Jesse Tyler Ferguson

This week on Thanks Dad, Ego sits down with actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson! To start, Jesse thanks the beautiful New York weather, even if it’s sending mixed signals. Ego and Jesse chat through their health and wellness routines, and how Jesse takes care of himself while performing six shows a week in his off-Broadway show Tru. They also dive into their favorite food review apps, Jesse’s passion for the culinary world, and all the essentials for throwing a perfect dinner party.

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
I'm ready. I'm always ready.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm ready as well, and I'm going to do your intro.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Okay, I'm gonna stick and watch you.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Do my next and rate me. Could you give me
out of five?

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Sure?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
The highest?

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Okay, Okay, let's go.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
My next guest is an actor you know and love
from Modern Family, his podcast Dinners on Me, and the
star of the Broadway show True is Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
Hello, Hello, that was a four point five?

Speaker 2 (00:42):
What could I have done better?

Speaker 1 (00:43):
Well? True's technically off Broadway, but that's like you did
nothing wrong with that information. That's exactly so you're half
point off on the introduction.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Never's doing the intros because.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Of someone else. Yeah, it's complete sabotage.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Can I do over? No?

Speaker 1 (00:59):
You have to like live with what you've done. This
is an imperfect podcast. You told me it's true, so
we have to let that. We have to let it go.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Okay, Well, I'm happy you're here.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
But I love that you upgraded it as a Broadway show.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Oh yeah, manifestation is big.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
You never know, you never know.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Could it go be on?

Speaker 1 (01:20):
I don't think. I don't think i'd want it to.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
I'm tired, are you tired. How many shows a week
are It's.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Only six shows a week, but it's mostly it's all mean.
Oh yeah, it's a one man show.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
So it's just it's a lot of work that is exhausting.
Do you have any regrets about it?

Speaker 1 (01:36):
No, I'm very I was trying to think of a
funny answer, and like then I was like, no, I
should be honest and like just very earnest. I don't.
I love doing it. It's like artistically very satisfying.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Oh good, okay, so wonderful. I'm so happy to have
you here with me. Thank you for making time. Who
or what do you want to say thanks to?

Speaker 1 (01:56):
I want to say thanks to this beautiful day. We
have been suffering so hard in New York with this,
with this winter. Yeah, I kept thinking. I was like,
if this winter gives me any more mixed messages, I'm
going to fall in love with it. It is you, so
every like every other day, it was like what what

(02:18):
are we doing now? What are we doing now? Like
the fact that I think we're finally out of it
is something I want to say thank you to.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Okay, famous last words, because I'm concerned that we're going
on now. I see some rain on the forecast. Rain's fine,
you're okay with rain.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
I'm okay with a little rain. I mean I live
in La now mostly so like, ok, I'm not really
okay with rain, but like because we don't deal with
it there well, the driving, the driving and just you know,
everyone stops in their vehicles and panics. I don't know
what are we in a car wash? What's going on?

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Fair enough? So you know the weather here New York
City has been it's giving mixed, it's giving mixed signals,
very mixed. So but we could find you and Mother
Nature in a situationship maybe depending on what happens next week.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
I don't know. Yeh, I'm willing to go. I'm willing
to take the roller coaster ride with Mother Nature for
like another week. But like then, we needed to make
some choices.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
Okay, you want warmth, I'm rooting for warmth, right, yes?
Or do you take two showers on a very hot
day where you maybe sweat on your commute? What's how
do you manage it in New York?

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah, it's like I'm constantly showering.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
I did Shakespeare in the Park last summer, and so
I was not only in New York, you know, living.
But I was performing on stage and you know, wearing
hot costumes, like being in like warm clothes and like, yeah,
in the direct sun, and I'm like, look at my skin.
I mean I shouldn't and uh yeah. There was definitely

(03:52):
like multiple shower days, the ever showers at the theater
and we were all like, there was the constant line
for those.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Showers, okay, because everyone's trying to get clean. I left
my home this morning. I was, you know, I thought
it was a fine enough temperature. Immediate regret once I
was on my commute, because I was like, I should
put on shorts. I'm so hot, I'm sweating. I just
got out of the shower, but I'm sweating. But that
is New York. It's the beauty, don't you love.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
My favorite thing in New York in the summer is
when you are on a train and now, living here
long enough, I think we both know what to do.
You see it's an empty subway car, Colm, and you're like,
oh great, all these other cars are crowded. Let's let
me get on this empty subway car. Either, there's the
most foul smell you've ever smelled in the world on
that subway car or it is like nine hundred.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Degrees and that's why I have to tell you on Monday. Yeah,
just mere days ago, I found myself in an empty
subway car and I when I was getting on, I
was like, why is nobody else some carspicious? But guess what?
There was nothing. There was no scent, was no love. Yeah,
I couldn't smell it. There was no scent that I

(04:57):
knew of, And it was like just quiet on the
train and a good temperature, a great temperature. I thought,
my little private ride. I felt so luxurious on the
It was on the one luxurious, but then immediately I
think two stops, So I got to ride by myself
for two stops. Next those two stop, after two stops,
a woman came on on a speakerphone conversation, yelling at

(05:20):
whoever she was talking to. And then the next stop
another woman was on the phone plus a man playing
the accordion. Watched those two have an altercation because she
offered him something. He's like, I can't eat with that,
and I was like, oh my god. It went from
change peace to chaos. Chaos, But we love New York

(05:42):
for that, do so are you you're based then in LA,
but you're here because of.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
The I mean, I have a place here. I started
my career in New York, so I this is where
I've considered this like spiritually my home. Sure, but I've
been in LA longer than I've ever been in New York.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
Fair fair enough, imagine, I say it's not that's not fair.

Speaker 1 (06:03):
It's not fair.

Speaker 2 (06:06):
Your choices now, you said, look at you, Yeah, burn easily.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
I do.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
What's your methodology? Hat? This hat?

Speaker 1 (06:15):
I got the sunscreen. I wear swim shirts like I'm
that person. I grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which
is like a terrible place to raise a redhead. Yeah,
and like you know, when I was born in seventy five,
so like I was in the eighties, I mean we
were aware of sunscreen, and my mom took certain precautions,
but like, yeah, there were just days where she forgot

(06:38):
and like I got really badly burned. And so I'm
like paying the price now. And so as an adult,
like I'm like, Okay, I can take my skincare into
my own hands. I'm really good about it. Like I'm
doing after I leave you, I'm going this is so
like I'm really bringing my la vibe to me. I'm
going into a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. What is is that

(07:00):
It's like it's like a vessel. It's like a it's
like an esophagus. It's like it's like a it's like
a submargable submarine that won't implode upon you. It's and
like yeah, it zips up and like and then it's
pressurized air, so like it feels like for like fifteen minutes,
like you're like in an airplane with your ears popping.

Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:21):
And then once it's pressurized, they pump in purified oxygen
and so you breathe like the most pure oxygen for
like forty five minutes. And apparently it's really good for
like rejuvenation. Yeah, and I got a kind of a
little bit of a bad burn a few days ago.
I can tell you the story if you're interested.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
But like I'm curious, we'll come back.

Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah, okay, But so I anyway, I'm doing that. It's
like I think all this stuff is like good for
you know, the skin trauma that I've had, and I
see results actually do yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
Like you feel like your skin is better, You're breathing improves.
Does it actually feel.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
Like I don't know. I feel like it's like of
all the anti A stuff, like I rolled my eyes
out a lot of that stuff. This I feel like
it's actually like it it's something's going on. It's okay, happening.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah something.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
I'm fifty and I think I look pretty good.

Speaker 2 (08:10):
You look amazing.

Speaker 1 (08:12):
And I don't think it's because of anything, Like, it's
not because my genetics. I think it's like stuff that
I've been you've been trying to do.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
Are you a person who takes supplements?

