Podcast Summary: You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes – We Made It Weird #107

Date: October 7, 2022
Host: Pete Holmes
Co-Host: Valerie (Val) Chaney

Overview

Episode #107 of “We Made It Weird” is a particularly lighthearted, playful entry in Pete Holmes and Val’s ongoing Friday miniseries. The couple describes it as one of their “silliest, billiestiest,” jam-packed with playful banter, comedic riffs, and absurd bits, rather than the usual more heart-to-heart or introspective themes. They dive deep into the joy of laughter, improv comedy, the weirdness of everyday language and habits, and the idiosyncratic nature of relationships—offering both fun and occasional, surprisingly poignant insights about intimacy, self-acceptance, and savoring life’s oddities.

Key Discussion Points & Segments

1. Setting the Tone: Laughter as a Gift (00:33–01:40)

• The episode begins with the duo riffing on the premise that this could be their favorite and silliest episode ever.
• Pete and Val encourage listeners to use laughter as medicine:

  “If you are having one of those days, you need to listen to this pun. Laughter is a gift from above.” (00:44, Pete)

2. Celebrity Lookalikes & Silly Impressions (01:17–02:03)

• The hosts joke about a hypothetical “bass off” with celebrities, mixing in Keanu Reeves, Nicolas Cage, and John Travolta.
• “Dude, Nic Cage is Keanu Reeves with a different hairline. Think about it.” (01:40, Pete)

3. Meta-humor and Breaking the Fourth Wall (09:33–14:09)

• Pete and Val riff on podcast hosting, ad-read voice, and the nature of their dynamic—Val poking fun at Pete’s “scriptedness,” Pete loudly denying it.
• Val reveals they recorded in the morning and shares the intimacy of their day-to-day, acknowledging they’ve only been awake for 20 minutes.

4. Coffee, Sugar, Obsession, and Rituals (16:00–18:09 and 37:51–38:58)

• Val and Pete deeply discuss the human relationship with coffee and sugar, comparing craving coffee to a love affair.
• “I’m going through a phase now where I’m like, oh, baby, I love you and I will never leave you... Maybe I want to start doing you in the afternoon.” (18:09, Val)
• Extended “coffee love affair” metaphor, and a playful foray into how coffee’s coarseness/fineness mirrors relationship preferences.
• Breathwork with a partner is discussed as a replacement for relying on stimulants, emphasizing “vitality” over horniness:

  “It makes your body springtime.” (38:56, Val)

5. Playful Bits: The Coffee Salary Ordering Game (21:48–50:29)

• Val acts out how someone would order coffee based on income levels, from $200 allowance to $2 million a year.
• Demonstrates how confidence and social ease change with imagined wealth.
• “You now make $2 million a year, and you do it with something that isn’t, like, too difficult... and you’d like a coffee.” (49:23, Pete)
• “Good morning. Give me a latte, darling.” (50:03, Val, as ‘wealthy’)

6. Whistling Harmony Challenge (59:31–64:14)

• Pete and Val reminisce about childhood games and attempt to harmonize whistling, finding it impossible without dissolving into laughter.
• Launches into a mock-narrative about failing to whistle in front of “neighbor Deborah,” complete with shifting, exaggerated accents.

7. Making Improv Work (54:46–55:31)

• They discuss why certain forms of humor or genuine moments work better off-screen or in real life than on TV or film, touching on why their dynamic wouldn’t translate neatly to scripted media.

8. Accents, Stereotypes, and Self-Analysis (64:14–65:23)

• Extended riff on various accents—British, Scottish, “Wakandan”—with Val and Pete deliberating on when doing accents crosses a line.
• Reflection on how tastes and what’s considered funny evolve through time, referencing past comedy icons.

9. Relationships, Sex, and Changing Narratives (33:34–39:33)

• The pair open up about shifting away from pop-culture’s “achievement” narrative of sex, replacing it with connection, body vitality, and vulnerability.
• Honest (and comical) talk about bad narratives inherited about sex, and the depth of feeling accomplished in intimacy.

10. Poetry, Spirituality, and Closing Thoughts (66:41–69:25)

• Pete shares poems/quotes from Hafiz and Rumi on union, love, and opening spiritually, providing a rare moment of quiet reflection amidst the chaos.

  “Pulling out the chair beneath your mind and watching you fall upon God. What else is there to do that is any fun in this world?” – Hafiz (68:06)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Pete on Coffee:
  “Let me smell your beans. What kind of grind are you? Coarse… Oh, you’re fine. You’re so fine.” (18:31–18:43)

• On Sex and Narratives:
  “The most indicative bit I did on stage about sex was that you achieve an erection. It's an achievement. You should hang a trophy… around every boner.” (35:57)

• Val on Self-Image and Dressing:
  “You don’t dress like sharp corners and, like, perfect new whatever’s new.” (25:35, Val to Pete)

• On Out-of-the-Box Media:
  “You’ll never have that scene… That’s what we look like and… no one right is truly represented.” (53:40, Pete)

• Val, on the relationship:
  “If we put it on screen… it would be, like, I don’t know, cringy and unbelievable and, like, not endearing.” (54:10)

• Pete, on metaphors and bits:
  “The uvula is the home alarm system for your mouth… The tongue doesn’t care. The tongue’s like, I’ll eat ass. But the uvula is like, too much iced tea!” (45:25–46:00)

• On Breathwork as Intimacy:
  “It’s not horniness… It fills you with life.” (38:03, Pete)
  “It makes your body springtime.” (38:56, Val)

• Hafiz Quote:
  “Pulling out the chair beneath your mind and watching you fall upon God. What else is there to do that is any fun in this world?” (68:06)

Structural & Recurring Segments

• Morning Musing & Intimacy:
  The episode is imbued with familiarity, morning grogginess, and genuine glimpses into everyday married life (pets, kids, sharing sleep in your eye, etc.).

• Meta-Commentary:
  Pete and Val often break to comment on their own riffing, the structure of comedy, or whether they’re offending anyone with a particular voice.

• Surreal Improvisation:
  Many segments spin off into absurdist, semi-musical tangents (e.g., “neighbor Deborah” and the “ding dong” song at 51:58), emblematic of Pete’s improv background.

• Reflections on Comedy:
  They contrast modern humor with nostalgia for '90s comedy, referencing Mike Myers, Fat Bastard, and shifting societal standards.

• Spiritual Flourish:
  The episode ends, as it sometimes does, with spiritually tinged poetry, bringing the energy down from pure silliness to heartfelt resonance.

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:33–01:40: Intro banter, setting “silliest” tone
• 16:00–18:09: Coffee, sugar, and their psychological grip
• 21:48–50:29: The Coffee Ordering Salary Game
• 33:34–39:33: Sex, relationships, and shifting cultural narratives
• 45:15–46:00: Pete’s uvula and peristalsis analogy
• 59:31–64:14: Whistling harmony challenge and improv narrative
• 66:41–69:25: Spiritual poetry and closing reflections

Takeaway

This is an episode for fans of pure, unfiltered Pete and Val energy—less structure, more laughter, playful bits, and inventive surrealism, but with pockets of depth about relationships, self-acceptance, and joy. It’s as much about the sound and rhythm of comedy and the couple’s unique rapport as it is about any concrete takeaway. If you need a day-brightening binge of goofball joy, this is the one.

Closing Moment

Val: “There’s nothing I love more in this world than a silly song, and you’re the king of them. I married the right person.” (53:32)

Pete (as neighbor Deborah): “Keep it crispy.” (69:39)

Overall:
A delightfully off-the-cuff, relationship-rich, “silly-billy” episode—with just enough insight to ground the joyful weirdness.