March 26, 2024 • 51 mins
Meet Phil Rosenthal, everybody’s favorite foodie. Phil is known as the creator of EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND and he has garnered a cult like following for his Netflix series SOMEBODY FEED PHIL, which just released its 7th season. Go to Netflix to check it out! Phil also has a new children’s book out he created with his daughter, Lily, called: JUST TRY IT: A Phil and Lil Book, a hilarious picture book geared towards young children about a food-loving dad encouraging his picky eater daughter to just try something new. EnJOY this great conversation between Phil and Craig.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Craig Ferguson Fancy Rascal Stand Up Tour continues throughout
twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
For a full list of dates.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
And tickets, go to the Craig Ferguson Show dot com
slash tour.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
See you out there, the Greig Ferguson show dot com
slash Tour.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
My name is Craig Ferguson. The name of this podcast
is Joy. I talk to interest in people about what
brings them happiness. Today we are blessed, my friends, blessed
because we're in the company of one of the nicest
guys in show business. He wrote one of the greatest,
(00:38):
most gentle, but beautiful sitcoms. Everybody loves Raymond, and now
he travels the world eating whatever the hell he wants.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Somebody feed film roast. Whenever I see your TV whatever,
I see your shows, You're like, you're always eating, yes,
and you're sitting right here. I mean, there's not a
scrap affair on you. You must like work out all
(01:08):
the time. I work out every day. Do you really
do something every day? I try to get the ten
thousand steps and all that kind of stuff. I walk
a lot and I do weights. The older you get
the more you do it right, musclemans. Yeah, push ups
and set ups is what I do. I figured in
fine shape. Yeah, yeah, that's what I figure is like
push ups and setups.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
That hotels, it's easier to just push out set ups
cal standings.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yes, you don't have to worry. You don't do you
like the hotel gym? You know, I'm a jeremaphone, fella.
I don't know if you're well, no, I'm not a
mag jeremaphione. But how he meant o, No, I know
how he's how he's a different level, how he has
I think how he lives in the house from when
his kids get in the world. Well when when he's
telling me when his kids get sick, yeah they were young. Yeah,
(01:55):
he would go and stay in the guest house. Wow.
Yeah yeah, No, that's the thing that well he's really admits.
Yeah no, but he's such a sweet greatly he's the
nicest guys that show business. He can have whatever quirks.
Nobody's perfect, No, nobody is perfect. But let me just
tell you. First of all, let me just say muzzletof.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
On your you and your daughter's book getting in the
New York Times bestsellingest Try?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Is that a book to like to help make kids
eat things a little bit? Yeah, but it's funny that
we've been reading it to kids, and then we started
realizing there's a lot of adults who won't try stuff.
It's all about having an open mind, so we think,
you know, maybe it's good for the parents to read it.
It is right because people do it. They're like, no,
(02:39):
I don't like that. You ever had it? I never
had it, but I don't like it. I know people
do you know people like this? They haven't had fundamental
things that you would think, how could you avoid? Like
I knew grown men like older than us, right, never
had a cookie? Cookie a cookie, never had a piece
of cake. This is true. That's some kind of homophobia
(03:01):
from just after the war, Like I don't eat cake,
that's what they were little kids. How do you go
to children's birthday parties and avoid this stuff? And you
know what he said, not interested? I just wasn't interested.
That's a bigger problem than I'm not trying food. That's
that's just some kind of shut down there. That's bad.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
But let me let me ask you this then, is
there ever anything you've gone because you travel the world
and you eat everything I've seen you have you ever gone?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
As you know, I just han't. I can't like fried
Bees or something. So I was just in Iceland for
the new season. Oh I've tasted that food up there.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Jesus, that is that licorice tasting seal flipper ship. Only
a couple of months ago, I and adventally bought the
wrong thing in the airport lounge.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
I'm like it was some kind of licorice flipper. It
was awful. It was all well, I actually found good food.
But you know in Iceland, Yeah, talk to me when
I go, right, I'm getting a lot of research done,
not just from me, which anyone can do. You can
google best restaurants in Raykevic, right, and I bet those
(04:11):
good ones there are now, especially now, I maintain that
you can get a good meal anywhere. Now.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Yeah, probably, I think you're right because the old days,
because the internet, because yelp and stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yes, but the internet made the world flat right that
the kid Idaho can see what a chef in Paris
is doing and emulate it and using local ingredients and
create these mashes and things. Yeah, so Iceland, we had listen.
I thought the best smoked salmon in the world was
in Scotland. I thought Scottish smoke salmon, it is beautiful,
is spectacular. It might be even better in Iceland because
(04:44):
the water is colder there.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
You know what, I'm prepared to I'm prepared to admit
that it's a possibility.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
It's possible. Yeah, I think it is.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
And the next time I go to Iceland, I'm going
to have the salmon. I'm not going to have whatever.
Because I've tasted some bad things in my life. Iceland
is one of them. Also Japan. I know all the
Japanese food is great.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah, but did you.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Ever go to a sushi restaurant and think that tentacle
thing can't do it?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I can do it, you can, you can do all
of it. Well, here's the thing I wouldn't try in Iceland.
Putrefied shark. I think that's what I had. Yeah, it's
the worst thing I ever tasted. So that's like a
dare that they did right. And what they do is
there's a spirit that you drink after and I think
I don't drink. I get it, So there's no reason
(05:30):
for you to be eating this ship. I saw Bordain
do it on his show and listen, he's the hero.
He is the here's the carson of what you're he is.
I only exist because of him, right, all of us
who do this owe him the greatest in the world
(05:50):
because he pioneered and revolutionized an entire genre, created the
whole thing. Yes, he eats this putre fried Jark and
throws up on camera. Wow. Now if Anthony Bourdain anything, Yeah,
that's true. I'm like, thank you for taking the hit
for the rest of us, I'm not doing it.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
I went to a place, uh, you know the documentary
Gero Dreams of Sushi.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
So when my my oldest son is thirteen, we went
to Japan. Yes, because instead of as you know, as
I kind of bat mets. Yes, mother is Jewish, so
and so for you know, the Scottish bat Mets felt,
we go to Japan.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I love it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
So so we go to that restaurant, we go to
the Jiro Yeah, and you know this, he's a sushi chef.
He just he gives you what you're going to eat.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Yeah, here here's what you're getting.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Yeah, and there was like number eight. I was like,
oh my god, I'm really fighting to get this done.
Some of the stuff was amazing. It was delicious, but
I was really trying to get this done and it
was I think it was seven.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Eggs or some little orange eggs. Yeah, it was really
tough for you, really bad. A lot of it is
a texture.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Thing, right, Yeah, it was texture a thing, and it
was the only thing that my son wouldn't eat. He
just said, I can't do that, and through the interpreter,
Master Ghiro said to me, that's good.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
One more for daddy. So I had to eat too,
because you can't offend the chef. No, that's a lot
of manners around this stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Do you find that going around the world that there's
a lot of custom and you know, kind of behavior
and politeness around it. There's a lot of ceremony around
everybody's food.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
I am gonna taste anything put in front of me,
but if I can avoid the scary thing, I will, right. So,
like in Mexico, I was sitting at a counter at
a Wahawkan restaurant. This is in the show, and I'm
with my companion for this scene and the female chef
she's giving us such gorgeous food. It's all fantastic. But
(07:49):
what I've heard is that they serve iguana in this place,
and I'm scared, and I say to my companion, I
heard there's iguana here. If they give us iguana, are
you gonna taste it? And she goes, I don't know,
are you gonna taste it? And I'm like, you're Mexican,
you're more used to this maybe than I am coming from.
And the chef hears us. She says, oh, you want iguana,
(08:10):
And I go, oh, so you get the iguana special
and she shows it because she goes, there it is
and it's sitting in a bowl on the counter and
it's blackened already. You see the curly tail, you see
the body, you see the face like this, and she goes,
if you want it, it'll be another half hour to
prepare it. We don't have time exactly what I did.
(08:31):
Oh look at the time, and I pushed out and
then she does this, Oh well, if you don't have
time for that, how about this, And she reaches under
the counter. You're gonna think I'm making this up. It's
all in the show, and she pulls out a bowl
of moving living beetles. I can't do that, and I
don't want to offend I don't want to offend, So
(08:54):
live my life not wanting to upset anybody, and God forbid,
I should be just courteous, are rude. But what flew
out of my mouth at that moment was oh no, no, no,
no no no no no no no no no no,
and I ran away. Yeah good, You know what, You're
a human being. You're allowed to have preferences, and it's
not I don't think it's terrible manners to turn down
(09:15):
live beetles. My friend was in China, rural China, not
like a major city. But sure, he's the guest of honor.
Why because he's American At a banquet. Yeah, they bring
out a live, poisonous snake and they hold it up
next to him. He's freaking out because they're holding it
by the neck and the snake is wriggling. And they
(09:36):
take out a knife and they slit open this live
snake and they pull out the snake's gall bladder and
squeeze it into a glass and give it to him
to drink. Because he's the guest of honor. They're fucking
with them. They're fugging with them. Come on, They're like,
this is supposed to say, you're supposed to be have virility.
If you drink this, you're supposed to have, you know, manliness.
(09:58):
I'm like, I can I get enough manliness? I go,
how bad was it? He says, As bad as you
can imagine. And the very worst part that I didn't
even think about as I put it to my lips.
The worst part was that it was warm. Can you imagine? Yeah?
I mean I could get sick thinking about it.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Well, also, I'm sure then you know we're going to
get layers and emails as well.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
People will be like, that's cruel to snakes. Well, this
is not what we do. No, no, we don't do it.
We don't do in rural China snake though I have
tasted rattlesnakes. It's not unpleasant. It's not my favorite. It's
a little oily, A little yeah, it's like oily chicken. Yeah,
I thought, like, like oily chicken. Taste gamy oily chick.
(10:45):
Everybody says, taste like chicken. I'm like, in that case,
could have chicken. Yeah, well, let's have chicken. No. When
you were doing because look, when I became.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Aware of you, you were the comedy, like you were
one of the great gods. Of the comedy Sick Calm World.
You know, it's like, you know, everybody loves Raymond was
like a huge show. You know, you and Raymond put
it together. It's a great show. Thank you and I.
So I'm thinking, as a look at that now, I'm
(11:13):
guessing that there is when you think about it, there
is always like cooking and stuff going on. Everybody's kind
of a big thing. It's a big thing in that show.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Well, it's a card to me. It's a big thing
in life. Life. Yeah, I found It's a long story.
But my parents weren't great cooks. They worked, both worked,
didn't have a lot of money. The cuisine in our
house was cheap. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
I grew up in Scotland, so I still went when
it comes to fighting for the worst.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
My mom had a setting on the oven for shoe.
This is how you know it's ready. Yeah, it's ready.
It's ready, meaning all the flavor has been taken out
and here it is. Yeah. So I didn't I didn't
even think steak was something that was good until I
was in my twenties. People said, you want to go
to steak? Why would anybody want steak? Because I only
(12:02):
had the worst of the worst tough chewie. I couldn't
leave the table. Also, forget, just try it. At my house,
it was just finish it. Yeah, you gotta finish it. Forget,
just try it is like the Reform version. My house
was the Orthodox version. Just finish it. So I couldn't
I couldn't stand it. But I went reluctantly to this steakhouse.
(12:24):
It was like New Year's even my head, I couldn't
believe how great that's steak. I literally said, that steak.