Speaker 1 (08:19):
I do? Now, Yeah, what are you on? I don't know.
It's like a bag of ship that like that's what
this doctor gave me.

Speaker 2 (08:26):
I have so many supplements. I'm like, this is now
teetering from healthy to unhealthy. No way, I'm I supposed
to be taking twenty pills exactly. That can't be okay.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
I think it's okay. I'm here to bring my lag
energy to you. I'm here. No, it's fine, it's fine,
We're good. I know. I like coq ten. I know
that's one of them.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
Like coqu tin. I have nad keep going or have
nack nah na?

Speaker 1 (08:53):
What's nack?

Speaker 2 (08:55):
The CEA stands for something else? It's not a D,
it's a C. My friend told me it's for like
rejuvenating cells. That's a good question. All the supplements are.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
Rejuvenating, juvenating something.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
And it's for cells. And I had an injury, shoulder injury,
and it was She's like, you should you have to
be taking nat and do you feel better? I think
I think so. But here's my thing is are these
placebos potentially? But I think a placebo effect it still
has an effect, whether it's in your head or not.
It's like, great, I feel better, But twenty supplements is crazy.

(09:29):
Coq ten I'm taking as well, But what.

Speaker 1 (09:32):
Was it for?

Speaker 2 (09:33):
I don't know. Say Bill that told me to take
NAC told me to take coq ten. I was like,
anything you say, queen. Yeah, she did her research and
I was like, thanks, I will just live off of
your research.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
I'm none right, yeah exactly. Can I piggyback on that? Yeah?
Like I know, like Tumeric's good for like joint pain,
I'm on that.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
Okay, like just a turmerk supplement.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
Yeah, okay, yeah, I'm like, can I just I have
the like the spice in my drawer? Can I just
down yeah that? Yeah, like the cinnamon challenge, and I thought.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
I almost choked on the school bus and in sixth
grade doing the cinnamon challenge.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
Wait, the cinnamon challenge exists, has been around for that long?

Speaker 2 (10:13):
What are you trying to say?

Speaker 1 (10:15):
As it was coming out of my mouth, I was
coming out of my mother, I was like, this is
going to go very wrong.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
It's been around for that long.

Speaker 1 (10:22):
I mean I didn't feel like, hey, I just feel
like I saw it. Like five years ago, you.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
Owed a baggard bitch. Cinnamon challenge was around.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
You were when they first discovered cinnamon, right, yeah, yeah,
oh my gosh, I know, well I heard it as
I was coming in my mouth.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, but I almost choked on the school bus because
I was like, yeah, you're gonna give me five Somebody
was like, for five dollars if you down this spoon
of cinnamon. I was like, yeah, why would not? The
bitch was choking. It was like and I'm kind of
a germophobe, and like the most non germophobic person on

(11:00):
the school bus had water, and I was like like,
I was like, oh, choke on the bus in front
of everyone, all for five dollars. But I didn't think
I understood I just was like, what could go wrong here? Well,
you found I found out almost died, but Tumberic might
be different, and it might be different.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
You see that's definitely not been around that long. Yeah, yeah,
we just discovered that to day.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yes, today we're going to start something. But at least
it's that, like it's a truly healthy, healthy little thing.
I have to know your burn story though, Oh my.

Speaker 1 (11:31):
God, this I mean so okay. So I'm doing this
play True about Trumka PODi and my costume designer, the
incredible Sam Specter who dresses Alan coming out.

Speaker 2 (11:44):
I know Sam loves Sam.

Speaker 1 (11:46):
Yes, yes, I've been working with him for years, adore him.
He came on and was a costume designer for True
and he was he missed opening night and so he
gave me this beautiful Zippo lighter, like this beautiful engraved
gold Zippo lighter and it's True and it has like
the date and the venue name and and I. But
it didn't have any fluid in it already. You know,

(12:08):
you know I could tell anyone whose listening is like,
I'm nervous, sorry for this, So I get butane and
you know it's it's one of those things, but like
the little like the little tiny nubby sort of straw
that you.

Speaker 2 (12:21):
Put into Yes, yes, I've seen I have lighters that
are like like translucent exactly. Yea. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:27):
So I was filling it with uh butane, and I
guess some of it had spilled out into this.

Speaker 2 (12:33):
Where do you get one? Does one acquire?

Speaker 1 (12:34):
But I just get I just got on Amazon order butane. Yeah,
it's just it's safe. It's like for zimple lighters and
like you know, yeah, it's it's it's no big deal. Okay,
wait here that story. Uh So, some of it had
dripped out into the sink, and I guess I thought
i'd cleaned it up. I didn't, And I tested the

(12:57):
lighter and like a mission impossible style like fireball in
my apartment, like flew out of the sink and it
hit me in the face. Sended my eyebrows sends, my
eyelashes sinded, my hairline, sweater was burned. Beard hair is burned.

(13:21):
I felt I felt like I had a sun burn.
And I was like, as I said, which I'm used
to it. I was like, it's okay, it's just it's
just like it's just gonna be a little.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
Bit of like it went out on its own. You
didn't have to stop drop and roll.

Speaker 1 (13:31):
I didn't have to stop dropping and roll. Okay, it did.
It was like a flash and then it was out, okay,
and like I had a show in two hours. So
I was like, okay, well this is bad. I have
one of those. I'm really giving you all my beauty secrets.
I have one of the it's sort of gone viral
on Instagram. It's like it's called the face tub, and

(13:52):
it's like it has like a yeah, and it has
like a little like scuba diving kind of like breathing
apparatus so you can keep your face submerged like two minutes.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:02):
So I don't know. I thought I'm gonna do one
of these like right away. So I plunged my face
into ice water, which is probably not what you do.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
It's lukewarm. You're supposed to go like lukewarm.

Speaker 1 (14:11):
I don't know. I shouldn't be in charge of my ownbody. Yeah,
I did a constant chaperon. Okay. So I plunged my
face into ice water and I was like it was
it didn't feel great, but I was like it's fine.
I did the show that night, and like after the show,
I had some friends there that night and I was
telling them the story and I was like, as I

(14:32):
was telling the story, I was like, I feel moisture
under my nose. I have like a seeping open wound
under my nose from like a burn.

Speaker 2 (14:39):
It was like giving a third degree. Yeah, that's giving degrees.

Speaker 1 (14:43):
Three degree three. And so I was like putting neosporn
on it and like just doing stuff for a few days,
putting makeup on my face to I cover it for
the show. I was like, well, this is actually the
rosiness kind of works for this alcoholic character that I'm playing.
It's like, let's just roll with it. But you know,
like I had like a lease of and a lip
like it was just like it was very like puffy
from like a blister basically. And I I called do

(15:09):
you know Busy Phillips.

Speaker 2 (15:10):
I do.

Speaker 1 (15:10):
Yeah, she's a friend of mine and we were facetiming.
She goes, what the fuck is wrong with your face
right now? And so I was like I told her
and she's like, what have you been doing? Did you
go see a Doctor's like no, and she goes, oh
my god. I just keep forgetting like gay men are
just men like you refuse to do anything for yourself.
So she's liked, go to a doctor. She gave me
the name of a number of TODs. It was Easter weekend.

(15:30):
I was like, I scrambled anyway. I started doing all
this stuff for my face, one of the things being
this hyperbaric oxygen chamber, and really within like three four days,
they like really started to improve. So like a week later,
I was okay, but like it was nobleino.

Speaker 2 (15:44):
That's not good one at the doctors.

Speaker 1 (15:46):
So you had it was all over the phone and
I sent photos and they're like, yeah, let's talk.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
Great. I love that you still refuse to go in office.

