Hank Azaria

The comedy legend behind iconic characters on 'The Simpsons' is now taking on a new voice: Bruce Springsteen! Hank Azaria stops by the 'Our Way' studios to discuss his innovative new tribute act to The Boss, Hank Azaria & The EZ Street Band — which is making stops at Brooklyn Bowl and The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey (naturally) this November! 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Our Way with yours truly Paul Anka and my buddy
Skip Bronson, is a production of iHeartRadio. Hi, folks, this
is Paul Anka.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
And my name is Skip Bronson.

Speaker 3 (00:14):
We've been friends for decades and we've decided to let
you in on our late night phone calls by starting
a new podcast and.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Welcome to Our Way. We'd like you to meet some
real good friends of ours.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Your leaders in entertainment and.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
Sports, innovators in business and technology, and even a sitting
president or two.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
Join us as we ask the questions they've not been
asked before, tell it like it is, and even sing
a song or two.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
This is our podcast, and we'll be doing it our way.

Speaker 4 (00:48):
I've really been pretty passionate about telling this story. It
has been a big part of my life the last
ten years, and I have found that, you know, sharing
stories and my experience through show business. You know, right, Paul,
you get you're around long enough, but eventually you're kind
of interesting because you've seen a lot go on and
you've been in the middle of a lot of things.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
You know, what is hank experience?

Speaker 5 (01:09):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (01:24):
Well, hello, well look at that, Hank.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
How you doing, buddy?

Speaker 6 (01:28):
Okay?

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Hello? Hello, look at you. Were you at the game
the other night?

Speaker 6 (01:31):
Rice, I was sitting back there, I was at the
met came yeah, and.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
You had a nice young man with you. Who were you?

Speaker 6 (01:37):
My son?

Speaker 1 (01:38):
How how old is he?

Speaker 6 (01:40):
He's fifteen and.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
I got a nineteen? You got a fifteen. Isn't it
a beautiful world? Well? We gotta gear him up for it.

Speaker 6 (01:46):
Right, Well, so far it is a beautiful world for him.
I hope it remains.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
So that's good man, Hey, been a big fan. You know,
I was on The Simpsons. I don't know if you remember.
I don't know were you on there when I was
on that one?

Speaker 6 (01:57):
I've been on since it was a show. So yeah,
off everything. Did you record by yourself or were you
with us?

Speaker 1 (02:03):
I was with you. I think I went in the
studio did the whole thing. But I guess between that
and the Gilmore Girls, right, everybody talks everybody.

Speaker 4 (02:11):
Lauren Graham was a very good friend of mine. Yeah, yeah,
I loved her. I saw that you were on a
Gilmore Girls a couple of times.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Well, I so admire what you do, man, because you
know Sammy Davis who inspired me. He was my buddy
and the first thing he did along with singing. He
was doing all those impressions and I'd sit there, you know,
they'd sneak me into the club because I was too
young in Vegas, but sit backstage. And this sucker, besides
being a great singer, great performer and Frank Olives, we
loved him. When he did those impressions, people were floored

(02:42):
because they weren't. The environment wasn't that, you know, little
and all those dudes came later, But Sammy and I
tried it. You know, I would, I would go. It
was Fu's real doing. Louis Armstrong was doing Von Munaul.
He was teaching me how to do it.

Speaker 6 (02:59):
Well.

Speaker 1 (02:59):
Of course I got into my own thing and that
was the end of it. Hey, it's good to have
you skip. Yeah, look at that guy.

Speaker 6 (03:04):
Hello, mister Bronson.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
Hello there, mister Area.

Speaker 6 (03:07):
So do you live mostly in New York or mostly
in La Yeah?

Speaker 4 (03:10):
I moved back here eleven years ago. I grew up
here and couldn't wait to get back, and finally did eleven.

Speaker 6 (03:16):
Years ago because I was going to ask what the
world series trying to figure out if you're going to
root for the Dodgers or root for the Yankees.

Speaker 4 (03:22):
I'm rooting somehow for both teams to lose. That that's
what I hope happened.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
We hope not. It's going to you know, it's going
to be historic, There's no question about it. I mean,
I don't think we've ever in a long time seen
an event like this, you know.

Speaker 6 (03:37):
Not since those Reggie Jackson, Billy.

Speaker 4 (03:40):
Martin Yankee said the Dodgers and Yankees based off in
the World Series.

Speaker 6 (03:43):
I don't think the big difference is this time the
prices are historic.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Stories everything else right, skip the numbers? Were the roots?
Should they be able to place?

Speaker 4 (03:54):
I learned that the cheapest ticket at Yankee Stadium, I mean,
like up at the top is thirteen hundred bucks.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
Yeah, that's fourteen here is there?

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Right?

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Somebody about a ticket for fifty nine thousand behind the plate.
I think somebody had one up for fifty nine grand.
So it's all stupid money. Whoever they are, I want
to know who they are. I want to know what
they're smoking, because you never paid fifty nine thou.

Speaker 6 (04:16):
Think it's only other ball club owners. Really at this point.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
You know, the guy's watching the game. I think for
the first time watching it all you know to me,
baseball is not sexy. A lot of these other sports
are sexy sports for the first time. There may be
a sizzle of some sexiness here.

Speaker 4 (04:32):
Like many of the kids today. Paul, do you find
baseball a little bit boring? Too slow paced for you?

Speaker 1 (04:36):
Of course? You know I watched it for years and
only I used to sit in with sort of America's
favorite guest. Used to call me up, Hey, Paul, I'm
coming up for a night or two. Can you give
me a room? Two fucking weeks later, he was still
with me.

Speaker 6 (04:51):
Is that right?

Speaker 1 (04:52):
Oh? Yes, I mean I got all my baseball ship
from him. I go way back with it. Yeah, the
kids find it boring. Me and my nineteen year old
they're not really in to all of that. But it's
just not a sexy sport. You know. That's kind of
the common denominator along with the talent.

Speaker 6 (05:05):
I was just gonna say, I don't watch it until
the playoffs. I'm a sported span you know. They love
to watch the NBA, they love to watch hockey football. Obviously,
baseball only playoffs some World Series. I get interested now.
I'm totally intrigued.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Of course.

Speaker 6 (05:21):
I grew up in Connecticut, Hank so I was in
New York Yankees fan. My old world was Mickey Mantle.
I mean that was that was the whole thing. And
now I live in LA I've been here twenty five years.
So I don't root for either to win, and I
don't root for either to lose. I'm just anxious to
see that the dynamic of the superstars that are you know,

(05:43):
both teams have and so Tani is He's just a
He's a one of one. That's the only way to
describe him, right, one of one. Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (05:52):
I mean, you know you're watching that series, you know
Steve Collin at the Mets that is best to get
on and you know you watch that series ago, Well,
if we had a Tony we would have won.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
We didn't.

Speaker 6 (06:03):
They did, so they won. It was pretty much that simple.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
Well, I got a big series bed on. That's who
I like, and then I'm gonna hedge out. So anyway
I can watch it. Bet all those games, I said,
like an idiot, like I need the money or I
can afford the way I lose. But I sit and
better than I hedge. I'm putting a big, big.

Speaker 6 (06:22):
Bed on one.

Speaker 1 (06:22):
Then I'm gonna hedge out. I'll be sitting in the
middle of the Adriatic watching it on a boat.

Speaker 6 (06:27):
So this is the one time of year when you've
got the NBA, you've got the NHL, you've got the NFL,
and you've got Major League Baseball all at one time.
It's true. My wife hates every minute of it. It's like, well,
my god, tonight again, what are you watching?

Speaker 1 (06:42):
Fight for the remote?

Speaker 6 (06:44):
Exactly, yeah, I got hockey.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
The hockey is starting to kick in.

Speaker 6 (06:47):
Well, you're a canadiot right from Ottaway.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
Is true blue from Ottawa love hockey and it's it'll
kick in another three weeks.

Speaker 6 (06:54):
So you a Senators guy.

Speaker 1 (06:55):
No, I helped bring him to I had a piece
of it. I brought him to Ottawa and got it
all up there and then I got the hell out.
It's an ego sport, you know, these guys that own
these teams. You go in those locker rooms. You don't
want to own a team any of those teams.

Speaker 7 (07:07):
Who do you?

