388: Howie Mandel on OCD, ADHD, AGT & Being the Voice of Gizmo | The HoneyDew with Ryan Sickler #388

Summary

Podcast Summary: The HoneyDew with Ryan Sickler #388

Episode Title: Howie Mandel on OCD, ADHD, AGT & Being the Voice of Gizmo
Air Date: June 1, 2026

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Overview

In this captivating episode of The HoneyDew, host Ryan Sickler welcomes legendary comedian, game show host, and actor Howie Mandel for a deep, revealing, and often hilarious conversation. True to the show's theme of finding humor and perspective in life's "lowlights," Howie opens up about his struggles and triumphs with OCD, ADHD, anxiety, and depression, while also sharing fascinating stories from his career—whether on America’s Got Talent, voicing beloved characters, or reinventing himself in showbiz. The episode is rich with candor, humor, and insight, making it a must-listen for comedy fans and anyone interested in mental health.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Howie Mandel’s Take on Applause and Comedy Intros

• Howie pokes fun at being introduced with fanfare but no audience (“It's like a letdown…just one guy at a table applauding. It's kind of, it's like a letdown.” [01:35])
• Playful banter about mispronounced names at coffee shops and giving baristas intentionally absurd names ([02:36])

2. ADHD, Coffee, and The Need for Stimulation

• Howie’s heavy caffeine use is tied to his ADHD: “Caffeine allows me to focus and sleep,” he says, noting he’s never taken Ritalin ([04:47])
• Explains coping with ADHD in everyday life, including how it affects his ability to focus, drive, and why flying lessons didn’t quite work out ([05:37])

3. Life in Show Business & The Realities of America’s Got Talent

• 17 years as a judge on AGT; shares how comics struggle uniquely with judgment and silence:
  “If a comedian is not doing well…it’s painfully obvious. And then people judge you based on…how other people are reacting.” ([07:23])
• AGT’s power to launch careers regardless of who "wins":
  “Anybody who has been on our show and said from AGT…their ticket price went up, more people…have seen them.” ([08:52])
• This season, he fought for comedians to be seen in their element, by having AGT scouts come to comedy clubs ([09:15])

4. Resilience, Rejection, and Giving Up

• Discusses facing relentless rejection, even at his current career stage:
  “The difference between the people who get further are just the people who keep getting kicked in the nuts and walking forward.” ([13:12])
• Life lessons about pressing forward despite "no’s" and the illusion that success eliminates rejection.

5. Unconventional Career Path & Reinvention

• Early stand-up memories, St. Elsewhere, breakthrough with the Young Comedians Special:
  “That show launched my career. The next day, I could sell like 10,000 tickets.” ([19:01])
• Evolution into voice work: Skeeter on Muppet Babies and, most notably, Gizmo in Gremlins ([21:33])
• Candid about how often things happened unexpectedly, from voiceovers to game show hosting:
  “I’ve always ended up in things I didn’t plan on ending up…nobody’s more surprised, thrilled, and excited to be doing what I’m doing today than me.” ([27:01])

6. Openness About OCD, ADHD & Mental Health

• First diagnosed in his 40s—shares the pain and secrecy:
  “When I got diagnosed…as much as I felt relief… I was embarrassed to say that I had a mental health problem.” ([30:11])
• Powerful story about accidentally revealing his OCD on Howard Stern’s show, fearing personal and career fallout, only to be met with empathy from others struggling too ([28:37], [30:11])
• Describing the day-to-day difficulty: “It is torture. It is…and you know, it ebbs and flows, you know. Right now in life, it’s flowing, but it ebbs.” ([50:27])
• Dispels misconceptions: OCD isn’t just about germs; intrusive thoughts, compulsions, and dark ruminations are often invisible (“No. Intrusive, dark thoughts, the inability…these circular thoughts that I couldn’t get out of. Checking the lock on a door for over an hour…” [35:15])
• ADHD described as a constant inability to sit still: “It is really hard for me to sit even for this amount of time.” ([44:44])

7. Challenges of Everyday Life: Travel, Hotels, and Meet & Greets

• Rituals like bringing his own sheets, using black lights in hotels, and avoiding handshakes ([40:37])
• The therapy of doing the uncomfortable: “The biggest form of therapy for OCD…is exposure therapy. So just by virtue of what I do, I’m exposing myself. But it’s not comfortable.” ([41:08])
• Impact of mental health on family life and work: missed flights, family ultimatums, compulsions interfering with daily existence ([53:49])

8. Childhood, Education, and Rise to Comedy

• No high school diploma/GED after being expelled from multiple schools, considered a “behavioral disruptor” ([54:44])
• Early impulsivity both hurt and helped his social standing—he was the “grossest guy,” doing outrageous stunts for attention ([59:01])
• On reflection:
  “Don’t worry, be happy. It’s the song, but it’s also don’t worry… Don’t fucking think, just do…Everything I’ve done out of instinct has worked out.” ([59:39])

9. Parenting, Genetics, and Mental Health Legacy

• Two of his three children have OCD—acknowledges a potential hereditary component ([49:26])
• Advocates for therapy and openness within his family and through his podcast with his daughter ([49:43])

10. Thoughts on Education and Life Preparation

• Skeptical about the real-world benefit of college except for technical fields, preferring experiential and independent learning ([54:56])
• On school curriculums not teaching real-life math, economics, or skills:
  “Why don’t you teach math as far as dollars? So that it’s experiential…” ([57:00])

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On AGT and comedians:
  “You play it like you’re fucking killing. And I’m telling you that your career will be…Regardless…anybody who has been on our show…is doing better for it.” — Howie Mandel ([08:52])

• About mental health stigma and his first public revelation:
  “I was so distraught…I thought, oh my God, I just told somebody I have a mental health problem…my kids are going to be humiliated…nobody’s ever going to give me a job.” — Howie Mandel ([30:11])

• On coping skills:
  “As busy as I am…and even if it’s getting kicked in the nuts and knocked down, just keep…like Wayne Gretzky says, you miss every shot you don’t take.” — Howie Mandel ([27:13])

• On advice to a younger self:
  “Don’t worry, be happy…Don’t fucking think, just do…Everything I’ve done out of instinct has worked out.” — Howie Mandel ([59:39])

• Describing the agony of OCD:
  “It is torture…and, you know, it ebbs and flows, you know. Right now in life, it’s flowing, but it ebbs…” — Howie Mandel ([50:27])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Intro & Applause Banter – [01:18–02:24]
• Discussion of ADHD, Caffeine & Sleep – [04:42–05:37]
• On AGT, Comedians, and Judgment – [07:12–10:05]
• Resilience, Rejection, Career Grind – [11:20–14:16]
• Breakthrough Stories: St. Elsewhere, Gremlins, Bobby’s World – [17:16–27:01]
• Opening Up About OCD & Howard Stern Incident – [27:54–30:11]
• Impact on Family, Life, and Routine – [35:03–41:08]
• Daily Routines, Rituals, and Exposure – [40:37–41:08]
• The Nature of OCD & ADHD – [42:39–46:50]
• Childhood, No Diploma, and Behavioral Struggles – [54:44–55:36]
• Advice to 16-Year-Old Howie & Reflection – [59:39–61:07]
• Promotions: AGT S21, NoCD, Podcasts, Stand-Up Dates – [61:15–62:03]

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Howie’s Current Projects

• America’s Got Talent, Season 21 starting June 2, 2026
• NoCD Mental Health App: Spokesperson and user
• Howie Mandel Does Stuff: Comedy podcast, released every Tuesday
• Stand-Up Performances: See howiemandel.com for tour dates and club drop-ins

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Final Reflections

Howie Mandel delivers a masterclass in honesty and self-deprecation in this episode, blending vulnerable, practical discussion about living with OCD and ADHD with hilarious stories and wisdom from a long, unconventional career. Listeners are left with a sense that humor, resilience, and a willingness to talk about life's lowest points are powerful tools for enduring and even thriving—in comedy and beyond.

Transcript

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[Howie Mandel]

So good, so good, so good.

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[Ryan Sickler]

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[Announcer]

the Honeydew with Ryan Sickler.

