330: Jeff Dye Quit Drinking After THIS Wild DUI Story

Summary

Podcast Summary: The HoneyDew with Ryan Sickler | Episode 330: Jeff Dye Quit Drinking After THIS Wild DUI Story

Introduction

In Episode 330 of The HoneyDew with Ryan Sickler, comedian Jeff Dye shares his harrowing journey from heavy drinking to embracing sobriety following a life-altering DUI incident. Hosted by Ryan Sickler, this episode delves deep into Jeff's struggles with alcohol, the consequences of his actions, and the transformative path that led him to quit drinking forever.

Jeff Dye’s Struggle with Alcohol

Jeff Dye candidly discusses his long-term battle with alcohol, emphasizing that his relationship with drinking was not about dependency but rather a chosen lifestyle. He describes himself as a "high-functioning alcoholic," noting, “[05:38] Jeff Dye: Alcohol, I was a high function. But here’s my argument… it's better. My life is better without alcohol.”

Despite not identifying strictly as an alcoholic, Jeff acknowledges that his excessive drinking was a way to numb deeper emotional pain, particularly stemming from the tragic loss of his sister in a car accident in 2015. This unresolved grief manifested in his behavior, affecting his relationships and personal well-being.

The DUI Incident

The pivotal moment in Jeff's life occurred during a night of heavy drinking combined with the use of pills to stay awake. On [19:39], Jeff recounts, “I was trying to have a date, so I was speeding to get to like where I was going. And I didn’t consider that I might be up…I lost control of my car, skid across, and hit a tree.”

Jeff’s accident was both severe and embarrassing. He describes fleeing the scene on foot, only to be quickly apprehended due to widespread surveillance and witnesses. “[21:07] Jeff Dye: I was terrible. Another part of it too.” The ensuing arrest led to a night in jail without immediate access to his manager, compounding his fear and humiliation.

Aftermath of the DUI

Following the crash, Jeff faced the legal repercussions of his actions. He shares the financial and legal burdens, including hefty fines and mandatory participation in DUI programs. “[41:06] Jeff Dye: I have to do like a DUI program that costs money.” Additionally, he discusses the personal toll, such as losing his driving privileges for over a year and grappling with the stigma of his actions.

The experience served as a wake-up call for Jeff, highlighting the dangers and consequences of his lifestyle. The fear of losing freedom and the shame associated with the incident motivated him to reassess his relationship with alcohol.

Path to Sobriety

Jeff's decision to quit drinking was not instantaneous but rather a gradual realization sparked by his DUI experience. “[43:10] Jeff Dye: I was drinking the week of, like, after I got out, I was drinking.” However, the clarity he gained post-arrest was transformative. He realized that he could maintain his social life and comedic career without alcohol. “[44:17] Jeff Dye: But once I learned like I don’t need alcohol to do all those things, then I don’t need the alcohol because that’s all it was for me.”

Jeff also touches upon the role of substances like mushrooms in his journey, attributing them a form of "eating therapy" that helped him confront his unresolved emotions without relying on alcohol as a crutch.

Life After Quitting Drinking

Embracing sobriety has significantly improved Jeff Dye’s life in multiple dimensions:

• Physical Health: Jeff notes enhanced skin health, increased energy levels, and overall better physical well-being. “[43:34] Jeff Dye: I work out single day. I do a lot of yoga.”

• Mental Clarity: Without the fog of alcohol, Jeff experiences greater mental clarity and emotional stability. He describes himself as more direct and less irritable, leading to healthier relationships and personal growth.

• Personal Relationships: Sobriety has allowed Jeff to form more genuine connections without the interference of alcohol. He states, “[45:27] Jeff Dye: And I am happy to be rid of it because I can still do all the positive things that I was doing when I was drinking without the alcohol.”

Jeff also highlights redefining social interactions, such as enjoying non-alcoholic beverages and engaging in activities like yoga, which replaced his previous dependency on drinking for socialization and relaxation.

Conclusion

Episode 330 of The HoneyDew with Ryan Sickler offers a raw and honest portrayal of Jeff Dye’s tumultuous journey with alcohol and his subsequent triumph over it. Jeff’s story serves as a powerful testament to the possibility of change and the profound impact that a single event can have on one’s life trajectory. His candidness and humor provide both inspiration and relatability for listeners facing similar struggles.

Notable Quotes

• “[05:38] Jeff Dye: Alcohol, I was a high function. But here’s my argument… it's better. My life is better without alcohol.”
• “[19:39] Jeff Dye: I was trying to have a date, so I was speeding to get to like where I was going. And I didn’t consider that I might be up…I lost control of my car, skid across, and hit a tree.”
• “[43:10] Jeff Dye: I was drinking the week of, like, after I got out, I was drinking.”
• “[44:17] Jeff Dye: But once I learned like I don’t need alcohol to do all those things, then I don’t need the alcohol because that’s all it was for me.”
• “[45:27] Jeff Dye: And I am happy to be rid of it because I can still do all the positive things that I was doing when I was drinking without the alcohol.”

Final Thoughts

Jeff Dye’s episode is a compelling mix of humor and vulnerability, illustrating the darker sides of a comedian’s life while offering hope and encouragement for those battling similar demons. Ryan Sickler expertly navigates the conversation, allowing Jeff to unpack his experiences in a way that is both engaging and enlightening for the audience.

Transcript

[Ryan Sickler]

Hacks is back for season four and so is the official Hacks podcast. In each episode, hosts Bobby Finger and Lindsey Weber will speak with the creators, cast and crew members to unpack the Emmy winning comedy series, hear stories from the set, get a peek into the writers room and break down the complicated dynamic between Deborah and Ava. You know I love hacks. We've had Lunel on the show and she is absolutely one of the most funny guests that we've had on and she is on Hacks. I've been watching it. I love supporting her. It's a great funny show. The new season follows Deborah Vance making a move from her Vegas residency to Hollywood showbiz. Tensions rise as Deborah and Ava try to get their late night show off the ground and make history while doing it. I'm a big Max fan. I watch almost everything they put out. I'm deep into White Lotus right now. I love White Lotus. This new season's been fantastic and if you're looking for any more shows to watch, I promise you Hacks is one of them. You can go back and binge, watch and enjoy yourself. Watch Hacks streaming exclusively on Max and listen to the official Hacks podcast on Max or wherever you get your podcasts. Step into the world of power, loyalty and luck.

[Jeff Dye]

I'm gonna make him an offer he.

[Ryan Sickler]

Can'T refuse with family. Cannolis and spins mean everything.

[Jeff Dye]

Now want to get mixed up in the family business?

[Ryan Sickler]

Introducing the [e-mail] test your luck in the shadowy world of the Godfather slot.

[Jeff Dye]

Someday I will call upon you to do a service for me.

[Ryan Sickler]

Play the Godfather [e-mail].

[Jeff Dye]

Welcome to the family. No purchase necessary VGW Group void where prohibited by law 21 + terms and conditions apply.

[Ryan Sickler]

The Honeydew with Ryan Sickler. Welcome back to the Honeydew, y'all. We're over here doing it in the Night Pants studios. I'm Ryan Sickler. I want to say thank you for supporting not only this show, but anything I do. I don't care what it is telling someone about the show, a shirt, I don't care. Come see me live if I'm in your town when you're around. Tickets are on my [e-mail] if you gotta have more of this, then you gotta check out the Patreon. It's called the Honeydew with y'all. It's this show with y'all and no one has stories like y'all. Nobody. It's five bucks a month. All Right, that's it. And we have a new tier where we have bonus content now. And you're getting the way back a day early. Ad free. All of it's sensor free because you know what YouTube does out there and that's the biz, man. You guys know what we're doing here? We're highlighting the lowlights. And I always say these are the stories behind the storytellers. I am very excited to have this guest on today. Back on the honeydew. Jeff Dye, everybody. Welcome back.

[Jeff Dye]

Thanks for having me. Love what you've done with the joint.

[Ryan Sickler]

Thank you, man.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah, it looks great.

[Ryan Sickler]

It's your first time here.

[Jeff Dye]

Green and black, baby.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah. You like it?

[Jeff Dye]

I like the branding.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah. Thank you.

[Jeff Dye]

More of a black and orange type of fellow, but I like the green.

[Ryan Sickler]

Why black and orange Orioles.

[Jeff Dye]

I think of Oreos when I think of it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay, you're a Seattle guy, so maybe you like that lime green.