Speaker 6 (07:07):
I mean, do you have a who do you root for?
What team?

Speaker 5 (07:10):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (07:10):
Well, I like Boston. I like the Golden Knights because
I've spent some time in Vagas. Sure you know, I
go back to Boom Boom Jeffrey On and all those
guys I knew.

Speaker 6 (07:19):
I remember those guys.

Speaker 4 (07:21):
I was a big Rangers stand back then, Eddie chock Man,
Roger Peer.

Speaker 1 (07:25):
Those guys, Derek said, all those guys, they were all
buddies of mine. You know, they'd come to the show.
I got the pictures behind me. See Wayne Gretzky up there,
Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Hall and what's that or up there?
All the guys were in my dressing room where my
finger is all signed. You much money I've been offered
for those silly little pictures. Look at this anyway. Yeah,

(07:47):
let's talk about you, man.

Speaker 6 (07:48):
We don't have to.

Speaker 4 (07:49):
I feel like more like I could get interviewing you guys,
but that's all right, we can.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
No.

Speaker 6 (07:52):
I'm all jazz guy. You guys are both fascinating.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
Tell me about the Springsteen thing, man, I mean, all
the voices and everything that you've done, and now you
got this Springsteen thing going, which I think is how
did you get into that? How did you harness it?
That's not an easy voice.

Speaker 6 (08:06):
Well, Paul, as you said, I'm a mimic, and that
started by imitating the guys I idolized growing up. Springsteen
being the top of that list, and I've always imitated
the way he talking is. If you're familiar on his
live shows, he does a lot of monologues and talks.

Speaker 4 (08:27):
I'm been singing like Bruce all day, so they could
take it out of me. So I turned sixty last April.
I had some mixed feelings about that, and I felt like, well, it.

Speaker 6 (08:38):
Might be fun.

Speaker 4 (08:39):
I'm not really usually a party guy, but I find
if I threw a party, maybe I could do like
a reverse surprise thing where I put together a band
and sing a few Springsteen songs. And that's what I did,
and I got totally obsessed. As you said, I am
a mimic, and I've sung all through my career, but
always in a very jokey comedy just carry it to

(09:00):
character way.

Speaker 6 (09:02):
And so I got so.

Speaker 4 (09:03):
Obsessed with trying to get the singing impression of Bruce's right,
which I never tried to do before or for anybody,
that I kind of found a side door into learning
to sing properly. Because, as I'm sure you know, you know,
you can impersonate, it will only take you so far.
Eventually you got to really support it with your breath.

(09:24):
You gotta sing right, especially.

Speaker 6 (09:26):
If you're trying to sing through a rasp, that's really hard.

Speaker 4 (09:30):
So it's been a real joy. And then we raise
a lot of money for charity. It all goes for
my foundation on the net proceeds. I'm really loving it.
It was a big hit on the birthday night and
we said why stop, So we do it a lot.

Speaker 6 (09:43):
Now we're touring around so you could do the Pony
Club right Stone Pony November fifteenth.

Speaker 1 (09:49):
Yeah, that's a fire. Bruce. You know, he's a great talent, obviously,
but for a guy that can get up in the
morning jumping a bike and drive and then write about
everything he sees first and always, I was amazed at it.
Going by Tony's got that the car Jenny lived over
there said these lyrics, I'm what the fuck is this? Amazing?

Speaker 4 (10:05):
Yeah, I remember like a comedian earth way back in
the day. It's like, you know, Bruce, you know, he
had his heart broken, so wrote a.

Speaker 6 (10:12):
Song about in a car. But yeah, yeah, I had
a big success wrote a song about a car. What
I found amazing.

Speaker 4 (10:22):
I'm finally getting around to reading his autobiography Born New
You never even got behind the wheel of a car
before he was twenty one years old. It just was
sort of a metaphor, poetic metaphor for him.

Speaker 1 (10:33):
He's got a cool doc coming out. You know, we
were both together up a tiff because I have my
duck coming out and he was up there with his.
It's really a good one and I think it starts
to air in a couple of weeks.

Speaker 6 (10:42):
Yes, I hear, it's terrific.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
Yeah, it's really really brat. He and Elton were there
and we all had our stuff up there. But he's
very special. But have you ever met him before?

Speaker 4 (10:51):
I met him twice. I made a complete fool of
myself both times. Really, I just fanboyed so hard. I
mean he really he was my idol growing up. And
I did a show called Spam a Lot on Broadway,
like the Monty Python Musical. Did that about almost twenty
years ago. Yeah, And he came backstage and I was
chatting with him, and I got to tell him how

(11:13):
much he meant to me, and how much his music
meant to me, and his his talks meant to me,
and his message about following your dreams and being created person.
And I said, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't
be chatting with him backstage at the Schubert, and that's
what I said, but it came out like like Bruce.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
It was.

Speaker 6 (11:36):
I just basically sounded like a goose honking at him
for about a midt. Anyway, Yeah, all right, man, that's great.
Good to me.

Speaker 1 (11:43):
So he was your choke up. You know, I was
telling we were talking about this a couple months in
his gift. You know, here we are, we're in this
great business. We're blessed to be in it, right, we're
just fighting out to be assholes because we're catered to
all the time having a good life. But there's always
been somebody in your career, and it was Bruce the
one like with me that you just go you become
a dummy. It was Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Lauren. I

(12:06):
couldn't get two words together. Was Bruce yours?

Speaker 6 (12:09):
Bruce was one of a few. Bruce definitely was.

Speaker 4 (12:11):
Sometimes I've been surprised that if you have this experience
Paul or Skip, where if I had asked you before
and you'd say, well.

Speaker 6 (12:18):
I like them, but I don't.

Speaker 4 (12:19):
I don't think it's a bigger deal of meeting then
you meet them and something about their presence just overtake.

Speaker 6 (12:26):
In nineteen eighty eight, I just moved to La I
was lucky enough to go to the Oscars.

Speaker 4 (12:30):
I was dating a girl who was in one of
the dance numbers, so sitting way at the back. And
that was the year that Dustin Hoppin won for rain Man,
and it's the Oscar so every major movie star was parading.
I was sitting right in the aisle. I was going
right by me, and it was amazing. But you know
who I lost my mind when I saw was Vincent Price.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
Now if you asked.

Speaker 6 (12:52):
Before, I would have said, oh, I like surprise.

Speaker 4 (12:55):
But I think he was such an iconomy because all
those horror movies that I grew up watch, you know.

Speaker 6 (13:00):
On the rerun, said I just I just slipped down
when I saw it.

Speaker 1 (13:06):
And when he talks, he said aera dyke and has
got that great accent and the great demeanor. So that
throws you.

Speaker 6 (13:11):
Oh yeah, he's not saying anything to me. I just
saw him walk by me.

Speaker 1 (13:15):
Oh oh right. Oh. Sinatra tied me up when I
met him a Trader Vix as a kid, because my
whole thing with Darren and I we wanted to be
them there's nothing to the landscape. So my first opportunity,
I think it was like eighteen before I went to
Vegas and I ran into him a Trader Vix and
he wanted to say hello on them. I bought something stupid.

(13:35):
How's the spare about your April? It was the shortest
frightening experience in my life. But later, you know, I
wound up in a steam room those guys nude, you know,
having trouble with eye contact. Well then you wrote for him, yeah,
oh yeah, after that stuff for him, Yeah, what a
great song that is. I would have given him the
money back hanging with those guys.

Speaker 6 (13:54):
Yeah, that's how I feel too.

Speaker 7 (13:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (13:56):
I have to tell you I had an opposite reaction
with Bruce Springs, and I'll tell you why. So we
have a place up in Sun Valley, Idaho, and every Christmas,
Arnold Schwarzenegger throws a big party and invariably Bruce would
be there. And my wife pe d Basket was the
photographer at Saturday Night Live for the first twenty five
years to show out so every image you've seen of

(14:19):
any musical guest to her, you know, cast members from
John Belugian. She did and Bruce. I didn't know this.
Bruce is an amateur photographer. He loves photography, and the
first time I met him, I was standing with Di
and his first question to her was about a camera.
He said, HEDI, I've got to ask you a question,
and just got this new canon if you've seen the

(14:39):
new blah blah or whatever. He was just so into
the whole photography thing, and I just said it was
sweet and endearing the way he just wanted to hear
what she.