Speaker 1 (15:53):
Because it was Easter weekend. Hey I know. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
I'm like I would need to. I need you to
see this.

Speaker 1 (15:59):
Everyone else I know who has heard the stories, Like
I absolutely would have like canceled the show. I've been
into it, like a like the emergency room that night.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
Yeah, I just I didn't casually.

Speaker 1 (16:09):
I was like, if I don't give it attention, it
won't have really happened.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
Your mind is your mind is powerful. You believe that
about you.

Speaker 1 (16:16):
It's not, but I mean I think it is. But
I also in hindsight, Like God, once I saw how
bad it was, I was like, Oh, that could have
been really bad. I could have done some serious damage.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
Truly. That's it's that's so scary. I like fire, but
it's so scary.

Speaker 1 (16:38):
Not in your face, not in your.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
Well, not a big that would send me into a spiral.
Burned off my eyebrows and lashes.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
Like they are stubby. Yeah, I used to have luxurious slashes.

Speaker 2 (16:53):
Would you ever consider getting lash extensions.

Speaker 1 (16:56):
If these don't grow back? I would? Okay, I'm gonna
wait and see how the girls do.

Speaker 2 (17:00):
They lay for like two hours again, I mean slash extensions.
I don't think I could lay for that.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
Long, just because of like the time commitment of.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yeah, I hate getting my nails done because you don't
want to sit. I can't be sitting.

Speaker 1 (17:14):
No, I hate about meditation.

Speaker 2 (17:16):
I have been doing it more regularly. I like it.
It's part of a morning routine. I really quite enjoyed.

Speaker 1 (17:23):
It makes for a better thing that you can actually
meditate that.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yes, it surprises me. Also it's it's imperative for me. Really,
I don't do it every day, but I should. Do
you meditate?

Speaker 1 (17:32):
I have studied it. I got my mantra from I
did the TM Transcendental Transcendental Meditation. I went to like
the David Lynch Institute. I learned all this stuffy. I
loved it, and then I just sort of like fell
off of it and I need to get back in.

Speaker 2 (17:49):
Yeah, it's easy to fall off. Do you have any
morning routines.

Speaker 1 (17:53):
Coffee just coffee?

Speaker 2 (17:56):
When did you first get addicted to coffee?

Speaker 1 (17:58):
I used to work at star Bucks when I was
first in New York City, and also another independent coffee
shop called Dalton's Coffee that's not around anymore. And so
when I was working at Starbucks, I was just drinking
the product.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
I was drinking your own supply, and that's how it started.
I didn't drink coffee in college because I didn't want
to be like, oh, it's crazy to need something to
get my day started. But I've just sort of swapped
it out, not swapped yet from Macha. I have a
Macha every day. Yeah, but now I'm kind of over it.
I don't think when people like I've been drinking coffee

(18:33):
for thirty five years, I'm like, I think me and
Macha put in a good three h and as of
like last week, I'm like, what if I didn't have
one of these every day? And what if I what
if I raw dog every day?

Speaker 1 (18:44):
Are you missing it?

Speaker 2 (18:46):
No? No, I had one today. Do you think there's
am I addicted to Macha?

Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yeah, it doesn't sound like you are. It seems like
you've been able to say goodbye to it.

Speaker 2 (18:55):
I think I can say bye. I have a little canister.
I make it at home too, and of the day exactly,
dh e a five milligrams every day. Energy's up. I
el tyro scene because my.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
Friend, I think I think that's one of the ones.

Speaker 2 (19:12):
Is that one of them?

Speaker 1 (19:13):
I think? So that sounds familiar when I tell you.

Speaker 2 (19:15):
When I tell you diagnosing myself over here and being
like I need that. There's this website that just makes
it all too I mean, all the websites too easy,
And I'm just like, well that sounds good, boost my mood,
more energy. I want all this stuff. I'm like, I'll
take it off. But I'm like, you should be supervised.
Maybe do you have siblings?

Speaker 1 (19:42):
I do? I do?

Speaker 2 (19:43):
Where do you fall in the lineup?

Speaker 1 (19:45):
I'm the oldest.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
Do you love yes? Because the oldest I feel like
often the artists are the youngest.

Speaker 1 (19:54):
My sister, well, my sister, my middle the middle sibling
is like she used to dance stuff, so she has
artistic tendencies. My youngest was like a sports guy. Oh
my youngest.

Speaker 2 (20:04):
Okay, an oldest sibling. In many ways, the younger siblings
are their children. Also, did you like being the oldest?

Speaker 1 (20:12):
I did? I did? I still nice to like it? Yeah, yeah,
I did. I enjoyed. I don't know, I sort of
like forging the way I guess.

Speaker 2 (20:25):
Did you feel pressured anyway as the oldest to be
like well behaved or accomplished.

Speaker 1 (20:31):
I was a really good kid. I was very shy.
I was an indoor kid, you know what I mean.
I coded for so many other things as I'm looking
at Bowen Yang outside there on that screen, also an
indoor kid, you know what I mean. And so I
was just like think wired to be good. And I

(20:56):
was very driven though I knew what I wanted to do.
I knew I wanted to be an actor. Yeah, And
that was, like I think, because I was a very
shy kid who did not have a lot of friends,
like I was bullied a lot, and so like I
was the theater community that I found outside of school
was like, oh, these are where all the weirdos are.
So like I knew what I wanted to do, So

(21:18):
the pressure for me with my siblings was actually more.
I don't know, I feel like there might have been
a little bit of pressure from them feeling like, oh,
Jesse knows exactly what he wants to do. Yeah, Like
I felt like they felt more pressure because they were
still like taking time to figure it out.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
Sure, you know, did you ever have a plan be
at all?

Speaker 1 (21:39):
In hindsight? No, but like I know now just in
like what I was like, I you know, I have
interest now and like I love art and I love cooking,
and like I feel like I would have gone to
culinary school or I would have done something in the
advertising world or something, but at the time, there was
like no backup plan.

Speaker 2 (21:59):
This is it. Yeah, where did you grow up?

Speaker 1 (22:01):
Albuquerque?

Speaker 2 (22:01):
Albuquerque? Yes, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Not a good place to
be a redhead, a sunburn as a child. Yeah, but
you look at you now, you're in LA I know.
Also not the greatest place.

Speaker 1 (22:16):
To be, but with more wisdom about how I should
be navigating myself through those aerated climates.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, Now now your skin is in your hands.
What else is in the skincare routine? By the way,
what else?

Speaker 1 (22:33):
I'm I do get facials a lot. There's this wand
that's like a cooling wand for underneath my eyes. I
love that thing.

Speaker 2 (22:41):
Is it the thera?

Speaker 1 (22:42):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (22:43):
Yes, tiny gardener gave me one for Christmas a couple
of years ago. It's really nice, really nice, good And
when I've had a headache though, putting in on the
heating where you're like, I just want heat right at
the right it's really nice.

Speaker 1 (22:57):
Perfect. Yeah, my kids are obsessed with it. I'm like,
I don't think you should be putting that in any
face when you're young.

Speaker 2 (23:02):
How many kids do you have?

Speaker 1 (23:03):
I have two kids around four and seven. They're about
to change ages, but yeah, young little ones, little ones,
two boys.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Did you always know you wanted to be a dad?

Speaker 1 (23:14):
I think I did. I I'm I was born in
seventy five, so like for me, like being gay, having
a family was not really something that I always like
strived for. My husband is ten years younger than me,
and I think he and he also he grew up
in California, and so for him, I think he just

(23:35):
always knew that was a possibility. And so he's actually
been really wonderful to go through this experience of like,
you know, fighting for marriage equality because like he had
like this belief that it could happen for me. I
was like, do you do you really think it might happen?

Speaker 2 (23:49):
Of course?