[Jeff Dye]

I do love it. No, it looks good. But I think of you as orange and black.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah, we're orange and black. And purple and black.

[Jeff Dye]

Oh, yeah. And purple, black.

[Ryan Sickler]

Before we jump into what we're going to talk about, promote whatever you'd like, please.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah, go to jeffdot.com I'm literally coming to every city in the world. I'm literally. My all I care about is stand up comedy and. And I'm doing a lot of it. So go to jeff.com to find tickets, figure out when I'm in your town and that. That's it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, I wanted to say we've been talking a little bit before the show starts, and I bumped into you at a Laker game last year. I want to say it was. Had to be last year. Right. Maybe a little over.

[Jeff Dye]

I don't know when. Bad times.

[Ryan Sickler]

But you had gotten into an accident, drinking and driving.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah. And.

[Ryan Sickler]

But when I saw you, you had been clean and sober and how long you've been clean and sober now.

[Jeff Dye]

I've been sober for 15 months and 16 days.

[Ryan Sickler]

Hell yeah. Congrats.

[Jeff Dye]

I just checked that. That's how I know.

[Ryan Sickler]

And is that sober off of everything?

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah. I mean, I.

[Ryan Sickler]

You weren't a weed smoker before?

[Jeff Dye]

I never was. You never got into weed? The weed is. It's. It's always mind boggling that people are so into it to me. I've tried every strand. You know, everyone's so optimistic. Oh, you got to just try this or try that. I tried them all and I don't like it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Jeff Dye]

So that was never tempting, but yeah, I Don't do nothing no more.

[Ryan Sickler]

So where, let's go back to the beginning. When, I mean, would you say. Because this is where I, I wonder about how people drink sometimes. And, and I have a thera. I had a therapist years ago, she was a different lady that told me that she believed an alcoholic was. Even if you just were a golfed on Saturday and drank beers on Saturday, but you do it every Saturday, you're an alcoholic. And I was like, I understand that you have a medical or professional definition of that, but we do not agree on that at all.

[Jeff Dye]

I don't agree with her either.

[Ryan Sickler]

So I also do. Were you an alcoholic or are you.

[Jeff Dye]

I don't even know. I think some people would consider me an alcoholic. I don't consider myself an alcoholic. I, I, I drank from morning to night. I drank from morning tonight.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Jeff Dye]

But I, like, felt fine. It wasn't affecting my work. It wasn't affecting, you know, like, I felt like I was fine.

[Ryan Sickler]

When they tell you you're a functioning.

[Jeff Dye]

Alcohol, I was a high function. But here's my argument.

[Ryan Sickler]

Functioning.

[Jeff Dye]

Right.

[Ryan Sickler]

Right. There's a difference.

[Jeff Dye]

If you're high functioning, wouldn't that kind of mean you're not an alcoholic? If you're high functioning, everything's functioning in your life.

[Ryan Sickler]

I would say if you can remove the alcohol and still high function, then I would say, yeah, yeah, I was. So, yeah, if you can still get the same results by removing the alcohol, then I would say, yes.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah. But do you see a difference? I see difference in other ways. Yeah, for sure.

[Ryan Sickler]

We'll get to that.

[Jeff Dye]

It's better. My life is better without alcohol, but I just don't ever want to make the alcohol like some scapegoat, you know, like it was all alcohol's fault. It's like, no, I was using alcohol to, like, not get to the root of some things and to numb some things and to have looser behavior with women and get attention in different ways. It's like I was using the alcohol for all my. The truth is I had a bunch of bullshit I needed to get to the bottom of.

[Ryan Sickler]

Let's get the bottom now.

[Jeff Dye]

So that, so that's all that was, if that makes sense.

[Ryan Sickler]

What were you drinking yourself away from?

[Jeff Dye]

Well, I, I lost a sister in a car accident in 2015 who was kind of like a mom figure. She was the best. And so I think I never really dealt with that. Really?

[Ryan Sickler]

How did you at the time deal with it? You know what I mean?

[Jeff Dye]

And make jokes and like, I never really kind of Got to the root of those thoughts or my feelings or my relationship with her.

[Ryan Sickler]

And what made you realize that that might be something that you were. Was it just start popping up on your mind or what was it that made you be like, I think this is a big part of what I'm dealing with.

[Jeff Dye]

I don't understand.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm saying, when do you realize I'm not. I haven't dealt with my sisters.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah, well, when you get sober, you start going, I was also. Mushrooms. I was doing a ton of mushrooms during.

[Ryan Sickler]

I hear it helps.

[Jeff Dye]

I love mushrooms. That's like. That's. That's. Here's I will say, too. I don't want to. I also don't want to make the mushrooms the hero either. I don't ever want to glamorize or villainize substance abuse. But here's the thing. Mushrooms makes you go in. It's like eating therapy. You just kind of go, oh, here's some stuff I. I put way back there that I wasn't dealing with at all. And the mushrooms really help to kind of, like, connect all those things. Now, you know, you can get to the mind state that mushrooms gets you in with, like, meditation and, like, working on yourself and, like, journaling. And the problem is not. The problem is mushrooms is a great leapfrog to that. You can just get right to that state. You don't need to meditate. You just eat some, and then now you're there. So that's why people like hallucinogenics and psilocybin and stuff is because you can just kind of jump right to it. I believe that you could probably get to those places in a healthier way than poison yourself with some mushrooms. Yeah. But, yeah, mushrooms was healthy for me or, like, really, really good for me mentally. And then the alcohol was like, yeah, I was just numbing everything, you know, and having a good time.

[Ryan Sickler]

What else?

[Jeff Dye]

Really liked alcohol.

[Ryan Sickler]

What else is everything? Your sister passing away.

[Jeff Dye]

My sister passing away was a big one that I just, like, never really dealt with it the way I treated women. The way, like, I, like, I treated women like postmates, you know, like, it just like, I want to have sex, and I'll bring one of these over and just have sex and hang out for a night and then ignore them when they want to, like, actually, you know, escalate the relationship or get to know me better, you know, push them away after I kind of got what I wanted out of the thing. Use them for attention that way. Oh, I need some attention. This for. I'm feeling like, you know, lonely this week, so I'll just make a makeshift kind of girlfriend for five days and then not do, you know. So I was doing a lot of that and the alcohol was kind of like, I'm party guy, I'm just drink guy. And so, you know, I was. I was just behaving in ways that if I was honest with myself, I wasn't proud of. And the alcohol helped me do that, you know, and be like, who cares? We're just drinking, we're having fun. Oh my God. Why do you need to talk about what we are? Who cares? You know, like just things like that. And so alcohol keeps you in this kind of fog, especially when you're drinking as much as I was. But the biggest revelation for me, I think, was I didn't really care about the drinking. The drinking wasn't the drinking. The drinking was like a connection to girls or a connection to like maybe me and you going, hey, I want to get some beers. I like the idea that I could go, yeah. And then once I learned that I don't need alcohol to connect with people, they'll still be my coffee instead of. Or we could just hang out, we could go to a bar. We don't have to do the drinking. We can just be together. And once I learned that I could have that with people without the booze, then I was so happy to get rid of the booze.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Jeff Dye]

Because it's just aging me terribly and making me sleep in all day off. Aging in my insides. My liver.

[Ryan Sickler]

You're not lying about that.

[Jeff Dye]

Or like just waking up at 3pm you're like. And then people be like, you just woke up. If I slept in that long, I'd feel like a piece of shit. You're like, I feel like a piece of shit. Yeah. I'm not happy about sleeping in this long. And most guys my age, they have a child that they go, hey, I got a grow up. Now I gotta, you know, get up at this time to take her to school or do whatever you a dad does or a mom and. And I don't. Whatever. Yeah, whatever the hell you guys do, you know, I didn't have anything making me have to grow up. I was just in Peter Pan mode. So like, why not drink and sleep until 3?

[Ryan Sickler]

Penis pan mode. But why was that?

[Jeff Dye]

Like, why, why grow up? So I had to grow up.

[Ryan Sickler]

But why?

[Jeff Dye]

Why grow up?

[Ryan Sickler]

No, what happens to you where you're like, I gotta get clean and sober?

[Jeff Dye]

Well, I did crash my car.

[Ryan Sickler]

And then were you having Health issues. Before that, you said your insides. Were you going to doctors and getting checked out?

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah, they were terrible doctors.

[Ryan Sickler]

Why? Because they told you?

