April 14, 2020 • 49 mins
Wells is putting Matt Iseman through his own obstacle course when he joins the WellsCast!
Matt was in his medical residency when he decided to change his career path COMPLETELY.
Coming from a family of physicians, Matt reveals what led him to entertainment!
After spending this time with Matt Iseman, Wells wants to be best friends with the host of American Ninja Warrior. Matt is a warrior in his own right, cancer survivor and living with Rheumatoid Arthritis sharing his positive attitude and humor on the WellsCast.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is a Wells Cast with Wells Adams and I
heart radio podcast. It is that is that is the
name of the show. What everybody hanging at the home
studio I love, which means I'm wearing I'm wearing ugs.
I got two pairs of ugs. Decided to go with
the the high top version today, just keeping you abreast
(00:24):
of what's happening in my quarantine. Also wearing some Modern
Family sweats because I wanna support the lady. Also, they
are the sweats that I wore yesterday. And I'm wearing
a T shirt and a beanie. So really coming to
work with the fire outfit today. I am excited about
the work that I am going to do today with
(00:46):
the Wells Cast on a good freaking Guests on. You know,
the original idea of the show was to find people
with amazing stories. How they got to become famous is cool,
But there are a lot of people that just got hockey.
But there are a lot of people out there that
like fought and Claude and took some circuitous routes to
(01:07):
get where they are today. And I think that's exactly
what we have in today's guest I mean, you know
this guy from television. He's a comedian, he's an actor.
It's a TV host. You one new Celebrity Apprentice back
in two seventeen. He's a host of American Ninja Warrior.
He's been on movies like Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen
(01:29):
Beneath the surface, But beneath the surface of Matt Eisman's
television and movie career is a crazy story, one that
apparently starts with going to med school and attending Princeton,
one that also includes being a survivor of cancer. I
think part of his kidney removed. I mean, this guy's
(01:50):
story is bonkers. This is one that you're not going
to want to miss. So coming up in just a
couple of minutes, the Wells cast with Matt Eisman stick around.
(02:18):
Well Matt, are you bud? Oh my god, listen to
those buttery baritone man nice pipes. I like that. You
got this like the same home setup that I got
going on here, right. I set this up because I
thought I was gonna be doing a ton of voiceover
when I moved in, and instead I just used this
for skype and zooming with my parents. The same exact
(02:41):
thing I did. I did voiceover auditions for like six
months and nothing ever came of it, and I was like, yeah, alright,
I guess I'm gonna do podcast now. Yeah, how you doing.
I'm doing good. I'm in my quarantine uniform, which is
very similar to that of college dorm chic. It's the
(03:04):
grunge era, so you're you're a little younger. I went
to college in the grunge era, and we went from
the eighties where everyone's in fluorescent clothing, girls had their
hair crimped and teas, to nobody showering, wearing sweatpants and
flannels and knit caps and just just looking like you're
you're a bunch of despondent Seattle kids. Well that's how
(03:25):
I feel right now. Are you sorry? The old Cosby sweater,
I'm looking sweater. I don't know the impression to be
doing these things. Yeah, now you can't do that joke anymore. Man.
It was such an easy one, and now you can't
do it. You got is that a micro ukulele? Or
is distance proven playing tricks on my eyes to your
other side? Oh yeah, it's ukulele. We got all the
(03:46):
tricks and things, and I got a Nintendo sixty hooked
up over here, It's something out of Stepbrothers where I'm
like building home forts friends. Obviously Sarah's home then she's
not out working of course, like I'm I'm single, so
I am in this how I I feel like Jack
Torrence in The Shining All work, no play, and I'm
(04:06):
getting a little little stir crazy. If you're clean and healthy,
you can come be a part of our quarantine pod
where we just sit around and watch Ozark over and
over again. How good is Ozark? Jason Bateman. The thing
I was saying is I hate every character. They're all despicable,
and yet you pull for him, you like him. There's
(04:29):
nobody all a hero, nobody who's all a villain. It's
such a like Shades of Gray show, and it's so
well done. Yeah I know. I did a tweet the
other day where I was like, appreciation post for Jason Bateman.
Whatever you got in the can that you're waiting to
release down the line, let's just do that now. Because
I ripped through The Outsider. I'm done with those dark
and I need something new. It started with the rest
(04:49):
of development. He has just made a comeback and you
forget how funny God he is funny and yet an
amazing dramatic actor. It's a good show to watch because
it makes you feel better about being locked in your house.
You realize you could be in Ozark's laundering money, dealing
with meth and heroin dealers and threatened beheadings. Do you
remember when he was on the Hogan Family, like way
(05:13):
back in the day. Look how old I That was
part of my regular childhood. I think he was Ricky
Shortag's friend on Silver Spoons. Yeah, but you know he
was always playing in the shadow of his sister, Justine
Bateman on Family Ties. And then he just said, no, no, no,
I got this, Justine, It's my turn. I was watching
Dodgeball the other night, like a fall asleep movie, and
(05:35):
I had forgotten that he's the commentator on that the
bold move Cotton, So you know, obviously with American Ninja Warrior,
we do lots of that, and it's impossible not not
to quote Cotton, Wells and Pepper. It was so funny,
and I don't know if he chose it going in
kind of that extreme sports guy drunk. Dodge Ball was
(05:57):
a very good movie. You're right. I think that was
one that really started kicking him back into movies. Yeah,
the dude's funny. I'm glad that you brought up American
Ninja Warrior. We have Matt Eisman on the Wells Cast today.
I'm very excited because I'm a huge fan of American
Ninja Warrior, big celebrity apprentice guy. You've been doing so
much recently. But I don't know if anyone kind of
(06:19):
told you the idea for this show. This show is
all about origin stories, much like that of Jason Bateman
and family ties. I want to know where Matt Eisman
came from and how you got to where you are today.
And everyone's story is different, but I've got a feeling
that your story is going to be much different because
(06:41):
from the little bit of research than I did before
starting this show, you weren't like at first setting out
to become this comedian and this like extreme sports post. So, Matt,
where did you come from? It's funny. I was just
watching Batman begins the origin story of Bruce Wayne getting
his parents killed. So I I did. I started out
(07:03):
a different path. I grew up in Colorado. Entertainment was
a world apart. I didn't know anyone in entertainment. Entertainment
didn't seem like a viable career, and so I just,
you know, it was going to school and and my
path was I was becoming a doctor. And so I
went to college and got into medical school in New York.
I went to med school, graduated, I got my m d.
(07:24):
I was doing residency at the University of Colorado, and
I just had this epiphany where I realized, Um, my
heart wasn't totally in this. And now it's such a
perfect example of why medicine isn't a job. It's not
it's it is a calling. And to see these people
who are you know, friends of mine, who I'm talking
(07:44):
to on a regular basis, who are going into places
where we are being told to avoid literally like the plague,
and these doctors and nurses and healthcare workers are going
in there risking their lives for this because it is
a calling. It's a sacred trust when people place their
lives in your hand. And I don't think I totally
I didn't have that passion, the passion that's needed for that.
(08:05):
So I kind of was at this crossroads and I thought,
I gotta I gotta figure something out. Wells So I
decided to take a year off from medicine to kind
of clear my brain, and I thought, you know, it
could be a schebum could travel around the world. I've
done stand up a couple of times in New York,
so I thought, I'm just gonna move to l A.
I've never done anything creative. I'll do stand up for
a year. I'll get it out of my system. I'll
(08:26):
grow up and go back to medicine. Instead, it was
like three weeks after moving out here, I was like,
I'm never going back. I found what I meant to
do and this this meanwhile, this, I'm doing awful open
mics in Los Angeles. This is not like I was
performing at the improv and reality star women were coming
up throwing themselves at me. I was bombing at you know,
(08:47):
flaffel huts in front of four other comics. But I
just I fell in love with performing, and so from
there just it's really stumbled into this career of you know,
I knew someone who got me in as an extra
on The Drew Carey Show as a baseball player. That
led to commercials that got me into sketch comedy, that
got me into hosting, and in two thousand four was
(09:08):
my first hosting gig, and that first gig, which was
on E ended up getting me Ninja Warriors, So that
first hosting gig got me the job I have today.
So it's I didn't craft this out. There was no path.
I'm not Magellan navigating this. It was just kind of
being out here and I think getting some opportunities and
and taking my swings and saying yes to things. Yes,
(09:29):
you know I one of the one of the things
I did was a home makeover show, and if people
watch Cleanhouse, spoiler alert, I'm not actually a contractor. I
didn't know what I was doing, but they're like, we
need someone who can interact with people, and it was
it's just been a ridiculously fun ride. I was, you know,
I was just talking to a friend who was back
in Colorado, who I grew up with, who knew me
when I was doing medicine, and I was just talking
(09:52):
about something and I mentioned Apprentice because I just done
some stuff with Arnold Schwartzinger and my buddy goes, did
you ever think when we were on up that you'd
become buddies with Arnold schwarzen And I was like, no,
I didn't, because you've made it. Man. If nothing else happens,
You've made it. It's been a ridiculous ride. In hindsight,
you can kind of connect some of the dots. But
(10:13):
even moving out here, even ten years ago, I think
I didn't know what was next and where it was going.
And a lot of it is just you know, as
I think, as you've seen now, you know, being out
here and opportunities come and you don't know. Rarely do
you know which ones are going to be the ones
that change your life. You know, it's just kind of
a guessing game, and this idea of it's a marathon
and being out here and loving what you do because
(10:34):
there's no guarantee you're gonna end up in a house
with a with a theater with red velvet curtains, you know,
and you gotta be okay with that. You gotta be
okay with Hey, I'm doing what I love and I'm
hopefully making a living. And obviously, you know right now
it's very tough for anyone to make a living at this,
but it is. It's still something where every day I
get to go to work. I love it. I love
(10:56):
what I do. I love hosting Ninja Warrior, I love
doing stand up, I was when Live Rescue on A
and E before this all hit, and that was fun.
I just I really enjoy getting to perform, getting to
tell stories in front of people. You've got to be
like a little bit of a sadist. I mean, I've
done a little bit of stand up and like a
little bit of improv stuff. I've never been a doctor,
(11:17):
but my father's one, so I know it's hard. What
is it about you choosing the hardest things to do
to do? You know? Growing up I think my my
my parents were incredibly supportive, but they were also encouraged me.
You know, They're like, hey, just put everything you got
into it. And so you know that's got into good
(11:39):
schools and did well and being a doctor. You know,
it's all kind of fitting those marks. And I think
when I left medicine and came out to Hollywood, there
was certainly, uh the advantage I had. You know, this
is a business of no, this is a business that
breaks people down. It really doesn't value them. So many
people come here young without a strong sense of identity.
And I had the advantage of i'd be of a doctor.
(12:00):
I had that under my belt of hey, I've accomplished
something but the more important thing was I really had perspective.
I'd seen what life and death was. And you know,
we take this very seriously out here, but this is
make believe, right, Sarah's pretending to be in a mixed family,
and it's all fun and games and and you know
you you're gonna be a DJ and I get to
tell jokes or talk about Ninja's and we take it
(12:22):
very seriously. We worked very hard at it, but at
the end of the day, never more more so than now,
it's it's clear what we do is is fun. And
so I think having that perspective probably has helped me
navigate this business. That is oftentimes it's it's crazy, right.
