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- [00:02]
Andrew Santino
This episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime. There's nothing sweeter than baking cookies during the holidays. With Prime, I get all my ingredients delivered right to my door, fast and free. No last minute store trips needed. And of course, I blast my favorite holiday playlist on Amazon Music. It's the ultimate soundtrack for creating unforgettable memories. From streaming to shopping. It's on Prime. Visit Amazon.comprime to get more out of whatever you're into.
- [00:43]
Unknown Host
Welcome to South Beach Sessions. We're doing these out west here and this man, a comedian, an actor, he's got two very popular podcasts. What's his name again? Andrew Santino is with us. Your podcasts have probably altered the way that you were living, I would imagine. Thank you for joining us.
- [01:01]
Andrew Santino
Thank you.
- [01:01]
Unknown Host
I'm interested in your biography. I'm interested in how and where your funny came from and the things that made you who you are. But I'm also interested in how your life has changed over the last five years or so as you've discovered a medium that a lot of comedians have discovered to really find their true potential.
- [01:21]
Andrew Santino
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's been. We were talking a little bit before the show. We started Bad Friends. I started Whiskey Ginger like seven and a half so years ago. And I started Bad Friends with Bobby Lee in 2020, which was a really great year for everybody and it catapulted us in the Internet space. I can't walk down the street without someone crossing their eyes and yelling, I'm Bobby, Mom. At me. That happens daily. It's a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing and a curse. Blessing when I'm in a good mood. Curse when I'm at dinner with my wife. Tough. Tough to yell in a restaurant. I'm Bobby Ma. That's tough to hear when you're just.
- [02:02]
Unknown Host
Trying to say, but how did it connect? I understand that you're arriving now at an uncommon kind of fame because this medium that you're in is a particularly intimate one where I don't know how much the connection is around video, but to invade an intimate space where you're making these people laugh during dark times, they're in your home. Like the connection space on something like this is intimate and I'm sure you understand it. I don't mean to explain it to you, but I imagine that the doing of it, chemistry with a friend, performing with a friend in a format that's that open, I imagine that creatively would be wildly stimulating.
- [02:38]
Andrew Santino
It's the most fun I've ever had in my entire career. I've said that like a thousand times on everything I've ever done. I've never done anything as fun as doing a show with Bobby, ever. You know, not to, like, blow smoke up my own tush. But I think it's not only the best thing I've ever done creatively and comedically, it's also so culturally relevant that I'm even impressed by it that I'm like, oh, my God. Like, people really take to this in a way that's like, you know, Martin and Lewis, you know, of a generation where, like, that was a cultural duo that people loved. And I'm starting to realize, I'm like, man, people like us like that, when all it really was for us was, you know, me and one of my best friends, if not my best friend, being immature and just having fun and saying all, you know, all sorts of stuff that, you know, you want to just goof about that you talk about with your friends in private. We just put it on the show. We were like, we don't care. I don't. Who cares? None of it is vitriol. None of it has come from a bad place. It's all from love. So it just kind of dismantles any sort of criticism. I mean, we've gotten some for sure, but we just don't care. I think we just don't care. I don't really care. It's a comedy show. It's all fake.
- [03:55]
Unknown Host
It's all for fake. I don't know if you regard it as the freest you, but as someone who will staunchly defend stand up comedy at every turn, it must feel somewhere freeing to you to occupy a space where it looks like third rail stuff. And all you are is doing. You're just being yourself. Maximum yourself with a friend, talking to a friend the way you would talk to a friend. If both of you were also aware. Oh, if we turn our 8 up to 10 on ad lib, we'll just be toddlers running around chasing each other through a playground, right?
- [04:26]
Andrew Santino
Yeah, no, we're as free. No, it is. It's as free as we've ever been. I don't think there's any restrictive. We have episodes that we. There's parts of episode we don't air because it's probably too much. But we do that to egg each other on to get to another place. You know, we're constructing as we're going. We have formats of the show. We build things out. And then as we're building, you Know, we remove a piece and put it somewhere else. And sometimes, you know, it's a joke that we know we shouldn't say, so we say the joke and we cut it, and it gets a laugh internally, and it helps the rhythm of the show. It's almost like we're. We say stuff we know is terrible to get the studio laughing, and then it leads us to a better place where we're not. Where we're. Where we're. We never were going to go unless we went to the first place.
- [05:15]
Unknown Host
Explain your friendship to me with Bob.
- [05:21]
Andrew Santino
My friendship with Bobby is a peculiar one. We were friends years ago. We met at the Comedy Store. He saw me when I was. I think when I was auditioning to be a regular. And then we became buddies, but we always loved each other. We always had a great relationship. And then I would do his podcast that he still does his other podcast, and I would fill in, and people loved our relationship because it was this. It's this weird. There's a weird magnetic pull that him and I have that we really are so polar opposites, but we love each other so much, but we have nothing in common. On paper, he loves video games and he's fat, and I'm in shape, and I like sports. I mean, like, as a guy, we're two completely different guys. He is way more artistically wild and free. I'm more buttoned up and, you know, military kids, kid type of thing. We just. We're just personality. We're so different, but comedically, for some reason, when you strip all that other crap away, we're the same. We're just two idiot kids that love to make the joke that you're not supposed to make. I think it tied us together. And then we were doing these. I was doing his podcast a lot, filling in for him. And admittedly, you know, he was going through a tough time. I mean, his father passed away. We had to put him in rehab, which was tough. I mean, I put him in rehab three times, which is not fun. But I care for him, so I love him, and I'm. You know, I'm always trying to do what's right for him. But the first time we put him in rehab, I think he had, like, an epiphany about what he really wanted in life, and that was to create a new show where we go at each other every week and see what bruise of it. So we did it for fun and by the grace of the universe, whatever deity you believe in, something blessed us and gave us Covid and Covid shut down the world and birthed this show. It was like. I mean, literally, it was like made everyone stay at home, watch Bad Friends.
- [07:33]
Unknown Host
Great for you. Terrible.
- [07:34]
Andrew Santino
Terrible for the world. But it birthed a show. I mean, literally, if it wasn't for that, I don't know if we would have taken off in the same way. We probably would have become a somewhat popular show because we both had an audience. But what we found from it was unbelievable. People stayed at home and then they just. They took to this relationship because it was like they felt like they could be with their friends without having to be with their friends. So the parasocial growth we got from that, like you were talking about before, it's monumental. People are our family. Like our fans are family. You know, when we see them at these live shows, it's like they're your oldest friend in the world because of that parasocial relationship, which we love. As long as it's not. As long as it's not creepy. We've had a couple of creepy. We had a guy, you know, break into a show, it break backstage and we thought he was there for the meet and greet. He's like, no, no, no, I. This is what I do. I break into the shows to get backstage. I was like, well, don't tell anybody that because now we're going to kick you out of the show. Like, why would you do. I was like, why would you do that? Now we're absolutely going to have you kicked out and the cops are going to be here. So if it's the creepy line, no, thank you. But everything else, we love it and I think we've been able to. The connection we've made with the fans is something I don't. I've never felt before in my entire career. Of all the stuff I've ever done, nothing's felt that real.
- [08:51]
Unknown Host
It's the greatest. To connect with people when you are helping them through a dark and lonely time with the medicine of laughter is not just getting what you get on stand up from the stage, that's instantaneous. But to know that you're doing everywhere and not knowing where it lands, how it lands, but that you're actually helping somebody who's doing, doing a shitty job for eight hours a day and you help them through 90 minutes of it, forgetting that they're in a shitty job, it's the greatest. It's different than in my experience, I've only done writing in television and radio, but in my experience, it's the most rewarding entertainment community fulfillment because the relationship is actually real, and they feel like they know you better than most people who watch your act might know you.
