August 18, 2022 • 20 mins
Why is laughter such a powerful force for connection? This week, Eva is joined by Veep and Unplugging actor, comedian and friend, Matt Walsh, to talk about connecting through comedy. Eva and Matt talk about how comedy has changed, the influence of cancel culture, and why laughter truly can be the best medicine.
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 (00:01):
Hello, everyone, Welcome back to Connections. I'm Eva Longoria, and
today I wanted to explore our connection to laughter in
comedy and humor. I feel like there's so many words
to describe this wonderful emotion that really is medicinal. And
(00:22):
I wanted to have a really good friend of mine,
who I feel is the funniest man that I know.
He's witty and he's clever. So today I'm excited to
be joined by Matt Walsh. You may know him as
Mike McClintock from Veep. We just worked in the movie together, Unplugging.
We had so much fun. He's just hilarious. I can't
(00:43):
even describe you, Matt, because you're a brilliant writer and
you're a very serious thinker, like you take your comedy seriously.
I think people are going to be excited that Gabrielle
Solis and Mike McClintock are finally together. I'm sure this
has been long awaited. Yeah, it's like to universe is colliding.
I have for a long time had a hard time
(01:05):
sort of internalizing and appreciating the effect of like what
we do or what I maybe do, and how it
influences people. So when people give me compliments, I deflect
them a lot, or I'm like, well, it's comedy, like
me to Well, there's a certain humility built into comedy.
Like you mentioned you went to see Rod Stewart, Like
music is more powerful than comedy, Like true music transports
(01:30):
you to an aspirational moment or a fantasy of what
we can be as a planet or a people or
a person, and comedy knocks you down and reminds you
what we are, these flawed, dumb animals who have these aspirations.
And so, long story short, I think I've gotten a
(01:50):
little better at appreciating the value of comedy and my
contribution to comedy. I want people to know, how did
you get into comedy? I was a psych major and
I just okay, wait, you know this. I laughed because
I know all the stories of the psych major era,
(02:10):
and that was like, why did you want to be
a psych major? Because I think I thought I wanted
to help people, and I thought you could really like
save lives or something. And I was fascinated by mental
illness and the weirdness of like psychology and all the
different things that go wrong with people. And in the
history of the of the science, like how it evolved
(02:31):
from like you know, pre Freud to like PJ and
all those guys, and in the various schools of thought
and behavior modification. So I really enjoyed the science of it.
And then at some point I truly didn't know what
I wanted to do. I went to school in Europe
for a year, even just took a year off and
discovered improv in Chicago, took improv classes, and then was
(02:51):
doing psychology after college in private night, comedy at night,
sketch at night. How old were you at this moment,
It's twenty two. Me too, did it for a couple
of years and then just decided I had to fully
commit to comedy because psychology was just too difficult and
the stakes were too high. But when you started to
take comedy seriously, did it change your relationship with it?
(03:15):
I think I was operating under the function of like,
I don't know what makes me happier than doing these
like dumb shows or like sketches or I did stand
up for a while, and then I knew I could
be poor for a while, so I would string gigs
together whatever paid the bills, and so I didn't really
have a plan like a career out of it. I
(03:36):
just was sort of feeding the gratification and pursuing the
joy of it all. So there was like a little
wasn't reckless, but it wasn't really a long term goal,
like I didn't know where it was going to lead.
And then fortunately through a series of like moves and
choices and going to New York with a sketch group
and having success, and also many of the people that
(03:57):
I came up with started having six us once I
was in New York. I think in Chicago you have
to either go to Los Angeles or New York to
catch a break. You left Texas to catch a break,
probably so staying with us like when I when I
was with a sketch group, we decided we had to
Leashicago to go to New York or l A. And
(04:18):
who was in your sketch group. I was in a
sketch group with Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, and Ian Roberts,
and we went to New York in and then we
opened a theater called The Upright Citizens Brigade. In the
same year, we had a sketch show on Comedy Central,
and then shortly after that show was done. I jumped
into The Daily Show with John Stewart and I did
(04:40):
that for a year during eleven, which was a crazy
time to be a part of that show. And that
was really good experience and really good training because that's
kind of like your character Assassin. You go in and
they have their agenda, like they want to make fun
of people who think multi action rifles should be legal
and children should have him and you know, junior high school.
