Tom Papa, "Breaking Bread," Breaking Balls, Breaking News

Beloved comedian, actor and "Breaking Bread with Tom Papa" host Tom Papa joins Phil & David for "Naked Lunch." Over delicious sandwiches from Corner Market, Tom discusses his "Breaking Bread" podcast, how he recently made some news with guest Tig Notaro discussing her own podcasting split with Cheryl Hines. Then, perhaps in an effort to leaven things up, they all enjoy breaking the balls of Tony Shalhoub for possibly reheating Tom's title. All this, but great comedy road stories, from opening up for Kenny Loggins and, famously, Jerry Seinfeld to his current The Grateful Bread tour. For Tom's tour dates and more about how he makes bread, go to https://tompapa.com. To learn more about building community through food and "Somebody Feed the People," visit the Philanthropy page at philrosenthalworld.com.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello, Hey Phil, Yes, welcome to my house. Oh I've
been here. I didn't familiar with it. I didn't recognize you.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Yes, I get that a lot. If I wanted to
be talked to you that way, I'd go home.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
What's going on? Who's today? What's today?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Why?

Speaker 1 (00:21):
I can't even keep track of so many great things
happening today?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Is someone you know pretty well, and I've never met
Tom Poppa.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
Oh, he's my buddy.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
I love Tom Papa.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
I've done his podcast. He has a great podcast called
Breaking Bread, which is.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
As we're speaking, it's going viral right now.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
We'll discuss that with him.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
There's Yeah, he had a big sort of news making
day today.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
And he really does bake amazing bread.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
You've had a sour dough.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
I have his because if you do his podcast, he
makes bread.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
We should have done his body.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
He didn't bring any he doesn't bring to your podcast. No,
do that, but to his podcast, yes, exactly?

Speaker 2 (01:00):
And what else is going on in your life?

Speaker 1 (01:02):
We just filmed the thirtieth anniversary reunion special for CBS
of a show called Everybody Loves Raymond.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
I'm not familiar with that show sounds it sounds like
a compelling show.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
Really, you know, in twenty twenty six, we will have
been on for thirty years in some form or another.
And it's not twenty twenty six yet, but I would
say that we were working on the pilot at this time. So, yeah,

(01:36):
thirty years since we all met and it's crazy and
we had such a lovely time. It'll be on CBS.
This is an exclusive November twenty.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Fourth, which is around you can give thanks for the
special and then thanks.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
And then that Eta Turkeys. Yes, yeah, so I'm thrilled
with that. It was so nice to see everybody. There's
lots of surprises. It's uh. We had such a good
time just being together. Some of the crew I hadn't
seen in twenty years since we went off the year.
But wow, it's nice. It's nice, really nice.

Speaker 4 (02:14):
Speaking of nice, Tom Papa, let's build the beans, chew
the fat, food for thought, jokes on tap, talking.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
With our mouthsful, having fun with the beas, the cake
and humble pies, serving up slice lively.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
The dressing on the side. It's naked, lush clothing optional.
How is it like a full review? Show them this
is the Corner Market in Glendale, doing our sandwiches today.
There they've been, They've been highly touted.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
Yeah, yeah, they have a good rap.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Have you been Lorenzo's in Beverly Hills. Should know that
I'm doing a collab with them, a chicken parm I
feel it's online.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
You should do collabse people big fat.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
They have gorgeous, very light chibata. You know how tabata
can be sometimes too much, too heavy. This is light,
like an airy pizza dole. Almost. It's a beautiful thing.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Are you intimidating to talk bread with Tom pop.

Speaker 3 (03:21):
Not at all.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
I love talking bread with him because a grateful bread tour.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Is that still ongoing?

Speaker 3 (03:27):
Yeh, I'm in the middle of it right now.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
You're breaking bread with Tom Poppa. Which now we're going
to start right with your uncomfortable moment, which is a
feature of your podcast, because your podcast sort of had
a viral moment. I think, like today, have you seen
this that tig Nataro's comments about Cheryl uh An RFK
are sort of getting getting picked up.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
Tell me what happened about cool?

Speaker 3 (03:53):
I didn't know. Yes, you're having a love when we
make news.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
Oh, we had a.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Jimmy Kimmel episode that when I landed once in News Australia.
It was a front page. But this is that's a
long time ago.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
This is your bib.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah. Tig who I Love was just
on my podcast and it was her first time talking
about Cheryl Hines because they had a great podcast together.
Oh they were they were teamed up. They had this
great podcast.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
They would talk about documentary sort of.