That's so. I wanted to take a picture and show
it to my mother. Well, you know what's weird about
it is because you would think, because.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
You're like, your love of food is palpable, and you're
clearly very interested and drawn to all sorts of food.
I would have thought it would have come in early
in life, but clearly it didn't.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Right, It wasn't like it wasn't until I left the house.
I always loved I loved the fast food. I loved
anything marketed to us right like McDonald's burger King all
that stuff, because at least it had salt and fat
and flavor. I didn't care it was artificial, blogoney. It
was tasty, that made the difference. Yeah, and so I
(13:07):
always pursued it. And whenever I did get anything from
another place, like I went to Atlanta when I was nine,
never went anywhere, went to Atlanta for a bar Mitzville.
When I was nine, my cousins took me to a
new place that I'd never heard of, called seven eleven.
And I go to seven eleven and they have a
slurpee machine. Oh yeah, first time for slurpee. I tasted
(13:30):
this thing. I go, This is why you travel? Do
you know what? This is? Why I travel?
Speaker 1 (13:35):
The reason I became an American. Yeah, when I was
thirteen years old, my father and I come and visit
my uncle and my aunt and their kids in New York.
They live in Smithtown, Long Island. Yes, so I go
from Scotland. I go to Smithtown, Long Islands when I'm thirteen.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
It's nineteen seventy five, right, yeah, And they take me
to a bowling alley and someone gives me root beer
from a fountain over crushed dice in a bowling alley
and I never tasted it, never tasted my life. And
I said, whatever this is, I want to be part
of this.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
This is when I'm going to become an American when
I taste over crushed ice in a bowling alley in
Long Island.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
This is it. So I'm preaching the converted. I understand it, saying, yeah,
of course, when you have an experience that you love
somewhere else, it makes you fall in love with going places.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Exactly, it makes you want to go there. The Craig
Ferguson Fancy Rascals stand Up to Her continues throughout the
United States in twenty twenty four. For a full list
of dates and tickets, go to the Craig Ferguson show
dot com slash tour see you out there.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
To be honest with me, have you ever been in
a place and you've tasted a lot of different food
and you thought, you know, I don't need to come back. Nope,
that's great because there's always something good. I'm telling you.
Good meal anywhere, now, all right, good meal anywhere. But
but you got to do your homework. You got to
research a little bit. Yeah. So I have something though
(15:09):
that maybe you don't have, which is a production company
in New York that was Bordain's production company. So they
have fixers all over the world. And that so I
say here's what I'm thinking, and they go, here's what
you should be thinking. Here's the new and I leave
room in the schedule for serendipity. We're gonna find stuff
that a chef when we meet there, they'll go where
(15:30):
you're going tomorrow and you'll tell me that that's not
the best pizza. The best pizzas over here? All right?
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Okay, right, so you have to where is the best pizza?
I mean, I think if you, as a guy who
knows New York a little bit, where can I tell
you something? I could name ten places right now in
La that you can have great Moza.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Moses Pizza, Pitsana. Have you had that? No quarter sheets? No,
you see, I don't know much about La Pizza. Wi
Can I take you? Yes? You're here right? Yeah, well
I'm here until tomorrow morning. Oh so you either take
me tonight or we're not going. Where are you living now?
I'm in Scotland, yes, and in New York. We're in Scotland, uh,
(16:09):
in the.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Southwest, like like about an hour south of Glasgow. Okay,
so Glasgow is in the new season. And we went
and I'm telling you, I had a couple of meals
there that are phenomenal. One was a great the best
shawarma I've ever had in my life.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Indian food is incredible in Alasco, the shwarma king, Yeah yeah,
have you had it? Yeah? With Indian and Pakistani community
in Glasgow. Yes, it's kind of like Italians or Jewish
community in New York. They like they changed the game.
Do you know what I mean? Is like when they
came in. This man is Syrian. This is Syrian Syrian. Yeah,
that's Middle Eastern by that right, So I don't know
about it. You. I thought it was like Indian shwarma
(16:44):
swarma or maybe Jewish shwarma. Hey you get stop SCHWARMI
swarma bee. Yeah you're crowded me. You're like a shwarma bees.
So I think you'll like it, Yeah, I think. I
I mean, I love Mediterranean food. I didn't know what
it was called shwarma though, seeh I don't know. I
just I know what I like. I know what well,
(17:05):
I don't know what I like. But will you try
new things? Definitely? Because I wrote a book for you, Yeah, yeah,
I definitely.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I mean, when my kids were little, getting them a
try stuff, I understand hard. It is hard. Well, one
of them was hard. I have two boys, one of
them all even for like two years it was Annie's macaroni.
Oh yeah, I know, you couldn't really get. But they
don't want to eat pretty much, Anthony. So this book,
not that.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
I'm plugging the book, but the thing is, the kid,
left on its own will eat, right, the kid, it's
not gonna most people, you know, when they get hungry,
they want to eat. They will lean and they will
eat so and sometimes it's not about the food that
they're pushing back on you. It's about asserting their personhood there.
(17:51):
It's about having right. It's not really about the food observation.
I think you're right, and left to their own, they
might try it. And you know what, the kid that
wouldn't eat was the first kid.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
And that's the one you're like, hereatatat oh baby, like you'll.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Be fine, exactly right, and that kid ate more. Yeah,
that's funny. Then I think that's it. Yeah, And then
I tell this to somebody who that's too much trouble.
We just pay them. So what do you mean, here's
twenty five cents if you think a bte what and
that works? Yep?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Well, I guess it would it's not a terrible idea.
So you're in Glasgow and you have great swarm. Where
ees do you have?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I gotta look it up because I forget everything. But
if you people listening, if you look at the Scotland episode,
you'll see.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
The great Glasgow and Edin brown Ware else. I love Sky,
I love Sky.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Took a helicopter to I love Sky. Gorgeous. I mean,
that's a beautiful place. It's really heavenly places. It is
heavenly and I know it rains a lot of the time,
but the sun broke when wed When the sun is
it's absolutely magical. Yeah. So I have this website Phil
Rosenthal World, right, and everywhere we go in the show
(19:04):
is there.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
So I'm going to tell you now, tell me now
what restaurants you go to, because I used to work
in a restaurant in Glasgow, very famous restaurant in Glasgow.
Okay that I don't know if Burdain went to or
not when he did Glasgow, but he Burdaane liked Glasgow
a law I remember because they talked about him still there.
He said he he loved glass one of his favorite
cities in the world.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
I love it. Good. Our friend Brad Paisley, you know him. Yeah,
he it's his favorite place city. He could move there
and live there, really, yead Paisley. Yeah, Well the tone
of Paisley is just on the other Maybe that's why
he had Tantrum Donuts. All right. I've never been there,
but I've heard him so good. Yeah uh yeah uh.
In Edinburgh Rose Leaf, that's exciting. Uh. Johnny Walker Princess Street,
(19:49):
we went there. Oink on Victoria Street in Edinbura. That's
not a vegan restaurant, not at all, right, Okay. J
mellis for cheese and stuff from Edinburgh. Mary's Milk Bar
for ice cream, delightful. Okay, here we go Glasgow. Gaga Gaga,
Lady Gaga is the restaurant. It's a wonderful place. Julie
(20:11):
Lynn is the chef. I think I know about this.
I've heard about this, so it's it's Malaysian food. Okay.
I love that, absolutely fantastic. I think you'll love it.
It's one of the great meals. And then that Schwarma King,
Swarma King, it really made an effect. Landed with you.
Shwarma King. Huh. I think it's the best one. I
mean to find him I don't think to the Middle East.
(20:33):
So what it is? You ever see those big in
Mexico they're called Trumpo's, these giant the meat things of
meat that's old layered. Yeah, exactly right, and then they
trim off the sides. It rotates. That's real drunk people
food in Britain, is it? Yeah? Like when you come
out of the pub at eleven o'clock, Yes, you go
get a kebab. It's like people think it's fish and chips.
(20:54):
I guess there's fish and chips kebab. People get drunk
and have a kebab because the kebab stores are open late. Yes,
as everybody runs them as immigrants and they want to,
you know, earn eleven and you can get a kebab.
It's a I've woken up sick with kebab fever. Get it?
I get it. But then they put that garlic mao
on it. Yeah, it's beautiful. So is that sharma a kebab? Well,
(21:17):
kebab I always think of as meat on a stick, right,
that's right, But that's kebob. But kebab is like shwarma,
I think, Is that right? I think?
Speaker 1 (21:26):
So maybe something like that. I know that in Bretton.
Maybe they're calling it wrong in Brent maybe because I
think you're right. I think technically kebob kebab. I think
it is the thing on a skewer, but in Breton
it's the peeda pocket with the shaved meat on it.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Is kebab, is a kebba. They call it a kebab,
but that's probably right. That's why I think, and I
learned that I'm saying it wrong. Shwarma it's shawerma. Oh,
it's like a whole like but this is from the
Middle East. But then in Mexico when you get the
taco saw pastor, Yeah, that came from the Middle East,
(22:00):
except in Mexico they had pork instead of lamb so
they didn't. Yes, like that, yeah came. So the whole
world is better. That's my whole point. The whole world
is better when we cross pollinate, when we when we
get this food from the immigrants who learned how to
take maybe cheaper cuts of food just to survive and
turned it into not just something palatable but phenomenal. That's
(22:23):
what makes the world go right. I agree.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
I like, I grew up in a town love Glasgow,
which is you know, a Victorian ship building town. Yes,
and the food, by the order mention of the people
who lived there was atrocious. And what happened the first
wave of immigrants to command are Italians. Italians bring in
coffee and we taste coffee and.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
We're like, oh my god, this is good.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
I grew I grew up like I thought coffee was
like you know, it was a powdered thing.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
You pourned God war on. So when is this happening? Well,
the Italians ran way before, you know. But but when
you go to Italian restaurants then they have like coffee machines.
But the reason you go to an Italian restaurant because
attached to the Italian restaurant is the fish and chip shop.
And everybody buys fish and chips. People think fish and
chips are British, not British, it's Italian.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
The Italians brought the fishing to the Italian restaurants in
Glasgow anyway, it was fish and chips from Italy.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
They would make and making the fish and chips. They
have Glasgow Glasgow Italian accents, so they talk about it
like me. But also we about Battalian as well, like
at that Wow, it's crazy. I love it.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
So they comme in and they start bringing in Italian food,
so they're making past those and stuff. And then the
Pakistanian Indian community come in in the sixties and seventies
and then everything goes crazy. Then there's like, you know,
the Italian restaurants and sorry, the Indian restaurants, the curries
that people are not tasting these spices they've never had before, right,
it's insane. And now there's quite a lot of particular
(23:49):
in Glasgow is a huge Chinese influence.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
There's a lot of Chinese coming into the university. So
there's a lot of new Chinese and Malaysian restaurants and
stuff like that at the bottom end of Buyers Road,
which I think is what you're talking about, near the university.