[Ryan Sickler]

Welcome back to the Honeydew, guys. You know what we do here? We highlight low lights. I always say these are the stories behind the stories. Storytellers. I'm very excited to have this guest right here for the first time on the Honeydew. Ladies and gentlemen, the legendary Howie Mandel. Welcome to the Honeydew Hour.

[Howie Mandel]

Wow.

[Ryan Sickler]

We're clapping you in.

[Howie Mandel]

You know, the truth is, and I. I love that you're excited to have me and that you're. It's a thrill to have me. But to be honest with you, like, if you go like, we're not at a club and we're not in a theater, and when you go, how Amanda? Like that loud. And then you go like this. It's. It's sad. No, because there's nothing following. There's no. There's no applause. There's just one guy at a table applauding. It's kind of. It's kind of. It's like a letdown.

[Ryan Sickler]

Do you want me to redo it?

[Howie Mandel]

No, it's just. There's not enough people. Like, not even Kirsten from the other room. I could. Like, if she applauded, I would be able to hear it. But she did nothing. Nobody. Nobody did anything. Just you.

[Ryan Sickler]

You're a pro. You nailed her name. I didn't get Kirsten right for months. Is. Is always Kristen to me. And you've already nailed.

[Howie Mandel]

But that's not her name.

[Ryan Sickler]

I know I would get it wrong.

[Howie Mandel]

And she didn't get pissed.

[Ryan Sickler]

She's sweet. But she corrected.

[Howie Mandel]

That's like Me saying, I'm Howie, and you go, hurry, hurry. No. How. You know what? At Starbucks, they get my name wrong. I don't think it's that tough a name.

[Ryan Sickler]

I was going to also say, who the getting your name wrong at Star. What are they. What are they calling you?

[Howie Mandel]

Like, we need a name. They go, we need a name. So what I do now is I give them the mo. Can you swear on this?

[Ryan Sickler]

Absolutely.

[Howie Mandel]

I give them the most up names. I've never. Like, they don't look up and they don't. And I don't think that if I'm wearing a hat like this, I don't think people recognize me. So. But. And if I'm just at some obscure Starbucks, I love Starbucks. I'm not getting paid by Starbucks. I just. I like caffeine. That's what I'm doing. I like caffeine as my fuel. So. So. But they'll always go, give me a name. And I go, pardon me? And I go. And they. Could you. Could you spell that? And then I will spend the next 20 minutes spelling it. I'll usually put a 7 in it and make sure that they know that the 7 is sile so they don't have to do it. But then it's really funny when they. They'll have some of them. Some of them they'll just put down at the counter where you pick up. But some of them will just call out and just to hear some kid going, you know, and I know it's mine. And then they write like, have a wonder glorious day for the glorious day. They do, don't they? You know, they write messages. I don't know why they think that's a good. Like advertising or production. Like somebody in. In head office came up with that, right?

[Ryan Sickler]

No doubt.

[Howie Mandel]

Like, it's not a no.

[Ryan Sickler]

There's a lot of yeses. A lot of yeses. That one wouldn't be great if.

[Howie Mandel]

Not only do we have our baristas make the coffee, take the order, but I want an individual message, like an uplifting message to everybody who get just, here's your coffee is enough. I also don't like that they yell hello when I come in. I don't know them.

[Ryan Sickler]

The loud greeting, just recognizing your presence. Why is that? That's a good one. I don't.

[Howie Mandel]

I don't like that. I go in really early in the morning. Good morning. It's just. I don't have my coffee yet. Don't yell at me. People who love me at home don't yell when I Walk into a room. Hello and good evening. And they don't do that at home. If you want to make me feel at home, just. And give me my coffee and then I'll give you a fucked up name and then you try to say it.

[Ryan Sickler]

How many, how many cups a day? How many drinks of coffee a day would you say?

[Howie Mandel]

A lot.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah. Just keep going until I fall asleep. I fall asleep anyway.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's the other thing. You can sleep on it.

[Howie Mandel]

It's the only way I can sleep. I have, I. I have adhd, so I think. I don't take or. Nor have I ever taken Ritalin. But you know how Ritalin calms you down. Caffeine allows me to focus and sleep. I don't sleep a lot, but maybe it's because I have a lot of coffee, but they don't. It doesn't. It doesn't make me stay up. It just makes me kind of be a little more alert than I am. And I'm not that alert. I mean, I can't drive. I can't focus when you can't drive. I don't drive well, but now I do. I have a Tesla, so I do the auto driving so that Elon takes me places. All right. Or I have a driver, but I can't focus. I took flying lessons.

[Ryan Sickler]

Hold on. If you know, you can't focus, why are you putting yourself up there?

[Howie Mandel]

I like, I like adventure. But, but I did. I took. No, but the pilot, the, the instructor, on the second instruction, the second day, he said, I'm going to. And listen, he goes, I need the money, but I'm going to tell you, let's not do this. And he, he told me not to take flying lessons. I'm not. He says I'm not cut out.

[Ryan Sickler]

I don't have the attention span.

[Howie Mandel]

I don't. I don't. I don't. I get. I get distracted really easily. That's why I was really fascinated by Kirsten's countdowns. Yeah, I like when I hear yelling from what did she drop? Did she just drop something?

[Ryan Sickler]

She might have fell down. She might have fell down.

[Howie Mandel]

People don't hear this because they can. They're not wearing a headset or they're not listening to this.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, I used to wear a headset. I did. Because you can hear if the audio stops or whatever. But I just don't like the look and feel of the headset. I'd rather just sit here and talk

[Howie Mandel]

with the look and feel of it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah, the headphones, you know, I like that.

[Howie Mandel]

I feel like when somebody.

[Ryan Sickler]

We both have to do it or one of us does it. This looks.

[Howie Mandel]

I don't care if just one of you do like. I like talking.

[Ryan Sickler]

Do you want some? We can get you some headsets.

[Howie Mandel]

No, I like talking to people who are wearing headsets. Talking to a microphone, because I feel like I'm in a drive thru and I'm about to get something scrumptious.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay.

[Howie Mandel]

All right. You know what I'm saying?

[Ryan Sickler]

I do know what you're saying.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah. Because they're always wearing, like, the headset.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, I've got a million questions for you, but before we get in there,

[Howie Mandel]

I got half a million answers.

[Ryan Sickler]

Please promote. Everything you got going on right now.

[Howie Mandel]

I'm doing the Honey do podcast. This will be on. Well, if you're listening to it, it's on, right?

[Ryan Sickler]

Yes, they hear it. It's on.

[Howie Mandel]

Promote. I'm season 21 of America's Got Talent.

[Ryan Sickler]

21.

[Howie Mandel]

21 seasons 17 with me.

[Ryan Sickler]

You're the reason we watch. I'm a comedian, so you're the reason my daughter and I. My daughter's 11 and you're the reason we watch.

[Howie Mandel]

That's so sweet, judge. Thank you. I want a comedian win. Yeah, I want to. It's a hard. It's a hard. But I always tell comedians, no matter what level they're at, I try to tell people to come on. A lot of people are against it. A lot of people in my community of comedy don't want to come on because our business is like just really obvious judgment. You know what I mean? Like, if you're playing music or you're playing a song, I don't think the musician knows that anybody loves them or doesn't love them. I think at the end of a song, people just applaud at the same level. You don't know, you know? And, like, they'll do that at the corner of a piano bar or Ramada Inn. They'll do it on a show. But if a comedian is not doing well, and it doesn't mean they're not funny, just not doing well. It's just not hitting or whatever. It's painfully obvious that it's quiet and it's not doing well. And then people judge you based on not what they're listening to or not how they're reacting, but they judge you on how other people are reacting.

[Ryan Sickler]

So.

[Howie Mandel]

But I say to people that, you know, in. In halfway through any of our seasons, we have over 1 billion clicks globally on social media.

[Ryan Sickler]

Wow.