Speaker 3 (04:25):
Yeah. It was just kind of like their launching apartment.
They were so silly together, so funny. It was really
a nice listen.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
So they were friends.

Speaker 3 (04:31):
They were friends, and then the whole RFK of it
all and the administration started to get a little the
vaccines and the weirdness, and they put the brakes on it.
So they this was the first time I meet.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
I'm not comfortable anymore and I'm not doing.

Speaker 3 (04:52):
This exactly exactly, And this was the first time on
my podcast that she was telling the public what had
happened and where she kind of stood on the whole thing.
And she was very nice about it, but it just
became a little bit much, and she kind of felt

(05:13):
that Cheryl was kind of trying to be in both
worlds and was saying, like, I'm not really part of this,
and from what I could tell, she was expressing, she
is a part of it, she is all in, and
it just became too difficult to continue their thing together.

(05:36):
So she said, she'll say it on my podcast with
a lot more clarity than I'm saying now. But it
was the first time, Like, hey guys, this is what
really went down. So it is why we're not together.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
Just one thing, right, Like I knew Cheryl Hines, she
did raiment totally nice, charming, hilarious, you knew her, We
knew her on a curb, right, right, And what the hell?

Speaker 3 (06:02):
Well, you know, you're married to somebody, and we're all married.
We're all married to somebody, none of us married.

Speaker 1 (06:11):
They're going to take yes.

Speaker 3 (06:13):
You know, you figure out. I would think if I'm
marrying into that family, this is going to be pretty
on lock. I get I get the I get the
vibe of this family, and I wouldn't I don't think.
I'm not surprised, and I'd be pretty surprised when someone
goes rogue in that family.

Speaker 1 (06:26):
But I don't think is in lock with that family.

Speaker 3 (06:30):
Know, That's what I'm saying. Like, when you sign up,
you're like, oh, the Kennedy's I'm part of the Kennedys.
And then all of a sudden, you're like, wait a minute,
why are you a black sheep? Where are you going?
What did you just say? Yeah? So, yeah, I had
no idea caught.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
I used to go hiking with him and Kevin Nealon mmmm,
and really crazy things started coming you know when you
meet him from Kevin Neil, No, Kevin, Kevin's always crazy.
But did Kevin ever tell you this?

Speaker 3 (06:59):
No? No, no.

Speaker 1 (07:01):
We would look at each other as crazy things started
coming out of his mouth, like well, what that was weird?
And then you'd see it on the news, and then
we talked. And then one day he tells us a
story about his headaches, and he went finally, after two years,
went to get to the doctor and they found something
and they didn't know what it was, and and then
he waited another year because he really doesn't like doctors,

(07:22):
and then finally had the surgery and they found a
worm and they had to take out part of my brain.
And I look at Kevin and go.

Speaker 5 (07:30):
Ah, right, but this is years before it comes out,
and I'm telling people as he's saying, you know, absolutely
anti semitic things and like shit about.

Speaker 1 (07:41):
COVID on the news. Oh, and now he's running for president.
I'm telling my journalism friends, you got to get this out.
This guy. Ye, this part of his brain is missing.
That's why he's saying these things. Whoa nobody believed. I
felt like the guy in the horror movie.

Speaker 3 (07:55):
Yeah, and then he finally said it.

Speaker 1 (07:57):
Yeah, as if everybody has. That's a podcast. Quite good.
I'm not trying to be political. I'm just telling you, yeah,
what this happened.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
Wow, that is weird. It's weird that you start, you
start hiking, and everything is kind of cool, and then
as time goes on, all of a sudden, this weirdness
starts to emerge. Yes, it's really weird.

Speaker 1 (08:20):
It's really weird.

Speaker 3 (08:21):
Do you think not being a doctor, but do you
think the worm had something to do with it?

Speaker 1 (08:25):
How when somebody starts saying crazy stuff and then they
tell you a piece of their brain is missing. I
think you put two and two together.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
I don't think you have to be a doctor.

Speaker 1 (08:35):
Tom, Oh, no doctor, But I see x qus y equals.

Speaker 3 (08:42):
Full brain, normal guy, half eaten bring saying weird ship. Right,
Oh man, this is a good PASTRAMI.