And so all this cultural input I think improved the
city beyond measure. Who is fighting this, like there's such
an idiot that makes life grand? Yeah, you want to
(24:15):
eat the same thing every day, fun to have not
just food, but friends from other places that learn something God.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Fromid I totally agree, but you know you and I
are maybe not everybody.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
That's that's the thing. Let me just say there is
one thing I've never tasted that.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
My wife has tasted when she was on a vacation
when she before we met, she and some college friends
went to South America.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Yeah, and they were offered guinea pig. They ate it,
guinea pig served with the mouth open. Oh, I've seen
I've seen it. I've never been to Peru, but I
really do want to go. I'm probably gonna have to
taste that. Yes, I am afraid.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yeah, because that's like to me, disrespect to anything. Yeah,
it's a rat.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
I had I think squirrel once. I know people eat squirrel.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
I have you know in rural Scotland some of the
guys who you know came up there like they're deep.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Guy.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
It's not like no regular people doing. But I do
know a couple of guys. One of the guys who
forester there, I know he was shooting.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
He a squirrel. Huh.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
You know, like you take a home cooking and the
rural South of America. Yeah, the squirrel make of it
and stuff like okay, and you know for me, but
and he gets their little clothes.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I was in Mumbai for the first time. Have you
been there. I've never been a man lined dat, But
it's for lancup. I've never been a minute. Do you
like Indian food? I love the food, well, maybe my favorite.
If it's your favorite, you have to go. Yeah, I
think you're right, But I will say this. The first stop.
When we're shooting Mumbai, I've never been there in my life.
I'm kind of afraid, right because people, you know, they
(25:57):
do get a stomach thing when they go because they're
not used to that, and the water and everything else
is different, and you can get sick. And I was
really worried about but I was assured that the guy
taking me around knew the places that I would not
get sick. Okay I didn't. You didn't get however, first stop,
try this. What is it? Goat brain curry? Okay, that's
(26:22):
a that's a lot for your first thing. Yeah, goat
brain is any kind of brain. But I'll tell you this.
I eat it. I taste it with bread. You sop
it up. It's just like you got that bread. It's meat,
meat in a sauce, right, right, right, You're right, you'd
never know. It's the idea that keeps us away from stuff.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
But isn't that isn't that true of so many things
that you get ahead of yourself with the idea.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Yes, yeah, no, you're right. I had to eat drugs.
I had to eat an ant in Tokyo. How many ads?
Just one? I think I could eat one hand like
a big black carpenter. And it came on the salad.
I'm like, Uh, does this restaurant have a problem? Should
we the people? So she called? Then was on the side.
It's on the south that my patriot says, you got
(27:06):
to try it tastes like lemon. I said, whoa, if
it's lemon flavor, we're going after Yeah, why can't we
go to have some lemon? We could have chicken with lemon,
lemon chicken. Why do we have to have ant? But
and I'm like shaking my head, like God, what did
I get into with this show that I do for you?
It's become a hole. But I tasted it, and damn
(27:26):
if it wasn't like a lemon drop on my tongue,
And I thought, Okay, did they based it in lemon?
Is that? Why? Know? The chef says, these ants from
this particular part of the forest and this particular part
of Japan, these ants taste like lemon. Who the hell
found this out?
Speaker 1 (27:43):
The first guy who's like really hungry, and he's like,
I'm so hungry. Tastes like crap, this one taste. This
one tastes like ant.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
I don't want that. This one tastes like lemon good one. Yeah,
And so I'm now am I going to a restaurant
and saying, hey, do you have the ants taste? Like? No,
it's not the first thing I want when I go
to the restaurant. But I'm glad I did it. The
journey is its own reward, the tasting of it.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Have you ever have you ever gone sick from Anthony
on the road though one time I got sick in
all my travels around the world San Francisco.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
What did you eat? Don't know? Okay, because I ate
a lot that day and that night. We call it bush.
Oh yeah, bush like swarm out, bushes out the top
end and goush.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
You can't imagine or other. I mean, I know I've
been there. I go to once from smoked salmon. Oh,
that's very bad smokes. It's very bad smoked salmon. I
took it and I knew you know that sometimes when
you eat something you got something right here?
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Yeah, But I muscled through you must never muscle through no,
no somethings off, okay, step back, no. No. You can
get a bad piece of fish and you know it instantly. Yeah,
and I knew it, and I ate the fish because
I didn't want to appear rude.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
I get it, and so I ate the fish. And
about two hours later then I went on a ride.
The last three days. It was crazy. I've never been
so sick. And I used to love salmon, and I
didn't eat salmon for about ten years after.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
When you get sick from a food, you never want
that food.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
That's what it feels like, right I go. I mean,
I although I tried oysters, and I never need to
eat that. That ain't food. I don't know why people
make such a fuss about that. Was a brave man
who once tried an oyster. That's a famous saying, yes,
that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Do you like oysters? I do you do. I'll tell
you why they are. There's certain foods that are evocative
of the place they come right right, Yeah, I mean
that's how I felt when I had the Tallisker Scotch
from the barrel out of Callisker and you're like.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Look, I'm Scottish. But I gotta be oesty. Whiskey is
not food. You understand that, right, I mean I know
that these, but.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
There is a flavor. There's definitely a flavor. And you know,
I know you don't drink, but well on onely because
I drank some much because not because I'm against it,
just because if I if I drink, I go to
hospital or jail. That that's why I don't drink. I
was with Peter o'tool once. Did you ever meet Peter?
Had him on the old late night show The Greatest Guy?
(30:13):
All right, so we can talk about him. But he
he said, would you like something to drink? And I
said I would? Are you drinking? He goes, I can drink,
but my doctor says, if I do, I'll die. Yeah,
God bless him. What a what a peach of a guy.
He was amazed. But he was one of those legendary
alcohol when alcoholism was more entertaining than perhaps. I mean,
(30:37):
it's like, you know Richard Burton and Peter Rutoo. Wasn't
he the greatest rack und Tour? Wasn't he? Just but
you know him and Richard Richard.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
I was going to say as well, but I think
probably there's a there's a great old I don't know
if it's a poem or I think it's a poem,
an old Irish thing about drinking. It's it's about so
we spent another night and I'm a bit in the tavern.
Oh no, we spent another rite telling poetry and proses.
(31:06):
But each man knows he'll be alone when the sacred.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Gin mill closes. Oh man.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
And alcoholism is not about the fun you're having in it.
It's about four o'clock in the morning, in the fetal position,
crying for your mother. Oh, it's a whole different game.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
And I don't think any of these guys were spared that.
I think you've got to be honest about it. It was.
It's hellacious if you if you can't do it, if
you can do it, Like if I could drink, I
would drink. And I can still make a recommendation for
the best scotch. Which whiskey in my mind, and it's
not Dallas Girl, which is a great whiskey. Tell me
the greatest.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
One, to my mind is a whiskey called weirdly enough
doesn't sound it sounds more like an Ellie neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Highland Park I know it. Highland Park's Yeah, get yourself
a twelve or older year Highland Park.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
I would take that over even a beautiful Yeah, it's
a beautiful thing. Over a towalskar or again, I.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Love Glenn Livitt. Yeah, that's my go to it.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Like you know, guses, you can have a glass of
whiskey and then that's you're done.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
You enjoy the taste. And by the way, I'm also
a flyweight. I have one and goodbye. Yeah, yeah, that's
that's me. But listen, I I'm in it for the flavor, right,
And that's what means. You can have it.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
If you're in it for the flavor, you can have it.
If you're in it for the medicine, for whatever missing
in your soul, you can.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
I honestly don't like the feeling of being loopy in
any way with anything that I don't like it. You know,
you don't know what a mysa that as. That's unbelievable
to have that really, yeah, because we all like an escape. Listen,
I'll take, I'll take. My son has started making a
business out of th HC laced cookies okay, okay, and
(32:52):
it's a cookie mix called Zazas and you can pre
make the batter and put the balls in the the
the dough balls in the freezer, and then right before
bed in the toaster oven for ten minutes, you have
a fresh, hot baked chocolate chip cookie. And for me,
it's not about getting high. Yeah, although you do start
to feel it, maybe listen to a little music. Ah,
you're in college again, and then lights out, good night,
(33:14):
sleep through the night. That's why I take it. Well,
see what's interesting about it?
Speaker 1 (33:19):
And that's great, yes, But the thing to remember about
these things is they react differently with different people. Absolutely,
because if I had that, I would be psychotic and
I would need a drink, even at a low dose
I have of one hundred percent because everyone dosage.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
That's why you're not seeing it. What's the word normalized?
Not normalized when you try to regulate something and you
have to have like a dose.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
A dosage thing, Oh yes, like yeah, you can't do
that because everybody reacts. Everybody's different, right, And I'd tell
you another thing, like when you and I were young,
like when you said colleagues like there were drugs around
and people experiment with drugs.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
And stuff like, you can't do that now and everything
and everything. You could die. You could die, kids, I
can die from a joint. Don't do that. That's crazy.
It is crazy. I mean it's like, oh my god,
it's everywhere. In college, we'd have what's called a nickel bag.
It would last us the semester. Yeah, but one puff
(34:18):
and lights out, lights out, You're done. Because of that,
that strange stuff that I don't do it. I do.
I use it only to sleep, and only once or
twice a week at the most. Right, But it's good
when you travel, I think, although you you got to
be careful.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
I do that when I you know, because I famously
carry a lot of guns.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
So like what what no, No, no, Well you're good
at saying it straight, like no, but you got to
be careful because people are different. Now here's the thing.
I remember. Once I went to rural Morocco. Yeah, I
was out there. I can't really remember what I was
doing out there, but I was out there. If you
(35:01):
don't remember, you were doing something fun. But I actually
I don't think I was drinking. In fact, I'm pretty
sure I wasn't drinking, but I was.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
It was a long time ago, and I remember I
was with a girlfriend and we went to go, uh
to a restaurant, and the guy at the door said,
I'm sorry you you have to go to separate parts
of the restaurant. It's like the the uh we don't
let men and women unless they're married sit together. So
she had to go and sit with the single women,
(35:32):
and I had to go and sit with the single dudes.
And the married couples can sit in the middle.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
But you have to be married. Wow, I know. Interesting. Yeah,
it was like a whole thing, and it kind of
you know, I kind of liked it, you know, I'm
advocating for I was like, oh, this is different. It's
an hour. My girlfriend didn't like it.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Yeah, she felt like she had been in some way insulted.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
A little bit.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
She felt wasn't She's a Western woman who was in
a rural part of the world and the customs were different.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
You know, Listen, there's there's customs that all over the
world where they have to lighten up a little, right,
you know, you figure, I know, but yes, time goes on.
Well if you ask people to lighten up, though, fell
and they don't want to, you know, they want to
hang on to some stuff. Have you ever run any
(36:25):
trouble on the way, people like like, hey, you're an American.
We're not crazy about you guys right now. No, I
don't know how great it is to be Jewish at
the moment. But who saw that coming? Not me? I meancking,
I know, I'm like what, Yeah, I'm kind of like
a freaking me out. Yes, so are you.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
I'm guessing the Palestinian restaurants. No, no, I have a
scene in Dubai. We filmed it almost a year ago now,
before the troubles. Yeah, I go in. There's a woman
who is from I guess Gaza or the West Bank.
She emigrated to Dubai, as many people do, because it's
(37:04):
like eighty five percent immigrants Dubai.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
Have you been there. No, I've never been to Dubai.
You drive down the street and you're like, oh, this
is what Vegas would be if they had real money.
I mean, just the unbelievable city of the future. I know,
like Colp cars or Baghetti Vey runs and stuff like that.
I can't imagine monorails running on both sides of the
exactly right. But then there's old Dubai, which is only
(37:30):
about fifty sixty years old. But that's where the Indian
restaurants are, and the Palestinian restaurants are at all restaurants
from all over the Middle East. So I have this
meal with this Palestinian woman, and it connected so deeply
to me in her story, and I just fell in
love with her as a human being. And we got
along so great that we got emotional. Where this is
(37:52):
supposed to be our natural enemy. Yeah, gorgeous, wonderful experience,
and all I can that's my answer to all of this. Well,
why don't you sit and eat with these people? If
we sat and ate, that's what they say break bread.