Speaker 2 (14:48):
Had to say.

Speaker 6 (14:49):
I mean, I'm standing there listening, I want to hear
what he has to say. The only he had to
say was about taking pictures.

Speaker 2 (14:55):
You know.

Speaker 6 (14:56):
It was just rather remarkable, but you know, just such
a he was so chill. He was just such you know,
down to earth, really nice guy. And my friend Allen Grupman,
the entertainment attorney, has represented, among others, Bruce forever, you know,
it's forever, and recently recently sold his archive. But to me,

(15:18):
Bruce was just just a guy, you know. But then
I saw his show on Broadway, which I'm guessing you
both saw phenomenal, and you really get a sense of
who he is, and you know, the stories about his
father in the bar when it was just a child.
I had to go to the bar and retrieve his father.
Yeah and yeah. I mean, it's just just an incredible,

(15:39):
incredible story.

Speaker 4 (15:41):
The funny but I did see that show is years
after I had met him at my Broadway show and
then a guy came up at intermission said, would you
like to go back and say how did Bruce after
the show?

Speaker 6 (15:51):
I said, of.

Speaker 4 (15:51):
Course, I was with my wife. I said, all right,
I'm not going to blow it this time. I'm not
going to scream like a fanboy into his face, going
to take it ease. I'm just gonna say that was
wonderful and it's pleasure to see again. And it was
a receiving line. He and Patty came down, or he
could even say hello, I swear to show on Bruce,
you played with him when it's always a kid over

(16:13):
the lyrics from my.

Speaker 6 (16:14):
Senior year book. I swear I did it again. My
wife trinvi and said what is wrong with you?

Speaker 4 (16:21):
And I was like, I can't help it. I love
the guy so much. I just didn't contain it. My
friend calls it Bruce juice because he's seen Eastern Wardber
Bruce and he's just seen it out, but over and
over again, people just kind of lose themselves from seeing him.

Speaker 6 (16:34):
Another thing, he told Dedie that he sort of a
little new In fact, he grew up with the smell
of chocolate because at his family home in New Jersey
was right next to the Nesley Chocolate factory. And he said,
whenever it rained that they had a heavy rain, the
smell of chocolate like permeated the house. I mean that's

(16:54):
where you know, there were all these little things that
would come up.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
That's my point is that.

Speaker 6 (17:00):
And also on the Broadway show, you know, he talks
about things that you you know, wouldn't be interesting if
someone else said them, but when he talks about them,
you know, it's pretty fascinating.

Speaker 4 (17:09):
And he did a thing that I didn't realize how
moving and incredible it was at one point. I think
it was the song Promised Land, one of his songs.
He walked away from the mic and he just sang
it into the room, accompanying himself on acoustic and it
was so moving to me, not just hearing Bruce sing,

(17:33):
not through a microphone, but just to like, if I
heard you say, any wonderful singer, we never get to
do it as an audience. Is hear you just live
into a room. Yeah, and it was a real experience.

Speaker 1 (17:47):
Yeah, that effect we've all used, you know the opera.
Obviously those guys are like, aw, they do it. But
you know, Tony's done it. We've all done that little
piece of bitiness. Oh less my heart, that fan fifth
he doesn't stick for three minutes. No, Mike, Frank's done it.
I've done it, and Bruce did it. But it's a

(18:08):
cool effect because you're getting the natural acoustic of what
you'd get if you're just sitting there. But the as
I said, the ones that really pull it off are
the opera people. Yeah, they're not miked up very little.
I mean they might have put that process in place
in the last few years. But you know, a new
Pavarotti and he was like the sweetheart of the world.

(18:28):
But you know, Paula, we don't need to know no microphone.
You know, you the Vocif you don't hit the high Sea,
you're no good. I mean, he was the coolest guy,
but he'd always say how acoustically that you needed to sound. Well,
it's the same with Broadway. There's very little amplification. You
know they've morphed into it recently, but it's a great effect. Yes,

(18:49):
it's very arresting because your ear and the brain where
you go to and hearing and enveloping that you're so
geared to the technology. Yeah, but when you hear that
natural sound, it separates the men from the boys, or
the women from the women. Because in today's world, with
all the technology, you don't know who can sing, because
a lot of these people are hearing and I don't

(19:09):
hang my fellow artist, but it's all technology driven auto
tune just can't sing. It's autotude. But you're right, it's
a very cool, arresting moment when you can actually hear
any artists get up there in their natural voice.

Speaker 6 (19:24):
It really is very moving.

Speaker 1 (19:25):
Yeah, it subliminally works on you because they're so quiet.
You lean forward, you know, metaphorically you and you live.

Speaker 2 (19:33):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (19:34):
Listen to that.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
It's very cool. But you don't want to listen to
two hours of that ship No.

Speaker 4 (19:39):
I mean I would have missed it if it didn't
go back to the mic.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
But it was really.

Speaker 6 (19:44):
Wonderful to hear.

Speaker 1 (19:45):
It's a cool trick.

Speaker 6 (19:46):
Yeah, it's like seeing me sty around a campfire, you know.

Speaker 1 (19:58):
Going back to you, Nick Callahan. Right, everybody wrapped their
arms around that when you brought him back. What was
it like because there was a little hiatus in the
middle of all that, wasn't there. I am sorry, Nick Callahan, Yeah,
the salesman. The salesman, didn't you Nick Callahan? Oh wait,

(20:18):
Sometimes I forget the name of my Simpsons characters. Yeah,
and I think it was Nick, you know, I mean back,
you came back what season thirty six to premier it
again or something, you know, I'm the White Lotus luxury resort,
and then you brought Nick back vocally.

Speaker 4 (20:35):
You know.

Speaker 6 (20:35):
It's funny about this, Paul. It's thirty six years.

Speaker 4 (20:38):
It's not only that, but it's thirty six years. Yeah,
I'm doing the show, so nearly eight hundred episodes.

Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yeah, well he returned in season thirty six.

Speaker 6 (20:47):
I didn't even know that. I know that episode was
about to come out.

Speaker 4 (20:51):
And because we don't memorize it because it's what he's recording,
it often doesn't stay in my brain like what we did.

Speaker 6 (20:58):
And there's so many it's this happens to me all
the time.

Speaker 4 (21:02):
They're going to say, oh, this, this character, this line,
or the show I'm like, I don't.

Speaker 6 (21:07):
I really don't recall it.

Speaker 2 (21:08):
Wasn't it.

Speaker 6 (21:09):
I'll give you a clue, wasn't it Nick the realtor. Yes,
it rings a bell. You're right. But it's over a
hundred characters I've done on the show, and I think
because it was so long that I haven't reprised it.

Speaker 4 (21:21):
I actually told all the great shift.

Speaker 1 (21:29):
That you've done. Do one now, that is your favorite.
Anybody could be singing it. Give me one.

Speaker 6 (21:36):
What people talk to me them mouth is the bird cage.
A character called Spartacus. He was a Guatemala man.

Speaker 4 (21:47):
He was the houseboy in the movie and it was
and I grew up at the I'm at the fartic jew.

Speaker 6 (21:52):
My family is from Salonika and.

Speaker 4 (21:55):
My grandmother, my grandma asked she I worked on a
Guatemala accent, and it turned out to be an imitation
of her moth like I couldn't just save a lot
of the time, don't be like her.

Speaker 6 (22:07):
Dad and motive more but tender. I do remember from
this mote my all time favorite I love mote.

Speaker 4 (22:14):
That is an interesting fun fat Boy used to add.
One of my other heroes growing up was al Pacino.
I love that Young Al was a little higher pitched,
very swift spoken.

Speaker 6 (22:25):
Godfather ouled all day afternoon.

Speaker 4 (22:28):
You know, I'm dying here. Everybody's coming down on me.
So I auditioned for The Simpsons are using that voice, and.

Speaker 6 (22:36):
They said they wanted it gravelly.

Speaker 4 (22:38):
So if you'll make out Pacino gravelly, you get motor
bought tender. And it also I think it lives somewhere
between Bruce and young Al.

Speaker 6 (22:47):
Pacino, you get Mo right in the middle of there.
So I love that and I pooh.

