped when I had a Kid, Honestly, I was just like, who cares?

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Yeah, I can do this.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

There is some bit of perspective that comes with having a child. That's really weird. It's like you start stressing about stuff you never had to think about, never wanted to think about. But then there's other stuff. Stuff where you're like, I don't give a shit. Because the second I walk out this. I don't care who I'm talking to on the commercial break. Because the second I walk on this door, I have mouths to feed and there's humans I have to take care of. It does give you some perspective. It, like, I don't know, like, why am I worried about this? I have kids. Who gives a shit? I have to worry.

[Mo Welsh]

And you're tired. Like, you do feel like your time is a little bit more precious. So I'm like, well, if I. Like, sometimes I will be like, if I'm going on stage. And I, you know, worked until seven and now I'm doing this show, my daughter's gonna be asleep when I get home. So I was like, did I miss Nighttime to bomb in Hollywood? But, like, no, I have to go out on stage and at least have a mediocre set because I can't make this all be wasted.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Right?

[Brian Green]

I can't do that. That is a really. That is really sweet, actually.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

I know.

[Brian Green]

It's very sweet. Mo Welsh is a softie. Who knew it?

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah, I know. Don't have kids, you'll get socks.

[Brian Green]

I know. If you want to stay tough, you have kids. That's why I think we got problems in this country. There's too many people running around without kids or a girlfriend. You know what I'm saying?

[Mo Welsh]

It's so, you know, when you, like, don't have kids and you just, like, judge people for their parenting in public, and then once you do have kids, you're like, oh, that person has four years of broken sleeves. Yeah. Like, this is just like one day they're flipping. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Green]

It is water torture. It never stops. I mean, in the most beautiful way, but the drip never stops. There's always something. And I agree with you. Like, Astrid, who's my wife, and I, we used to say this all the time. We're never gonna be those parents. The parents that give the iPad to the child. The parents that let their child eat French fries from some shitty fast food place. When you become a parent, you realize that those were really good parents and they were very smart about what they were doing. They gave that kid an iPad so he would shut up for five min. It's so they can have a conversation.

[Mo Welsh]

Like adults and you still get to take bites of the fries.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Oh, yeah, totally.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

And it's worth it.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. But it's a constant fight in this house about, you know, I want this, I want that, and it's like, that's really not good for you. Actually, you know what I found when I buy the kids fast food? When I finally give in, because they've been asking for 13 days in a row. When I finally give, they don't like it. They like, they don't eat it.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

They want the prize.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, they want the prize. And then they leave all the other stuff. And I'm like, well, eat your chicken nuggets, kids. And they're like, I don't want chicken onion. I want a grilled cheese sandwich. Like, I just went through the drive through for this. I spent $30 on that happy meal.

[Mo Welsh]

I know these kids, they snack so much. I'm like, I don't.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

There's lots of snacks.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah, it's just all snacking. I'm like, can you have one real meal?

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Yeah.

[Mo Welsh]

This month.

[Brian Green]

So your daughter does this too? She just snacks the entire time?

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah, she. And I think she knows that we'll, like, she could break us. Us. You know, she already knows that. Listen, we're not that difficult. We would give up so much information in an interrogation, like, immediately, fine, we'll buy you McDonald's. But she's just. Yeah, she. She'll do that thing where she's just biting, like a little bite of chicken nugget. And then she's just like, okay, now I want a cinnamon roll. And you're like, oh, God.

[Brian Green]

You're like, oh, God.

[Mo Welsh]

Okay, fine, I'll make it.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, as long as I get awesome. Okay, before I let you go, I have to ask. I read a story. True or not true. Tell me about the time you went on Conan o'. Brien. Did you drop a microphone in the toilet or something?

