May 14, 2021 • 42 mins
While a good chunk of the country has been back to living, California is slowly bringing up the rear. One thing that has returned are live performances...from athletes and entertainers.
Make sure to subscribe, rate, and post a review on iTunes whenever you get the chance.
Engage with the podcast by emailing us at RealFifthHour@gmail.com
Follow Ben on Twitter @BenMaller and on Instagram @BenMallerOnFOX
David is on Twitter @DavidJGascon and Instagram @DaveGascon
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kaboo. If you've thought more hours a day, minutes a
week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of
the old republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He treats
crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the rich
pill poppers in the penthouse, to clearinghouse of hot takes,
break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
(00:24):
Maller starts right now that it does. We are in
the air everywhere, kicking off the weekend, and we thank
you for finding the Fifth Hour podcast, a spinoff of
the Overnight radio show at Fox, but only available in
the podcast world wherever you get your podcasts, and we
(00:44):
thank you for finding us and supporting the podcast. Five
stars five stars on the podcast as David gascon is
with me for another weekend here of Shenanigans, and it's
our Friday conversation podcast, gas Khan where we bring somebody
in and just shoot the crapolda and have a good time. Now,
(01:08):
I forgot to ask you this, since everything has passed
with the draft, with the schedule being released, and obviously
the regular season in playoffs being done with, do you
think ratings will continue to climb on this podcast or
do you think they will plumb it because the NFL
is king so that you're saying, like the summertime, it's
usually the next couple of months are when your favorite
(01:30):
sports radio personalities normally, uh, get out of towns, get
out a lot of town because you know, the generally
the month of June, in particular Jen is a pretty
bad month for for listenership. And plus people are doing
stuff in this summer, and I think we'll do okay.
I think we have a solid, solid enough base of
people that have already subscribed to the podcast. But i'd
(01:53):
like to gross. I want to keep growing the numbers here.
What can we do? Maybe send us a message if
you if there's something that we can do that you
think would enhance the downloads. We've had some that have number.
We had that Tim Donnie he interview did very well.
Good people love when we talked to criminals. I can't
get enough of that. So there's some of that stuff.
(02:13):
But this week, let's get right into it. I don't
want any small talk here, I guess because we are
going to the comedy club is what we're doing right now. Yeah,
we're going to Earl's Cage. A long time comedian in
l A and he's a he does voice over work,
he's a cartoon character in the Jellies. He's guy's own podcast,
(02:34):
The Inappropriate Earl, and he loves stand up comedy. He
was in the bench Warmers, right, wasn't in the bench Warmers,
that iconic sports movie from back in the day. And
he's done a bunch of stuff. So I'm excited. Did
we have we had a comedian on I We've had
people pretend to be comedians, but have we had an
actual comedian's been on the consider Pat O'Brien or Letting
(02:56):
dixter comedians p o b Yeah, yeah, Well the fact
that p ob said I could state it is a
penthouse apartment in Manhattan, when I know there's no way
I'm staying at Pat O'Brien's penthouse apartment. Man. Yes, that uh,
I think his comedy. But anyway, Earl is here and
excited to talk to her. I love comedy. I haven't
(03:18):
been to a comedy club in forever, but but let's
bring in in Earl. The comedy clubs are back open
here in California, finally they opened up recently there. You've
been doing stand up, You've been back at the club,
so at the comedy store. What's it been like? Give
me the skinny there, what's the vibe been like? It's
been heavenly because uh, you know, I did it for you.
(03:42):
I guess should say zoom or Instagram. Live comedy shows
during the pandemic and uh, nothing be It's during counchlines,
waiting for the fourth second lag to kick in, to
see if people think you're funny. So, uh, you know,
just nothing replaces live comedy. And uh, the other night
I was at the comedy store and you could literally
(04:04):
feel the love from the crowd, even though I'll assume
they didn't know who I was. And uh, it's just
just been awesome to be back and and see real people. Yeah,
what's what's the state of comedy? Though? Every every time
I flip on the internet, I see that some comedians
in trouble for this that or the the other thing,
(04:24):
or you know, you can't tell a joke about this,
and how difficult this is like a landmine field. They're
trying to do comedy these days, isn't it. Well, this
is all part of my master planned, then, is to
be the only comic who doesn't get canceled, So I'm
in it for the long game. Uh, but it is
a different era. Um. You know, I grew up with
(04:46):
Archie Bunker, you know, has uh comedy influence, not so
much for what he was saying, but for how he
said it and was likable. And of course we mentioned
my love of Jim Healey um, who was one of
my very first comedy influences in terms of his style.
(05:06):
So uh, you know, I think in regards to recent
events that have gotten certain people canceled, uh, you know,
it's just a different era. So if you're doing what
someone consider anti Asian jokes in the middle of stop
Asian hate, uh, month, they better be really really funny. Yeah.
(05:31):
I always thought comedy clubs were I hate to use
the term space safe space because I hate that. But
I always let you went in there and you you
know whatever, happy was just you're telling a joke, like
and if you're on stage, like, what's what's the big deal? Why?
I hate that that's changed that even when you you're
doing a set, because most you've been in comedy for
a long time. I think most comedians, you know, there's
(05:52):
some truth in it, but there's also a lot of
bull crap. You're trying to get a laugh, right, So
why why are people taking this stuff so serious? It's annoying. Oh,
it's horrible because we're all on edge in terms of
can I say this, Can I say that? Um? But
I think you've got to read the room. And you know,
it's like during some of the racial issues that we've
(06:16):
had this year, you know, either George Floyd or or
other incidents, that you can have racial humor, but it
better be really, really funny because that's going to be
the only thing that gives you even a little bit
of a pass. Uh. You know. It's like I was
telling them my fiance last night about the famous Chevy
(06:37):
Chase Richard fryor SNL sketch where you know, chevy Chase
said a pretty uh aggressive word on network television. But
at the end of the day, you know that sketch
was so funny that that saved him from you know,
retribution from sponsors and and people who would have called
(07:00):
amount if it wasn't funny. Yeah. I mean I have
seen like a bunch of the you know, the old
school comics guys have been around for forever, Like Billy
Crystal came out and made some comments about this. Uh.
I think Dave Chappelle did. Even recently, Jerry Seinfeld of
all talked about like the the state of of of comedy. Uh.
(07:22):
And I guess everything goes in in uh, you know,
ebbs and flows right around the life goes in ebbs
and flows. Will we ever get back to the you
mentioned Archie Bunker. I don't think we'll get back to
that period, but it seems so so extreme these days.
Hopefully it'll roll back, yes, I mean at some point
here and we can get some of that comedy back.
I mean, I don't know if it will ever go
(07:45):
back to the way like you said Archie Bunker was.
Some people may say that would be a step back,
but you know, I grew up with the Dean Martin
roast where you know, I think the difference between those
roast and may be some of the roast style humor
that goes on today is that, you know, Don Rickles
could look at uh, Sammy Davis or Nipsey Russell and
(08:09):
say something pretty racially insensitive, you know, looking back now,
But they loved each other, they were best friends, so
there was love behind the joke. Whereas now I think
some of the comics you get in trouble for what
they say. There's no love behind the joke. It's just
I want to say something shocking and hopefully enough of
(08:30):
the audience likes it where I don't get canceled. So,
you know, I think that's the you know, you look
at some of the Comedy Central roast. I thought that
Justin Bieber roast was funny because you had Hannibal Burrows
on it and who is the comic who really got
Bill Cosby thrown into the crosshairs? And he just looked
(08:51):
at Jessin Bieber and said something to the effect of,
I don't like your music. I'm just here because I
know it will help me. Uh. I think that what
made the Dean Martin Ross so great was they were
all friends and now it's just let me say something
shocking and hopefully it sticks. Yeah. Well, and also getting
(09:13):
a cloud on social media. You gotta get the uh,
the buzz going on social media, which isn't. But I
want to go back to Jim Healy because the tape
is a roll in here and Gascon is annoyed because
there's a bond. You know, when I run into someone
role that is a fellow Jim Healy fanatic from back
in the day, l a radio guy. For those around
(09:34):
the country that don't know who the hell Jim Healy was,
he did a show every day for half an hour
in l A and it was awesome. Was ahead of
his time. But I love that, or I mean, Jim,
to put in perspective, can you explain in your you
know you're you're very creative. Obviously, for those that don't
know who Jim Healy was, how would you describe Jim
Heally in just a couple of sentences. It's so hard
(09:56):
because I would say, Jim Healey, what's the one man
variety show he was? You know, if you ever listened
to the Matt Drudge radio show, he was very similar.
Where Jim Healy had hundreds of I like to call
moles and uh so he had he knew the bartender
(10:17):
at the Beller Hotel, he knew the valet at uh
you know Jimmy's and Beverly Hills, and so if uh,
I'm just gonna say Steve Garvey, Let's say Steve Garvey
was out with a woman who wasn't named Cindy Garvey.
His wife. Jim would do a report on it, like
kind of a Walter Wincheld type news report with sound clips,
(10:38):
or you know, the probably the most famous clip he
has when uh I forget the sports reporters named Paul Paul.
