Podcast One Host Adam Carolla - SAS CLASSIC

Summary

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The Steve Austin Show – SAS Classic: Adam Carolla

Date: April 17, 2025
Host: Steve Austin
Guest: Adam Carolla

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Steve Austin Show features a deep-dive conversation with Adam Carolla, famed comedian, pioneering podcaster, radio host, filmmaker, and former carpenter. Live from Hollywood, Steve and Adam cover Carolla's unconventional journey—from blue-collar beginnings and comedic aspirations to podcasting stardom and independent film projects. The show delves into Adam's unique sense of humor, his path to success despite learning to read and write late in life, his boxing and football background, fatherhood, and entrepreneurial ventures like Mangria. Throughout, listeners are treated to Carolla’s sharp wit, candid storytelling, and unfiltered philosophy on life, work, and comedy.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Adam Carolla’s Unconventional Start in Entertainment

• Early Days as a Carpenter/Boxing Trainer
  • Adam shares his blue-collar roots in Pasadena, living in Hollywood with no parking, little money, and a succession of stolen trucks ([02:27]–[06:47]).
  • Ingenious strategies to avoid theft, like painting his Sony stereo brown:

    “The people who rip off car stereos aren't audiophiles… They're gonna sell it for 40 bucks and get a hit of crack. If you paint it brown, they can't sell it.” — Adam Carolla ([04:32])

• First Meeting with Jimmy Kimmel
  • Tries repeatedly to get into radio, finally meeting Kimmel in the station lobby; hit off immediately, trading training sessions for conversations about comedy ([08:03]–[08:40]).
  • Carolla and Kimmel’s “perfect symbiotic relationship” started with little boxing, a lot of Snapple, and talking comedy.

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2. Drive to Comedy and “Secret Shame”

• Motivation Rooted in Discontent
  • Adam explains his turn to comedy sprang from misery and lack of prospects, not childhood trauma ([10:11]–[11:23]):

    “If my dad owned a successful unfinished furniture manufacturing plant...I’d probably still be sitting in that office, but I was living in an apartment with three dudes and...I was miserable.” — Adam Carolla ([10:11])

• Reading and Writing Difficulties
  • Openly discusses never learning to read/write as a kid, masking the issue for years, learning only in his 30s once in radio ([12:03]–[13:28]):

    “I never learned to read or write as a kid...It became my secret shame. And I sort of hid it after that.” — Adam Carolla ([12:03])

• Surviving and Thriving in Blue-Collar Life
  • Surrounded by working-class guys, cash transactions, and physical labor—a lifestyle requiring little reading/writing ([16:21]–[17:26]).

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3. Comedy Fundamentals and Improv Lessons

• Groundlings Training and ‘Yes, and’
  • Attends Groundlings improv to hone comedic skills; breaks down “yes and” technique and rules against negation:

    "You never deny, you never ask a question… They drill it into you.” — Adam Carolla ([19:33])

• Comedic Sleight of Hand
  • Shares insights on turning everyday topics into extended routines with subtle shifts—a craft so practiced it appears seamless ([21:40]–[22:41]).

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4. Living With Hypervigilance

• Sensory Processing and Comedy
  • Describes his ‘hypervigilance’—extreme awareness, distractibility—which aids his observational comedy but drives his wife nuts:

    "I sleep with eye shade, I put earplugs in, and I get drunk. Otherwise, I don't go to bed because I'm too alert… It's hard to shut off and I don't mind it because I'm living in it, but it'll drive my wife nuts."— Adam Carolla ([22:41]–[23:52])

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5. Independent Filmmaking and ‘Road Hard’

• Crowdfunding and Hollywood Realities
  • Discusses raising funds for his movie Road Hard through fundanything.com, satirizing the fading glory of comics with past development/holding deals now forced onto the stand-up circuit ([26:23]–[29:19]).
  • Humor in producing fundraising videos, including cameos from Bryan Cranston who, in the comedic sketch, refuses to be in Adam’s movie ([31:17]–[32:37]).
  • Explains the perks for backers: blu-rays, scripts, premiere access, or even a role in the film ([32:45]–[33:27]).

    “It’s not a donation… You get an advanced copy, you can be in the movie if you want to pay enough. It’s all tiered out.” — Adam Carolla ([32:55])

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6. Balancing Multiple Roles: Podcasts, Stand-Up, Television, Acting

• Variety as Antidote To Burnout
  • Loves the unpredictability of show business and variety, likening it to rotating favorite foods ([34:02]–[35:43]):

    “You never do anything long enough to get sick of it.” — Adam Carolla ([35:43])

• Live Performance vs. Podcasting
  • No nerves before live shows, just an obligation not to disappoint audiences; repetition is key to handling tough crowds ([36:08]–[38:13]).

    “Your range shouldn’t be between sucks ass and great—it should be between decent and great.” — Adam Carolla ([36:59])

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7. Boxing and Athleticism

• Boxing Background
  • Golden Gloves competitor in the ‘80s, but knew he’d never go pro—enjoyed the discipline as a hobby, not a career ([38:41]–[39:28]).
• Training Approach and Lessons
  • Champions humility, technique, and focusing on weaknesses in training—parallels with comedy’s discipline ([40:19]–[41:43]).
  • Still trains others, skips rope, shadow boxes, but doesn’t spar due to injuries ([41:45]–[42:49]).

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8. Fatherhood, Grit, and Modern Schooling

• Culture Shock: Schools in LA Today
  • Questions about school safety, Carolla laments the lack of grit and abundance of “walking recesses” and coddling ([44:58]–[46:15]):

    “Everything’s about hydration and not exerting… it drives me insane.” — Adam Carolla ([45:27])

• Letting Kids Play Football
  • Believes football builds toughness; being “a pussy” lasts a lifetime, while a dislocated finger heals ([46:19]):

    “I say, dislocated finger—that lasts three weeks. Being a pussy, that’s a lifetime sentence.” — Adam Carolla ([46:19])

  • Shares strict, old-school football coaching anecdotes from his own youth ([47:38]–[48:24]).

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9. Football Career and Academic Struggles

• Junior College Realities
  • Was a standout in high school; quickly realized junior college football was another level ([51:13]–[52:08]).
  • Hilarious bits about teammates, abrasive coaches, and quitting football after realizing his limitations ([54:56]–[57:54]).
• How Adam Gained His Intelligence
  • Candid about being an “auditory learner”—absorbing everything by listening to talk radio and people speak, not by reading ([58:24]):

    “Everything I absorbed, I did it audibly. I never read anything and absorbed it. I would just listen.” — Adam Carolla ([58:24])

  • Placed in advanced algebra without ever taking it—“had a good math mind, just couldn’t read or write” ([58:24]–[60:22]).

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10. Life Now: Hobbies and Business

• Vintage Car Racing & Mechanics
  • Loves collecting and racing Paul Newman’s old cars; satisfaction from restoring and campaigning them ([60:35]–[62:12]).
• Mangria—A Boozy Business
  • Invented Mangria (a wine-based cocktail) by improvisation at home; business grew after Kimmel’s endorsement and a Napa distiller’s help ([64:10]–[65:37]):

    “About a cup and a half later, I got a pretty good buzz going!” — Steve Austin ([64:27])

  • Tours include Mangria tastings, merging business with comedy shows.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with timestamps)

• “The people who rip off car stereos aren't audiophiles… If you paint it brown, they can't sell it.”
  — Adam Carolla ([04:32])

• “I never learned to read or write as a kid...It became my secret shame.”
  — Adam Carolla ([12:03])

• “You never deny, you never ask a question… They drill it into you.”
  — Adam Carolla ([19:33])

• “I sleep with eye shade, put earplugs in, and I get drunk. Otherwise, I don't go to bed because I'm too alert.”
  — Adam Carolla ([23:04])

• “It’s not a donation… You get an advanced copy, you can be in the movie if you want to pay enough.”
  — Adam Carolla ([32:55])

• “Your range shouldn’t be between sucks ass and great—it should be between decent and great.”
  — Adam Carolla ([36:59])

• “I say, dislocated finger—that lasts three weeks. Being a pussy, that’s a lifetime sentence.”
  — Adam Carolla ([46:19])

• “Everything I absorbed, I did it audibly. I never read anything and absorbed it. I would just listen.”
  — Adam Carolla ([58:24])

• “About a cup and a half later, I got a pretty good buzz going!”
  — Steve Austin on Mangria ([64:27])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:17] — Introduction to Adam Carolla
• [02:12] — Adam’s boxing & Kimmel origins story
• [12:03] — Confessions about not learning to read/write
• [15:16] — Discovering the Groundlings and improv philosophy
• [22:41] — Living with hypervigilance & comedic focus
• [26:23] — Discussion of ‘Road Hard’ and crowdfunding
• [36:08] — Live performance, repetition, and nerves
• [38:41] — Adam’s amateur boxing history
• [44:58] — Discussion about LA schools, fatherhood, grit
• [52:08] — Football, junior college, and quitting sports
• [58:24] — How Adam learned and became “smart” through listening
• [60:35] — Car racing and collecting Paul Newman’s cars
• [64:10] — The invention of Mangria

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Tone and Language

True to form, the conversation is unfiltered, direct, and filled with Carolla’s signature blend of sharp observational humor mixed with sincere, blue-collar candor. The dynamic is informal, good-natured, and often self-deprecating, marked by Steve Austin’s gravel-voiced enthusiasm and curiosity.