[Howie Mandel]

So whether that few Thousand people in the room or the four of us sitting at the desk are giving you the reaction that you want. You play it like you're fucking killing. And I'm telling you that your career will be. Regardless of what we say. Regardless. Yeah, your career. Anybody who has been on our show and said from agt, because obviously no comedian has won yet is doing better for it. Their. Their ticket price went more people that. People that wouldn't have seen them have seen them. So you grow your audience. There's no reason not to do it. And I'm the advocate for the comedian, you know, this year, even for season 21, you know, usually the way people get on is they could send in a tape or they show up live, you know, someplace and stand in front of a table like this, in front of a producer and show them their wares, which is not the best. And this year, I opened up the Laugh Factory and I said, invited the producers from AGT down and said, watch people watch us in our natural habitat. And they did. And they got. We have some great.

[Ryan Sickler]

Not making them do like, oh, go be a tour guide. Make it funny. And all. They're out of their element. All these challenges. Good for you.

[Howie Mandel]

No, And. And so we have. I. I think there's some comedians this season that have a real chance. But here's the other thing that people don't understand. You know, when you watch on agt, you'll watch like, somebody hanging upside down singing opera while they light themselves on fire. And then the. And comes out, and it's just a comic talking about how his underpants ride up. It seems like there was so much more. But to actually come up with something, write the script, create the character, and deliver it is so that is as much fear as the guy who's two stories in the air with no net trying to do a flip. And it takes a lot, and people appreciate you.

[Ryan Sickler]

But to add to that, like, all the hurdles and hoops you have to jump through to get on a show, to get the yes, to get on that stage at agt from the executives and the. You, et cetera, et cetera, like you're putting yourself through not just this performance in front of an audience in the globe, but rounds of possible failure all the way up to that every single time. And you're saying, like, coming up to a table with no audience or anything, like, man, that's. That's.

[Howie Mandel]

But you know what?

[Ryan Sickler]

That's.

[Howie Mandel]

It's a great. It's a great example of. I think that's what life Is, you know, life is a, you know, a series of incredibly, what seems like insurmountable hurdles and how do you get over those and how do you cope with that and what do you do? And you know, the only reason, the only way to make it is don't quit and just keep doing it. That's the difference. One thing isn't better than the other one thing is. It's all subjective.

[Ryan Sickler]

And not winning it doesn't mean the. If you go back and look at Star Search back in the day, the second place person, they seem to always have a bigger career in the end than the person who won that competition. There's a lot of second place. Well, there's a lot of finishers that

[Howie Mandel]

really blew up because I think in life doesn't have anything. Well, it has to do with comedy. I think that people wait for shit to happen to them and to come their way and opportunities and then there are other people who just keep moving forward regardless. And rejection, I mean it's, it's kind of blown up a little more maybe in show business, but I think rejection and getting no or not making it or not making the sale or not being recognized or not getting the promotion or not getting the job or not getting the girl or not getting the whatever you're not getting, you know, not passing the grade, whatever, that's all through life. Study and play come together on a Windows 11 PC. And for a limited time, college students get the best of both worlds. Get the unreal college deal, everything you need to study and play with select Windows 11 PCs. Eligible students get a year of Microsoft 365 Premium and a year of Xbox game Pass ultimate with a custom color Xbox wireless controller. Learn [e-mail] studentoffer while supplies last ends June 30th terms at aka Ms. CollegePC. The difference between the people who get further are just the people who get keep getting kicked in the nuts and walking forward. Right. You know, and, and even at this point in my career, I'm an old guy who's been doing this for a long time. I can't tell you how the amount of no's that I get on a daily basis I can't even imagine. But that's because I'm. My wife is always saying to me like what do you need that for? What are you doing that for? Because I'm always doing something, I'm always pursuing something. I always have an idea, I always want to try something and it's nos and, and whether it was like we were talking to before the. The. The mics were live, you know, you asked me if I throw it out. Threw out a first pitch, and I've done that many times in this past World Series. I asked to just throw out the second pitch of the third inning. And I gotta know, but I don't let that bother me. I'm gonna. I'm gonna pursue. I'm not. You think you're laughing.

[Ryan Sickler]

Listen, I know if I turn the TV on one fucking day and I see you turn.

[Howie Mandel]

I'm not.

[Ryan Sickler]

Second pitch to the third inning, I'm.

[Howie Mandel]

But I've made it.

[Ryan Sickler]

I've made it.

[Howie Mandel]

I've made it like a. Like a goal.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Howie Mandel]

So I'm just going to keep doing it. And you know why I'm going to do it more? Because they keep fudgeing, saying no and because it sounds ridiculous. And I think what I do for a living and how I've made a living and what I continue to do and what I'm doing right now for a living and where I live and how my life is, is fucking ridiculous. It's not. It's not on paper. This makes no fucking sense to anybody who grows up anywhere. You know, you just. Everything I've ever been punished for, expelled for, gotten in trouble for, is what I get paid for. There is no And. And what I like to do. I think a lot of people like to play it safe, but I like to. I like to push that envelope. It's funny that you asked me that. Now I'm noticing you got a picture of you throwing at a ball.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's why I asked you, because you had the hat on, too. And I was like. You were looking over there and I thought, oh, I didn't see what.

[Howie Mandel]

Where did you throw out a ball?

[Ryan Sickler]

That was Camden Yards.

[Howie Mandel]

Oh, wow.

[Ryan Sickler]

Baltimore.

[Howie Mandel]

Wow. I was just in Baltimore. I love Baltimore.

[Ryan Sickler]

I do, too.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah, I stayed at that Pendry. Did you ever stay there?

[Ryan Sickler]

I haven't yet, but that's the. I had that choice. Or the Four Seasons.

[Howie Mandel]

Usually pick the Four Season. I'm from Toronto. That's where the Four Seasons is from. I hadn't stayed at a Pendry. Probably the nicest, coolest hotel I ever stayed at. And that little area right there by the wharf. Oh, my God. And the seafood that you can get right there.

[Ryan Sickler]

Dude, you're making me homesick right now. The fact I was just there. I talk about. What were you doing there?

[Howie Mandel]

What do you mean? I don't.

[Ryan Sickler]

I don't know. Maybe we're shooting something there and you don't want to say or.

[Howie Mandel]

I don't have any secrets. I was. What I do is I go to Baltimore and I see how many shellfish I can jam up my ass. No, there's nothing I would be doing that wouldn't tell you, but I was doing a live event. I did a. I think it was a corporate date in Baltimore, but I don't know what. I don't know what it was, but. But I just. I just remember it was beautiful. We're staying by the poor. I used to. I've been to Baltimore. I used to play. Is it Pier 6? Yeah, I used to play there.

[Ryan Sickler]

Marlin there in the 80s.

[Howie Mandel]

I used to do all those venues and play there. And then my. My buddy created a show and I went there and did an episode called Homicide Life on the Streets.

[Ryan Sickler]

I was just about to ask you. Stop right now. Listen to me. You did Homicide Life on the Street? Yeah, I watched every episode and I'm pretty sure I remember that. Do you know the pendry where you stayed? Yeah, that was the headquarters. That was the headquarters of Homicide. That was the actual shooting set that you would have been on if you went in the offices.

[Howie Mandel]

No, I was in a cubicle. I was in. I played. I think I played a. Like a crazy designer. I played like a. Like kind of a very flamboyant interior designer for somebody's bar. And they actually used a real bar or something there. But I went there because I'm friends with Tom Fontana. I started on a show. Didn't start. I was already taken off as a comedian. But my first acting gigs was on a show called St. Elsewhere. Yeah, I started with Denzel. So Tom Fontana, who created that with Barry Levinson, started his first writing job was on St. Elsewhere. So then he moved to Baltimore and they did. They did that there.

[Ryan Sickler]

One of my favorite shows of all time.

[Howie Mandel]

I just hung with him in Baltimore and I would play Pier 6. I remember being there. My daughter's 42 now, but she was like 2. Can you go across the water to the aquarium or something like that?

[Ryan Sickler]

Water taxis?

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

To the Harbor Aquarium? Yeah. But I go back. Let me just. You going back to saying elsewhere. I just want to just give you some props here for a second because I grew up as a fan back when you had the beautiful curly locks. And I will never forget the special with the Howie person. I'll never forget that. The glove, obviously. And then one of the things that if these are etched in my brain. Howie Mandel, the mic falling and you. Yes. Ending it. And Getting down on the floor and talking to it.