Yeah he's he's a p a guy at Yankee Stadium. Now, Pa,
he had you know, Dave Kingman had just hit three
home runs, drove in nine r v U and uh,
(10:59):
I think we all know Tommy lets sorta when the
Dodgers loss wasn't in the best of moods, and Paul
Holden asked the most simple question, in the most understated way,
what's your opinion of Kingman's performance? And for the next
seven minutes, Tommy Lets Sorta gave his opinion of It
couldn't be aired on radio because it was beeped and
(11:23):
Jim Healey would beep it just enough so you could
understand what words Tommy was saying. And it was just
he was a one man show. And I don't think
a lot of people realized that he wrote it. He
you know, directed what, when, what, clips would go where,
and us just a brilliant comedy mind. So that's why
(11:44):
a lot of people don't understand he was a comedy
influence on me versus say a stand up. He was
just you know, it's been passed, I think, and uhty
has never been the same for me. And six o'clock
when we all would hear the dread at six o'clock tone,
the dress right, the dreaded six o'clock tone, and I
he was an influence on me too. So I mean
(12:06):
we're you know, close to the same age, and I, uh,
I have fond memories. Uh you know, I was telling
you off before we started rolling on this, like when
when I started going to dodgery games and stuff. When
I got in the media, I was a young guy.
I was like nineteen and I had listened to Heally
and I saw all these people that Healy would goof
on like you know, do updates on the freeloading and stuff,
and I laugh my my ass off. But yeah, he
(12:30):
knew everyone here. That's a great point about how you
know that the people behind the scenes, and that was
in the days, it was a stone age before social media.
It's also the technical stuff on how to play all
the sound bites that he did his own, his own
sound bites, and he didn't have all the computers and
stuff that we have to today. So it wasn't much
uh much much different time, and it's really hard to
(12:53):
recreate that. And I try to give tribute sometimes late
at night, or I'll try to give tribute to Jim Heally,
but you can't. I mean, that's such a unique show.
You can't. Really the sequel will not be the equal,
you know what I'm saying. I mean, And that's why
I was a fan of yours because when I first
started listening to you on Sunday nights, you know, after Drudge,
I was like, I know this guy was a Healy
(13:15):
fan because it was you weren't copying him, but it
was definitely a tribute, much like you know, a lot
of people when they hear my comedy, you know, they're
comparing me to Robert Schimmel or Stephen Wright, and I'm
not copying them. I just was influenced by them. And
he was just such a creative mind and so funny
to me that his dry sense of humor and just
(13:39):
the work you knew he put in of calling every
source he had before show, and and his out and
out hatred of uh. Tommy was sort of the guy
from San Diego Lee heck saw Hamilton's I mean he
would be raped these guys out in the open. And
I like that kind of honesty, Like I don't know
(14:00):
if you have enemies Ben in radio, but uh, you know,
if you do, you don't really let it be known.
He did. So I like that kind of aggressive humor
of naming names instead of hiding behind anonymous zingers. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show
(14:20):
weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show weekdays
at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio and the I Heart Radio app Earl this, this
day has gotten off to a bad start. Um, I
need to correct some things on this podcast. No, no, no,
you don't need to correct anything. Just well, this is great. Now,
(14:44):
this is a wonderful Why didn't we get Earl on sooner?
Guess it's a bad job by you, Like bad job
by you man at the beach right now. You put
all these hacks on, and you could have put Earle on,
who's a quality l a comedian who knows everybody in
the business. And you don't put this guy up. Bat
job by you. It's funny. But the last time I
did see Earle was at the Comedy Store pre Pandemic,
(15:06):
and Earl, you were judging one of the roast battles.
I don't know if many people know about the dynamics
of it, but you need to explain that for for
the audience, and then also too. We were sitting next
to Justin Turner and Dennis Rodman, who well, I don't
know what he was on, but I've never seen a
celebrity point in blank get escorted out of the building
(15:29):
like he did that night. Um, what got you involved
in the roast battle first of all, especially upstairs in
that comedy store. Well, I'm no longer involved in roast Battle.
I feel like Sid Vicious when he left the Four
Horsemen and got kicked out by Rick Flair are and
it's Tolly Blanchard. But uh, you know, Roast Battle was
(15:50):
a show you talk about. You know, Aggressive Humor was
basically a one on one insult show and uh, I
was one of the uh founding fathers of it. Was
a show was quite popular back in the day. And
I remember that show you were at. I felt so
bad at some of the things I said because I was,
(16:11):
you know, doing an archie bunker type character that I
had to apologize suggesting Turner downstairs. I'm like, hey, man,
I was just kidding around up there, and he's like,
oh man, you were my favorite part. And then Dennis
Rodman got upset at me when I called him on
our test. I don't think I think Dennis might have
(16:31):
been on the powdered supplements, if you know what I'm saying. Uh,
and uh he sat in my lap that night, and uh,
I've never been so turned on in my life. Not
just kidding because I'm a wrestling fan. So I was like, hey,
you were great in the n w O. Just kidding.
I know the n w O was going downhill when
(16:52):
him and Virgil were in it, but uh, you know
it's uh, I guess it's a rose Valley call it
an ensemble uh roast. Uh it's um, you know, it
shows not for everyone. But it was fun when I
was in it, but after I left it, it was
like Kiss with Vinny Vincent in it, just not the same.
(17:13):
How's that reference? Oh man? This I mean because I
remember back in the day obviously with Jeffrey Ross and
some of these cats and you see it from afar,
but then your point blank and you're in it. I
had a buddy of mine that performed that night, and
I think he was one of the first two guys,
and he got absolutely decimated. And I don't know if
it was because of the audience or if it was
because his dumbass brought four of his friends, including me
(17:36):
there and we just heckled the ship out of him
the entire time and he flamed out, like right before
our eyes. Well it's uh, you know, the show's not
for everyone. In terms of contestants. Uh, you know, you
have to have a thick skin. You know you're gonna
hear you know, like when I did it on TV
against Jimmy Carr, who's probably like the number one comic
(17:59):
in the world. Old he plays like arenas he opens
up for the killers. Uh, you know, I knew he
was gonna have jokes about my parents dying two months apart,
and you know some of my uh you know, bad relationships,
and he knew I was going to make fun of
his dad and his relationships. So h it's uh, it's
(18:19):
blood sport. It's literally like the octagon. You go in
and knowing what it is, and uh you know, if
you're strong enough to survive, great, If not, you're gonna
have a Jerry Springer moment for everyone to enjoy. It's
it's allowed you to pivot though, to a bunch of
different things, right like Comedy Central. You've been doing voiceover stuff,
like You're in a lot of different things, aren't you. Yeah, Like,
(18:42):
right now, I'm on a cartoon made by Tyler the creator.
It's called The Jellies, and I'm the only white guy
on it. So I played the dad. Uh So you know,
that's probably the thing I'm most proud of because he's
an amazing He's a kid, you know, said, but he's
(19:03):
incredible with his creative vision. And it's kind of like
the Black South Park. Uh you know if you like,
uh like edgy or humor, I think people would like it.
And uh so, how's that? How's that work? Girl? When
you're the voice of that's cool? I like, like, I
love cartoons and stuff. But you know how how much
work is it's as easy as it could be? Or
is is there actually some some difficulty in voicing over
(19:26):
a cartoon character? Well, for me, it's easy because, as
you can tell, Ben, my voice is very monotone. There's
not a lot of level to it. So I'm not
asked to any other type of voice other than Earl.
Just talk and read the line and we're good. Um.
Where has the guy who plays my son in the show,
(19:47):
Phil Lamar? And he's like the Wayne Gretzky of voice actors.
Like he's been in everything from pulp fiction to any
cartoon or animated movie you've ever watched, He's been in it. Uh.
He can do like seven different voices, seven different vocal ranges.
He's like. Watching him was like uh. And having to
(20:08):
do scenes with him in the booth was like doing
scenes with de Niro. It was like, Wow, this is
an education. So but I love it. You know. It's
I'm like a let me see, let me think of
a good sports analogy. Uh. I'm like, uh, you know,
I'm like a kid to coulf. I I got the
side arm. I can't pitch any other way. So you know,
(20:30):
if you need a deep baritone, growling voice, I'm the
guy fair enough. So you're not. I know that you're
a near and dear at Pittsburgh Steelers FENC. You're not
like a Levy on Bell type. You should have listened
to bench show the other night. It was it was nauseating.
He went through a television schedule for his opening monologue,
(20:52):
the most popular, the most popular television show in America
that kills the ratings. And by the way, and you
know this, earl, you know, and you just when I
do sports radio, the number one thing is the NFL anything.
You know, if Roger Gell takes a dump, we we
can talk about it fifteen minutes if we have to.
(21:13):
And Gascon's busting my balls because the schedule came out
and I played the hits and I got in trouble
for it with Gascon his instincts. I'm a huge hockey guy.
Hockey is my favorite sport country mile next to football.