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Final Thoughts

This classic episode offers a fascinating glimpse into Adam Carolla’s journey from the working class to entertainment leadership, candidly discussing failures, blue-collar ingenuity, and the continued hustle. It’s equal parts funny, motivational, and surprisingly heartfelt—offering both nostalgia for longtime fans and life/career inspiration for new listeners.

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Transcript

[Carvana Representative]

Thanks for selling your car to Carvana. Here's your check.

[Adam Carolla]

Whoa. When did I get here?

[Carvana Representative]

What do you mean?

[Steve Austin]

I swear it was just moments ago that I accepted a great offer from Carvana online.

[Adam Carolla]

I must have time traveled to the future.

[Carvana Representative]

It was just moments ago. We do same day pickup. Here's your check for that great offer.

[Adam Carolla]

It is the future. It's.

[Carvana Representative]

It's the present. And just the convenience of Carvana. Sorry to blow your mind.

[Steve Austin]

It's all good.

[Adam Carolla]

Happens all the time.

[Carvana Representative]

Sell your car the convenient way to Carvana.

[Adam Carolla]

Pick up.

[Carvana Representative]

Times may vary and fees may apply.

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[Adam Carolla]

Podcast one presents the Steve Austin Show. Classics.

[Steve Austin]

Adam Carolla. Without any further ado, brother, welcome to the show.

[Adam Carolla]

Wow, that was awesome. That felt good. That really felt good. And I gotta tell you, Steve, you, for a guy who didn't start out doing this for a living, have slid into it like a well worn slipper.

[Steve Austin]

You know, it's interesting though, when I go to your show and watch all the wheels in motion, it's very impressive. And you come off. Cause I mean, there'll be many times when I'll be at the house and I'll hit that damn record button and I'll start hemming and hawing and then I'll start stuttering and stopping. Push a stop button. And you know, finally my wife will yell at me because it's getting late at night. She'll say, would you stop hitting the stop button and just let it flow. But when I go to see you in action and hear your show, it's just absolutely seamless. And you've been doing this for a long time. I mean, you're one of the original podcast guys. But you got your start in radio, correct?

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah, I got my start many years ago training Jimmy Kimmel to box for a boxing match that all. My audience knows this story, but your audience probably doesn't Know this story. Might be interested by this.

[Steve Austin]

I would love to hear it.

[Adam Carolla]

I was working for a place called Bodies in Motion in Pasadena. I was driving a pickup truck. No supercharger, just a Nissan. Long bed, standard cab, bench seat, no rear, no headrests. The headrest was the rear window. So. And it was a funny car because I lived not too far from here in Hollywood. But Hollywood was pretty dicey in the early, early 90s, late 80s, early 90s. It got all rejuvenated down here and gentrified, as we like to call it. But it was. It was pretty dicey back then. And I lived with my girlfriend up on Franklin street, just about a mile from here, and had to park on the street. Had to park my pickup on the street. We didn't have parking for the. We didn't. For the apartment. There was no garage. And I didn't have insurance because I was. I was poor. I was a carpenter, but I was trying to be a comedian. So between the two, I really didn't have enough for car insurance. So I went down to the Pep Boys, and for three bucks, I bought a toggle switch. And I put that toggle switch on my fuel pump. And when I would come pulling in, probably about a block, there was always a marker I used because that thing was carbureted and it had a fuel bowl in it. And if I left enough fuel in it, you could start it up and drive it a quarter mile, right? So as I was coming in about a quarter mile away, I'd reach down between my legs, in between the bench seat on the floor, and I'd flip this toggle switch and it would cut the fuel pump and hopefully would start bucking. Just about the time I was pulling in in front of the apartment building, that pickup truck got stolen three times. And each time it got stolen, I walked and found it. I literally. My biggest. I had to walk out of the apartment when it was stolen. And I lived in another apartment in North Hollywood, and it was stolen as well. I walked out of the apartment and I had to figure out which way I was pointing. And then I went. I was pointing up Franklin or down Franklin. Oh, I came in and I would just start walking. And I would start walking about 100 yards. I'd find it just sitting there. And it had the thing that was crazy, too, is the only thing I was worth nothing. I had no. No possessions in my name. The only thing that was good in my life is that thing was an 84 Nissan pickup. Had a Sony digital stereo in It. And that back when people used to steal rip off car stereo, that was a digital Sony the guy had put in. And that thing was worth 500 bucks, probably more than the truck. And I knew that thing was going to get ripped off in Hollywood, too. So I did what I had to do, which is I put a little piece of tape over the digital readout and I painted it brown. And everyone says, why'd you spray paint your stereo brown? And I said, so it wouldn't get ripped off. And they said, how's that prevent it from being ripped off? And I said, the people who rip off car stereos aren't audiophiles. They don't go, oh, I want to upgrade my car stereo. They're junkies. They're fucking junkies. And they're going to sell it for 40 bucks and they're going to get a hit of crack. If you paint it brown, they can't sell it.

[Steve Austin]

It's not so enticing or appealing.

[Adam Carolla]

It's not enticing or appealing. So I painted it brown. And not only would my truck get stolen, I would go find the truck down the street with the stereo still in it. Eventually, because the ignition was a dealer item, I said, screw it, I can't pay for a new ignition. I would start my car with a flathead screwdriver. Had a little Sears Craftsman. The short boy, right? Little stubby one, just put it in there and just cranked that thing right over. And one time some cops, well, cops saw me driving around with no ignition in the car. Oh, no. And thought, I know it's all part of my white privilege. Thought I'd stolen the car. They pulled me out of the car and they said, what's going on? I said, I was the victim of a crime. My car got stolen. I just went and got it. And they said, what do you mean, just went and got it? I said, well, I got a fuel cutoff switch here. And they said, well, why is your stereo brown? And I said, so it wouldn't get stolen. He said, how's that going to. I said, guys steal it and then they sell it. And the guy, both cops looked at each other and went, wow, that's the smartest thing I ever seen. I'm going to tell everyone back at the precinct. And they just got in the car and left.

[Steve Austin]

Well, that's the last thing you want to do when you get that shiny new stereo is paint it so it looks like shit.

[Adam Carolla]

But to your point, I could listen to my tunes. I was listening to Molly Hatchet And I had my digital readout. I didn't spray over the digital readout part. I could tell what that was. And other than that, was just tuning in volume. So I was driving that thing, and I was leaving the gym, and I was driving over the hill, over on this side of the hill to install entertainment unit in someone's house that I built for them. I was building cabinets and teaching boxing in the morning, and I heard Jimmy on the radio talking about he was doing the sports, and he said that Bobby McFerrin broke his leg. The don't worry, be happy guy. Yeah, I'm sure he was unhappy about breaking his leg on a ski slope. And he paused, he said, what's a brother doing skiing? That's the problem. And then the one black dude who worked at the radio station ran in and said, what are you talking about? And he said, black guy shouldn't be skiing. And next thing you know, there was a fight, and they said, settle it in the ring. And then they said, we need trainers. We need equipment. We need everything. And I was driving my truck, going, I'm a boxing trainer. I could train one of these dudes. Not Jimmy, just one of them.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Adam Carolla]

And I see what the inside of a radio station is.