[Jeff Dye]

I swear to God, you're like, I can't. I know. I couldn't believe it. I had, like a. I had, like, this pain in my, like, back. And I was like, oh, that's probably where a liver is. I don't know. I've never looked at where body parts.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's what. I'm severely dead.

[Jeff Dye]

This might be a kidney or something. I don't know. Let's take it. And then I go in and the guy's like, you're in fantastic health. And I was like, well, it hurts. He goes, it's probably a muscle or, like a nerve or something, but your actual organs are fine.

[Ryan Sickler]

You're not 20.

[Jeff Dye]

And I was like, huh? And I was like, so I'm all right. I wanted him to give me, like, whoa, if you keep this up, you know?

[Ryan Sickler]

But he didn't.

[Jeff Dye]

Nobody gave me that speech. So I just like, all right. I just kept drinking. I always say that I'm like the Cal Ripkin of alcohol. It was just like, I kept that streak going, dude. Like, every day I'd be like, I'm not drinking tonight. And then by like 7pm I'd be at a comedy club, someone bring me a whiskey. And then as it's on, you know. Yeah, yeah, drink. It's fun. I really like drinking and I. I never push my sobriety shit on anybody, but my life has been significantly better without it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, see, the thing, I have a friend of mine that likes to drink when we get together. I smoke weed. He drinks nice. And I know that around 8pm, 9pm that the old fashions are going to make him pass out on the fucking couch for sure. And regardless if we have an earthquake or a fire or whatever, he can't.

[Jeff Dye]

Get the fuck up.

[Ryan Sickler]

He can't parent, he can't supervise. He can't get the fuck up. If I'm just smoking weed, adrenaline's like, we got a fire. It's like the high is gone. And I'm like, kids, come on. I'm not incapacitated, dragging myself off the ground or being like, what's happening? Or not being able to remember blackout or anything. So I. I look at that.

[Jeff Dye]

So you think weed is Superior to alcohol?

[Ryan Sickler]

100, superior to alcohol, and always. I mean. But I'm also saying, for me at least, yeah, I'm sure there are alcoholics out there. I know. I've seen these guys on the street. I'm like, how you doing that? Yeah, how you doing that? It was parent. You know why?

[Jeff Dye]

You could do, like, a fucking late show. I don't remember a single thing about it. Everyone's like, that was great. I remember anything.

[Ryan Sickler]

I remember all of mine, you know, But I. What I had seen watching, just doing comedy to watching. All of a sudden, I was like, oh, man, this is before Uber and stuff. Because we go back away, I'm seeing Joe Blow and Jane DOE are getting DUIs. I'm like, oh, fuck. I'm sitting here drinking three, four beers, and I know I'm fine. I know I am. I have my tolerance. But I also know if I go home and a kid runs out or a car and I smell, it's. I'm done. I watch people paying $10,000 and not having a license for a year and take public trans in AA class, bro.

[Jeff Dye]

I should have 500 DUIs.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's what they always say. By the time you get caught, I've.

[Jeff Dye]

Drank, I've driven over the limit thousand times. I can't even tell you how many times. So that alone is a good reason to get clean. Because I go, oh, man, I had, like, two whiskeys. Who gives a. And then I get in my car.

[Ryan Sickler]

But there was nothing. I'm saying, prior to the accident where you were even thinking to yourself, I gotta stop this.

[Jeff Dye]

I didn't want to drink for years before that. But it's just part of our life. It's part of our lifestyle. It's part of my habits, you know? Like, I remember talking to this. This woman named Violet. We were, like, in bed, and I was like, man, I don't want to drink today. And she was like, then just don't drink. I was like, we're going golfing. I'm going with the guys. Like, you know. And then she's like. She couldn't get her mind right. She's like, then just don't. And I go, it's not how it works. I can't just tell them I'm not drinking today. Like, it's this love fest with, like, alcohol. And, like, you know, oh, come on, have one. Or like, I. I would tell guys.

[Ryan Sickler]

Look at you like you're Debbie Downer if you don't. Because then they start questioning themselves.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Also, like, do I need to write that you start doubting?

[Jeff Dye]

Or, like, they'll bring me one. They'll be like, I know you're not drinking. I have one. And then I'm like, all right. Because it wasn't Like, I had made the. I'm not drinking anymore. It was just me being like, I'm not gonna drink today or something. And then that wasn't taken seriously by everyone. So, yeah, there was so many times that I was just like, I just wish I didn't have to do this. And so now it's great. All my friends, like, respect it and they're not pushing it on me.

[Ryan Sickler]

And if I can ask you when you go, when you drink, because I've had a lot of people on this show tell me, like, look, I'm. I drink and I can't stop it.

[Jeff Dye]

1.

[Ryan Sickler]

Or like, I can have half a beer and leave it on the table. And they're like, I can't do that. And a lot of them are, if I'm having one, I'm having 12. And there's no. No lie about, like, not even an exaggeration. I'm like, oh, it's like that, you know?

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah. I don't really know.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is that what you did every night? Every night?

[Jeff Dye]

Almost every night.

[Ryan Sickler]

Seven nights a week. You're doing that to.

[Jeff Dye]

Your body was high. And then also, like, you're doing it seven nights a week. So it's like, then that.

[Ryan Sickler]

And doctors are like, make you look good.

[Jeff Dye]

And it was crazy. Yeah. I mean, like, I'm eating worst doctors, for sure. One time I had, like, a. I would definitely change in, like, 2010. I had, like, an std. And I. And my. My actual doctor was like a bro about it. I was like, it was chlamydia. And so he was like, are you take these pills? You don't have sex? It's very responsible if you have sex with someone when you have this, like, it's gonna take a few weeks. Let the antibiotics run its course. He goes, also, you could just ignore it and it'll go away. And I go, what? Like, what do you mean, ignore it? He goes, if you don't want to take those. And you just. Just don't have sex because it's irresponsible. But, like, if you just wait it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Out, the body will cleanse it out.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah. I was like, you shouldn't be telling me that as a physician. Like, they could just ignore it. Yeah. It's just kind of.

[Ryan Sickler]

What's the time frame while taking the pills to not taking?

[Jeff Dye]

I have no idea. I didn't take it serious. I just took the pills.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Jeff Dye]

Like, this guy's an idiot. But, like, what a weird thing for a physician to tell me.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah. There's a lot of I always say, you know what they call the guy finished last place in medical school? Doctor.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah, fast. Yeah, for sure. That's a doctor all. Where'd you get your license? Just ignore it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Where are the certificates in this office?

[Jeff Dye]

Ridiculous.

[Ryan Sickler]

There's nothing professional in here. Yeah, you're right though. Our life. Kirsten will tell you. Kirsten will come on the road and work with me and sell merch and stuff like that. We get to the club a little early. Sometimes it'd be 3 o'clock, just go check in. Hello, ask where, how we do everything. Just get it out of the way and they'll be. You want to drink? Hacks is back for season four and so is the official Hacks podcast. In each episode, host Bobby Finger and Lindsay Weber will speak with the creators, cast and crew members to unpack the Emmy winning comedy series, hear stories from the set, get a peek into the writers room, and break down the complicated dynamic between Deborah and Ava. You know, I love hacks. We've had Lunel on the show and she is absolutely one of the most funny guests we've had on and she is on Hacks I've been watching and I love supporting her. It's a great funny show. The new season follows Deborah Vance making a move from her Vegas residency to Hollywood showbiz. Tensions rise as Deborah and Ava try to get their late night show off the ground and make history while doing it. I'm a big Max fan. I watch almost everything they put out. I'm deep into White Lotus right now. I love White Lotus. This new season's been fantastic and if you're looking for any more shows to watch, I promise you Hacks is one of them. You can go back and binge, watch and enjoy yourself. Watch Hacks streaming exclusively on Max and listen to the official Hacks podcast on Max or wherever you get your podcasts. Step into the world of power, loyalty, and luck. I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse. With family. Cannolis and spins mean everything.

[Jeff Dye]

Now you want to get mixed up in the family business?

[Ryan Sickler]

Introducing the [e-mail] test your luck in the shadowy world of the Godfather slots.

[Jeff Dye]

Someday I will call upon you to do a service for me.

[Ryan Sickler]

Play the godfather [e-mail] welcome to the family.

[Jeff Dye]

No purchase necessary vgw group void. We're prohibited by law 21 + terms and conditions apply.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm like, nah. I mean, I got, we got two shows and I like, you don't want to start Drinking now I'm like, no. And then they would tell me, I'm like, is that common? Like oh yeah, dude, we got guys will sit in here at 3:00 and just pound them before their show.