Speaker 4 (22:53):
Partially why I stopped doing the voice skip because it
was created in nineteen eighty eight and it was very
funny and lovely. We want to watch the show is
what it is, not just because of APO, but for
a lot of reasons. But it also came to like
that it was really marginalizing for a lot of folks
Indian Americans, and so in the fact that it was
a white guy from Queen's doing the voice in a

(23:15):
really stereotypical way, I made the decision to stop, to
stop doing it. And in animation in general, not just
at the Simpsons, we've really we've allowed people to voice themselves,
you know what I mean. It's a black character, it's
a black vocal artist. If it's Indian, it's an Indian
vocal artist.

Speaker 6 (23:33):
Latin, same thing.

Speaker 4 (23:34):
So it's been a big change, and it was an
interesting thing because it was, you know, not many shows
are on for thirty six years, so it was sort
of a it remained to kind of hold over from
the past. You couldn't say, oh, well, that was the
way it was fifteen years ago, because we sort of
are a living relic in some ways from nineteen eighty eight.
But I love that character too, and I missed doing
it sometimes.

Speaker 6 (23:54):
It was awesome.

Speaker 1 (23:55):
Hey, Hank, who you know you're old enough to see
these genre of people who impressed you from Rich Little
and there's a whole gang of them that really did
a great job on a lot of voices, who impressed
you the most of any of them.

Speaker 4 (24:10):
I watched all those guys growing up Little and Gorshan
and you know that show Copycats was a big favorite
of mine back in the day. But you know who
really might ear two guys, Mel Blank, who did all
the Warner Brothers cartoon voices, Buds, Bunny, whatnot. I idolized him,
and really Peter Sellers, I know he wasn't an impressionist,

(24:31):
but he was so vocally gifted and his acting was
so amazing that that's I think. Really those two guys,
Sellers and mel Blank were my north stars.

Speaker 1 (24:44):
I think, dynamically so different. Yeah, and he was he
was a troubled guy Sellers, you know, I knew him
a little bit and you had the same agent. But
a brilliant actor.

Speaker 6 (24:54):
Oh, he was a genius Cluseo and strange love and
all the vocal work he did. Just was completely enamored of.

Speaker 1 (25:02):
So, Hank, who did you want to do? And tried
and you just weren't satisfied up to your level? Who
did you bail on.

Speaker 4 (25:08):
A lot of people? I loved cartoons as a kid.
I could never get Yogi Bear. Try as I might,
I couldn't.

Speaker 6 (25:14):
Just couldn't do it.

Speaker 4 (25:15):
There's a couple I tried on The Simpsons that I
just could not get. Jeff Goldblum. I love him and
I love his voice, and I tried to I can
sort of approximate it, but I can't. I sort of
sound like Adam West when I try to do Jeff Goblam.
There have been many, never had some that I stayed

(25:36):
with that I wouldn't. I'm a little horse from singing
all day. But your friend Johnny Carstele is someone who
it meant a lot to me to try to get
a decent impression close.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (25:48):
Yeah, So there's guys. I mean, Bruce, I worked on
the hardest I think that singing impression. You know, it
was really hard for me. I played the movie called Alone.

Speaker 4 (25:57):
I played a French guy, a French scuba and struck
with Ben Stiller in a long kaing poly Jennifer anistone
yes erstand.

Speaker 6 (26:05):
And it was out for me to get this funch.
Accent took me too much. Accent is so easy to
do for you're from Canada and.

Speaker 1 (26:12):
From Canada the Palace for many years with those people.
I used to do the records and I'd go on
the record studio and the guy, after singing for one hour,
he said, Paul, would you like a cock? I'm going
what he said, would you like to have a cock?
He of course?

Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (26:32):
So what about today?

Speaker 2 (26:33):
Man?

Speaker 1 (26:34):
Like throw it out at your Trump? I mean the
current crop Clinton. I don't do a great Trump. It's
it's an approximation approximately, definitely approximately Clin everybody does Clint.

Speaker 6 (26:48):
That's not that hard to do. Clin it's kind of easy,
but I don't. A lot of my impressions are not current.

Speaker 4 (26:57):
I was really you know, I like to do a
really good Eric Robert's circa you know, nineteen eight, like
from Pulpik Reditch Belich, remember that book remained. I love
doing Eric Roberts from that movie. You know Mickey Roared
Mickey ro Micky Rorke from back then. Yeah, young Mickey.
You know, young Mickey Rort. I used to love him.
Although so I don't. I'm not like on top of

(27:19):
it anymore.

Speaker 1 (27:20):
So when you stay on top of it when you're
with your wife, who does she want to hear when
you're in bed together throw a curve at you?

Speaker 6 (27:26):
She?

Speaker 1 (27:27):
Ye know, that's a terrible question, but hey, who knows?

Speaker 4 (27:32):
With us people, see, I know I've had a couple
of those in my life. Maybe full requests. I'm like, okay,
let's try that one.

Speaker 1 (27:41):
Okay, I'm not doing too well.

Speaker 6 (27:47):
My wife doesn't have a vocal preference that way.

Speaker 1 (27:50):
Right, Okay. But I usually been married, Hank.

Speaker 4 (27:53):
We've been together like twenty one years. You've been married
for almost twelve years. Like, so you're married for twenty
one years pretty much. Yes, where Sun is fifteen, so
he kind of married us once he came along.

Speaker 1 (28:05):
That's good. If you've got a good friend and you
got your boy, you're blessed, right.

Speaker 6 (28:09):
Oh no, yes, I'm very grateful for those two. If
I could just pivot back to The Simpsons just for
a second. Yeah, So you when you record that, are
you in a studio with the other voiceover actors, or
are you working by yourself in your own place it's
remote on zoom or everybody's together in a room.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
How does that work?

Speaker 4 (28:30):
For the first several years we were all together, and
then we would record remotely more and more, and then
in the pandemic they sent us all nice equipment with
a laptop dedicated to a good sound mix, and since
then we record from home.

Speaker 6 (28:47):
It's really delightful.

Speaker 2 (28:49):
That's so much easier.

Speaker 6 (28:50):
Have you noticed up.

Speaker 4 (28:51):
All that, Like this sound is so incredible now and
what they can do to fix it. There have been
times I've even record, even for a movie, recorded dialogue
or whatever right into an iPhone, just as a temporary
so they could just plug something in and then they
forget that it was just recorded in an iPhone. They
clean it up and post and they can digitally remaster

(29:13):
it so that it's as good as anything else.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
They're making records in bedrooms with computers. Yeah, it's changed
the whole landscape, absolutely correct. You can do so much
now technically years ago. You know, I meet with a
lot of the young people today and I kind of
was part of Michael Bublaz's life, started them, and you know,
i'd explain to them. I'd say, you know, Michael, we
have to go in a studio. Back in the fifties,
you had to be rehearsed. You know, I would teach

(29:37):
us all to do this. The band is there. There's
no technology. It's a piece of tape half an inch thick,
and you stayed in there till you got it.

Speaker 2 (29:45):
That was it.

Speaker 1 (29:46):
And if you had to splice or do anything, you
take a razor blade. You'd cut the tape what you
didn't like and you'd glut with scotch tape and that
was it. Today you could do anything. You can record
anyone and make most people sound great. Yeah, it's just
that simple.

Speaker 6 (30:00):
Yeah, I mean it is amazing.

Speaker 4 (30:02):
It's something that as a vocal at cartoon Voices too,
it's kind of the same thing.

Speaker 6 (30:07):
It's gonna be very interesting to see.

Speaker 4 (30:09):
I just wrote an op ed for The New York
Times that'll be out soon about AI replacing us essentially vocally,
and my perspective on it. I hate to say, right
now they cannot there's nuances they can't quite get. You
still need the human element. But I'm not so sure
how much longer that's gonna be the case.

Speaker 6 (30:27):
It'll be gone.

Speaker 1 (30:29):
I mean, it was first introduced to me. I hate
dropping names, but Buffett's a friend and he was with
Gates three years ago and he called me up and, hey, Polly,
you're not gonna believe that's boy because I recorded him.
We did My Way together, and he's gonna play this funeral.
But he loves his music. But the point of was,
he's got this machine here. Look it's what is it, Gates?

(30:49):
What is it? It's just GPT.

Speaker 6 (30:51):
Is that the chat GBT?

Speaker 1 (30:52):
Yeah, yeah, he says. I asked the machine to give
me four versions of My Way, and it spit it
out in two minutes.