[Howie Mandel]

That instead of picking it, you know what that was? That one is a one. I remember, you know, crowd work. I was always. Just because I didn't have an act, but. But I didn't. I didn't have much of it. Like they would do that. And then it didn't. I didn't know how to play because I didn't know how to. So I would answer because I was just in his fucking world. But I would do. But anyway, the mic fell. It was a young comedian special and I was doing that. I was at the Roxy and I got reminded of it the other night. So on the young comedian special, that young comedian special, it was me, Jerry Seinfeld, Richard Lewis and Harry Anderson. And it was hosted by the Smothers Brothers. And we did it at the Roxy. And that show launched my career. The next day, I wasn't even a comedian, but it was George Carlin's wife that used to cast it, Barbara. And she cast me, me there. She liked me. And. And I did that show. And the next day I could sell like 10,000 tickets.

[Ryan Sickler]

Wow.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah, it changed my life, that show.

[Ryan Sickler]

And then you have Bobby's World.

[Howie Mandel]

Like you, that's the 90s.

[Ryan Sickler]

So this long before everybody else was doing this, you've been doing this, this pre Internet and everything you figured out children, you've done it all.

[Howie Mandel]

I've invented everything.

[Ryan Sickler]

But I'm saying, I'm hearing. Now you're saying I always have an idea for something. I'm like saying elsewhere. Here's the comedy specials, here's Bobby's World, here's you. And reinvent yourself with that.

[Howie Mandel]

Well, I didn't invent agt, but I had no idea that was a thing. I didn't want to be a game show host when they offered me Deal or no Deal. At that time, game show hosts were not in the wheelhouse of stand up comedy. But then I did it and that thing took off and then they. And then they. After that, the next thing that happened after that was Jeff Fox where they got are you smarter than a fifth grader? And then they started hiring comics on Family Feud. At first it was Louis and then. Right. And then Steve and then. And Drew Carey got prices, right?

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Howie Mandel]

But before that there was no comedian. So if the comedians are watching who are hosting shows. Can I look into that camera? You're welcome. See? Yeah, right. You're welcome. I am responsible for everybody's success.

[Ryan Sickler]

And back then, when you have like a thing like Bobby's World, are you going out with that? Or at that point, are you big enough that people are coming to you and saying, hey, do you have any ideas? Or that whole voice in that.

[Howie Mandel]

I'm still not there. So. And people aren't coming up to me with ideas. But. But the. The Bobby's world was. I. I did Bobby in my act. I always did that voice in my act. And then. Well, before that, and then. And then I started getting voice jobs. My. I had a friend that was. That was connected to Jim Henson, and he got me a show called Muppet Babies. And I was Skeeter on Muppet Babies, which is the same voice. And then. And then I got. But my buddies who are from Chicago, Jim, Jim, Jim, help me, Rich. Jim Stahl and Jim Fisher, they were from Second City, and they got a deal. They got a development deal for Fox Children's. They were going to start a Saturday morning thing, and they came to me and they go, you know, you do that great character at the club. And it was filthy. Bobby was filthy. Yeah, yeah, Bobby. He was just a voice. But I would say, like, horrible things. And then. And I had done, you know, it as Skeeter, and I did the Gremlins movies, you know.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Howie Mandel]

You know, I'm Gizmo, the first little fuzzy one that got wet. It's the same voice.

[Ryan Sickler]

Wait, the original?

[Howie Mandel]

The original. And all of them. I've done all of them.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah, you're the original Gizmo.

[Howie Mandel]

I'm Gizmo.

[Ryan Sickler]

Dude, I did not. Of all.

[Howie Mandel]

I'm. Let's do some.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm embarrassed that I don't know that one. Yeah, that's you from the original. Original. Dude, I'm telling my daughter.

[Howie Mandel]

Did you just say that, Jew from the original.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm telling my daughter, like, she sees Gizmo, and she's like, yeah, it's cute. I'm like, you don't get it. Like, what year would have that been?

[Howie Mandel]

84.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay. I was going to say 5.

[Howie Mandel]

Well, I think I. I think it came out in 85. I did it in 84. 83, and then 87 Gremlins 2 came out. You have to Google it. I don't know, Kristen. Good goal. Good goal.

[Ryan Sickler]

I show her the trailer.

[Howie Mandel]

Oh, there it is. She's Googling.

[Ryan Sickler]

And.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

I tell her. I'm like, you don't get it, though. You. You're in a world now where it's already out and populated. I said, we didn't know what the was in that box. That was the whole thing. You go to the movie to see what the hell was in there.

[Howie Mandel]

Doing one now and then.

[Ryan Sickler]

Are they really.

[Howie Mandel]

Chris Columbus is writing it right now. I, I, I kind of. We have the same agents. I just said, I'm here. I would love to get a small part in it so that I interact with the actual. I don't know if that'll use me as the voice. You know, lot of people can do it, so. But if they use me as the voice, I'd like to get a small part in it so that I can interact. What did you look up? Kirsten gave up. She has ad. She, I think she, she was looking something up. I could see that. If you can't see, there's a screen right here. I yelled to his producer, could you look it up? I saw the Google screen behind me. Kirsten is like, that's why I can't be a. You can't be a pilot, Kirsten, because you're like me.

[Ryan Sickler]

84.

[Howie Mandel]

June 8th, 1984. It opened, so I did it in 83.

[Ryan Sickler]

83. So how old are you in 83, though? In your 20s, really?

[Howie Mandel]

Gonna make me do math.

[Ryan Sickler]

I mean, you're 70 now, by the way.

[Howie Mandel]

You look 20s.

[Ryan Sickler]

27.

[Howie Mandel]

27.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm born at 55, man. Doing gizmo.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Did you audition for it, or was it just a hurdle gizmo? I did.

[Howie Mandel]

So I had done my buddy Frank Welker, who is the Mel Blanc of, like, he's everybody that you hear. He told me that they were, that, that Spielberg was producing a movie and they were doing it, and you do voices and you do. It was really funny. So I went to the audition, and it was in a building like we're in right now. I, I don't know. I won't say where you are, but there's other things here. This is not just a production facility.

[Ryan Sickler]

We turned it into that here.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah. But I think there's kind of a happy ending place downstairs anyway. The. But it was a building like this, and it turns out I didn't know that, that there was an OB gyn. There was a somebody, a casting person rented an office like this, and then right next door was a, a lady doctor. A doctor for ladies.

[Ryan Sickler]

And you're auditioning for Gizmo next door to that.

[Howie Mandel]

I didn't know. I go into the place and somebody wasn't having a good checkup. You know, I hear, like, a woman going like, oh, I don't know if they were. She was having a, like having a biopsy done or A pap smear or something. And I'm thinking, that doesn't seem like what they're going for here. But. But I. I went in, I auditioned, and they gave me the part.

[Ryan Sickler]

How. How quickly did you know?

[Howie Mandel]

In about a week.

[Ryan Sickler]

Wow.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's fast.

[Howie Mandel]

They show you a little. They showed us, you know, the movie was shot, so it's already shot. So the. I saw the little puppet.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, you saw him before everybody.

[Howie Mandel]

No, other people saw him first. I mean, the people who made the movie.

[Ryan Sickler]

The mass. The masses. You knew it was in that in.

[Howie Mandel]

In. In post production.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yes. Yeah.

[Howie Mandel]

So they let me and Frank. Frank got me the job. Frank Welker. And then I was. I was. I got to be some of the other gremlins, too. Like in the movie theaters when they're fighting. Oh, yeah, because I do that. I remember, like, I did a lot of a battle. Background sounds, but. But in 1990, my two friends who were Second City guys, and you've seen them in a lot of things, they said they have a development deal for a Saturday morning cartoon. We want to develop Bobby. And I said, bobby is filthy. It's not. And I know nothing about Saturday morning. And they said, well, let's just do it. And then we sat down and I had had my first child at that point, and they all had. They had kids. And we started telling, like, funny stories about ourselves and. And things that were happening to our kids, and we just wrote those, and then Bobby. And then things were going on before Rugrats. Right?