Speaker 1 (08:53):
But there there you go back to that's called that's
called the seg Yes exactly.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Well, by the way, it's otherwise. Are you a bread snob?
Because I know you.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
You have to be once you start right, A little
knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
Yeah, I'm definitely a bread snob. When they come out
with the bread at a restaurant, my kids kind of
look at me like, here we go.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
Well if it's colder, stale, end of restaurant.

Speaker 3 (09:19):
Yeah, no kidding, you're like this. Let me ask you this. Yeah,
you're the perfect person asked this question. How do you
feel about people who charge for the bread?

Speaker 1 (09:31):
Oh? I don't like that. I mean maybe if you're
getting if it's a specialty bread and you're getting extra,
let's say, can I have more than you? Start to
be a schnorer. Maybe maybe there is a.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
Troupe that's an Italian was this was an Italian restaurant, Yeah,
that I went to for a long time. Yeah, And
we showed up one day and this new thing on
the menu saying we're charging you a dollar fifty per
person for the bread. And as someone who's existence is
breaking bread and sharing bread, and it really bugged me.

(10:06):
It made me think less of the place I went
so much.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
S rather they charge every everything could be up five
dollars and not have not have the break, don't even tell.

Speaker 3 (10:15):
Me whatever you got to do. But it was kind
of like it says, Tom, here's a sandwich. Okay, you
just leave twenty bucks at the door on the way out.
I thought you were I thought you liked me.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
My friend said, he's a great chef. He says, luxury
without generosity is not luxury.

Speaker 3 (10:36):
Mmmm.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
The gift of it, the feeling of it, that's so important.
You exactly want stuff, you want something. Here's a little
something for you, thank you for coming.

Speaker 3 (10:50):
Yeah. When you go to a really nice hotel, the
nice hotel that the guy comes and meets you and
says you need anything, and here's the thing, and where they.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
Put fruit in your room, Yeah there's something nice.

Speaker 3 (11:00):
Yeah, they make you feel but you know that's a
great little bit about it. Yeah. Yeah. And then you
go to a fancy place and you never see anybody,
and it's like, eh, you're just kind of the saying
goodbye when you're leaving a restaurant. Holy cow, is that
a powerful tiny gesture that makes you want to come
back every time? When you're leaving, thank you for coming.
That's all you need to hear. And you're like they

(11:21):
liked me, I'll be back.

Speaker 1 (11:22):
You're right. So you travel. You travel more than I
think most people I know, including me, You are on
the road. Yeah, I mean I need to know how
you do it? How are you.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
Great?

Speaker 2 (11:37):
You've been touring, You've been touring for a couple of
years now, You've been touring for most of your I.

Speaker 1 (11:43):
Go in a very nice thirty years. I'm I'm a
lucky guy. I traveled so and I'm old, so I
want to be comfortable. I have to be comfortable. I
physically couldn't have the energy to do it if I
didn't go in a very nice way. Yeah, how do
you do it?

Speaker 3 (12:00):
H and not as nice a way?

Speaker 1 (12:03):
But are you in the airport? Most days are in
the airport.

Speaker 3 (12:07):
My touring normally is I go out for the weekend
and back home back home on Sunday.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
Ah, I know.

Speaker 3 (12:14):
I normally don't go and go and go.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
I see, have you done that?

Speaker 3 (12:18):
It was always it was always my thing. No, it
was always get home for Sunday.

Speaker 1 (12:23):
And Okay, so that's easier to deal with. Yeah, but
you're still your traveling on the weekend, which is prime
travel for everyone. So now you're dealing with crowded airports.
You ever miss a date because of the airport? No?

Speaker 3 (12:36):
Knock Wood, Oh, great knock Wood.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
No.

Speaker 2 (12:39):
By the way, I listened to your episode with Jerry
Seinfeld where you talked about you hate hearing people complain
about airports that you guys thrive on. Although I'm sure
it's true and you'd even discussed it, traveling with Jerry
Seinfeld on tour was probably comfortable.

Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yeah, the plane's a little different experience. It leaves when
you're willing to leave. That is a very nice thing.
But I've been doing it long enough where I do
it as as as as nice as you can using
commercial airlines, you know, Like I'm in concierge key, so
they come and they pick me up and they drive

(13:18):
me to my connecting gate and awesome, it's all. It's
all fine. Multiple cities on the you, Yeah, I'll usually
do multiple cities A lot of times. I'll fly in
drive between. A car drives me between each. Once in
a while we'll fly between and then just fly home
at the end of it.