[Steve Austin]

You're just looking for a gig.

[Adam Carolla]

I just want a gig. I want to see what it looks like inside that station. And I called him, and I called him, and I called him, and I called them again, and they never returned my calls. And eventually, I drove down to the radio station and just waited around in the lobby till somebody came down. And that somebody was Jimmy.

[Steve Austin]

Did you guys just hit it off right off the bat?

[Adam Carolla]

Right off. We had a perfect symbiotic relationship, which is he didn't want to train and I didn't want to train him. I want to talk comedy. And he wanted to drink Snapples and eat and talk comedy with me.

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Adam Carolla]

So we trained for about 10 minutes, and then I'd go, why don't we go upstairs? There's a sandwich joint. We could have a Snapple and talk strategy. And then I would just talk to him about comedy the whole time. And we just sat there and talked comedy.

[Steve Austin]

But how old were you back then?

[Adam Carolla]

I was. I was 29. And I'd always promised myself when I turned 30, I'd be doing something. Not something, you know, hosting my own game show, not, you know, riding for the Emmys, just something other than swinging a hammer.

[Steve Austin]

But at that time, swinging the hammer, were you writing comedy for other cats? Were you performing at Some of the.

[Adam Carolla]

Little clubs I was, I was trying to do, I was trying to do open mic stuff. There was a place on Ventura Boulevard, it's not there anymore, called the Deli Smoker. I built a house across the street from Jay Leno's house a million years ago up in the hills behind us here. And I recognized him. He wasn't doing the Tonight show and he was just a working comedian. And I told him I recognized him and I started talking about comedy with him and, and I asked him, what should I do, you know, and he said, go down to the Deli Smoker and tell some jokes. And, and I did and I sucked and I hated it.

[Steve Austin]

But what was it about it that got you interested in wanting to do stand up comic from the get go? I mean, like when I was, got into what I did, professional wrestling, I was changing channels and came across it on television and fell in love with it. What was it about being a stand up guy that attracted you to want to do stand up?

[Adam Carolla]

I was just. I did an interview earlier today and I realized when someone said, what made you get into it? I was so miserable in my former life, I said, and I don't know if I would have found my way to it or not, but I said if my dad owned a successful unfinished furniture manufacturing plant and had a job opening for me out of high school with an air conditioned office and told me I could work on a new line of Adirondack chairs and that one day this business would be mine, I'd probably still be sitting in that office, but I was living in an apartment with three dudes and no air conditioning and driving around a piece of shit pickup truck that had to start with a screwdriver and I was miserable.

[Steve Austin]

But do you know when guys like me riding around with other guys in the wrestling business and all of the guys that I know the world I come from are just big comedy fans in general because everybody loves us to laugh. But you always hear, man, so many of the comedians are just miserable. They're coming from an unhappy place. Were you unhappy inside or just unhappy with the situation at hand? Living with the three dudes in the pickup truck?

[Adam Carolla]

No. Was a, for me, it was a business decision. I was not one of these dudes who was picked on or shunned by the girls or had a big brother that was the star of the football team and I was the black sheep or an alcoholic dad or any of that good stuff. I really, I was a class clown in high school and I was all Central Valley, first team in football, and I got scholarships and stuff to play football and everything. I was popular. I had no, no problems at all except for the reading and writing part was a little bit difficult for me.

[Steve Austin]

But why, why was that difficult?

[Adam Carolla]

I never learned to read or write as a kid. I don't, I don't have a disability. I'm not dyslexic or anything like that. I just. I never learned. I went to a school for my first several years of my life where we didn't do anything but chuck dirt clods at each other, right? So my arm was good, but I could not. But my pen was bad. I'd never learned to read or write. And then it just kind of became my secret shame. And I sort of hit it after that and I never really brought it up again and I just kind of got warehoused.

[Steve Austin]

But then when did you learn how to read and write?

[Adam Carolla]

Well, honestly, I learned to really read and write in my 30s after, after I got into radio because I got out of high school where I was just kind of shucking and jiving and, you know, hustling. Hustling and getting by and bullshitting and, you know, I. All I had to do is graduate and I barely graduated, but I graduated. And then it was then I cleaned painted office buildings, I cleaned carpets, I cleaned up trash on construction sites. Eventually I worked sort of incrementally in that. I realized as soon as I got on the construction site, I was just picking up garbage. You know, I was. The first job I had was tearing ivy off the side of a two story house in Silver Lake and humping it up the hill to the dumpster and everything. You know, weather like this, ivy filled with rat droppings and dust and all sorts of tampons and, you know.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Adam Carolla]

And. And I said, well, this sucks. I gotta. So my first paycheck, I went out and I bought tool bags and, you know, nice shiny tool bags, a nice shiny hammer, four in one screwdriver, tape measure and speed square and everything. And I, I came walking on and the, the foreman was like, that's great. Now take them off and get back in the hole. Or if you want to wear them.

[Steve Austin]

In the hole while you're digging, go ahead.

[Adam Carolla]

That's gonna slow you down a little bit. So I figured out pretty quickly. And he told me I was riding a motorcycle with the tool bags around my neck. By the way, he told me, if you get a truck, I'll give you another buck an hour. And so I got a pickup truck and Eventually I learned carpentry because I knew, oh, this. This only thing is gonna get me out of this. So I learned how to do that. But as far as the comedy went, I was sitting in my apartment, it was hot, and there was nothing to eat, and I didn't have any money, and I wasn't getting any chicks. And I was like, this sucks. And I thought I started doing the math, like, you want to own a house, you want to start a family. One day you're going to have kids, insurance. How's anything going to work here on 10 bucks an hour? And you don't get paid when it rains, you know it's never going to work. And I sat there in my apartment, I said, well, you're good with your hands. You're a good builder. And then I said, what else you good at? Like, what else could you get paid at? Well, you're funny. I always knew I was funny. I just didn't know you could get paid to be funny. So I thought, all right, you're funny. Start working that side while you're building. And I was about 22, and I said, you know what? By the time you're 30, you got to be doing something. I'll give you, take your 20s, learn your craft.

[Steve Austin]

But when did you go to Groundlings?

[Adam Carolla]

I went to the groundlings at probably 23. I found 23, 24. There was a sort of hipster, artsy Jewish chick I knew whose mom was somehow associated with them. And, you know, none of my hillbilly guys from the Valley would know what the fuck a Groundling was, but she knew. And I said, where do you go? What do you do? And she said, go. Go watch a class. Go see a show. And I went and saw a show, and I was like, wow, man, those guys are doing improv and they're making it up as they go along and all the great talent and all that. And I just went and signed up for a class. Now, you know, I didn't have any money, so it was tough. It's, you know, 350 bucks I didn't have.

[Steve Austin]

But I gotta ask you, okay, these guys are doing improv. You can't read or write. You didn't need to. I mean, you've been able to function without reading and writing skills. How did you get through a day without being able to read? I mean, you're damn near 30 and you can't read. I want to go right back to Groundlings, but how do you get by on a day to day basis without the reading? And writing skills.

[Adam Carolla]

Well, I was working with dudes who couldn't read or write from Mexico most days, you know, so they didn't pass a lot of judgment. And we didn't have the word of the day on the construction.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah, I could have helped you out.

[Adam Carolla]

Back in podcasts would have freaked everyone out back then, but I got myself involved in a blue collar world that did not ever involve doing plays, reading scripts, reading out loud passages. I wasn't in any book clubs. I hung around with dudes who just like to get drunk and go to the lake and occasionally fight, and that was it.

[Steve Austin]

And. But everything is probably when you had cash, it was just cash transactions, simple stuff. Not a big checking account guy balancing stuff. I mean, it was no and bare bones.

[Adam Carolla]

And I could, you know, I could read stop signs.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah, I get that. Yeah. You know that some means stop.

[Adam Carolla]

I did.

[Steve Austin]

I did.

[Adam Carolla]

I learned that symbol meant stop. No, I could read, you know, I could get through things. It's not that I couldn't. I really couldn't spell and I couldn't write and I wasn't much of a reader and that later on, when I got into radio, that was trouble.