- [09:36]
Andrew Santino
Oh, big time. I mean. Cause on stage, it's such a different beast, you know, stage presence, and that's such a. You know, a lot of times it's in hyper. It's like this hyperbolic version of you, or it's a total character. A lot of people play total characters, you know, but for me, like, stage work, my standup is me just being me, having fun. It's really just me, like, getting away with it and having a good time. The show, I get to, like, really transform into this character, and we get to just do whatever we want. And it's the most. It's by far the most rewarding because people then get invested in it. Whether or not they believe in whatever's going on that week, they really do get invested in it. Sometimes they take it personal, which is crazy. But we've somehow managed to navigate that genuinely where even when we're going too far or going into just a wacky direction, they've. They've stayed with us, which is impressive. I can't. You know, I'm super humbled and grateful for it. I'm truly, to this day, man, the bad friends family is, like, the coolest thing I've ever cultivated ever, ever, ever, ever. It's wild.
- [10:48]
Unknown Host
What did you learn about both your friendship and addiction? Going through that experience with him three times, making him go to rehab, it was tough.
- [10:58]
Andrew Santino
Well, the first time was really the hardest. My. I'm a child of addiction. My dad is an addict who's been sober for a long time now and was in and out of prison when I was a kid. So, like, my experience with addiction is tough. I, like, I've seen it firsthand. You know, I make light of it from my perspective because it's the only. You know, it's the way I like to deal with it. But with him, it was really hard because he, you know, I wouldn't say used it against me a little bit, but he kind of. He was weaponizing it in a way, at the beginning of relationship that was like, you know, you have to protect me, otherwise we will never be able to do this show. So there was, like, a tough moment, and he admits it, that he was in the throes of addiction. So it was tough. And, you know, when we finally made the decision to really force him to go to rehab and, like, get back to where he was and who he was, I think, like, the anger he had Was superseded by, you know, the, the gratefulness when he came out on the other side. And the other instances have been tough too. I mean, it's, it's hard telling your friend you got to go to rehab. That's a shitty thing to do. It's really hard. But he's handled it really well. And I think, what a loving act though.
- [12:19]
Unknown Host
I mean, yeah, yeah, it's hard, but you have to, it's a hugely loving act because it's easier to not do that.
- [12:28]
Andrew Santino
Well. Yeah. Particularly when you have someone like him who's like the. He's just this. He's my sweet little spring roll. He's like the, he is just so. He's so edible and lovable and it's hard to get mad at him. It's really hard to get mad at him. And so even when I know he's kind of utilizing addictive personality and addictive qualities to like manipulate me or make me feel bad about stuff or you know, make me feel guilty about treating him a type of way, I really do know that it's because he just, you know, sometimes we all need help in a million different ways. And so that's kind of his call sometimes is when he, when he's really kind of vulnerable, he'll make you feel bad about questioning him, but you have to kind of push through it and tell him, you know, we got to get right. So he's right though now and it's amazing. And when he's never funnier than when he's sober and that may sound like cliche or something, but like there is, he's, he is on fire. When he's the most clear headed and nothing is in his system beyond substances. Whether it's, you know, the anxiety of addiction or you know, the troubles that come from relationships and blah, blah. When he's sober and clear and feels comfortable with himself and really is like happy the funniest guy. He's the funniest guy I've ever seen in my entire life. Nobody's funnier, nobody's quicker and more cute and sneaky. When he's clear, it's remarkable to watch.
- [14:02]
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- [15:04]
Unknown Host
Who's second place for you in terms of someone that you have flawless comedic chemistry with? Because one of the reasons you enjoy this so much is because you know how good it is as you're slicing it up. Like it to your ear, it sounds like music.
- [15:17]
Andrew Santino
Yeah.
- [15:17]
Unknown Host
And if you're playing it with an equal, an equal who loves you. An equal you understand. An equal who has the same love of craftsmanship that there's found in comedy. You're doing the thing that's the most fun with the person that's most qualified to do it with you.
- [15:32]
Andrew Santino
Yeah, it's tough. I don't know. I think he's my north star. That's the best comedic bouncing I've ever had in my entire life. Rick Glassman and I have been friends for a long, long time. We kind of started together and Rick's improv is so fun and his comedic bouncing is wonderful. We always have an unbelievably fun time together. But it's just. That's just like that. The difference with like those relationships that I have with other people in comedy is, you know, there's other great comics that I bounce well with. If I, you know, when we perform together, whether it's on a pod or, you know, shows or sketches or whatever, but with Bobby, it is something different. I don't, I can't even. I wish I could explain it. It sounds so corny. But there's something else. There's a. There's a love that's so real that makes the comedy so fun. It's truly. I think that's the secret. Whenever there was a great comedy duo or a duo of whatever, music or acting or performance or whatever, there's. When there's a pair, you know, there's something so deep that's beyond the thing that you're doing, that's what makes it good. It's not even the thing. It's not even the comedy. It's the love or the thing that we have for each other. This, like, internal crush on one another's souls. Uh, it's something about that that, like, brings the thing to be better. It's crazy when you see a good duo that, like. You know, my grandmother, rest in peace, loved ice skating. Loved ice skating. And she would talk about the relationships of these skaters and all this stuff. And I wasn't interested in it as a kid, but when I would. Got older and I, like, understood when there was a true, deep connection beyond ice for these two people, that's why they were the best. Something was there. It didn't have to. It could be platonic. I'm not saying it's romantic, but something else.
- [17:17]
Unknown Host
It clearly is with you and Bobby Lee. It clearly is romantic.
- [17:20]
Andrew Santino
That's romantic. And we've never slept together because we want the show to keep going. I feel like if we do sleep together, everything would ruin everything. Well, it does, right?
- [17:28]
Unknown Host
Well, the tension. You need the tension in order to carry everything.
- [17:31]
Andrew Santino
Do not dip your pen in the company ink. And so we've been very good about that. Yeah. And so that's. I think we have a thing that I can't describe that I don't have with anybody else. I have really deep connections with other people in a different way comedically, but not like I do with that kid.
- [17:47]
Unknown Host
You mentioned your father and dealing with all of that with just humor. There's nothing else that you deal with that with. It's just funny as how it is that the father in and out of prison, dealing with addiction. Seems like it would be shaping. Someone could shape them.
- [18:02]
Andrew Santino
Yeah. I mean, I think it's. It's definitely a piece of who I am for sure. It's why I am the way I am. But I. You know, without getting therapeutic, it's like I have to laugh at it or joke about it or light. Make light of it, because time is. You know, time has happened. It's over. It's way in the past. I mean, 41 years old, you're an adult. Yeah. I'm too grown now to, like, really lament about it. I know that's kind of. Maybe that's. A therapist would say that's probably bad, but I don't know. There's no other way to do it. I'm too grown to. You can't, you know, look backwards all the time. It's a weird thing to have that as a part of my history. But I was never beaten as a kid. I was never Abused. So I fared okay. Just had a dad in prison. Do you know what I mean? Like, life was actually okay. My mom remarried. I had a great stepdad. It wasn't that bad. So that's why I kind of. I say that, I joke about it because it is what it is. I don't know. I can't, like, sit there and be like, you know, this is why that I'm xyz, because my dad was in prison. It's like, no, it was a crappy time and you grow out of it and then you have to utilize it for good, I guess. So then I have to joke about it a little bit.
- [19:29]
Unknown Host
Well, what are the odds, though, of coming out of Section 8 housing and that and then arriving at what you arrived at? Like, have you thought about the mathematical improbabilities of how unusual your story is?