[Mo Welsh]

I read, yes. Oh, my God. My first time on Conan, I was obviously so nervous. Just what we were talking about. That's how nervous I was. I thought the whole time. So I was doing this song, the. I was doing this WNBA song that I had to like. You know, I memorized all the team names in a song and. And I was like, I'm gonna forget one. I just know it. I'm gonna forget the Chicago sky, and it's all gonna be over for me. And so I'm. This is what I'm Thinking about in my mind, and I'm like, you know, I. I just like, you have to go to the bathroom like a hundred times. And I'm like, okay, just like, I'm gonna go pee one more time. And then I was. I'd already gotten my five minutes until the stage and the, the mic pack dropped completely in the toilet.

[Brian Green]

Oh, my God.

[Mo Welsh]

While I was going to the bathroom room. And then I was like taking it out of, like, trying to dry it off. I'm like, oh, my God, I'm so sorry. I dropped the microphone in the toilet. They're like, it's okay. And then they're like, had to hurry up and give me another mic pack. And. And it was all fine, but it was, it was probably like a blessing in disguise.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Mo Welsh]

Yeah. But I was still. I was just like, wow, what an idiot. Like, I'm sure you're probably the first one toilet.

[Brian Green]

Did you, did you pee on the mic pad pack? Be honest.

[Mo Welsh]

The mic pack. What? I had already peed. If it, if it ended up dipping in there. That's on the mic.

[Brian Green]

That is too funny. Mo Welsh's brand new special dad jokes on 800 pound gorilla on YouTube. It is funny. It is engaging. It does not get sappy. Too much sappy. It gets a little sappy, but not too much.

[Mo Welsh]

There's always, there's always leading to a joke.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. There's always a punchline and it's a fascinating watch. I've seen it once and then I listened to it in the. While I was taking a walk, I listened to the special and I thought it was really good.

[Mo Welsh]

Thank you so much.

[Brian Green]

No, thank you so much, Mo. We really appreciate it.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Yeah. Thank you for being on.

[Brian Green]

We're excited for you. We're excited for your career. We know you have a day job, so we're gonna let you go.

[Mo Welsh]

Thank you so much. You guys are so fun. And I was, I was excited the last time time when I accidentally came here at 7 o' clock in the morning a few weeks ago, and then you were like, wait, what is that noise? Like, hi, I'm looking for my headphones. Seven in the morning.

[Brian Green]

Well, this is, this is funny. So Mo was supposed to be here last week recording with us. And sometimes this happens because we have a booking agency, one in London, in la, and then we're in the. We're on the East Coast. So sometimes it's not the first time to happen that the time zones have gotten crossed. So I'm sitting in the studio an hour and some change before we're supposed to be recording with Mo and then she's on the screen and I'm like, who is that? Oh, that's Mo. And so I know I got here.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

And you were like, yeah, that happened. So were rescheduled.

[Brian Green]

So I explained to her, I said very sorry but we don't record this early. So I'm going to cancel and we'll talk to you later. You were very sweet about it. Thank you for understanding and I'm glad you got that extra hour of sleep. Mo Welsh, 800 pound gorilla. Go watch her new special. It is something you're going to enjoy. I really appreciate it. Thank you Mo for coming.

[Mo Welsh]

Thank you. What?

[Christina]

Oh, hi, it's Christina again here to remind you to go to tcbpodcast.com for all things audio, video and TC BDO. Give us a follow on Instagram at the commercial break and on TikTok tock@tcb podcast. And guess what? We have a new phone number. I know what you're thinking, but I promise this is the last TCB phone number you will ever have to remember. So call us and leave us a voicemail or text us at 212-4333 TCB. Once more for the people in the back. That's 212-4333 TCB. Oh, and check out our YouTube channel at YouTube.com. that's all for now. Let's listen to our sponsors and get back to the show.

[Brian Green]

Very nice conversation.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

That was delightful.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. You know, I don't know why we turn into bubbling ass kissers every time, every time we get off an interview, but we do. I think we're just people people. And yeah, hey, we're people. Say I'm a people person. Who's not a people person. People are people, people person. But I think we're like connected. We're affable. Yeah, we connect. And Mo was super sweet. Very nice, very interesting life story. One of five. And she's the middle child. So you know, she had a difficult.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Time growing up and she was the second oldest.