[Jeff Dye]

And at that place. Yeah, back. Because I'm like, it's free there and it's kind of like a bar. And also I associate drinking with the hang. So I'm like with younger comics. And then, you know, it's just kind of. It's a thing to do. It was the connection. Like that's what I was obsessed with. Which is great, cuz now you can still go there at 3 and hang with younger comics if you want and chill. You don't have to like do the drinking part of it. But I liked that part of it. Like I thought that that was like what was bringing us all together. But the truth is people will just hang with you.

[Ryan Sickler]

Anyways, so what happened with the accident? Was this a night after a show? Like you're saying?

[Jeff Dye]

No, it was. I went to bed at night at like 2 or 1:30, I can't remember what it was late. I had a bunch of friends at my house and we were all partying and then I was like, I got to get up early, so I went to bed. Well, when I woke up, it had been, you know, I don't know, eight hours. I'm going to guess of sleep, but I'm speeding to get to like where I'm going. And I'm flying but. And I don't drive fast.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm still fucked up.

[Jeff Dye]

I feel fine. I've driven like that a million times, especially the next morning. So in my mind I'm like, whatever. So. And I didn't, I genuinely didn't even consider that I might be up. I'm just trying to get to where I'm going. I lose control of my car, skid across this thing, hit a tree. And then that's when I started thinking about it. Once I was like, I hit the.

[Ryan Sickler]

Tree when you hit the tree.

[Jeff Dye]

But not out of the alcohol. What I started thinking about was like, cops are gonna go, how'd you crash? And then I was like, I was drinking last night. You hear all those stories about people who are like, oh, the next morning.

[Ryan Sickler]

I mean also I feel like 0.08 is one beer easy.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah, yeah. It's such a small percentage of, you know. So I was like, oh, now, oh now I'm gonna get the thing. Like I. And all these thoughts, everything I just said out loud, that took. I don't know, 30 seconds. I thought that in a tenth of a second, like, so then I was like, ah. And I just ran. Just like split on foot? Yeah, yeah, I just ran. So dumb. Oh, guess what?

[Ryan Sickler]

License plate on the car and everything. It was properly registered, I'm sure. Sure.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah. There was somewhere between 100 and 500 witnesses. Like, just everyone saw it. Morning.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is this.

[Jeff Dye]

It was like, me. I'm terrible. Another part of it too. That's kind of funny.

[Ryan Sickler]

What time is this?

[Jeff Dye]

Like 9am that's early.

[Ryan Sickler]

As on a weekday.

[Jeff Dye]

On a Sunday morning. Yeah, everyone's jogging like it's a main street. And the other thing too, that, like, I've never told anybody. It's like, I drive. I was. I crashed a Tesla. So it's like, good luck wiggling out of this, Jeff.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, yeah.

[Jeff Dye]

I'm literally like, there's like a seven camera shoot of me going, oh, I'm drunk. Oh, God, what if they catch me? Like, like the. In court? It would just be, I gotta run, you know, like, I'm meeting my ex, I'm in love with her. Like, I'm just like, I couldn't have. It couldn't have been more obvious. What? That, that, like, that, like, it was me. And like, there was a. You know, there's just. No, I'm like, yeah, I'm pretty sure it was me. You know, like, if the footage came.

[Ryan Sickler]

Out and so you run on foot. Where. Where do you go? I know your coffee shop. What?

[Jeff Dye]

It's about a mile away, maybe.

[Ryan Sickler]

How fast you think you ran that by?

[Jeff Dye]

Well, faster than any time in my life ever.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'll bet.

[Jeff Dye]

And what are you. Adrenaline. What are you wearing? Oh, that was a terrible thing too. Now whenever I still have the shorts I was wearing when I got arrested and because I had to sit in jail with them. And so now when I see those shorts, I'm always like, these are the. The shorts, you know, they're yellow, bright yellow. San Diego Padres. Like MLB shorts, a gray hoodie. And then like just like a baseball hat. Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

And what shoes did you have? At least some sneakers on.

[Jeff Dye]

Something I remember.

[Ryan Sickler]

And you run to a coffee.

[Jeff Dye]

Run to a coffee.

[Ryan Sickler]

You have your wallet and with you.

[Jeff Dye]

No, I got nothing. Nothing like an idiot. But it's all adrenaline. Sure. Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

And also, you're not thinking clearly.

[Jeff Dye]

Also wearing my Apple watch. Right. That's buzzing. You know what I'm saying?

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, yeah, with the accident. But you think getting away from this at all. Dumb.

[Jeff Dye]

Dumb. Left his phone in the car.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah, I was about to ask you because everything shook.

[Jeff Dye]

You know, they're over these days between the Tesla and the Apple dude. The cops were just like, I think he's over here. They found me so fast. They also came in like I was El Chapo or something. Like, take it easy, lapd.

[Ryan Sickler]

Wait, they knew where you. Right where you were? Yeah, because everyone's like, he's right there.

[Jeff Dye]

And also, like, they have my phone. So they're literally like, you drive here? And I'm the worst, like, liar. And I'm still like all like, rattled. And like, I'm trying to make.

[Ryan Sickler]

It's a pub.

[Jeff Dye]

What?

[Ryan Sickler]

Coffee?

[Jeff Dye]

Like a little boy. The coffee commissary in Burbank.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is it crowded?

[Jeff Dye]

Oh, yeah. And also, all the baristas know me. All the baristas know me.

[Ryan Sickler]

This is a common place. You go?

[Jeff Dye]

I go every morning. So like all the customers in there, if they don't know me personally, they at least go, we see that guy in here all the time. So they at least have that, like, oh, we see him. The baristas all know me by name and whatever. And. And then my ex. It's not my ex. A girl like I hung out with was who I was meeting. So she was there and I.

[Ryan Sickler]

She's waiting for you.

[Jeff Dye]

She was waiting. And that's why I was speeding, because I was late. And so the thing is like, also, I was like, I'm so. I was like so smitten over her like that I was like, I have to get to this date, you know, Date. Or like. Because I'm like, maybe that'll make us get back together or something. So now I'm embarrassed to tell her just happened. Also, the coffee shop doesn't know what's happening. All the people in the coffee shop think this is just two people getting coffee. And then the cops come in. I'm like, well, one initially. And he was like, do you drive here? I turn, I go, huh? Like it was like Tim Robinson sketch or something like, huh. Just kind of like, I didn't even know how to like, lie.

[Ryan Sickler]

Came right up.

[Jeff Dye]

And then he like, peeks around cuz I've turned my shoulder. He goes, did you two ride together? And then she's like, no. I was like, trust me, is. She's like, what is. Like she couldn't figure out what's happening. And then I just turned him. I go, can we go outside? And he's like, yeah. And so then we go outside and I'm just trying to get him to move it down the road. Because everyone in the coffee shop's looking. Yeah, of course she's looking. Everyone's trying to figure out what the happening. And I'm just trying to get him to move it down the street. And he's like, whoa, man, don't. And I'm like, this isn't. I'm not gonna fight you. I just want to not be in the view of everything. And then they put me in a cruiser, took me somewhere else.

[Ryan Sickler]

You admitted it. Finally.

[Jeff Dye]

There I was. I was not admitting anything.

[Ryan Sickler]

Did they read you your rights?

[Jeff Dye]

Well, what happened was we got into a little bit of a scrape down the road.

[Ryan Sickler]

What do you mean?

[Jeff Dye]

So they. I was already humiliated. Right.

[Ryan Sickler]

Did you get your coffee?

[Jeff Dye]

I didn't get my coffee. Listen to this. So they put me in the cruiser. My dumb. The. The girl that I dated for a second was like, what is going on out here? And I was like, just. I'll tell you later. Like, I'm, like, humiliated. I'm coughing in the back of, like, a thing. And then she's like, you know, she thinks, you know, it's more interesting than it is. You know, like. And I'm just like, I'll tell you later. So then she leaves, and I'm telling these guys, like, good work. You know, I was trying to avoid that, and now you ruined it. And they're like, they drove me to a different area to do all the tests, but when they took me to the different area, I'm like, I'm fine. Like. Like, I'm. I just crashed my car. I felt like I'm passing the test, which also, I think that's what everyone drunk thinks. I don't know. I'd still love to know if I was passing those tests.

[Ryan Sickler]

Also, want to ask you, at this point, do you even consider possibly. Are you concussed? Are you up also?