- [19:40]
Andrew Santino
Yeah, well, I do. Well, let me. I'll make some sort of clarification too. I think I had talked in an interview about my mom and I in subsidized housing, which is true, but they make it sound like, you know, for some reason, I think people, even listeners now probably like, oh, Section 8. They have this pretty terrible view in their mind over what that is. Every new building built everywhere has to have Section 8. I used to live right here in West Hollywood. We had section. You have to have subsidized housing when you build a new building. So we lived in a nice area of Chicago when I was a kid. But yes, because I had a single mother, we were in subsidized rent because she couldn't afford it. So I never came from, you know, the gutter. I don't have some incredible, like, rags to riches. I've got, you know, target to riches. Do you know what I mean? I've got baseline, you know what I mean? Regular Americana. And so I do. It does hit me often that it is kind of crazy that I was blessed enough to have this kind of, I don't know, this, this career run because, yes, I didn't have, you know, there's no nepotism with me, unfortunately. I had no. No rich uncle out here. I had no, you know, there was no connection to the business. I did this, you know, basically on my own. I moved out here and kept swinging the bat until I finally got a hit, which is. Yeah, it doesn't surpass me mentally. That. That's insane. It's crazy.
- [21:12]
Unknown Host
Well, take me through the grind. Take me through the. Through the struggles of what it looked like to arrive at your career and. And what the what? The hardest days you look back on that might not have felt like hard days because you were so hell bent on dreaming about. I'm near the Comedy Store. This is where I can make it happen.
- [21:29]
Andrew Santino
I mean, the story goes. I moved out here after I was at. I went to Harvard of the West. I went to Arizona State, the greatest institution in the desert. And after I left, I had a lot of friends that were California kids, and they convinced me to move to California because it was either that or New York. And I was like, I just want to stay in the sun. Like, I just. Because if I go back East, I was afraid I'd go back to Chicago. And that was just too scary. I just wanted to drown. It was either, you know, sink or swim.
- [22:03]
Unknown Host
So you knew that then. 100% I'm gonna. So. And how long are you giving yourself.
- [22:09]
Andrew Santino
Oh, the indefinite. This was all I could do. I'm too stupid to do anything. I mean, I couldn't. I don't. What job. I don't even know who would hire me. Like, I had a, you know, journalism degree. I think I minored in English. Like I said. I have to say, I think because I don't even remember truly what I ended up with.
- [22:25]
Unknown Host
So this. So. But you've decided on this as a chase. At what age? Like, how is all of that happening?
- [22:30]
Andrew Santino
When I was a kid, I loved entertainment. I was obsessed. My friend Sean and I would sit in my mom's basement and watch, you know, Dumb and Dumber, and we'd wear out the vhs. We'd rewind the scenes that we liked so much that it would get skippy. I don't know if you remember. I mean, it would, like, literally blur because you've just ruined the tape from spinning it back. I mean, we would do that. I mean, that was. That was like my whole life was like watching comedy, entertainment movies. And I'm an 80s baby, so, you know, I was right in the gut of fun. Big commercial, broad comedy, the, you know, these things.
- [23:02]
Unknown Host
So you're looking at this childlike discovery.
- [23:05]
Andrew Santino
Oh, my God, I want to do that.
- [23:07]
Unknown Host
I want to do that. And who are the people who you're like, you mentioned Dumb and Dumber, but.
- [23:10]
Andrew Santino
Every Hills caught Eddie Murphy. I mean, that was like, one of the greatest. When I saw that, I was like, you can be a goofball and be kind of a caricature and still act in a movie. That blew my mind because he was so swift and smooth and so cool, but so funny like that. That was kind of like my foray. Beverly Hills Cop was one of my favorite movies. And then I would get into some of the hard felt stuff. Like big was me and my mom used to watch Big. I love Big. And I was like, this is funny and it's sweet and it didn't take itself that serious. That's kind of my tone of comedy. I'm funny, sweet, I'm a little sardonic. I can be sarcastic, but it doesn't take itself that serious. It's a joke. It's all a big joke. So that kind of world, especially with Jim, everything with Jim stuff, I mean, everything Jim made, I was obsessed with as a kid. I love. I was just like, that's what I want to do in some capacity. And Eddie and Jim being stand ups, you know, that's what kind of drew me in.
- [24:09]
Unknown Host
So in high school, you're, you're, you're refining any of this yet or you're trying to.
- [24:14]
Andrew Santino
You're a secret wish.
- [24:15]
Unknown Host
So you're funny.
- [24:16]
Andrew Santino
In class, I was just a funny, loud idiot. Everyone was like, I always wanted to make lightest stuff. I always had to poke the bear. I was a terrible student. Teachers loathed me. Students liked me. It was just. I wanted to have fun. I hated school. I hated school. I wanted to have fun. This was like a waste of time to me. It was like, why can't we have fun? What is all this for? I still agree. I. Most of the time I'm like, what is all this crap for? I don't. You want to have fun? Shouldn't life be fun? It's cut. You're going to. It's going to be done so fast. So I just wanted to have a good time. So, yes, I was a terrible student. I went out to Arizona. Back then there was the Tempe Improv. That was the only, pretty much the only comedy club in, in the area. There was a couple, you know, there was like open Mikey stuff. So in college, I started to get the itch. I was like, I think I'm gonna try it. I barely told anybody because I was scared of the. It's embarrassing. Comedy is embarrassing. I want to be a stand up. Really that. It's an embarrassing dream. It's an embarrass actor. For some reason people are like, yeah, go to Hollywood, try to make it stand up. Comedy is such an embarrassing. It's a stain on your shirt. It's like, oh, God, that's. Yeah, all right.
- [25:28]
Unknown Host
That's a career. It's a stain.
- [25:29]
Andrew Santino
It's stain on your shirt? Yeah. It's like, oh, you're gonna walk around like that? Like, well, yeah, it's almost stand up. It's so stupid. It's a dumb dream. But I loved it, so I kept it quiet. And I only told a few people that I really wanted to do it. And one of my best friends who I just saw again, still, one of my best buddies, Colin, is from the bay. And he said, I'm moving to Long Beach. Do you want to come with me? I've got a place we can sleep. I got this guy's La Z Boy. You can stay until we can find a spot. Sure. I was like, I'll do it. So I moved on the 4th of July. You want to talk about cliche? I moved on the 4th of July in a U haul while the fireworks are going off, I'm pulling into la, the American dream. I'm making it, baby. Right to a La Z Boy couch in Long Beach. Perfect, man. That's the dream. Yeah. With like no money. And also my mom and my stepdad, you know, worked my whole life. My mom just retired, you know, a year ago. So we didn't come from a ton of money. Like, we weren't. We weren't poor by any means, but like, there wasn't this great safety net. My parents weren't like, whatever happens, we have, you know, it was never that thing. It was like, you're going to go do your. You're going to go do this thing. Go do it, go get a job, go pay rent. Our family's always been that way. It's very supportive. But never. There's no financial net. There was no, like, you'll be okay if you fail, so you're on your own.
- [26:48]
Unknown Host
And how tough is it and how much doubt is there? Or are you just trying to climb?
- [26:52]
Andrew Santino
You just that stuff, you black out the doubt. It didn't. It didn't. Because I was 22 years old, I couldn't care less. I had no aspirations of, like, money and riches and fame. I just wanted to make enough money to do comedy, to pay. Pay my way. I was like, can I. This is kind of an old thing for comics. We always say you're rich in comedy and you're like a standup who's made it is if you can go out to eat and you don't look at how much the costs, if we can go to the diner, if we can go to swingers, and you're not worried about which meal you're going to get, that was kind of for us back then was like, that guy's doing really good. Like, he doesn't care. He doesn't even. He doesn't. That's a $13 pancake and he doesn't care mind. That guy's killing it. So in our mind, that was it. It was like, if you can.