[Steve Austin]

But, man, I tell you what, you got to go back to this Groundling sings because I read about it. What exactly do they train you there? I get. It's improv. Is there a curriculum? Do you get a diploma? How does it work? How long does it last? I mean, I'd be interested in going myself. I'm amazed and, you know, just very interested in comedy, humor, how it works. What do they train you?

[Adam Carolla]

Well, it works, you know, the way comedy works is the same way a lot of things work, which is you are. You get good at it. You have your. But there's also a whole bunch of techniques that if you're good at it, you're doing it and no one's noticing it. And it's like when I do, I do a thing sometimes when we do live shows called what Can't Adam Complain About? And somebody tosses out a topic, and next thing you know, it seems like I just did 15 minutes of fresh comedy on that topic. But if you really dissect it, I probably twisted it around at some point and started talking about something else that seemed connected to it. And it felt like the same thing, but it really wasn't. But it's a sort of sleight of hand. And the thing that the Groundlings will teach you, for instance, they'll teach you a bunch of good rules that not only should Be observed at the dinner table. But certainly whenever you're doing what we're doing, or any form of comedy, which is the first thing they'll teach you, is not to negate what someone else is saying. Don't disagree. It's yes and. And not only that, but those are the two rules. So you tell me, you know, have you ever driven to Texas? I wouldn't go, nope. Now we got nothing dead. Now if I say yes. And not only that, but last time I drove to Waco, I picked up a hitchhiker. Guy turned out to be a junkie and stabbing.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Adam Carolla]

Then you go, that was no hitchhiker.

[Steve Austin]

That was my mother.

[Adam Carolla]

That was my mother. You son of a. And now we got a scene, right? But if I said, nope, I don't know what you're talking about, then we don't got seen. So if somebody says, don't I know you from high school? You go, yes. And didn't we used to date the same chick? Yes, I got crabs from that chick. Now we got a scene, right? And so what they teach you is never deny. And what they do is they'll do it many different ways. They'll have you enter a scene. And when you enter scene, you never walk in and just stand there and go, how's it going? They go, a question, don't ask a question. Go back, come back. In which case you come back in and you go, my God, they're rioting out in the streets. Have you seen what's happening? And then someone will go, well, after that bogus election, what would you expect to have it? And now you have a scene. You never ask a question. You never just go, how are you? Or how old are you? You know? And they'll do that thing all the time where they go. They'll just yell it from back. So you go, you know, they'll go, well, I don't know. You know him. Oh, yeah, I know you. We used to. He's your brother. You're my brother. That's right. And they just start working it into you. They'll do things like this. They'll do little drills like this, Turn the lights off. You start doing some space work. You just get on one knee and you start musing around with something. And then I'll come walking up to you and go, you want some help starting that campfire? And you'll go, campfire? I'm changing a flat tire. And then someone will yell, no, it's a campfire. I said it was a campfire. I don't care in your mind if you had a lug wrench in your mind. You got a jack out and a lug wrench you're doing. But tough shit. I walked over and said, campfire, now you gotta go, you know what? You get the marshmallows and let's make the s'. Mores. That's what they teach you.

[Steve Austin]

And it just keeps going on and on and on. Last time I did your show, I kind of was there. You threw me into the PSA spotlight, which we've ripped off from your show. Give you all the credit in the world. That was a total jack on our part, me and Mo. It was Mo's idea, but the influence, and the idea certainly came from you. But. But I kind of tuned out there for a little bit during your show. And I was just watching you, man. I mean, you were going to town, and I'm not sitting there blowing smoke up your ass. It's just the way it is. You kept going on and on and on. And I'm thinking to myself, he's fixing to pay this summit you off. And you kept going. I said, no, he's going to pay it off now. And you kept going about another six steps, and you finally hit the punchline I was looking for eight steps ago. So it's obviously something you've mastered to a very high degree, but does it fuck with you thinking? I mean, do you overthink things sometimes too much? Are you able to just look at a situation, get the bare bones 4 1, 1 about it? Does it fuck your head up, Ben, with, you know, all the levels available to you? Can you turn it on? Can you turn it off?

[Adam Carolla]

No. You know, I learned. It's interesting because I learned I have something called hypervigilance, which is. I noticed things all the time. Any. Any kind of movement. You know, people ask me, why do you close your eyes when you're talking sometimes? And I go, because if I open my eyes, someone will walk by and pull my focus and it'll draw me. So I notice stuff moving around peripherally. And I can see part of it is. Literally, it's a vision. It's a hearing. It's a sensory thing. So it's hard to shut that down. As a matter of fact, I never knew it. And now I sleep with you. Drive me nuts over there, kid, ripping that paper. See what I'm saying Now? I sleep with eye shade. I put a padded eye shade on, I put earplugs in, and I get drunk. Otherwise, I don't go to bed because I'm too alert. And yes, I notice weird little things all the time, but that's my job that other people don't notice. But no, it's hard to shut off and I don't mind it because I'm living in it, but it'll drive my wife nuts.

[Steve Austin]

It's got to, it's got to drive your, your wife nuts. And I'm gonna come back because, man, I'm tuned in like a summit right now. We have got to go to break. We're talking, we're about to go to break. I'm talking to Adam Carolla, the king of the podcast. We're talking comedy. We're fixing to get into his sports background. He's from here in Los Angeles, California. I'm still trying to find a way out. We've got a lot more ground to cover with the man, Adam Carolla coming right back at you.

[Adam Carolla]

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[Adam Carolla]

Welcome to the Steve Austin Show.

[Steve Austin]

All right, everybody, coming back in with Adam Carolla, we're talking hyper Vigilance, humor, comedy, anything that makes you laugh. And this guy is a king of it all. Whether we're talking about podcast hosting, television shows, acting. We're going to jump into a little bit of conversation real quick about Adam's new movie that he's funding right now. It's called Road Hard. Adam, tell me about this funding process about Road Hard, because I jacked that up. Come in for me here.

[Adam Carolla]

I will. It's called fund anything.com, and you go forward slash. Adam Carolla. And it's a movie that's sort of based on what I saw going on in my life. My first movie, the Hammer, was sort of based on my old life. This is kind of based on my new life. I started seeing all the comedians who I knew and who I hung out with who were in Hollywood, who had all these kush deals, these development deals, holding deals. You ever had a holding deal?

[Steve Austin]

I've never had a holding deal. Hold a can of beer.

[Adam Carolla]

It's like someone said, here's a million bucks. Now go home, right? And, yeah, just as long as you don't, like, don't go to work anywhere else. But here's a million bucks. And then a development deal is almost the same. That's. Here's another million bucks. If you think of something funny, come back. Oh, we have an office for you, but you don't need to show up.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Adam Carolla]

So every guy I knew, and I don't care if all you did was head fluffer for the Simpsons, you got a deal, right? And these guys were comedians. They got off the road. The second they got these deals, they all moved to Hollywood, started nailing hot chicks. They're all in their 30s. They're all looking good, and now it's all gone away. It's all reality shows. They're all divorced. They're all 50 years old. They all put on a little weight and lost a little hair, and they're all back on the road playing the same shitbox clubs they swore they'd never go back to when they're in their 20s and early 30s.

[Steve Austin]

That. Did you write this all by yourself? You get somebody.

[Adam Carolla]

I got together. I got together, as you know. I cannot write.

[Steve Austin]

I mean, how much you can write now?

[Adam Carolla]

I could write. I just can't type.

[Steve Austin]

Gotcha.

[Adam Carolla]

Got together with a guy by the name of Kevin Hench, who I wrote my last movie, the Hammer, with. And when I pitched it to him, he immediately got it. Because the concept is really about the. The. The. The overall. Here's a word you don't hear in the ring that often. The gestalt of the film is really about what it's like to step backwards. It's not that you're doing standup. You're getting paid pretty good, you got a beer in your hand. It's a cushy gig. It's having to humble yourself and go back and do the stuff that you had to do before. And for me and for my character, too, if you look across the street and go down 100 yards, you'll see the name of my former partner, the guy I used to be funnier than, Jimmy Kimmel.