Speaker 6 (31:00):
That's the thing.

Speaker 1 (31:00):
I said, what, well, look where it's going, man, in
our business film all business. It's just incredible. You know,
everybody's like this about it. I say, hey, you're still
going to need a human over it, and it's going
to be content.

Speaker 6 (31:14):
Let it come.

Speaker 1 (31:14):
It's like a freight train, step aside, let it through.
It's going to be amazing. Why not?

Speaker 6 (31:18):
Yeah, I agree, I mean, or don't let it come.
It's coming, so you can stop it.

Speaker 4 (31:23):
The fem engine essentially, so it's going to be really
interesting to see how they use it. And I agree,
you know, I can you know, as a vocal artist
or on camera. I came to see what we do
as offering choices and editing. Right, you try it this way,
you try it that way, you rehearse, if you do
it live, then you do the editing in rehearsal, and
you try to figure out what's the best way to

(31:44):
deliver this. But the computer can give you unlimited choices
in a nanosecond for free. You still need a human
work in the dial as it were. Somebody told me that,
for example, we wanted to you know, dub An art
into Korean. Right, so they have the artist singing a singer,

(32:05):
and what they had to do was find someone in
Korean who could sing similar to their tone and then
as long as they're singing was close enough, it was
very easy to auto tune those dials and make it
sound exactly as if bad artists were singing in very
fluent Korean.

Speaker 6 (32:23):
So that's an amazing application of it.

Speaker 1 (32:26):
Well, saying South Korea, because I've been going to Asia
for fifty years, they are amazing because for years when
I go to Japan and in those countries, oh, you know,
we can do this and do but we can't do
your music or your film. And the Koreans are very
very involved in music today. They're buying, they're successful. And

(32:46):
when you look at the top countries of the world
in terms of the level of intelligence, south Korea is
number one. Is that right behind them? Oh yeah absolutely.
In other countries they are number one. But they're amazing creative.
We'll look at some of this stuff that Netflix has
and oh.

Speaker 4 (33:03):
Their film their film industry is tremendous and k pop
is huge.

Speaker 1 (33:06):
Yeah, amazing. So there, you're absolutely correct. I mean, it's
just and it's going to even get better. It's going
to be so broad.

Speaker 4 (33:13):
You know, you still need a human controlling nuances, and
you need a base voice for certain things.

Speaker 6 (33:20):
I really think though, that soon you may not need that.
That's going to be pretty fascinating.

Speaker 1 (33:24):
Well, we'll be ready for it if we ling long enough. Right,
it's gonna it's happening.

Speaker 4 (33:29):
Own some small piece of my own voices, that's all
I hope.

Speaker 6 (33:41):
So not voice sober, but where you've acted and so many,
so many different you know, television shows, and you have
been in films. I loved you on Raid Down, have
been by the way as the head of the La FBI.

Speaker 2 (33:52):
I thought that was awesome.

Speaker 6 (33:54):
I enjoyed that. But I know that and I'm going
to go to a totally different direction here, So I
know that you were unfriends, yeah, who sort of had
a romantic interest, if you will, with Lisa Kudro, who
in real life, her husband Michelle Stern and I played
golf together to rep Well, I didn't know that. Oh
that's cool. That's a nice man. It's a wonderful guy.

(34:14):
And you obviously met Matthew Perry. And I read that
somewhere along the line that Matthew Perry helped you with
your sobriety. And I wanted to ask you two things.
One how did that come about? And the secondly, were
you still friendly with him right up until the end?
If you will?

Speaker 4 (34:31):
This is the first off that I ever wrote was
when Matthew passed. He was the first friend I made
in LA He was seventeen, I was twenty two. We
did a TV pilot together that never went anywhere, but
we became very very close friends, really more like brothers.

Speaker 6 (34:44):
We were kind of inseparable.

Speaker 4 (34:46):
Over the years, you know, became obvious that Matthew had
a problem with drugs and alcohol, and he would go in.

Speaker 6 (34:52):
And out and in and out.

Speaker 4 (34:54):
And then many years later I discovered that my own
problem with drinking. That was eighteen years ago. Matthew was
in a very good, sober period of his life and
he was able to help me. And that whole first
year that I stopped drinking, I leaned on him pretty heavily.
And one of the things that make me saddest about
his leaving us, besides just how funny he was and

(35:17):
how much I miss him, was how much good he
did other folks.

Speaker 6 (35:21):
You know, he was just so.

Speaker 4 (35:23):
He was very dedicated that publicly and privately just helping
folks who struggled with addiction, and he was very good
at it, and he really helped me a lot. The
message of the end of his life, he wanted to
be known as much as he was a famous friend.
He wanted to be known as someone who helped in
this way, and I wanted to come forward publicly because
he helped me so much. And his message was there's

(35:46):
no shame in needing help. There's no shame in asking
for help, There's no shame in feeling bad enough that
you need that, and there's no shame in getting that help.
So I really thank God for him in my life.

Speaker 1 (35:57):
In life better.

Speaker 4 (35:58):
Huh.

Speaker 1 (35:59):
He's in life better through a few of those, not personally,
but people around me that I've loved, and it's a
better life.

Speaker 6 (36:05):
It's the accidental deaths, right, Michael Jackson. That was obviously
an accident, you know, Matthew Perry, these people were providing
you with Kenymine. I mean, he wasn't trying to kill himself. Yeah,
it was just it's it's really sad, you know, when
you see something like that, it's just, yeah, we've had
too many of those.

Speaker 4 (36:23):
You're not a lot of examples of bringing people who
didn't mean to check out, right.

Speaker 6 (36:28):
I mean, some people jump off a building. That's a
decision that they made, right, there's so terribly depressed or
whatever they were on the top of building and jump off.
But in the case of like Michael or with Matthew Perry,
you know, that wasn't a decision. They didn't make a
decision to die. Totally different here.

Speaker 4 (36:45):
Now, but it was you know, Russian roulette, because messing
around with that stuff is.

Speaker 6 (36:50):
Dangerous, you know. And yeah, we've lost a lot of
folks that way.

Speaker 1 (36:55):
Yeah, Well, this ventanyl issue is a big one that's
really insidious. Mexico. Well it's you know, China, Mexico and
then here, and you know, people have spoken to because
I'm close to the whole Mexican thing with friends, and
you know, these guys that are mixing it, they're not pharmacists,
they're just normal dude. How much you want to put

(37:15):
on this one? And they mix this shit and it's
just too much. And look at all the young people
everyone that's using. It's just terrible. I don't know how
they're ever going to stop it. I don't think they'll
ever stop the whole issue with the cartel. I think
that'll go on forever. But that's a whole other thing.
But the fentanyl is a serious issue in this country.

Speaker 4 (37:32):
Yeah, I know several folks who we lost the fentanyl.
It's really it's really potent that stuff.

Speaker 1 (37:39):
Well, we need a potent evening of Hank Personal in
some theater and do all those voices.

Speaker 4 (37:45):
I'm actually working on one man's show. It's funny you
mentioned that, Paul Whoa.

Speaker 1 (37:50):
Whoa, go go tell me because I think you're ready.

Speaker 6 (37:53):
I did a show called Brockmeyer. Yeah, a love letter
to Baseball.

Speaker 4 (37:57):
I've kind of sickle a love letter to baseball about
a base on anouser to add horrible drug and alcohol problems,
isn't a matter of fact. So the guy who I
collaborate on that with, guy named Joel George Cooper, I
sort of ended up telling him my whole life story
and you mentioned the oput thing. A lot of people
ask me why I stopped doing the boys, and it's
a long story. So I thought it'd be an interesting

(38:18):
evening to first share, you know, why I do all
these voices, and how I started as a kid and
what that meant to me, and how there was a
kind of a darker side to it where I really
wanted to be anybody but myself. I was so driven
to try to beat somebody else that I took my
vocal mimicry talent and really got obsessively driven to try

(38:40):
to be other people, which made me a good character actor,
but sometimes a very troubled person, which is what led
to sobriety. Eventually I was fortunate enough to get help
and then it was out of that sobriety model where
you kind of look at your own part in things.
And the show's called what's my part? Double ontendru, meaning
who do I get to play today? What character are

(39:02):
going to be today? And then also how am I responsible?
How am I accountable for stuff I might have been
involved in? So it's a fun, funny, interesting evening and
I'm excited. They'll be off Broadway next year. I'm excited
to do it.