(05:01):
So you go in and you try to get a
pull quote from the sort of buffoon you're interviewing. So
you'll spend you'll spend thirty minutes making it seem like
a legitimate interview, and then you'll go in for the
kill and you'll say that, you'll say the thing that
gives you the thing. Yeah, I love the Daily Show
because you you have to be like Bill Maher. When
when Bill Maher did Religionist, Do you remember that one?
(05:22):
That documentary? Because he's an atheist, he knew more about
religion than the people he was interviewed, you know what
I mean, Like, yeah, he's like in the Bible, you
know there's and they were like, why don't I don't
really know about that? But all I know is Jesus,
you know, and he just like that. It was one
of one of the funniest documentaries I've ever seen. And
(05:43):
I'm like a big faith believer, but I just thought, like,
you gotta be smart to be a comedian, don't you think,
Oh no, I think to be a I think to
be a good one. Yeah, I do. I do, because
I think comedians right row materially at the end of
the day, like to be an actor. I don't think
(06:03):
you have to be super smart. And I'm not saying
actors aren't smart, but as you know, like not traditionally intelligent,
empirically smart people can be wonderful actors, Like you can
watch them and they're so interesting and they're like obviously
their facial type or their body type is compelling. There's
something about them. So but I do think comedians have
(06:26):
to be smart. And I was gonna share a story.
I was in New York doing promo for a movie Unplugging,
and I was sitting in a park bench in Central
Park on a beautiful day. Long story short. I was
on the phone and it's talking about like sometimes I
don't want to deal with people. So I was on
the phone and somebody like saw me made eye contact
and they're like hey, and they came over and I'm like,
I'm sorry, man, I'm on the phone and I was
(06:47):
talking to my wife or whatever. I don't know if
I was rude, but I was sort of curt like, please,
I can't. And then when I was done, across from
me at the same park, you know, bench Row, that
guy was still there, but he's talking to a friend
or something. So I said, all right, I'll be nice.
So I hung up and I went over and saying, hey, man,
I'm sorry. I was on a call with my wife.
Did you want to ask me something? And he goes,
oh yeah. He's like, have you accepted the Lord Jesus
(07:09):
Christ into your life as your personal savior? And I'm like, uh,
I haven't, but I do know Jesus. And he's like, well,
I'd like to tell you all about him. I'm like, no, no,
I like Jesus a lot. Actually, I love Jesus. He's
a wonderful person and a great thinker and a revolutionary
(07:30):
and he was. But it was so funny because here
I was thinking I was being gracious and giving one
of the fans their moment that would only happen to you. Oh,
I have so many good stories about that. I'll tell you.
Can I tell you one more? So emy week? Would
you know you're out hustling and going to parties and
(07:51):
being seen. And that was with Morgan and we were done,
and we showed up at some Entertainment Weekly party and
they were wrapping the red carpet and I was like,
thank god, let's just go to drink because our friends
were in there, and we can leave because you don't
want to go out anymore. You're just done. And so
were we bypass the carpet and we cut in and
a woman running the red carpets like, oh my god'
met wealsh please please please, And she's like, can you
(08:12):
please do a couple interviews. I'm like, there, it's over
is and she's like no, no, there's people here, Like
I really, She's like please, it'll be quick. I'm like okay, fine, sure.
So she runs down the carpet and she goes to
all the outlets and she comes back and goes, okay,
you can go in. Nobody wanted to talk to me.