Speaker 1 (23:49):
So well, and like he so he I think always
had a program that he wanted to be a dad,
and it was really nice to have him along this
stride because I think he just always knew it was
just amount of time. I was like, I don't know,
is it possible? Even yeah? So yeah, but I'm I
think I always had the desire.

Speaker 2 (24:06):
Yeah, between the two of you, though, who is the
like disciplinarian maybe like a little stricter, cautious, And who's
the fun time or are you?

Speaker 1 (24:18):
I thought I would be more disciplinarian, and I'm definitely
more the fun time. Justin's fun. But like I remember
when he was away for ten days and I just
had the boys by myself, and he came back from
this vacation and it was like, oh, Dad's home.

Speaker 2 (24:31):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:33):
I think he even said he's like, yeah, I'm back. Yes.
I was like, Okay, well least.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
Yeah, Oh, your absence created a levity. Yes, exactly, you're
back and okay, yeah everyone so he knows it. Yeah,
and that's and that's fine. I wonder myself. I go
back and forth between I want to have kids. I
go back and forth between like will I be fun
or will I be strict? Because I'm kind of type A. Yeah,

(24:59):
So are you Type A or type.

Speaker 1 (25:01):
I am Type A?

Speaker 2 (25:02):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (25:02):
I am like I like things of a specific way,
Like I'm the type of person that will like adjust
the lights in the room from another location, like I'll
get on the cameras like no, that's too right, just
on the loutron on my app. And you're not even
in this space.

Speaker 2 (25:21):
But I won't let the.

Speaker 1 (25:22):
People who space which I will eventually be in, I
need to walk into the space.

Speaker 2 (25:26):
It would be days from now exactly, but I need
it to look like this. Do you have cameras in
every most of the rooms in your mouth?

Speaker 1 (25:34):
Just two rooms inside and then it's everything else is outside,
but at the kitchen and the living room, which is
like the main spaces. Yeah, I don't really know why
we have cameras inside the house. I don't really love.

Speaker 2 (25:43):
That, but It is an interesting I have a lot
of my friends have cameras in their places and they
just live with themselves, and I'm like, who.

Speaker 1 (25:51):
Do you think is yeah, exactly the pets.

Speaker 2 (25:54):
And one has a pet, so would make sense, But
a few others I'm like, no pet, just a camera
in the house and who are you watching? Yeah, okay,
here's my thing with the cameras. Do you think that
the cameras are really helping us catch intruders? Because the
number of things I've seen on social media that are
like my ring camera picked up this person who keeps

(26:16):
stealing my packages or my ring camera picked up Ye.
I'm like, great, does anybody on the internet know this person? Probably,
but I'm not seeing you catch them, right, So now.

Speaker 1 (26:26):
It's just proof that something's happening. Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
I have a friend who got robbed and she had
a camera in her closet, so like they have like
footage of like the thief like literally ransacking her closet
and taking her jewelry. And I was like, that's great,
now what it's just your place the jewelry. Watched the

(26:48):
video like, well, that's scary, your jewelry is gone. Exactly
what a film. It's a beautiful nominated Yeah.

Speaker 2 (26:59):
It's gonna want to Yeah, yeah, exactly. Your jewelry's right. Yeah,
I keep thinking I want to get a camera, but
I'm like, I don't. I don't. I don't in my
New York apartment. But I'm like, why I don't. I
don't understand what would it do? I don't know, but
I but I, but I get it the comfort speeds
of mind, you know that, just in case you could

(27:20):
get a short film out of it. Exactly, show friends
over one.

Speaker 1 (27:23):
If you go on I mean I will go into
holes on Instagram, you know where I like people the
people falling down, And it's just because like people are
constantly recording themselves. Yeah yeah, uploading it.

Speaker 2 (27:33):
And going I do number I don't mine. Do you
go down a lot of rabbit holes on social media?

Speaker 1 (27:42):
I wish I didn't, but I do. I need. I
need to have a cleansing of my I need to
do a detox.

Speaker 2 (27:47):
Do you do you want to do a detext because
you don't like what the algorithm is giving you or
you're spending too much time or both. Yeah?

Speaker 1 (27:53):
Yeah, yeah, okay for sure.

Speaker 2 (27:55):
How many hours would you say you are on social
media a day. God, I feel not apple about it.

Speaker 1 (28:02):
Just when I'm home with my family, it's not that much.
But I'm my kids are in l A and I'm
here by myself, and it's a it's a this.

Speaker 2 (28:09):
Is imperfect podcast. Yeah, and so what we're gonna act
like you don't do that?

Speaker 1 (28:16):
Sometimes we actually amplify it.

Speaker 2 (28:18):
Yeah, let's actually crank the volume is guys.

Speaker 1 (28:23):
But now that I'm by myself, I uh, it's a lot.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
It's a lot.

Speaker 1 (28:28):
As I don't scrolling. It's not hurting anyone. I'm gonna
taking time away from anyone else.

Speaker 2 (28:33):
It's just the quality of your mond. No problem, no problem.

Speaker 1 (28:41):
But too much.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
But it's easy. It's too easy, and the algorithm, this
is not profound what I'm about to say. Just keep
showing me stuff that I'm like, I just talked about
that thing yesterday, this most obscure thing, and now you're
feeding it to me. And then and then I actually
think when they're a little too spot on with that,
and it's so specific and it's so not in the
zeit ice but shows up on my feet, I'm like,

(29:04):
you're having the opposite effect on me, because now I'm
like i'm putting my phone away, I actually get spooked
and I'm like, I don't like that that happened, and
I put the phone down, but I'm not a lot.

Speaker 1 (29:14):
But then I pick it up.

Speaker 2 (29:16):
Of course, do you with the screen time notification from
Apple that it gives every.

Speaker 1 (29:20):
Week, I'm very annoyed with that. That's been really passive aggressive.
Just see now, just just see you now it's Sunday,
and just see you now.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
Hey, you're having a nice high.

Speaker 1 (29:34):
So can we just sort of recap your week?

Speaker 2 (29:36):
Just see you now and compared to you.

Speaker 1 (29:41):
I hate it.

Speaker 2 (29:42):
It's so terrible.

Speaker 1 (29:43):
I haven't turned it off, though I know I haven't either.

Speaker 2 (29:46):
It's a little masochistic to keep it on, but it's
just easier to just keep it.

Speaker 1 (29:50):
There was this thing that was using for like two
point five days called the Brick. About this, I've heard
about the h and you.

Speaker 2 (29:57):
So you got the brick, you paid for the Brick,
You used it for two point five days? Ye did
you find it effective? And why did you stop using it?

Speaker 1 (30:04):
I stopped using it because it so the brick. You
scan your phone on like this brick, and then it
blocks all these apps that you have to choose. You
have to like program your phones, like what do you
need for the day, and basically you scan scan it
front on the brick, leave the house, leave the brick
at home, and then you just have the things that
you need on your phone. And I blocked like a
lot of things on my phone obviously, But then I

(30:25):
would be out and about and I was like, oh,
I need to look that up for like, I don't
know if I was at a restaurant or something, and
I wanted to like look up what this dish is
because I didn't want to speak to the way, of course,
but I you know, it wasn't available to me. It
was like, oh crap, I like blocked too many things,
and so I just found myself needing. I mean I

(30:47):
really only wanted social media blocked, which I need, so
I need to go back and and reprogram the phone
to like, but then that was like I needed, like
I had marked something on Instagram. I remember that's what
it was. I'd marked like a restaurant on Instagram that
I wanted to try, and like, yeah, I was in
the neighborhood. I knew the restaurant was. I couldn't remember
the name of it, and I was like, I'll just
look on Instagram and it wasn't available to me, and
the brick was at home. The brick was at home.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
That would piss me off, IM, Like, I couldn't I
see why the brick. You're not on the brick anymore?