Speaker 1 (13:36):
So this is routing you have to and our agent
takes care of that. I mean when I started doing
my little tour. Yeah, the routing was not thoughtful, right, you've.

Speaker 3 (13:47):
Got to dial that in. I think we have the
same agent. It's possible, And yeah, you have to be
you have to ask questions and you have to pay attention. Yeah,
I just hear you're going to go here and make
this here, make that great.

Speaker 1 (14:01):
Let's do it, And like, wait a minute, how.

Speaker 3 (14:03):
Do I get from there to there? I went in
Canada last week a couple of weeks ago, where when
I took the date, it was like I go to
Winnipeg and then I take the flight to Regina and
then I go home. Hey, it's not that kind of podcast. Yeah, Regina.
Their slogan is Regina the town that rhymes with fun.

(14:26):
I did not know. I could not have thought, could
not have asked. How many times does that plane go
between Winnipeg and Regina. They only do it two times
a week, so I couldn't fly it. So we had
to take a six hour drive between Regina and Winnipeg.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
And I find that the agents don't really care if
you have to do that.

Speaker 3 (14:46):
They think it's hilarious. Well, but as long as you
ask the questions and you know, and you know, there
were times like three years ago, I was still I
have this amazing tour manager. Now she's changed my life.
Oh just takes care of everything. Before her, I was
doing it on my own, and I didn't realize it

(15:06):
was I landed someplace in Pennsylvania and I had to
drive to the gig, and I was like, it's enough
time from that airport to the gig. I can make it.
I didn't realize that that twenty five miles or fifty
miles whatever that was, was the most dangerous two lane
highway through cow fields and forests and with weather as

(15:28):
the sun's setting in your face, and I was like,
I can't do this anymore. I have I cannot. I'm
not young enough to. When I was young, I would
get I would do a gig in Maine and drive
home nine hours just because I could. It was like
nothing and I'd wake up. Now forget it. I can't
do that, and it's dangerous.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
By the way, you have a female tour agent and
a manager. Yeah, And I have to say, like recently,
I've been around rock and roll my whole career. You no, no,
I know Billy Billy Eilish was the first one. She
actually spoke on the Grammy. So I wrote something for her,
and I realized I would never after all these years
of seeing male tour managers, I would never have a

(16:11):
man in charge of a tour like in my own Like,
would I put me in charge of anything?

Speaker 1 (16:15):
Or my wife?

Speaker 2 (16:16):
It's like, I can't plan anything, and I know.

Speaker 3 (16:19):
She's amazing every detail. Yeah, but I had a male
I had a male assistant who was tour manager. Kind
of it was a disaster. He was like, you get
to the venue and he's like, where's the beer? You
know that kind of stuff? Uh no, I yeah, I
mean that's a bigger I would populate my whole business
with women. They just seemed to be a little more.

Speaker 2 (16:41):
I'm married and on it.

Speaker 3 (16:42):
Yeah, good job.

Speaker 1 (16:43):
Well it was unlikely.

Speaker 2 (16:44):
So what we're saying is women better, Yes, predominantly about tourings.
I wondered, I know you famously, you know your own
tours now in theaters and all sorts of great venues.
But early on, did you do any opening I love
the generation, you're a little young for this. Did you
open for any bands?

Speaker 3 (17:03):
I did one of my first road things was opening
for Kenny Loggins.

Speaker 1 (17:09):
Wow, that is a yacht rock fest.

Speaker 3 (17:12):
It was really cool, and I was very nervous. We
had did a run in Florida and I was there
in my little suit and I was in the dressing
room and he bursts into my room and he's like,
what are you doing here? I was like, Hey, I'm Tom,
I'm the opening acting. Because he looks at the door
and it says Papa on it, he said, I'm so sorry.

(17:35):
Everyone calls me Papa on tour. The band, the crew,
they all call Kenny Papa. That's his nickname. So he
thought that was the only time I talked to him
the whole tour.