- [27:36]
Unknown Host
So that was success to you. The big American dream is the U Haul, the fireworks, La Z Boy on Long beach. And will I one day be able to afford a $13 pancake without noticing that it's $13?
- [27:49]
Andrew Santino
Yeah, that's right. I still look today, I'm still like, this is my wife orders. I'm like, how much? That's $26. All right, well, you're gonna take half home. No, but I. That was making. It was like, if you didn't care about looking at the prices. When we would go out to the diners after the shows, because we all used to go to swingers when. Swingers or Greenblatts or, you know, the old days, we used to mimic the comics before us that go to canters or, you know, we'd go to these old Jewish delis. That's where we'd go after shows. We would all go there and hang out and get food. And if you could afford to not worry about the price of the menu that night, you know, we're not going to, you know, we're not going to a steakhouse. I mean, it's a diner. But still, it was. That to me was like, if I can afford rent and food and not worry about how much the food costs, when I go to eat at a diner, we're fine. So that. Truly, I'm not kidding. That was. I just wanted to, like, can I get by? Is it not. Am I not going to feel, you know, scared every month? Can I just not be scared every month? So that was the dream. I moved up to Los Angeles. I found a listing on Craigslist with UCLA students graduates. And I lived in Culver City in a three bed, one bath. Three bed, one bath. Beautiful. It's actually a two bed, one bath, but I lived in a partitioned off dining room. My light was a chandelier from an old dining room. And they just put up a door and a wall. So one wall led to where the front door was and the other one was the kitchen.
- [29:17]
Unknown Host
Bathroom with strangers.
- [29:18]
Andrew Santino
Bathroom with strangers. Yeah. And so I. And you know, that was my life. I worked as a PA. I got a job at a studio making $400 a week before taxes. All of these people working Here now, all of these young kids who are getting paid unbelievable money. We have, like. We have people that work for us that. I'm like, how much money do we pay you? You're 24 years old. I think I made $300 a week after taxes. I was like, anyway. And they're like, can I get reimbursement for gas? I'm like, yeah, sure. Whatever you want. What do you have a Hummer? Yeah, I'll fill it up. Was it $300 to fill up your car? That's my entire paycheck for one week. I got a job doing that. And I was a run around all day and then stand up all night and then rinse, wash, and repeat. And it was constant. That's all you did, Pa, all day. Gopher, whatever they wanted. Groceries, cleaning up. I went to go to, you know, go to Beverly Hills and get your boss a tie. Drive it back by noon or you're fired. You know, it was like that. Go deliver scripts in the Hollywood Hills to movie stars without Google Maps. This is. This is Pre. This is. This is Thomas Guide. Do you know. You know, Thomas, guys, you're just getting lost everywhere. Yeah. The worst. I had to flip pages and be like, you're bad at the job. Oh, I hated it. I hated it. I sucked at it. I wasn't. I was. I just was not good at anything you said. Anything, really? Yeah. I've only been good at having fun. Fun is, like, the only thing I'm good at. Joking and having fun with someone. Yeah. I was so bad at it.
- [30:45]
Unknown Host
It's a good thing to be good at if you're only going to be good at one thing, I guess.
- [30:48]
Andrew Santino
I mean, you know, if it all falls out, I have no. Nothing to fall back on. I mean, there's a Jimmy John's near the house. I might get the. They always are hiring, it says, so. I might. I might have to do that. But. Yeah, that was my.
- [31:01]
Unknown Host
But you were happy. You were happy. Ish. Not doubting.
- [31:05]
Andrew Santino
No. Unbelievably happy. Didn't care. I didn't. I never had the dream. I didn't have a. One day I'm gonna be a star. I didn't have that. I never, ever, ever had that. I had a. One day, I'm gonna be a comedian.
- [31:19]
Unknown Host
One day I can afford pancakes.
- [31:20]
Andrew Santino
One day, I wanna afford pancakes. Yeah. I'm not kidding. To this day, I feel like maybe I'm stupid that I didn't have a dream.
- [31:27]
Unknown Host
Well, I mean, if you're gonna make it Fourth of July in the U Haul and the fireworks. You did that? You noticed the date?
- [31:36]
Andrew Santino
Yeah, but I moved on that date only because my girlfriend had kicked me out of her place. It was just the day she was like, get out. Because I told her we're not moving to LA together. She threw a knife at me and I had to leave. I was like, all right, I have to go. I guess I gotta go. So it was coincidence. I was a fourth. I didn't plan it like that. It was like, all right, I guess I'm going to la. So I went to la and I never had a dream. I'm not kidding. I never had the dream.
- [32:01]
Unknown Host
It doesn't sound like it.
- [32:02]
Andrew Santino
I just wanted to go.
- [32:03]
Unknown Host
How long do you spend in that space? Just partition, chandelier, pa.
- [32:10]
Andrew Santino
I live there. I lived there. I was still a PA after that. And then I worked a day job. I got a day job at a music industry doing like paper pusher work for them. But I stayed in that place for two years. And then I. Then I met a bunch of guys through kid. A kid I grew up with moved out here and he went to Columbia and Chicago and he was like, hey, there's a bunch of, you know, a bunch of these guys are Chicago guys and they're starting to join this 16 inch, no glove Chicago style softball league in the Valley, which. And I was like, yeah, 16 inch no glove, baby. Chi town Chicago style. So I was like, oh my God, there'll be much Chicago people. This will be great. And I went up there and I met a bunch of these guys and they're still, you know, a bunch of them are still my closest friends today. And then I moved in with them. And that was how I, like kind of started to grow out of the crap because I started to meet more people and those people led me to meet more people. And this guy worked for this manager and this guy was dating this girl and she had a connection to things. So they could get you an audition for a manager. It was that. That's how it started to grow. Yours. My circle just started to grow and grow. And then, you know. And then my first gig I ever landed was I did a show for MSN. When you bought a PC, we were on the main page, MSN.com and so I did a show for them that was like a weekly web update show that I just auditioned for and landed somehow, some way, and it was like a weekly hosting show. And I was able to quit my day job from that and just do comedy full time. And changed my life. That, to this day, was, like, one of the happiest moments of my life. I hung up the phone, I ran down four flights of stairs, and I just ran east on Wilshire for, like, two miles. Just ran east. I was so excited. I was. It was Forrest Gump. I was running. I just wanted to go. It was like all of this was inside of me. I just. It was, like exploding out of me.
- [34:03]
Unknown Host
What a great story.
- [34:04]
Andrew Santino
It was one of the happiest moments I think I've ever felt in my entire life. I ran east on Wilshire until I just decided to come back. And then I went back to my office, and I told my. The. My boss at the time, who was rad. I said, I got this job, and I'm gonna quit. I can finally do comedy all the time. And they were happy for me. They knew that's what I really wanted. So that was the beginning of, like, being able to pay my bills and my rent without having a day job, quote, unquote, you know, even though it was still a day job.
- [34:31]
Unknown Host
So your joy is because you've seen the path open.
- [34:34]
Andrew Santino
Yeah.
- [34:35]
Unknown Host
Finally.
- [34:35]
Andrew Santino
Finally. I mean, that was the most relieving because you don't know how long you're. You're like, how long will this last? How long do I want to do a day job and then work comedy at night? And for many people, that's still a reality. I'm blessed that I didn't have to at some point. Many people still.