(08:33):
And that's that is the microcosm, Like I didn't want
it to begin with. Then they make you want it
and then they don't give it to you. That is
like show biz in a nutshell. Yeah, that is show
biz in a nutshell. Yeah. So many times they were
like somebody will say me script and I go, this
is horrible. They go, right, but you gotta read for it,
and I go, I don't even want it. And then
(08:56):
I do the audition and they go, so you didn't
get it, don't I didn't want to. Just made me
go and jump through hoops for something I didn't. So
that's I mean, that changed my game for for me
in the business of like, if I don't like it,
I'm not even going in. That is a hard lesson
to learn. I still feel like I'm learning that sometimes,
Like yeah, you're like who turns down work? Yeah? Yeah,
(09:26):
speaking of like The Daily Show to like Dave Chappelle
to Jordan's Clipper. There's so many functions for comedy in
our society because there's a commentary through satire, and then
comedy can be healings. We have to laugh at difficult things,
which is why I like bill Mark because on Fridays,
I'm like, this was a shitty fucking week, and he
(09:48):
will find the dick joke, you know, like you're just like,
oh my god. And then there's escapism, and then there's
pure entertainment. And so what do you think is the
most important aspect of of comedy? Oh my god, I'm
not that smart even that's a tough question. It's like
an intellectual the most important function, I mean, I guess
(10:10):
it's if if it's a moment of joy for people,
for everyone involved, then that's a great thing. Like however
long it can sustain itself, Like at the end of
the day, like laughter is a good thing, and like people,
you know, we'll pay money to have a cable subscription
to watch your show or see you live, and then
they work their ass off and so like they get
to like just laugh their ass off and it makes
(10:32):
everyone feel good. That's really good. And I guess the
communal element is pretty great too. I guess, like if
you want to like be in a room with other
people laughing, whether it's a movie or or the best
version is like live theater, that's pretty amazing. Like sharing
a communal event is really probably the high point of
comedy for me. It's not church, but it is in
(10:55):
that world of elevated big picture, we are in this together,
even though we leave and then we cut each other
off in the parking lot with our cars. For that
moment we are together, and it does make us like
good people, or we see the potential of being good people.
I think, yeah, yeah, well here, I mean another way
(11:17):
to put is like you know laughter. For me, laughter
is medicine Physically, it relieves stress. When you laugh, you
take in more oxygen, so more oxygen gets to your brain.
It increases endorphins, so it physically brings you joy. And
it's kind of two part because I want to talk
about cancel culture with comedy. Now, before it's like, you know,
the George Carlan Day's who's like anything goes, and now
(11:40):
with this cancel culture, I think it's a little harder
for artists and for people who are receiving our talent
to access that comedy and humor and laughter when things
are hard or when it's something you don't understand. You know.
I laugh at comedians within my Mexican Amican culture because
(12:00):
they will say stuff that I'm like, that is sounding
true and it's funny because it's true. Right now, I
feel like it's a little harder to access laughter through
some stuff because of cancer culture, you feel like comedy
is about to go extinct. Well it is, yeah, I
guess it is trickier. Like, I think it's been a
(12:23):
trend for a while. I remember reading articles in the
the nineties about like people like seinfeld Er, these working
comedians saying like these college campuses, I can't even do
shows there anymore because I can't cross the line without
upsetting the room. You know, Like comedians like Dave Chappelle
and the good ones like to cross the line or
(12:44):
find out where the line is an experiment with that,
and George Carlin, like you said, it was a great example.
He was always pushing forward. So I think it's kind
of been a trend for a while. And nowadays, to me,
it feels like there has to be a political like purity.
(13:05):
There's no room for failure. And also everybody wants to
have a hot take, you know how like on the
red carpet. If there's like a news item, like when
your buddy Felicity was in the news or somebody's in
the news and you're just doing pressed for something, what
do you think about? Bloody blah, It's like I just
need a moment man, like and that's what everybody wants.
(13:28):
They want you to be correct and have full scope
and understanding of everything because at the end of the
day is like I told my kids this once. I said, like,
because they're they're very much of the next generation and
I learned from them and I try to teach them
what I can. And they I was like, just try
to remember because somebody had said something in the news
(13:49):
and I can't remember who it was, but they were
sort of like, oh, Dad, they're not good anymore because
they said this thing. I said, just listen to me,
said like, I think they're actually, in general, on the
good side, on the side of progress, Like look at
the whole map of what they do. Yes, yes, and
don't like throw them away because they stepped in it
or they said something wrong or turns out what they
(14:12):
said actually poked people wrong. But the conversation is worthwhile
and there is some middle ground around this subject, and
once people chill out around the sensitivity, there is like
real value in that opinion, you know what I mean,
Like there's a million versions. I think we've lost a
sense of grace, and especially when you look at somebody's
(14:33):
body of of work. The cancel culture like just attacks
this one moment in time, very intentional or unintentional. That's
the problem is like even the unintentional something is like
well you know, oh that was underlying the whole time
and you that's how you really feel, and you're like, oh, god, no,
I didn't know that was It was like remember when
(14:54):
people would say, oh, she's my spirit animal or you know,
or something, and that was very offensive to indigenous cultures.