I mean, most of the time you get told no,
and even when you get told yes, most of those
never make it on the air, and even those that
(12:43):
do rarely last more than a year. So you know,
you've got to enjoy it while you can, knowing you know,
who knows how entertainment is going to emerge after this.
A show like Ninja Warrior is a rabid following. We
were we were getting We're supposed to be shooting on
March thirteen, so you know, it's just when things start
to shutting down that we just we just got this
season Nipton. They're trying to figure out how to come back.
(13:05):
But you know, we'll have like a hundred plus athletes
and to family members there will have our crew, So
to think, when when are we going to be able
to have a group that large gather again? I don't know.
I don't know what the answer is. I don't know
you know what the plan is. I I think every
production it is kind of in this waiting game to
figure out how do we and I don't know that
(13:25):
we get back to normal, but what's our new normal?
And when do we get there? And that's why I
don't know it. It's kind of crazy watching and and
still realizing. Look, they're still far greater problems, but we
are starting to wonder, you know, how are people going
to make a living? I love the idea of your
fallback plan was being a doctor. Okay, so well I
will tell you right now. Wells, people like, why aren't
you going into the hospital. First of all, it's been
(13:47):
twenty years since I practiced, And secondly, I do have
rheumatoid arthritis, so I have an autoimmune disease and my
medication downregulates my immune system, so I am I, you know, compromise.
So I'm someone who is considered part of the vulun population.
So aside from the fact i'd probably be useless, it's
probably healthwise best for me to try to avoid hospitals. Yeah,
(14:07):
Sarah is a kidney transplant recipient, so she is also
immuno compromised. And I've been trying to not talk about
Corona a lot on my show, is just because we're
just inundated with it. But it's one of those things
of like I totally get the young dip person being like, well,
if I get it, I'm gonna be fine, and like,
you know, I'm gonna be It's what spring break. Yeah,
(14:30):
I get that mentality. And also there's the thing that
comes with youth of invincibility, So I get where they're
coming from. But it's like, Okay, great, that's that's fine,
that you'll be fine, But you could give it to
someone who would not be fine, and then think about
how terrible you would feel if you killed the host
of American Ninja Warrior. You know, like, well, that's a
(14:54):
really good point, I think in that this is been
unusual in any challenge we face before you know, nine
eleven or anything. I think where you realize it's not
just about you. There there that like you said, you
could be totally healthy, you could be fine. But you
know what I think from spring break, we saw so
many of those kids went back and tested positive, and
(15:16):
you wonder who else did they in fact, And you
know that'd be a heavy thing to carry around. And
you know it's hard to know, it's hard to know exactly,
but just what you said, the the idea of these kids,
they feel invulnerable, but at some point that that guilt,
that reality could set and and you know it's odd
that right now we're soldiers on the front line and
our job is to stay at home. That's that's your post.
(15:37):
Leave your posts. You stay home. You do not leave
this post soldier. Like all right, okay, I'll get on
my microphone. This is my couch. There are many couches, Like, dude,
we got some good pop culture overlap there. Well, okay,
so I kind of want to go back a little bit.
So you grew up in Colorado. Are your parents doctors
or and then then the medical fields doctor? So dad
(15:58):
was a doctor, and never, you know, never pressured me
to go into medicine. But what he did is he
said an example. I just saw how much my dad
loved what he did, how much satisfaction he got from it,
and what a difference he made, and and and that
that appealed to me. My dad's my hero, so I
think one of following his footsteps. But I was good
at science and I like people, so it's the perfect
(16:18):
fit on paper. But you know, that's one of the
things you learned growing up. You don't live your life
on paper, and what should be good sometimes it just
doesn't resonate, and that's why you you know, you gotta
And that was the tough part, was kind of having
that courage too, because you know the hardest part for
me was telling my parents that I wanted to leave medicine,
because again I went back to the difference of Colorado.
(16:38):
My dad's a professor there, we were working at the
same hospitals, and I'm sure for him it's like my son,
my son, the doctor has come home. And I just thought,
oh my god, he's gonna be so disappointed in me.
And it took me like a month and a half
to work up the courage. And I remember when I
told him I was so terrified, and he just he
didn't miss a beat. He just looked at me and
(16:59):
he goes, life is short. Do what makes you happy.
He and my mom they didn't even flinch. They were
just like, we don't you know, we don't care if
you're pumping gas or or or waiting tables. As long
as you're happy, you've got your education, go go, go
do it. You know what your what makes your heart singing.
And it was just such a you know at that point,
which is why I think when I moved out to
(17:19):
l A two, it was just it was like I was,
you know, freed from these cinder blocks. I thought I
was going to go out there with this weight or
this guilt, and instead I just felt like, hey, I'm
getting I'm giving a chance to kind of a redo,
uh you know in life where you get a kind
of reboot and and say I'm gonna try something different.
And it was just, you know, when I started doing
stand up and and got on got on the stage
(17:41):
and and just got the the feel of what it's
like to get a crowd going and to make them
laugh and to leave them smiling, I was like this,
this is how I meant to help people. It's not
curing cancer, but it's hopefully leaving people, you know, a
little happier than when they came. Did you go to Princeton? Yeah,
I went to I went to Princeton for under at
Columbia University for med schools. Like, yeah, wells on paper,
(18:04):
I'm so impressive that this can't be that guy. It
just doesn't seem like him. It was. It's interesting, you know,
it's I did a morning show for like seven years,
and when you do morning shows, you don't do a
lot of musicians because a lot of musicians don't want
to get up because their voice isn't ready. But whoever
is playing at the Chuckle Hut or the laugh Factory
(18:25):
or you know, Zany's uh is definitely coming in because
they need to sell ticket. So I talked with a
lot of comics, and I interviewed so many musicians and
so many actors and whatever, and I came to this
conclusion that for the most part, comics all could be
astrophysicists if they wanted to be, but they're like two damaged.
(18:47):
So they went into stand up comedy because you have
to be so freaking smart to do it would be
the quickest guy in the room generally, because there's some
quick guy in the room talking to you on stage,
and you gotta be quicker than It totally makes sense
that a guy that you know went to Princeton and
Columbia have this other calling. My one question to you
is were your parents like, you know, like do what
(19:09):
makes you happy? But also like you know, in Um
the wedding singer, when Adam sand there's like information that
would have been good to know yesterday. I imagine your
dad being like, yes, sweet, but like what we just
spent a lot of money on tuition, kid, Listen. They
were wonderful to my face. I'm sure as soon as
we're like, this kid is out of a will nothing. Sure.
(19:33):
I wish, I wish I would have known earlier that
this switch was coming, but it really, you know, it
was one of those things where sometimes you you don't
know until you're there. Yeah, And so that was the
case with medicine where I really enjoyed medical school. I
love the challenge of it. And you know, just in residency,
you just start to see the day of day existence
and the tremendous responsibility you have. And look, I'm sure
(19:56):
there were points where my parents my friends were all like, dude,
you're you're an idiot taking away from a sure career
to go tell jokes at the chuckle hut. What are
you thinking? And it took a few years, I think,
before I started getting into commercials, which and back then
commercials paid absurdly well. So I mean within three months,
(20:17):
I was making probably almost ten times what I was
making as a resident, because as a resident you're making
you're basically making subsistence level wages. You're you're making nothing.
The money made it a lot easier to say I'm
staying because after a couple of years, I was doing
commercials but I hadn't had I wasn't hosting, wasn't doing
anything long term. But I was making a lot more
money and I was a lot happier. And I think
(20:38):
that was the thing that eventually my parents saw was
I was just smiling all the time, having so much fun.
Do I wonder if I'd been mature enough to stay
a doctor, you know what, I what, I would I
have loved it, maybe maybe maybe I would have grown up.
But I I instead, I'm I'm out here, and and
I think you you nailed it. Where look I I
am obviously on paper, I'm pretty educated. But when I
(20:59):
meet commeding and I think, you see, they may not
be educated, but they are intelligent. They are the fastest minds.
And when you look at you know, Dr Ken Ken Jong,
you know went to Duke and doctor uh Greg Giraldo,
one of the funniest comics around, was a Harvard educated lawyer.
There are a lot of guys out there who are
who who showed that the intelligence that you have to have,
(21:20):
and that that the really good comedians, whether they dropped
out of high school, you know, like you said, could
have been a rocket scientist, or could have been a
word smith or whatever that I the comedians really have
these incredibly minds that are so good at making connections
and wordplay and and seeing a room and reading people.
I think there are a lot of skill sets in
comedy that would be good for sales or you know,
(21:43):
finance or poker. There's just a lot of human skills,
I think, And which is funny because you meet a
lot of comedians like they're not Some of them are
just terribly, not terribly social other than when they're on stage,
they're miserable. Mitch Hedberg would come in with like a
hoodie on and glasses. It'll be fun. Tortured souls, dude.
The fact that you got to know Mitch Heedburg is
(22:05):
very cool. I mentioned doing Apprentice and getting to me.
I got to meet Arnold Schwarzenegger in there, and Vince
Neil from Motley Crue, like I remember going on the
field Good Tours seeing him, and now I'm hanging out
with this guy, I'm Ricky Williams. And and for me
growing up because Hollywood seems so far away, the fact
that I'm now dipping my toe in it and getting
(22:25):
to meet some of these people whose work I've enjoyed
so much because the reality is like I'm in reality TV.
We're still the step child of of entertainment, you know,
and we're we're not really invited to the big parties.
And that's fine. I'm I'm so happy to have a job.
But it's been cool, Like getting to meet Schwarzenegger for
me has just been one of those one of those
(22:46):
things where you're like, man, this I feel like I've
that's a mark of I've made it. This This is
one of those things that I never would have dreamed of.
And and I love when you get to do things.
So I was supposed to go cover the Olympics this summer.
NBC was gonna have me a streaming show there, and
I was like, this is gonna be it. I'm gonna
go to the Olympics. Something I've been watching so I
was a little kid, and I'm gonna get a be
(23:06):
interviewing the athletes. And then you know, the virus has
to ruin it for me. But it's it's these moments
when you get to do things that you came from Nashville. Yeah,
I was in Nashville doing radio. So you think, like,
how just something comes and all of a sudden you're
in a different stratosphere, more opportunities come your way. It's
just fun when you think, man, I I very easily
could have just been you know, stayed there and probably
(23:29):
been happy. But look at this now, look at these
opportunities and look at the experiences I'm getting to have.
And that's that's one of the things I always try
to do, is just appreciate this ridiculous life we get
to lead, and these these moments where you know, I'm
still really good friends with my buddies from high school
and college and even growing up and like to just
(23:49):
send text to them like, man, this you know, I'm
getting to I'm getting to throw out a first pitch
at a Dodgers game. I played baseball. I'm throwing a
pitch at the Dodgers game. Just thinking this is so awesome.