[Jeff Dye]

No, no, it's fine.

[Ryan Sickler]

You were.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah, easy.

[Ryan Sickler]

Airbags go off, all that.

[Jeff Dye]

Pretty big crash.

[Ryan Sickler]

So you let me just go back there for a second. How did you hit it? You just lose control and slide off the road?

[Jeff Dye]

Or was it speeding too fast up the on ramp. Up the ramp. There's like a off ramp of the freeway that when I tried to hit the brakes.

[Ryan Sickler]

And you're going up just off is what I should have said.

[Jeff Dye]

But it slightly goes up. Yeah, it was like that. And I flew across the. The four lanes of traffic where you're supposed to stop.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, you went across to, like, the ramp back down onto the front, like.

[Jeff Dye]

Over these four lanes and then into a tree. It Was a blessing. It was a blessing or you would have gone back. Well, and also, the. No, if the tree wasn't there, I'd have flung through a building. But also, that was. There was four lanes of traffic. And to this day, never before and never since have I ever seen there be no cars on that road.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Jeff Dye]

I mean, anywhere in LA that there was no cars.

[Ryan Sickler]

You sailed right through and.

[Jeff Dye]

Makes no sense.

[Ryan Sickler]

A tree.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah. The cops are actually impressed. Later they showed me the footage. They were like, hey, whatever car that is, get it again.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's the other thing. I forget about that. And you're in a public area, so there's fucking cameras on every building.

[Jeff Dye]

They have the footage within no time. And they were like, whatever car that is, is the safest you. You should be hurt at least. And you ran. I was like, yeah, not a scratch, not anything. It was a Tesla. Shout out to Tesla. Very safe. But, yeah, the crash was very embarrassing and, you know all that. But then when they.

[Ryan Sickler]

So now you.

[Jeff Dye]

We're doing the test.

[Ryan Sickler]

We're field sobriety.

[Jeff Dye]

I get a little unruly with these guys and we have a little restaurant match because I. The reality was sinking in, like, ah, they're gonna arrest me. You know, I'm gone. There's this, like, my whole life is in one morning. Everything I go from Jeff, Jackpot. Died. And now I'm getting a dynamic. My bonehead. I already feel like an idiot because I love her and she thinks I'm a loser. And, like, now this just really confirms it. I think we've all been in that position where you love someone and they just don't give a about you back, you know? And then to have my most humiliating moment in front of that person and.

[Ryan Sickler]

Be like, this is a hundred percent why.

[Jeff Dye]

Worst feeling in the world. So I was like, oh, this is even more humiliating than it should have been. And so. So then, you know, it was very flustering. And then.

[Ryan Sickler]

Are you passing the test? Do they tell you? Are you passing?

[Jeff Dye]

I believe I'm passing it.

[Ryan Sickler]

You walk in a line, you're doing the nose.

[Jeff Dye]

And then they were like, let's do the Breathalyzer. And I go, but I just did all those tests. If we're just gonna do a Breathalyzer, why don't you just start with kick.

[Ryan Sickler]

It off with that?

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah. And they were so thorough. You know, these lawyers look for, like, any kind of, like, thing. Dude, my guys were so textbook. They did everything. And that's why it was so rigorous, is because they wanted to make sure that they were hitting all their little beats and they crushed it. As cops, I'll tell you that they nailed it. Yeah. There was nothing to find that they did wrong. Well, they did everything perfect. You hope for them to like not this guy's been nailing it. It's like it was like one of.

[Ryan Sickler]

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[Jeff Dye]

No, don't know.

[Ryan Sickler]

But is that when they said, all right, you're over and you got to go? It is, but they wouldn't tell you what the number was?

[Jeff Dye]

I think they did tell me, and I just. It means nothing to me. And I don't remember.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm just curious. At eight hours after drinking? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Eight hours after drinking.

[Jeff Dye]

Well, towards the end, I was like.

[Ryan Sickler]

Popping your balls off.

[Jeff Dye]

Oh, I know. I thought, I sweat that sprint.

[Ryan Sickler]

You really did, though. And I'm thinking it's still over a 0.08.

[Jeff Dye]

Well, I think towards the end.

[Ryan Sickler]

Did I miss pills? You said something about.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah, I was popping pills, like to keep being able to drink.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, that might have something to do.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah, I think that that came maybe for sure, too. Where's. Thing is, like, towards the end of my drinking career or whatever, my friends would do cocaine. And then they're up all night. I hear them laughing downstairs. They're all having a good time, and I'm like, the drunk guy passed out like your buddy. So then I would, like, start to feel like fomo. Like, my friends are at my house, they're all having fun, and then I'm drunk guy passed out upstairs after a certain hour. And then one of my friends was like, well, you know, if you just pop these, like, Adderalls or whatever the fuck they're. I don't even know if they're Adderall, but some sort of pill. They're like, you pop this, you'll keep. You'll stay up. And I was like, all right. So, like, I would get hammered and then just pop a pill, drink, drink, drink.

[Ryan Sickler]

And it would keep you up.

[Jeff Dye]

I'll keep me up. But the problem is I wasn't remembering being up. So, like, I'd black out from all that. So it actually is not a great plan anyways. But I. I did that that night so that I could hang out all night. And so that probably affected some things too. And.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah, so you get arrested.

[Jeff Dye]

Get arrested?

[Ryan Sickler]

You go where?

[Jeff Dye]

Jail.

[Ryan Sickler]

Burbank.

[Jeff Dye]

16 hours in jail or 15? 15 hours. 16 hours in jail.

[Ryan Sickler]

And do they let you out on your own also?

[Jeff Dye]

Couldn't get a hold. Manager Justin. I called, it's the only person I called. And it just keeps going to some Beverly Hills like answering machine. I didn't even know there was answering machines still around. I was so, and I'm just rattled, I guess. This is not, you know, like, listen, my manager is the best. I, I, I can call him at any time and this answers. I could miss a flight. And it's 3am in LA. I could call Justin, he gets out of bed, he helps me, right? But then I'm in the clink. I'm scared for my life. I'm, there's homeless guys banging their heads against the glass and can't get a hold of Justin. And so I just sat there for 15 hours in jail.

[Ryan Sickler]

Are you in by yourself in a cell or are there other people? Like, is it a room like this with like five or six people?

[Jeff Dye]

That was the, the, at first, at first. And that was detox. So there's no negotiating, there's no winning fighting. And dude, it was so scary. I'm, I'm gonna be a good boy for the rest of my life. To just never.

[Ryan Sickler]

Was it a good Scared Straight program?

[Jeff Dye]

Oh my God, what are you seeing in there?

[Ryan Sickler]

It's scared to fight. Twin Towers downtown la, is it?

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah, no, it was, it was clean. I'm guessing clean compared to the shit I see on Netflix or something. But like it was a bunch of homeless dudes and then me and they're all like unruly and the jailer is different than a real cop. Like they just kind of are like people that work at the jail. And so this guy's like smashing his head against the glass, like make himself break open in blood. He's like just going like this. And the late like thinking like, okay, for sure, come in now. And the lady's like, sir, if you keep doing that, I'm going to constrain you. I'm like, don't threaten. Like, the guy's off because I'm only detoxing from the night before of booze. I'm sober up, you know, in my mind, like I feel normal, but they're all coming off of like heavy drugs. So their detox is what, much more stressful on their bodies than mine. It was terrible. So then after like hours of that they finally take my photo.

[Ryan Sickler]

Sleep at all?

[Jeff Dye]

Couldn't. And I was cold. Why did they keep it cold? I was in shorts that, like, I.

[Ryan Sickler]

Was doing that thing. You're a mustard yellow.

[Jeff Dye]

You know when you see, like, a gothic teenager, like, in the corner of, like, school, she's got her sweatshirt over her knees. I'm doing that. I look like a little. I'm not a. But in jail, dude. Like, for sure. Yeah. I was such a in there, dude. And so then once we got my. I got processed, I guess is the term. I got my photo and all this. She's like, like. I was, like, pleading with her. I was like, listen, please let me have my own cell. Like, I'm not cut from the cloth of these people. And she. She was like, I've never been more serious or direct with anyone in my life. I can't do this. Like, I. I'm literally. I'm afraid. I'm, like, rattled.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm buzzing. Listen, is this the most vulnerable you think you've ever been? Especially with a lady?