And I remember somebody had said it one of my friends.
Like I just saw I saw the apology, and I
was like, oh, we can't say spirit and like I
was getting educated as well, like oh, okay, that's good
to know. But again, like I don't think my friend
was intentionally targeting Indigenous tribes. Right. My point is like
(15:19):
with comedy, I mean, with what just happened with Dave
Chappelle and the trans community. I didn't really follow the debate,
but I did see like there were trans people on
his side and there were trans people against him, right,
So I just thought, like, god, I think comedy must
be getting harder. It is, I'm sure it is, Like
I missed doing live. I haven't performed live in a
(15:40):
long time. Actually, Like I used to do improv like
two times a week, and I think since the pandemic started,
I don't think I've done a real I've done a
ton of podcasts, but like live audience stuff, No, not really.
I do miss it, and I do think, like I
probably need to find a way to get back at
it eventually, but it's harder. It is harder. I will know,
I will I think about it, but I also think
(16:02):
about what you're saying is like part of me is
the fatigue of like, you know, I'm in my fifties
and I know an audience for comedy is gonna be
like to forty probably or twenty to forty, so there
will be some gaps and I'm like, oh am, I
like aged out of being in front of an audience
or something, because improv is very dangerous, which is what's
(16:24):
great about it. Is like somebody will say a screwed
up thing and it's not offensive, and then your job
is to sort of make that a reality and then
often heighten it and next thing you know, you're down
this dark path which nobody really spouses or lives that way,
and they're all loving people and they all see the
world as you know, we're all equals, but somehow they're
in this dark place, and then people think you embody
(16:47):
those ideas that you're just sort of stepping into and fulfilling.
I wonder, you know, yeah, what makes you laugh? Lately
it's been dumb America's funniest video type stuff, like videos
(17:11):
where I mean, I know, I'm like, it's not late
to the train. I just never watched them. But my
kids have sort of like discovered him, yeah, shown them
to me that, like, you gotta watch this, and they're
so funny, just human nature stupidity. We went to Disneyland
the other day and the kids were looking at him
in the back seat, and one of them was these
two brothers, which is probably an old clip, pranking their
(17:31):
sister after she had her wisdom teeth pulled. Have you
seen this one? And they convinced her that a zombie
apocalypse was happening, and they really did an elaborate prank,
and they said, we have to take we can only
take one pet, the cat or the dog. Who should
we take. She's like why, why, what is it? And
they like the cat. She's like, take the cat. The
dog's almost dead. Who cares? And it's so funny and
(17:56):
it's just two brothers pranking their little sister. But that's
the kind of stuff that makes me laugh. Oh my gosh,
what is something everybody must read? What's a book that
you do? Know? This change? Doesn't have to be anything comedic.
It could be anything that's a good question. I do
a fair amount of self help. I've been trying to
(18:17):
do this one. My wife gave it to me. What
is it. It's the Oprah Planner. It's like a date
book and you work on every month. You have an
oph Planner, well, every month it works on, like the
first one was integrity, integrity, the second month was vulnerability.
So there's sort of these meditations on traits and then
(18:39):
and it's easy though it's not like overwhelming and like,
oh shoot, I got fifteen minutes of writing. It's like
super easy. But that's not really a good book. That
was just that's just on the table helpful. It is
helpful like this. This is like a simple helpful thing,
a good book that like changed me. Boy, I'm gonna
have to text you later. I don't know, Like what
(19:01):
am I reading lately? I'm reading like mysteries. My mom
likes mysteries, so I read. I read a good author
named Tanna French, who's an American woman who lives in Dublin.
Now she's Irish and she writes these really good mysteries
that I think take that take place in Ireland generally,
and they're really good. Oh but that's like escapism. Yeah yeah,
(19:24):
Matt Welsh, thank you for being on my on my
podcast it. I adore you. I could talk to you
for hours and I know you're just one of my
favorite human beings on this planet. Oh back at your buddy.
I had a blast. Thank you so much for listening.