And I always try to appreciate these opportunities in these
moments because I think, you know, eventually the career goes
away and you're just gonna think back on those moments
where you thought, man, that was a moment that I'd
(24:12):
work to make happen, and it was just I wanted
to sit in it and appreciate it and be grateful
for it because it's you know, it's so easy at
times too. I think we were talking about this where
where you're like, well, what's next, you know, and and
there is always a degree of that, but you know,
just trying to say hey, and and that's one of
the things I think that this is afforded, this this
chance to slow down and appreciate what you have and
(24:33):
and appreciate hopefully what will come, what's to come in
the future. Obviously, I live in l A now, so
we have a lot of friends who are actors and
everyone's going on auditions, and it's tough to to book anything,
whether it's you know, hosting gigs or commercials or pilots
and whatnot. And you said when you got to l A,
you were able to book a bunch of commercials. What
(24:54):
do you think separated you from everybody else because there's
a million people going in for those lot. Miss I
think I have a goofy enthusiasm that seems to seems
to work. And I think, uh, I'm like, I'm a
decent sized guy. You know, you tend to be like
an action hero or the strong, silent type, and I'm
(25:16):
the twelve year old. And so I think with the commercials,
a lot of times I was playing the dopey guy
who doesn't know how to do the laundry, and I'm
like that you're totally believable. Is that that's that's what
we're gonna be? I don't know. And And that that
was what was tough with commercials was you know, on TV,
if you if you have a hit show, people want you.
They know, oh you can do this. In commercials you
(25:37):
have a hit commercial, sometimes people like you're you're kind
of known for that, and we're looking at the next thing.
So I think it's hard. Some people have built momentum,
but a lot of them realize you kind of have
a have a shelf life in commercials. So I was
lucky to kind of parlay the commercials into you know, sketching,
then into hosting. But uh, here's the crazy thing, though,
(25:57):
wells that that is disheart or not. I don't know
if it's it's just a fact of I've ended up
on the other side of casting where I'm sitting in
and I'm sure Sarah has had this experience too, where
once you get on the other side and you realize
how often it's not about you, it's not about your performance,
where they are just factors that you could never know
that they won't tell you that go into it. I
(26:19):
remember we were casting something and a guy came in
and he was amazing and he walked out and everyone
said that guy was great, and I go, we're not
gonna hire him, are were? They go, now, it's not
what we're looking for. And I go, he's gonna think
he tanked. They go, yeah, yeah, that's the business. And
it's I think it's tough to, uh, you know, to
be in this business where you know, and I think
(26:40):
then it becomes all right, well, because I don't know
what they're looking for, and sometimes they don't know what
they're looking for. Instead of trying to guess, let me
just do me. Let me give you the goofy me
and and hope that you know, because I think a
lot of times they're just looking to be inspired. And
if you come in there and you've got something unique
that you do, I think knowing that, uh and leaning
(27:02):
into it. So I'm you know, ninja, I'm big, loud,
enthusiastic guy. That's kind of my stock and trade. So
if you want the golf, if you want Jim Nanson
on in the Masters, that's probably I'm probably not your guy.
I want you to start the next season of American
Injina Warrior with Hello, friends. Today, we're gonna make a
(27:23):
bunch of people can run around. There's crazy obstacle of course,
listening to the swallows on. You get into Hollywood, you're
(27:46):
booking a bunch of commercials. Now take me through you
know the pathway to where you are now, where you're
the host for American Ninja Warrior. You're going on CE
celebrity Apprentice like show me that securitst route all the
way to hear So I was doing sketch comedy at
the Groundlings in class. I wasn't even a member of
their performing troop, but he was like their last their
(28:06):
highest level class and uh, how to show. And one
of the guys was mikey Day, who has become a
big guy on SNL. He and I were doing sketches
together and he was super funny and I was mildly funny.
But a guy came up afterwards and was like, Uh, hey,
there's a game show can I can I submit you
for it? And I mean this was like a class
show and I'm like sure, And that ended up being
(28:28):
this show at E this kind of fear factor rip off.
Then I got it, so it was it was really
kind of a throwaway because you know, I was so
focused on this sketch stuff. I went for this audition
and got it, and that show only lasted one season,
but it got me on a home makeover show that
went for six years, won an Emmy for it, and
that got me a show called Sports Soup, which was
(28:51):
the sports version of the Soup with Joel McHale that
was on Versus, and that show got me Ninja Warriors.
So six years after that first gig, I got Ninja
a Warrior. So really that first hosting gig in two
thousand four led to the job I have today. And
and the only reason I got on Apprentice was it's
on NBC. And literally they called me. They called me
about six days before they were due to start shooting,
(29:13):
and they're like, look, we'll shoot you straight. We're pretty
well cast up and we got a lot of wacky people.
We need someone who we think can do the work,
and you're kind of our last hope. Can you do this?
And I was like, Wow, you're really making an appealing pitch,
and they go, Arnold Schwarzeninger is going to be the
new boss. I'm like, um, yeah. And that was a
really interesting experience though, because you know, you've had this experience.
(29:36):
I've been a host, so I've never had to risk
anything on any of the shows I've done. I've done
a lot of competition stuff where people fall in their
faces or fail in front of millions, and and I
just get to go, oh, that that's tough, that's gonna hurt.
But now I was on that other side of the camera,
and you know, Celebrity Apprentice was relatively easy compared to
some of the other ones. But we were on from
(29:57):
seven am till nine pm, six days of for about
six weeks. You're on camera. The last thing my boss
is that Ninja Warriors said to me before I went on.
We're like, hey, people like you, do not screw this
up because you know, like I'm no longer the one
in control. I'm not the one who's getting to common
on the action. You're in there. And so that was
as nerve racking and experience as I've had in Hollywood,
(30:20):
where you know, everyone's looking to throw you under the bus,
your head's on a swivel. Just kinda managed to survive
and and get through it and then too, you know,
my my goal was just don't be the first person fired.
And then you know, I end up winning, which was awesome,
but then it became very politicized because of the previous boss.
Really nobody watched it. You know. It led to me,
(30:40):
I've gotten to do a bunch of charity fundraisers with Schwarzenegger.
Now we've gone to Europe, We've done him in his backyard,
all over the place, and we've I think we've raised
like close to ten million dollars, mostly him, but I've
had a little help in it, and it's been amazing
going these opportunities that lead to these other things, even
if it's not in the way that you know, I
thought this show was gonna blow up, everyone was gonna
(31:01):
know me not not really, but it got me in
with Arnold Schwartzeninger got me into this other stratosphere and
talk about an inspiring guy. Being around Arnold Schwarzenegger, a
guy who you know, has had four or five different careers,
all at the highest level. To go from this little
kid in Austria to you know, a world Mr Olympia
multiple time, to become a real estate magnet and be
(31:23):
a millionaire before he does his first movie, to become
a movie star, to become the governor, to become a philanthropist,
to have his own charitable branch at usc That that
is doing good for politics. It's being around that guy.
I say, it's like business school because the energy he has,
the creativity and the drive. You're like, you leave and
(31:44):
you're just like, man, it's it's it's like a dose
of speed. You just feel like, man, I can do
so much more and just seeing this guy at seventy two,
crush it. It's that's been a great opportunity, is just
to the chance to see how he operates, going back
to your initial point of one thing led to another
and you never really know what that one thing is.
It's true, like I think for everyone out there, you
(32:04):
know that that listens to this podcast for like the
blueprint to success. You gotta go into like every opportunity.
Some you don't even know their opportunities and still kick
gas and take names. So I have a similar story
of how I got into hosting on E because I
was on The Bachelor at and then I'm the bartender
and Bachelor in Paradise. So I got asked to go
(32:27):
on Kathy Lee and Hodah's show to talk about the
Bachelor one day, and so I went and they were like, hey,
Kathy Lee and Hoda, they like to drink. Do you
want to have a drink? And I was with a
bunch of people and you know, it's it's at eight
thirty in the morning, and I was like, yeah, man,
I have a Moscow mule and hell I'll mix them
up for everybody. So then I started making drinks at
(32:47):
like eight in the morning, and I made one for
Kathy Lee, who took a liking to me that day
because I made her a drink in the morning. You
had a heavy hand on that. Yeah. If I'm good
at anything, it's getting people a little drunk and being
a little too honest on television. So so that that
in turn led to like her producer became a big
(33:10):
wig at E who needed hosts for like red carpet stuff,
and then they at that moment, I was just like, yeah, no,
I just so I think it'll be fun to be
like drinking with Kathley on on TV today. But I
went into with like a bunch of like as positive
and fun energy, and that in turn turn, I never
thought that Kathy Lee and Hood to Interview is gonna
turn into anything. You know, Yeah, I think you nailed
(33:31):
it right there that because to me, yeah, I think
there are a couple approaches. And I just mentioned Arnold
Schwarzen and now he's the opposite. He's a guy who
had a vision, who's who said I want to be
a movie star, I want to be a politician. And
he wouldn't take no, and he was like Conan the Barbarian,
just cutting down everything in his path. I, on the
other hand, have been much more of I want to
(33:51):
work and I say yes two because it's just what
you said, where some seemingly tiny opportunity that offers no
pay and no upside all of a sudden if you
go in there, because I always say, like, I know
what I do, and if you put me in a
room and let me do what I do, if they're
looking for that, they'll like it. But just to be
that chance. And and that's the thing where there's you know,
(34:13):
they always say there's no small roles. You go in
there and that could have very easily been a one
and done, but instead you took the opportunity to lean
into it. And I think that's one of those lessons
that people have where they say, no, I need to
get a starring role. I want you don't want to
roll where I get to be the murderer, And it's like, hey,
you know what, take what you can get, even if
it's a student film, because that person could be Steven
(34:34):
Spielberg in the future. And and and the other thing
is I think work but gets work. So sitting at
home holding out for that perfect thing again, that may
be an approach that works For some my approach has
been I want to get out there and I don't
care if it's working. You know, I try not to
work for free, but if if it's someone I love
or a project, they're like, I'm like, hey, I don't
know where this is gonna come. It may fulfill me,
(34:55):
but but it's just what you said where you don't
know where that break is going to come from it.
And I think of that, those countless opportunities where you
meet someone and they're like, not right now, but I
like you, but not right now. And I got to
do some stuff with Travis Pastrana where we did a
live show. He recreated evil kin evil stunts. I met
(35:15):
with the production group five years before and they're like, man,
we like you, but but we're gonna keep an eye
out for you. Five years later they call and we
got through like the largest cable special of the year
back in and it was it was just this ridiculous
thing of this this is a marathon. And I think,
you know, even if you go into an audition, if
you crush it, even if you don't get it, people
notice and they don't forget. And it's that thing of
(35:37):
having the patients to say, maybe not this one, but
another one will come and and rare is the time
that this one thing it was your single opportunity where
if you don't get it, your you know, if you
get it, you'd go on to become the Oscar winner.
If you don't, you go back to slinging hash at
a diner. There there are multiple chances out here, you know.
The harder you work and the more pleasant you are,
(35:58):
and the more you take advantage of them, I think,
the more opportunities come your way. I'm also a firm
believer in a healthy amount of delusion, because I'll do
a lot of those things. Now I'll be like, oh,
you know what, they don't know what they're talking about.
I killed that one, and that's them issue, not a
me issue, and then I can feel better. But it is.
It is one of those things because you don't often
(36:20):
get feedback when they don't even tell you know, they
just give you silence, and you think it has to
be you, and it's much better to say, now, they
had to go with someone who's totally different than me.
That's the only reason they didn't choose me, and I
to a certain extent, I think some of that as
long as you can be critical when you're like, hey,
I could have done that better, but at the same
time going I did pretty well. I'm happy with what
I did. I think you're right a healthy amount of
(36:42):
enough ego to say I can handle No. I want
to kind of get into the serious part of your story.
I mean, you mentioned earlier that you have ruined toid arthritis.