Speaker 1 (17:48):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (17:49):
Yeah. But in answer to your first question, yeah, you know,
I have to treat it like I'm an athlete. Like
there's no screwing around, there's no drinking. There's like I
get my sleep, I eat right. I have to treat
this really. You have to really treat yourself right to
get through it. It's not it's it's a lot, so

(18:11):
you have to. But as you also know, I'm playing
the best venues I have in my career, and they're
all these people. I was just in Regina I mean,
I'm Saint John's and up in Canada like no New Brunswick,
like out in this like nowhere, Yeah, Charlottetown, and there's
this packed theater of people who know me and want

(18:33):
to see me. Like the idea that my comedy has
brought me to these obscure places. There's people who want
to see me. This is the time I have to
go do it. So I'll take all the dates. Yes,
I'll really bust and and take care of myself and
get because it's not going to be like that forever.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
You know, what's your what's you're feeling about the state
of the business.

Speaker 3 (19:08):
I don't know. It's funny. On my way here, I
was like, I can't wait to ask Phil what's his
feeling on the state of the business.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
I'll tell you, but I'm curious because you're really out there.
If you're playing packed houses, the state of your business
is pretty good.

Speaker 3 (19:25):
Well, that's the kind of the thing that Jerry taught
me was stand up comedy, live performing. Is this kind
of blue collar existence within show business? Yes, and not
a lot of people know what's going on. Like people
wouldn't even know. They'd ask him, like, what are you
doing and they didn't realize he was selling, you know,
three thousand seat places every weekend. But it's but it's

(19:47):
you're just out there on tour. Everyone's what they're talking
about is, you know, are you in movies? Are you
in a TV show? What's your next big thing?

Speaker 1 (19:56):
Like that?

Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yes, But what's kind of weird is that it's you
can make an amazing living touring right now because people
want to be in a theater with other people.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
Same with music, I guess, right, David, They want the lives. Yes,
isn't that? I mean, that's it's it's the only way
to it's the only way. It's not the record business.

Speaker 2 (20:14):
Not really for other than Taylor Swift. It is not
the record.

Speaker 1 (20:17):
Right, and it's not for comedians. And it's not the specials.
I mean, the specials may be the ad for the tour.

Speaker 3 (20:24):
Right exactly exactly. But everybody I know who's I can't
believe how many people, how many great actors are in
commercials right now. Every time you see a commercial, there's
this other great actor and it's like because they're not
getting paid what they used to get paid. There's no syndication,
there's none of this stuff. Going on, right, so they're

(20:46):
TV it pays for a little bit, and then they're
out of that gig. And the comedian just keeps booking
stuff and keeps going here of a year.

Speaker 2 (20:54):
But we're we're very mad at you for not playing
the odd comedy festival so that we could have a
viral moment.

Speaker 3 (21:03):
Hear me out. I'm waiting for the North Korean Comedy
Festival that.

Speaker 1 (21:11):
Their offer is going to be huge.

Speaker 3 (21:13):
When that one comes around, you will you will kill
in North Korea and they will kill.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
Have you talked about this? Not real feelings about it?

Speaker 3 (21:22):
No? You want to sure?

Speaker 4 (21:25):
What do you think?

Speaker 3 (21:26):
I think it's gross. I think it's gross. You know,
they're gobbling up everything right there. Their objective is to
buy tennis and buy golf and buy music and by
comedy and and change what's happening how the world sees
them as they're still doing the things that they were doing.

(21:47):
They're still doing the bad, silencing, horrible things to journalists
and people. And that's not change. What's changed is this
giant pr campaign. And I would say to my friend,
if your job was to have like the coolest people
in the world, say no, it's cool. Mission accomplished because

(22:09):
they all had to go out and say, you know,
this was great, and it definitely worked. I heard disease
on Kimmel and Sting said a similar thing that you know,
you're going to talk to the people. It's not cool
to boycott a place because those people are under a
regime and you should talk to those people and that'll

(22:31):
eventually move things and change things. And I get that,
and that's cool. If a promoter other than the state
was bringing you in.

Speaker 1 (22:38):
They were performing for royalty.

Speaker 3 (22:41):
That's the thing.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
Directly, it's a direct event by.

Speaker 3 (22:45):
Yeah, the government. If there's a promoter, right and he
runs this thing, and despite the government gets these kids in.
And I did Dubai and Beirut like fifteen years ago,
and there was just this young guy who just wanted
to bring comedy to the from the West and he
was just doing it on his own and we were
just talking with the people on the ground. There was

(23:06):
young people who were just excited that was finally opening
up and and that seemed cool. This that was state
sponsored and state controlled. That's the part where I when
Shane Gillis, uh, Shane Gillis said, now that's a pass
you know, nine to eleven your friends, I'm out. Yeah,
it's all I had to say. It was over. Yeah,

(23:28):
anyone that said yes had to keep on talking and
explain and explain and explain. Shane going, I think this
is the wrong amount. That was it. The clarity of
that really spoke a lot.