(19:45):
I'm happy to be connected with you. Connections with Evil
Lagoria is a production of unbelievable entertainment in partnership with
I Hearts Michael Bura podcast Network. From more podcasts from
my Heart, visit the I Heart Radio app, apple Pot Guest,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Hello, everyone, Welcome back to Connections. I'm Eva Longoria, and
today I wanted to explore our connection to laughter in
comedy and humor. I feel like there's so many words
to describe this wonderful emotion that really is medicinal. And
(00:22):
I wanted to have a really good friend of mine,
who I feel is the funniest man that I know.
He's witty and he's clever. So today I'm excited to
be joined by Matt Walsh. You may know him as
Mike McClintock from Veep. We just worked in the movie together, Unplugging.
We had so much fun. He's just hilarious. I can't
(00:43):
even describe you, Matt, because you're a brilliant writer and
you're a very serious thinker, like you take your comedy seriously.
I think people are going to be excited that Gabrielle
Solis and Mike McClintock are finally together. I'm sure this
has been long awaited. Yeah, it's like to universe is colliding.
I have for a long time had a hard time
(01:05):
sort of internalizing and appreciating the effect of like what
we do or what I maybe do, and how it
influences people. So when people give me compliments, I deflect
them a lot, or I'm like, well, it's comedy, like
me to Well, there's a certain humility built into comedy.
Like you mentioned you went to see Rod Stewart, Like
music is more powerful than comedy, Like true music transports
(01:30):
you to an aspirational moment or a fantasy of what
we can be as a planet or a people or
a person, and comedy knocks you down and reminds you
what we are, these flawed, dumb animals who have these aspirations.
And so, long story short, I think I've gotten a
(01:50):
little better at appreciating the value of comedy and my
contribution to comedy. I want people to know, how did
you get into comedy? I was a psych major and
I just okay, wait, you know this. I laughed because
I know all the stories of the psych major era,
(02:10):
and that was like, why did you want to be
a psych major? Because I think I thought I wanted
to help people, and I thought you could really like
save lives or something. And I was fascinated by mental
illness and the weirdness of like psychology and all the
different things that go wrong with people. And in the
history of the of the science, like how it evolved
(02:31):
from like you know, pre Freud to like PJ and
all those guys, and in the various schools of thought
and behavior modification. So I really enjoyed the science of it.
And then at some point I truly didn't know what
I wanted to do. I went to school in Europe
for a year, even just took a year off and
discovered improv in Chicago, took improv classes, and then was
(02:51):
doing psychology after college in private night, comedy at night,
sketch at night. How old were you at this moment,
It's twenty two. Me too, did it for a couple
of years and then just decided I had to fully
commit to comedy because psychology was just too difficult and
the stakes were too high. But when you started to
take comedy seriously, did it change your relationship with it?
(03:15):
I think I was operating under the function of like,
I don't know what makes me happier than doing these
like dumb shows or like sketches or I did stand
up for a while, and then I knew I could
be poor for a while, so I would string gigs
together whatever paid the bills, and so I didn't really
have a plan like a career out of it. I
(03:36):
just was sort of feeding the gratification and pursuing the
joy of it all. So there was like a little
wasn't reckless, but it wasn't really a long term goal,
like I didn't know where it was going to lead.
And then fortunately through a series of like moves and
choices and going to New York with a sketch group
and having success, and also many of the people that
(03:57):
I came up with started having six us once I
was in New York. I think in Chicago you have
to either go to Los Angeles or New York to
catch a break. You left Texas to catch a break,
probably so staying with us like when I when I
was with a sketch group, we decided we had to
Leashicago to go to New York or l A. And
(04:18):
who was in your sketch group. I was in a
sketch group with Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, and Ian Roberts,
and we went to New York in and then we
opened a theater called The Upright Citizens Brigade. In the
same year, we had a sketch show on Comedy Central,
and then shortly after that show was done. I jumped
into The Daily Show with John Stewart and I did
(04:40):
that for a year during eleven, which was a crazy
time to be a part of that show. And that
was really good experience and really good training because that's
kind of like your character Assassin. You go in and
they have their agenda, like they want to make fun
of people who think multi action rifles should be legal
and children should have him and you know, junior high school.