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Adam Carolla]

Well, it's not so funny anymore. That's part of. That's part of the thing, which is not only did some of these guys go on, I mean, you know, David Alan Greer is going to be in this movie. Right. He's in between Jamie Foxx and Jim Carrey at some point in the cast of In Living Color. Right now he's going to Addison, Texas to play the improv at a strip mall.

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Adam Carolla]

That's a little humbling.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Adam Carolla]

It's not bad if you're a roofer, but it's bad if you thought you're funnier than Jamie Foxx.

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Adam Carolla]

And he's going on and doing Django and everything else. I mean, he said he's in P. Diddy's Yacht and Con right now and he's going to Addison, Texas. So it's the story of these dudes that are getting older and what they're having to go through and how they're trying to scratch and claw their way back into a Hollywood that doesn't really exist anymore.

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Adam Carolla]

It's all reality shows. Yeah.

[Steve Austin]

I mean, I've seen almost a parallel in the pro wrestling business of kind of Cats along the same line, as you're talking, what do you. Oh, some guys just can't get away.

[Adam Carolla]

And there's a part in it for you.

[Steve Austin]

All right, brother, I'm ready. Sign me up. When are you guys looking to try to get this thing going?

[Adam Carolla]

We're looking to raise a million bucks and the next 30 days or so, we're more than halfway there already. And we did a video which was. I believe you saw a lot of guys shoot these videos where they beg for money and tell you what the movie's about and then tell you who they've cast in the movie. I thought no better way to advertise for a funny movie than to be funny. So I went over to Bryan Cranston's house from Breaking Bad.

[Steve Austin]

It was awesome.

[Adam Carolla]

Sat down and. Yeah, I had. Well, I won't crap on the concept too much, but he was a little confused. He had agreed to help me out in the raising of the money, but didn't know I'd put him in the movie.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. Oh, it was. It was absolutely hilarious.

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah, I think we. We may have a. We may have a clip. Yeah, we have a clip right here. Hey, it's Adam Carolin. You know, ever since Sports Illustrated called my last movie the Hammer, the best sports comedy of 2008, people been asking, when are you gonna make another movie, Ace? Well, I have it. It's long overdue. It's called Road Hard. And with the generosity and help of people like you, and of course, an assist from Mr. Bryan Cranston, I know it's going to be a huge success. Hey, I'm flattered that I'm even, you know, involved in a small part. You're flattered I'm co starring in a movie with Bryan Cranston? I mean, that is awesome. No, no. Happy to help you here doing this, raising the money for it, but I can't be. Oh, God, I can't be in the movie with you. Yeah, yeah, that's the name of the movie. But no, it's not gay porn. It's. It's a movie about a comic on the road. And my agents would take a in the middle of Wilshire Boulevard if they heard that I was going to be in a movie with you. Why don't you call your buddy Kimmel and get Matt Damon's number or something? That must be weird for you, huh? Kimmel's now the new king of late night and you're still doing a podcast.

[Steve Austin]

It don't get much better than that. I don't give a damn who you are. That's good stuff. How do people actually help you guys fund this thing?

[Adam Carolla]

They go to fund anything.com, and they'll see me right on the homepage and they click it. And it's not a donation, you know, you can.

[Steve Austin]

You get something in return.

[Adam Carolla]

You get the advanced copy of the Blu Ray, you can get the script, you can get a poster. You can come to one of the many premieres we're going to have you. Hell, you can be in the movie. You want to pay enough. It's all tiered out. You know, I. I say it all the time. It's sort of like a concert. First, you don't have to go at all if you're not a fan of the band. Secondly, if you want to sit up in the rafters, it's 35 bucks. If you want to sit against the stage, it's a thousand bucks. And then it's everything in between, depending on how far away from the stage you want to get right.

[Steve Austin]

Hey, man, let's talk about, you know, this road hard thing you guys are funding right now. The Hammer came out a few years ago. I was talking to a buddy before I came in, and he absolutely loved that movie and he's an MMA fighter, so I've got to check it out. But now with the podcast thing going, your background in radio and man, I was a big fan of the man show Too Late with Adam Carolla. I mean, the acting thing, the podcast thing, the stand up gig, which I know you love. How do you decide how much to do? How do you worry about spreading yourself out? What do you enjoy the most?

[Adam Carolla]

I. I like the behind the scenes stuff. I like honestly, I like being a guest on other people's shows. Like, not this one, obviously, but professional.

[Steve Austin]

You just went downhill.

[Adam Carolla]

Professional. No, I do like doing this. I like being interviewed. You know, TV is, you know, a lot of makeup and a lot of hurry up and wait and get there two hours in advance and then hang out and all that kind of crap and let's mikey up and everything. I like honestly, and I know it wasn't on the menu, but I do love coming in and doing stuff like this. I love telling my story. I like talking to people, I like finding out their story. So, you know, podcasting is great. I enjoy that. I enjoy playing the theaters, even, you know, writing the books. Here's what I enjoy. You know, what do you like better? Well, you like ribs better. You like pizza better. You like sushi better. It's not which one you like better, it's how much of it have you had at a time? Because whatever you think is your favorite. Give me four days of eating that every night for dinner. You want your second favorite and then you want your third, and then you'll hop back again. So for me, you know what I tell people? Show business. Everyone thinks show business is great because, oh, you get good money and you travel and women and blah, blah, blah. It's really about the fact that one minute I'm sitting here, the next minute I'm flying out to New York to do my podcast, doing some shows live at Caroline's. Next minute I'm working on a Paul Newman documentary about driving a race car. Next minute, we're working on road hard, writing another book. You never do anything long enough to get sick of it.

[Steve Austin]

When you're out there on the road doing your stand up gig and we're going to talk about some of your gigs you've got coming up here in a minute. But when you're out there, you know, from the world that I came from, and it was testosterone, adrenaline, and you fed off the energy of that crowd. When you go out and your goal is to entertain people and to make them laugh and inform them, is it adrenaline for you? Are you nervous? What's, what's going on stage like for you now?

[Adam Carolla]

No, I don't, I don't have any of that. I honestly don't. And I don't know why. I mean, because I've done a lot of it, I guess, but I really don't have that. You know, I have a certain feeling of like, obligation, which is these people paid money, they drove and I don't want to disappoint them. Like, I don't want anybody heading back to the car, talking to their wife, going, I like the podcast, but geez, in person, not so much, you know, or as a comedian or whatever it is, you know, so I have this unyielding desire not to disappoint. But I don't have the, I don't, I don't have the butterflies and the adrenaline and all, all that stuff going into it.

[Steve Austin]

But then you go out, say, you know, this is a stand up gig. This is not the podcast you're performing, man, the crowd just ain't getting it. They're not digging it. Something's off.

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah.

[Steve Austin]

What are you thinking?

[Adam Carolla]

I mean, it's, it's, you know, that's really when repetition comes to play, you know, that's when you know you're basically a fighter. Has been hit way too many times. And all that you're relying on now is all that time you spent in the gym, all the repetition, you know, where you just, you're not going to let somebody knock you off your game because you've been practicing your game and honing your game and working your game for so many years that even though it's great when the audience gets behind you and you feel that surge and that energy and it lifts you to another level. Your range shouldn't be between sucks ass and great. Your range should be between decent and great, right? Not every night's gonna be a banner night. Not every night's gonna be fireworks and a 10. But you shouldn't be able to let an audience dictate whether you're Gonna have a bad night or not, you know, whether you play the trumpet, sing or tell jokes.

[Steve Austin]

But if they're not digging it, I mean, can you shift gears, go to a different routine, change material, maybe go to some blue stuff? Do you shift gears? I mean, you're tuned into that crowd.

[Adam Carolla]

There's an element of trying to ramp it up a little and compensate and try to bring them back into the tent a little bit. But for the most part, you know, it's just about executing. Like, you sort of know you have a game plan. You execute it well, you're gonna win this game. So instead of trying for the deep ball on every play, just do better job of executing what your game plan is.

[Steve Austin]

You see, you were talking about, you know, going back to kind of the days of a fighter and, you know, and reading about you and then trying to get the boxing lessons, to get the radio gig. How much did you box? How far along were you in your training? Were you accomplished? Were you Golden Gloves? Were you fighting a lot?