Isn't that what you're talking about? You know, a conciliatory
meeting you talk about You use the expression let's break
bread exactly right, because it's something we automatically relate to
(38:15):
because we all do it, no matter who we are. Well,
we all got to do it. We all got to eat.
And if the food is good, we're already connecting on
something we understand that's wonderful, that we're already happy. Yeah,
we're already happy. I can kill you because I'm happy
eating with you. Yeah, Yeah, we're eating, and then we'll
then there's enough for both of them and then if
we share a joke or a laugh, now we're friends.
(38:36):
That's what That's what I feel about it too.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
The humor and food obviously for you, very closely related,
because yes, everybody's gonna I pitched this idea years ago.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Yes, never came in.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
I was going to do this show where I would
go anywhere in the world and do what you do
with me. You said, do it with stand up like
I would go to Japan and I'd learn and act
fanatically and going try and do it what I mean.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
And I thought it would be really cool. But yeah,
I could never say it. I don't know why. Hard
to sell stuff, Yeah it is. Listen. Speaking of Peter O'Toole,
I tried to do two pilots with him, no way
he wanted. When he did a movie called King Ralph
with John Goodman. I remember so John Goodman was taking
a break during high his hiatus from Roseanne, the biggest
sitcom at that time. I know. I've talked to Matt Williams,
(39:22):
who was the one of the creators of it. Great, great,
I would say, even groundbreaking show, amazing show. Show held
up a mirror to an American living room, right, and
what was going on it. I go as far as
to say it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
No, I was going to say, there's no Raymond without resign.
But I don't think that's true because I think Raymond
is also connected to all in the family.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
Older. Yeah, but certainly influenced in that. Yeah, it was
part of it, for sure. I think definitely. Well, listen,
we're only we stand on the shoulders of everyone who came.
Of course, Peter O'Toole learns about how much money you
can make making a sitcom and we get a phone
call you'd like to do. This was a few years
(40:06):
before Raymond. We got this guy was with a partner
at the time. We get this call and we're like, hell, yeah,
of course, I mean, he's huge fete. We write this
thing for him. He likes it. He gives us notes.
Best notes I ever got in my life from anyone
were from him. Have you read his book, yes, Loitering
with Intent? Yeah, but it was a long time since
(40:28):
I read it. But you do remember then it was good? Yeah,
I do, I do remember it. Okay, So we have him.
He commits to it now and we're going and it's
NBC and my phone rings and it's Judd Hirsh out
of the blue. My god, I heard you doing a
show with Peter o'tool. Yes, I'd like to be in it. Okay,
(40:51):
I don't know if there's a great part of it.
He goes, I don't care. I want to do it.
So now NBC show Peter O'Toole, jud Hirsh. We start
casting the other roles. My phone rings, it's NBC. We're
in the middle of casting. Yes, the president of the
network would rather not have someone with an accent on
the network. This is fucking Warren Lttlefield, isn't it. It sounds
(41:11):
like Warren. No, it's it was. I think the next
one one after him, maybe, Yeah, we don't have to
say who it is. I think I know who it is.
But yeah, yeah, I know. And the show was dead
just because of the accent. Imagine having to call him
you did. I couldn't, so I just let the other
(41:35):
people make up some story to him, and we stayed friends.
We would go to London, my whole family. We would
meet him for tea and we stayed friends. He would
come to La visit us. He came to a movie
night at my house. I said, can we show what
movie of yours. Can we show? He goes, you show
one of my films I won't be attending, and I said,
(41:56):
what would you like to see? And he said, without hesitation,
Carry Grant? I said, and is there a Carry Grant movie?
And before I could finish that, he goes Talk of
the Town? You know, say, of course it's great. So
you know what it's about. Yeah, tell the people, no,
you tell them it's it's Carry Grant? And uh, what's
her name? Let me just look it up because I
(42:17):
don't want to be disrespect But what happens is it's
a lighthearted comedy and this is in the fifties, this movie,
and then she gets an abortion. That's right, And that's
the title of the film, Talk of the Town. Can
you imagine in the nineteen fifties you couldn't do that
movie today. He'd be in a lot of trouble. Talk. Yeah,
it's Geneaathon Ronald Coleman as well. Okay, so that that
(42:40):
movie's phenomenal. I recommend it to people, so interesting and
so funny. And when the movie's over, he leads a
discussion the movie. For the twenty five people that are
in my house watching this movie, that's great. It was
very special thing to have had, really special. I also
before the movie, I always show a music thing and
I said to him, do you know who? Have you seen? Beyonce?
(43:02):
He says, what is a Beyonce? And I put on
the song, the famous song it. He is leaning forward
with his jaw hanging open, laughing like he's seen the
greatest thing he's ever seen in his life. I have
to say my reaction when I first saw it was
very similar. Cut to now. After Raymond. Someone presents me
(43:27):
with a good idea for a show that has older
people in it and younger people right together. I say,
this is great. They say, you see this as a show. Yes,
you want to take it out and try to sell
it to the networks. I say no, because I've been
through this now for many years, and I know what
the networks will say. Can the younger people move in
(43:51):
with younger, hotter people, They don't want the old people.
But I said, but let's try it at the BBC, right,
and let's call my friend because he should be the
lead in this thing. He had just done Venus, remember
that movie? He knew because he was on the late
night show promoting it. How great was he in that
Oh my god, I mean here he is an older eye.
(44:12):
Now the comedy chops are still phenomenal, even the physical stuff.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
It was one of the actors in that movie. You know,
Leslie Phillips who was also in that movie.
Speaker 2 (44:22):
He plays his.
Speaker 1 (44:22):
Friend in the movie at the end, which she says, oh,
he was gorgeous when she's looking at the obituary, and he.
Speaker 2 (44:27):
Goes, yes, he was gorgeous. That actor.
Speaker 1 (44:32):
He was in a movie a nine years ago as well.
There were a wonderful generation of actors amazing and he
Leslie Phillips, who died recently. He was I think a
hundred Leslie when Wow. But he didn't drink like pig.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
But I'm telling you, a gift to the world would
be Peter o'tole just sitting here and talking about whatever
he wants to talk about, unbelievable for an hour. It
doesn't matter every week, Just there's Peter otold here, having
a drink with him or just chatting with him, just
would be a gift. We write the script, Yeah, they say, Okay,
(45:05):
will mister O'Toole read I said, read read like audition. Yes,
Peter tool, Yes, are your mind? I said here's his audition.
Lawrence of Arabia is his audition the Ruling Class. Yes, man,
stop cat man. Yeah, my favorite year. Yeah, my favorite year.
(45:27):
Perfect example. If you want to cast him in a
sitcom or venus, goddamn it. They were three reasons that
he was old. Yeah, I said, I can't. I'm not
asking Peter o'tool to read. You can ask him. Well,
they didn't, they know what do you know? What bothers
me a lot about this time, especially when I talked
this was the BBC. Yeah, well that's part of this time. Okay,
(45:48):
you know what I mean? It's I mean the business. Yes.
What bothers me about it is I talked to so
many creatives and they talked to me about shows that
didn't happen. That's right, And it drives me crazy because
these sounds. I'm good, they sound great. Why do you
think I'm in the food and travel business.
Speaker 1 (46:03):
Yeah, but fell I got to say to you, and
we got to wrap things up. I'm going to say
to you, I would like to hear your voice outside
of the food arena. I mean you, I understand great,
but it would be nice to see a set calm
or a comedy show come out of that ahead of yours.
Speaker 2 (46:22):
I know it's there. It's not for lack of trying.
Oh really, still, well, a terrible business, you proved it.
It means nothing. I think that the business changed greatly
in the nine years we were doing Raymond, and so
when we graduated from that, all they wanted were young
pretty people in shows, which is you know, as good
a show as Friends is and was the business got
(46:45):
the wrong lesson from it. They thought that, oh, just
cast pretty people. Yeah, but that.
Speaker 1 (46:52):
The exception, the exception to the rule exactly. But the
right that mar And was doing on that show, that's incredible.
Mark Kaufman was doing on that show. Of course, great
worky I was.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
They were great, well crafted shows with a great writers room.
But you had these this casting that was also great. Yeah,
they were great. And God doesn't often give with both mends.
Don't go to the pretty people usually for comedy. Why
because pretty people never have to develop a they haven't
had to do it. Yeah, you have to look like
(47:27):
me to develop a sense for me. I get it.
But here's the thing I think that I remember, like
Raymond was I was on the Drew Carey Show. Remember
when Raymond started and we were on the Drew Carey Show.
We were the uh, we were the less esthetically pleasing
cast than the Friend was funny, funny, it's.
Speaker 1 (47:47):
A funny show. And I remember you guys showed in
the Warner Brothers Law. I remember because Ray used to combine.
Speaker 2 (47:53):
Uh. I remember because he was becoming a big star
and always stuck with me. And I say it to
him when he was on the old Late Night Show
because it really stuck with me. I watched a guy
go from nobody knew who he was to be a
big star, no discernible change in behavior. No, do you
know how fucking rare that is? You know what he says, Well,
(48:14):
I'm the same guy, same guy. He was a camp driver,
used to hate me now my limo driver. But it's
interesting because it's so I don't even know if I
can say that but myself sometimes when I went through successes,
I think I became a bit of douchey, you know.
But I with Ray, I think that, well, he had
a very healthy case of neuroticism. Yeah, but he was
(48:38):
a perfect neurotic, I always said, because he only hurt himself. Yeah.
We meet a lot of neurotics in the business out
and hurt everybody else. You don't want to work with them.
But Ray was always a pleasure to work with And
the only thing that might have been difficult was convincing
him that he was good. Yeah, and to relax and
be enjoy it. Yeah, it's hard to enjoy it when
(48:59):
you're you're raither and you're nuts. He always says, if
my father hugged me once, I wouldn't have to do this,
you know. Lewis Black, Yeah, he's great, He's amazing.
Speaker 1 (49:11):
So I was talking to Lou recently on the program
on the show, and I said to him my wife's
theory about stand up comedians, which is every stand up
comedian has the same.
Speaker 2 (49:20):
Mother, cold with bad boundaries. Wow. And so I say
that to Lewis and he goes, oh my god. Two things. One,
how did you get to meet such a smart woman? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (49:29):
And two let me tell you this. His mom had
just died. She was one hundred and four. He said,
I don't think we looked each other in the eye
until she was on her death fedd.
Speaker 2 (49:38):
Wow. Wow. And it goes to your point about pretty
people not having it developed comedy, you know what I mean.
It's like it's developed, it's born out of something. It's
born out of something. I mean about it. If my
dad hugged me once, that's really. If you got enough
love at home, maybe you wouldn't need it outside of home.
(49:58):
But we all look for it, we all different ways. Well,
you know what it's It's worked out, okay for you
and Ray and for you yeah, and for me. You're right.
I can't tell you how much I want to congratulate you.
And just try it. You and your daughter are doing
a book to get children to eat their food and adults.
(50:19):
Just try it. If you can open the mouth, you
can open the mind, right.
Speaker 1 (50:23):
And congratulations on that Netflix, because that really is a
wonderful show.
Speaker 2 (50:27):
Thank you, wonderful show. Appreciate you're doing You're doing great work.
I want people to know I'm doing my live tour.
Oh you are Yeah? Where I did it last year
and it was so much fun that I'm doing it
again this year. Twenty five cities? Are you? Is it? Like?