(05:01):
So you go in and you try to get a
pull quote from the sort of buffoon you're interviewing. So
you'll spend you'll spend thirty minutes making it seem like
a legitimate interview, and then you'll go in for the
kill and you'll say that, you'll say the thing that
gives you the thing. Yeah, I love the Daily Show
because you you have to be like Bill Maher. When
when Bill Maher did Religionist, Do you remember that one?
(05:22):
That documentary? Because he's an atheist, he knew more about
religion than the people he was interviewed, you know what
I mean, Like, yeah, he's like in the Bible, you
know there's and they were like, why don't I don't
really know about that? But all I know is Jesus,
you know, and he just like that. It was one
of one of the funniest documentaries I've ever seen. And
(05:43):
I'm like a big faith believer, but I just thought, like,
you gotta be smart to be a comedian, don't you think,
Oh no, I think to be a I think to
be a good one. Yeah, I do. I do, because
I think comedians right row materially at the end of
the day, like to be an actor. I don't think
(06:03):
you have to be super smart. And I'm not saying
actors aren't smart, but as you know, like not traditionally intelligent,
empirically smart people can be wonderful actors, Like you can
watch them and they're so interesting and they're like obviously
their facial type or their body type is compelling. There's
something about them. So but I do think comedians have
(06:26):
to be smart. And I was gonna share a story.
I was in New York doing promo for a movie Unplugging,
and I was sitting in a park bench in Central
Park on a beautiful day. Long story short. I was
on the phone and it's talking about like sometimes I
don't want to deal with people. So I was on
the phone and somebody like saw me made eye contact
and they're like hey, and they came over and I'm like,
I'm sorry, man, I'm on the phone and I was
(06:47):
talking to my wife or whatever. I don't know if
I was rude, but I was sort of curt like, please,
I can't. And then when I was done, across from
me at the same park, you know, bench Row, that
guy was still there, but he's talking to a friend
or something. So I said, all right, I'll be nice.
So I hung up and I went over and saying, hey, man,
I'm sorry. I was on a call with my wife.
Did you want to ask me something? And he goes,
oh yeah. He's like, have you accepted the Lord Jesus
(07:09):
Christ into your life as your personal savior? And I'm like, uh,
I haven't, but I do know Jesus. And he's like, well,
I'd like to tell you all about him. I'm like, no, no,
I like Jesus a lot. Actually, I love Jesus. He's
a wonderful person and a great thinker and a revolutionary
(07:30):
and he was. But it was so funny because here
I was thinking I was being gracious and giving one
of the fans their moment that would only happen to you. Oh,
I have so many good stories about that. I'll tell you.
Can I tell you one more? So emy week? Would
you know you're out hustling and going to parties and
(07:51):
being seen. And that was with Morgan and we were done,
and we showed up at some Entertainment Weekly party and
they were wrapping the red carpet and I was like,
thank god, let's just go to drink because our friends
were in there, and we can leave because you don't
want to go out anymore. You're just done. And so
were we bypass the carpet and we cut in and
a woman running the red carpets like, oh my god'
met wealsh please please please, And she's like, can you
(08:12):
please do a couple interviews. I'm like, there, it's over
is and she's like no, no, there's people here, Like
I really, She's like please, it'll be quick. I'm like okay, fine, sure.
So she runs down the carpet and she goes to
all the outlets and she comes back and goes, okay,
you can go in. Nobody wanted to talk to me.