[Adam Carolla]

I was Golden Gloves, but I wasn't that good. I did the Golden Gloves a couple of years in 84, 85, and then I fought some amateur fights. But I knew I was never going to be a professional. I was good at it, but I also knew I didn't want to take that kind of punishment, you know, like, I. I wasn't. I. I just knew there's no way I'm going to do this and make money at it. I'll do it. I'll do it as a hobby, I'll do it as a sport, but I'm never going to.

[Steve Austin]

What got you into boxing?

[Adam Carolla]

I played football. I liked football. I always liked boxing for some reason. And when I stopped playing football, I wanted to do something that was sort of physical and that had some of the same components that football had to it. And boxing was just something I was naturally attracted to, though it wasn't that prevalent back then. There weren't gyms everywhere. I had to go to downtown LA and find a.

[Steve Austin]

How long did it take you to bring yourself up to speed? Because, man, coming from my background of pro wrestling, I just threw a big right hand from way back. And, you know, that is not conducive to being a great boxing punch. So in training for a couple of my movies, I took a few boxing courses. Footwork is terrible. You know, my jab wouldn't bust an egg. It's just absolutely rotten all the way around. It's a whole different animal.

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah, it is. And it's. And it's it's about, you know, boxing is sort of about like all sports. It's kind of about humbling yourself. Like, what you need to do in boxing, which, which most people don't ever do, is you should probably spend the first three to five rounds just in front of the mirror, just shadow boxing. Just watch.

[Steve Austin]

I always felt like an idiot doing the shadow boxing. Yeah.

[Adam Carolla]

And then the next thing you should do is take whatever your bad hand is and throw three quarters of the punches with your bad hand. And if there's a punch that you're not particularly good at, that means you have to do that twice as much. And then things like skip and rope, people don't do it well. They're not good at it. They don't want to be seen not being good at it, so they leave it alone. And the next thing you know, I know guys, they say they've been boxing for 14 years, they can't skip a goddamn rope, right? Because they got a, they got away from it. So really what you need to do is don't just lace it up and go beat the crap out of a heavy bag or jump into the ring and start sparring, but start really focusing on the technique of it and the subtleties of it and cement that muscle memory and that technique in and the rhythm of doing something like jumping rope. And if you're not good at jumping rope, that means you should be doing more ropes, not less.

[Steve Austin]

You're still in shape. You still boxing?

[Adam Carolla]

No, I don't hit other people. I just do. I train people a little bit on occasion.

[Steve Austin]

But you're still putting the gloves on and using the heavy bag or something like that?

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah. I'll do my, my, my knuckles. As you can see, I got it. I got a bad. I can't get my wedding ring off. It's. It's trouble when in bachelor parties, but my, my knuckles screwed up, right. And then I had this set of surgery on my, my left hand side. Some nerve damage and stuff from whole. That was from holding, that was from training guys holding the thing. So my hands, my hands are bad or screwy or something. But what I do is I skip rope and I do a lot of shadow boxing. I just stand there. And by the way, if you want to know if someone can box, watch them shadow box for between four and seven seconds. And that's all you need to know. The fakest part of every boxing movie is when the guy enters the ring doing the shadow box and looking like an ass wipe.

[Steve Austin]

So you're walking down the sidewalk in Los Angeles, California. Some cat gives you a little bit of a hard time. It comes down to protecting yourself or going on the offensive. You gonna be able to handle yourself?

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah, I've. I've never. I've been in a couple, you know, scraps. I've never. Thank God. I mean, I've had bad things happen to me, but I've never. I've never really gotten beaten up. I mean, that. What. I mean, I got beaten up by a group of guys, but that was, you know, that was unfair. One on one, we were fine. It's just when they turn into. When they band together, when they band, they did not honor our agreement to stay out of the way and let me beat one of them up. And then they all jumped on me, but they still didn't really. They just broke my lip a little bit. But, no, I don't. I've been in a couple, and I've never, never had any problems. But that's just because that's what I did. I mean, you know, that's what I did for a living. You know, it's just train, train, train. You know, focus, gloves, box and move and sparring. That's. That' all ever did. So, you know, I always found in the street, the first thing you could do was just ignore the guy's front arm, his left arm. He wasn't. Don't even worry about it. Didn't even exist. Whatever he was going to do with it, you don't have to focus on it. You just focus on his right arm. And the right arm would be coming wide, right? Real wide. And it'd be plenty of time and space to get out of the way of that right arm. It's the guys who punch straight and the guys who punch straight with the front arm, Those are the guys you got to worry about, right? That's.

[Steve Austin]

Those are the guys who box, you know, shift gears. You grew up here?

[Adam Carolla]

Mm.

[Steve Austin]

I drive around in Los Angeles, and I drive by Venice High all the time. I live down that neck of the woods, and, man, I see some of these kids and these schools out here scared the shit out of me. You got kids in school, right?

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah.

[Steve Austin]

They at school age yet?

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Twins, seven. Yeah.

[Steve Austin]

Is it safe for these kids out here to be in these schools? I mean, because I grew up in a little town of 5,000 people, graduated with 110 cats, and, you know, I come out here, this. This is a damn animal.

[Adam Carolla]

Well, you know, I worry. I want my kids to have grit. I want to be A little. I want to be a little bit tough. And this school's, you know, with the peanut allergies and that, you know, I was talking to my. I was talking to my son, and he said. What. What's. What? We. What'd you do today? Oh, we had a walking recess. I said, walking recess? What for? Well, if it gets above, you know, 88 degrees, they have a walking recess. But don't worry, he spent a lot of time in the cool zone. Yeah. And I said, are you. You gotta be shitting me. Recess, you run. If it's hot, you drink. You drink out of the hose, you know? Well, they don't. Everything's about hydration and not exerting. They had some sort of. Some sort of. They're raising money. Oh, they're raising awareness and money for, like, physical fitness. So they're having a walkathon. And when you're seven, walking doesn't mean shit. You know, that doesn't even do it. Anything. You may as well be in a golf cart. And they're walking in a circle. And every once in a while, a kid would start jogging and the coach being, hup, hey, over there. Keep it safe. Keep it safe. They're on grass and they're walking. It drives me. It drives me insane.

[Steve Austin]

In a couple of years, that kid's gonna be in high school. You gonna let him play football?

[Adam Carolla]

I. I would. He's gonna be too big a puss. But I. I'll tell you. I'll tell you what it is. I've said this many times because I played. I started playing when I was 7 and went through one year junior college. And then, you know, that was it for me. But I said that. And I've been concussed. I'd been knocked out of, you know, who knows? You know, you don't know, you know what I'm talking about. But I mean is. I've been knocked out maybe three or four or five times, and I've said all the time you get injured, you know, and you don't want your kid to get injured. But I say dislocated finger, that lasts three weeks. Being a pussy, that's a lifetime sentence, right? And I want my kid to be tough. And football made me tough. There was no fucking around. They didn't give us water. They did drills. They did. You know, they did bull in the ring. You got in the middle, the team got around you. The one guy's got one shot to blast you out of that ring. If you didn't, you know, if you were playing middle linebacker, and the hole opened up, and you didn't step up and take on the fullback and block and clog that hole. The coach is grabbing you by the face mask and yelling at you and telling you to sit on the bench, calling you a pussy. I used to love this one. And they don't. They'd never do this to kids today. They'd line everyone up at the. At the sled, the blocking sled, you know, and they'd line you up and they'd say, all right, everyone's on defense. Get in your stance. And everyone's getting the stance. And the guy had the football out on the stick, you know, and he'd go, all right, now watch the ball. You don't move unless the ball moves. And then he'd go sit. Hut. And some guy would lurch forward and he'd go, you're all running a lap now. You can thank Higginsthaler and everyone be like, fuck you, Higginstaller. Take a lap. By the way, Higginstaller, you jump again, we'll all do another lap. Why we got to do a lap? Good. You're a team. That's why. When one guy fucks up, you all run. So everyone start running, and while you're running, make sure and thank Higginstaller. And that was it. Well, he learned, didn't he?

[Steve Austin]

Did he learn. He learned that goddamn Higgins style. We're coming back with Adam Carolla. We're gonna wrap this thing up, send him out on the road. We're talking about road hard. We're gonna talk about some of his stand updates. Coming back, talking with the man himself, Adam Carolla here on Steve Austin show at the Human Optimization Studio. Please.