Do you have a website or some of the people
and go to Phil Rosenthalworld dot com. There you go,
instagramworld dot com. That's it and then all the dates
(50:49):
and stuff for there. They're all there. It starts in April.
I can't wait. I love meeting the people and go
and see film. You will love me wrong and somebody
feed them please, So yeah,
The Craig Ferguson Fancy Rascal Stand Up Tour continues throughout
twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
For a full list of dates.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
And tickets, go to the Craig Ferguson Show dot com
slash tour.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
See you out there, the Greig Ferguson show dot com
slash Tour.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
My name is Craig Ferguson. The name of this podcast
is Joy. I talk to interest in people about what
brings them happiness. Today we are blessed, my friends, blessed
because we're in the company of one of the nicest
guys in show business. He wrote one of the greatest,
(00:38):
most gentle, but beautiful sitcoms. Everybody loves Raymond, and now
he travels the world eating whatever the hell he wants.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Somebody feed film roast. Whenever I see your TV whatever,
I see your shows, You're like, you're always eating, yes,
and you're sitting right here. I mean, there's not a
scrap affair on you. You must like work out all
(01:08):
the time. I work out every day. Do you really
do something every day? I try to get the ten
thousand steps and all that kind of stuff. I walk
a lot and I do weights. The older you get
the more you do it right, musclemans. Yeah, push ups
and set ups is what I do. I figured in
fine shape. Yeah, yeah, that's what I figure is like
push ups and setups.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
That hotels, it's easier to just push out set ups
cal standings.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yes, you don't have to worry. You don't do you
like the hotel gym? You know, I'm a jeremaphone, fella.
I don't know if you're well, no, I'm not a
mag jeremaphione. But how he meant o, No, I know
how he's how he's a different level, how he has
I think how he lives in the house from when
his kids get in the world. Well when when he's
telling me when his kids get sick, yeah they were young. Yeah,
(01:55):
he would go and stay in the guest house. Wow.
Yeah yeah, No, that's the thing that well he's really admits.
Yeah no, but he's such a sweet greatly he's the
nicest guys that show business. He can have whatever quirks.
Nobody's perfect, No, nobody is perfect. But let me just
tell you. First of all, let me just say muzzletof.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
On your you and your daughter's book getting in the
New York Times bestsellingest Try?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Is that a book to like to help make kids
eat things a little bit? Yeah, but it's funny that
we've been reading it to kids, and then we started
realizing there's a lot of adults who won't try stuff.
It's all about having an open mind, so we think,
you know, maybe it's good for the parents to read it.
It is right because people do it. They're like, no,
(02:39):
I don't like that. You ever had it? I never
had it, but I don't like it. I know people
do you know people like this? They haven't had fundamental
things that you would think, how could you avoid? Like
I knew grown men like older than us, right, never
had a cookie? Cookie a cookie, never had a piece
of cake. This is true. That's some kind of homophobia
(03:01):
from just after the war, Like I don't eat cake,
that's what they were little kids. How do you go
to children's birthday parties and avoid this stuff? And you
know what he said, not interested? I just wasn't interested.
That's a bigger problem than I'm not trying food. That's
that's just some kind of shut down there. That's bad.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
But let me let me ask you this then, is
there ever anything you've gone because you travel the world
and you eat everything I've seen you have you ever gone?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
As you know, I just han't. I can't like fried
Bees or something. So I was just in Iceland for
the new season. Oh I've tasted that food up there.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Jesus, that is that licorice tasting seal flipper ship. Only
a couple of months ago, I and adventally bought the
wrong thing in the airport lounge.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
I'm like it was some kind of licorice flipper. It
was awful. It was all well, I actually found good food.
But you know in Iceland, Yeah, talk to me when
I go, right, I'm getting a lot of research done,
not just from me, which anyone can do. You can
google best restaurants in Raykevic, right, and I bet those
(04:11):
good ones there are now, especially now, I maintain that
you can get a good meal anywhere. Now.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Yeah, probably, I think you're right because the old days,
because the internet, because yelp and stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yes, but the internet made the world flat right that
the kid Idaho can see what a chef in Paris
is doing and emulate it and using local ingredients and
create these mashes and things. Yeah, so Iceland, we had listen.
I thought the best smoked salmon in the world was
in Scotland. I thought Scottish smoke salmon, it is beautiful,
is spectacular. It might be even better in Iceland because
(04:44):
the water is colder there.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
You know what, I'm prepared to I'm prepared to admit
that it's a possibility.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
It's possible. Yeah, I think it is.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
And the next time I go to Iceland, I'm going
to have the salmon. I'm not going to have whatever.
Because I've tasted some bad things in my life. Iceland
is one of them. Also Japan. I know all the
Japanese food is great.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah, but did you.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Ever go to a sushi restaurant and think that tentacle
thing can't do it?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I can do it, you can, you can do all
of it. Well, here's the thing I wouldn't try in Iceland.
Putrefied shark. I think that's what I had. Yeah, it's
the worst thing I ever tasted. So that's like a
dare that they did right. And what they do is
there's a spirit that you drink after and I think
I don't drink. I get it, So there's no reason
(05:30):
for you to be eating this ship. I saw Bordain
do it on his show and listen, he's the hero.
He is the here's the carson of what you're he is.
I only exist because of him, right, all of us
who do this owe him the greatest in the world
(05:50):
because he pioneered and revolutionized an entire genre, created the
whole thing. Yes, he eats this putre fried Jark and
throws up on camera. Wow. Now if Anthony Bourdain anything, Yeah,
that's true. I'm like, thank you for taking the hit
for the rest of us, I'm not doing it.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
I went to a place, uh, you know the documentary
Gero Dreams of Sushi.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
So when my my oldest son is thirteen, we went
to Japan. Yes, because instead of as you know, as
I kind of bat mets. Yes, mother is Jewish, so
and so for you know, the Scottish bat Mets felt,
we go to Japan.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I love it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
So so we go to that restaurant, we go to
the Jiro Yeah, and you know this, he's a sushi chef.
He just he gives you what you're going to eat.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Yeah, here here's what you're getting.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Yeah, and there was like number eight. I was like,
oh my god, I'm really fighting to get this done.
Some of the stuff was amazing. It was delicious, but
I was really trying to get this done and it
was I think it was seven.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Eggs or some little orange eggs. Yeah, it was really
tough for you, really bad. A lot of it is
a texture.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Thing, right, Yeah, it was texture a thing, and it
was the only thing that my son wouldn't eat. He
just said, I can't do that, and through the interpreter,
Master Ghiro said to me, that's good.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
One more for daddy. So I had to eat too,
because you can't offend the chef. No, that's a lot
of manners around this stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Do you find that going around the world that there's
a lot of custom and you know, kind of behavior
and politeness around it. There's a lot of ceremony around
everybody's food.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
I am gonna taste anything put in front of me,
but if I can avoid the scary thing, I will, right. So,
like in Mexico, I was sitting at a counter at
a Wahawkan restaurant. This is in the show, and I'm
with my companion for this scene and the female chef
she's giving us such gorgeous food. It's all fantastic. But
(07:49):
what I've heard is that they serve iguana in this place,
and I'm scared, and I say to my companion, I
heard there's iguana here. If they give us iguana, are
you gonna taste it? And she goes, I don't know,
are you gonna taste it? And I'm like, you're Mexican,
you're more used to this maybe than I am coming from.
And the chef hears us. She says, oh, you want iguana,
(08:10):
And I go, oh, so you get the iguana special
and she shows it because she goes, there it is
and it's sitting in a bowl on the counter and
it's blackened already. You see the curly tail, you see
the body, you see the face like this, and she goes,
if you want it, it'll be another half hour to
prepare it. We don't have time exactly what I did.
(08:31):
Oh look at the time, and I pushed out and
then she does this, Oh well, if you don't have
time for that, how about this, And she reaches under
the counter. You're gonna think I'm making this up. It's
all in the show, and she pulls out a bowl
of moving living beetles. I can't do that, and I
don't want to offend I don't want to offend, So
(08:54):
live my life not wanting to upset anybody, and God forbid,
I should be just courteous, are rude. But what flew
out of my mouth at that moment was oh no, no, no,
no no no no no no no no no no,
and I ran away. Yeah good, You know what, You're
a human being. You're allowed to have preferences, and it's
not I don't think it's terrible manners to turn down
(09:15):
live beetles. My friend was in China, rural China, not
like a major city. But sure, he's the guest of honor.
Why because he's American At a banquet. Yeah, they bring
out a live, poisonous snake and they hold it up
next to him. He's freaking out because they're holding it
by the neck and the snake is wriggling. And they
(09:36):
take out a knife and they slit open this live
snake and they pull out the snake's gall bladder and
squeeze it into a glass and give it to him
to drink. Because he's the guest of honor. They're fucking
with them. They're fugging with them. Come on, They're like,
this is supposed to say, you're supposed to be have virility.
If you drink this, you're supposed to have, you know, manliness.
(09:58):
I'm like, I can I get enough manliness? I go,
how bad was it? He says, As bad as you
can imagine. And the very worst part that I didn't
even think about as I put it to my lips.
The worst part was that it was warm. Can you imagine? Yeah?
I mean I could get sick thinking about it.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Well, also, I'm sure then you know we're going to
get layers and emails as well.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
People will be like, that's cruel to snakes. Well, this
is not what we do. No, no, we don't do it.
We don't do in rural China snake though I have
tasted rattlesnakes. It's not unpleasant. It's not my favorite. It's
a little oily, A little yeah, it's like oily chicken. Yeah,
I thought, like, like oily chicken. Taste gamy oily chick.
(10:45):
Everybody says, taste like chicken. I'm like, in that case,
could have chicken. Yeah, well, let's have chicken. No. When
you were doing because look, when I became.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Aware of you, you were the comedy, like you were
one of the great gods. Of the comedy Sick Calm World.
You know, it's like, you know, everybody loves Raymond was
like a huge show. You know, you and Raymond put
it together. It's a great show. Thank you and I.
So I'm thinking, as a look at that now, I'm
(11:13):
guessing that there is when you think about it, there
is always like cooking and stuff going on. Everybody's kind
of a big thing. It's a big thing in that show.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Well, it's a card to me. It's a big thing
in life. Life. Yeah, I found It's a long story.
But my parents weren't great cooks. They worked, both worked,
didn't have a lot of money. The cuisine in our
house was cheap. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
I grew up in Scotland, so I still went when
it comes to fighting for the worst.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
My mom had a setting on the oven for shoe.
This is how you know it's ready. Yeah, it's ready.
It's ready, meaning all the flavor has been taken out
and here it is. Yeah. So I didn't I didn't
even think steak was something that was good until I
was in my twenties. People said, you want to go
to steak? Why would anybody want steak? Because I only
(12:02):
had the worst of the worst tough chewie. I couldn't
leave the table. Also, forget, just try it. At my house,
it was just finish it. Yeah, you gotta finish it. Forget,
just try it is like the Reform version. My house
was the Orthodox version. Just finish it. So I couldn't
I couldn't stand it. But I went reluctantly to this steakhouse.
(12:24):
It was like New Year's even my head, I couldn't
believe how great that's steak. I literally said, that steak.
That's so. I wanted to take a picture and show
it to my mother. Well, you know what's weird about
it is because you would think, because.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
You're like, your love of food is palpable, and you're
clearly very interested and drawn to all sorts of food.
I would have thought it would have come in early
in life, but clearly it didn't.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Right, It wasn't like it wasn't until I left the house.