- [34:51]
Unknown Host
How long had you been doing it that way?
- [34:55]
Andrew Santino
I landed the first job in 2011, I want to say, or 12. So six or seven years into living.
- [35:03]
Unknown Host
Here, struggling here, right? Like. Like, yeah.
- [35:06]
Andrew Santino
I mean, there's no other way to say it. It's not like, you know, yeah, mommy and daddy didn't. I never had a credit card. I never had that. I was always very jealous of that until later in life. Then I realized that it was kind of a blessing that my parents were very like, you have to go do everything on your own. But I did see guys that were able to, like, go out to, like, eat or drinks, if we go to the bar, and they would put down a credit card that I knew wasn't theirs. And I was like, man, I'm so jealous of that because I have 37 until Tuesday. You know, I. That was always it. I wasn't. I wasn't. It wasn't scary, but it was. There were nights where I was bummed because I was like, man, what if I have to ask my mom for $100. I didn't want. I just didn't want to do it. But I luckily never had to, like, thank God. I don't know why or how it worked out, but I never had to say, hey, can you send me money? But there were nights where I would, you know, I was up all night sleeping on my mattress on the floor, you know, without a box spring or a bed frame, that I was like, am I gonna have to beg someone for money or donate plasma or, like, how am I gonna get a couple more bucks? A shining light was truly. When I went down to. Back down to Long beach, my buddy Dan was dating a girl who was working on the Queen Mary, and they needed a halftime comedian. And I slid into that spot. So I got paid 100 a show that actually really got me through. So I make a couple hundred dollars a weekend being a halftime dinner theater performer. And if it weren't for that. Weren't for that job, I'd probably had to have called mom and dad.
- [36:38]
Unknown Host
Oh, wow. That was that close.
- [36:39]
Andrew Santino
Oh, my God. Yeah, that was. That was. It was unbelievable timing. It was something again. Something in the universe gave me a gift that was a absolute drop in my lap gift. Couldn't believe it worked. To this day, it's so strange to me. I was like, how did I end up with that job? So I would drive down to Long beach every single weekend, Friday and Saturday nights, and do the show and then come back and then do comedy all week and then go do it again just to make enough money to keep going. It literally saved me because I couldn't, you know, I was scared about rent. Rent was 425 back then, though.
- [37:14]
Unknown Host
I mean, still. Still steep if you're only making 400 before taxes.
- [37:17]
Andrew Santino
That's what I mean. 425 was rent. And I was like, man, how do I make rent? So if it weren't for the boat, I probably wouldn't have been able to. If it weren't for that Queen Mary that. That. That beautiful boat lodged in the harbor. I don't know if you've ever been. No, it's interesting. It's a docked boat that was one of the Queen Mary's and interesting. It's a hotel now. It's a hotel. It's. You know, I don't want to talk bad about it. It was fun. It's a little sketchy, but it's fun.
- [37:45]
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- [38:23]
Andrew Santino
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- [38:56]
Unknown Host
Other places either professionally or personally that and I'm not trying to get you to top that story, but something that felt so exhilarating that you recall it as the as a happier thing in my life that happened to me that made me want to run for two miles with runner's high just so that I could be clear headed about how wonderful all of this feels.
- [39:18]
Andrew Santino
Well, it's interesting. I've had an embarrassment of riches in my life. There are moments that I'm even shocked that I was even like a part of. But I hate to say this but nothing has felt like that. You know, which it's kind of crazy. Nothing felt like that where like working with Pete Farrelly who is a hero of mine as a kid, you know, like doing a movie with Pete, getting a phone call from Pete Pitt Fairley to do a movie to do Ricky Sinicki with Cena and Efron. I was like I will sit down while I'm having coffee. And it does hit you. You're like I cannot believe this is my life. I'm so blessed. This is like crazy. I can't believe I'm getting to do these things. So those feel so incredible. But nothing felt like what when I got to quit my job? Felt like cause I just, I felt like something was giving me a chance. It was like all right, but now you have to put in the work. I will say for people that are listening, that are young standups or young people that want to act or get into the business, it has never, ever gotten easier. So I hope they know that it's not like, because I got that job, everything was okay. Because then you had to work that much harder to not only keep that job, but to get another job. And then once you get that job, you better prove that you were worth it again for them to take a risk on you for that one little gig that you did. And then when you do that, you better really have something in the tank for the very next job. So the pressure was never off. I'm 41 years old. I still feel every job I do is like, you better do the job.
- [40:55]
Unknown Host
I've assumed that wherever there are people making things, well, whether it's watching Shandling and Seinfeld talk and comedians in cars getting coffee about how hard it was to do what they were doing, that made it look easy. From where I'm standing, I can't tell if you getting some of the things you've wanted over the last five years is all blessing or if you're on a treadmill right now where you can't totally enjoy it all because now all the things you've wanted are coming your way. But you gotta be careful how much you say yes to. Cause you still love standup comedy and you wanna do all the other things as well. But too popular podcasts sounds like it's hard to, no matter how much you're enjoying it, to keep it to the standard that you wish for it to be at totally.
- [41:37]
Andrew Santino
No, there is a piece of me that isn't getting to enjoy it as much as I would like to. That's just honest truth, because it's a lot of stuff. I'm balancing two shows, a standup career. I'm doing a new hour. You know, we've sold an animated show. We're selling another television show that we're going out with right now that we're already in production with. So, yes, I have a lot on my plate. And building and building and building. And there's other things I'm doing on the side that I really enjoy a lot. I'm building my next phase of my career next year. I'm building a lot in the golf space. We're planning on going out with some stuff because I'm a die hard golfer. And I was like, this is really who I am. And there's not a lot of comedy in the golf space. I Mean, we'll see what happens with.
- [42:18]
Unknown Host
We're in the sports space.
- [42:19]
Andrew Santino
Yeah.
- [42:19]
Unknown Host
That's been so weird to me tonight. I don't get it.
- [42:23]
Andrew Santino
Well, it's a hard risk because I don't know if I'll say this. Everybody who likes sports may not like comedy, but everybody who likes comedy probably likes sports. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's, you know, I would imagine there's a lot of people that are diehard sports fans that aren't just are not really into comedy that wouldn't, you know, And. But I do think everyone who likes comedy who has that kind of like, lust for life, you probably like sports, I just assume. But Peyton Manning's company, Omaha, is producing my special next year, which is incredible. And because of that, I. Part of it was because I wanted to get more into the sports space. Sports comedy space. And we're starting this golf, this little golf project that we're working on. And so that's taken up a lot of my time, but it's what I, it's what I really want to do next. Like, I want to be more into that world because that's, that's also who I am. And I talk about it enough on shows, but I want to do it like I want to actually make. Make another lane that I love instead of trying to find, you know, you're always trying to find what's the next thing, but this one's like, well, I love that I should just try that. If it fails, it fails. Who cares?
- [43:32]
Unknown Host
You're addicted to golf, right?
- [43:34]
Andrew Santino
It's bad. Yeah. I'm an addict. I'm an addict. I literally went to San Diego yesterday and drove back last night and then had to work last night. It's bad. I have a sickness. I need to go to see.
- [43:44]
Unknown Host
You're very good as well.
- [43:46]
Andrew Santino
I'm okay. Yeah.
- [43:48]
Unknown Host
When sports things start happening to you and you look back at the person who, you know, had $37 in the bank account, but you're. Now Travis Kelce is texting you during games.
- [43:59]
Andrew Santino
No, no, no, no, no. He's. We text. He's a buddy. We text. Yeah, but, but.