[Carvana Representative]

This is a story that begins with a dying wish.

[Steve Austin]

One thing I would like you to do.

[Carvana Representative]

My mother's last request, that my sister and I finish writing the memoir she'd started about her German childhood when her father designed a secret super weapon for Adolf Hitler. My grandfather, Robert Lesser, headed the Nazi project to build the world's first cruise missile, which terrorized millions and left a legacy that dogged my mother like a curse.

[Steve Austin]

She had some secrets.

[Adam Carolla]

Mom had some secrets.

[Carvana Representative]

I'm Suzanne Rico. Join my sister and me as we search for the truth behind our grandfather's work. And for the first time, time face the ghosts of our past.

[Adam Carolla]

Who is he?

[Carvana Representative]

Listen to the man who Calculated Death. Available now wherever you get your podcasts.

[Adam Carolla]

Welcome to the Steve Austin Show.

[Steve Austin]

All right, coming back with Adam Carolla. We're talking about some live days here. Adam Carolla hitting the road. The Road Warrior. He's gonna be in Vancouver at the Commodore, Friday, July 26th. On Saturday, August 3rd, he's gonna be at Los Angeles here at The Wiltern, Friday, August 16, at the Carmel on Sunset. You can go to AdamCarolla.com and check these dates and a lot more dates in the near future. And that's all I got to say about that, Adam. We're talking about football, we're talking about boxing, talking about going to school here in Los Angeles, California. But I'm still intrigued with your intelligence. Didn't learn how to read or write until he was about 30. Did a year of junior college or college?

[Adam Carolla]

Junior. Junior college. I got some scholarships to play football at, you know, little schools.

[Steve Austin]

Well, dude, what'd you weigh when you were in high school? Because you sound like he's a pretty good lineman.

[Adam Carolla]

I was. I was like, 2:10, 2:15.

[Steve Austin]

That's big in high school.

[Adam Carolla]

I've bulked myself up, but back in.

[Steve Austin]

The day, that's a big cat.

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah. And I was good enough to get. Let's see, Marshall. Marshall was the only good school. It was like UC Davis, Cal Poly Pomona, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and kind of 40.

[Steve Austin]

Did you have little.

[Adam Carolla]

Oh, man, I did a. I did a 49 on a good day. I wasn't. I was quick. I wasn't fast. I had no foot speed. I was good in the first three, four steps. And then I had good technique because I'd been playing since I was seven, you know, so I was. I was okay, but it was clear I was overachieving. Like, I, in high school got all Valley, an offense, and then I led the team in tackles on defense. So I was pretty good player. But then that was it. Once I got to June, I got to junior college, and those guys were some pretty good athletes, especially out in this neck of the woods. And I was like, forget it.

[Steve Austin]

You had to be, like, the best cat on the team and. Right. Team leader.

[Adam Carolla]

Oh, I was, yeah. In. In high school. Yeah. But then when I got to junior college, I was like, screw this. I knew I couldn't get past that next. I couldn't get to that next level.

[Steve Austin]

Here's what happened to me. I was in high school. I was a running back and linebacker, and, you know, down in South Texas, I was pretty good. Now, had I been in Houston, Texas, or out here, probably wouldn't been worth a shit, but I got a scholarship to junior college. Well, you know, Mr. Big Shot, I think I'm you know, 1 1Amaterial. I remember telling my mom's friend, oh, Evelyn, don't worry about it. I'll just go to junior college, make All American a couple years and go to a big school, Right? There's some football playing motherfuckers in junior college. Some of them are dumber than shit, some of them dyslexic, just, you know, just crazier than a shithouse rat. But there's some football playing, some bitches in jc.

[Adam Carolla]

I'll tell you this right now. First off, football players are notoriously dumb. So they all go to junior college after. A lot of them go straight to junior college. But if you want to know what it's like, what the competition could be like, I always laughed about this at Santa Monica Junior College. At the same time, Steve Smith from Carolina Panthers, all pro wideout, and Chad Ochocinco or Chad Johnson or whatever. All pro. They played at the same time. And I always knew there was some third. There had to be a third wide receiver on that team whose dad was pissed as shit going, you were all state and you can't crack the starting lineup at a goddamn junior college. How are you getting to Nebraska if you can't even play at the local junior college? Well, you got two guys playing at the same time on the same team that are going to the Pro Bowl. Yeah, that's how good it can get if you're unlucky enough to be there at the same time. And, you know, like I said at the time, there had to be a guy who was third string, who was easily the best player on his team, going, what the fuck? I can't crack this lineup at junior college.

[Steve Austin]

So then what'd you say? Did you just get a gut full of football and quit school?

[Adam Carolla]

I remember. I remember thinking the talent level was a lot higher than I thought. So. And I moved like outside linebacker. And I had a coach who, if he got pissed off at you, he'd throw his dip at you. So you could tell him arguing. He'd start arguing with people and then start getting pissed off. And you see him reaching first, mouth. It was like an Old west gunslinger undoing his holster, strapping. Real slowly. His hand would start dying out. He'd just be. He'd be Higgins$. God damn it. You got to stay in the A gap. And then you'd see that hand. His hand would start reaching up. And like, if Higginstaller said, I'm sorry, it won't happen again, come back down again. But if he was like, are you kidding? Kowalski was. His hand would still come back up again.

[Steve Austin]

Are you still friends with Higgins Stahl? He sounds like the team fuck up.

[Adam Carolla]

No, I'll never forget Higgins Staller because he was one of these guys who when I played for the East Valley Trojans, even when he was in, we were seven years old and the East Valley Trojans, he was like some Ukrainian kid with a huge forehead and a lot of eyebrows. You know, like a guy looks like a 55 year old trucker when he's seven. You know those dudes, those babies. When you just look at him go, holy shit, man, you have one. You weren't cute a day in your life. And he played nose tackle because he was built like that at seven, you know. But he couldn't stay in his stance. He couldn't stay in a stance because as a kid you want to stand up at nose tackle because there's the quarterbacks right there and go, hey, what's going on? And all I remember from, you know, my first years of Pop Warner is having the coaches, Higgins$, get in your stance. Higgins Dollar in your stance. All they would yell as he would creep. We'd stand up again.

[Steve Austin]

Was he numbered?

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah, he was numbered. Shit, I didn't even know his first name. Igor or something. I mean like higginstaller was, you know, we didn't even know anyone's. That's the whole thing. Like I'm coaching my son's basketball team and I'm like, what do they call you? My son's like, what do you mean? What do they call you? Adam. I go, adam. I didn't know the fuck first name. Kids were on my Pop Warner football team. I know higginstallish first name. We know anyone's first name. And the coach was their last name. And Mr. Yeah. And that's the way it worked. Or coach. But that even that was playing fast and loose. It was Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Napier. I knew them all, but it was Mr. I don't know any of their first names.

[Steve Austin]

But you did you cash in your chips, you say, I'm quitting college now.

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah, I told. I had a horrible experience where I went to the guy who threw the tobacco at people and it was a linebackers coach. The head. The head coach didn't throw the tobacco, but the linebackers coach did. And he just said, you know, you're. You're a fool, you're an idiot because you'll be starting next year. And I just remember thinking, even if I start next year because I was behind a guy was really Good. I just said, then, then. But then what? You know, where's this going? I knew it wasn't going anywhere, so I. And it was hard to do, wasn't it? Yeah, it was hot. You know the kind of weather we have out years out in. Same in Texas, you know, and it's out in the valley and you're doing two a days. I had a guy trip on me once because we're doing two a days. And he was a big dude and he was standing on the sideline and I took a knee to get in his shadow. I literally slid up. That's what it's hot getting a shadow. And he took a step backwards. He stepped on me and fell over. And he said, what the are you doing? I was trying to put my head up his ass and I said, I'm just trying to get out of the fucking sun, man. My helmet's on fire.

[Steve Austin]

So did you're out of school. You quit college?

[Adam Carolla]

I quit and I got a job cleaning carpets.

[Steve Austin]

And then. But check it out. You get a job cleaning carpets. She was in college for a year, a year and a half at the most.

[Adam Carolla]

Maybe, maybe seven months or something.