Speaker 1 (23:41):
I think there is a difference. If you're going to
entertain the people, that's one thing. Yeah, but if you're
taking money from the royal government to entertain them, as
if you're just a you know, gesture, playing a bar
mitzvah for yeah, for these for these like these same people,
I bet they wouldn't go if Trump invited them and

(24:04):
paid them.

Speaker 6 (24:05):
Ah.

Speaker 3 (24:06):
Good point, really good point.

Speaker 1 (24:09):
I mean we have horrors here. Yeah, not quite no
what they're doing or have done.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:18):
I did a show in Dubai. I didn't do it
for royalty, right. All I talked to were regular people.
I didn't talk to anyone from the government. And what's
really interesting is Dubai is eighty seven percent immigrants, and
that's what I was interested in meeting, and that's what
I'm interested in here as well.

Speaker 3 (24:37):
Yeah. Yeah, when you're talking directly of the people, it's
different when I when I went to bea route you know,
I grew up. You know, that's just you hear bey
Root and it's like, well that's scary. I don't want
to you know. It was terrifying. And then when I
got to go there and it was this little moment,
you know, it kind of like opened briefly, yes, and.

Speaker 1 (24:58):
Here it's beautiful or it's not.

Speaker 3 (25:01):
And the kids were beautiful, and they families took us
out to eat and just kids in the square, just eating.
And he loved watching Seinfeld and they loved friends, and
they were so and please tell more people to come.
And it was just so hopeful and inspiring. And I

(25:22):
was still scared, you know, like driving through and it
was still parts of it seemed volatile exactly, and all
the bullet holes and all the buildings from the Civil
War that just was their whole existence. But people, but
people are people, and when you get to go talk
to those people, I understand that part of it. This
one seems seemed different, seemed like a money grib a

(25:44):
lot of money, a lot of money. You know. Mark
Maron was very funny when in his post I think
it was at Largo or something, and he's like he
was criticizing, and he goes, just to be clear, I
was not asked to do it. It's very easy for
me to say, you know, it was big numbers.

Speaker 1 (26:00):
But some of the people have a lot of money.
They all haven't And is it anyway? Yeah, I'm not judging.
I'm just questioning.

Speaker 3 (26:08):
What would you have said?

Speaker 1 (26:09):
Now me personally, you know, I've been asked to film there,
like do the Saudi Arabia episode of Somebody Feed film,
and my feelings are very mixed about it.

Speaker 3 (26:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:27):
Again, if anyone said to us, like in Dubai, if
anyone said to us, you can't say this, this or this,
we'd say no, right then we're not coming.

Speaker 5 (26:36):
Right.

Speaker 1 (26:36):
But if if I go and the show, my show
isn't really political, but it is a little bit political
because we're trying to show humanity.

Speaker 3 (26:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
So nowadays, just doing that, maybe even in America, the
hugging of people from other places is seen as a
political idemy. I'm just trying to be a human being. Yeah,
So you don't want that stepping on the thing.

Speaker 2 (26:58):
If you're not wearing a mask, that's it.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
And you want to talk to real people and even
ask them about some of the problems right in the place.

Speaker 3 (27:07):
It's different, that's not what.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
The show is about. But yeah, it does come up. Yeah,
exactly because we're having normal conversations. So yes, it depends.
I would say I'm not going to go and yeah,
and certainly advertise for a horrible way of life.

Speaker 3 (27:23):
And you can see, you know, you know, you get
that call from your agent and they're like, here's a
weird one. Yeah, big money. Yeah, let's go here. Let's
make five hundred thousand dollars for one forty five minutes
that holy my first class admirates there and back. Yes,
Oh okay, Now Louis said yes, yeah, Fluffy said yes, yeah,

(27:50):
Joe Coy said yes. So they're all you know, and
it seems like you're cool. They're not really censoring. You
can't say about the family, but you know it's gonna
they're gonna make it seem very clean, you know, and
very easy to say. Yes, is it?

Speaker 1 (28:07):
Is it the people who wouldn't do an ad for
beer in America doing the ad for beer in Japan
because that's over there.