(08:33):
And that's that is the microcosm, Like I didn't want
it to begin with. Then they make you want it
and then they don't give it to you. That is
like show biz in a nutshell. Yeah, that is show
biz in a nutshell. Yeah. So many times they were
like somebody will say me script and I go, this
is horrible. They go, right, but you gotta read for it,
and I go, I don't even want it. And then
(08:56):
I do the audition and they go, so you didn't
get it, don't I didn't want to. Just made me
go and jump through hoops for something I didn't. So
that's I mean, that changed my game for for me
in the business of like, if I don't like it,
I'm not even going in. That is a hard lesson
to learn. I still feel like I'm learning that sometimes,
Like yeah, you're like who turns down work? Yeah? Yeah,
(09:26):
speaking of like The Daily Show to like Dave Chappelle
to Jordan's Clipper. There's so many functions for comedy in
our society because there's a commentary through satire, and then
comedy can be healings. We have to laugh at difficult things,
which is why I like bill Mark because on Fridays,
I'm like, this was a shitty fucking week, and he
(09:48):
will find the dick joke, you know, like you're just like,
oh my god. And then there's escapism, and then there's
pure entertainment. And so what do you think is the
most important aspect of of comedy? Oh my god, I'm
not that smart even that's a tough question. It's like
an intellectual the most important function, I mean, I guess
(10:10):
it's if if it's a moment of joy for people,
for everyone involved, then that's a great thing. Like however
long it can sustain itself, Like at the end of
the day, like laughter is a good thing, and like people,
you know, we'll pay money to have a cable subscription
to watch your show or see you live, and then
they work their ass off and so like they get
to like just laugh their ass off and it makes
(10:32):
everyone feel good. That's really good. And I guess the
communal element is pretty great too. I guess, like if
you want to like be in a room with other
people laughing, whether it's a movie or or the best
version is like live theater, that's pretty amazing. Like sharing
a communal event is really probably the high point of
comedy for me. It's not church, but it is in
(10:55):
that world of elevated big picture, we are in this together,
even though we leave and then we cut each other
off in the parking lot with our cars. For that
moment we are together, and it does make us like
good people, or we see the potential of being good people.
I think, yeah, yeah, well here, I mean another way
(11:17):
to put is like you know laughter. For me, laughter
is medicine Physically, it relieves stress. When you laugh, you
take in more oxygen, so more oxygen gets to your brain.
It increases endorphins, so it physically brings you joy. And
it's kind of two part because I want to talk
about cancel culture with comedy. Now, before it's like, you know,
the George Carlan Day's who's like anything goes, and now
(11:40):
with this cancel culture, I think it's a little harder
for artists and for people who are receiving our talent
to access that comedy and humor and laughter when things
are hard or when it's something you don't understand. You know.
I laugh at comedians within my Mexican Amican culture because
(12:00):
they will say stuff that I'm like, that is sounding
true and it's funny because it's true. Right now, I
feel like it's a little harder to access laughter through
some stuff because of cancer culture, you feel like comedy
is about to go extinct. Well it is, yeah, I
guess it is trickier. Like, I think it's been a
(12:23):
trend for a while. I remember reading articles in the
the nineties about like people like seinfeld Er, these working
comedians saying like these college campuses, I can't even do
shows there anymore because I can't cross the line without
upsetting the room. You know, Like comedians like Dave Chappelle
and the good ones like to cross the line or
(12:44):
find out where the line is an experiment with that,
and George Carlin, like you said, it was a great example.
He was always pushing forward. So I think it's kind
of been a trend for a while. And nowadays, to me,
it feels like there has to be a political like purity.
(13:05):
There's no room for failure. And also everybody wants to
have a hot take, you know how like on the
red carpet. If there's like a news item, like when
your buddy Felicity was in the news or somebody's in
the news and you're just doing pressed for something, what
do you think about? Bloody blah, It's like I just
need a moment man, like and that's what everybody wants.
(13:28):
They want you to be correct and have full scope
and understanding of everything because at the end of the
day is like I told my kids this once. I said, like,
because they're they're very much of the next generation and
I learned from them and I try to teach them
what I can. And they I was like, just try
to remember because somebody had said something in the news
(13:49):
and I can't remember who it was, but they were
sort of like, oh, Dad, they're not good anymore because
they said this thing. I said, just listen to me,
said like, I think they're actually, in general, on the
good side, on the side of progress, Like look at
the whole map of what they do. Yes, yes, and
don't like throw them away because they stepped in it
or they said something wrong or turns out what they
(14:12):
said actually poked people wrong. But the conversation is worthwhile
and there is some middle ground around this subject, and
once people chill out around the sensitivity, there is like
real value in that opinion, you know what I mean,
Like there's a million versions. I think we've lost a
sense of grace, and especially when you look at somebody's
(14:33):
body of of work. The cancel culture like just attacks
this one moment in time, very intentional or unintentional. That's
the problem is like even the unintentional something is like
well you know, oh that was underlying the whole time
and you that's how you really feel, and you're like, oh, god, no,
I didn't know that was It was like remember when
(14:54):
people would say, oh, she's my spirit animal or you know,
or something, and that was very offensive to indigenous cultures.