[Ryan Sickler]

Rugrats was.

[Howie Mandel]

They've said that they were inspired by my show. And so the things that were going on in our mind as opposed to what was happening. I mean, the first episode was going to Aunt Ruth's, and we all had a story about having to go to a grandmother's house or an aunt's house that always stunk. We always smelled it could always stink. That's so we. But we realized that our Saturday morning kind of vibe. We won awards. We won. We got nominated for Emmys and stuff like that. We told true stories. They were all true stories that either happened to me, my kids, or their kids.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, that's great.

[Howie Mandel]

And that went on for nine years. We were, like, the biggest selling Happy Meal for a while. But I've always ended up in things that I didn't plan on ending up. I didn't plan. Nobody's more surprised, thrilled, and excited to be doing what I'm doing today than me.

[Ryan Sickler]

I just love hearing that. I love that you're not Some curmudgeon who's just burnt by all of it. And over all of it, I can tell you genuinely mean it. I can see your. You're happy, your energies. Well, enjoy.

[Howie Mandel]

Another thing I try to maintain this is. This is my. My work, and what I do is my coping skill. I've been really open about my mental health, which is a struggle and has always been a struggle. And when you come from my generation, it's. You know, people didn't address it, and there's a stigma attached to it. And I didn't get diagnosed till I was in my 40s, but I realized that as busy as I am, and even if it's getting kicked in the nuts and knocked down, just. Just keep. You know, like Wayne Gretzky says, you miss every shot you don't take. You know, I just spend my day just taking shots. My life just taking shots. I'm always just shooting.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, I. I've heard you mention adhd, which I'd like to talk about in a sec. But I did know you had ocd, and the first time I'd sort of heard you had it. But I grew up also watching Stern, and I'm wrong a lot. But tell me if this memory is even close to it. I feel like you're on an episode there, as you were often. But this one time, I guess a guy was coming in to maybe fart the national anthem or something, and he accidentally. And they kicked him out. And then I saw Howard look at you look at the door, and he said, oh, you're trying to figure out how you're going to get out of here, because that guy touched the door. And then I believe he told everyone in there, if they opened that door for you, he was going to fire him. Am I even in the ballpark?

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah, you're in the ballpark. The truth is, the guy was from. He was touching his dick. He didn't. But he was touching his dick. And then he left. And then he saw that I was eyeing the door, and I couldn't. I asked them to help me with the door. They said, they're not going to help me with the door. I tried to reach it with a tissue. I tried to take a tissue. He said no. And then I started hyperventilating, and I thought I was going to pass out. And then I said to him, you know, and I thought we were in a commercial. I said to him, howard, honestly, I've just been diagnosed with this thing called, you know, obsessive compulsive disorder. And they've given me medication. I'm on medication, but I feel like I'm going to die now. You got to open the door or you're going to call 911. Opened the door and then I walked out in the hall and they were continuing talking and I realized the speakers in the hallway, they were still on the air. I had no idea they were on the air. And that devastation just washed over me in a second. Because being who I am from as. As old as I am, but that was in my 40s. But what I'm saying is being a child of the 50s, I was devastated because I thought, oh my God, I just told somebody that I have a mental health problem. Number one, my kids are going to be humiliated. We'll probably have to our names and go on a witness protection program, take them out of school, you know, And I was so. I was so distraught and. Or I'm going to have to. And nobody's ever going to give me a job. You know, when you sign on to do television show, you have a medical checkup and there's millions of dollars worth of insurance. Who's going to hire somebody who's just admitted that they have mental health problems? It's not, you know, I didn't.

[Ryan Sickler]

But also you're. You're saying that you had just recently been diagnosed officially with it, right by. I see. I didn't know. I just assumed this was something you knew about in your 20s or 30s that was all new to you.

[Howie Mandel]

I was giving. It was hell to live with me. You know, I had. I tell them as funny stories now, but they're not. They're not funny, you know. I built a. We'll call it a guest house, but it was really a Howie house. If my kid ever sneezed or coughed, I would move into another house on the property, which I built. Which is. Makes for a funny, entertaining story. But it was hard to maintain normalcy around me. So whether. If I was hiding from the kids and I made it seem like. Like it was somewhat normal, I'd go, listen, I gotta be on the road. If I catch a cold, I still gotta go out on the road. So I'm gonna go here. And if they touch things. And I always had hand sanitizers before there was Purell. And I had a doctor, a friend of mine, who was a surgeon who gave me the wash I had at my side. And I was always scrubbing down the kids and the. What. My wife finally gave me an ultimatum that if I didn't go get checked or Go get help. That she would leave. She would take the kids. So I got diagnosed, and lo and behold, it is something that somebody recognized. So I thought that was good, and they had some answers on how to cope. So I took that. But I was still. When I got diagnosed, as much as I felt relief knowing that maybe I can get some help and some coping skills and life wouldn't feel as miserable as it felt, I was embarrassed to say that I had a mental health problem. And then when it accidentally came out on the air, I thought, I'm even more devastated. And I was, like, ready to run into traffic there in New York. And as I came downstairs and onto the teeming street of Manhattan, some guy came up to me in my periphery and just said, are you Howie Mandela? And I said, yeah. And he goes, were you just on Howard? I go, yeah. And thinking, oh, my God, this is the end. And then he went, me, too. And I went, what do you mean, me too? What does that even mean? And he goes, I have obsessive compulsive. And it was so nice to hear you talk about it. That was the first time I had ever heard anybody or connect with anybody that has a similar situation. And then I started getting mail. Not email. That was before the Internet. I started getting mail, and then people started. And it's like when I hear somebody else say, you know, I have ocd, or I have. You know, I just. On my podcast this week, I have Billy Bob Thornton, you know, Billy Bob, who I'm a huge fan of, gave me call. I got a call from him, and we don't know each other, and I was so excited because I'm a fan of Landman. And I thought, oh, great. Maybe they want. They remember that I act, and they want me. And then he just said that he was. He was kind of moved by. He saw me. I became a spokesperson for a company called nocd. And he saw that ad, and he goes, I just want to tell you, you know, that's. It's great to see that you're out there and outspoken, and I have this, too. And I said, come on the podcast. And. And it's just so kind of comforting to know that you're not alone. You know, he suffers and has suffered his whole life. And, you know, the best. The first step is to be open about it and talk about it. And, you know, if you know somebody or if it's yourself, there is help out there, and there is. There are coping skills. And one of many of my coping skills besides therapy and medication, is distraction. And distraction by virtue of even doing this podcast. You know, just doing something. I don't. I don't need to do something. Well, I do mentally need to always have something to do. So I. Each and every day I get up and go from place to place and try to be as productive as possible until I want to fall over at the end of the night and try to get as much sleep as possible, which isn't a lot. And then I wake up and then I'm busy again. And whether I'm busy on social media or, you know, shooting AGT season 21 or doing a podcast or doing one. I did a podcast already this morning. One of mine.

[Ryan Sickler]

You did?

[Howie Mandel]

Well, I shot one for me, and then I had a meeting, like I've already done when you. I don't look at my calendar because that's also overwhelming, but I know what I'm going to do. I always know where I'm going to be, like three hours ahead of where I am. Am. You know, I'll go tape a show. Later on today. I'll tape. I got another show to tape. But. So that's it. But if I look at my schedule, because the people that work with me know that I just want to just fill. Fill up my calendar. Just fill it up. I don't want a day off. I don't want time, you know, or if I take the day off, then it's got to be a planned day off. Like, it's got. Let's go on a vacation with my family. Let me go here. Let's book a lunch. And then, you know, just not sitting doing nothing. I'm not good with myself, and I'm not good with quiet.

[Ryan Sickler]

Can we go back to the beginning, then? Obviously, you don't get diagnosed, so you say you're almost 40, but when do you know, hey, I got something going on here.

[Howie Mandel]

No, I never knew.

[Ryan Sickler]

You never?

[Howie Mandel]

Did you.

[Ryan Sickler]

Did you have rituals or anything like that?