But you know, football is a just you know, it's
(21:36):
just America's Uh. I think it's America's past time. I
know they say that about baseball, but like, you know,
everyone watches football, Like you know, you gotta put a
gun to people said to watch hockey. Um, you know,
hockey hockeys like kiss. You know, you put on a
kiss record any of them. Uh You're like, okay, this
(21:56):
is okay, I guess, but you gotta see Kiss Live.
You're like, this is the greatest band ever. Uh and
I think that's like hockey football has just made for TV.
And uh, you know, even though I totally agree with
Jim rsay, like who the hell is mel Kuiper? Uh
you know, I'll watch Mel Kuiper for six hours last weekend.
(22:17):
So uh, you know, I am a Steeler fan. But man,
we got tough schedule this year, that's for sure. See
that he wants to break down the Steelers schedules. See
what you see? This is like so you completely want
this is is gonna come out and bring the anvil
on my head? And he would have been nice if
you did. It would have been nice. I mean if
(22:37):
I would love to talk about the White Shadow for
the next hour. But uh, you know, football the kids today,
and I know Ben, you have Ben and Dave, you
you have a young fan base. You know that I
don't know what the hell the White Shadow is, so
they want to talk about you know, Naji Harris and uh,
I don't know Chad Johnson's TikTok videos. Yeah, very important.
(23:00):
I'm not are you on TikTok girl? I'm not. I'm
too old. I think for TikTok. I'm not on there.
I mean, I'm probably the oldest guy on TikTok. I'm
fifty two. I I I feel creepy being on it,
to be honest with you. Uh. I get messages from
like thirteen year old Guatemalan boys saying how funny I am.
Uh No, No, I'm serious. Like my Beance she's got
(23:25):
like two hundred thousand followers on TikTok. I've got like
twelve hundred. Uh and most of them I think have
played for the Dominican Republic Little League. It's see Earl,
that's so funny because you get those emails from those
those teenagers. Ben gets those from like sixty seven year
old men. I mean, it's like it's amazing that these
guys like how their mouths watering at so you're so jealous.
(23:48):
He's just believable. See. You know, he's got he's got ages,
and he hate anybody over a certain age, and I
guess kind of spits loogie's in their face. He's like,
you're you know you gets stay. But some of the
greatest callers I've had in radio. I got this guy,
Doc Mike Earl. It calls me from Chicago, and he preaches.
He calls me like three times a week and preaches
(24:08):
that you need to drink your own urine and that
you'll you know, you'll live forever in all this and
guess like it was it was guess Gun in charge,
he wouldn't be able to take a call like that. Uh.
And he's actually been when he's produced my show, Earl,
he's not allowed me to take any phone calls. He
because he didn't know how to use the phone system.
Can you believe that? I mean, listen, as a fifty
(24:29):
two year old comic who has a primarily young fan base,
I'll take anyone's d M. Uh of course. Uh, you
know you need fans man, Yes, yes, you guys or me.
You know I can't tell jokes two empty seats. Uh.
You know. I had a d M just this morning
from seventy year old woman who made mother caresa looked
(24:52):
like a Backstreet boy, but you know, she said, I
love your podcast I released yesterday of this hockey player
I interviewed, and I was like, hey, thanks for I
get back to everyone, you know, because I know when
I've reached out to some of my uh you know people,
I'm fans of like the singer from Bowling for Soup,
he messages me back every time. The singer from rat Hey,
(25:15):
will you come on my podcast? He's come on twice,
So I know how good that made me feel. So
I get back to everyone whether you're uh, you wouldn't
no matter what your age is. Of course, you know,
if you're anyone under eighteen, I try not to talk
to you boy or a girl, just because, uh, you know,
nothing good is going to come out of that conversation
(25:37):
except allegations. Earl, one of your biggest interviews was before
he passed away, the late great Roddy Piper. Um, what
was that relationship? Like, how did you guys to how
did you two come in contact? And what was the conversation? Like?
It was awesome and I owe it all due to
the Comedy Store and uh fellow comics Steve Simone. I
(26:00):
think he somehow knew Roddy and Roddy wanted to not
necessarily be a stand up. But you know, at this time,
Roddy was probably fifty and you know he pro wrestlers.
As we all know, they live a brutal lifestyle. Uh.
You know, it's like when you see Rick Flair still wrestling.
You know, he's got to pay off for the four
divorces and all that stuff. And h I think Roddy
(26:23):
just didn't want to travel as much anymore. So he thought, oh,
I'll go to the comedy store, maybe have some shows.
And one night I'm on stage and it was pretty
empty in the room. How empty was it? Think dark
and at a state fair and empty? And uh, I'm
doing I was very upset at how my favorite wrestler,
Sting was treated when he went to the w W.
(26:46):
And I did about a twenty minute set on it
and Roddy was in the background. Uh, and he just
comes up to me and it was like talking to Superman.
I mean, this is a guy I watched since I
was a kid. And he's like, why don't you come
on my podcast? And you seem you seem like you're
pretty bitter about pro wrestling state of you know, the
state of it, and uh. It went so well the
(27:08):
next day that his producer was like, hey, you know,
Roddy needs a sidekick and what you want to do it?
And I'm like, yeah, I don't even want to get paid. Uh.
And so when I did it for probably about the
last five months of his life and it was awesome,
like he was like getting to work with him was like,
(27:30):
you know, pro wrestlers are like especially in the eighties,
you know, you know, like Ben said, now there's the
Internet and YouTube and all that stuff, but you know,
you watch wrestling in the eighties, you really thought Kamala
was from Uganda. Ex No, I swear to God until
my dad once took me to the Olympic Auditorium which
(27:53):
is now Korean Church off the five and it's also
where Jim Healey did uh announcing for boxing. Uh. He
takes me to w WF event at the time, and
my dad leaves me alone backstage in a ww F
locker area that that's probably speaks to his parenting ability.
And I see Kamala putting his clothes on, like khaki pants,
(28:17):
a polo shirt. He still got his face makeup on,
and I'm just staring at him. Now he was about
six seven four pounds. Towards the end of his life,
he was about five four. But he shout out to
the de w dewt for taking care of their own uh.
And he just looks at me and goes, Hi, I'm Jim,
I'm like, uh no, your your name's Kamala and what
(28:39):
are you doing speaking English? And uh no, it was
just like and then Kimchi came over, who was his manager,
you know, the guy who would dress up in the
bee keeper outfit. He's like, hey, I'm Steve. I'm like
thought you were Asian and your name was Kimchi and uh,
you know, it's like when I met Abdulo the Butch
(29:00):
Sure and he introduced himself as Larry from uh the
Windsor Ontario. I'm like, I thought you were from the
Sioux Dan So, uh, you know, I just was fascinated
with Roddy's era of wrestling, and he loved that. And
you know, I didn't really care about working for the
de w de Wie. Uh. And I think Roddy sense
(29:20):
that he's like, Okay, he can be the bad guy
and I can just almost be the good guy that
this guy's bad guy. And I know the fan hated
me on the show, you know, they just wanted to
hear Roddy. But you know, Roddy liked me, and uh,
you know I cried a lot, you know when he passed,
because uh, he was just a great guy. So I
think about him a lot. Yeah, legend. I remember when
(29:42):
I was a kid, I had the same I was
just like you, you watched wrestling on the weekend and
you're you know, come on to the Anaheim Convention Center.
It'll the whole Cogen and whatever, and you're like, oh,
that's cool. And I went out there. I didn't have
the the the access, but I would. I would hang out.
I knew where the wrestlers. I went actually was actually
I grew up in Orange Counties. It was the Anaheim
Convention Center, this dumpy arena, which is I don't even
(30:02):
know if it's still there, probably is, but the Clippers
actually played a playoff game there during the LA Riots
back many years. So I'm I'm at the uh, I'm
Atianna Anhem Convention Center, and I was. I got fat
earl on those w WF ice cream bars. I remember those.
I got the Yeah, those were great ice cream bars.
And I had the Hulk Coogen vitamins. I took those,
(30:24):
and I learned as an adult Hulk Hulk took other vitamins.
But I didn't didn't realize that at the time, but
I I I was most excited about because I thought
I was gonna be a broadcaster even as a kid.
Mean gene Oakerland. Like when I I when I saw
him walk out in a jumpsuit, you know, to to
his hotel. He was walking across the street to the hotel.
I was like, oh my god, this guy. And he's
like the little bald guy with had a sweatsuit on.
(30:48):
And it was and Andre the Giant, bigger than life,
Andre the Giant. I mean, just Justin said, who are
you in nineteen eighties wrestling? Who are you? Like? Your
your top three? Guy? Eyes of you. I'm not that
we do list radio or podcasting, but who are your
top three back in those days? I mean definitely the
ultimate Warrior. I mean he just his intros made zero,
(31:14):
his promos made zero sense. But h you know, I
just you know, this is the eighties. You know, he
looked like bon Jovi on h G h um Kamala.