And I remember somebody had said it one of my friends.
Like I just saw I saw the apology, and I
was like, oh, we can't say spirit and like I
was getting educated as well, like oh, okay, that's good
to know. But again, like I don't think my friend
was intentionally targeting Indigenous tribes. Right. My point is like
(15:19):
with comedy, I mean, with what just happened with Dave
Chappelle and the trans community. I didn't really follow the debate,
but I did see like there were trans people on
his side and there were trans people against him, right,
So I just thought, like, god, I think comedy must
be getting harder. It is, I'm sure it is, Like
I missed doing live. I haven't performed live in a
(15:40):
long time. Actually, Like I used to do improv like
two times a week, and I think since the pandemic started,
I don't think I've done a real I've done a
ton of podcasts, but like live audience stuff, No, not really.
I do miss it, and I do think, like I
probably need to find a way to get back at
it eventually, but it's harder. It is harder. I will know,
I will I think about it, but I also think
(16:02):
about what you're saying is like part of me is
the fatigue of like, you know, I'm in my fifties
and I know an audience for comedy is gonna be
like to forty probably or twenty to forty, so there
will be some gaps and I'm like, oh am, I
like aged out of being in front of an audience
or something, because improv is very dangerous, which is what's
(16:24):
great about it. Is like somebody will say a screwed
up thing and it's not offensive, and then your job
is to sort of make that a reality and then
often heighten it and next thing you know, you're down
this dark path which nobody really spouses or lives that way,
and they're all loving people and they all see the
world as you know, we're all equals, but somehow they're
in this dark place, and then people think you embody
(16:47):
those ideas that you're just sort of stepping into and fulfilling.
I wonder, you know, yeah, what makes you laugh? Lately
it's been dumb America's funniest video type stuff, like videos
(17:11):
where I mean, I know, I'm like, it's not late
to the train. I just never watched them. But my
kids have sort of like discovered him, yeah, shown them
to me that, like, you gotta watch this, and they're
so funny, just human nature stupidity. We went to Disneyland
the other day and the kids were looking at him
in the back seat, and one of them was these
two brothers, which is probably an old clip, pranking their
(17:31):
sister after she had her wisdom teeth pulled. Have you
seen this one? And they convinced her that a zombie
apocalypse was happening, and they really did an elaborate prank,
and they said, we have to take we can only
take one pet, the cat or the dog. Who should
we take. She's like why, why, what is it? And
they like the cat. She's like, take the cat. The
dog's almost dead. Who cares? And it's so funny and
(17:56):
it's just two brothers pranking their little sister. But that's
the kind of stuff that makes me laugh. Oh my gosh,
what is something everybody must read? What's a book that
you do? Know? This change? Doesn't have to be anything comedic.
It could be anything that's a good question. I do
a fair amount of self help. I've been trying to
(18:17):
do this one. My wife gave it to me. What
is it. It's the Oprah Planner. It's like a date
book and you work on every month. You have an
oph Planner, well, every month it works on, like the
first one was integrity, integrity, the second month was vulnerability.
So there's sort of these meditations on traits and then
(18:39):
and it's easy though it's not like overwhelming and like,
oh shoot, I got fifteen minutes of writing. It's like
super easy. But that's not really a good book. That
was just that's just on the table helpful. It is
helpful like this. This is like a simple helpful thing,
a good book that like changed me. Boy, I'm gonna
have to text you later. I don't know, Like what
(19:01):
am I reading lately? I'm reading like mysteries. My mom
likes mysteries, so I read. I read a good author
named Tanna French, who's an American woman who lives in Dublin.
Now she's Irish and she writes these really good mysteries
that I think take that take place in Ireland generally,
and they're really good. Oh but that's like escapism. Yeah yeah,
(19:24):
Matt Welsh, thank you for being on my on my
podcast it. I adore you. I could talk to you
for hours and I know you're just one of my
favorite human beings on this planet. Oh back at your buddy.
I had a blast. Thank you so much for listening.
(19:45):
I'm happy to be connected with you. Connections with Evil
Lagoria is a production of unbelievable entertainment in partnership with
I Hearts Michael Bura podcast Network. From more podcasts from
my Heart, visit the I Heart Radio app, apple Pot Guest,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Popular Podcasts
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
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.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!