- [44:04]
Unknown Host
And your dog is named Cubby, so you're doing Take me out to the ball game at Wrigley Field. Like when you're getting some of these sports things coming your way, surely you're pinching yourself there. The sports fan and the child in you is like, yeah. What, how, how does this happen?
- [44:19]
Andrew Santino
The sports thing blows my mind because as a die hard Cubs fan, as a Kid being able to throw on the first pitch was cool. I'm not saying anything bad about it. It's just, you know, a local insurance agent also gets to do it sometimes. But singing the seventh inning stretch at Wrigley to me is, you know, my father. I sent my dad the email from the Cubs, and. And he was like, oh, my God, man, you finally made it. Like, of all the stuff that you've done, he's like, that's it. That's the. To me, that was one of the best moments of my entire life. And to have my family out there for it was like. That was one of those moments. That's running down Wilshire a little bit.
- [44:59]
Unknown Host
Yeah. That's. How many others.
- [45:00]
Andrew Santino
That wasn't a reward of the business. I mean, it was a gift because of my work in the business. But that felt like running on Wilshire, having my family afterwards, having drinks, being able to take. Take my family to this thing, have fun with them, have them see me do this thing. That was. Yeah, that's monumental.
- [45:16]
Unknown Host
It's cool. You don't have a lot of other sports things like that, right? Like, pinch me. Sports things.
- [45:20]
Andrew Santino
Like.
- [45:21]
Unknown Host
Because you're.
- [45:21]
Andrew Santino
I don't think so.
- [45:21]
Unknown Host
Because both you and Shane Gillis, if you're. If you're a sports fan and you come into some taste, making comedy success, all of a sudden, you end up getting surprised a little bit by who wants to meet you.
- [45:32]
Andrew Santino
Yes, it is a little strange. It becomes. And pre. You know, this, like, this little bump that I've had in my career.
- [45:39]
Unknown Host
I would think Dave helped there, too.
- [45:41]
Andrew Santino
It did. Yeah. The show. The show. People love. People love the show. And that helped me out a lot. Get this kind of bump in my career. And it was also at the same time that Bad Friends was growing, so it just kind of. All these things collided, which is kind of usually how it happens in the business. Like a bunch of things just happened to collide. But the. The world of my friendship of sports. And I do want to say this. I want to clear this up, because I get.
- [46:05]
Unknown Host
He doesn't text you during games. No, it's not during games.
- [46:08]
Andrew Santino
Not during games, no. But he get. I get so much crap for cheering on Kansas City because everyone online says, you're a Bears fan, you're a Bears fan. And let me say this to your audience. I am a Bear. I'm a diehard Chicago fan for the rest of my life. Okay. But you go get yourself to hall of Fame super bowl champion friends. Go get two of. Go get two of them. And then you tell me you're not gonna root for their team a little bit. Okay, okay. It pisses me off when people are like, sell out. Sell out. Two of my friends are hall of fame current players. What, are you not gonna root for them when you talk to them?
- [46:49]
Unknown Host
You need to not be friends with them so that you can only root for the Bears.
- [46:53]
Andrew Santino
That's an insane. Like, this is an ideology that I think America still has where they're like, you can't do that. You sell out. You're crossing over there. Really, dude, Go get two friends that are hall of Famers that play.
- [47:04]
Unknown Host
The best quarterback I've had is Jay Cutler. My entire.
- [47:07]
Andrew Santino
Come on, dude.
- [47:07]
Unknown Host
My entire lifetime until now.
- [47:09]
Andrew Santino
Until right now. Those painted nails are going to get us somewhere, baby. Let's go, Caleb. Also, shout out Cole Comet, my dog. I love the Bears. I have some homies. I just. I support my friends. I'm not. I am not a die hard Chiefs fan. I would never even pretend to be.
- [47:26]
Unknown Host
You are a fan of Mahomes?
- [47:27]
Andrew Santino
I'm a fan of my buddies. I think they're great. They're so generous to me. They are great, and they let me have fun. So, yes, I'm gonna wear a Casey shirt and tip the hat to a couple hall of Famers. My bad. My bad.
- [47:41]
Unknown Host
America, you don't sound defensive at all very much so.
- [47:43]
Andrew Santino
It bothers me, man. Are you a Kansas City fan? Yeah, dude. A little bit. A little bit. Also, they win. It's cool. It's cool to go to the Super Bowl. Let the Bears start with the Super Bowls, man.
- [47:57]
Unknown Host
You need to block his calls. You need both of them. You need to. You need to.
- [48:01]
Andrew Santino
They will stop blowing me up.
- [48:02]
Unknown Host
I'm sorry. I'm. I'm with Cole comment now. I'm sorry.
- [48:05]
Andrew Santino
I'm sorry. I can. I can no longer. I can no longer chat with either of you boys. How I ran into that whole thing is crazy. I met Kelsey years ago at Soho House. We were introduced to do a show together. They wanted us to do a sports show together because Travis was getting more into television, and they were like, he really wants to do a thing. And then I told him. I said, I don't know. I just didn't know if it was right. I felt a little weird about the whole thing. And then afterwards, he was like, so we shouldn't do it? I said, I don't think. I don't know, man. I was like, maybe. I don't know. And he was like, well, all right. And Then we got a couple drinks and we just buddied up. And then every time he came to la, he was like, do you want to. Do you want to kick it? And then he won the super bowl. And he was like, hey, we're gonna go out. You should come. So I was never like, hey, hey, hey. He was very warm and open, and we just became friends through that. And then I met Pat through him.
- [48:58]
Unknown Host
He chased you is what you're saying.
- [48:59]
Andrew Santino
He did a little, but I'm not gonna lie.
- [49:00]
Unknown Host
You want to know publicly?
- [49:01]
Andrew Santino
I was his first Taylor Swift. Yeah, I was the first Taylor Swift. He chased me.
- [49:06]
Unknown Host
Baby, you played hard to get. I did. And he did eventually conquer you, despite your Bears allegiances.
- [49:11]
Andrew Santino
Well, he' handsome too, that guy. He's tall and handsome and strong. Rugged man.
- [49:15]
Unknown Host
Yes.
- [49:15]
Andrew Santino
Yeah, he just. I. We. I played it as, like, I don't want to bother the guy, but he was always very generous and invited me to a lot of stuff. And then I slowly, we just became, like, friends. Friends for. It was a business. It was like the business first, and then we just became friends. Then we would just text and talk because he. I just. He's just a fun, great, super generous, humble dude. Honestly, like, to a degree. He brought his mom and dad. I just played Kansas City, and Pat came and his wife Brittany came, and then Trav and his brother Jason and their. And his wife, and they brought mom and dad Kelsey out, and it was. It was awesome. Like, those things are just. Those are. Those. Feel like running down Wilshire, making a huge room laugh with those guys there supporting. Yeah, that feels like running down Wilshire. It's like, I can't believe. I really can't believe it. Or I. You know, I just took my dad to watch Casey play on Monday night Football. My dad's never been to a Monday night game. I mean, we didn't go to a lot of games as kids either. You know, it's expensive and it's a whole thing. And we never had season tickets or any of that stuff. My dad never been to a Monday night game, and I was like, well, this is one to go to. And we're gonna sit in Pat's booth and, you know, you're gonna live the life well.
- [50:24]
Unknown Host
You gotta be a Bears fan.
- [50:26]
Andrew Santino
I know, I know. Go Bears.
- [50:29]
Unknown Host
What are you doing?
- [50:30]
Andrew Santino
I love them to death, by the way. None of the Bears invite me out to their suites, you know what I mean?
- [50:36]
Unknown Host
Cole, comment?
- [50:37]
Andrew Santino
Yeah. A dunzai. Where are you at, dude? Hit me up. I'll sit in your Box.