I just was before they turned him into a cartoon
character like Kamala. His first few years as a as
(31:35):
a bad guy was frightening. I mean, you know when
he would come down to the ring and you know,
pound his belly and and looked like he was an
absolute maniac. They would pay to the crowd and show
kids crying like they really thought that Scott was gonna
glunge into the crowd and spear them to death. Uh.
And of course the late grade. Of course they're almost
(31:57):
all dead. Now what a health plan they have? The
great Rick Rude, Yeah solid, which is who I kind
of based my roast Battle character on. Like he was
just the ultimate bad guy and uh, you know, would
call the audience fat tax cheets and they loved it. So, uh,
(32:19):
who were your favorite Benny, I'm senting you as a
maybe earthquake and tug boat fan. Yeah. No, Well, I
I remember the hul Kogan, Andre the Giant, the Junkyard Dog.
I like the Junkyard Dog a lot. Hack saw. Jim
Dungan was was big King Kong Bundy. I actually met
(32:43):
he's I think he passed away to George and the
Animal steel Man, which is is he still alive? Okay?
I didn't George the Animal steal. When I was in
early in the radio, I had a similar experience to you.
So I I got hired to be a celebrity manager
for the hedge rinkers at a at a w w
E event at a minor league ballpark out in the
(33:05):
Where was that, I don't even remember where it was.
I think it was out out in the Inland Empire.
So we went out there and uh, and I didn't
know who was on the card or whatever, but George
the Animal Steel was like the big name. It was
like a secondary w w E card and uh. And
so we got to hang out in the locker room
waiting because we were going on like next, next to
(33:26):
last or whatever, and uh, and I remember George walked
in and he was like an educated guy and you know,
it wasn't in character and it was like a normal
dude and it was like whoa. And I was flashing
back to my youth and I was like, wait a minute,
this is the guy that eats turn buckles, George the
Animal Steel. What's going on with that? And it was?
It was It was crazy. But but yeah, I mean
I would say late you know, late eighties more than
(33:49):
mid eighties. But GEORGEI I all the dolls to all
the cheesy toys they came out with back in those days.
I still have some of them somewhere buried in the
Oh yeah, all my wrestling dolls. Uh, you know, I've
been doing comedy for like twenty years. You'd think some
of my highlights would have been meeting Jim Carrey on
(34:10):
the set of I'm Dying up Here, or being on
a cartoon on Adult Swim, which you know, you have
voice actors who do it for thirty years who never
get on a Adult Swim show. But my career highlight
it's one day I get a package at the comedy
store and I go down there and I opened it
up and some fan that sent me in Abdula the
(34:32):
butcher meant conditioned doll that I'd ever taken out of
the box, And you would have thought I got the
couch on the tonight show with how I reacted great, Earl,
I got Because you've mentioned so many things, I'm curious,
what is the because you've done a lot, what's the
ultimate goal now or what is the next besides getting married?
(34:56):
You're taking that, you're taking that plans, you've been to
the knee, You're getting married. Got maslto congratulations Lahimlahim. What's
what's the goal now? Like? What do you um like? Well,
you know't just to have a bigger fan base and
uh you know, just to uh like I love doing
(35:19):
stand up and you know, every meeting I have with
a manager and age and that they all look at
me when I tell them that. It was like, dude,
there's no money and stand up. Um, you know, you
gotta have a cartoon and you gotta have a script.
You gotta have this. Uh that. Uh. You know, I
love doing my podcast. You know, it's kind of awesome
to have some of the guests I've been able to get,
(35:41):
Like I had the bad guy from Superman two on.
He came to my house. Uh, and not Terence Stamp,
but no, I'm the guy who didn't see I didn't
speak at all. I thought. Then I was like, this
guy probably no one's asked him to be interviewed in
quite some time. And uh, I somehow got ahold of
them on social media and he's like, oh, can we skype?
(36:02):
I'm like, no, I don't do this sky He's like,
can we zoom? I'm like, now you gotta come to
my house? And you know, I get a buzz on
my door one day and there's no he's still a
huge guy. He's probably in the seventies and I had
no idea of his background. He used to be a
heavyweight boxer, he bought uh George Foreman and uh scheduled
(36:23):
type Muhammad Ali. So we had a great conversation about boxing.
I mean, anytime I can do an interview and drop
ron Lyle and text Cob and the guy knows who
they are, that's a good interview. So, uh, you know,
part of my to answer your question, Dave, maybe you
get on this show boar option now that me and
(36:44):
Ben her home. He is, uh yeah, absolutely clearly. I
mean you've gotta have higher standards than that, though. I mean,
you gotta you know, I'm a struggling overnight radio guys,
so you gotta you gotta find maybe you can just
move to Austin. Isn't that what everyone's doing now, moving
to Austin and uh, you know, open a comedy club
or something like that. I guess, isn't that the wave
of the future. Well, I think Bill Burt said it
(37:06):
the best, and I want to give him full credit. Uh,
He's like, everyone can move to Austin, but only one
of you has a hundred millions. So you know, I
saw Joe Rogan's house. Holy shit, my god, man oh man,
good for him, but that is uh, well he's got houses.
Uh but I messed up though. Joe asked me wants
(37:28):
to be on this podcast. You know, he came up
to me at the comedy store one night, it's really late.
It's in the back of the kitchen where it is
one of his safe spaces, and he just looks at
me and goes, bro, it's time you come on the podcast,
And like, like, I wish I had my internal dialogue
on tape because it's like, Okay, don't don't get too excited,
(37:51):
be cool, be cool. And he's like, here's my number,
called Jamie tomorrow, we'll set it up. And I'm like,
I'm head, like I'm finally in and I know I
would have a good interview with him, because you know,
just he's a great interview or he's like Howard Stern.
He doesn't get the credit for asking the questions nobody
else would. And uh, I thought, well, you know what,
(38:12):
everyone calls him the day after. I'm gonna give him
two days. And then second day came. I think I'm
gonna give him one more day, so I don't seem
too eager. So I called him up and I could
tell he, uh, he probably forgot. He gave me his
number to do the podcast. I just panicked and I
I think I asked him about my torn a c
(38:33):
L and he was nice, but it was it was
a short conversation. And that's stop being nice, Like that's
Dave you asked me. My my in goal is to
stop being so nice. Well, you can still be nice
to us at least. I mean I need to probably
invest in a blanket and a couple of wine glasses
for you and Ben. Maybe uh, a couch somewhere you
(38:55):
guys can do some wine tasting and malibu together since
this bromance has taken off him. Set it up and
we'll watch episode sixteen, season two of The White Shadow.
I always try and expose this episode to everyone. Uh.
And that's when Coach Reives takes Salami, Coolidge and Thorpe
to the golf course and it is no I'm telling
(39:16):
you as someone who grew up playing bell are country club. Uh.
And maybe it's inside jokes to me, but that is
the finest written hour. Not that The White Shadow was
a sitcom, but I guess you'd call it half sitcom
half drama. But the jokes are so funny, and keeping
in mind that they were told in nine on Channel two,
(39:38):
Monday Night's prime time. That's probably my favorite episode of
all time of any TV show. So let's let's promote
you or I mean, there's probably some people I would
think that might not know who you are. You're being
exposed when they love you world. They love that you're
a sportsman and you're a comedian. You know everyone and
(39:58):
you you go to the comedy store and how can
people find you and how can they follow you and
say amazing things about you on social media? And all
you're on the jellies you mentioned got your own podcast? Uh?
Was it inappropriate? Earl? Is that the name of it?
Am I right on? That is that? Yes? You are right, Ben,
It's it's just inappropriate. And people ask me all the time,
(40:18):
as I'm sure to do you guys, what's your show about?
Your podcast? A radio show? And I'm like, it's really
the podcast, it's about everything at nothing at the same time,
you know, yes, yes, yes, yes, that makes any sense.
Like I had the bad guy from Superman Too yesterday
I had the very famous, I should say infamous NHL
(40:39):
Enforce or from the eighties Eddie Boxcar hospit are Uh
you know, I had well to me it was he
meant a lot to me as a kid, you know,
because he was he played in the aggressive era of
the league and uh he was involved in several uh
on ice incidents that are still up to this day.
(41:01):
Caused a pregame brawl in the seven Stanley Cup Final
warm ups. So you can watch, you can listen to
inappropriate or on the Apple podcast and on social media.
TikTok included, I'm the same on every format. It's just
at Earl skakel e a r L s k a
(41:22):
k e L and I'm at the comedy store tonight,
improv tomorrow. If you message me on say Instagram, I
can arrange tickets and uh, you know, I'd love to
poach some of your fans. And to my fans who
will listen to this follow Dave Gascon followed the great
Ben Mahller, a Jim Healey protege and we all win.
(41:46):
So we thank you Earl, No Ben, thank you, thank
you for entertaining me. I really you were an influence
on me, so I appreciate that. Thank you Dave for
set in this up. And if you guys ever have
twenty guests to drop out, I'm the go to guys,
I'm the man. It's the old thing in life. Guys.
(42:10):
You'd like to hear some us doing pretty good, but
you don't want to hear they're doing better than you.
And my whole life, I've done better than all of you.