Speaker 3 (28:17):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (28:17):
Is it the same? You think? In other words, like
they're not going to play for Trump at the Kennedy
Center if he asks. But because it's over there, it
won't get as much of attention here, which is where
my main audience is. So I go there, I take
that money. Yeah, whatever the values are, I don't care.
I can justify it in some blooney way and then

(28:38):
come back and not have it affect my career here
at all, which seems to be what happened.

Speaker 3 (28:46):
They seem surprised the acts, seemed.

Speaker 1 (28:50):
That they were right. I think, exactly, do you think
it will affect their careers here? Oh? Yeah, that's my point.

Speaker 2 (28:57):
But I do think it is idea of like the
it used to be you would do an ad in
Japan and maybe years later someone would see it. But
now it is like the social media of it all
was instant, so people were aware of it. I don't
know if it hurts anyone.

Speaker 1 (29:11):
I do know it.

Speaker 3 (29:11):
Seems really hurts anyone anymore.

Speaker 1 (29:13):
Yeah, exactly, you.

Speaker 3 (29:14):
Know, really, I mean, I don't you know, there's a
lot of I don't think it does. I don't think
that there's a.

Speaker 1 (29:21):
If a president of the United States can put out
a thing where he's literally taking a dump on the
citizens of his country in a video. Yeah, there is
no bottom.

Speaker 3 (29:35):
No, there is no and in a different moment.

Speaker 1 (29:37):
And it'll it'll occupy half a day of news and
internet and then we're onto the next outrage. Yeah, but
he's literally showing you what he thinks of you. Yeah,
And there are no repercussions for this other than can
you believe it?

Speaker 3 (29:55):
Nothing. I saw a thing this morning about a post
about we didn't realize how good we had it during
the Obama Uh, during the Obama years. It was about
Halloween and all the little kids were coming and these
had out candies and and he goes to high five
the Superman's two feet tall, and he high fights him,
and he rolls back on his the president on his

(30:19):
butt like whoa yeah, human being, a human being. But
as soon as he did that, you know that people
were must have given him ship. It's not presidential. Could
you imagine that?

Speaker 1 (30:32):
Listen?

Speaker 3 (30:32):
Is how far we've done.

Speaker 1 (30:33):
I think the lesson of George w is it can
always be worse.

Speaker 3 (30:38):
Yeah, right, yeah, exactly. Yeah, I know when you're really
craving those years of like just just give me straight
up hardcore conservatives. Just give me straight up hardcore believe it,
fight for it. But this is this is I don't
even want to talk about it. And so it's too sad,
it's so yeah, we just got to ride him out.

Speaker 2 (30:58):
I want to talk about something even more upsetting than
this political moment, which is I believe Tony Shaloob is
trying to steal your bread crown, and I am mad
about it. Is is everyone jumping on your bread?

Speaker 1 (31:14):
Uh? I'm mad at Tony Shaloob for veering into my lane.

Speaker 3 (31:17):
Yeah, no kidding. And he lets go and he takes
the my title of my popular podcast.

Speaker 1 (31:24):
And you know what's the worst thing. He's really charming
and great. That's the worst part. Heard he doesn't.

Speaker 3 (31:31):
He's a great guy.

Speaker 1 (31:32):
He doesn't be his contractor.

Speaker 3 (31:34):
I heard on the show it looks like he doesn't
want to eat any of the bread.

Speaker 1 (31:38):
I don't think this guy.

Speaker 3 (31:40):
First, I know he doesn't make bread, and it looks
like he doesn't like bread. You know the New York
Times they have there's big like you know they do
those toasts with lots of stuff on it. You know,
he's just eating like the olive off the top. You
couldn't stop by going And I can't stop eating the
sandwich because of this bread.

Speaker 1 (31:56):
Don't you love a good feud, a show business feud.
I'm trying to talk Papa and Tony Shalub, the feud
you didn't know you wanted.

Speaker 3 (32:03):
Everyone on my Instagram keeps, keeps commenting, and on my
radio show they're like, I've been schalubed, and that means
that somebody, somebody took something from them. People are using
it now as a term that they've been schalub.

Speaker 1 (32:20):
Listen, the first thing, the first thing, The first person
was Tucci. So now when I see Tucci and he
wins Emmys, yeah, I shake my fist at that. And
now Shalub and he all the women love him. It's
really annoying.

Speaker 3 (32:37):
Women love who Tucci?