[Howie Mandel]

I have rituals and horrible thoughts, and it is a nightmare.

[Ryan Sickler]

So it wasn't just a germ thing? You're having fun?

[Howie Mandel]

No. No. Intrusive, dark thoughts, the inability to these circular thoughts that I couldn't get out of checking the lock on a door for over an hour. For over an hour. For doing, like, just a fucking mess. Just a mess. And did I know that it was a diagnosable thing? No, I. And this is. What I said to Billy Bob told me the same thing. You just think like, this is fucking. Life is hard. Hard. It's just hard. It's just hard. It's not like I have these weird thoughts, but, you know, I don't want to share with anybody what this is. I don't want to tell anybody what this is. And I just be quiet and try to get from place to place because I also have, you know, adhd. As I told you. I have anxiety, I have depression. I have everything. I would like to, you know, it's. It's not a gift. People go to zero cd. You think it's helped you? No, no, it's not a gift. If it was a gift, I'd like to return, earn it. But it's. It's just.

[Ryan Sickler]

It's just I can't thank you enough for sitting there and saying this because there's so many people out there that see Howie Mandel on AGT or wherever, and they think this guy's got it all together and he's feeling perfect and his life's probably fantastic over there.

[Howie Mandel]

I think my life is fantastic.

[Ryan Sickler]

But they also think you got no problems. And that's the part.

[Howie Mandel]

So I don't think there's anybody alike. Listen. Well, you don't even.

[Ryan Sickler]

You know what I mean? Yeah.

[Howie Mandel]

This is the thing. Well, yeah, but I think life is a lot for a lot of people. I'm an advocate now for talking about mental health. I don't think anybody, you know, sometimes when you talk about OCD or these rituals or all these dark thoughts that can go in, then people go, I don't have that. But you know what? You will have nobody. There's a great T shirt or saying. From the time I can remember, shit happens. There's nobody that's going to go through life without shit happening. And most people don't, don't look for help. I always say, I hope we take care of our dental, our mental health, the way we take care of our dental health. You know, life is not perfect. You know, people die, relationships end. Workloads are heavy and sometimes not manageable. Sometimes you don't even have work, so you can't afford shit. Sometimes you, for whatever reason, you don't even know why you can't cope with your everyday life. You just sit there and you want to cry or you want it. You don't understand why you're depressed. A lot of times you know why you get diagnosed or somebody else gets diagnosed with something horrible. These are all normal things that happen in everybody's life, regardless of how well you're known, what you. How much money you have, how you know, it doesn't matter that's just part of humanity. So the fact that we try and don't subscribe to taking care of ourselves and giving ourselves some coping skills even before it happens or we know it happens, or your own dealing with your own mortality, you know, no matter how good you got it, as my friend Sharon Osborne says, you know, who's the richest, most famous guy in the graveyard? We're all the same. We're all just that dirt in the hole. So the truth of the matter is you have to. You have to figure out how to cope. And there are things in place that allow coping skills instead of it just coming up on you, you know, and a lot of this shit just comes up on you with. Without you being ready or prepared. But if you're not ready and prepared, a lot of people just go down to the depths of hell in their own minds with, and still don't think about getting help. You know, I say this so much, and it's always the same. But if you're in an office, in a cubicle and you say, my back's out, everybody will tell you about their chiropractor, or if you've got a toothache, they'll tell you about your dentist. If you just sit there and you can't function for no reason that you can, you know, think of, but you start crying or whatever, nobody really says, you better go to a psychiatrist or you better go to a therapist. And if you say, I just need an hour. I got to go see my psychiatrist outside of here in la, in New York and a couple of other big metropolitan areas, it's not. It's not really accepted. That's why, like, I. I love this company that I work with. No cd. It's an app. App. So everybody has access everywhere. It's fully insured. I'm not selling it. I'm just telling you that's what I loved about it. So if I have some thoughts about how I'm coping, I could just download this app, mostly insured, and get. And get schedule something where I can get maybe some telehealth right there or diagnosed or even therapy at any time. I need it anywhere. People don't even know where to go. But the first thing, like when you have a podcast like this, the first tool is the ability to. To talk. Even talking like this is therapeutic for me. Hopefully somebody listening says that was good for them, you know.

[Ryan Sickler]

But tell me how. Excuse me. As a man who's dealt with this your whole life, how are you?

[Howie Mandel]

Did you.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is it true you brought sheets and Things like, how are you traveling on the road for stand up and personal appearance. You're out there, you're on planes.

[Howie Mandel]

Dichotom. The dichotomy between what I do and what I have to do and how I live my life. But then I realized, you know, a big part of you said you still.

[Ryan Sickler]

You do that, though. You still.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah, like, I'll remove the. I remove the comforter. I know that's disgusting. And I carry a black light. You know, you can get it. I'm like, everything's like a crime.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'd be terrified to turn it on. I would be.

[Howie Mandel]

Well, why. But anyway. Yeah, no, I still deal with. With, you know, meet and greets. You know, I don't want to shake hands, but. And I don't. But I'm just saying, you know, the joy I get out of what I'm doing versus what I have to. There's something therapeutic about. The biggest form of therapy for OCD, or the big, most successful is exposure therapy. So just by virtue of what I do, I'm exposing myself. But it's not comfortable. And, you know, for some. Somebody who could, you know, I understand one of the most famous people that was afflicted with this was Howard Hughes, who, as productive as he was and smart as he was, ended his life at the end of his life. He was naked in the fetal position, peeing into bottles and locked in a room. That doesn't sound so bad to me. And I'm pretty. There are times when it's really bad that I'm close to that. So, you know, I guess it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Howie Mandel]

And I fight it all the time.

[Ryan Sickler]

When do you realize you also have adhd? At the same time? Are you diagnosed with both at the same time? You were.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah. Yeah. I don't have.

[Ryan Sickler]

What's the difference for you?

[Howie Mandel]

Like, from what?

[Ryan Sickler]

What's the. You said ocd. I always. I'm. I'm wrong a lot and ignorant. I always thought it was a germ thing. But you're saying no, I'd have intrusive thoughts. Your adhd, how does that affect.

[Howie Mandel]

No, OCD is obsessive compulsive disorder. It's the inability to move. A thought comes in, and whether it's a negative, dark thought or whether it's the thought of you having some germ on your hand that you want to get rid of, or whether it's the thought of you locking your door, or whether it's the thought of worry. And they could be thoughts that anybody could identify with, but a person that doesn't have ocd. That's why I hate when people go, I have a little ocd. It keeps going and it's like a broken record and you can't stop it even though, you know, listen, I. I'm okay. I've washed my hands. 30.

[Ryan Sickler]

So again, I'm going to ask a stupid question. How does a person who obsesses over things have an attention deficit? That's. I don't. Does what I'm asking make sense?

[Howie Mandel]

It's really hard. It's really hard for me to focus for any length of time on the amount of time it reared its ugly head in school. Most when you think back on it. Like, it is kind of ridiculously insane that our curriculum right now for absolutely everybody is to sit from 9 o' clock in the morning till 3 o' clock in the afternoon at a fucking desk and listen to 99.9% of the shit that they don't even tell you how this fits into your life. So to have ADHD on top of that, man, I couldn't even hear what was happening in the classroom. I can't sit still. And even to this day, my wife will say to me, maybe once or twice a day, do you have to pee? Because I don't. I'm just moving. I can't. I can't focus. This is good that we have a chair that swivels here, you know, it's really hard for me to sit even for this amount of time, and it's hard. And I have an office. I have a big warehouse here in the Valley. It's a production office. I don't have an office. You know, I spend the whole day, I just wander from room to room and place to place, and I'm up on my feet and I just. I can't. It's hard for me to just, just. And that's why sitting in a cockpit, just, you know, being really focused and watching the altimeter and watching this and watching all the gauges and just focusing right here and right here and right here is really hard after about 20 minutes. And there's no getting up and walking around or doing, or swiveling or going, you know, I don't. I want to look at that, you know. So that's why Tesla has been a savior for me because, you know, I just plug in the address and sit back and Elon takes me there.