Speaker 1 (31:13):
So, Yeah, but it is.

Speaker 2 (31:15):
It's clearly effective. But what you want to have is
just like appropriate boundaries around social media as opposed to
like you cannot touch this because I too, My friend
bookmark a restaurant and dishes and we.

Speaker 1 (31:29):
Have to talk about that.

Speaker 2 (31:32):
We have to talk what is your food source, your restaurant?
Are you on eater? Are you on what is it? Infatuation?
REI has some publications as well.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
You know, I haven't got into the resuds.

Speaker 2 (31:44):
Obviously it's biased because it's like restaurant restaurants that are
on RESI.

Speaker 1 (31:49):
I like infatuation a lot. YEAHSI can tend to be
not eater. Eater can tend to be a little tabloid O.

Speaker 2 (31:59):
What do you mean by that?

Speaker 1 (32:00):
I just feel like giving a little snarky for no reason. Okay,
I feel like infatuation is a little bit more like
grounded in reality, right right. I like eter though, Like
I like their heat maps and like tells you like
where to go, like what's hot and at the time,
like I think they're good for that. Sometimes I find
they're like articles to be a little like just a
little mean spirited. Okay, although they're like the ones who

(32:23):
were like, you know, blow up the stories about like
chef's behaving badly and like.

Speaker 2 (32:28):
Oh oh, that's the owners in La Frog No horses
horses horses because then they did froll Club in New York, right,
same team. Yes, And I was sitting in the dining
room with someone when doing like a friends and family
seating at w and and did you like it?

Speaker 1 (32:45):
I thought it was overrated And I like that chef.
I think she's great. Yeah, But there was an item
on the mini did you see, like kiss the chef
for like a thousand dollars?

Speaker 2 (32:52):
No, I did not see that. That wasn't on the
friends and family men. You tell me what was that
was literally did you kiss her on the mouth?

Speaker 1 (32:59):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (32:59):
I didn't.

Speaker 1 (33:00):
I didn't order it.

Speaker 2 (33:02):
It wasn't a dish. It was an experience.

Speaker 1 (33:04):
It was like called kiss the chef, and it was
like there was a price to it, which I thought
was so weird.

Speaker 2 (33:07):
That is very weird.

Speaker 1 (33:09):
I can't imagine.

Speaker 2 (33:10):
I want to know who who knows? For one thousand dollars,
would you let.

Speaker 1 (33:13):
Maybe I might be upping the price, maybe it's five hundred.

Speaker 2 (33:15):
It was something still for a five hundred dollars.

Speaker 1 (33:18):
There was also a very expensive dessert, like a Sunday
that was super price. Maybe it's a Sunday and kiss
the chef to just.

Speaker 2 (33:24):
To oneuper one. Yeah, you get a Sunday, a little
ice cream and a little kiss.

Speaker 1 (33:29):
And I don't know, I don't.

Speaker 2 (33:31):
I have a hard time remembering that meal. I went
on Valentine's Day with a group of people and I
remember just we were like the chef the cats.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (33:42):
I read half of that article. I should pick it
back up.

Speaker 1 (33:45):
It's fascinating.

Speaker 2 (33:46):
Yeah, I read.

Speaker 1 (33:47):
There's a lot of twists and turns. That's like it's
like a podcast. Okay, I mean they need to do
more about that.

Speaker 2 (33:53):
I need more information, yes, okay, I need to get
into it. So you're so your go Do you ever
use YELP?

Speaker 1 (33:59):
I don't.

Speaker 2 (34:01):
What do you think your aversion to it is?

Speaker 1 (34:03):
It feels like the Applebee's of like of food blogs.

Speaker 2 (34:14):
I'm old and I'm the Applebee's.

Speaker 1 (34:19):
Just like the stuff I'm gonna find on yelp is like, yeah, yeah, Chili's.
I know I know about Chilis. I know I know
about the blue.

Speaker 2 (34:31):
From this podcast.

Speaker 1 (34:33):
Yelp is, are you a sponsor?

Speaker 2 (34:38):
Yes, yes, thanks dad? Sponsored by I mean yeah, sponsored
by Yelp. Yelp is like unbiased. I feel of course
people are sending because also people kind of like left
it behind in a way vintage. We will see it
as vintage. I think it's a pure place I find
in terms of reviewing, because even when I talk about

(34:59):
the PubL locations, the publications are like, great, you had
a great publicist who got you in the Eater list
of ten best new restaurants in New York. We have
to I want, I'm supposed to do your podcast at
some point, so we'll deep dive on food then sure, ye.
But Yelp, I think it's just sort of like people
think of it as vintage. It's not particularly cool to people.
I love the app is on my phone. I'm obsessed

(35:22):
with Yelp.

Speaker 1 (35:23):
See when I click on something online and it takes
me to Yelp. First of all, it's not on my phone.
So it makes me like you have to download the app? Yeah,
and I just get like, really, maybe that's what it is.
It takes me to like a place where I don't
have access to it.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
Yes, It's kind of like when the Brick was at
home and you're trying to open Instagram and then you're like,
I'm done with you. I'm done with Give Yelp a shot.

Speaker 1 (35:43):
Okay, I will. I sort of just feel like it's
like opening up like the Facebook comments, like like from
like my aunt, you know, like I'm like, h.

Speaker 2 (35:54):
I get off Yelp.

Speaker 1 (35:55):
No, I'm lovely youse. I just read I did sign
up for Yelp to leave a review at a place
that I was so annoyed with. It was a coffee
shop in my neighborhood in Silver like Money Silves, Silver
Lake in LA. And this great coffee shop opened up,
and I remember like standing in line behind one person
for like fifteen minutes while there was like nineteen employees

(36:17):
behind the counter, just like bumping into one another, and
I was like, what is going on. I finally get
my coffee and it was a delicious cup of coffee,
but I was like, I'm signing up for Yelp, and
I'm leaving it because that was crazy. That was crazy.
The tur Aun time should not be fifteen minutes for
a cup of coffee with one person in front of me.

Speaker 2 (36:33):
Yeah. I was somewhere recently where I was the only
person in line and it did take. This is no joke.
I was twelve minutes. Twelve minutes for a cup of macha.
But there was It wasn't like we're specialty macha place either.
It's like you have it in a squirt bottle that
you already fixed and you're gonna put it in there
with milk bank. But it wasn't blank It wasn't Blank Street.

(36:59):
But yeah, it's a place in Lower Manhattan and I
knew not to go in because every time I've ever
gone and it's been like the slowest service, inexplicably, So.

Speaker 1 (37:08):
So you knew.

Speaker 2 (37:09):
But then I was like, today will be different.

Speaker 1 (37:11):
I like that you knew, and you were like you
basically were like and.

Speaker 2 (37:15):
That's and I got minutes and there was no one
else in line. It was It's it is crazy. But
also the number of reviews on Yelp that are just
that because it's like this person's left one review and
it's one star. They are pissed off. It's it's a
thing there. So how did you get so into food?