[Steve Austin]

All right, dude, but I see you work. And again, all this intelligence you, you did, you didn't read. What do you do to get so damn smart? You had to absorb a shit pile of information. This source of information is coming from somewhere.

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah, I listen. I got myself a job doing construction. And I would bring my little talk radio with me, and that was my only companion. And I'd put my talk radio on and I would just listen and I'd listen. And I always listen to talk radio. I always listen to when people spoke. And everything I absorbed, I did it audibly. I never read anything and absorbed it. I would just listen. And if you gave me a textbook, I couldn't complete the test. But if the, if the professor lectured on it, then I could. So that's just how I was. But also I had some kind of intelligence that was transcended, you know, my ability just a little bit. Because, like when I was in high school, I never took algebra. I just took math. It was called math. Everyone else took algebra starting about eighth grade. And then they'd get on to, you know, trigonometry and calculus and all this kind of stuff. And I just took math straight on through. I just took the Dumbo classes. And then when I went to junior college, they gave me an entrance exam. And yet they had to be scored on. On English and on science and on math. And they put me in advanced algebra. And I said, what am I doing? Why am I in advanced algebra? I never took algebra class. I said, you scored in the top 5% in algebra. I never even took it before. So I had a good math mind, and I had a good mind that absorbed information I just couldn't read or write. And that's why I started cleaning up trash on construction sites. And I had a family that was sort of, you know, downtrodden and not very supportive. And then, you know, just sort of do your own thing, just long as you do it outside the house, you know, and once you're 19, see if you can stay outside and not come back. And that's what I did. And then I hung around with a lot of meatheads. And you know, those guys, they don't go, hey, man, you should be doing a podcast. They just go, hey, man, we're going down to the river. You want. You want to get some pabstall boys? And that was. That was my life.

[Steve Austin]

Well, you're a busy dude. You do your podcast and you run. You guys run a thing five days a week.

[Adam Carolla]

Yep.

[Steve Austin]

You got your movie stuff that you pursue. What do you like to do? To unwind or what are your hobbies?

[Adam Carolla]

Well, I, I. I do a lot of vintage car racing, so I like getting the old cars. I like wrenching on the old cars and getting them ready and then going out and racing them.

[Steve Austin]

Now, when I went to your studio, man, it's like the ultimate man cave. If you can ever get a chance to go check out Adam's place, go check it out.

[Adam Carolla]

But you've got actually stay home.

[Steve Austin]

Well, okay, Stay home, and I'll tell you about it. Yeah, but it's four or five old Paul Newman race cars in there, correct?

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah.

[Steve Austin]

Now, how long did have you had those? Where did you find those?

[Adam Carolla]

You know, they're just around the country, and they're all different places. You know, he's from Connecticut. His hometown was. His home track was Lime Rock. He drove there a lot, but he drove all over the country. And some of the cars he owned, but most of the cars his team owned, you know, or whoever he was driving for, so it wasn't his car, per se. So, you know, people think, oh, you buy a Paul Newman car, you have to buy it from the Paul Newman estate or Joanne Woodward or something like that. No, you don't. Someone else owns that car.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Adam Carolla]

And those guys, they just pop up periodically, and they're just sort of around, and then once you get on this sort of short list of guys who know guys. Then when something comes up, they go, well, why don't you call Adam? Because he's the guy who buys the paul newman cars, right? And I just was a fan of the guy as a performer, as an actor, but. But certainly as a racer, Winning many, many championships driving these cars. So I thought, you know, it'd be a nice tribute to him and a fun hobby for me to get these things, put them back together, make sure they were in operating condition, and go out and campaign them.

[Steve Austin]

Now, how are you mechanically? You got pretty good skills. You can tear down a motor, put it all together, or do you just do the basic nuts and bolts stuff?

[Adam Carolla]

I'm a good. Mostly a builder, a home builder, and I'm pretty good at doing the wrenching, But I just don't have the time and. Or, you know, the skills to, you know, machine things and, you know, do all that. So I'll farm the stuff out. Like, we took one of my cars to fontana the other about three weeks ago, and that's a big oval, and you go out on it, you go into the infield and race the race a course, but then you go back onto the big straight and back onto the big bank, right? And so gears need to change in a car like that because you can't run the same gears. You run it. Laguna seca, because that's a much shorter track. It's got a two miles straightaway. It's a mile and a half. So you're gonna be topped out. So, you know, I got enough to drop the rear end and put in the new rear end and get the 488 out of there and put the 438 in there, 433, or whatever the hell I put in there. So it's like that kind of stuff. I'm not busting the ring and pinion out. I'm pulling the whole pumpkin out, dropping it down, independent in the rear and just bolting the new one back up.

[Steve Austin]

So racing vintage cars, what else?

[Adam Carolla]

You know, for me, I'm so busy that just not being busy is its own hobby. So spending time with my family, spend time with my kids, being around my friends, you know, going out, going out on a Saturday night, just getting a meal and being in town.

[Steve Austin]

I drove to your place last time, and the rush hour traffic trying to get in your neck of the woods was absolutely horrendous.

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah.

[Steve Austin]

What do you drive currently on the streets of los angeles?

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah. Oh, I was reminded of one of my. What I like to do during one of my pastimes, not driving, but hanging, which is drinking my Mangria. That's my. That's my signature beverage. I think you may have seen that over.

[Steve Austin]

Seen it? I tried some of it. How in the hell did you come up with the ingredients for this? Because I went over there, I was trying to be professional on your show, Represent, do the best I could. And they said, hey, man, how about some angria? Well, about a cup and a half later, I got a pretty good buzz going.

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah. Yeah, that seems. What is the proof of actions? 21%.

[Steve Austin]

So it's about, what, 45 proof?

[Adam Carolla]

No, it's 21% alcohol. Yes, that's. Yeah, it's about that. Right.

[Steve Austin]

So how did you come up with the ingredients for this mix?

[Adam Carolla]

This was me sitting around, pouring red wine in my house, realizing there was just a half a glass left, not wanting to go down to the liquor store, wanting to catch a little buzz. So I went down to the liquor cabinet, and I pulled a little vodka out, and I dumped a little in, and I tasted it and tasted like ass. So I put a little bit of orange juice in, and I mixed some ice in. I stirred it up and I tasted it. I said, I think I just invented something called Mangria. And then I laughed about it for about a year because I'm a shitty businessman. And I brought the jars over to Kimmel's house on 4th of July. I got Mangria, everybody. I made it up in my kitchen. You know, I was dumping it out and having everyone taste it, and everyone liked it. At some point, some guy in Napa said, I can make it. And I said, you can? He said, shit, yeah. Tell me what's in it. I'll make it for you. And I told him what was in it. And we went back and forth a little, and he said, now you got to design a label, and let's start shipping it. And we shipped, you know, 125,000 bottles, just about seven, eight months.

[Steve Austin]

That is unbelievable. You can hook me up with a bottle, right?

[Adam Carolla]

Oh, yeah.

[Steve Austin]

But how can normal people get it?

[Adam Carolla]

You can go to corolladrinks.com and it'll tell you either how to get it online or where there's a place that sells it near you.

[Steve Austin]

Now, how's that whole process been? I mean, you're not a liquor salesman. You're a comedian and a host and everything else that you do. How has that business been for you to navigate?

[Adam Carolla]

It's a new business, and it's exciting. But it is a business in a very pure form. I mean, it is distribution and sales and getting your team and getting it out there and getting the brand out there. So everywhere I go, when I do a show, we do a Mangria tasting as well. So we sort of piggyback them on to doing the show. So that afternoon, I'm at a liquor store signing bottles and taking pictures, and then that night, I'll be on stage.

[Steve Austin]

Well, you. You get all juiced up on Mangria before you go on stage.

[Adam Carolla]

It's happened.

[Steve Austin]

All right, everybody. I've been sitting here talking with the king of podcasts, and for a traffic starting to start stirring out there on the streets of Los Angeles, and Adam's gonna ride off into the sunset.

[Adam Carolla]

Thank you for joining us. For another classic episode of the Steve Austin show, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and tell your friends. For more Steve Austin show, go to podcast1.com that's podcast O N E dot com. See what's screaming free all month long during Pluto TV's April Ghoul Rules.

[Steve Austin]

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[Steve Austin]

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[Steve Austin]

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