[Jeff Dye]

Dude, I would have. For sure. Yeah. I would have paid any amount. I would have bribed. I would have done anything. And then she was like, I'll see what I can do. And so then after, like, 45 more minutes, she put me into, like, my own cell. And then that was great. But then once you're in your own cell, lady, she's the. I was so happy. But then that cell was now. Now that I'm safe, I got all the time to think, you know, Now I've got to wrestle with me. Now I'm going, oh, good point.

[Ryan Sickler]

Because now you're not thinking, I got to worry about this guy. No, everything's just in your head on you and your bullshit. The wreck.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah. Does everyone know? So, like, I'm wondering now that I've been there for hours and hours and hours, like, is everyone on the outside talking? Oh, we heard Jeff did this. We heard he was drunk, and we heard he crashed his car. Blah, blah, blah. Or does no one know? And they're all just wondering where I'm at, you know, because I'm not answering my phone or my text. And I'm just sitting there stressed, thinking about that and wondering. I can't get a hold of my manager, which is the only, like, number I have.

[Ryan Sickler]

What time do you go in to jail? Would you say 10am and you're there till 30. Midnight or after?

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah, after midnight. But what was crazy was, like, he was like, the guys, the cops were saying, you'll get out of here. Of here, dude. Like, once you're dumb, detox, they'll get you out. I was like, all right. And then the jailer's like, no, he's going to have to stay till Tuesday because tomorrow it's Sunday. The judge. There's no judge today. But then Monday's a holiday.

[Ryan Sickler]

Always here. Don't get arrested on Sunday. Oh, and Monday's a holiday.

[Jeff Dye]

And so they're like, he's going to have to wait till Tuesday. And so the. The. The police were like, don't listen to her, dude. You'll get out. And I was like, I hope. But then they left. So all I got is her. And so she's b. So now I'm mentally preparing for Tuesday. Tuesday. Like, all right, how do I just. I gotta figure this out till Tuesday.

[Ryan Sickler]

And you don't have a phone. You can't tell anyone anything. I just got one number to call, and it's not being answered.

[Jeff Dye]

Focus. I just gotta focus. And. And, like, get.

[Ryan Sickler]

But now you're safe, at least.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah. And so I'm like, all right, how's this gonna work? You know? I'm trying to figure this out. They brought me food, right? And the food sucked, obviously, but it was warm. So I, like, would just used it as, like, a heating pad kind of. I just, like, put it, like, on my stomach. I. It was just something like one microwavable thing. I'm, like, just using it for walking your little chicken. I just can't wait. Like, different spots on my body.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Jeff Dye]

I'm just going. Trying to survive, you know, I'm not eating this garbage, but I'll use it for warmth. So then I don't know what time it is. There's no clock, and you can't. There's no windows, so you can't see if it's day or night. So I'm, like, wondering if I'm being a. And it's only been a few hours or if I've been here as long as it feels. I don't know. And then at a certain time, the woman, she goes. She goes, hey, you posted. And I was like, I didn't call anyone. You know, I didn't or I didn't get a hold of anyone. So, like, how could I have posted bail? I'm also thinking that I'm gonna be there till Tuesday. So I was like, you know, I didn't got to go in the showers. I didn't gotta, like, you know, get food with everybody in that big open area. So I was like, Really? I go, I'm leaving. She goes, yep. And I was like, what? So now I'm half. I'm elated with all these feelings. So then she, long story short, she. She takes me out of there. What had happened was the police came to the end of their shift, and when they were looking over all their paperwork or however I assumed that it works, they were like, that guy's still in. And they called and said, get. Get him out of there. Like that guy. Like, we told him he'd be done after detox. Like, pull him out. So thank God to those cops too. Like, they were super, like, checked on me by the book. Yeah. Good guys. Yeah. So, yeah, that. And I. I don't like to misuse words, so, like, I don't want to like, like dumb down ptsd. But I had some low level PTSD just from being in jail. Like the next two days. Like, I was like, something in me was scared. Oh, yeah. I went to the bar, like, comedy show. And she's like, can I get you a drink, sweetie? And I'm like, no, ma'am. Like, I was like a. For like two days. Like, so. Yeah, it really shook me. Like, like shook, shook, shook me. But yeah, and then I never drank again.

[Ryan Sickler]

And then were you required to go? You had no charges?

[Jeff Dye]

Oh, I had to do a bunch of.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay, so what happens then? You go to court, do they who pre. In a situation like this, who presses charges against you is the city.

[Jeff Dye]

The city does. And then the city and the state, I believe. Yeah. And then also they can seek damages for that tree. Which is hilarious because, like, they tried. They try to get money for a tree. I go, how about this? I said this to him. I was like, you show me you're gonna replace the tree or patch the tree and I'll pay for every penny of it. But I'm gonna guess that tree is not gonna change. So I'm not paying any restitution on the tree. And they're like, well, I mean, it's really, in principle. I go, no, I'm not paying restitution on principle. I just paid $40,000 for this whole fucking mess. Oh, everything. I can't really. About the 40 grand.

[Ryan Sickler]

Break it down. So people.

[Jeff Dye]

Like, my own attorney was really like.

[Ryan Sickler]

The big part, the DUI part of. Of it still, like ten thousand dollar fine.

[Jeff Dye]

A big fine. And then they hit you with like a state fine. And then like the police fine and all this different. But then also I have to do like a DUI program that cost money.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Jeff Dye]

Then you got to do a secondary kind of, like, all these, like, little class things. AA is free, and so they can't force anyone to go to that because it's voluntarily.

[Ryan Sickler]

But you had.

[Jeff Dye]

But they have, like, a state version of A classes. Yeah, yeah, they had, like, a state version of AA because that they can make you do, but it's basically just aa, except, you know, not called A.

[Ryan Sickler]

And do you lose your license?

[Jeff Dye]

You got to go to Mothers Against Drunk Drive.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, you do?

[Jeff Dye]

Yep. I lost my. I lost my. Obviously, I wasn't allowed to drive for over a year. They say it's a year, but, like, it doesn't kick in until you've been charged. And then once it's charged you, the program is like a year and a half, so. Or, you know, longer than 12 months. So you can't finish that program even if you. Even if it did. So it's just. There's. It's really tough stuff. But also, I. I deserve it. And sometimes when I tell these people. Comment. Oh, he's making excuses, you know, I did my time. I. I did all the. And I deserve to do all this.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is what they told you you needed to do for this?

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah, I did all the stuff. I. I made the bed.

[Ryan Sickler]

Continued, though it did make a positive impact.

[Jeff Dye]

I haven't touched.

[Ryan Sickler]

There's a lot of people go right back to drinking, or they'll be like, I'm just gonna Uber, and I'll still drink. Yeah, which you could do.

[Jeff Dye]

I was drinking the week of, like, after I got out, I was drinking.

[Ryan Sickler]

You did?

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah. And even my friends were a little worried because I was still stressed and, like, buzzed or rattled from jail. And I was also, like, the gravity of the whole thing was stressing me out. The only reason I really stopped was because I was like, I'm gonna have to deal with this with, like, a level head, and I'm gonna say some I didn't mean, or I'm gonna try to start making excuses. So I was like, let's just try to stop drinking to, like, navigate this. But then once I stopped drinking and navigating everything in a clear mind, I was like, oh, man, this is a. I'm kind of operating on a different level. My relationships and friendships were better. My comments.

[Ryan Sickler]

How long into sobriety?

[Jeff Dye]

Only a few days. I felt different. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Because I was remembered, you know? Like, I was in a fog, like, drunk. Okay. Yeah. So to notice it right away, I was like, oh, this is pretty good. Like, I'm. This is better, you know? So then it was easy to stay with it because I'm like, oh, this is better.

[Ryan Sickler]

And you had mentioned your life is better in a lot of ways. Give me some more.

[Jeff Dye]

Trying to think.

[Ryan Sickler]

Do you feel like, physically. Let's talk about sleep.

[Jeff Dye]

Better.

[Ryan Sickler]

You sleep.

[Jeff Dye]

Skin's better.

[Ryan Sickler]

Energy.

[Jeff Dye]

Energy is better. Yeah. Everything. Aging my hair is better. Like, that's another thing. If you're a vain person, man, give up alcohol. Because, like, I would look in the mirror, and I'm like, dude, how am I? Like, I. I'm. I glow more than I. I. Well, I never glue, but I don't know how to explain blue. I never.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is that right?

[Jeff Dye]

I wonder if that's, like, it should be glowing by our rule. I don't know. I just. But I'll say that to women, sometimes they'll be like, really? Your skin's better. And then I watch them kind of go, maybe I should quit drinking.