Have you deal with that on a daily basis? But
you're also a cancer survivor. Yeah, yeah, So this is
where looking good on paper really changes. So I was
(37:04):
diagnosed Christmas of two thousand two with rheumatoid arthritis, and
it was actually a relief. It had been a year
and a half where I was symptomatic. I was going
to doctors, I was getting checked out. None of the
tests were positive. Nobody knew what was going on, but
my body was falling apart. I went from being in
the best shape of my life to not being able
(37:25):
to work out at all. I gained like fifty five
pounds in eighteen months. I was sleeping ten to twelve
hours a day. I was having pain and stiffness in
my hands, feet, neck, and back. I was I was like,
I was like an old man. And so when they
told me, and I was going to doctors, you know,
probably four or five times a month, just getting tests
and trying orthopedic surgeons and podiatrists and and uh A
(37:49):
Roman therapists and acupuncture anything and everything. And you know,
they eventually diagnosed it off an X ray. It was
a relief when they told me what I had. It's
not like you never want to hear you've you've got
this chronic autoimmune disease and there's no cure. But what
I wanted was just an answer, because you psychologically, it's
really hard when you know something's wrong but everyone's telling
(38:11):
you it looks normal, we can't find anything wrong, and
you start to wonder, is this this in my head?
Am I am I imagining this? So to have an
answer was satisfying, even if it wasn't necessarily an answer
I wanted. And then when I started on treatment, it
was like a veil was lifted, and I'm you never
go back to normal, but you you get better and
you appreciate. You have such an appreciation for health because
(38:35):
you've seen how easily it can be taken away. You know,
when I was on apprentice, Arthritis Foundation was my charity,
and I you know, the other thing is I've I've
really been adamant about telling my story because I remember
when I was diagnosed. Again, I'm a doctor, my dad's doctors.
I know what r A is, but I didn't know
anyone who had it, and certainly it's a it affects
predominantly women, so I didn't know. I was like thirty
(38:57):
one and a guy, and I did know anyone like
me who had it. And I just thought, when you
look up in a textbook, when you hear about a disease,
they put the textbook cases and those are, by definition,
some of the worst case scenarios. So you're looking at going,
is this my future? These people whose bodies are ravaged,
who are in wheelchairs, who have trouble breathing, And I thought,
(39:19):
you know, when someone's diagnosed after me, I want them
to have an example of someone who's hosting TV shows
and might not look sick, because I think a lot
of it is you want to see what's my future.
You want to see someone who's thriving with the disease,
and a lot of people, a lot of people don't
talk about their ailments. And I kind of have said,
look I'm lucky it's been somewhat manageable for me. So
(39:41):
I kind of want to be out there to try
to inspire people who are diagnosed with rumatoid arthritis to say,
you know you, I'm not going to compete on Ninja Warrior,
but I can host it. And then in two thousand
and seven, I get another whammy uh cancer And ironically,
the only reason they found it was because of my
rheumatoid arthritis. That I was having pain in my chest
(40:03):
and I went to a dock because I just thought
with the immune the medicine I'm on, I'm I'm more
susceptible to infections and I just thought this could be
like a long infection. So he got an X ray
that he was He's like, it's fine. He was, but
he was a really thorough doctor, and he said, I
want to get a cat skin just to rule out
anything else. Sends me to the e R. The doc says,
your cat scans fine. The next morning, the radiologist calls
(40:26):
after reading and he goes, there's a mass on your kidney.
There's a chance it's malignant. You gotta get it checked
out as soon as possible. And it was just this
surreal moment of For a month, I was in this
kind of suspended state of you know, you're told you
likely have cancer. The only time they'll find out is
once you have surgery to remove it. So my family
(40:48):
comes out, I go in for this surgery, and sure enough,
it was a malignant tumor on my kidney, and they said,
you're so lucky. You're so lucky we caught this early
because we got it and there's a good chance that
this is all you need. There's no radiation, no chemo,
justice surgery, and ten years have passed, so now my
my risk of that cancer has gone back down to
(41:09):
essentially normal. But it was just one of those moments
where what a reminder of how quickly things could change.
And if if I hadn't been vigilant because of the
r A, I probably wouldn't have noticed it until it
was symptomatic, and very likely it could have metastasized. My
chance of survival dips to around fifty maybe lower. The
r A. Having this chronic disease and being vigilant helped
me catch that cancer early. So it's uh, you know,
(41:31):
and it's another reminder of nothing's guaranteed healthwise, and uh, so,
you know, take care of yourself as best as you can.
As I'm eating waffles and cereal. You have and appreciate
your health because it really can be taken away. And
this is again a reminder of it. You do so
much just going through your resume and as like a
hosty person myself, it's kind of daunting all the things
(41:55):
that are on your Wikipedia page, I mean, aside from
American inter Warrior and you know, you won Celebrity Apprentice,
by the way, just real quick, was everyone like, this
isn't fair that this guy's on Celebrity Apprentice. He is
a doctor who went to Princeton and nobody because it
was all who is more famous, because fundraising is a
big part of it. I was. I was by far
(42:16):
the least famous person on the show, and so they
were at which which allowed me to kind of be
the sick of fan where I could be like, hey boy, George,
I'm a big fan. Can I help you one darling?
You can bloody help me, and so you know, I think,
but you know, it helped because I was willing to
do the grunt work, to be able to do the
paperwork and just to to grind probably so then a
(42:37):
lot of them did There's Celebrity Apprentice American Danjin Warrior
Live Rescue. And then I saw you're doing something with Ellen. Yeah,
so Game of Games where this is just a one off,
but we're on Ellen's Game of Games. And you know,
I've gotten to do like Hollywood Game Night and twenty
five Words or less. And I will tell you, because
you strike me a little bit probably semi competitive, you
(43:00):
probably have a ton of fun with games. It is
so much fun getting to go on those game shows
and and play because I just get ferociously. So that's
the new thing I'm doing is I have a podcast
coming out called Factorious. That's a game show and we
recorded it back in October and it's it's dropping Tuesday,
the fourteen. You can sign up now on you know,
(43:20):
Apple podcast wherever. And it was so much fun to
get to do a game show because I love I
love the competitive nature of it. I love trivia, uh
so all of that stuff. Anytime a game show calls,
I will play, I will host. I get to go
on Kelly Clarkson and host a show where she and
and Jennifer Garner were playing and I'm hosting it, and
I just I'm like, I'm I'm ferocious with the rules
(43:43):
and I build up this thing. I love it. I
love playing games. I want to be respectful of your time.
I know you're very You're very busy during this quarantine,
so hugely busy. I know you know you have big
meetings later today. Before I let you go, I wanted
to do some rapid fire question with you. You got
it all right, rapid fire questions with Matt Iceman. Here
(44:03):
we go. What is your favorite book? Oh god, Harry
Potter jumped into my mind. You The Adventures of Cavalier
and Clay was another good one. But Harry Potter, I
gotta say, Harry Potter, Well, well, this all kind of
gets back to normal. Have you seen The Cursed Child
on Broadway? So Sarah's dad plays Dumbledore in it. And
when this all goes back to normal, and you, if
(44:26):
you're out in New York, let me know and we'll
get you in there. It is the If you're Harry,
I'm taking you up on that one. Yeah. If you're
a Harry Potter nerd like this thing is amazing. Harry Potter,
help me win apprentice. I love Harry. What was your
first concert you ever went to Neil Diamond, first job,
window washer, first car V three P green Chevy Nova
(44:48):
owned by my grandma. I love how everyone knows exactly
the year making model of their first car. Who would
you call to get you out of jail? Steve Myers,
one of my best friends. Never been in jail, me
or him, We've come close. Yeah. Did you ever have
a poster hanging on your bedroom wall? And if so,
who was it? Not only did I, I still do.
My My parents live in the house where I grew up.
(45:09):
My entire bedroom is covered and the poster directly across
from my bed. Michael Jordan's everywhere. Um at Nolan Ryan
because I played baseball, but the poster directly across from
my bed. Predator Arnold Schwartzenegger. Really don't. I didn't show
him a photo of that governmill. You've tucked me into
bed every night since I was that. No, that's bonkers
(45:31):
man favorite superhero Superman before, but now I gotta say,
Iron Man and Avengers Endgame just wrecked me. One thing
that's always in your fridge sugar free Mountain dew. Yeah,
sugar free Mountain Dew and sugar free red Bull. It's
so unhealthy. I should know better. I shouldn't know better,
but it's green, so I think it's got to be
good for me. One thing on your bucket list. So
(45:51):
I just started drumming and trying to play a Phil
Collins song and it's pathetic because I have no rhythm.
But I think I would love to perform with like
Phil Collins or Celine Dion or Steve like performed with
a real rock star. Yeah, because you know stand up comedy.
We all want to be rock stars. Y'all want to
go out there and just see, like, you know, an arena,
(46:14):
the lights come up and everyone just like that. That
would be awesome. Matt Eisman, thank you so much for
being on the Wells Cast. Awesome. It's so interesting. Obviously
you're a smart guy. Obviously you're very talented. But there's
a weird thing that happens when a lot of a
lot of these successful people people come in well into
the studio or we're doing this through Skype, where you
(46:35):
people's energy is so contagious, and it makes total sense
to me why you're so successful. We're in quarantine. It's
early for me, and your energy completely like lifted me
up and and has now made my day so great,
and so it makes total sense you do all this
stuff because if you're able to do that just through Skype,
(46:58):
you can also do it through television screen. I mean,
like all your degrees aside, I totally get it that
your six I appreciate that. I think the word I
always used to describe myself was enthusiastic, and it's it's
I think it's pretty genuine because I just it's so
ridiculous that this is what I get to do, Like
it's it's fun. We have a blast, and so I'm
(47:19):
I'm always very appreciative of it. And you know, and
honestly though, I will say that I've been getting a
little stir crazy and one of the things I've missed
was this. I miss you know, I missed interactions, I
miss you know, hosting, I miss stand up, I miss
just interacting with people. I realized, I'm I'm getting it's
something that I'm that I'm really struggling with where I'm
(47:42):
just making a point to call my friends and and
you know, I'm doing this podcast, We're gonna try to
do some gameplay where I just I need that interaction
with people. So I appreciate this. Well. If people want
to find out more about you, where do they need
to go at? Matt Eisman m A T t I
S E m A N. It's my website, Twitter, Instagram.
I think I've got like two TikTok posts up, but
(48:02):
I'm hoping not to get swallowed into that. I'm I'm
online way too much, but say hello, and if they
could check out Factorious. Is there anything else that I
didn't ask you about that you want to promote? You know,
I mentioned the Arthritis Foundation, but we're gonna be doing
stuff for Feeding America, you know, small ways to try
to help with this pandemic response. It seems to be
a pretty good charity. But you know, and whatever, I
just I hope people are doing well. We're all in
(48:25):
this together, and so if you're fortunate enough to be
doing okay, let's let's see where we can help some
others who aren't. Man, I've been thanks against so much
for being on the show. To you. We're friends now. Well,
I love it, And when this is all over, let
me know I'll get you into Harry Potter bro Oh
my god, dude, Well, thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Thanks many, Bud Dude, he went to Princeton and Columbia.