- [50:42]
Unknown Host
Did you find yourself, or have you found yourself in the middle of the Taylor Swift madness? Have you. That you haven't got? You've.
- [50:49]
Andrew Santino
I have nothing to do with that. I mean, like, I love Travis. She is absolutely wonderful. You know, I've met her just briefly. I don't know her. I mean, I think she's great. She's a very nice person and very sweet, and he loves her, you know, or whatever the word you want to use. They are. They really. You know, they have a great relationship. And.
- [51:08]
Unknown Host
Do you not want to use the word love because you're afraid the swifties will aggregate?
- [51:11]
Andrew Santino
I don't want to get shot at all.
- [51:12]
Unknown Host
So you don't know if it's love or not?
- [51:13]
Andrew Santino
You don't know what love is?
- [51:15]
Unknown Host
Whatever. Whatever word.
- [51:16]
Andrew Santino
What.
- [51:16]
Unknown Host
Okay. I think you can call it whatever.
- [51:17]
Andrew Santino
It is, I guess. Love. I don't even. I don't know. Do you know what love is? I actually don't know what it is because I'll say I love you before I'll say it to someone I'm in love with.
- [51:27]
Unknown Host
No, but it sounds like. You got it with Bobby Lee. It sounds like you love him. Like, you were pretty clear there.
- [51:31]
Andrew Santino
That's different. It's not even love. That's more. That's lust. No, it's more. That's. That's family. That's blood. I would. I. That is my blood. That is like, you know, you have a brother, or do you have brothers, sisters, or anything, like, when they. You don't care if they're wrong. They're your blood. You just protect your blood. You're like, that's something deeper. It's deeper than love. It's like. Yeah, you just want to. You'd. Yeah, you're. Yeah, you're there. You're the grounding wire. You know what I mean? I'll. Whatever. Whatever. Whenever. He means the world to me, so. But, no, I never got caught up in the swifty stuff because I don't have a lot of connection to that. I mean, I known Travis for a long time. She was extremely nice when I met her, and so. So pleasant.
- [52:14]
Unknown Host
It's an uninteresting question, unless you've actually been caught up in it. Everything.
- [52:19]
Andrew Santino
No, but I. But I do find her to be a wonderful person. Genuinely getting to meet her for real.
- [52:25]
Unknown Host
Somebody worthy of love, if that's what you could call it. If you're willing to go.
- [52:29]
Andrew Santino
Very worthy of love. I, on the other hand, I deserve none of it. No love. Just give me life.
- [52:34]
Unknown Host
I Thought it was weird reading about you. You've mentioned your wife a couple of times. It said, uncertainty of marriage or identity of wife. And I'm like, why is this such a mystery?
- [52:45]
Andrew Santino
Yeah. In the new world, we like to shroud her. We like to keep her hidden away in a closet somewhere. She better not get out. She doesn't. Has. Not in the business. Has nothing to do with the business. Doesn't want to. This is completely uninteresting to her. Doesn't go to premieres. I mean, I don't really go to premieres either, anyway. Like, I don't go to red carpets. I don't do press, stuff like that. I don't like it. I don't care, you know? And she likes to keep it that way. I think the anonymity is nice because my loss of anonymity is tough. It's tough.
- [53:17]
Unknown Host
Oh, so it's a choice. So the fact that this is a mystery, that I'm actually phrasing it that way, that my researchers bring it to me as. It's unclear if he's married.
- [53:26]
Andrew Santino
No, I am. I'm married to a woman. Stop asking me. Geez. I'm not. I'm not.
- [53:33]
Unknown Host
I was asking you about love.
- [53:35]
Andrew Santino
No, dad, no. She chose. Yeah, I guess we talked about it together, but it was something that she was very cognizant of, that she saw early on she didn't love. The attention is not what she likes. And to be honest, like, I don't mind it, but I'm not in. I don't. I don't love it. You know, I don't love it to a degree that's like. I don't eat it up. I like saying hello to fans. I love having fanship. I love having a fan base. I'm very, like, appreciative, but I don't think she wants any of that stuff. She doesn't like the idea of being, like, involved in a world where she's not involved in. Because she has her career and her. Her love and her passions, and I think that's important and protecting. That's important. You know, I think for. For me, her comfortability changes. So she tells me, if she's like, I'd like to go to that. Well, then we go. But she doesn't. A lot of times it's like, I don't want to be photographed. I don't really don't. You know, I think what's interesting about this to me is when you're not in the business and you're thrown into it by your spouse. It's a little unfair unless you are comfortable with it. But a lot of spouses are like thrown into this, you know, male, female, doesn't matter. It's a lot of people are like, thrust into this. And I don't know how fair it is unless you take into account their feelings about the business or about being publicly perceived because, you know, it's. It's something that people do. You don't know how to prepare for it. Like, I really hate the phrase, you know, oh, you know, you were getting into. Or that's, that's what you get. I hate. I think that's such a crock of shit. It's such a bad line. Like, oh, you know when people abuse a public person verbally online or whatever, or in the press or whatever. And it's like, well, that's what you get. That's what you asked for. It's like, no one asked for that. What I asked for was you to either like or not like my content or my entertainment that I'm giving you. That's all I asked for. I don't need the abuse. I don't need the extra crap. Now people are gonna do it regardless. That's fine. That's your stupid choice. But all I ask is if you like me, come along for the ride. If you don't change the channel, I don't need anything else. Just like anything. There's a couple restaurants right up the street here. There's one I don't eat at anymore because I got sick from it. That's it. I'm just not going to go back. So either come eat with me or leave me alone. That's. To me, that's the business. It's like, go away. What are you doing? So spending time dealing with all that, I think is what made her cognizantly want to stick in her career, in her life and not involve as much in this. But if she changes and says she wants to have more involvement in this, fine.
- [56:20]
Unknown Host
Craven the hunter who uses all the methods of the animals.
- [56:26]
Andrew Santino
Now witness the making of a new Marvel villain. Once you're on his list, there's only one way off.
- [56:31]
Unknown Host
Aaron Taylor Johnson is Craven the Hunter.
- [56:33]
Andrew Santino
Rated R. Under 17, 90 minute without parent.
- [56:36]
Unknown Host
How long have you been married? I ask only because she didn't know what she was signing up for.
- [56:39]
Andrew Santino
That's exactly correct. Yeah.
- [56:41]
Unknown Host
She was marrying someone who wasn't this. Who was it who didn't have this swirl around.
- [56:46]
Andrew Santino
She thought I was Ron Weasley when we first met. She thought I was an actor for. Yeah, I said an actor. She's like, you're on the Har. Potter. I. We've been. We've been married since 2016.
- [56:56]
Unknown Host
All right, so your life has changed substantively since 2016?
- [57:00]
Andrew Santino
My God. Yeah. Could considerably. I mean, life was good. Life has been. I've been very blessed. I've said it too many times, but it's been good. It's been very, very good. I've had a very fun career. You know, it's a roller coaster. I've had higher moments than others. You know, you book a sitcom, you feel great, got a couple bucks in your pocket, Tick com goes away. No one's talking about you. Nobody gives a shit. You book something else. Hey, things are good again. Pretty good. I'm humming along, got a couple good gigs, and you can pull right back down to earth when that gets canceled or moved on or, you know, so I've had a lot of these up and downs and. But it's always been. It's always been fun. Like, I've never. Never once have I felt like, this is it. I'm out of this town. You know, I've just felt like this is the ride that you signed up for, and inevitably, it goes back down. It comes back up, it goes back down. And you just kind of get used to it and not. You don't invest too much emotionally into that. The peaks are cool, but, you know, keep your hands inside the cart.