[Ryan Sickler]

Because that's what I'm saying.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Hell, yeah.

[Jeff Dye]

But, yeah, just those kind of things are better. And then I'm, like, a lot more, like, direct. The negatives are. I'm pretty irritable now. Yeah, I never used to be irritable.

[Ryan Sickler]

And. And how quickly are you irritable?

[Jeff Dye]

I'm just quicker than I've ever been. Probably pretty chill, guys, still. But, like, comparatively, like, I would have never cared about anything back in the day. Now, something. I'll read something. I'm like, this is what's wrong with the country.

[Ryan Sickler]

The country. It goes all the way.

[Jeff Dye]

These young people, you know, like, I just turned into, like, my grandfather. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But. But all positive. It's been mostly positive.

[Ryan Sickler]

Do you. I have to ask everybody this question. Do you miss it? You sound like you. It was fun, but you had your time with it. You're good.

[Jeff Dye]

I would drink tomorrow if I couldn't have all the same experiences. So, like, what do you mean? So I will never quit drinking if I need it to do, like, comedy or hang out with my buddies or go to, like, bars and watch sports. I had to, like, learn. Oh, I can still go to a bar and have fun and watch sports. Oh, I can still do comedy. Oh, I will never compromise those fun parts of my life. Once I learned, like, I don't need alcohol to do all those things, then I was like, all right, then I don't need the alcohol because that's all it was for me. So I don't know if I explained it that well. So it's like, I am happy to be rid of it because I can still do all the positive things that I was doing when I was drinking without the alcohol.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Jeff Dye]

And occasionally it'll rear its head. I'll be like a baseball game. Someone walk by with a cold beer and I'm like, ah, that looks pretty good. But that's like the extent of it rearing its head. And I just go, I'll just get a non alcoholic beer or I'll get like a, you know, I was gonna.

[Ryan Sickler]

Ask you what has replaced it for you.

[Jeff Dye]

I'll drink non alcoholic beers at my house sometimes.

[Ryan Sickler]

So you'll do that. But you don't find yourself working out more, writing more like, oh, I'm doing all that for sure.

[Jeff Dye]

I work out single day. I do a lot of yoga.

[Ryan Sickler]

Did you? But when you were drinking?

[Jeff Dye]

I did, but not as well, if that makes sense. Like it's much more Hacks is back.

[Ryan Sickler]

For season four and so is the official Hacks podcast. In each episode, host Bobby Finger and Lindsay Weber will speak with the creators, cast and crew members to unpack the Emmy winning comedy series, hear stories from the set, get a peek into the writers room, and break down the complicated dynamic between Deborah and Ava. You know I love hacks. We've had Lunel on the show and she is absolutely one of the most funny guests we've had on and she is on Hacks I've been watching and I love supporting her. It's a great, funny show. The new season follows Deborah Vance making a move from her Vegas residency to Hollywood showbiz. Tensions rise as Deborah and Ava try to get their late night show off the ground and make history while doing it. It. I'm a big Max fan. I watch almost everything they put out. I'm deep into White Lotus right now. I love White Lotus. This new season's been fantastic and if you're looking for any more shows to watch, I promise you Hacks is one of them. You can go back and binge, watch and enjoy yourself. Watch Hacks Streaming exclusively on Max and listen to the official Hacks podcast on Max or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Bobby Finger]

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[Jeff Dye]

No purchase necessary. BTW, dedicated kind of thing. I have so much more time. I spent so much time drinking or, like sitting at a bar. Like, I would be up till all night.

[Ryan Sickler]

Give me a. Give me an example. When you're not doing stand up. When you're not on the road.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Give me a Tuesday night. No shows in la if you're going out. Give me a day for Jeff. Doc.

[Jeff Dye]

Sober.

[Ryan Sickler]

No.

[Jeff Dye]

Oh, yes. I would just find one of those sporting events on and I would just get my buddies to go to, like a bar with me.

[Ryan Sickler]

It was all. Never a lot of bars, mostly bars not coming to your place or their place.

[Jeff Dye]

We drink at my place. But it was more about. Yeah, I liked the bars because I had this illusion that like, some supermodel would walk in and that's how we're gonna meet. And like. But it's not true. Bars aren't that great. Nobody's. Even if a girl did walk in, we'd just stare at her. Yeah. Nobody goes up.

[Ryan Sickler]

People get pretty faced. You're not getting everybody's version of themselves.

[Jeff Dye]

It's embarrassing.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Jeff Dye]

I mean, the most talking to you do is with the bartender and hopefully they're cool, you know?

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Jeff Dye]

So I had this illusion about the bar that seemed very captivating, like, oh, we're gonna go there and hang out and meet people. And it's like, no, you know, you just sit and drink. It's just a room where people are drinking. So.

[Ryan Sickler]

And now what are you doing sober?

[Jeff Dye]

You know, Now I just have, like, interests, you know, I do like a cigar lounge, though. You big cigar guy.

[Ryan Sickler]

I can't see. I was gonna tell you, I haven't drank alcohol in over two years now because all the health. So put me on blood thinners and everything. They're like, look. And I was like, you know what? I've done my time drinking. I'm good.

[Jeff Dye]

Interesting.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm good. So I haven't drank in two years. But one of the things also they told me is that I could smoke flour, cannabis, but I can't touch tobacco, vapes, any of that, because my lungs. So, like, that shit's bad for you.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah, cigar lounge is awesome.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah. I used to go, dude, it's one right next.

[Jeff Dye]

Bunch of dudes just trying to get away. They would let me come in for.

[Ryan Sickler]

A little weed while I'm in there with everybody smoking cigars. I'd go, it doesn't bother me to be in One or around one, you know, Dude, I love it.

[Jeff Dye]

It's. It's such a good hang. And like, so much networking's done there. Like dudes just talking to each other, watching sports. And so I'm a big. I do love a cigar lounge. For sure.

[Ryan Sickler]

There's a great cigar lounge. I don't know if it's still there. Oh, I'm not going to say where you live, but you'll know it. It's on Ventura and it was across from the old Jerry's Deli.

[Jeff Dye]

I think that's where I go.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay. Yeah, so I used to go there.

[Jeff Dye]

Because it's on Ventura and it's crossed.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah, yeah. Every blue moon I'd go. And back in the day when Sopranos was on, we had DirecTV. And on DirecTV you would get HBO east and West. So you could get Sopranos out here at 6pm instead of 9pm Interesting. And I didn't know that this was a thing at this place. So I go in to get cigars for the 9pm showing of Sopranos at like 6:15 and it's all Italian dudes smoking the. Out of cigars. And I go, hey, what's up?

[Jeff Dye]

Shut up.

[Ryan Sickler]

Shut the up.

[Jeff Dye]

And I'm like, what the going on?

[Ryan Sickler]

They're like, they're watching the east coast feed of Sopranos. I was like, this is their every Sunday thing. Like, this is their every Sunday.

[Jeff Dye]

I go with comics every Sunday.

[Ryan Sickler]

Do you?

[Jeff Dye]

And we just talk. It's so therapeutic. You know, we just vent about and sit around. It's like me, Justin Foster Ryan. I just said your name because I was reading off the wall the Drew Lynch. Just like a bunch of us just get together. We all just sit and smoke cigars and talk. It's awesome. Was.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is this a thing in your family?

[Jeff Dye]

Is.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is addiction anything? Your parents weren't alcoholics or drinkers or anything like that?

[Jeff Dye]

I just took it on.

[Ryan Sickler]

You just took it on?

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah. Cuz I like. I like. I said I like, want to be so social like I want.

[Ryan Sickler]

When did you first start? Start?

[Jeff Dye]

I was 21 when I first started.

[Ryan Sickler]

Really?

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah. I didn't get into it until I was legally available.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm blown away, but I would have thought you'd say 13, 14.

[Jeff Dye]

No.

[Ryan Sickler]

Middle school, high school?

[Jeff Dye]

Well, we'll talk about that on your other podcast that I like. I had an unusual childhood. Wow. Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

What's your. Okay then, what's your first.

[Jeff Dye]

My first drink.

[Ryan Sickler]

Drink.

[Jeff Dye]

I was an intern at the church and like. Yeah, yeah. And I was never you didn't even.

[Ryan Sickler]

Have wine at the church before that. Even a little sip.

[Jeff Dye]

The whole communion, really a thing?

[Ryan Sickler]

Are you not Catholic?