Speaker 1 (37:34):
I I mean, I always like after I moved to
New York, because now I was not exposed to a
lot of like interesting food. I mean, they have a
delicious like that New Mexican food. It's incredible and it's
one of my favorite things and I miss it all
the time. But like I just didn't have and it's
something like Indian food didn't exist. I just wasn't exposed

(37:57):
to it, Like my family never went. And when I
came to New it was like this great melting pot
of you know, an incredible culinary scene, and so like
I just my world was opened up. And then when
I moved to LA, I had like a kitchen that
I could cook in for the first time, and I
just started collecting cookbooks and I just kind of loved

(38:18):
making meals at home and like creating dinner parties and
and I I guess I sort of like I've always
wanted to go to culinary school, but I just never
had time. And I met a friend who at a
dinner party who told me this idea about a cookbook
she had, and we ended up becoming friends, and she

(38:40):
ended up becoming just like we were cooking partners, and
like she had gone to culinary school and she would
just teach me like great skills, certain life skills, and
we ended up developing recipes together and that turned into
a cookbook years later. And so that was sort of
like my introduction into like the culinary world. I was
also like asked to host to James Beard Award to
few times, which was really cool. So I became friends

(39:03):
with chefs, and I just sort of became padmaclocks. Mee's
a really good friend of mine, and so I just
I was sort of invited into this world of like
fancy chefs in the culinary scene, and I just I
just really respect them so much. You know, they're artists
and their own in their own way, and they work
so hard, and I I just admire them a lot.

(39:26):
So I when this I I when Sony came up
to me about a podcast, was they had this idea
to do something in the culinary world. And one of
the ideas was like me taking people out to different
restaurants and having conversation over a meal, or is like
me making a meal at home with someone. I was like,
that sounds like a lot.

Speaker 2 (39:43):
Of yeah, and then who's going to clean it?

Speaker 1 (39:45):
And I was like, I to the thing where like
we just go out.

Speaker 2 (39:48):
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:49):
So that's where the idea for the podcast came. And
it's really this, that's the concept. It's just yeah, it's
just a conversation, but it happens to be for a
meal and I go to a different restaurant every single time.
We've never repeated the restaurant.

Speaker 2 (39:59):
So I've ever said yes to doing a podcast sooner
than when I was. I know, we haven't been able
to get it on the way. I was like yes,
and then also being like, are we gonna get to
do this soon? Because that's my jam. I love to
eat out and I have no qualms. I I'm cooking
more now because I have time, and it's really nice
to get to cook for myself. But cooking for one,

(40:21):
it's a lot of and it's it's sort of like
a cost benefit analysis is in play there where I'm like,
I'm gonna have to clean up all of this, yeah,
and it has to be worth it.

Speaker 1 (40:33):
Do you ever have dinner parties?

Speaker 2 (40:35):
I want to have more dinner parties. I would like to.
I hosted for Christmas this year. I did a bad job.
But I hosted for Christmas?

Speaker 1 (40:42):
A bad job? Did you need it?

Speaker 2 (40:46):
I was making cocktails. I might have already been a
little drunk myself, okay, making cocktails for my guests, like,
who wants to drink? I had no like cocktail menu
in mind, But I'm like, I have every spirit you
could ever want, and I have decent mixers. But I
was like, who wants a drink? And then my ass

(41:06):
put the ice in the cup first and then was
pouring them. No, no, no, no, sorry, that would make
more sense. I was putting the beverage in the cup first,
and then spherical ice cube prop into the glass, and
I knew better as I was doing it. I was
maybe just nervous to be hosted. I was like, and

(41:28):
I have, like the measurement for cocktail, the little the
little what is it even called?

Speaker 1 (41:33):
Like a measurer?

Speaker 2 (41:36):
A measurer? Why don't we have to have specific words
that sure, the measurer.

Speaker 1 (41:43):
The policeman of the alcohol.

Speaker 2 (41:46):
Yeah, exactly, and I have that, But instead I was
using my little like here's a tea spoon thing like
I didn't know why I was, I don't.

Speaker 1 (41:54):
Even to that is you just do a batch cocktail.

Speaker 2 (41:58):
That's what I was thinking afterwards, like last week, and
that's months later. I'm like, you should have just done
a batch And it's like this is what I'm offering.
If you want something else, you need to go somewhere else, or.

Speaker 1 (42:07):
If you're fancy can get you just hire a bartender.

Speaker 2 (42:11):
Well, Jesse, I'm not. It was Christmas. It was Easter
when you were going to the doctor.

Speaker 1 (42:19):
It was Christmas.

Speaker 2 (42:20):
Every Christian holiday busy, and I couldn't. I could. I
don't think I could have. Maybe I could have gotten
a bartender. I just didn't occur to me. There's so
many things that didn't occur to me with taking drinks. Yeah,
does someone else you hire a bartender for your or do.

Speaker 1 (42:35):
A batch cocktail? I mean I don't drink anymore, but
when I did, I would like I was actually like
really proud of like I made a great martini. So
I was like happy to do that for people. But
then I was like stuck behind the bar. And if
I'm also making the dinner, it's like I can't one
of the other. Yeah, and you just didn't had to
learn how to make the cocktails.

Speaker 2 (42:52):
Is he good?

Speaker 1 (42:53):
I mean he learned how to be good? Okay, out
of necessity. I was like, look, if you want to
make it, Yeah, I'm not making it.

Speaker 2 (42:59):
I don't drink it anymore. So. Has cultivating community, like
hosting the dinner parties and such been something that's like
important and intentional on your end? Or is it sort
of like I like cooking and like this is what
I'll do. I have people come over a.

Speaker 1 (43:13):
Little bit of both. I mean I I mean I
have to. I sometimes that's to be forced into, like
or like reminded that we should have people over for
a dinner party because it is a lot of work. Yeah.
I do like to have like pot lucks where you know,
people bring other things and it's not all on me,
But I do. I love having people at my house

(43:36):
and and you know, entertaining that part is fun. Yeah,
it's just the work around it.

Speaker 2 (43:41):
It's so much And which is why it's like going
to a restaurant for the podcast makes.

Speaker 1 (43:44):
A lot so much sense.

Speaker 2 (43:45):
Yeah, do you have favorites in New York City restaurants? Restaurants? Ye?

Speaker 1 (43:50):
Yes, of course. I love Chiciamo, love Delicious, don Ajesus
is great.

Speaker 2 (43:56):
The chrysanthemum salad at Donna, isn't it the best?

Speaker 1 (43:59):
It's I love get there to cook. But you can
make the dressing and it doesn't have to be all
the fancy greens, but yeah you can. Just it's really
it's all about the dressing, Okay. I also made their
their pinwheel pasta once, the Lasana, which is it was
a three day process, but I did it.

Speaker 2 (44:14):
Worth it?

Speaker 1 (44:15):
Yeah, I mean it was delicious. Great Gods, such a
great Baslonna. What else do I love here? I there's
so many new places that I love Atla.

Speaker 2 (44:25):
I haven't been. I haven't been to Atla.

Speaker 1 (44:26):
It's great. And uh, friend, Chet.

Speaker 2 (44:30):
Do you have your La favorites?

Speaker 1 (44:32):
Hmm I do. Uh. This is a place near me
in the valley called Antijac Tie Okay, that's great. Used
to be this place that like no one really knew about,
and then Bill Addison, who's the food critic for the
La Times, named it the best restaurant a few years ago,
and then now everyone's there. But I kind of love that,
like they've had this resurgence of excitement around them because

(44:53):
it's really good and really worth it. Yeah, that's one
of my top favorite places. Okay, I loved horses, Actually
you lived.

Speaker 2 (45:01):
I can't remember if I ever went to horses, because
it's really good. Horses was popular around the same time
as Evan Funky's Mother Wolf. They were like at the
same time, but mother Wolf was still there, still there,
And I just went to Funky in Beverly Hills.

Speaker 1 (45:15):
He's so good. I think I like Funky the best. Yeah,
he also has one in Venice. I can remember the
name of it, Giata Gianna.

Speaker 2 (45:22):
I haven't been.

Speaker 1 (45:23):
I'm probably saying it wrong, but you can look it up.

Speaker 2 (45:28):
And but yeah, Funky's great. Have you been to Baru
in l A. It's fermentation.

Speaker 1 (45:38):
I think I haven't and I've been told about it.