I always loved I loved the fast food. I loved
anything marketed to us right like McDonald's burger King all
that stuff, because at least it had salt and fat
and flavor. I didn't care it was artificial, blogoney. It
was tasty, that made the difference. Yeah, and so I
(13:07):
always pursued it. And whenever I did get anything from
another place, like I went to Atlanta when I was nine,
never went anywhere, went to Atlanta for a bar Mitzville.
When I was nine, my cousins took me to a
new place that I'd never heard of, called seven eleven.
And I go to seven eleven and they have a
slurpee machine. Oh yeah, first time for slurpee. I tasted
(13:30):
this thing. I go, This is why you travel? Do
you know what? This is? Why I travel?
Speaker 1 (13:35):
The reason I became an American. Yeah, when I was
thirteen years old, my father and I come and visit
my uncle and my aunt and their kids in New York.
They live in Smithtown, Long Island. Yes, so I go
from Scotland. I go to Smithtown, Long Islands when I'm thirteen.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
It's nineteen seventy five, right, yeah, And they take me
to a bowling alley and someone gives me root beer
from a fountain over crushed dice in a bowling alley
and I never tasted it, never tasted my life. And
I said, whatever this is, I want to be part
of this.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
This is when I'm going to become an American when
I taste over crushed ice in a bowling alley in
Long Island.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
This is it. So I'm preaching the converted. I understand it, saying, yeah,
of course, when you have an experience that you love
somewhere else, it makes you fall in love with going places.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Exactly, it makes you want to go there. The Craig
Ferguson Fancy Rascals stand Up to Her continues throughout the
United States in twenty twenty four. For a full list
of dates and tickets, go to the Craig Ferguson show
dot com slash tour see you out there.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
To be honest with me, have you ever been in
a place and you've tasted a lot of different food
and you thought, you know, I don't need to come back. Nope,
that's great because there's always something good. I'm telling you.
Good meal anywhere, now, all right, good meal anywhere. But
but you got to do your homework. You got to
research a little bit. Yeah. So I have something though
(15:09):
that maybe you don't have, which is a production company
in New York that was Bordain's production company. So they
have fixers all over the world. And that so I
say here's what I'm thinking, and they go, here's what
you should be thinking. Here's the new and I leave
room in the schedule for serendipity. We're gonna find stuff
that a chef when we meet there, they'll go where
(15:30):
you're going tomorrow and you'll tell me that that's not
the best pizza. The best pizzas over here? All right?
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Okay, right, so you have to where is the best pizza?
I mean, I think if you, as a guy who
knows New York a little bit, where can I tell
you something? I could name ten places right now in
La that you can have great Moza.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Moses Pizza, Pitsana. Have you had that? No quarter sheets? No,
you see, I don't know much about La Pizza. Wi
Can I take you? Yes? You're here right? Yeah, well
I'm here until tomorrow morning. Oh so you either take
me tonight or we're not going. Where are you living now?
I'm in Scotland, yes, and in New York. We're in Scotland, uh,
(16:09):
in the.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Southwest, like like about an hour south of Glasgow. Okay,
so Glasgow is in the new season. And we went
and I'm telling you, I had a couple of meals
there that are phenomenal. One was a great the best
shawarma I've ever had in my life.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Indian food is incredible in Alasco, the shwarma king, Yeah yeah,
have you had it? Yeah? With Indian and Pakistani community
in Glasgow. Yes, it's kind of like Italians or Jewish
community in New York. They like they changed the game.
Do you know what I mean? Is like when they
came in. This man is Syrian. This is Syrian Syrian. Yeah,
that's Middle Eastern by that right, So I don't know
about it. You. I thought it was like Indian shwarma
(16:44):
swarma or maybe Jewish shwarma. Hey you get stop SCHWARMI
swarma bee. Yeah you're crowded me. You're like a shwarma bees.
So I think you'll like it, Yeah, I think. I
I mean, I love Mediterranean food. I didn't know what
it was called shwarma though, seeh I don't know. I
just I know what I like. I know what well,
(17:05):
I don't know what I like. But will you try
new things? Definitely? Because I wrote a book for you, Yeah, yeah,
I definitely.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I mean, when my kids were little, getting them a
try stuff, I understand hard. It is hard. Well, one
of them was hard. I have two boys, one of
them all even for like two years it was Annie's macaroni.
Oh yeah, I know, you couldn't really get. But they
don't want to eat pretty much, Anthony. So this book,
not that.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
I'm plugging the book, but the thing is, the kid,
left on its own will eat, right, the kid, it's
not gonna most people, you know, when they get hungry,
they want to eat. They will lean and they will
eat so and sometimes it's not about the food that
they're pushing back on you. It's about asserting their personhood there.
(17:51):
It's about having right. It's not really about the food observation.
I think you're right, and left to their own, they
might try it. And you know what, the kid that
wouldn't eat was the first kid.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
And that's the one you're like, hereatatat oh baby, like you'll.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Be fine, exactly right, and that kid ate more. Yeah,
that's funny. Then I think that's it. Yeah, And then
I tell this to somebody who that's too much trouble.
We just pay them. So what do you mean, here's
twenty five cents if you think a bte what and
that works? Yep?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Well, I guess it would it's not a terrible idea.
So you're in Glasgow and you have great swarm. Where
ees do you have?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I gotta look it up because I forget everything. But
if you people listening, if you look at the Scotland episode,
you'll see.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
The great Glasgow and Edin brown Ware else. I love Sky,
I love Sky.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Took a helicopter to I love Sky. Gorgeous. I mean,
that's a beautiful place. It's really heavenly places. It is
heavenly and I know it rains a lot of the time,
but the sun broke when wed When the sun is
it's absolutely magical. Yeah. So I have this website Phil
Rosenthal World, right, and everywhere we go in the show
(19:04):
is there.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
So I'm going to tell you now, tell me now
what restaurants you go to, because I used to work
in a restaurant in Glasgow, very famous restaurant in Glasgow.
Okay that I don't know if Burdain went to or
not when he did Glasgow, but he Burdaane liked Glasgow
a law I remember because they talked about him still there.
He said he he loved glass one of his favorite
cities in the world.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
I love it. Good. Our friend Brad Paisley, you know him. Yeah,
he it's his favorite place city. He could move there
and live there, really, yead Paisley. Yeah, Well the tone
of Paisley is just on the other Maybe that's why
he had Tantrum Donuts. All right. I've never been there,
but I've heard him so good. Yeah uh yeah uh.
In Edinburgh Rose Leaf, that's exciting. Uh. Johnny Walker Princess Street,
(19:49):
we went there. Oink on Victoria Street in Edinbura. That's
not a vegan restaurant, not at all, right, Okay. J
mellis for cheese and stuff from Edinburgh. Mary's Milk Bar
for ice cream, delightful. Okay, here we go Glasgow. Gaga Gaga,
Lady Gaga is the restaurant. It's a wonderful place. Julie
(20:11):
Lynn is the chef. I think I know about this.
I've heard about this, so it's it's Malaysian food. Okay.
I love that, absolutely fantastic. I think you'll love it.
It's one of the great meals. And then that Schwarma King,
Swarma King, it really made an effect. Landed with you.
Shwarma King. Huh. I think it's the best one. I
mean to find him I don't think to the Middle East.
(20:33):
So what it is? You ever see those big in
Mexico they're called Trumpo's, these giant the meat things of
meat that's old layered. Yeah, exactly right, and then they
trim off the sides. It rotates. That's real drunk people
food in Britain, is it? Yeah? Like when you come
out of the pub at eleven o'clock, Yes, you go
get a kebab. It's like people think it's fish and chips.
(20:54):
I guess there's fish and chips kebab. People get drunk
and have a kebab because the kebab stores are open late. Yes,
as everybody runs them as immigrants and they want to,
you know, earn eleven and you can get a kebab.
It's a I've woken up sick with kebab fever. Get it?
I get it. But then they put that garlic mao
on it. Yeah, it's beautiful. So is that sharma a kebab? Well,
(21:17):
kebab I always think of as meat on a stick, right,
that's right, But that's kebob. But kebab is like shwarma,
I think, Is that right? I think?
Speaker 1 (21:26):
So maybe something like that. I know that in Bretton.
Maybe they're calling it wrong in Brent maybe because I
think you're right. I think technically kebob kebab. I think
it is the thing on a skewer, but in Breton
it's the peeda pocket with the shaved meat on it.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Is kebab, is a kebba. They call it a kebab,
but that's probably right. That's why I think, and I
learned that I'm saying it wrong. Shwarma it's shawerma. Oh,
it's like a whole like but this is from the
Middle East. But then in Mexico when you get the
taco saw pastor, Yeah, that came from the Middle East,
(22:00):
except in Mexico they had pork instead of lamb so
they didn't. Yes, like that, yeah came. So the whole
world is better. That's my whole point. The whole world
is better when we cross pollinate, when we when we
get this food from the immigrants who learned how to
take maybe cheaper cuts of food just to survive and
turned it into not just something palatable but phenomenal. That's
(22:23):
what makes the world go right. I agree.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
I like, I grew up in a town love Glasgow,
which is you know, a Victorian ship building town. Yes,
and the food, by the order mention of the people
who lived there was atrocious. And what happened the first
wave of immigrants to command are Italians. Italians bring in
coffee and we taste coffee and.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
We're like, oh my god, this is good.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
I grew I grew up like I thought coffee was
like you know, it was a powdered thing.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
You pourned God war on. So when is this happening? Well,
the Italians ran way before, you know. But but when
you go to Italian restaurants then they have like coffee machines.
But the reason you go to an Italian restaurant because
attached to the Italian restaurant is the fish and chip shop.
And everybody buys fish and chips. People think fish and
chips are British, not British, it's Italian.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
The Italians brought the fishing to the Italian restaurants in
Glasgow anyway, it was fish and chips from Italy.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
They would make and making the fish and chips. They
have Glasgow Glasgow Italian accents, so they talk about it
like me. But also we about Battalian as well, like
at that Wow, it's crazy. I love it.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
So they comme in and they start bringing in Italian food,
so they're making past those and stuff. And then the
Pakistanian Indian community come in in the sixties and seventies
and then everything goes crazy. Then there's like, you know,
the Italian restaurants and sorry, the Indian restaurants, the curries
that people are not tasting these spices they've never had before, right,
it's insane. And now there's quite a lot of particular
(23:49):
in Glasgow is a huge Chinese influence.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
There's a lot of Chinese coming into the university. So
there's a lot of new Chinese and Malaysian restaurants and
stuff like that at the bottom end of Buyers Road,
which I think is what you're talking about, near the university.
And so all this cultural input I think improved the
city beyond measure. Who is fighting this, like there's such
an idiot that makes life grand? Yeah, you want to
(24:15):
eat the same thing every day, fun to have not
just food, but friends from other places that learn something God.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Fromid I totally agree, but you know you and I
are maybe not everybody.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
That's that's the thing. Let me just say there is
one thing I've never tasted that.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
My wife has tasted when she was on a vacation
when she before we met, she and some college friends
went to South America.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Yeah, and they were offered guinea pig. They ate it,
guinea pig served with the mouth open. Oh, I've seen
I've seen it. I've never been to Peru, but I
really do want to go. I'm probably gonna have to
taste that. Yes, I am afraid.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yeah, because that's like to me, disrespect to anything. Yeah,
it's a rat.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
I had I think squirrel once. I know people eat squirrel.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
I have you know in rural Scotland some of the
guys who you know came up there like they're deep.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Guy.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
It's not like no regular people doing. But I do
know a couple of guys. One of the guys who
forester there, I know he was shooting.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
He a squirrel. Huh.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
You know, like you take a home cooking and the
rural South of America. Yeah, the squirrel make of it
and stuff like okay, and you know for me, but
and he gets their little clothes.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I was in Mumbai for the first time. Have you
been there. I've never been a man lined dat, But
it's for lancup. I've never been a minute. Do you
like Indian food? I love the food, well, maybe my favorite.