(48:49):
That guy's awesome. That was really really fun. It's so
weird to say out loud, I guess, but people who
are successful have something, there's some it thing, and that
dude has it in spades. That was awesome. Alright, guys,
thanks for listening to the podcast. He made my day
so much better. All right, So you subscribe to Wells
(49:11):
cast on I Heart Radio, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you
get your podcasts. It's the internet line.
This is a Wells Cast with Wells Adams and I
heart radio podcast. It is that is that is the
name of the show. What everybody hanging at the home
studio I love, which means I'm wearing I'm wearing ugs.
I got two pairs of ugs. Decided to go with
the the high top version today, just keeping you abreast
(00:24):
of what's happening in my quarantine. Also wearing some Modern
Family sweats because I wanna support the lady. Also, they
are the sweats that I wore yesterday. And I'm wearing
a T shirt and a beanie. So really coming to
work with the fire outfit today. I am excited about
the work that I am going to do today with
(00:46):
the Wells Cast on a good freaking Guests on. You know,
the original idea of the show was to find people
with amazing stories. How they got to become famous is cool,
But there are a lot of people that just got hockey.
But there are a lot of people out there that
like fought and Claude and took some circuitous routes to
(01:07):
get where they are today. And I think that's exactly
what we have in today's guest I mean, you know
this guy from television. He's a comedian, he's an actor.
It's a TV host. You one new Celebrity Apprentice back
in two seventeen. He's a host of American Ninja Warrior.
He's been on movies like Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen
(01:29):
Beneath the surface, But beneath the surface of Matt Eisman's
television and movie career is a crazy story, one that
apparently starts with going to med school and attending Princeton,
one that also includes being a survivor of cancer. I
think part of his kidney removed. I mean, this guy's
(01:50):
story is bonkers. This is one that you're not going
to want to miss. So coming up in just a
couple of minutes, the Wells cast with Matt Eisman stick around.
(02:18):
Well Matt, are you bud? Oh my god, listen to
those buttery baritone man nice pipes. I like that. You
got this like the same home setup that I got
going on here, right. I set this up because I
thought I was gonna be doing a ton of voiceover
when I moved in, and instead I just used this
for skype and zooming with my parents. The same exact
(02:41):
thing I did. I did voiceover auditions for like six
months and nothing ever came of it, and I was like, yeah, alright,
I guess I'm gonna do podcast now. Yeah, how you doing.
I'm doing good. I'm in my quarantine uniform, which is
very similar to that of college dorm chic. It's the
(03:04):
grunge era, so you're you're a little younger. I went
to college in the grunge era, and we went from
the eighties where everyone's in fluorescent clothing, girls had their
hair crimped and teas, to nobody showering, wearing sweatpants and
flannels and knit caps and just just looking like you're
you're a bunch of despondent Seattle kids. Well that's how
(03:25):
I feel right now. Are you sorry? The old Cosby sweater,
I'm looking sweater. I don't know the impression to be
doing these things. Yeah, now you can't do that joke anymore. Man.
It was such an easy one, and now you can't
do it. You got is that a micro ukulele? Or
is distance proven playing tricks on my eyes to your
other side? Oh yeah, it's ukulele. We got all the
(03:46):
tricks and things, and I got a Nintendo sixty hooked
up over here, It's something out of Stepbrothers where I'm
like building home forts friends. Obviously Sarah's home then she's
not out working of course, like I'm I'm single, so
I am in this how I I feel like Jack
Torrence in The Shining All work, no play, and I'm
(04:06):
getting a little little stir crazy. If you're clean and healthy,
you can come be a part of our quarantine pod
where we just sit around and watch Ozark over and
over again. How good is Ozark? Jason Bateman. The thing
I was saying is I hate every character. They're all despicable,
and yet you pull for him, you like him. There's
(04:29):
nobody all a hero, nobody who's all a villain. It's
such a like Shades of Gray show, and it's so
well done. Yeah I know. I did a tweet the
other day where I was like, appreciation post for Jason Bateman.
Whatever you got in the can that you're waiting to
release down the line, let's just do that now. Because
I ripped through The Outsider. I'm done with those dark
and I need something new. It started with the rest
(04:49):
of development. He has just made a comeback and you
forget how funny God he is funny and yet an
amazing dramatic actor. It's a good show to watch because
it makes you feel better about being locked in your house.
You realize you could be in Ozark's laundering money, dealing
with meth and heroin dealers and threatened beheadings. Do you
remember when he was on the Hogan Family, like way
(05:13):
back in the day. Look how old I That was
part of my regular childhood. I think he was Ricky
Shortag's friend on Silver Spoons. Yeah, but you know he
was always playing in the shadow of his sister, Justine
Bateman on Family Ties. And then he just said, no, no, no,
I got this, Justine, It's my turn. I was watching
Dodgeball the other night, like a fall asleep movie, and
(05:35):
I had forgotten that he's the commentator on that the
bold move Cotton, So you know, obviously with American Ninja Warrior,
we do lots of that, and it's impossible not not
to quote Cotton, Wells and Pepper. It was so funny,
and I don't know if he chose it going in
kind of that extreme sports guy drunk. Dodge Ball was
(05:57):
a very good movie. You're right. I think that was
one that really started kicking him back into movies. Yeah,
the dude's funny. I'm glad that you brought up American
Ninja Warrior. We have Matt Eisman on the Wells Cast today.
I'm very excited because I'm a huge fan of American
Ninja Warrior, big celebrity apprentice guy. You've been doing so
much recently. But I don't know if anyone kind of
(06:19):
told you the idea for this show. This show is
all about origin stories, much like that of Jason Bateman
and family ties. I want to know where Matt Eisman
came from and how you got to where you are today.
And everyone's story is different, but I've got a feeling
that your story is going to be much different because
(06:41):
from the little bit of research than I did before
starting this show, you weren't like at first setting out
to become this comedian and this like extreme sports post. So, Matt,
where did you come from? It's funny. I was just
watching Batman begins the origin story of Bruce Wayne getting
his parents killed. So I I did. I started out
(07:03):
a different path. I grew up in Colorado. Entertainment was
a world apart. I didn't know anyone in entertainment. Entertainment
didn't seem like a viable career, and so I just,
you know, it was going to school and and my
path was I was becoming a doctor. And so I
went to college and got into medical school in New York.
I went to med school, graduated, I got my m d.
(07:24):
I was doing residency at the University of Colorado, and
I just had this epiphany where I realized, Um, my
heart wasn't totally in this. And now it's such a
perfect example of why medicine isn't a job. It's not
it's it is a calling. And to see these people
who are you know, friends of mine, who I'm talking
(07:44):
to on a regular basis, who are going into places
where we are being told to avoid literally like the plague,
and these doctors and nurses and healthcare workers are going
in there risking their lives for this because it is
a calling. It's a sacred trust when people place their
lives in your hand. And I don't think I totally
I didn't have that passion, the passion that's needed for that.
(08:05):
So I kind of was at this crossroads and I thought,
I gotta I gotta figure something out. Wells So I
decided to take a year off from medicine to kind
of clear my brain, and I thought, you know, it
could be a schebum could travel around the world. I've
done stand up a couple of times in New York,
so I thought, I'm just gonna move to l A.
I've never done anything creative. I'll do stand up for
a year. I'll get it out of my system. I'll
(08:26):
grow up and go back to medicine. Instead, it was
like three weeks after moving out here, I was like,
I'm never going back. I found what I meant to
do and this this meanwhile, this, I'm doing awful open
mics in Los Angeles. This is not like I was
performing at the improv and reality star women were coming
up throwing themselves at me. I was bombing at you know,
(08:47):
flaffel huts in front of four other comics. But I
just I fell in love with performing, and so from
there just it's really stumbled into this career of you know,
I knew someone who got me in as an extra
on The Drew Carey Show as a baseball player. That
led to commercials that got me into sketch comedy, that
got me into hosting, and in two thousand four was
(09:08):
my first hosting gig, and that first gig, which was
on E ended up getting me Ninja Warriors, So that
first hosting gig got me the job I have today.
So it's I didn't craft this out. There was no path.
I'm not Magellan navigating this. It was just kind of
being out here and I think getting some opportunities and
and taking my swings and saying yes to things. Yes,
(09:29):
you know I one of the one of the things
I did was a home makeover show, and if people
watch Cleanhouse, spoiler alert, I'm not actually a contractor. I
didn't know what I was doing, but they're like, we
need someone who can interact with people, and it was
it's just been a ridiculously fun ride. I was, you know,
I was just talking to a friend who was back
in Colorado, who I grew up with, who knew me
when I was doing medicine, and I was just talking
(09:52):
about something and I mentioned Apprentice because I just done
some stuff with Arnold Schwartzinger and my buddy goes, did
you ever think when we were on up that you'd
become buddies with Arnold schwarzen And I was like, no,
I didn't, because you've made it. Man. If nothing else happens,
You've made it. It's been a ridiculous ride. In hindsight,
you can kind of connect some of the dots. But
(10:13):
even moving out here, even ten years ago, I think
I didn't know what was next and where it was going.
And a lot of it is just you know, as
I think, as you've seen now, you know, being out
here and opportunities come and you don't know. Rarely do
you know which ones are going to be the ones
that change your life. You know, it's just kind of
a guessing game, and this idea of it's a marathon
and being out here and loving what you do because
(10:34):
there's no guarantee you're gonna end up in a house
with a with a theater with red velvet curtains, you know,
and you gotta be okay with that. You gotta be
okay with Hey, I'm doing what I love and I'm
hopefully making a living. And obviously, you know right now
it's very tough for anyone to make a living at this,
but it is. It's still something where every day I
get to go to work. I love it. I love
(10:56):
what I do. I love hosting Ninja Warrior, I love
doing stand up, I was when Live Rescue on A
and E before this all hit, and that was fun.
I just I really enjoy getting to perform, getting to
tell stories in front of people. You've got to be
like a little bit of a sadist. I mean, I've
done a little bit of stand up and like a
little bit of improv stuff. I've never been a doctor,
(11:17):
but my father's one, so I know it's hard. What
is it about you choosing the hardest things to do
to do? You know? Growing up I think my my
my parents were incredibly supportive, but they were also encouraged me.
You know, They're like, hey, just put everything you got
into it. And so you know that's got into good
(11:39):
schools and did well and being a doctor. You know,
it's all kind of fitting those marks. And I think
when I left medicine and came out to Hollywood, there
was certainly, uh the advantage I had. You know, this
is a business of no, this is a business that
breaks people down. It really doesn't value them. So many
people come here young without a strong sense of identity.
And I had the advantage of i'd be of a doctor.
(12:00):
I had that under my belt of hey, I've accomplished
something but the more important thing was I really had perspective.
I'd seen what life and death was. And you know,
we take this very seriously out here, but this is
make believe, right, Sarah's pretending to be in a mixed family,
and it's all fun and games and and you know
you you're gonna be a DJ and I get to
tell jokes or talk about Ninja's and we take it
(12:22):
very seriously. We worked very hard at it, but at
the end of the day, never more more so than now,
it's it's clear what we do is is fun. And
so I think having that perspective probably has helped me
navigate this business. That is oftentimes it's it's crazy, right.
I mean, most of the time you get told no,
and even when you get told yes, most of those
never make it on the air, and even those that
(12:43):
do rarely last more than a year. So you know,
you've got to enjoy it while you can, knowing you know,
who knows how entertainment is going to emerge after this.