Rick Blair, Starcade, Sting. Be sure to catch live editions
of The Ben Miller Show weekdays at two am Eastern
eleven pm Pacific. Be sure to catch live editions of
(42:32):
The Ben Miller Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart
Radio app
Kaboo. If you've thought more hours a day, minutes a
week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of
the old republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He treats
crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the rich
pill poppers in the penthouse, to clearinghouse of hot takes,
break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
(00:24):
Maller starts right now that it does. We are in
the air everywhere, kicking off the weekend, and we thank
you for finding the Fifth Hour podcast, a spinoff of
the Overnight radio show at Fox, but only available in
the podcast world wherever you get your podcasts, and we
(00:44):
thank you for finding us and supporting the podcast. Five
stars five stars on the podcast as David gascon is
with me for another weekend here of Shenanigans, and it's
our Friday conversation podcast, gas Khan where we bring somebody
in and just shoot the crapolda and have a good time. Now,
(01:08):
I forgot to ask you this, since everything has passed
with the draft, with the schedule being released, and obviously
the regular season in playoffs being done with, do you
think ratings will continue to climb on this podcast or
do you think they will plumb it because the NFL
is king so that you're saying, like the summertime, it's
usually the next couple of months are when your favorite
(01:30):
sports radio personalities normally, uh, get out of towns, get
out a lot of town because you know, the generally
the month of June, in particular Jen is a pretty
bad month for for listenership. And plus people are doing
stuff in this summer, and I think we'll do okay.
I think we have a solid, solid enough base of
people that have already subscribed to the podcast. But i'd
(01:53):
like to gross. I want to keep growing the numbers here.
What can we do? Maybe send us a message if
you if there's something that we can do that you
think would enhance the downloads. We've had some that have number.
We had that Tim Donnie he interview did very well.
Good people love when we talked to criminals. I can't
get enough of that. So there's some of that stuff.
(02:13):
But this week, let's get right into it. I don't
want any small talk here, I guess because we are
going to the comedy club is what we're doing right now. Yeah,
we're going to Earl's Cage. A long time comedian in
l A and he's a he does voice over work,
he's a cartoon character in the Jellies. He's guy's own podcast,
(02:34):
The Inappropriate Earl, and he loves stand up comedy. He
was in the bench Warmers, right, wasn't in the bench Warmers,
that iconic sports movie from back in the day. And
he's done a bunch of stuff. So I'm excited. Did
we have we had a comedian on I We've had
people pretend to be comedians, but have we had an
actual comedian's been on the consider Pat O'Brien or Letting
(02:56):
dixter comedians p o b Yeah, yeah, Well the fact
that p ob said I could state it is a
penthouse apartment in Manhattan, when I know there's no way
I'm staying at Pat O'Brien's penthouse apartment. Man. Yes, that uh,
I think his comedy. But anyway, Earl is here and
excited to talk to her. I love comedy. I haven't
(03:18):
been to a comedy club in forever, but but let's
bring in in Earl. The comedy clubs are back open
here in California, finally they opened up recently there. You've
been doing stand up, You've been back at the club,
so at the comedy store. What's it been like? Give
me the skinny there, what's the vibe been like? It's
been heavenly because uh, you know, I did it for you.
(03:42):
I guess should say zoom or Instagram. Live comedy shows
during the pandemic and uh, nothing be It's during counchlines,
waiting for the fourth second lag to kick in, to
see if people think you're funny. So, uh, you know,
just nothing replaces live comedy. And uh, the other night
I was at the comedy store and you could literally
(04:04):
feel the love from the crowd, even though I'll assume
they didn't know who I was. And uh, it's just
just been awesome to be back and and see real people. Yeah,
what's what's the state of comedy? Though? Every every time
I flip on the internet, I see that some comedians
in trouble for this that or the the other thing,
(04:24):
or you know, you can't tell a joke about this,
and how difficult this is like a landmine field. They're
trying to do comedy these days, isn't it. Well, this
is all part of my master planned, then, is to
be the only comic who doesn't get canceled, So I'm
in it for the long game. Uh, but it is
a different era. Um. You know, I grew up with
(04:46):
Archie Bunker, you know, has uh comedy influence, not so
much for what he was saying, but for how he
said it and was likable. And of course we mentioned
my love of Jim Healey um, who was one of
my very first comedy influences in terms of his style.
(05:06):
So uh, you know, I think in regards to recent
events that have gotten certain people canceled, uh, you know,
it's just a different era. So if you're doing what
someone consider anti Asian jokes in the middle of stop
Asian hate, uh, month, they better be really really funny. Yeah.
(05:31):
I always thought comedy clubs were I hate to use
the term space safe space because I hate that. But
I always let you went in there and you you
know whatever, happy was just you're telling a joke, like
and if you're on stage, like, what's what's the big deal? Why?
I hate that that's changed that even when you you're
doing a set, because most you've been in comedy for
a long time. I think most comedians, you know, there's
(05:52):
some truth in it, but there's also a lot of
bull crap. You're trying to get a laugh, right, So
why why are people taking this stuff so serious? It's annoying. Oh,
it's horrible because we're all on edge in terms of
can I say this, Can I say that? Um? But
I think you've got to read the room. And you know,
it's like during some of the racial issues that we've
(06:16):
had this year, you know, either George Floyd or or
other incidents, that you can have racial humor, but it
better be really, really funny because that's going to be
the only thing that gives you even a little bit
of a pass. Uh. You know. It's like I was
telling them my fiance last night about the famous Chevy
(06:37):
Chase Richard fryor SNL sketch where you know, chevy Chase
said a pretty uh aggressive word on network television. But
at the end of the day, you know that sketch
was so funny that that saved him from you know,
retribution from sponsors and and people who would have called
(07:00):
amount if it wasn't funny. Yeah. I mean I have
seen like a bunch of the you know, the old
school comics guys have been around for forever, Like Billy
Crystal came out and made some comments about this. Uh.
I think Dave Chappelle did. Even recently, Jerry Seinfeld of
all talked about like the the state of of of comedy. Uh.
(07:22):
And I guess everything goes in in uh, you know,
ebbs and flows right around the life goes in ebbs
and flows. Will we ever get back to the you
mentioned Archie Bunker. I don't think we'll get back to
that period, but it seems so so extreme these days.
Hopefully it'll roll back, yes, I mean at some point
here and we can get some of that comedy back.
I mean, I don't know if it will ever go
(07:45):
back to the way like you said Archie Bunker was.
Some people may say that would be a step back,
but you know, I grew up with the Dean Martin
roast where you know, I think the difference between those
roast and may be some of the roast style humor
that goes on today is that, you know, Don Rickles
could look at uh, Sammy Davis or Nipsey Russell and
(08:09):
say something pretty racially insensitive, you know, looking back now,
But they loved each other, they were best friends, so
there was love behind the joke. Whereas now I think
some of the comics you get in trouble for what
they say. There's no love behind the joke. It's just
I want to say something shocking and hopefully enough of
(08:30):
the audience likes it where I don't get canceled. So,
you know, I think that's the you know, you look
at some of the Comedy Central roast. I thought that
Justin Bieber roast was funny because you had Hannibal Burrows
on it and who is the comic who really got
Bill Cosby thrown into the crosshairs? And he just looked
(08:51):
at Jessin Bieber and said something to the effect of,
I don't like your music. I'm just here because I
know it will help me. Uh. I think that what
made the Dean Martin Ross so great was they were
all friends and now it's just let me say something
shocking and hopefully it sticks. Yeah. Well, and also getting
(09:13):
a cloud on social media. You gotta get the uh,
the buzz going on social media, which isn't. But I
want to go back to Jim Healy because the tape
is a roll in here and Gascon is annoyed because
there's a bond. You know, when I run into someone
role that is a fellow Jim Healy fanatic from back
in the day, l a radio guy. For those around
(09:34):
the country that don't know who the hell Jim Healy was,
he did a show every day for half an hour
in l A and it was awesome. Was ahead of
his time. But I love that, or I mean, Jim,
to put in perspective, can you explain in your you
know you're you're very creative. Obviously, for those that don't
know who Jim Healy was, how would you describe Jim
Heally in just a couple of sentences. It's so hard
(09:56):
because I would say, Jim Healey, what's the one man
variety show he was? You know, if you ever listened
to the Matt Drudge radio show, he was very similar.
Where Jim Healy had hundreds of I like to call
moles and uh so he had he knew the bartender
(10:17):
at the Beller Hotel, he knew the valet at uh
you know Jimmy's and Beverly Hills, and so if uh,
I'm just gonna say Steve Garvey, Let's say Steve Garvey
was out with a woman who wasn't named Cindy Garvey.
His wife. Jim would do a report on it, like
kind of a Walter Wincheld type news report with sound clips,
(10:38):
or you know, the probably the most famous clip he
has when uh I forget the sports reporters named Paul Paul.