[Ryan Sickler]

So then, would it be fair to say maybe you've never done the same set A to Z in the sense that, like, how do you focus on an Hour set.

[Howie Mandel]

My set is pretty. So obviously after 50 years now in the, in the business, I have a plethora of material that I know, and I, and I write notes and things like that. Where's my phone? Did I lose my phone, Rich? Did I not bring my phone? Just. What? Oh, shit. Oh, there it is. Well, there it is. I just realized in the middle of this, I got. But what was the question?

[Ryan Sickler]

The question about how you was an adhd.

[Howie Mandel]

It is you just a great answer you just witnessed. I wasn't trying to be funny. I wasn't trying to do anything, but welcome to Howie Mandel. But I, I, I, I have material and I could jump around. Not always the same order. I look, you know, I think a lot of people do crowd work. I've always done crowd work because crowd works work. I'd be doing something and then somebody would yell out something, and then I'd yell to them and I would start a conversation, and that's it. And then I could get back into the flow of whatever my act is.

[Ryan Sickler]

And then I sort of felt natural to you with that then, huh?

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah, because I pulled it. Pulled my attention.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Howie Mandel]

You know, and it's. Whereas, you know, a lot of people just want to do their act. Even if I just want to do my act. As soon as you yell out, my brain is off my act. So then I'm. I have to find my way back to my act. So I. Until I found my way back to my act, I talked. It's really bad that I have this in my hand now, because now I want to scroll.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, you have two things going on. I'm gonna ask three. What's the other one? Adhd, ocd. What's the third one?

[Howie Mandel]

Depression.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, and the depression.

[Howie Mandel]

Anxiety, anxiety, anxiety.

[Ryan Sickler]

When are you at your worst? Let me ask you that first. When do these all collide together? Is there a time where you're like.

[Howie Mandel]

But it's not a time. It's like, I don't know what triggers it. I'm afraid that's why I don't shake hands. Not because I, I believe. And intellectually, I could shake your hand and not get sick or whatever. I'm so afraid of being triggered because that spiral is a dark hole. That's a hell that you just get.

[Ryan Sickler]

How were you during COVID I was horrible. So I freaked the out.

[Howie Mandel]

Freaked out. And I started taking. I couldn't sleep, so I started taking gummies. And then I took a ton of gummies. And then I took gummies, gummies, and smoked and then I took gummies, smoked and drank until I was unconscious, and my wife was gonna take me to hospital. So since the end of COVID I've been sober. I don't even have beer. I can't have a little bit of anything. So I was just.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is that right?

[Howie Mandel]

I was just. Even with. Yeah, it was horrible. But. But now I'm. This is it. I take Diet Coke.

[Ryan Sickler]

When are you at your best, then? When do you feel like I got this? Today. I know it's a Probably.

[Howie Mandel]

I don't. You don't ever know because I distract myself. I don't think about. I don't think about how I'm doing or what I'm. This. This is the most I've thought about it. I just distract myself, and I do whatever the.

[Ryan Sickler]

The.

[Howie Mandel]

The business at hand is. You know, if. If it's doing a podcast and talking to you. I'll answer your questions. I'll promote AGT season 21.

[Ryan Sickler]

21.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah. And I'll. I'll. You know, no CD. No CD. I wasn't even promoting that. But that's a real. It's been a C for a lot of people.

[Ryan Sickler]

I want people to know about that.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah. And then. And then, you know, and just do that. But if you sit and ruminate on how. How you're doing, I think then you're calling attention to how you're doing. So ruminating on whatever could possibly trigger me and how I've been is not the answer. So not that I know you want to talk about it, but I kind of can talk about it and think about the words that I need to articulate whatever I'm articulating without really ruminating on exactly how that feels and what that is. Because I can also. I can spiral and.

[Ryan Sickler]

Are these genetic?

[Howie Mandel]

I'm not a doctor. I don't know. I mean, I've never told you, though, like, there's studies that say it's genetic. I'm not one to talk about. I could just tell you how I feel.

[Ryan Sickler]

Do you remember seeing anything with your mom or dad around the house, or do you have siblings that make you chill? My kids.

[Howie Mandel]

I have two kids that are pretty obviously and have been diagnosed with ocd. I have three kids. I have three kids and three grandchildren. But two of them are, I think, have this, you know, and. And. But we're pretty open about going.

[Ryan Sickler]

Good.

[Howie Mandel]

Talk to therapists. And I do a. I do a podcast with my daughter. She's my co host. She's. No, she's great. She's brilliant. She was a teacher and she's a mom of two and. But I gave her a gift, I guess.

[Ryan Sickler]

I mean, I am blown away because just, you know, I don't have either of these. I've got my own shit. But to go through just day to day life, it sounds like hell for a lot of people.

[Howie Mandel]

People don't really understand it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Jump into the world you have. And to be successful too.

[Howie Mandel]

I have a little bit of it, you know, I like everything in order. I'm persnickety or I like it ne have a little bit. I wish I had a little bit. It is torture. And it is. And, and. And you know, it's ebbs and flows, you know, right now in life, it's flowing, but it es eb is the downswing, right? I think.

[Ryan Sickler]

So when do you. And you don't even know when it's coming?

[Howie Mandel]

No, no, no. If I did, I'd get out of the way.

[Ryan Sickler]

But can you recognize it though, now like you are? That's.

[Howie Mandel]

That's the key to that, was be the first step to getting out of that spiral is to say, hey, this is what it is. You know, identify it and then deal with it. Just say, oh, this is. This, you know, this is. You want to know what it is? That's as it goes with anything that hurts, bothers, or you know, is a problem. You need to identify it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, you said something about the Billy Bob thing too. Like, I didn't. It's very interesting to me that when you're, when you think like this, there isn't a part of you that goes, I know this isn't normal. You just think it is. And man, life's hard.

[Howie Mandel]

No, no. What's horrible is having the intellectual wherewithal to know that this is not normal.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay, you do that totally.

[Howie Mandel]

But you can't control yourself.

[Ryan Sickler]

I see.

[Howie Mandel]

So like when you're going back to the door for the 80th time or the 8th time and you know you've checked the door seven times, I'm not oblivious, but I can't stop myself. The compulsion, the word compulsion. I'm obsessing and it's a compulsion. And even though I know I've checked the door, I've checked the door, I've checked the door. I can't stop checking the door. I can't stop checking the door until I'll smash my fist against the door and maybe break a knuckle or break the skin open so there's blood. So maybe that'll stop me because I Know, I. But then I think that now I broke the door.

[Ryan Sickler]

I might have just punched the lock. I might have just ruined a lot. Yeah.

[Howie Mandel]

Ruined the lock. So I'm gonna try again. And now I've over shaken it. You can always find stuff, but you

[Ryan Sickler]

can't do it like three or four times a night. I was worried about myself. But you're like, man, go yourself when

[Howie Mandel]

it stops, your life, when you can't show up someplace, okay. It becomes. It overtakes whatever. When you're in it, it overtakes. There's nothing else. You can't function.

[Ryan Sickler]

There's ever been things you, you had to cancel because.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah, meetings, things with my kids, missed planes, my daughter. We were on our way to a family vacation and my daughter crossed her legs in the backseat of a limo and the bottom of her shoe hit just a little part of my calf on my pants. And it triggered me. And I had to go home. I couldn't get on the plane. And we were late. We had to get another flight. You know, they'll tell you about it. It's not pretty. That's probably the last thing that happened before my wife goes, I'm not gonna do this anymore.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay. All right. So it was affecting a lot of things, even down.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah. And you know, it's funny because even now, like, somebody will. I'll go meet somebody and they'll extend their hand and I go like this and they'll go, sorry, sorry. No, I forgot, I forgot I should know. And I always say, don't be sorry. Nobody, nobody has to live in my world. My world's a fucked up world. My coping skills is I got to figure out how to live in everybody's world. Right. I have to work. Don't feel bad because you don't, you can't, you don't. You're not fitting into my craziness.

[Ryan Sickler]

So, growing up in high school, did you date? Were you.