A show like Ninja Warrior is a rabid following. We
were we were getting We're supposed to be shooting on
March thirteen, so you know, it's just when things start
to shutting down that we just we just got this
season Nipton. They're trying to figure out how to come back.
(13:05):
But you know, we'll have like a hundred plus athletes
and to family members there will have our crew, So
to think, when when are we going to be able
to have a group that large gather again? I don't know.
I don't know what the answer is. I don't know
you know what the plan is. I I think every
production it is kind of in this waiting game to
figure out how do we and I don't know that
(13:25):
we get back to normal, but what's our new normal?
And when do we get there? And that's why I
don't know it. It's kind of crazy watching and and
still realizing. Look, they're still far greater problems, but we
are starting to wonder, you know, how are people going
to make a living? I love the idea of your
fallback plan was being a doctor. Okay, so well I
will tell you right now. Wells, people like, why aren't
you going into the hospital. First of all, it's been
(13:47):
twenty years since I practiced, And secondly, I do have
rheumatoid arthritis, so I have an autoimmune disease and my
medication downregulates my immune system, so I am I, you know, compromise.
So I'm someone who is considered part of the vulun population.
So aside from the fact i'd probably be useless, it's
probably healthwise best for me to try to avoid hospitals. Yeah,
(14:07):
Sarah is a kidney transplant recipient, so she is also
immuno compromised. And I've been trying to not talk about
Corona a lot on my show, is just because we're
just inundated with it. But it's one of those things
of like I totally get the young dip person being like, well,
if I get it, I'm gonna be fine, and like,
you know, I'm gonna be It's what spring break. Yeah,
(14:30):
I get that mentality. And also there's the thing that
comes with youth of invincibility, So I get where they're
coming from. But it's like, Okay, great, that's that's fine,
that you'll be fine, But you could give it to
someone who would not be fine, and then think about
how terrible you would feel if you killed the host
of American Ninja Warrior. You know, like, well, that's a
(14:54):
really good point, I think in that this is been
unusual in any challenge we face before you know, nine
eleven or anything. I think where you realize it's not
just about you. There there that like you said, you
could be totally healthy, you could be fine. But you
know what I think from spring break, we saw so
many of those kids went back and tested positive, and
(15:16):
you wonder who else did they in fact, And you
know that'd be a heavy thing to carry around. And
you know it's hard to know, it's hard to know exactly,
but just what you said, the the idea of these kids,
they feel invulnerable, but at some point that that guilt,
that reality could set and and you know it's odd
that right now we're soldiers on the front line and
our job is to stay at home. That's that's your post.
(15:37):
Leave your posts. You stay home. You do not leave
this post soldier. Like all right, okay, I'll get on
my microphone. This is my couch. There are many couches, Like, dude,
we got some good pop culture overlap there. Well, okay,
so I kind of want to go back a little bit.
So you grew up in Colorado. Are your parents doctors
or and then then the medical fields doctor? So dad
(15:58):
was a doctor, and never, you know, never pressured me
to go into medicine. But what he did is he
said an example. I just saw how much my dad
loved what he did, how much satisfaction he got from it,
and what a difference he made, and and and that
that appealed to me. My dad's my hero, so I
think one of following his footsteps. But I was good
at science and I like people, so it's the perfect
(16:18):
fit on paper. But you know, that's one of the
things you learned growing up. You don't live your life
on paper, and what should be good sometimes it just
doesn't resonate, and that's why you you know, you gotta
And that was the tough part, was kind of having
that courage too, because you know the hardest part for
me was telling my parents that I wanted to leave medicine,
because again I went back to the difference of Colorado.
(16:38):
My dad's a professor there, we were working at the
same hospitals, and I'm sure for him it's like my son,
my son, the doctor has come home. And I just thought,
oh my god, he's gonna be so disappointed in me.
And it took me like a month and a half
to work up the courage. And I remember when I
told him I was so terrified, and he just he
didn't miss a beat. He just looked at me and
(16:59):
he goes, life is short. Do what makes you happy.
He and my mom they didn't even flinch. They were
just like, we don't you know, we don't care if
you're pumping gas or or or waiting tables. As long
as you're happy, you've got your education, go go, go
do it. You know what your what makes your heart singing.
And it was just such a you know at that point,
which is why I think when I moved out to
(17:19):
l A two, it was just it was like I was,
you know, freed from these cinder blocks. I thought I
was going to go out there with this weight or
this guilt, and instead I just felt like, hey, I'm
getting I'm giving a chance to kind of a redo,
uh you know in life where you get a kind
of reboot and and say I'm gonna try something different.
And it was just, you know, when I started doing
stand up and and got on got on the stage
(17:41):
and and just got the the feel of what it's
like to get a crowd going and to make them
laugh and to leave them smiling, I was like this,
this is how I meant to help people. It's not
curing cancer, but it's hopefully leaving people, you know, a
little happier than when they came. Did you go to Princeton? Yeah,
I went to I went to Princeton for under at
Columbia University for med schools. Like, yeah, wells on paper,
(18:04):
I'm so impressive that this can't be that guy. It
just doesn't seem like him. It was. It's interesting, you know,
it's I did a morning show for like seven years,
and when you do morning shows, you don't do a
lot of musicians because a lot of musicians don't want
to get up because their voice isn't ready. But whoever
is playing at the Chuckle Hut or the laugh Factory
(18:25):
or you know, Zany's uh is definitely coming in because
they need to sell ticket. So I talked with a
lot of comics, and I interviewed so many musicians and
so many actors and whatever, and I came to this
conclusion that for the most part, comics all could be
astrophysicists if they wanted to be, but they're like two damaged.
(18:47):
So they went into stand up comedy because you have
to be so freaking smart to do it would be
the quickest guy in the room generally, because there's some
quick guy in the room talking to you on stage,
and you gotta be quicker than It totally makes sense
that a guy that you know went to Princeton and
Columbia have this other calling. My one question to you
is were your parents like, you know, like do what
(19:09):
makes you happy? But also like you know, in Um
the wedding singer, when Adam sand there's like information that
would have been good to know yesterday. I imagine your
dad being like, yes, sweet, but like what we just
spent a lot of money on tuition, kid, Listen. They
were wonderful to my face. I'm sure as soon as
we're like, this kid is out of a will nothing. Sure.
(19:33):
I wish, I wish I would have known earlier that
this switch was coming, but it really, you know, it
was one of those things where sometimes you you don't
know until you're there. Yeah, And so that was the
case with medicine where I really enjoyed medical school. I
love the challenge of it. And you know, just in residency,
you just start to see the day of day existence
and the tremendous responsibility you have. And look, I'm sure
(19:56):
there were points where my parents my friends were all like, dude,
you're you're an idiot taking away from a sure career
to go tell jokes at the chuckle hut. What are
you thinking? And it took a few years, I think,
before I started getting into commercials, which and back then
commercials paid absurdly well. So I mean within three months,
(20:17):
I was making probably almost ten times what I was
making as a resident, because as a resident you're making
you're basically making subsistence level wages. You're you're making nothing.
The money made it a lot easier to say I'm
staying because after a couple of years, I was doing
commercials but I hadn't had I wasn't hosting, wasn't doing
anything long term. But I was making a lot more
money and I was a lot happier. And I think
(20:38):
that was the thing that eventually my parents saw was
I was just smiling all the time, having so much fun.
Do I wonder if I'd been mature enough to stay
a doctor, you know what, I what, I would I
have loved it, maybe maybe maybe I would have grown up.
But I I instead, I'm I'm out here, and and
I think you you nailed it. Where look I I
am obviously on paper, I'm pretty educated. But when I
(20:59):
meet commeding and I think, you see, they may not
be educated, but they are intelligent. They are the fastest minds.
And when you look at you know, Dr Ken Ken Jong,
you know went to Duke and doctor uh Greg Giraldo,
one of the funniest comics around, was a Harvard educated lawyer.
There are a lot of guys out there who are
who who showed that the intelligence that you have to have,
(21:20):
and that that the really good comedians, whether they dropped
out of high school, you know, like you said, could
have been a rocket scientist, or could have been a
word smith or whatever that I the comedians really have
these incredibly minds that are so good at making connections
and wordplay and and seeing a room and reading people.
I think there are a lot of skill sets in
comedy that would be good for sales or you know,
(21:43):
finance or poker. There's just a lot of human skills,
I think, And which is funny because you meet a
lot of comedians like they're not Some of them are
just terribly, not terribly social other than when they're on stage,
they're miserable. Mitch Hedberg would come in with like a
hoodie on and glasses. It'll be fun. Tortured souls, dude.
The fact that you got to know Mitch Heedburg is
(22:05):
very cool. I mentioned doing Apprentice and getting to me.
I got to meet Arnold Schwarzenegger in there, and Vince
Neil from Motley Crue, like I remember going on the
field Good Tours seeing him, and now I'm hanging out
with this guy, I'm Ricky Williams. And and for me
growing up because Hollywood seems so far away, the fact
that I'm now dipping my toe in it and getting
(22:25):
to meet some of these people whose work I've enjoyed
so much because the reality is like I'm in reality TV.
We're still the step child of of entertainment, you know,
and we're we're not really invited to the big parties.
And that's fine. I'm I'm so happy to have a job.
But it's been cool, Like getting to meet Schwarzenegger for
me has just been one of those one of those
(22:46):
things where you're like, man, this I feel like I've
that's a mark of I've made it. This This is
one of those things that I never would have dreamed of.
And and I love when you get to do things.
So I was supposed to go cover the Olympics this summer.
NBC was gonna have me a streaming show there, and
I was like, this is gonna be it. I'm gonna
go to the Olympics. Something I've been watching so I
was a little kid, and I'm gonna get a be
(23:06):
interviewing the athletes. And then you know, the virus has
to ruin it for me. But it's it's these moments
when you get to do things that you came from Nashville. Yeah,
I was in Nashville doing radio. So you think, like,
how just something comes and all of a sudden you're
in a different stratosphere, more opportunities come your way. It's
just fun when you think, man, I I very easily
could have just been you know, stayed there and probably
(23:29):
been happy. But look at this now, look at these
opportunities and look at the experiences I'm getting to have.
And that's that's one of the things I always try
to do, is just appreciate this ridiculous life we get
to lead, and these these moments where you know, I'm
still really good friends with my buddies from high school
and college and even growing up and like to just
(23:49):
send text to them like, man, this you know, I'm
getting to I'm getting to throw out a first pitch
at a Dodgers game. I played baseball. I'm throwing a
pitch at the Dodgers game. Just thinking this is so awesome.
And I always try to appreciate these opportunities in these
moments because I think, you know, eventually the career goes
away and you're just gonna think back on those moments
where you thought, man, that was a moment that I'd
(24:12):
work to make happen, and it was just I wanted
to sit in it and appreciate it and be grateful
for it because it's you know, it's so easy at
times too. I think we were talking about this where
where you're like, well, what's next, you know, and and
there is always a degree of that, but you know,
just trying to say hey, and and that's one of
the things I think that this is afforded, this this
chance to slow down and appreciate what you have and
(24:33):
and appreciate hopefully what will come, what's to come in
the future. Obviously, I live in l A now, so
we have a lot of friends who are actors and
everyone's going on auditions, and it's tough to to book anything,
whether it's you know, hosting gigs or commercials or pilots
and whatnot. And you said when you got to l A,
you were able to book a bunch of commercials. What
(24:54):
do you think separated you from everybody else because there's
a million people going in for those lot. Miss I
think I have a goofy enthusiasm that seems to seems
to work. And I think, uh, I'm like, I'm a
decent sized guy. You know, you tend to be like
an action hero or the strong, silent type, and I'm
(25:16):
the twelve year old. And so I think with the commercials,
a lot of times I was playing the dopey guy
who doesn't know how to do the laundry, and I'm
like that you're totally believable. Is that that's that's what
we're gonna be? I don't know. And And that that
was what was tough with commercials was you know, on TV,
if you if you have a hit show, people want you.