If it's your favorite, you have to go. Yeah, I
think you're right, But I will say this. The first stop.
When we're shooting Mumbai, I've never been there in my life.
I'm kind of afraid, right because people, you know, they
(25:57):
do get a stomach thing when they go because they're
not used to that, and the water and everything else
is different, and you can get sick. And I was
really worried about but I was assured that the guy
taking me around knew the places that I would not
get sick. Okay I didn't. You didn't get however, first stop,
try this. What is it? Goat brain curry? Okay, that's
(26:22):
a that's a lot for your first thing. Yeah, goat
brain is any kind of brain. But I'll tell you this.
I eat it. I taste it with bread. You sop
it up. It's just like you got that bread. It's meat,
meat in a sauce, right, right, right, You're right, you'd
never know. It's the idea that keeps us away from stuff.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
But isn't that isn't that true of so many things
that you get ahead of yourself with the idea.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Yes, yeah, no, you're right. I had to eat drugs.
I had to eat an ant in Tokyo. How many ads?
Just one? I think I could eat one hand like
a big black carpenter. And it came on the salad.
I'm like, Uh, does this restaurant have a problem? Should
we the people? So she called? Then was on the side.
It's on the south that my patriot says, you got
(27:06):
to try it tastes like lemon. I said, whoa, if
it's lemon flavor, we're going after Yeah, why can't we
go to have some lemon? We could have chicken with lemon,
lemon chicken. Why do we have to have ant? But
and I'm like shaking my head, like God, what did
I get into with this show that I do for you?
It's become a hole. But I tasted it, and damn
(27:26):
if it wasn't like a lemon drop on my tongue,
And I thought, Okay, did they based it in lemon?
Is that? Why? Know? The chef says, these ants from
this particular part of the forest and this particular part
of Japan, these ants taste like lemon. Who the hell
found this out?
Speaker 1 (27:43):
The first guy who's like really hungry, and he's like,
I'm so hungry. Tastes like crap, this one taste. This
one tastes like ant.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
I don't want that. This one tastes like lemon good one. Yeah,
And so I'm now am I going to a restaurant
and saying, hey, do you have the ants taste? Like? No,
it's not the first thing I want when I go
to the restaurant. But I'm glad I did it. The
journey is its own reward, the tasting of it.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Have you ever have you ever gone sick from Anthony
on the road though one time I got sick in
all my travels around the world San Francisco.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
What did you eat? Don't know? Okay, because I ate
a lot that day and that night. We call it bush.
Oh yeah, bush like swarm out, bushes out the top
end and goush.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
You can't imagine or other. I mean, I know I've
been there. I go to once from smoked salmon. Oh,
that's very bad smokes. It's very bad smoked salmon. I
took it and I knew you know that sometimes when
you eat something you got something right here?
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Yeah, But I muscled through you must never muscle through no,
no somethings off, okay, step back, no. No. You can
get a bad piece of fish and you know it instantly. Yeah,
and I knew it, and I ate the fish because
I didn't want to appear rude.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
I get it, and so I ate the fish. And
about two hours later then I went on a ride.
The last three days. It was crazy. I've never been
so sick. And I used to love salmon, and I
didn't eat salmon for about ten years after.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
When you get sick from a food, you never want
that food.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
That's what it feels like, right I go. I mean,
I although I tried oysters, and I never need to
eat that. That ain't food. I don't know why people
make such a fuss about that. Was a brave man
who once tried an oyster. That's a famous saying, yes,
that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Do you like oysters? I do you do. I'll tell
you why they are. There's certain foods that are evocative
of the place they come right right, Yeah, I mean
that's how I felt when I had the Tallisker Scotch
from the barrel out of Callisker and you're like.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Look, I'm Scottish. But I gotta be oesty. Whiskey is
not food. You understand that, right, I mean I know
that these, but.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
There is a flavor. There's definitely a flavor. And you know,
I know you don't drink, but well on onely because
I drank some much because not because I'm against it,
just because if I if I drink, I go to
hospital or jail. That that's why I don't drink. I
was with Peter o'tool once. Did you ever meet Peter?
Had him on the old late night show The Greatest Guy?
(30:13):
All right, so we can talk about him. But he
he said, would you like something to drink? And I
said I would? Are you drinking? He goes, I can drink,
but my doctor says, if I do, I'll die. Yeah,
God bless him. What a what a peach of a guy.
He was amazed. But he was one of those legendary
alcohol when alcoholism was more entertaining than perhaps. I mean,
(30:37):
it's like, you know Richard Burton and Peter Rutoo. Wasn't
he the greatest rack und Tour? Wasn't he? Just but
you know him and Richard Richard.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
I was going to say as well, but I think
probably there's a there's a great old I don't know
if it's a poem or I think it's a poem,
an old Irish thing about drinking. It's it's about so
we spent another night and I'm a bit in the tavern.
Oh no, we spent another rite telling poetry and proses.
(31:06):
But each man knows he'll be alone when the sacred.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Gin mill closes. Oh man.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
And alcoholism is not about the fun you're having in it.
It's about four o'clock in the morning, in the fetal position,
crying for your mother. Oh, it's a whole different game.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
And I don't think any of these guys were spared that.
I think you've got to be honest about it. It was.
It's hellacious if you if you can't do it, if
you can do it, Like if I could drink, I
would drink. And I can still make a recommendation for
the best scotch. Which whiskey in my mind, and it's
not Dallas Girl, which is a great whiskey. Tell me
the greatest.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
One, to my mind is a whiskey called weirdly enough
doesn't sound it sounds more like an Ellie neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Highland Park I know it. Highland Park's Yeah, get yourself
a twelve or older year Highland Park.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
I would take that over even a beautiful Yeah, it's
a beautiful thing. Over a towalskar or again, I.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Love Glenn Livitt. Yeah, that's my go to it.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Like you know, guses, you can have a glass of
whiskey and then that's you're done.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
You enjoy the taste. And by the way, I'm also
a flyweight. I have one and goodbye. Yeah, yeah, that's
that's me. But listen, I I'm in it for the flavor, right,
And that's what means. You can have it.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
If you're in it for the flavor, you can have it.
If you're in it for the medicine, for whatever missing
in your soul, you can.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
I honestly don't like the feeling of being loopy in
any way with anything that I don't like it. You know,
you don't know what a mysa that as. That's unbelievable
to have that really, yeah, because we all like an escape. Listen,
I'll take, I'll take. My son has started making a
business out of th HC laced cookies okay, okay, and
(32:52):
it's a cookie mix called Zazas and you can pre
make the batter and put the balls in the the
the dough balls in the freezer, and then right before
bed in the toaster oven for ten minutes, you have
a fresh, hot baked chocolate chip cookie. And for me,
it's not about getting high. Yeah, although you do start
to feel it, maybe listen to a little music. Ah,
you're in college again, and then lights out, good night,
(33:14):
sleep through the night. That's why I take it. Well,
see what's interesting about it?
Speaker 1 (33:19):
And that's great, yes, But the thing to remember about
these things is they react differently with different people. Absolutely,
because if I had that, I would be psychotic and
I would need a drink, even at a low dose
I have of one hundred percent because everyone dosage.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
That's why you're not seeing it. What's the word normalized?
Not normalized when you try to regulate something and you
have to have like a dose.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
A dosage thing, Oh yes, like yeah, you can't do
that because everybody reacts. Everybody's different, right, And I'd tell
you another thing, like when you and I were young,
like when you said colleagues like there were drugs around
and people experiment with drugs.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
And stuff like, you can't do that now and everything
and everything. You could die. You could die, kids, I
can die from a joint. Don't do that. That's crazy.
It is crazy. I mean it's like, oh my god,
it's everywhere. In college, we'd have what's called a nickel bag.
It would last us the semester. Yeah, but one puff
(34:18):
and lights out, lights out, You're done. Because of that,
that strange stuff that I don't do it. I do.
I use it only to sleep, and only once or
twice a week at the most. Right, But it's good
when you travel, I think, although you you got to
be careful.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
I do that when I you know, because I famously
carry a lot of guns.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
So like what what no, No, no, Well you're good
at saying it straight, like no, but you got to
be careful because people are different. Now here's the thing.
I remember. Once I went to rural Morocco. Yeah, I
was out there. I can't really remember what I was
doing out there, but I was out there. If you
(35:01):
don't remember, you were doing something fun. But I actually
I don't think I was drinking. In fact, I'm pretty
sure I wasn't drinking, but I was.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
It was a long time ago, and I remember I
was with a girlfriend and we went to go, uh
to a restaurant, and the guy at the door said,
I'm sorry you you have to go to separate parts
of the restaurant. It's like the the uh we don't
let men and women unless they're married sit together. So
she had to go and sit with the single women,
(35:32):
and I had to go and sit with the single dudes.
And the married couples can sit in the middle.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
But you have to be married. Wow, I know. Interesting. Yeah,
it was like a whole thing, and it kind of
you know, I kind of liked it, you know, I'm
advocating for I was like, oh, this is different. It's
an hour. My girlfriend didn't like it.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Yeah, she felt like she had been in some way insulted.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
A little bit.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
She felt wasn't She's a Western woman who was in
a rural part of the world and the customs were different.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
You know, Listen, there's there's customs that all over the
world where they have to lighten up a little, right,
you know, you figure, I know, but yes, time goes on.
Well if you ask people to lighten up, though, fell
and they don't want to, you know, they want to
hang on to some stuff. Have you ever run any
(36:25):
trouble on the way, people like like, hey, you're an American.
We're not crazy about you guys right now. No, I
don't know how great it is to be Jewish at
the moment. But who saw that coming? Not me? I meancking,
I know, I'm like what, Yeah, I'm kind of like
a freaking me out. Yes, so are you.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
I'm guessing the Palestinian restaurants. No, no, I have a
scene in Dubai. We filmed it almost a year ago now,
before the troubles. Yeah, I go in. There's a woman
who is from I guess Gaza or the West Bank.
She emigrated to Dubai, as many people do, because it's
(37:04):
like eighty five percent immigrants Dubai.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
Have you been there. No, I've never been to Dubai.
You drive down the street and you're like, oh, this
is what Vegas would be if they had real money.
I mean, just the unbelievable city of the future. I know,
like Colp cars or Baghetti Vey runs and stuff like that.
I can't imagine monorails running on both sides of the
exactly right. But then there's old Dubai, which is only
(37:30):
about fifty sixty years old. But that's where the Indian
restaurants are, and the Palestinian restaurants are at all restaurants
from all over the Middle East. So I have this
meal with this Palestinian woman, and it connected so deeply
to me in her story, and I just fell in
love with her as a human being. And we got
along so great that we got emotional. Where this is
(37:52):
supposed to be our natural enemy. Yeah, gorgeous, wonderful experience,
and all I can that's my answer to all of this. Well,
why don't you sit and eat with these people? If
we sat and ate, that's what they say break bread.
Isn't that what you're talking about? You know, a conciliatory
meeting you talk about You use the expression let's break
bread exactly right, because it's something we automatically relate to
(38:15):
because we all do it, no matter who we are. Well,
we all got to do it. We all got to eat.