[Jeff Dye]

It wasn't that kind of church. So we, like. I'm like this cool youth group leader kind of, like, guy. I'm an intern for the church. And, like, we've got a little circle of other interns that are whatever. And we're pretty close in age to the kids that we're being youth group leaders for. So we're kind of like the hip young ones in a way, for church by church of standards. And then I've never been a birthday guy, even when I was young. Like, I just. I don't really care about it. And then that. By me not caring about it, it lets me off the hook. For your birthday or someone else's, because.

[Ryan Sickler]

They'Ll be like, jeff, don't.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah, yeah. It's like, oh, he doesn't care. And so, like, I don't care. Like, just forget mine. I'm gonna forget yours. I'm not a birthday guy. So I casually came up at like, 11pm that it was my birthday. And they're like, we've been with you all day and you didn't tell us it was your birthday. And I was like, yeah, I don't really give a. I'm like, we've got to get you a drink. I was like, dude, I don't drink. He goes, yeah, but why? I go, because it's against. Well, I guess it's not against the law now. Yeah. I don't know. I've just never really thought about it. And they're like, yeah, you can drink now. And I was like, do Christians. Like, I didn't even. Like, I don't know how it works. Is God going to be mad at me or something? You know? Yeah. So then they were like, no, like, we can all go get a drink. So I worked at Red Robin to, like, pay my bills. So we went to my work. That's also a terrible decision. Why would we, like. So we go to my work to have my first ever drink.

[Ryan Sickler]

It's the Red Robin on the water I've been to up there in Seattle.

[Jeff Dye]

No, it's the Red Robin in Kent, Washington. Okay. Yeah, but that's. That's a good one, though. In the water. So I go to the. I go to that. We can't sit in the bar because one of the other church interns isn't 21. So now I can't even sit at the bar. And we're back at my Work, which is, this is not good. And I get like the biggest order that's ever been ordered. I'm like, I don't know. What? I don't know. I don't drink. So a Razzleberry Cooler.

[Ryan Sickler]

A Razzleberry Cooler.

[Jeff Dye]

That's my first drink. Sub Cine gum. It's my 21st. I just look like the gayest dude. It's like in this big stupid glass. Yeah. So I had that. That was my first drink. And then.

[Ryan Sickler]

And that was it.

[Jeff Dye]

Very cooler.

[Ryan Sickler]

Said it all day.

[Jeff Dye]

One Razzleberry Cooler. It was the White Claw before White Claws.

[Ryan Sickler]

And then what was your. Once you figured out, all right, this is what I like. What was your drink?

[Jeff Dye]

Oh, we just were drinking beers at the time.

[Ryan Sickler]

Beer. No, but I mean, once you got into later in life, life, it was always beer.

[Jeff Dye]

I always drink like a Jameson neat and then like a Corona.

[Ryan Sickler]

When do you discover whiskey?

[Jeff Dye]

Few years later. Because we would always drink beer and we were very excited at the idea that beer started to taste good to us because it was so gross.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Jeff Dye]

But then when you make that turn, you're like, oh, I like beer.

[Ryan Sickler]

So you didn't drink young. But when we did, it was. You got whatever the it was, right? Olympia and whatever it was like, this is so you think, think I don't like beer. And then you get a good cold one and you're like, oh my God.

[Jeff Dye]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

What's this one?

[Jeff Dye]

It's the best feeling.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Jeff Dye]

You're like, I'm being a grown up or I'm being a man now. Or like, oh, I get why people drink now. So that turn was big and then just became ton of whiskey all the time.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is that what you were drinking the night before you had your accident?

[Jeff Dye]

Oh, yeah, it's just whiskey. It was just straight whiskey. And then we would chase it with like White Claw. Chase it with beer, whatever, Coronas, anything.

[Ryan Sickler]

And you blacking out, dude.

[Jeff Dye]

I was drinking. My tolerance was so high, which is not to sound cool.

[Ryan Sickler]

Give me, give me amount of.

[Jeff Dye]

I'm like a big guy. And then I was drinking so much.

[Ryan Sickler]

Give me an amount. What are you drinking?

[Jeff Dye]

So you know those big bottles of. Not big, like the fat ones, but the skinny big ones of Jameson.

[Ryan Sickler]

Huh?

[Jeff Dye]

At least one of those a night. Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Not enough. All through the day.

[Jeff Dye]

One time you starting 5pm and then by the by, like 3am Eight hours. Yeah. And then. But then White Claw and then also probably more than that. Whiskey. Whiskey. Because, you know, we'd be at the comedy club. We'd be having whiskeys from those too.

[Ryan Sickler]

Every night.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Which is cool.

[Jeff Dye]

It's not like I'm not, I'm not, I'm not proud.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm just blown away.

[Jeff Dye]

Your tolerance can get really high. And then if you're like, I'm like 6 foot 4, I'm 230 pounds. So like that adds to it, you know.

[Ryan Sickler]

It's also different. It's not a bottle of wine, it's whiskey.

[Jeff Dye]

It's heavy.

[Ryan Sickler]

It's heavy.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah. When you mentioned this earlier, which might be sharing too much, but you're talking about blood thinners. I thought I had like a dick problem. Like I literally thought like, well I'm getting up there in age. My dick don't work like it used to. It was just too much whiskey. I'm literally like had whiskey dick for fucking 20 something years. I thought my didn't work.

[Ryan Sickler]

Just laying down there.

[Jeff Dye]

Yeah. So then this girl's like this guy, I don't even think I'm hot. And I'm like, no, I'm into this. So then I would take like Blue Chew or like Viagras. It's a miracle I'm alive drinking that much whiskey.

[Ryan Sickler]

I was going to say.

[Jeff Dye]

And then popping like four. Four. Because I'm going, I need something to take one. It says this beautiful man. I'm trying to like, you know, I want to please this lady, you know.

[Ryan Sickler]

Four of them for Christ. You probably woke up, drove him with a hard dick when you hit that.

[Jeff Dye]

No, I'm lucky to be alive, bro. My heart, I feel like four of.

[Ryan Sickler]

Those bluetooths by itself could kill you.

[Jeff Dye]

But like blood thinners like that, like to just willy nilly be taking them. And then my dick's soft. I'm going, I don't want like. And then that's another great part about sobriety. My works great and feel like a new man. Yeah, it's all whiskey dick for that alone, man.

[Ryan Sickler]

And when you would you knock it hard and not come?

[Jeff Dye]

No, I could come, but it was like. It was very comparable to what people tell me about like cocaine. Well, I guess like in when you do cocaine, it's like just you have sex for like hours. Like I felt like that it would just go in waves, you know, like an 80 year old man.

[Ryan Sickler]

And then it finally is good now.

[Jeff Dye]

Yes.

[Ryan Sickler]

Take breaks.

[Jeff Dye]

Well, it's like mine was poisoning my body.

[Ryan Sickler]

But you're saying there's no way you would have got your dick hard without these blue chews during that time?

[Jeff Dye]

No. I could occasionally if I was like super turned on or like, you know, you caught me at the right time or whatever. But like I'm saying, like it would generally be like 3am and now it's like that's time where everybody's kind of winding down and going to bed. And that's all that's on my mind. I'm trying to have sex. And so then we'd have. It was just super like embarrassing. Yeah. And then now I'm like, oh yeah, there's probably something to that. Stupid. It's not that your dick didn't work. You're drinking a gallon of whiskey at night. Yeah. And it was still not putting it together that that's probably what it is. How dumb can you be, dude?

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm glad you're clean. I'm glad you're sober. I'm glad you came by here to share this with us one more time. Please promote whatever you like.

[Jeff Dye]

Jeff D.com go to see when I'm coming to your town. I got a thousand dates coming up. Also, I have a special on YouTube called the Last Cowboy in LA. But just Google anything Jeff D. And you can find me.

[Ryan Sickler]

Awesome, dude. Thank you very much for having me. As always, Ryan Sickler on all your social media. We'll talk to y'all next next week.

[Bobby Finger]

Hello, it is Ryan. And I was on a flight the other day playing one of my favorite social spin slot games on jumbaccasino.com I looked over the person sitting next to me and you know what they were doing? They were also playing Chumba Casino. Coincidence? I think not. Everybody's loving having fun with it. Chumba Casino is home to hundreds of casino style games that you can play for free anytime, anywhere, even at 30, 000ft. So sign up [e-mail] to claim your free welcome bonus. That's chumbacasino.com and live the Chumba life.

[Jeff Dye]

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