They know, oh you can do this. In commercials you
(25:37):
have a hit commercial, sometimes people like you're you're kind
of known for that, and we're looking at the next thing.
So I think it's hard. Some people have built momentum,
but a lot of them realize you kind of have
a have a shelf life in commercials. So I was
lucky to kind of parlay the commercials into you know, sketching,
then into hosting. But uh, here's the crazy thing, though,
(25:57):
wells that that is disheart or not. I don't know
if it's it's just a fact of I've ended up
on the other side of casting where I'm sitting in
and I'm sure Sarah has had this experience too, where
once you get on the other side and you realize
how often it's not about you, it's not about your performance,
where they are just factors that you could never know
that they won't tell you that go into it. I
(26:19):
remember we were casting something and a guy came in
and he was amazing and he walked out and everyone
said that guy was great, and I go, we're not
gonna hire him, are were? They go, now, it's not
what we're looking for. And I go, he's gonna think
he tanked. They go, yeah, yeah, that's the business. And
it's I think it's tough to, uh, you know, to
be in this business where you know, and I think
(26:40):
then it becomes all right, well, because I don't know
what they're looking for, and sometimes they don't know what
they're looking for. Instead of trying to guess, let me
just do me. Let me give you the goofy me
and and hope that you know, because I think a
lot of times they're just looking to be inspired. And
if you come in there and you've got something unique
that you do, I think knowing that, uh and leaning
(27:02):
into it. So I'm you know, ninja, I'm big, loud,
enthusiastic guy. That's kind of my stock and trade. So
if you want the golf, if you want Jim Nanson
on in the Masters, that's probably I'm probably not your guy.
I want you to start the next season of American
Injina Warrior with Hello, friends. Today, we're gonna make a
(27:23):
bunch of people can run around. There's crazy obstacle of course,
listening to the swallows on. You get into Hollywood, you're
(27:46):
booking a bunch of commercials. Now take me through you
know the pathway to where you are now, where you're
the host for American Ninja Warrior. You're going on CE
celebrity Apprentice like show me that securitst route all the
way to hear So I was doing sketch comedy at
the Groundlings in class. I wasn't even a member of
their performing troop, but he was like their last their
(28:06):
highest level class and uh, how to show. And one
of the guys was mikey Day, who has become a
big guy on SNL. He and I were doing sketches
together and he was super funny and I was mildly funny.
But a guy came up afterwards and was like, Uh, hey,
there's a game show can I can I submit you
for it? And I mean this was like a class
show and I'm like sure, And that ended up being
(28:28):
this show at E this kind of fear factor rip off.
Then I got it, so it was it was really
kind of a throwaway because you know, I was so
focused on this sketch stuff. I went for this audition
and got it, and that show only lasted one season,
but it got me on a home makeover show that
went for six years, won an Emmy for it, and
that got me a show called Sports Soup, which was
(28:51):
the sports version of the Soup with Joel McHale that
was on Versus, and that show got me Ninja Warriors.
So six years after that first gig, I got Ninja
a Warrior. So really that first hosting gig in two
thousand four led to the job I have today. And
and the only reason I got on Apprentice was it's
on NBC. And literally they called me. They called me
about six days before they were due to start shooting,
(29:13):
and they're like, look, we'll shoot you straight. We're pretty
well cast up and we got a lot of wacky people.
We need someone who we think can do the work,
and you're kind of our last hope. Can you do this?
And I was like, Wow, you're really making an appealing pitch,
and they go, Arnold Schwarzeninger is going to be the
new boss. I'm like, um, yeah. And that was a
really interesting experience though, because you know, you've had this experience.
(29:36):
I've been a host, so I've never had to risk
anything on any of the shows I've done. I've done
a lot of competition stuff where people fall in their
faces or fail in front of millions, and and I
just get to go, oh, that that's tough, that's gonna hurt.
But now I was on that other side of the camera,
and you know, Celebrity Apprentice was relatively easy compared to
some of the other ones. But we were on from
(29:57):
seven am till nine pm, six days of for about
six weeks. You're on camera. The last thing my boss
is that Ninja Warriors said to me before I went on.
We're like, hey, people like you, do not screw this
up because you know, like I'm no longer the one
in control. I'm not the one who's getting to common
on the action. You're in there. And so that was
as nerve racking and experience as I've had in Hollywood,
(30:20):
where you know, everyone's looking to throw you under the bus,
your head's on a swivel. Just kinda managed to survive
and and get through it and then too, you know,
my my goal was just don't be the first person fired.
And then you know, I end up winning, which was awesome,
but then it became very politicized because of the previous boss.
Really nobody watched it. You know. It led to me,
(30:40):
I've gotten to do a bunch of charity fundraisers with Schwarzenegger.
Now we've gone to Europe, We've done him in his backyard,
all over the place, and we've I think we've raised
like close to ten million dollars, mostly him, but I've
had a little help in it, and it's been amazing
going these opportunities that lead to these other things, even
if it's not in the way that you know, I
thought this show was gonna blow up, everyone was gonna
(31:01):
know me not not really, but it got me in
with Arnold Schwartzeninger got me into this other stratosphere and
talk about an inspiring guy. Being around Arnold Schwarzenegger, a
guy who you know, has had four or five different careers,
all at the highest level. To go from this little
kid in Austria to you know, a world Mr Olympia
multiple time, to become a real estate magnet and be
(31:23):
a millionaire before he does his first movie, to become
a movie star, to become the governor, to become a philanthropist,
to have his own charitable branch at usc That that
is doing good for politics. It's being around that guy.
I say, it's like business school because the energy he has,
the creativity and the drive. You're like, you leave and
(31:44):
you're just like, man, it's it's it's like a dose
of speed. You just feel like, man, I can do
so much more and just seeing this guy at seventy two,
crush it. It's that's been a great opportunity, is just
to the chance to see how he operates, going back
to your initial point of one thing led to another
and you never really know what that one thing is.
It's true, like I think for everyone out there, you
(32:04):
know that that listens to this podcast for like the
blueprint to success. You gotta go into like every opportunity.
Some you don't even know their opportunities and still kick
gas and take names. So I have a similar story
of how I got into hosting on E because I
was on The Bachelor at and then I'm the bartender
and Bachelor in Paradise. So I got asked to go
(32:27):
on Kathy Lee and Hodah's show to talk about the
Bachelor one day, and so I went and they were like, hey,
Kathy Lee and Hoda, they like to drink. Do you
want to have a drink? And I was with a
bunch of people and you know, it's it's at eight
thirty in the morning, and I was like, yeah, man,
I have a Moscow mule and hell I'll mix them
up for everybody. So then I started making drinks at
(32:47):
like eight in the morning, and I made one for
Kathy Lee, who took a liking to me that day
because I made her a drink in the morning. You
had a heavy hand on that. Yeah. If I'm good
at anything, it's getting people a little drunk and being
a little too honest on television. So so that that
in turn led to like her producer became a big
(33:10):
wig at E who needed hosts for like red carpet stuff,
and then they at that moment, I was just like, yeah, no,
I just so I think it'll be fun to be
like drinking with Kathley on on TV today. But I
went into with like a bunch of like as positive
and fun energy, and that in turn turn, I never
thought that Kathy Lee and Hood to Interview is gonna
turn into anything. You know, Yeah, I think you nailed
(33:31):
it right there that because to me, yeah, I think
there are a couple approaches. And I just mentioned Arnold
Schwarzen and now he's the opposite. He's a guy who
had a vision, who's who said I want to be
a movie star, I want to be a politician. And
he wouldn't take no, and he was like Conan the Barbarian,
just cutting down everything in his path. I, on the
other hand, have been much more of I want to
(33:51):
work and I say yes two because it's just what
you said, where some seemingly tiny opportunity that offers no
pay and no upside all of a sudden if you
go in there, because I always say, like, I know
what I do, and if you put me in a
room and let me do what I do, if they're
looking for that, they'll like it. But just to be
that chance. And and that's the thing where there's you know,
(34:13):
they always say there's no small roles. You go in
there and that could have very easily been a one
and done, but instead you took the opportunity to lean
into it. And I think that's one of those lessons
that people have where they say, no, I need to
get a starring role. I want you don't want to
roll where I get to be the murderer, And it's like, hey,
you know what, take what you can get, even if
it's a student film, because that person could be Steven
(34:34):
Spielberg in the future. And and and the other thing
is I think work but gets work. So sitting at
home holding out for that perfect thing again, that may
be an approach that works For some my approach has
been I want to get out there and I don't
care if it's working. You know, I try not to
work for free, but if if it's someone I love
or a project, they're like, I'm like, hey, I don't
know where this is gonna come. It may fulfill me,
(34:55):
but but it's just what you said where you don't
know where that break is going to come from it.
And I think of that, those countless opportunities where you
meet someone and they're like, not right now, but I
like you, but not right now. And I got to
do some stuff with Travis Pastrana where we did a
live show. He recreated evil kin evil stunts. I met
(35:15):
with the production group five years before and they're like, man,
we like you, but but we're gonna keep an eye
out for you. Five years later they call and we
got through like the largest cable special of the year
back in and it was it was just this ridiculous
thing of this this is a marathon. And I think,
you know, even if you go into an audition, if
you crush it, even if you don't get it, people
notice and they don't forget. And it's that thing of
(35:37):
having the patients to say, maybe not this one, but
another one will come and and rare is the time
that this one thing it was your single opportunity where
if you don't get it, your you know, if you
get it, you'd go on to become the Oscar winner.
If you don't, you go back to slinging hash at
a diner. There there are multiple chances out here, you know.
The harder you work and the more pleasant you are,
(35:58):
and the more you take advantage of them, I think,
the more opportunities come your way. I'm also a firm
believer in a healthy amount of delusion, because I'll do
a lot of those things. Now I'll be like, oh,
you know what, they don't know what they're talking about.
I killed that one, and that's them issue, not a
me issue, and then I can feel better. But it is.
It is one of those things because you don't often
(36:20):
get feedback when they don't even tell you know, they
just give you silence, and you think it has to
be you, and it's much better to say, now, they
had to go with someone who's totally different than me.
That's the only reason they didn't choose me, and I
to a certain extent, I think some of that as
long as you can be critical when you're like, hey,
I could have done that better, but at the same
time going I did pretty well. I'm happy with what
I did. I think you're right a healthy amount of
(36:42):
enough ego to say I can handle No. I want
to kind of get into the serious part of your story.
I mean, you mentioned earlier that you have ruined toid arthritis.