Speaker 1 (39:17):
So how far into it are you?

Speaker 6 (39:18):
We really are just at script stage?

Speaker 1 (39:20):
Oh script? Okay, so revising and revising.

Speaker 4 (39:23):
We have a script and my partner is off he's
doing a TV show at Tennis Leary right now. Otherwise
readA got it up earlier, but he's busy. So come
February we're going to pick it back up and hopefully
put it out next year.

Speaker 1 (39:35):
That's cool. Yeah, Well, if you need some music, you
give me a call, because I'm a fan. You know,
you might need a little underscoring or something.

Speaker 6 (39:41):
Well, I get doing the music that would be pretty good.

Speaker 1 (39:43):
Well take a look at No. I think you should
absolutely do it. You know, we know that whole process
takes time, and Broadways not in the best condition. They're
about thirty three percent off. But you get some good
quality stuff in there, and I think that's exciting.

Speaker 2 (39:57):
Man.

Speaker 1 (39:57):
Yeah, you know, I know you things will slip through
the c here and there, but do it. You got
to do it because you can take it elsewhere.

Speaker 4 (40:03):
Oh No, I'm definitely going to do it. I've really
been pretty passionate about telling this story. It has been
a big part of my life the last ten years.
I'm also working on a book based on similar thing,
not just about that, but really all of it.

Speaker 6 (40:16):
And I have found that, you know.

Speaker 4 (40:18):
Sharing stories and my experience through show business. You know, right, Paul,
you're around long enough, but eventually you're kind of interesting
because you've seen a lot go on and you've been
in the middle of a lot of things.

Speaker 1 (40:30):
You know, what is hank experience. Yeah, people respect the
experience of the longevity. Yeah, and the legs you put
under it. But I think that's exciting.

Speaker 5 (40:39):
Man.

Speaker 4 (40:39):
I think that's what I'm most proud of actually, is
the fact that I've managed to stay involved and feel
a real joyous connection to it all. And it has
to evolve, you know, and you have to really as
you know, right like it'll Hollywood and show business will
build you up like nothing else and then smack you
down like nothing.

Speaker 6 (40:58):
Else, over and over and over again.

Speaker 1 (41:01):
Eat, they're dead treacherous, you know. And you gotta keep believing, man,
You have to keep believing in you, because at the
end of the day, hang a lot of people don't care.
They know, they look at you in the face and
it's all bullshit. You got to keep you number one
and keep believing in it. And that's how you separate

(41:21):
the men from the boys. The guys that say they're
gonna do and do and the guy that say they're
gonna do and don't. That's a differential. All my life,
I've seen that.

Speaker 6 (41:29):
But just so I've seen some of that too.

Speaker 4 (41:32):
And what I've ended up is if I have a
day's work that I feel joy and connection to, that's
about the best I'm gonna do. And then who knows
what the results are going to be, you know, Paul.

Speaker 6 (41:43):
Is a great prankster. By the way Paul can disguise
his voice. I talked to him every single day, Hank,
and he can still get me because he's that good.
But like, who have you pranked? I'm sure you've pranked
friends and others with your ability to change your voice
and pretty much everyone.

Speaker 4 (41:59):
I used to and we used to have call waiting.
We don't have that anymore. But you get that cleg
and like hold on, somebody's on the other phone, and
then every once in a while they'd click over, but
it would still be you.

Speaker 6 (42:09):
I used to love that moment, you know, like hello, Ed,
I'm trying to reach Martin.

Speaker 4 (42:15):
And I, you know, play a game how long I
could keep somebody going without them realizing. Was me in
the early days of in Hollywood to try to get
a table at restaurants. I would call as certain celebrity, like.

Speaker 7 (42:29):
I did a pretty good you know slow Yeah, it's
slash saloon, now you doing it? Can I get a
table you know for eight o'clock tonight? Four people?

Speaker 2 (42:39):
Sure?

Speaker 6 (42:40):
Sure, missus schluck.

Speaker 7 (42:41):
Yeah, I might be late. My friend heyka Zerio be
there early. Just let him sit down, you know, if
it's zero.

Speaker 6 (42:47):
Thanks a lot, so I would get tables.

Speaker 1 (42:51):
It's not coming.

Speaker 6 (42:53):
They all sly called, you can't make it, so sorry.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
The best time I have, like Steve Wins a buddy
of skipping on, but we do trips together. We're sitting
over a hotel, the cop in Front, which was the
hang place, you know, and Ed McMahon may Rest in peace.
I knew him with Johnny. And he shows up and
he just divorced the wife and he was marrying the
tennis bro. You know, one of those, right, So he
comes over and he's sitting with Steve and he says, hey, Paul,
you know I know you've lived in Paris. You know

(43:19):
everybody over there. He says, can I go to your tailor?
And can you get me into regimes? That was a
hot discotheque by right, and we're staying at the Creole.
Can you straighten me out? Because I want to impress Victoria.
So Steve and I are listening to him. I said, yeah,
don't worry, I'll take care of it.

Speaker 6 (43:34):
That.

Speaker 1 (43:34):
So Steve and I go to Venice at the Cipriani
and then obviously McMahon goes up to the Creole in Paris.
So I'm sitting there with Steve, were doing our cigars
and their billini's, and he says, can you believe that
McMahon with that chick he's up there? I said, yeah,
that's cool. He said, can we do a ballini on him?
That means me doing a prank? So I said yes, okay,

(43:56):
so okay, we'll do it. So I call up the
creole I knew them over there, and he said, could
you put me through the mister McMahon's room. Boase, Sure
the phone rings, it picks up, he says, mister McMahon,
He says, Peter Swetzer down the front desk here, the manager.
We are so excited to have such a such an
important person here with you. We have a problem here.

(44:19):
You know, the summertime we do the renovations in the hotel,
and we'd appreciate if you have some understanding. We're going
to do some sand blasting in the hotel. He says,
you know, okay, okay, I said, there, but the problem
we're going to do outside of your suite there. We're
going to do the floor and the walls and the
ceilings from nine to five o'clock in the afternoon. I said,

(44:41):
but we can move you down to the second floor
overlooking the side street there, or you can stay up
in your room and we'll give you the soundproof earmuffs.

Speaker 6 (44:49):
He says.

Speaker 1 (44:50):
What he says, we can give you soundproof iar maas,
So you have the ear maps with the have to price. Victoria,
they're doing some sand blasting and we can have sound blues.
You want to move the she says, take this, take
them her muffs. He says, we'll take the ear muffs.
I said, I said, that's wonderful. Good decision. Now, I says,
now regarding the tailor is no problem. But Regime, you

(45:13):
know there's some all the alps that come here and
all over the place, is very tough to get people.
And we got you. We got you a slot, he says.
What he says, We got you your own private slot
at the club. He says, the slot. Victoria, we can
get a slot at Regime's No, she's smarter than he is.
What do you mean a slot? He says, can you

(45:35):
explain that? I said, fellow, we got you a slot
from five in the morning till seven o'clock. You can
be in there with a few people. Now, Steve is
going ballistic tell him he's sick of hearing it. I said,
we'll get all the arrangements who put it down and
hiding and set it up to the room. He says,
thank you very much. We left them alone.

Speaker 6 (45:56):
Is there with ear muffs on? Thinking he's going to
be the club at five am? Uh?

Speaker 1 (45:59):
Yeah, yeah, we didn't though he's never been there before.

Speaker 2 (46:01):
Were there?

Speaker 4 (46:01):
You know?

Speaker 1 (46:01):
He took the slot in the your.

Speaker 4 (46:03):
Most Wow, you've put a lot of thought into that one, Paul,
A lot of thought went into that.

Speaker 3 (46:08):
Well.

Speaker 1 (46:08):
It's kind of impromptu quick once they got a role
where it's Chinese or German or French. You know, we've
I've done a couple on my buddy here, skip. But
it's you know, any humor. If I meet someone that
doesn't have humor, I'm sure you guys know that, I'm out.
It's the final refuge of sanity. Most of the time.
You got to have humor in life, you really do,

(46:30):
because it's such a circus, right.