- [57:57]
Unknown Host
I've got a couple more questions before we get you out of here. I imagine from afar, observationally, you tell me whether I have this right or wrong, that Dave was a show made by a perfectionist, and that Curb youb Enthusiasm is a show made by an imperfectionist. And so I imagine that the process of making those shows, it looked to me that perhaps Curb youb Enthusiasm, the process would be more fun and that Dave might be more fulfilling, but that the process would be really rigorous.
- [58:30]
Andrew Santino
You're perceptive. If nothing else, it's that to a T. Yeah. Curb was. Curb was comedy camp, summer camp. It was like, you know, it felt like that. Like staying up late at night and, like, talking when you're supposed to be sleeping. You know what I mean? Like that. Like, what are we getting into? Like, what do we. What's going on? And Dave felt like a concentration camp. No, I'm kidding. I can't. It was right there. I had to do it. It was so funny. It was right there. I had to pick it up. So. Sorry. Because I went to Camp. No, Dave was very.
- [59:06]
Unknown Host
It required concentration.
- [59:08]
Andrew Santino
It was right there. No, he was just a. Dave was a perfectionist. Is a perfectionist. And Dave, you know, Dave wanted things the way he wanted. It was his name on the box of Wheaties. So inevitably, he was the master of ceremonies. He wanted it to be a certain way, which is why the show was very good at its good points and perhaps why it lacked in other places. Because perfectionism kind of leads to, you know, imperfect products because you get so worried about all the things.
- [59:37]
Unknown Host
Well, you created such a high standard after the first year to continue to meet it.
- [59:41]
Andrew Santino
And I mean, so hard to do. And Dave did a great job. And Jeff Schaefer, who's our beacon, you know, who's also the beacon over at Curb, coincidentally, it's hard when you have a lot of people with a lot of great creative ideas to kind of see in the same. See the same light. And that's no knock on Dave or anybody. The show was really good when it was really good, but truthfully, when it wasn't good, it wasn't that good. I think we. He really wanted to make something perfect. And that's a hard thing to do. And so, you know, with Curb, yes, Larry is a free flowing genius. Now, look, I only did one. I don't know what it's like to work with him all the time. But I will say the short little glimmer of fun that I got to have with that guy was one of the best moments of my career. I mean, making Larry laughed, forget about it. Unbelievable. Two people I've made break or laugh that like, made me feel like a child again was Larry David and Julia Louis Dreyfus. I never even got to work with her. I just auditioned 10 times for Veep and they never booked me, by the way, but I made her laugh in the room. And that's etched into my brain. She was dying laughing, and I was like, oh, yeah.
- [60:48]
Unknown Host
I mean, those are people who. You're making. The people who are hard to make laugh. You're making them laugh like people who have known a lot of laughter. And the most talented people in this.
- [60:57]
Andrew Santino
Business, by far, both comedic geniuses. I think Julia's like one of the most brilliant comedic and just like talented minds I've ever seen. The way she does serious roles is just as good as the way she does comedy roles. So the exact same to me. She's that good. So making them laugh, it's this. A little bit of this, huh? A little bit of sauce.
- [61:16]
Unknown Host
I will promote what you've got going on. It's the Freeze Peach tour. It's all over the United States. It's selling out all over the United States. Also, andrewsantino.com is where you want to go. The podcasts are Bobby. I'm sorry, Bad Friends with Bobby Lee, and Whiskey Ginger. The last question I have for you. The opposite of love. Deep, deep hatred. Why is it on site that anytime you see Adam Ray, you will begin fighting with him in the street?
- [61:42]
Andrew Santino
This is good. You know, my beef with Adam Ray, really, it goes back a long, long way. And I can tell you exactly the moment that I started to really get really ticked off by Adam Ray is we took a car down to Angel Stadium to go watch a baseball game with our good friend Brad Williams, who I know you know, I'm sure you guys may have served time together.
- [62:05]
Unknown Host
What a grift that guy's got going.
- [62:07]
Andrew Santino
Unbelievable. Me and Adam and I were in the car, and Adam handed me a little bit of THC liquid tincture, as it were. And Adam and I like to dabble. And he said, take a little bit. And I said, how much? He said, a drop. I said, the dropper? Yeah, the dropper. The eye drop.
- [62:31]
Unknown Host
Sure, a drop.
- [62:32]
Andrew Santino
I took a whole dropper. The whole entire eyedropper. He meant one little single drop. And I've never. I've never felt so uncomfortable in my entire life. Every room turned into an escape room. It was extremely. Vulnerable is a good word. And then he made me go see Sully while I was ripped. Like, I don't want a plane crash movie before we go to a baseball game. So that's why Adam Ray, I got beef. You get me too baked. And you take me to a scary movie before a baseball game, and I'll fight Adam Ray anytime I see him. And you know that it's on site. Adam, step up. Step up, pal. Okay?
- [63:13]
Unknown Host
People have seen it every time you see him.
- [63:15]
Andrew Santino
Oh, I'm just gonna keep going.
- [63:16]
Unknown Host
It's weird that you just fight in public at all times.
- [63:19]
Andrew Santino
That's why he's doing that Dr. Phil thing. He's trying to hide from me. You can't hide from me, Adam Ray.
- [63:23]
Unknown Host
What else you want me to tell the people? Freeze Peach.
- [63:26]
Andrew Santino
The Freeze Peach tour is going on right now. I've got 20 cities left before Bobby Lee and I go to Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, which is crazy because we stopped our tour, but we owed these dates. And I said, we got to go down under because those Danonda fans, they like us. So we got to go Australia New Zealand, Singapore, and then all through until February. I do about 20 some odd cities to finish up and then. And then at some point get around to recording the hour for Hulu. It's going to be on Hu Loo, which I'm excited about. My first, my first shot at an hour with Hulu.
- [64:02]
Unknown Host
I've seen you say that you didn't love cheeseburger that you. You're self.
- [64:07]
Andrew Santino
I don't like anything I've ever done. I mean, I don't really like. It's hard for me to like fall in love with stuff that I've done because I. Once I do, doing it is the best. And then once you're done with it, I'm like, get that out of here. I don't know. You know, it's done. And so when you say it's the.
- [64:21]
Unknown Host
Best, that's what, that's the thing you.
- [64:23]
Andrew Santino
Love the most, doing it, physically doing it. Stand up live. Stand up. There is an. It's unbeatable. Unbeatable. My buddy Dan Soder and I talked about that one time about how when someone says, like, no, I liked you on this podcast, or I liked I saw you live, it was great. But I didn't like the taped or recorded version of whatever you've done. And Soder said, yeah, because they're getting it right from the source before, right? You're drinking out of the tap. How good does it feel sucking out of the hose as a kid when you're sweating from playing backyard ball? That's going to be way better than the bottle you got at the convenience store. It just is. You're getting away from the source. So it's a criticism that we'll always get as comedians that do these different mediums now. But I like doing it. But then when it's done, I just. It's hard for me to see it. I don't like watching me and I don't like. I don't like any of that stuff. So it's hard for. I don't know, it's always been that way. But I like, I love live. Live is like it. But so hopefully this new special that I've got, maybe this one I'll. Maybe this one I'll turn around and really enjoy.
- [65:18]
Unknown Host
Only 20 dates left here.
- [65:19]
Andrew Santino
That's right.
- [65:19]
Unknown Host
Freeze Peach Tour. If you want to see him live in his natural environment, that's right where I'm the best. Really enjoyed this. Thank you.
- [65:26]
Andrew Santino
Me too.
- [65:37]
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