Speaker 2 (45:41):
Yeah, it's it's a fermentation, is a pickled stuff. I
can't remember, but it's very good. Yeah. Yeah, so it's amazing.
It's so good, and I went, but I went. It
was in a strip mall. It felt like such an
insider thing. It was in a strip mall on like
wil Off of will Cox and Santa Monica Boulevard. I
don't think I happened that I have heard of it,
but now it's downtown. I think I haven't. I feel
so out of touch with whatever's.

Speaker 1 (46:03):
Happening in La Io.

Speaker 2 (46:05):
Yeah, which that's okay, it's okay. We don't have to
be in so hard. No, how do you besides your
hyperbaric chamber, the occasional meditation, the brick, how do you
take care of yourself when you're doing six shows a week?

Speaker 1 (46:22):
Yeah? I try and get good sleep. I work out.
I don't. I really don't like working out. It's not
something that I find pleasurable. But I've never like finished
the work out and being like, oh God, I wish
I hadn't done that. Okay, you know, Yeah, so I
do pilates. Yeahs, I like that work out because it's like,
I'm fifty and I feel like that's something my body needs.

(46:42):
And yet and I'm not being crazy, I do do
like a Berry's boot camp every once in a while.
I've ever done one of those.

Speaker 2 (46:48):
I've done Berry's boot Camp. That is insane.

Speaker 1 (46:50):
It's insane, and I really have to like pump the
brakes like I can't do the sprinting. It's a lot.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
The running is because I'm not I've have you ever
run a marathon half marathon it's not your money.

Speaker 1 (47:03):
I don't like running, Yeah, fair.

Speaker 2 (47:05):
Enough, I'm trying to get back into it. I did
run a half marathon. Imagine me and by the way,
me asking so that you asked me, well, the question
you did.

Speaker 1 (47:15):
Your eyes definitely said return the question that I'm repressed.

Speaker 2 (47:21):
Yep, it was. But I just was curious about running
because some of my friends do run, and so I
found I was like in a half marathon, and so
I did it. I wouldn't do it again. Really, I
wouldn't actually been trying to start running again, just as
like have this be part of your fitness routine, and
it just is so hard on my body.

Speaker 1 (47:40):
Told me that, like literally after you turn thirty five,
you just should not be running anymore. Your knees don't
want it.

Speaker 2 (47:46):
Yes, my my hip hurts. I went on a two
mile run on Friday or Saturday, and I'm like, and
I still am, like, oh, I feel it. So it's
okay that you hat.

Speaker 1 (47:55):
I'm always on a city bike though.

Speaker 2 (47:58):
I'm scared.

Speaker 1 (48:00):
I know a lot of people are scared. I understand
it's intimidating.

Speaker 2 (48:04):
Do you ride a bike in La ever?

Speaker 1 (48:06):
I do? I have an actual like roade bike, like
a like a one of like you know, like very
light carbon fiber bikes. My husband is a avid bike rider,
and so I would join him. I'm actually more nervous
to ride in LA than I am to ride here.

Speaker 2 (48:23):
Why.

Speaker 1 (48:23):
I just feel like traffics are more insane in LA.
I mean I'd try and stick to bike paths or
like biking like in Griffith Park or something where there's
actually trails. Yeah, but I feel like in New York
it's just so congested, like there's so much happening, like
the opportunity for an accident is just less. Yeah, there's
so many bike lanes.

Speaker 2 (48:44):
Should I try city bike again?

Speaker 1 (48:46):
Because I did something happen.

Speaker 2 (48:48):
Something did happen. What happened? But it's not a car door,
no card door, which was interesting. I was like riding
from my place in Brooklyn or.

Speaker 1 (48:56):
German, but I just wanted to circle bike. You said
you were a germaphobe, and this.

Speaker 2 (48:59):
Seems but you know what, I saw someone on a
city bike on Sunday to a couple in my neighborhood
right on like a casual Sunday early ride, and I
just my brain went to, like ooh, yucky touching the handle. Yes,
it doesn't mean I won't do it. I can power through.
I can power through and touch the things. And but
I was like, okay, I'm gonna ride the bike to

(49:20):
take I had a gift for my friend and I
wanted to give it to her. She's in another part
of Brooklyn, and I was like, ride the bike. I'll
get it. I have a city bike. They'd given SNL
cast members like a year free subscription or something like that,
and the year was like coming up. I'm like, and
I never used it. And there's like a city bike,
is it a port? Get whatever? A docking station, a

(49:42):
docking stay quo. We got a docking station right next
to my apartment. Sounds like I'm gonna ride the bike.
This will be perfect. And I was like, what have
I done? The whole time? The whole rider apartment, I
just was it's it was.

Speaker 1 (49:55):
So heavy heavy. Have an electric one?

Speaker 2 (49:57):
No, and how do I know which one? And everyone
keeps saying that to me. Now they're like, get an
electric one, use one of these, But I'm like, how
do I know which one?

Speaker 1 (50:03):
I thought, you know, you'll see that if we put
them side by side, like that's an electric bike. It
has like a huge battery on it. I'm like, I
guarantee you a different color, and he says electric.

Speaker 2 (50:20):
I just don't forgot, so we keep saying that it
was the heaviest ride. I was like, this is not pleasant.
It was a warm day, kind of like today where
it's like, oh it's warming up now, and the.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
Many you hear it had even like a slight incline
on those.

Speaker 2 (50:35):
It's like, how, but who's choosing to ride those?

Speaker 1 (50:38):
By the way exactly? I see people riding them. I
was like, are you a monster?

Speaker 2 (50:41):
To get rid of it?

Speaker 1 (50:43):
Get rid of it. There shouldn't even be an option.

Speaker 2 (50:45):
It shouldn't be an option.

Speaker 1 (50:46):
I'm like, they should all be electric, especially when they're
not heavy.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
It was crazy anyway, So then I wrote and then
I ubered home.

Speaker 1 (50:51):
I was like, that was that was a bad experience.

Speaker 2 (50:53):
It was really bad.

Speaker 1 (50:54):
I think you should try again on an electric bike.

Speaker 2 (50:56):
I'll do it today.

Speaker 1 (50:57):
It's nice, be perfect day for it.

Speaker 2 (50:59):
Yeah, yeah, okay, I'm going to do it.

Speaker 1 (51:02):
I ride I used to. I ride my bike to
the theater at my theater is up on ninety fourth
in Park. It's a it's not actually theater it's a
it's a Brownstone that I'm performing in, and I ride
my bike through the park up to the theater and
it's great.

Speaker 2 (51:15):
Yeah, okay, all right, that's good. But you do take
care of yourself. You're fit, so you're doing the stuff
that people are supposed to do. I think you're doing great.
If no one else tells you, I think you're doing great,
you deserve to hear that. Okay, you're doing.

Speaker 1 (51:30):
A great job today.

Speaker 2 (51:32):
Yeah, you're doing a great job. Now with your kids,
are they close to each other? Are they do they vibe?

Speaker 1 (51:39):
Yes, they do. They love each other. Ok My younger
one is like obsessed with the older one. Yeah, it's
you know, it's very cute.

Speaker 2 (51:44):
It's very sweet.

Speaker 1 (51:45):
I guess my Jessin was telling you the other day
that Beckett would you know, they take baths together and
Beckett was the older one was washing his younger brother's
back and he had like this foam soap in his hands,
and he goes and as he was soaping his brother's back,
he's like, I want Sully to stay healthy forever.

Speaker 2 (52:06):
So cute, so cute, it's so cute. That's the children.
They're smart. They're very very smart. Do you do you
guys shield your kids from anything in particular or.

Speaker 1 (52:17):
You know, in fact, no, and I you know, when
they're in New York and like we see a lot
just walking on the street in New York. You know,
if they have questions about things they've heard or sea,
like we just let's talk about it. My older son
has seen me do Shakespeare, like he's been exposed to that.