[Howie Mandel]

No, I didn't have friends. I didn't have friends. I was 4 foot 10, you know, I didn't have. I didn't have people who, you know, liked me. And because part of my ADHD and all the other stuff, I'm incredibly impulsive, which has helped me in comedy, maybe, but I don't think of what I'm doing. So I was. I would do like outrageous things or because I couldn't sit anymore, I would stand up, you know, and make noises and people would laugh at me, not with me. And because I didn't have friends, it wasn't like I, I Said, hey, watch this, watch what I'm going to do. Which would make more sense. It was just like I was a spectacle and I got thrown out of three different high schools. I have no damn.

[Ryan Sickler]

Did you really?

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah, I don't have a G4 welcome to me. But they said I had, I was a, I was a behavioral, you know, disruptor.

[Ryan Sickler]

Are you saying Howie Mandel doesn't have a high school diploma or a ged?

[Howie Mandel]

No.

[Ryan Sickler]

Also good for you.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Also good for you not achieving.

[Howie Mandel]

Well, I don't know that. I don't know that school is important.

[Ryan Sickler]

I hear you. I, my daughter's mom and I disagree about college these days. Trust me on that.

[Howie Mandel]

Well, here's what I will give college. I think there is something to be said for getting out on your own and learning the social skills street and the independence other and all that, you

[Ryan Sickler]

know, everything else, you know, and being

[Howie Mandel]

around there and getting out of your bubble. But to think that college is going to get you further ahead once you leave college, college is a great way to postpone your life. You know, I don't think, you know, aside from. I take that back. If you, if you, if, you know,

[Ryan Sickler]

that's what we talk, judge, lawyer, doctor,

[Howie Mandel]

whatever, something, something specific that has a technical skill skill, then that's where you go to learn it. But if you're taking, you know, communications or something like that, you're not going to, it's not going to get you another dollar more even if, you know, you could learn right now just carrying this, you could learn how to code, you could learn how to use, you know, AI, you could do whatever you want to do and you will be ahead by four years of anybody else that goes to college. And the fact that they overcharge. Everybody wants these labeled colleges, you know, they want to go to Yale and Harvard and spend all this money, put themselves in debt. It's not even worth. That's why we're getting less and less doctors because it just costs too much and it's too hard and we really need to do something about this. And we don't learn and we don't learn. Forget about fucking college. I was saying to my wife, you know, it's amazing, I kind of made sure that I was supported. Business is a big part of my life. You know, I like real estate and I like businesses and I have kind of an entrepreneurial spirit. And because Monopoly, like was one of my favorite games, I loved it. And that kind of taught you something. And the fact that we don't learn from Second grade or third grade math? Why don't you teach math as far as dollars? Thank you. So that there's, it's experiential.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yes.

[Howie Mandel]

You know, If I see 5 and 5, 5 is 10. So what does that mean? Well, I'd rather know that if I have a nickel, if I have 5 cents and have 5 cents, I have 10 cents. And with 10 cents I could buy this. With 5 cents I can only buy this. And then all of a sudden it becomes more interesting to somebody rather than just these numbers and memorizing, you know, 5 and 5 is 10 or the 5 times table, you're just memorizing it, but it doesn't mean anything. Nothing means anything. So we don't teach economy, we don't teach our. We don't teach coding, we don't teach anything that has to do. Maybe when you get college and you have to make a decision at 16 years old or 17 years old, where you have to pick a major, which is ridiculous, to pick the path that you want at 16 or 17 that you're gonna have, it's up. So you know what the best thing that ever happened to me is I was thrown out and I was forced to leave and do something and pay my own rent. And that's what happened. And I bought a car and I, you know, I, I ended up raising money. I became a salesman. That's. Which is basically what I do now, you know, and, and I don't, I

[Ryan Sickler]

don't believe in college every single thing you're saying.

[Howie Mandel]

Let me get your wife.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yes. No, we are not married. It's my daughter's mom. However, I want to go back to this.

[Howie Mandel]

Why can't I talk to her?

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, you said wife. That was the only thing I was correcting. You could definitely talk.

[Howie Mandel]

Okay. Because she, she hates you, not me.

[Ryan Sickler]

Right. So during your high school tenure, not one teacher ever said, hey, come here. Not one, not one recognized anything.

[Howie Mandel]

Not in the 60s or early 70s. You're talking about a who. Different time. Yeah. You know when, when you do things like I did, it was just ridiculously. Some of them are funny. They're funny stories right now, but they were jaw droppingly shocking and horrible, like throwing chocolate bars in the pool so it looked like people shit in the pool. And then I did it. Yeah. And this is before Caddy.

[Ryan Sickler]

I was going to say Caddyshack way before that.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah. If you look at 1979, you look at. Make me laugh. You can see me talking about doing it in high school.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh yeah.

[Howie Mandel]

In 19. And that's way. That' before Caddyshack. But when people would gather around the pool at the end of the day to see all the. In the pool, I would dive in and come up with it in my mouth. This didn't make you shut up.

[Ryan Sickler]

How old are you?

[Howie Mandel]

I was like 14, 15. But, but, but, but you would come

[Ryan Sickler]

up with it in your.

[Howie Mandel]

But everybody would go, oh, gross. The grossest guy you know. You want to fit in. I didn't have a friend that went, oh, that's really cool. So just the lone kid with no

[Ryan Sickler]

friends doing that for yourself. Last question before I want you to promote everything again, please. Is advice you're giving to 16 year old Howie Mandel.

[Howie Mandel]

Oh, don't worry, be happy. It's the song. But it's also don't worry. You know, I think that the best advice I give everybody and give myself is don't think. Thinking is overrated. Don't fucking think, just do. That's. I think Nike says that. But, but the point is that I think instinctually everything I've done out of insight, instinct has worked out. And even if it didn't work out, I got something so great out of it, whether it was a lesson or whatever, but you can always think yourself out of giving yourself a reason to not do it. I mean, as a kid like that growing up in Toronto.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Howie Mandel]

Thinking nobody's in show business. Thinking that one day I'll go to California and make a living by putting a rubber glove on his head and I'll be able to so. And then he'll be doing it till he's 70, in his 70s.

[Ryan Sickler]

I was going to say make a career out of her six.

[Howie Mandel]

It doesn't make sense. But you know, I never thought about it and I didn't think about it about that I'd be a Saturday morning cartoon. And I never thought about the idea of being a game show host. And I never thought about being a judge on agt. And I never thought about.

[Ryan Sickler]

How did that come to you?

[Howie Mandel]

That came to me when. When Deal or no Deal finished. My buddy Jeff Gaspin, who was the president of NBC Universal at the time, said, how would you like to be a judge? The show was already going. I took David Hasselhoff's place. Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

You took the Hall's place.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah. I think they wanted an H there. They had already had the H for, you know, I don't know if you watch the show, but we lines with all our names, they had already had an H, so.

[Ryan Sickler]

And you got the H, Bro. Man, thank you so much. Please, one more time. Let's talk about AGT.

[Howie Mandel]

AGT season 21 starts June 2nd.

[Ryan Sickler]

No, CD starts every day. Go check that out.

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah, and my podcast, Howie Mandel does stuff.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yes.

[Howie Mandel]

Every Tuesday we drop a new one.

[Ryan Sickler]

Are you doing any, like, live performances?

[Howie Mandel]

Like, go to howiemandel.com and you'll find out where I am. But even when I. I do a lot and I tour all over, and then when I'm not touring, I drop in at the clubs every night. Do you do that?

[Ryan Sickler]

I do, but I haven't been there in a second. I just had a Netflix show for the festival. Did you do anything for the festival?

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah, I dropped in a lot of places, but I dropped in, like, tonight I'll be at the. I drop in at the Comedy Store, Laugh Factory, Improv, all of those.

[Ryan Sickler]

I love that. You still love it.

[Howie Mandel]

Dude, that's my favorite thing to do. If you said pick one thing, Stand up, stand up.

[Ryan Sickler]

No doubt. Can I touch it up with you? Yeah.

[Howie Mandel]

There you go.

[Ryan Sickler]

Thank you. As always, Ryan Sickler on all your social media. We'll talk to you all next week.

[Howie Mandel]

Sa.