Yeah he's he's a p a guy at Yankee Stadium. Now, Pa,
he had you know, Dave Kingman had just hit three
home runs, drove in nine r v U and uh,
(10:59):
I think we all know Tommy lets sorta when the
Dodgers loss wasn't in the best of moods, and Paul
Holden asked the most simple question, in the most understated way,
what's your opinion of Kingman's performance? And for the next
seven minutes, Tommy Lets Sorta gave his opinion of It
couldn't be aired on radio because it was beeped and
(11:23):
Jim Healey would beep it just enough so you could
understand what words Tommy was saying. And it was just
he was a one man show. And I don't think
a lot of people realized that he wrote it. He
you know, directed what, when, what, clips would go where,
and us just a brilliant comedy mind. So that's why
(11:44):
a lot of people don't understand he was a comedy
influence on me versus say a stand up. He was
just you know, it's been passed, I think, and uhty
has never been the same for me. And six o'clock
when we all would hear the dread at six o'clock tone,
the dress right, the dreaded six o'clock tone, and I
he was an influence on me too. So I mean
(12:06):
we're you know, close to the same age, and I, uh,
I have fond memories. Uh you know, I was telling
you off before we started rolling on this, like when
when I started going to dodgery games and stuff. When
I got in the media, I was a young guy.
I was like nineteen and I had listened to Heally
and I saw all these people that Healy would goof
on like you know, do updates on the freeloading and stuff,
and I laugh my my ass off. But yeah, he
(12:30):
knew everyone here. That's a great point about how you
know that the people behind the scenes, and that was
in the days, it was a stone age before social media.
It's also the technical stuff on how to play all
the sound bites that he did his own, his own
sound bites, and he didn't have all the computers and
stuff that we have to today. So it wasn't much
uh much much different time, and it's really hard to
(12:53):
recreate that. And I try to give tribute sometimes late
at night, or I'll try to give tribute to Jim Heally,
but you can't. I mean, that's such a unique show.
You can't. Really the sequel will not be the equal,
you know what I'm saying. I mean, And that's why
I was a fan of yours because when I first
started listening to you on Sunday nights, you know, after Drudge,
I was like, I know this guy was a Healy
(13:15):
fan because it was you weren't copying him, but it
was definitely a tribute, much like you know, a lot
of people when they hear my comedy, you know, they're
comparing me to Robert Schimmel or Stephen Wright, and I'm
not copying them. I just was influenced by them. And
he was just such a creative mind and so funny
to me that his dry sense of humor and just
(13:39):
the work you knew he put in of calling every
source he had before show, and and his out and
out hatred of uh. Tommy was sort of the guy
from San Diego Lee heck saw Hamilton's I mean he
would be raped these guys out in the open. And
I like that kind of honesty, Like I don't know
(14:00):
if you have enemies Ben in radio, but uh, you know,
if you do, you don't really let it be known.
He did. So I like that kind of aggressive humor
of naming names instead of hiding behind anonymous zingers. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show
(14:20):
weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show weekdays
at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio and the I Heart Radio app Earl this, this
day has gotten off to a bad start. Um, I
need to correct some things on this podcast. No, no, no,
you don't need to correct anything. Just well, this is great. Now,
(14:44):
this is a wonderful Why didn't we get Earl on sooner?
Guess it's a bad job by you, Like bad job
by you man at the beach right now. You put
all these hacks on, and you could have put Earle on,
who's a quality l a comedian who knows everybody in
the business. And you don't put this guy up. Bat
job by you. It's funny. But the last time I
did see Earle was at the Comedy Store pre Pandemic,
(15:06):
and Earl, you were judging one of the roast battles.
I don't know if many people know about the dynamics
of it, but you need to explain that for for
the audience, and then also too. We were sitting next
to Justin Turner and Dennis Rodman, who well, I don't
know what he was on, but I've never seen a
celebrity point in blank get escorted out of the building
(15:29):
like he did that night. Um, what got you involved
in the roast battle first of all, especially upstairs in
that comedy store. Well, I'm no longer involved in roast Battle.
I feel like Sid Vicious when he left the Four
Horsemen and got kicked out by Rick Flair are and
it's Tolly Blanchard. But uh, you know, Roast Battle was
(15:50):
a show you talk about. You know, Aggressive Humor was
basically a one on one insult show and uh, I
was one of the uh founding fathers of it. Was
a show was quite popular back in the day. And
I remember that show you were at. I felt so
bad at some of the things I said because I was,
(16:11):
you know, doing an archie bunker type character that I
had to apologize suggesting Turner downstairs. I'm like, hey, man,
I was just kidding around up there, and he's like,
oh man, you were my favorite part. And then Dennis
Rodman got upset at me when I called him on
our test. I don't think I think Dennis might have
(16:31):
been on the powdered supplements, if you know what I'm saying. Uh,
and uh he sat in my lap that night, and uh,
I've never been so turned on in my life. Not
just kidding because I'm a wrestling fan. So I was like, hey,
you were great in the n w O. Just kidding.
I know the n w O was going downhill when
(16:52):
him and Virgil were in it, but uh, you know
it's uh, I guess it's a rose Valley call it
an ensemble uh roast. Uh it's um, you know, it
shows not for everyone. But it was fun when I
was in it, but after I left it, it was
like Kiss with Vinny Vincent in it, just not the same.
(17:13):
How's that reference? Oh man? This I mean because I
remember back in the day obviously with Jeffrey Ross and
some of these cats and you see it from afar,
but then your point blank and you're in it. I
had a buddy of mine that performed that night, and
I think he was one of the first two guys,
and he got absolutely decimated. And I don't know if
it was because of the audience or if it was
because his dumbass brought four of his friends, including me
(17:36):
there and we just heckled the ship out of him
the entire time and he flamed out, like right before
our eyes. Well it's uh, you know, the show's not
for everyone. In terms of contestants. Uh, you know, you
have to have a thick skin. You know you're gonna
hear you know, like when I did it on TV
against Jimmy Carr, who's probably like the number one comic
(17:59):
in the world. Old he plays like arenas he opens
up for the killers. Uh, you know, I knew he
was gonna have jokes about my parents dying two months apart,
and you know some of my uh you know, bad relationships,
and he knew I was going to make fun of
his dad and his relationships. So h it's uh, it's
(18:19):
blood sport. It's literally like the octagon. You go in
and knowing what it is, and uh you know, if
you're strong enough to survive, great, If not, you're gonna
have a Jerry Springer moment for everyone to enjoy. It's
it's allowed you to pivot though, to a bunch of
different things, right like Comedy Central. You've been doing voiceover stuff,
like You're in a lot of different things, aren't you. Yeah, Like,
(18:42):
right now, I'm on a cartoon made by Tyler the creator.
It's called The Jellies, and I'm the only white guy
on it. So I played the dad. Uh So you know,
that's probably the thing I'm most proud of because he's
an amazing He's a kid, you know, said, but he's
(19:03):
incredible with his creative vision. And it's kind of like
the Black South Park. Uh you know if you like,
uh like edgy or humor, I think people would like it.
And uh so, how's that? How's that work? Girl? When
you're the voice of that's cool? I like, like, I
love cartoons and stuff. But you know how how much
work is it's as easy as it could be? Or
is is there actually some some difficulty in voicing over
(19:26):
a cartoon character? Well, for me, it's easy because, as
you can tell, Ben, my voice is very monotone. There's
not a lot of level to it. So I'm not
asked to any other type of voice other than Earl.
Just talk and read the line and we're good. Um.
Where has the guy who plays my son in the show,
(19:47):
Phil Lamar? And he's like the Wayne Gretzky of voice actors.
Like he's been in everything from pulp fiction to any
cartoon or animated movie you've ever watched, He's been in it. Uh.
He can do like seven different voices, seven different vocal ranges.
He's like. Watching him was like uh. And having to
(20:08):
do scenes with him in the booth was like doing
scenes with de Niro. It was like, Wow, this is
an education. So but I love it. You know. It's
I'm like a let me see, let me think of
a good sports analogy. Uh. I'm like, uh, you know,
I'm like a kid to coulf. I I got the
side arm. I can't pitch any other way. So you know,
(20:30):
if you need a deep baritone, growling voice, I'm the
guy fair enough. So you're not. I know that you're
a near and dear at Pittsburgh Steelers FENC. You're not
like a Levy on Bell type. You should have listened
to bench show the other night. It was it was nauseating.
He went through a television schedule for his opening monologue,
(20:52):
the most popular, the most popular television show in America
that kills the ratings. And by the way, and you
know this, earl, you know, and you just when I
do sports radio, the number one thing is the NFL anything.
You know, if Roger Gell takes a dump, we we
can talk about it fifteen minutes if we have to.
(21:13):
And Gascon's busting my balls because the schedule came out
and I played the hits and I got in trouble
for it with Gascon his instincts. I'm a huge hockey guy.
Hockey is my favorite sport country mile next to football.
But you know, football is a just you know, it's
(21:36):
just America's Uh. I think it's America's past time. I
know they say that about baseball, but like, you know,
everyone watches football, Like you know, you gotta put a
gun to people said to watch hockey. Um, you know,
hockey hockeys like kiss. You know, you put on a
kiss record any of them. Uh You're like, okay, this
(21:56):
is okay, I guess, but you gotta see Kiss Live.