Speaker 6 (46:33):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (46:33):
People that are uptight and no humor frightening. What are
they carrying with them?

Speaker 2 (46:38):
You know?

Speaker 6 (46:39):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (46:39):
No, I mean it's a huge part of alcohol recovery too.
Is you gotta kind of find what's funny again, you know,
because it's so hard and it's a big deal. That's
why Matthew Perry was such a godsend for me, because
it's hard to find a funnier person. And one of
the things I wrote was that you know, to me
that want to be one match of Perry, but everyone

(47:01):
finds in those rooms of recovery, there person that can
make them laugh when you're sure over the stuff you
were sure was the most shameful, most horrible stuff. You'd
never even share it, let alone laugh over it. It's
a huge part of actually becoming healthy.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
Again, you know. Dean Martin was a funny dude and
very special out of that whole group of guy's skip
that I hung with. And there's some people off stage
that are funnier in person than even on and Dean
was even when we were in that steam room and
the shit that he used to do, he had that

(47:37):
instant kind of humor. That was what a special guy
he was. And I'm sure you know if you Hank,
they're funnier off stage and you never get to know it.
It's just it's a special gift. It really is a
special gift. Go ahead, skivvy.

Speaker 6 (47:52):
No, I was going to ask because you're talking about
humor and how important it is. So when you were
on Friends, I imagine you came in contact with Jimmy Burrows.
Oh yeah, of course. Jimmy's another friend who I play
golf with. Dry humor, dry humor, one of the funniest
people I've ever known. And he could just take you
down without your even knowing it. I mean, he was really.

Speaker 4 (48:13):
Something hilarious and brilliant and man his you know, his suggestions,
his comedic suggestions that he would deliver in such a
matter of fact way. We're like, you were always so
bumped you didn't think of it. Like, that's great, Jimmy,
that's amazing. There's the reason why he's responsible for all
that great television.

Speaker 6 (48:30):
But look at Norman Lear. Yeah, my friend Chuck Lourie,
who is a very good friend. I don't Chuck, but
Chuck's a great pala mine. Yeah, and he's terrific. I
was the back in the day. I was the MC
and his sixtieth birthday party that we had. Chuck's just
great too, but also very dry. You know, it's not outrageous,
you know, slapstick humor it's just the dry, you know,

(48:54):
a little bit under the radar kind of.

Speaker 2 (48:56):
Things like you.

Speaker 6 (48:57):
Sometimes it takes me a minute that they wait a minute,
he just got me right. He's a lot of fun.
And Jimmy Burrows, I mean, what a track record?

Speaker 2 (49:07):
Oh my god?

Speaker 6 (49:08):
Look was his dad A Burrows?

Speaker 2 (49:10):
Who's his father? Yeah?

Speaker 6 (49:11):
Oh that's I forgot about that A Burrows.

Speaker 1 (49:15):
He was Broadway stuff he was. He directed me on Broadway.
And what a brilliant man he was. Burrows.

Speaker 6 (49:23):
Yeah, I think I think he did Guys and Dollars,
didn't you, Paul?

Speaker 1 (49:25):
I think so that's right, that's right, yeah, me and
what makes Sammy run?

Speaker 6 (49:31):
Oh wow?

Speaker 1 (49:32):
But he was brilliant.

Speaker 6 (49:33):
What stand up comedians do you like? We've had, by
the way, we've had Paul's friend Bill burro On, We've
had my friends. We've had my friend Sebastia manaskalakal On
love him Greg. And I'm just curious, who do you
think is funny?

Speaker 4 (49:48):
What is you look for hilarious? There's a kid named
Matthew friend.

Speaker 6 (49:54):
Oh, he's very fresh. I know him.

Speaker 4 (49:56):
He's amazing, Yes, very good political comedian, he's it up.
He is my college roommate's son what I've noticed as
he was born, you know. And it's a crazy story, guys,
because you know, as an impressionist, every once in a
while someone will say, oh, I do voices.

Speaker 6 (50:14):
Or or listen to my kid.

Speaker 4 (50:15):
Lady, well, I'm sure you run into it, Paul, listen
to my kids saying or whatever it is, and usually
you not and smile and go that's great.

Speaker 2 (50:23):
You know.

Speaker 4 (50:24):
When Matthew was about fifteen years old, his dad, Bill,
my good friend, said listen, listen to my boy.

Speaker 6 (50:30):
He does he does voices. And I was, you know,
with sort of a resigned like.

Speaker 4 (50:34):
Sure, let's hear what the kids gotten here, And out
came these voices from that are perfect open at that age,
and I felt like Salieri with Mozart. I felt like
I was like, do you understand how gifted this young
man is.

Speaker 6 (50:48):
I don't think you do.

Speaker 4 (50:50):
He's I hear this all. He's absolutely got beyond the goods.
And I was able to mentor him some in the
last few years. Now he doesn't need any help, but
all he's taking off. But it was really a joy
to be on the inside of that. Through my college
roommate's son. It was the craziest thing ever.

Speaker 1 (51:09):
I love that.

Speaker 6 (51:10):
One of my favorite things he does on social media,
of course, is when he's doing the person he's talking to.
I mean, he does Howard. He does Howard Stern better
than Howard Stern does Howard Howard Stern. In fact, on
The Simpsons, they wanted me to do Jeff Goldblum and
I was like, that's how I knew I'm mediocre at it.
And I said, yeah, I'm all right, but you know,

(51:30):
I know a kid because this f gold woman is perfect.
And he ended up doing it on the show. He's
done a few voices for us since then.

Speaker 2 (51:37):
No, I didn't know that.

Speaker 1 (51:38):
How old is he?

Speaker 6 (51:39):
It's like thirty five, baby, No, twenty four years lat
are really? Oh yeah, wow, yeah, twenty fourth. I just
remember he was very tall. I met him and had
a good yeah.

Speaker 2 (51:49):
Well.

Speaker 4 (51:49):
The funny thing is Bill, his dad was captain of
the tennis team Tops where we went, and he's a
very terrific tennis player. My son is a tremendous tennis player.
He's fifteen place tournaments. And we were there hanging out
with our boys one day and I look it at him.
I said, Bill, somehow you got my son and I
got your son. I don't know how this worked out.
I know we kept everything in bounds with the wives,

(52:12):
but it's amazing.

Speaker 7 (52:13):
Man.

Speaker 4 (52:14):
I've got this tennis playing kid, and he's got this
vocally gifted kid.

Speaker 6 (52:18):
That's great.

Speaker 1 (52:19):
So well point, what's the attitude to pickleball, Paul.

Speaker 6 (52:21):
I'm a huge tennis player.

Speaker 4 (52:23):
I'm not as good as my son or Bill, but
I'm one of the last holdouts. I don't get the
if I'm gonna, you know, if I have an hour free,
I want to hit balls on a tennis court.

Speaker 2 (52:32):
Yeah, I was you.

Speaker 1 (52:33):
I love the tests, but I but my my fiance
loves a pickleball, so I devate and jump over with her.
But it's gonna.

Speaker 6 (52:39):
I haven't done it yet, so heck.

Speaker 1 (52:41):
Let me ask you. Have you ever done any singers
other than Bruce No?

Speaker 6 (52:45):
I mean no. I singing character on The Simpsons all
the time.

Speaker 4 (52:50):
Chief has the best boys you can kind of belt
like Merman, there's no business.

Speaker 1 (52:56):
I shine open the window and everybody can hear.

Speaker 4 (52:59):
Her exactly play big voice, and I've sang on Broadway.
I was nominated for a Tony I still insist that
I'm the person with the least musical ability ever in
the history of Broadway to be nominated, but because I
was there to imitate all the speaking characters from Ronty
Python to the Holy Grail until I sang some you.

Speaker 1 (53:18):
Could do Tony Bennett. You could do Tony Bennett.

Speaker 4 (53:20):
I don't think I could, really. I mean, I can
do a silly you know, approximation.

Speaker 1 (53:26):
Right right right?

Speaker 6 (53:27):
I left my hung you know I can.

Speaker 1 (53:31):
With the lists I left my lost in that Francisco. No,
he doesn't list quite the well a little bit. You know.

Speaker 6 (53:40):
I used to have Alec Baldwin's speaking impression of him
on Saturday Night Lives.

Speaker 1 (53:46):
Well.