(52:37):
He uh, you know, we obviously don't like have the
news on for them, like we're not. There's no, I
don't want that. I don't want to watch that, but
you know, you know, obviously age appropriate things. But you know,
if they encounter something, it's like all right, like we're
not actively trying to keep them from anything.

Speaker 2 (52:56):
Yeah, do you want them to feel like they're you
guys are friends to them?

Speaker 1 (53:02):
It's so interesting because I mean I think about my parents,
like I, you know, the love was so apparent, but
like I never felt like they were my friends, like
they felt like my parents. They felt different, and I,
I don't know, it's interesting. It's like my kids are
reflecting back to me that they have this unconditional love

(53:25):
toward us and like they want to be with us forever.
And like that they want us to be like their
best friend. You know, that's what they want. So I'm
just sort of giving them whatever they need. But you know,
I mean to answer a question like in a short
concise way, I don't think so I don't think I
want them to feel like I'm their friend, but like,

(53:46):
if that's how they feel like, I also wouldn't discourage
against that.

Speaker 2 (53:49):
Sure, sure, okay, Jesse, it's time for a segment I
like to call. That's nice, but what about me? We've
done a lot of topics.

Speaker 1 (54:00):
I asked about your running. That's nice, but now we're
gonna talk about me.

Speaker 2 (54:03):
Yeah, we're gonna talk about me. Now. Thank you for
asking if I ever ran a half marathon. The people
would never know if you if I didn't set you
up for said ask. Okay, I do I love this
notion that you're hosting dinner parties? How does one go
about doing this? Like, I know it seems rudimentary, Yeah,

(54:26):
but like, are how are you curating the room? Because
I'm sure you have so many, so many kinds of
friends from so many walks of life. How are you
curating the room? How are you deciding what you're serving?

Speaker 1 (54:36):
Okay. I do try and pull from different friend groups
so that people can meet with another, but that's tricky
because sometimes you know, people don't necessarily mix.

Speaker 2 (54:45):
Well.

Speaker 1 (54:45):
Yeah, so I have a good system down, like you know,
people all kind of know one another now, and I
try and like mix it up so it doesn't feel
like it's the same people are always being invited. So
like I like to always think about my head, like
is there a guest of honor? And then building around them.
It's like who would this person enjoy being around? Like
making it about them even if they don't know it's

(55:07):
about them. Yeah, that's all secret.

Speaker 2 (55:08):
That's so cool.

Speaker 1 (55:09):
And then as far as a menu, obviously you need
to ask everyone's dietary restrictions, which is so fucking annoying
if you don't.

Speaker 2 (55:21):
Take.

Speaker 1 (55:23):
I do try and like have something in case someone
you know doesn't need to be like, you know, an
optional or at least like a lot of vegetables for
them to try. But cookbooks are my best friend, you know,
just picking out things like it's a uh, cookbooks that
are like vegetable based are great for side dishes. It's
several that are just like only vegetable cookbooks and you

(55:46):
know it's it's a lot about just like preparation and planning,
just like and also not overplanning, not not doing too much,
doing what you can handle. Three things is enough, and
then ask people to to bring, like can you bring
a dessert, can bring cocktails? Can bring you know, like
sourcing out help is good and people like to bring.

Speaker 2 (56:07):
Generally people want to.

Speaker 1 (56:08):
They always ask what they should bring.

Speaker 2 (56:10):
Yeah, and when you say nothing, they're like, yeah, they're.

Speaker 1 (56:12):
Going to bring a wine.

Speaker 2 (56:13):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, and you're going to use it to
cook exactly down the line. Do you google bottles of
wine that people bring over?

Speaker 1 (56:22):
I did it, and I was this is type A yeah,
I would not be surprised for like I did this too,
but I would google it and then I'll like put
a sticker on it with like the price and like
so I just know, like, you know, sometimes you're like
I need to I need to bottle wine to cook with. Yeah,
and you don't want to open like a seventy nine
bottle of wine.

Speaker 2 (56:43):
Yes. Well, you know it's so funny because I recently
was cooking with my boyfriend and I was like, oh,
this requires red wine and I have so many bottles
from people gifting and all the alcohol. So I open
up the cabinet and I'm like this one, but I'm like, no,
but this was a gift and I remember from who yeh.
And then he he's the one that got me, Like
you don't know how much this thing costs? Is Google

(57:05):
and he's like this was seven dollars a yeah, And
I was like, oh, we can throw it in the yeah.

Speaker 1 (57:12):
I also like to put who gave it me the
put that on the sticker too, just like because I
don't remember, okay, but I think that's always interesting to
I remember someone I brought this.

Speaker 2 (57:21):
Ever been surprised that someone brought such a bottle of wine?

Speaker 1 (57:26):
That's a cheap bottle it is, I know, yes, yes, yeah,
oh oh, And you know it's like I'm just they
pulled it from their own cabinet, like they don't know
it's been lost. The price has been lost in translation.

Speaker 2 (57:41):
The number of bottles of wine just getting passed on exactly.
It's a real thing.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
Wine and candles.

Speaker 2 (57:47):
Candles, here's the thing. I love candy too, so.

Speaker 1 (57:54):
Very picky. I don't know this one.

Speaker 2 (57:57):
It's it's t r V. I don't know how to
it's probably a different language, but tr v d O N.

Speaker 1 (58:06):
I'm gonna look it up right now.

Speaker 2 (58:07):
So a candle was sitting on a table at SNL and.

Speaker 1 (58:11):
Uh, trv d O N O N.

Speaker 2 (58:14):
Is this showing up? Is it pulling out for you?

Speaker 1 (58:15):
Okay?

Speaker 2 (58:17):
Those are nice candles, Jesse. Okay, I discovered it because
it was sitting on a table at SNL and it's
table people like get to take things. But I didn't really.
I thought it was someone's But I was like, this
smells amazing, this is good. And then I went in
my office and googled it. This is like my first year,
and I was like one hundred dollars candle. And then
I was like, surely this isn't up for graps, but

(58:38):
it's what you do, get what you pay for. Do
you have a favorite scent candle?

Speaker 1 (58:43):
There is Luve has a it's so weird. A tomato scented.

Speaker 2 (58:50):
Can, the tomato and the tomato hand wash.

Speaker 1 (58:52):
Yeah, it's very nice.

Speaker 2 (58:53):
It's nice.

Speaker 1 (58:54):
It is nice.

Speaker 2 (58:55):
It's very Do you like a soap? I do? Yeah?
Do you like the xfoliate?

Speaker 1 (59:00):
I do?

Speaker 2 (59:00):
Is this the most alienating conversation we could be having? No,
we can you like this expensive. But also every time
a guest comes on me being like, so talk to
me about La versus New York, Like there's not the

(59:21):
rest of the country. You told me where you were from,
and I'm like, forget already. Where it's got to be
La or New York. Oh yeah, that's right, New Mexico.
But thank you Jesse for being here. It has been
such a joy to talk to you. I really appreciate
thank you for doing this. Of course, that was my
conversation with Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It made me really hungry,

(59:46):
and maybe it made you hungry too. Maybe you were
eating while listening to this, you lucky bastards. But if
you weren't, I bet you're hungry. I'm starving right now.
But if you want advice from me and my next guest,
you can call me, call us and ask us for advice.
Whatever's going on in your life. We're here for you.

(01:00:07):
Just call us at five zero two eight four nine
three two three seven five zero two eight four nine
three two three seven. We would love to be of
service to you. That sounds good, right, We buy it
all right, Thanks guys. Thanks Dad is a production of
Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and iHeart podcasts. I'm your
host AEGO wodem Our producer is Kevin Bartelt and our

(01:00:29):
executive producer is Matt Appadaka