You're like, this is the greatest band ever. Uh and
I think that's like hockey football has just made for TV.
And uh, you know, even though I totally agree with
Jim rsay, like who the hell is mel Kuiper? Uh
you know, I'll watch Mel Kuiper for six hours last weekend.
(22:17):
So uh, you know, I am a Steeler fan. But man,
we got tough schedule this year, that's for sure. See
that he wants to break down the Steelers schedules. See
what you see? This is like so you completely want
this is is gonna come out and bring the anvil
on my head? And he would have been nice if
you did. It would have been nice. I mean if
(22:37):
I would love to talk about the White Shadow for
the next hour. But uh, you know, football the kids today,
and I know Ben, you have Ben and Dave, you
you have a young fan base. You know that I
don't know what the hell the White Shadow is, so
they want to talk about you know, Naji Harris and uh,
I don't know Chad Johnson's TikTok videos. Yeah, very important.
(23:00):
I'm not are you on TikTok girl? I'm not. I'm
too old. I think for TikTok. I'm not on there.
I mean, I'm probably the oldest guy on TikTok. I'm
fifty two. I I I feel creepy being on it,
to be honest with you. Uh. I get messages from
like thirteen year old Guatemalan boys saying how funny I am.
Uh No, No, I'm serious. Like my Beance she's got
(23:25):
like two hundred thousand followers on TikTok. I've got like
twelve hundred. Uh and most of them I think have
played for the Dominican Republic Little League. It's see Earl,
that's so funny because you get those emails from those
those teenagers. Ben gets those from like sixty seven year
old men. I mean, it's like it's amazing that these
guys like how their mouths watering at so you're so jealous.
(23:48):
He's just believable. See. You know, he's got he's got ages,
and he hate anybody over a certain age, and I
guess kind of spits loogie's in their face. He's like,
you're you know you gets stay. But some of the
greatest callers I've had in radio. I got this guy,
Doc Mike Earl. It calls me from Chicago, and he preaches.
He calls me like three times a week and preaches
(24:08):
that you need to drink your own urine and that
you'll you know, you'll live forever in all this and
guess like it was it was guess Gun in charge,
he wouldn't be able to take a call like that. Uh.
And he's actually been when he's produced my show, Earl,
he's not allowed me to take any phone calls. He
because he didn't know how to use the phone system.
Can you believe that? I mean, listen, as a fifty
(24:29):
two year old comic who has a primarily young fan base,
I'll take anyone's d M. Uh of course. Uh, you
know you need fans man, Yes, yes, you guys or me.
You know I can't tell jokes two empty seats. Uh.
You know. I had a d M just this morning
from seventy year old woman who made mother caresa looked
(24:52):
like a Backstreet boy, but you know, she said, I
love your podcast I released yesterday of this hockey player
I interviewed, and I was like, hey, thanks for I
get back to everyone, you know, because I know when
I've reached out to some of my uh you know people,
I'm fans of like the singer from Bowling for Soup,
he messages me back every time. The singer from rat Hey,
(25:15):
will you come on my podcast? He's come on twice,
So I know how good that made me feel. So
I get back to everyone whether you're uh, you wouldn't
no matter what your age is. Of course, you know,
if you're anyone under eighteen, I try not to talk
to you boy or a girl, just because, uh, you know,
nothing good is going to come out of that conversation
(25:37):
except allegations. Earl, one of your biggest interviews was before
he passed away, the late great Roddy Piper. Um, what
was that relationship? Like, how did you guys to how
did you two come in contact? And what was the conversation? Like?
It was awesome and I owe it all due to
the Comedy Store and uh fellow comics Steve Simone. I
(26:00):
think he somehow knew Roddy and Roddy wanted to not
necessarily be a stand up. But you know, at this time,
Roddy was probably fifty and you know he pro wrestlers.
As we all know, they live a brutal lifestyle. Uh.
You know, it's like when you see Rick Flair still wrestling.
You know, he's got to pay off for the four
divorces and all that stuff. And h I think Roddy
(26:23):
just didn't want to travel as much anymore. So he thought, oh,
I'll go to the comedy store, maybe have some shows.
And one night I'm on stage and it was pretty
empty in the room. How empty was it? Think dark
and at a state fair and empty? And uh, I'm
doing I was very upset at how my favorite wrestler,
Sting was treated when he went to the w W.
(26:46):
And I did about a twenty minute set on it
and Roddy was in the background. Uh, and he just
comes up to me and it was like talking to Superman.
I mean, this is a guy I watched since I
was a kid. And he's like, why don't you come
on my podcast? And you seem you seem like you're
pretty bitter about pro wrestling state of you know, the
state of it, and uh. It went so well the
(27:08):
next day that his producer was like, hey, you know,
Roddy needs a sidekick and what you want to do it?
And I'm like, yeah, I don't even want to get paid. Uh.
And so when I did it for probably about the
last five months of his life and it was awesome,
like he was like getting to work with him was like,
(27:30):
you know, pro wrestlers are like especially in the eighties,
you know, you know, like Ben said, now there's the
Internet and YouTube and all that stuff, but you know,
you watch wrestling in the eighties, you really thought Kamala
was from Uganda. Ex No, I swear to God until
my dad once took me to the Olympic Auditorium which
(27:53):
is now Korean Church off the five and it's also
where Jim Healey did uh announcing for boxing. Uh. He
takes me to w WF event at the time, and
my dad leaves me alone backstage in a ww F
locker area that that's probably speaks to his parenting ability.
And I see Kamala putting his clothes on, like khaki pants,
(28:17):
a polo shirt. He still got his face makeup on,
and I'm just staring at him. Now he was about
six seven four pounds. Towards the end of his life,
he was about five four. But he shout out to
the de w dewt for taking care of their own uh.
And he just looks at me and goes, Hi, I'm Jim,
I'm like, uh no, your your name's Kamala and what
(28:39):
are you doing speaking English? And uh no, it was
just like and then Kimchi came over, who was his manager,
you know, the guy who would dress up in the
bee keeper outfit. He's like, hey, I'm Steve. I'm like
thought you were Asian and your name was Kimchi and uh,
you know, it's like when I met Abdulo the Butch
(29:00):
Sure and he introduced himself as Larry from uh the
Windsor Ontario. I'm like, I thought you were from the
Sioux Dan So, uh, you know, I just was fascinated
with Roddy's era of wrestling, and he loved that. And
you know, I didn't really care about working for the
de w de Wie. Uh. And I think Roddy sense
(29:20):
that he's like, Okay, he can be the bad guy
and I can just almost be the good guy that
this guy's bad guy. And I know the fan hated
me on the show, you know, they just wanted to
hear Roddy. But you know, Roddy liked me, and uh,
you know I cried a lot, you know when he passed,
because uh, he was just a great guy. So I
think about him a lot. Yeah, legend. I remember when
(29:42):
I was a kid, I had the same I was
just like you, you watched wrestling on the weekend and
you're you know, come on to the Anaheim Convention Center.
It'll the whole Cogen and whatever, and you're like, oh,
that's cool. And I went out there. I didn't have
the the the access, but I would. I would hang out.
I knew where the wrestlers. I went actually was actually
I grew up in Orange Counties. It was the Anaheim
Convention Center, this dumpy arena, which is I don't even
(30:02):
know if it's still there, probably is, but the Clippers
actually played a playoff game there during the LA Riots
back many years. So I'm I'm at the uh, I'm
Atianna Anhem Convention Center, and I was. I got fat
earl on those w WF ice cream bars. I remember those.
I got the Yeah, those were great ice cream bars.
And I had the Hulk Coogen vitamins. I took those,
(30:24):
and I learned as an adult Hulk Hulk took other vitamins.
But I didn't didn't realize that at the time, but
I I I was most excited about because I thought
I was gonna be a broadcaster even as a kid.
Mean gene Oakerland. Like when I I when I saw
him walk out in a jumpsuit, you know, to to
his hotel. He was walking across the street to the hotel.
I was like, oh my god, this guy. And he's
like the little bald guy with had a sweatsuit on.
(30:48):
And it was and Andre the Giant, bigger than life,
Andre the Giant. I mean, just Justin said, who are
you in nineteen eighties wrestling? Who are you? Like? Your
your top three? Guy? Eyes of you. I'm not that
we do list radio or podcasting, but who are your
top three back in those days? I mean definitely the
ultimate Warrior. I mean he just his intros made zero,
(31:14):
his promos made zero sense. But h you know, I
just you know, this is the eighties. You know, he
looked like bon Jovi on h G h um Kamala.
I just was before they turned him into a cartoon
character like Kamala. His first few years as a as
(31:35):
a bad guy was frightening. I mean, you know when
he would come down to the ring and you know,
pound his belly and and looked like he was an
absolute maniac. They would pay to the crowd and show
kids crying like they really thought that Scott was gonna
glunge into the crowd and spear them to death. Uh.