Speaker 4 (53:46):
It used to make me lamd this It's kind of
similar to Bruce at least when I do it. But no,
I've never really taken on a singing impression.

Speaker 6 (53:54):
That's another reason why I've been enjoying this Bruce.

Speaker 1 (53:57):
Thing so much.

Speaker 6 (54:00):
So when will we be able to see this? When
will this actually well? November eighth, Brooklyn Bowl, if you're
in New York.

Speaker 1 (54:07):
I'll be touring. I'll be around you. I'm doing Atlantic
City in New York and November fifteenth, you're doing your gig,
and I'm gonna be in Atlantic City. I'll be there
that whole week.

Speaker 4 (54:16):
We're in Jersey at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park
where Bruce got his start.

Speaker 6 (54:22):
So those are two. We got a bunch of dates
for next year. We'll be announced. How many venues would
you attempt to do this?

Speaker 2 (54:29):
Then?

Speaker 4 (54:29):
I'd love to do like two a month. You know,
we raised a nice amount for the foundation each time,
so I'm trying to do, you know, about twenty dates
a year in different cities and combine it with some
public appearances. You know, I just started doing this thing
where if I signed Simpson's Member of Billy. I don't
know if you've ever done these kind of signings, Paul,

(54:50):
but you get like a really nice amount for a
day's signing there and I do it. I give it
directly to the found So if.

Speaker 6 (55:01):
I go in and play with debayon and then during
the day I sign.

Speaker 4 (55:05):
Can raise a lot of money for the kids. So
that's something going to do next year along with this
one man actually also just signed on to do this
wonderful TV show with Mandy Patinkin be out next year.

Speaker 2 (55:16):
What's that?

Speaker 4 (55:17):
What's that's called The Artist's with Janet McTeer as well.
It's a really interesting show about the Gilded Age in
New York. And I played Thomas Edison, which is very oodcasting.
But I'm looking forward to that. There's really wonderful scripts
and I love Mandy Patinkin and Janet McTeer.

Speaker 6 (55:34):
I'm looking forward to that. You work a lot, man,
I mean, you've got so many things going on, it's unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (55:40):
Hey, they throw dirt on you if you stand.

Speaker 6 (55:42):
Still, skippy exactly.

Speaker 1 (55:44):
Well, keep doing it, man, keep doing it.

Speaker 6 (55:46):
My day job is the greatest in the world. The
Simpsons are always doing that.

Speaker 4 (55:49):
And actually I really turned down a lot because you know,
I'm fortunate enough to not have to because of the Simpsons,
and I love this band thing, so I'm committed to
that right now more than anything.

Speaker 6 (56:00):
Yeah, that's awesome.

Speaker 1 (56:02):
Eat one meal a day. You know Bruce's stick skip. Yeah, besides,
got a great guy that cuts his hair, guy Chris
out here. He eats one meal a day.

Speaker 6 (56:09):
I didn't know that, and that's it.

Speaker 1 (56:11):
He stays lean and mean, yeah, one meal. It was like,
that's what I do. I mean, I pick pick and.

Speaker 6 (56:16):
Then I have my big meal. I'm a big runner,
so I can partly so I can eat a lot.
I love to eat. So we took an hour of
your time, which has been really generous for your time.
We really appreciate your coming on.

Speaker 1 (56:29):
That's been great, man, I've loved it.

Speaker 6 (56:30):
We had a circle around your name for the longest
time that we wanted to get you. We've had thirty
plus podcasts and the names that keep coming up, you know,
like you mentioned Alec Baldwin. We've had Alec Baldwin on.
You know, We've had so many people, but this is
such a treat for us, especially me being a huge
Simpsons fan, to have you on. That's I'm like a fanboy.

(56:51):
I think it's just terrific and I appreciate you. Brother.
If I knew down Skip, I would have done more
advice gave.

Speaker 4 (56:58):
Yeah, there's a sneak of course, so and of course
you Professor franklich is based Not many kids know this,
of course only dre lewis not a professor that we
all remember, but most of the children.

Speaker 2 (57:11):
Do not go.

Speaker 4 (57:13):
He played h Frank's father on a Halloween episode of
The Simpsons many years ago, which I beg him, look,
we have to get Jerry Lewis please and we flew
to Vegas and recorded with Jerry.

Speaker 6 (57:25):
Oh yeah, was he cranky? Was he cranky? A little bit?
A little bit? But that was part of the whole thing,
you know, Well, Paul talks about that.

Speaker 2 (57:33):
That's why I was asking.

Speaker 4 (57:35):
Yes, Jerry was a little bit edgy at times, but
we still got through it.

Speaker 1 (57:39):
Somebody you know it was an enemy for life? Was
Bing Crosby?

Speaker 2 (57:43):
Is that right?

Speaker 6 (57:43):
And I did not know, well they did.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
They did a gig Hope and Crosby. Of course we're
very close, and they had this show and they're doing
something and they get Dean and Jerry. Well, Jerry, who's
very physical, you know those guys that are just physical humor. Sure, yes,
and he came out. So he starts grabs Hope by
the hair and fucking jumping all over him, missing and

(58:06):
Bing like left the goddamn stage on television, never came
back on because he didn't want Jerry, and Jerry kept
hounding him from the stage. Where are you we are? Bing?
Get out here. He does a whole bunch of stick
on him, and Bing wouldn't show up because he was
afraid that Jerry put a hand through his two pey
because being had a two picks.

Speaker 6 (58:27):
Well, probably was a reasonable fear.

Speaker 1 (58:29):
Yeah, right, absolutely, so they never spoke for years.

Speaker 4 (58:32):
I did some Bing crawling by on The Simpsons a
couple of times, but my bang sounds somewhere between BEng
and Dean Mark.

Speaker 6 (58:39):
I think maybe a little Elvis.

Speaker 1 (58:42):
Yeah, everybody loves somebody. He was underraty know. He was
a great singer.

Speaker 6 (58:51):
Oh he was.

Speaker 1 (58:52):
He was a great singer and never got acclaim for
how well he sung.

Speaker 6 (58:56):
But he was cool. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (58:58):
Well, Bing was the guy, you know, Frank and all
those guys admired. There was a part in there, that's
all Frank talked about. He went to the pipe, he
went to the vest. They admired Bing Crosby. Well, of
course the cool cat was Frank, you know, and he
didn't do himself, but they all idolized being.

Speaker 4 (59:15):
Well, all those guys were tremendous. I mean, what a
time yourself included. I know you you idolized Frank. You
mentioned that earlier. But that style of singing and those songs,
you know, those it was more of my parents' generation.
I grew up more, you know, with Bruce and that
whole rock and roll era. But I love dearly that

(59:38):
music too. I grew up with it.

Speaker 1 (59:39):
Yeah, well it influenced me.

Speaker 7 (59:41):
You know.

Speaker 1 (59:41):
It was humbled to be around it. You know, it
was a fluke for me to be a kid to
be singing with those guys and I just because I
didn't even have my voice then I had a squeaky
little kid voice and I was writing.

Speaker 6 (59:50):
That's all that saved. Now you did, all right? Yeah
you had at a young age and you're a teenager.

Speaker 1 (59:55):
Hey man, this has been really cool, really really cool.

Speaker 6 (59:59):
Thanks for me, Thanks for growing pleasure.

Speaker 1 (01:00:02):
We've enjoyed it. You're so talented man. And just I'm
waiting for that show yours to finish with everything else
you're doing. You know, I just I love people that
are creative and have the integrity and that are you know,
one of a kind, and that's you.

Speaker 2 (01:00:16):
Man.

Speaker 1 (01:00:16):
You've really had a great career.

Speaker 4 (01:00:17):
Thank you so much. Right back at your Paul. It's
a real honored to chat with you both.

Speaker 6 (01:00:21):
Thanks Jack, thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:00:32):
Our Way with Paul, Anka and Skip Bronson is a
production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 3 (01:00:37):
The show's executive producer is Jordan Runtog, with supervising producer
and editor Marcy Depina.

Speaker 1 (01:00:45):
It was engineered by Todd Carlin and Graham Gibson, mixed
and mastered by the wonderful Mary Do.

Speaker 2 (01:00:52):
If you like what you heard, please subscribe and leave
us a review.

Speaker 1 (01:00:56):
For more podcasts on iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.