Have you deal with that on a daily basis? But
you're also a cancer survivor. Yeah, yeah, So this is
where looking good on paper really changes. So I was
(37:04):
diagnosed Christmas of two thousand two with rheumatoid arthritis, and
it was actually a relief. It had been a year
and a half where I was symptomatic. I was going
to doctors, I was getting checked out. None of the
tests were positive. Nobody knew what was going on, but
my body was falling apart. I went from being in
the best shape of my life to not being able
(37:25):
to work out at all. I gained like fifty five
pounds in eighteen months. I was sleeping ten to twelve
hours a day. I was having pain and stiffness in
my hands, feet, neck, and back. I was I was like,
I was like an old man. And so when they
told me, and I was going to doctors, you know,
probably four or five times a month, just getting tests
and trying orthopedic surgeons and podiatrists and and uh A
(37:49):
Roman therapists and acupuncture anything and everything. And you know,
they eventually diagnosed it off an X ray. It was
a relief when they told me what I had. It's
not like you never want to hear you've you've got
this chronic autoimmune disease and there's no cure. But what
I wanted was just an answer, because you psychologically, it's
really hard when you know something's wrong but everyone's telling
(38:11):
you it looks normal, we can't find anything wrong, and
you start to wonder, is this this in my head?
Am I am I imagining this? So to have an
answer was satisfying, even if it wasn't necessarily an answer
I wanted. And then when I started on treatment, it
was like a veil was lifted, and I'm you never
go back to normal, but you you get better and
you appreciate. You have such an appreciation for health because
(38:35):
you've seen how easily it can be taken away. You know,
when I was on apprentice, Arthritis Foundation was my charity,
and I you know, the other thing is I've I've
really been adamant about telling my story because I remember
when I was diagnosed. Again, I'm a doctor, my dad's doctors.
I know what r A is, but I didn't know
anyone who had it, and certainly it's a it affects
predominantly women, so I didn't know. I was like thirty
(38:57):
one and a guy, and I did know anyone like
me who had it. And I just thought, when you
look up in a textbook, when you hear about a disease,
they put the textbook cases and those are, by definition,
some of the worst case scenarios. So you're looking at going,
is this my future? These people whose bodies are ravaged,
who are in wheelchairs, who have trouble breathing, And I thought,
(39:19):
you know, when someone's diagnosed after me, I want them
to have an example of someone who's hosting TV shows
and might not look sick, because I think a lot
of it is you want to see what's my future.
You want to see someone who's thriving with the disease,
and a lot of people, a lot of people don't
talk about their ailments. And I kind of have said,
look I'm lucky it's been somewhat manageable for me. So
(39:41):
I kind of want to be out there to try
to inspire people who are diagnosed with rumatoid arthritis to say,
you know you, I'm not going to compete on Ninja Warrior,
but I can host it. And then in two thousand
and seven, I get another whammy uh cancer And ironically,
the only reason they found it was because of my
rheumatoid arthritis. That I was having pain in my chest
(40:03):
and I went to a dock because I just thought
with the immune the medicine I'm on, I'm I'm more
susceptible to infections and I just thought this could be
like a long infection. So he got an X ray
that he was He's like, it's fine. He was, but
he was a really thorough doctor, and he said, I
want to get a cat skin just to rule out
anything else. Sends me to the e R. The doc says,
your cat scans fine. The next morning, the radiologist calls
(40:26):
after reading and he goes, there's a mass on your kidney.
There's a chance it's malignant. You gotta get it checked
out as soon as possible. And it was just this
surreal moment of For a month, I was in this
kind of suspended state of you know, you're told you
likely have cancer. The only time they'll find out is
once you have surgery to remove it. So my family
(40:48):
comes out, I go in for this surgery, and sure enough,
it was a malignant tumor on my kidney, and they said,
you're so lucky. You're so lucky we caught this early
because we got it and there's a good chance that
this is all you need. There's no radiation, no chemo,
justice surgery, and ten years have passed, so now my
my risk of that cancer has gone back down to
(41:09):
essentially normal. But it was just one of those moments
where what a reminder of how quickly things could change.
And if if I hadn't been vigilant because of the
r A, I probably wouldn't have noticed it until it
was symptomatic, and very likely it could have metastasized. My
chance of survival dips to around fifty maybe lower. The
r A. Having this chronic disease and being vigilant helped
me catch that cancer early. So it's uh, you know,
(41:31):
and it's another reminder of nothing's guaranteed healthwise, and uh, so,
you know, take care of yourself as best as you can.
As I'm eating waffles and cereal. You have and appreciate
your health because it really can be taken away. And
this is again a reminder of it. You do so
much just going through your resume and as like a
hosty person myself, it's kind of daunting all the things
(41:55):
that are on your Wikipedia page, I mean, aside from
American inter Warrior and you know, you won Celebrity Apprentice,
by the way, just real quick, was everyone like, this
isn't fair that this guy's on Celebrity Apprentice. He is
a doctor who went to Princeton and nobody because it
was all who is more famous, because fundraising is a
big part of it. I was. I was by far
(42:16):
the least famous person on the show, and so they
were at which which allowed me to kind of be
the sick of fan where I could be like, hey boy, George,
I'm a big fan. Can I help you one darling?
You can bloody help me, and so you know, I think,
but you know, it helped because I was willing to
do the grunt work, to be able to do the
paperwork and just to to grind probably so then a
(42:37):
lot of them did There's Celebrity Apprentice American Danjin Warrior
Live Rescue. And then I saw you're doing something with Ellen. Yeah,
so Game of Games where this is just a one off,
but we're on Ellen's Game of Games. And you know,
I've gotten to do like Hollywood Game Night and twenty
five Words or less. And I will tell you, because
you strike me a little bit probably semi competitive, you
(43:00):
probably have a ton of fun with games. It is
so much fun getting to go on those game shows
and and play because I just get ferociously. So that's
the new thing I'm doing is I have a podcast
coming out called Factorious. That's a game show and we
recorded it back in October and it's it's dropping Tuesday,
the fourteen. You can sign up now on you know,
(43:20):
Apple podcast wherever. And it was so much fun to
get to do a game show because I love I
love the competitive nature of it. I love trivia, uh
so all of that stuff. Anytime a game show calls,
I will play, I will host. I get to go
on Kelly Clarkson and host a show where she and
and Jennifer Garner were playing and I'm hosting it, and
I just I'm like, I'm I'm ferocious with the rules
(43:43):
and I build up this thing. I love it. I
love playing games. I want to be respectful of your time.
I know you're very You're very busy during this quarantine,
so hugely busy. I know you know you have big
meetings later today. Before I let you go, I wanted
to do some rapid fire question with you. You got
it all right, rapid fire questions with Matt Iceman. Here
(44:03):
we go. What is your favorite book? Oh god, Harry
Potter jumped into my mind. You The Adventures of Cavalier
and Clay was another good one. But Harry Potter, I
gotta say, Harry Potter, Well, well, this all kind of
gets back to normal. Have you seen The Cursed Child
on Broadway? So Sarah's dad plays Dumbledore in it. And
when this all goes back to normal, and you, if
(44:26):
you're out in New York, let me know and we'll
get you in there. It is the If you're Harry,
I'm taking you up on that one. Yeah. If you're
a Harry Potter nerd like this thing is amazing. Harry Potter,
help me win apprentice. I love Harry. What was your
first concert you ever went to Neil Diamond, first job,
window washer, first car V three P green Chevy Nova
(44:48):
owned by my grandma. I love how everyone knows exactly
the year making model of their first car. Who would
you call to get you out of jail? Steve Myers,
one of my best friends. Never been in jail, me
or him, We've come close. Yeah. Did you ever have
a poster hanging on your bedroom wall? And if so,
who was it? Not only did I, I still do.
My My parents live in the house where I grew up.
(45:09):
My entire bedroom is covered and the poster directly across
from my bed. Michael Jordan's everywhere. Um at Nolan Ryan
because I played baseball, but the poster directly across from
my bed. Predator Arnold Schwartzenegger. Really don't. I didn't show
him a photo of that governmill. You've tucked me into
bed every night since I was that. No, that's bonkers
(45:31):
man favorite superhero Superman before, but now I gotta say,
Iron Man and Avengers Endgame just wrecked me. One thing
that's always in your fridge sugar free Mountain dew. Yeah,
sugar free Mountain Dew and sugar free red Bull. It's
so unhealthy. I should know better. I shouldn't know better,
but it's green, so I think it's got to be
good for me. One thing on your bucket list. So
(45:51):
I just started drumming and trying to play a Phil
Collins song and it's pathetic because I have no rhythm.
But I think I would love to perform with like
Phil Collins or Celine Dion or Steve like performed with
a real rock star. Yeah, because you know stand up comedy.
We all want to be rock stars. Y'all want to
go out there and just see, like, you know, an arena,
(46:14):
the lights come up and everyone just like that. That
would be awesome. Matt Eisman, thank you so much for
being on the Wells Cast. Awesome. It's so interesting. Obviously
you're a smart guy. Obviously you're very talented. But there's
a weird thing that happens when a lot of a
lot of these successful people people come in well into
the studio or we're doing this through Skype, where you
(46:35):
people's energy is so contagious, and it makes total sense
to me why you're so successful. We're in quarantine. It's
early for me, and your energy completely like lifted me
up and and has now made my day so great,
and so it makes total sense you do all this
stuff because if you're able to do that just through Skype,
(46:58):
you can also do it through television screen. I mean,
like all your degrees aside, I totally get it that
your six I appreciate that. I think the word I
always used to describe myself was enthusiastic, and it's it's
I think it's pretty genuine because I just it's so
ridiculous that this is what I get to do, Like
it's it's fun. We have a blast, and so I'm
(47:19):
I'm always very appreciative of it. And you know, and
honestly though, I will say that I've been getting a
little stir crazy and one of the things I've missed
was this. I miss you know, I missed interactions, I
miss you know, hosting, I miss stand up, I miss
just interacting with people. I realized, I'm I'm getting it's
something that I'm that I'm really struggling with where I'm
(47:42):
just making a point to call my friends and and
you know, I'm doing this podcast, We're gonna try to
do some gameplay where I just I need that interaction
with people. So I appreciate this. Well. If people want
to find out more about you, where do they need
to go at? Matt Eisman m A T t I
S E m A N. It's my website, Twitter, Instagram.
I think I've got like two TikTok posts up, but
(48:02):
I'm hoping not to get swallowed into that. I'm I'm
online way too much, but say hello, and if they
could check out Factorious. Is there anything else that I
didn't ask you about that you want to promote? You know,
I mentioned the Arthritis Foundation, but we're gonna be doing
stuff for Feeding America, you know, small ways to try
to help with this pandemic response. It seems to be
a pretty good charity. But you know, and whatever, I
just I hope people are doing well. We're all in
(48:25):
this together, and so if you're fortunate enough to be
doing okay, let's let's see where we can help some
others who aren't. Man, I've been thanks against so much
for being on the show. To you. We're friends now. Well,
I love it, And when this is all over, let
me know I'll get you into Harry Potter bro Oh
my god, dude, Well, thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Thanks many, Bud Dude, he went to Princeton and Columbia.
(48:49):
That guy's awesome. That was really really fun. It's so
weird to say out loud, I guess, but people who
are successful have something, there's some it thing, and that
dude has it in spades. That was awesome. Alright, guys,
thanks for listening to the podcast. He made my day
so much better. All right, So you subscribe to Wells
(49:11):
cast on I Heart Radio, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you
get your podcasts. It's the internet line.
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