And if the food is good, we're already connecting on
something we understand that's wonderful, that we're already happy. Yeah,
we're already happy. I can kill you because I'm happy
eating with you. Yeah, Yeah, we're eating, and then we'll
then there's enough for both of them and then if
we share a joke or a laugh, now we're friends.
(38:36):
That's what That's what I feel about it too.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
The humor and food obviously for you, very closely related,
because yes, everybody's gonna I pitched this idea years ago.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Yes, never came in.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
I was going to do this show where I would
go anywhere in the world and do what you do
with me. You said, do it with stand up like
I would go to Japan and I'd learn and act
fanatically and going try and do it what I mean.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
And I thought it would be really cool. But yeah,
I could never say it. I don't know why. Hard
to sell stuff, Yeah it is. Listen. Speaking of Peter O'Toole,
I tried to do two pilots with him, no way
he wanted. When he did a movie called King Ralph
with John Goodman. I remember so John Goodman was taking
a break during high his hiatus from Roseanne, the biggest
sitcom at that time. I know. I've talked to Matt Williams,
(39:22):
who was the one of the creators of it. Great, great,
I would say, even groundbreaking show, amazing show. Show held
up a mirror to an American living room, right, and
what was going on it. I go as far as
to say it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
No, I was going to say, there's no Raymond without resign.
But I don't think that's true because I think Raymond
is also connected to all in the family.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
Older. Yeah, but certainly influenced in that. Yeah, it was
part of it, for sure. I think definitely. Well, listen,
we're only we stand on the shoulders of everyone who came.
Of course, Peter O'Toole learns about how much money you
can make making a sitcom and we get a phone
call you'd like to do. This was a few years
(40:06):
before Raymond. We got this guy was with a partner
at the time. We get this call and we're like, hell, yeah,
of course, I mean, he's huge fete. We write this
thing for him. He likes it. He gives us notes.
Best notes I ever got in my life from anyone
were from him. Have you read his book, yes, Loitering
with Intent? Yeah, but it was a long time since
(40:28):
I read it. But you do remember then it was good? Yeah,
I do, I do remember it. Okay, So we have him.
He commits to it now and we're going and it's
NBC and my phone rings and it's Judd Hirsh out
of the blue. My god, I heard you doing a
show with Peter o'tool. Yes, I'd like to be in it. Okay,
(40:51):
I don't know if there's a great part of it.
He goes, I don't care. I want to do it.
So now NBC show Peter O'Toole, jud Hirsh. We start
casting the other roles. My phone rings, it's NBC. We're
in the middle of casting. Yes, the president of the
network would rather not have someone with an accent on
the network. This is fucking Warren Lttlefield, isn't it. It sounds
(41:11):
like Warren. No, it's it was. I think the next
one one after him, maybe, Yeah, we don't have to
say who it is. I think I know who it is.
But yeah, yeah, I know. And the show was dead
just because of the accent. Imagine having to call him
you did. I couldn't, so I just let the other
(41:35):
people make up some story to him, and we stayed friends.
We would go to London, my whole family. We would
meet him for tea and we stayed friends. He would
come to La visit us. He came to a movie
night at my house. I said, can we show what
movie of yours. Can we show? He goes, you show
one of my films I won't be attending, and I said,
(41:56):
what would you like to see? And he said, without hesitation,
Carry Grant? I said, and is there a Carry Grant movie?
And before I could finish that, he goes Talk of
the Town? You know, say, of course it's great. So
you know what it's about. Yeah, tell the people, no,
you tell them it's it's Carry Grant? And uh, what's
her name? Let me just look it up because I
(42:17):
don't want to be disrespect But what happens is it's
a lighthearted comedy and this is in the fifties, this movie,
and then she gets an abortion. That's right, And that's
the title of the film, Talk of the Town. Can
you imagine in the nineteen fifties you couldn't do that
movie today. He'd be in a lot of trouble. Talk. Yeah,
it's Geneaathon Ronald Coleman as well. Okay, so that that
(42:40):
movie's phenomenal. I recommend it to people, so interesting and
so funny. And when the movie's over, he leads a
discussion the movie. For the twenty five people that are
in my house watching this movie, that's great. It was
very special thing to have had, really special. I also
before the movie, I always show a music thing and
I said to him, do you know who? Have you seen? Beyonce?
(43:02):
He says, what is a Beyonce? And I put on
the song, the famous song it. He is leaning forward
with his jaw hanging open, laughing like he's seen the
greatest thing he's ever seen in his life. I have
to say my reaction when I first saw it was
very similar. Cut to now. After Raymond. Someone presents me
(43:27):
with a good idea for a show that has older
people in it and younger people right together. I say,
this is great. They say, you see this as a show. Yes,
you want to take it out and try to sell
it to the networks. I say no, because I've been
through this now for many years, and I know what
the networks will say. Can the younger people move in
(43:51):
with younger, hotter people, They don't want the old people.
But I said, but let's try it at the BBC, right,
and let's call my friend because he should be the
lead in this thing. He had just done Venus, remember
that movie? He knew because he was on the late
night show promoting it. How great was he in that
Oh my god, I mean here he is an older eye.
(44:12):
Now the comedy chops are still phenomenal, even the physical stuff.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
It was one of the actors in that movie. You know,
Leslie Phillips who was also in that movie.
Speaker 2 (44:22):
He plays his.
Speaker 1 (44:22):
Friend in the movie at the end, which she says, oh,
he was gorgeous when she's looking at the obituary, and he.
Speaker 2 (44:27):
Goes, yes, he was gorgeous. That actor.
Speaker 1 (44:32):
He was in a movie a nine years ago as well.
There were a wonderful generation of actors amazing and he
Leslie Phillips, who died recently. He was I think a
hundred Leslie when Wow. But he didn't drink like pig.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
But I'm telling you, a gift to the world would
be Peter o'tole just sitting here and talking about whatever
he wants to talk about, unbelievable for an hour. It
doesn't matter every week, Just there's Peter otold here, having
a drink with him or just chatting with him, just
would be a gift. We write the script, Yeah, they say, Okay,
(45:05):
will mister O'Toole read I said, read read like audition. Yes,
Peter tool, Yes, are your mind? I said here's his audition.
Lawrence of Arabia is his audition the Ruling Class. Yes, man,
stop cat man. Yeah, my favorite year. Yeah, my favorite year.
(45:27):
Perfect example. If you want to cast him in a
sitcom or venus, goddamn it. They were three reasons that
he was old. Yeah, I said, I can't. I'm not
asking Peter o'tool to read. You can ask him. Well,
they didn't, they know what do you know? What bothers
me a lot about this time, especially when I talked
this was the BBC. Yeah, well that's part of this time. Okay,
(45:48):
you know what I mean? It's I mean the business. Yes.
What bothers me about it is I talked to so
many creatives and they talked to me about shows that
didn't happen. That's right, And it drives me crazy because
these sounds. I'm good, they sound great. Why do you
think I'm in the food and travel business.
Speaker 1 (46:03):
Yeah, but fell I got to say to you, and
we got to wrap things up. I'm going to say
to you, I would like to hear your voice outside
of the food arena. I mean you, I understand great,
but it would be nice to see a set calm
or a comedy show come out of that ahead of yours.
Speaker 2 (46:22):
I know it's there. It's not for lack of trying.
Oh really, still, well, a terrible business, you proved it.
It means nothing. I think that the business changed greatly
in the nine years we were doing Raymond, and so
when we graduated from that, all they wanted were young
pretty people in shows, which is you know, as good
a show as Friends is and was the business got
(46:45):
the wrong lesson from it. They thought that, oh, just
cast pretty people. Yeah, but that.
Speaker 1 (46:52):
The exception, the exception to the rule exactly. But the
right that mar And was doing on that show, that's incredible.
Mark Kaufman was doing on that show. Of course, great
worky I was.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
They were great, well crafted shows with a great writers room.
But you had these this casting that was also great. Yeah,
they were great. And God doesn't often give with both mends.
Don't go to the pretty people usually for comedy. Why
because pretty people never have to develop a they haven't
had to do it. Yeah, you have to look like
(47:27):
me to develop a sense for me. I get it.
But here's the thing I think that I remember, like
Raymond was I was on the Drew Carey Show. Remember
when Raymond started and we were on the Drew Carey Show.
We were the uh, we were the less esthetically pleasing
cast than the Friend was funny, funny, it's.
Speaker 1 (47:47):
A funny show. And I remember you guys showed in
the Warner Brothers Law. I remember because Ray used to combine.
Speaker 2 (47:53):
Uh. I remember because he was becoming a big star
and always stuck with me. And I say it to
him when he was on the old Late Night Show
because it really stuck with me. I watched a guy
go from nobody knew who he was to be a
big star, no discernible change in behavior. No, do you
know how fucking rare that is? You know what he says, Well,
(48:14):
I'm the same guy, same guy. He was a camp driver,
used to hate me now my limo driver. But it's
interesting because it's so I don't even know if I
can say that but myself sometimes when I went through successes,
I think I became a bit of douchey, you know.
But I with Ray, I think that, well, he had
a very healthy case of neuroticism. Yeah, but he was
(48:38):
a perfect neurotic, I always said, because he only hurt himself. Yeah.
We meet a lot of neurotics in the business out
and hurt everybody else. You don't want to work with them.
But Ray was always a pleasure to work with And
the only thing that might have been difficult was convincing
him that he was good. Yeah, and to relax and
be enjoy it. Yeah, it's hard to enjoy it when
(48:59):
you're you're raither and you're nuts. He always says, if
my father hugged me once, I wouldn't have to do this,
you know. Lewis Black, Yeah, he's great, He's amazing.
Speaker 1 (49:11):
So I was talking to Lou recently on the program
on the show, and I said to him my wife's
theory about stand up comedians, which is every stand up
comedian has the same.
Speaker 2 (49:20):
Mother, cold with bad boundaries. Wow. And so I say
that to Lewis and he goes, oh my god. Two things. One,
how did you get to meet such a smart woman? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (49:29):
And two let me tell you this. His mom had
just died. She was one hundred and four. He said,
I don't think we looked each other in the eye
until she was on her death fedd.
Speaker 2 (49:38):
Wow. Wow. And it goes to your point about pretty
people not having it developed comedy, you know what I mean.
It's like it's developed, it's born out of something. It's
born out of something. I mean about it. If my
dad hugged me once, that's really. If you got enough
love at home, maybe you wouldn't need it outside of home.
(49:58):
But we all look for it, we all different ways. Well,
you know what it's It's worked out, okay for you
and Ray and for you yeah, and for me. You're right.
I can't tell you how much I want to congratulate you.
And just try it. You and your daughter are doing
a book to get children to eat their food and adults.
(50:19):
Just try it. If you can open the mouth, you
can open the mind, right.
Speaker 1 (50:23):
And congratulations on that Netflix, because that really is a
wonderful show.
Speaker 2 (50:27):
Thank you, wonderful show. Appreciate you're doing You're doing great work.
I want people to know I'm doing my live tour.
Oh you are Yeah? Where I did it last year
and it was so much fun that I'm doing it
again this year. Twenty five cities? Are you? Is it? Like?
Do you have a website or some of the people
and go to Phil Rosenthalworld dot com. There you go,
instagramworld dot com. That's it and then all the dates
(50:49):
and stuff for there. They're all there. It starts in April.
I can't wait. I love meeting the people and go
and see film. You will love me wrong and somebody
feed them please, So yeah,
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