[Brian Green]

Second oldest. So like kind of middle ish child. Well, I guess, I guess when you have five second. No, okay, I get it. But I'm saying like, you know, she's not the, she's not the youngest, she's not the oldest. She's in the middle of the pack. She's the second of the five. Anyway, I'm just saying that I think that I love that she was like.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Yeah, no, when my older sister started having trouble, I was de facto older Sister. And I didn't want it. I didn't want the job.

[Brian Green]

I quit. I quit. Oh, yeah, I guess you're right. Like when you have five, there really is a middle child. You are directly in the middle. When you have a three, five, seven. I'm, I'm, I'm. I'm catching a pattern here. Yeah, this is how bad the math. Ain't math in. Okay, so please go check her out. 800 pound gorilla on YouTube. There are so many funny comedians who do specials on 800 pound gorilla. Kyle, our good friend Kyle did a special on there. That's where his special was. But then if you go to 800 pound gorilla, if you like comedy, there's.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Something there all the time.

[Brian Green]

All comedy, all comedy all the time. I sound like a radio station. Well, old comedy all the time.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

And don't forget about those tickets coming up for green.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, that's right, Creed. Tickets at 5 o', clock, Joey rolls Bronco at 6 o', clock, and a $25 gift certificate to Froyo at 7 o'.

[Mo Welsh]

Clock.

[Brian Green]

You don't want to miss this. It's on a day full of giveaways. I'm so glad we don't have to do that for a living. Yeah, but we're pretty close. We're getting pretty close. Yeah.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

It's fun to not have to do it. We're making fun of doing it.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. But I mean, we know people who do it.

[Mo Welsh]

Oh, yeah.

[Brian Green]

And God bless them, it's a living. And it's talking on a microphone. It's just like us. They just have a little more. They have a lot more to deal with. They gotta hit the post and do the things and weather at the fives and traffic at the tens or whatever, however it goes. What if we started doing weather and traffic just for shits and good giggles? I just interrupt the show directly and it's. The traffic's bad, it's hot, the traffic's terrible. Welcome to Atlanta.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

Yeah, it's the same. It would be the same at every hour.

[Brian Green]

Chrissy comes in and she goes, God, because we had to be here early for mo. And she goes, God, the traffic is terrible. And I'm wondering, it's 9:30. What are these people doing? And I'm like, it's Atlanta, Chrissy. From five in the morning till five in the morning, there is going to be traffic.

[Kristen Joy Hodlay]

The truth.

[Brian Green]

That's it. It. I have been to that airport at like, you know, 10:30pm on a Sunday and run into traffic. Oh yeah, it's insane. This town's crazy. So don't come here. We don't need you. Stay over there. All right. TCBpodcast.com that's where you go. You find all the information about the show, the audio, the video, the link. Links to all of our guests information will be in the show notes. You can find that on the website or on whatever player you listening to right now. We'll put a link to Mo's new special there. So go check it out and to her website. If you want to come to one of our shows on September 25th or 26th, please let us know. Please, please let us know. 212433. Namaste. Brothers and sisters. Buy my tickets. 2124333. TCB. That's 2124333. TCB. Text us questions, comments, concerns, content, ideas. We'd also love it. We just be smitten as kittens. If you would do us a favor, follow us on Instagram at the commercial break. You can also go to our YouTube channel to watch all of the guest interviews, selected clips and episodes. That's YouTube.com the commercial break. And. And yeah, that's all I got for you, Chrissy. Thank you very much. 800 pound gorilla, dad jokes. You know how to do it. Go watch it. Give her some love. She's really funny and a very sweet human being. We're fans. Okay, Chrissy. That's all I could do for today. I think so. But I'll tell you something. I love you. I love you. Best to you.

[Christina]

Best to you.

[Brian Green]

Best you out there in the podcast universe. And to our dear friend Mo Welsh. Buy our teachers tickets. Come to our shows. We don't want to be creed with empty seats. Until next time. We always say we do say we must say goodbye, Sam.