And of course the late grade. Of course they're almost
(31:57):
all dead. Now what a health plan they have? The
great Rick Rude, Yeah solid, which is who I kind
of based my roast Battle character on. Like he was
just the ultimate bad guy and uh, you know, would
call the audience fat tax cheets and they loved it. So, uh,
(32:19):
who were your favorite Benny, I'm senting you as a
maybe earthquake and tug boat fan. Yeah. No, Well, I
I remember the hul Kogan, Andre the Giant, the Junkyard Dog.
I like the Junkyard Dog a lot. Hack saw. Jim
Dungan was was big King Kong Bundy. I actually met
(32:43):
he's I think he passed away to George and the
Animal steel Man, which is is he still alive? Okay?
I didn't George the Animal steal. When I was in
early in the radio, I had a similar experience to you.
So I I got hired to be a celebrity manager
for the hedge rinkers at a at a w w
E event at a minor league ballpark out in the
(33:05):
Where was that, I don't even remember where it was.
I think it was out out in the Inland Empire.
So we went out there and uh, and I didn't
know who was on the card or whatever, but George
the Animal Steel was like the big name. It was
like a secondary w w E card and uh. And
so we got to hang out in the locker room
waiting because we were going on like next, next to
(33:26):
last or whatever, and uh, and I remember George walked
in and he was like an educated guy and you know,
it wasn't in character and it was like a normal
dude and it was like whoa. And I was flashing
back to my youth and I was like, wait a minute,
this is the guy that eats turn buckles, George the
Animal Steel. What's going on with that? And it was?
It was It was crazy. But but yeah, I mean
I would say late you know, late eighties more than
(33:49):
mid eighties. But GEORGEI I all the dolls to all
the cheesy toys they came out with back in those days.
I still have some of them somewhere buried in the
Oh yeah, all my wrestling dolls. Uh, you know, I've
been doing comedy for like twenty years. You'd think some
of my highlights would have been meeting Jim Carrey on
(34:10):
the set of I'm Dying up Here, or being on
a cartoon on Adult Swim, which you know, you have
voice actors who do it for thirty years who never
get on a Adult Swim show. But my career highlight
it's one day I get a package at the comedy
store and I go down there and I opened it
up and some fan that sent me in Abdula the
(34:32):
butcher meant conditioned doll that I'd ever taken out of
the box, And you would have thought I got the
couch on the tonight show with how I reacted great, Earl,
I got Because you've mentioned so many things, I'm curious,
what is the because you've done a lot, what's the
ultimate goal now or what is the next besides getting married?
(34:56):
You're taking that, you're taking that plans, you've been to
the knee, You're getting married. Got maslto congratulations Lahimlahim. What's
what's the goal now? Like? What do you um like? Well,
you know't just to have a bigger fan base and
uh you know, just to uh like I love doing
(35:19):
stand up and you know, every meeting I have with
a manager and age and that they all look at
me when I tell them that. It was like, dude,
there's no money and stand up. Um, you know, you
gotta have a cartoon and you gotta have a script.
You gotta have this. Uh that. Uh. You know, I
love doing my podcast. You know, it's kind of awesome
to have some of the guests I've been able to get,
(35:41):
Like I had the bad guy from Superman two on.
He came to my house. Uh, and not Terence Stamp,
but no, I'm the guy who didn't see I didn't
speak at all. I thought. Then I was like, this
guy probably no one's asked him to be interviewed in
quite some time. And uh, I somehow got ahold of
them on social media and he's like, oh, can we skype?
(36:02):
I'm like, no, I don't do this sky He's like,
can we zoom? I'm like, now you gotta come to
my house? And you know, I get a buzz on
my door one day and there's no he's still a
huge guy. He's probably in the seventies and I had
no idea of his background. He used to be a
heavyweight boxer, he bought uh George Foreman and uh scheduled
(36:23):
type Muhammad Ali. So we had a great conversation about boxing.
I mean, anytime I can do an interview and drop
ron Lyle and text Cob and the guy knows who
they are, that's a good interview. So, uh, you know,
part of my to answer your question, Dave, maybe you
get on this show boar option now that me and
(36:44):
Ben her home. He is, uh yeah, absolutely clearly. I
mean you've gotta have higher standards than that, though. I mean,
you gotta you know, I'm a struggling overnight radio guys,
so you gotta you gotta find maybe you can just
move to Austin. Isn't that what everyone's doing now, moving
to Austin and uh, you know, open a comedy club
or something like that. I guess, isn't that the wave
of the future. Well, I think Bill Burt said it
(37:06):
the best, and I want to give him full credit. Uh,
He's like, everyone can move to Austin, but only one
of you has a hundred millions. So you know, I
saw Joe Rogan's house. Holy shit, my god, man oh man,
good for him, but that is uh, well he's got houses.
Uh but I messed up though. Joe asked me wants
(37:28):
to be on this podcast. You know, he came up
to me at the comedy store one night, it's really late.
It's in the back of the kitchen where it is
one of his safe spaces, and he just looks at
me and goes, bro, it's time you come on the podcast,
And like, like, I wish I had my internal dialogue
on tape because it's like, Okay, don't don't get too excited,
(37:51):
be cool, be cool. And he's like, here's my number,
called Jamie tomorrow, we'll set it up. And I'm like,
I'm head, like I'm finally in and I know I
would have a good interview with him, because you know,
just he's a great interview or he's like Howard Stern.
He doesn't get the credit for asking the questions nobody
else would. And uh, I thought, well, you know what,
(38:12):
everyone calls him the day after. I'm gonna give him
two days. And then second day came. I think I'm
gonna give him one more day, so I don't seem
too eager. So I called him up and I could
tell he, uh, he probably forgot. He gave me his
number to do the podcast. I just panicked and I
I think I asked him about my torn a c
(38:33):
L and he was nice, but it was it was
a short conversation. And that's stop being nice, Like that's
Dave you asked me. My my in goal is to
stop being so nice. Well, you can still be nice
to us at least. I mean I need to probably
invest in a blanket and a couple of wine glasses
for you and Ben. Maybe uh, a couch somewhere you
(38:55):
guys can do some wine tasting and malibu together since
this bromance has taken off him. Set it up and
we'll watch episode sixteen, season two of The White Shadow.
I always try and expose this episode to everyone. Uh.
And that's when Coach Reives takes Salami, Coolidge and Thorpe
to the golf course and it is no I'm telling
(39:16):
you as someone who grew up playing bell are country club. Uh.
And maybe it's inside jokes to me, but that is
the finest written hour. Not that The White Shadow was
a sitcom, but I guess you'd call it half sitcom
half drama. But the jokes are so funny, and keeping
in mind that they were told in nine on Channel two,
(39:38):
Monday Night's prime time. That's probably my favorite episode of
all time of any TV show. So let's let's promote
you or I mean, there's probably some people I would
think that might not know who you are. You're being
exposed when they love you world. They love that you're
a sportsman and you're a comedian. You know everyone and
(39:58):
you you go to the comedy store and how can
people find you and how can they follow you and
say amazing things about you on social media? And all
you're on the jellies you mentioned got your own podcast? Uh?
Was it inappropriate? Earl? Is that the name of it?
Am I right on? That is that? Yes? You are right, Ben,
It's it's just inappropriate. And people ask me all the time,
(40:18):
as I'm sure to do you guys, what's your show about?
Your podcast? A radio show? And I'm like, it's really
the podcast, it's about everything at nothing at the same time,
you know, yes, yes, yes, yes, that makes any sense.
Like I had the bad guy from Superman Too yesterday
I had the very famous, I should say infamous NHL
(40:39):
Enforce or from the eighties Eddie Boxcar hospit are Uh
you know, I had well to me it was he
meant a lot to me as a kid, you know,
because he was he played in the aggressive era of
the league and uh he was involved in several uh
on ice incidents that are still up to this day.
(41:01):
Caused a pregame brawl in the seven Stanley Cup Final
warm ups. So you can watch, you can listen to
inappropriate or on the Apple podcast and on social media.
TikTok included, I'm the same on every format. It's just
at Earl skakel e a r L s k a
(41:22):
k e L and I'm at the comedy store tonight,
improv tomorrow. If you message me on say Instagram, I
can arrange tickets and uh, you know, I'd love to
poach some of your fans. And to my fans who
will listen to this follow Dave Gascon followed the great
Ben Mahller, a Jim Healey protege and we all win.
(41:46):
So we thank you Earl, No Ben, thank you, thank
you for entertaining me. I really you were an influence
on me, so I appreciate that. Thank you Dave for
set in this up. And if you guys ever have
twenty guests to drop out, I'm the go to guys,
I'm the man. It's the old thing in life. Guys.
(42:10):
You'd like to hear some us doing pretty good, but
you don't want to hear they're doing better than you.
And my whole life, I've done better than all of you.
Rick Blair, Starcade, Sting. Be sure to catch live editions
of The Ben Miller Show weekdays at two am Eastern
eleven pm Pacific. Be sure to catch live editions of
(42:32):
The Ben Miller Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart
Radio app
Host
Ben Maller
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com