Speaker 1 (32:39):
Yeah, women, he makes makes.

Speaker 3 (32:42):
A weird lit giant groucho marks mustache. Who wants a
cooking show with that mustache.

Speaker 1 (32:47):
That hair, Well, the crumbs are in it.

Speaker 3 (32:52):
Give it one season. I don't think he wants to
do it. No, bread is my life. I've been I
make you look. I know breaking bread. You know it's
a good time to create the term.

Speaker 1 (33:04):
It's a good title.

Speaker 3 (33:05):
Yeah, you know it's in the Bible. Yes, I get it.

Speaker 1 (33:09):
Had a PBS series called Breaking Bread. Also, if you
want to be mad at him too.

Speaker 3 (33:12):
Yeah, it happens, but not currently. While I have this
popular podcast with all these great people like yourself and
Seth brow what.

Speaker 1 (33:21):
Hurts nobody noticed.

Speaker 3 (33:25):
You don't have a producer that can google, right, just ask, well,
there's this podcast. I don't know that guy probably didn't
know comedy or.

Speaker 1 (33:34):
They did Google and they said nobody.

Speaker 2 (33:36):
Yeah, when our podcast came out, you know, there was
some someone. There was one person who was furious that
we had stolen William Burrow's title.

Speaker 1 (33:46):
You know, it's like make of the novel.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
It's like it's like, I don't think there's gonna be
much confusion with William Burrow's Dark.

Speaker 3 (33:54):
Now, and especially after all this time. If it was
the time while his book was out and then two
days later you come out out, that's weird.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
No, what shalub did is what is wrong.

Speaker 3 (34:05):
I love the idea.

Speaker 1 (34:06):
Tony Shaluba is this great villain, I know, the sweetest
guy in the world.

Speaker 3 (34:11):
I started posting pictures of me and Monk. Yes, I
put my head on his body from him, salubing him.

Speaker 1 (34:20):
Cool your next special Monk.

Speaker 2 (34:21):
Yeah, your Seth Rogan episode was wonderful, isn't he great.
He is great.

Speaker 3 (34:27):
You.

Speaker 1 (34:28):
I worked with him a couple of times. I met
him once at the strike. He was marching with the
people at Paramount the afternoon together. It was just a
great regular, so great, cool guy.

Speaker 3 (34:39):
He was really great. He's so funny and uh warm,
and yeah, I really liked him a lot.

Speaker 1 (34:45):
One more Emmys than anyone in history for a comedy show, really,
I mean, well, yeah, funny, but I think it says
more about the state of comedy that there are no comedies.

Speaker 3 (34:56):
Well that's really true. Yeah, all right, so let me
get back to that. Yeah, yeah, so what's your Let's
take touring out of it. Let's take the blue collar

(35:17):
existence out of it. Where are we in show business?
You know, I live here in LA and I keep
saying it's you know, we're coming back and it's going
to be okay. And I keep seeing my friends packing
up and leaving, and I'm starting to feel like am
i am? I one of the last believers? What's up?

(35:37):
I think?

Speaker 1 (35:40):
I mean, it's very encouraging that you're selling out in theaters.
I think that's great, and people like you great comedians,
great musicians. There's a need for entertainment. But the entertainment
I think is not going to be on TV and movies.
I think that's shrinking. The need to be with other

(36:00):
people will never go away, and so the live shows,
I think that will always be a business. But I
believe that the phone is taking away the screen time.
People would rather surf the Internet or TikTok or Instagram
then watch so called entertainment on another screen.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
But to your point, I was on a lot a
week ago, you know, and just looked around and I'm like,
what's different, And it's like, there's almost nothing happening on
this lot. It's like there's a lot of studios, a
lot of you know, a lot of space, a lot
of space, and not why was this so easy to park?
You know, It's like it was quiet, and that's scary.

(36:49):
And then this morning I listened to I think it
was a Daily on the New York Times podcast and
they were talking about why is the stock market going
up and up and up? And the reporter made the
point that it's basically AI that these that Wall Street
is just very excited by what AI could do, and
it's like that's exciting until you realize what AI could

(37:10):
do is replace almost allybody you know, everyone and everything.

Speaker 1 (37:17):
It's still not good.

Speaker 3 (37:18):
It's still not good. No, it's still not good. I've
been watching a lot of old movies, the best, the best.
I went through The Mummy, The Man who Knew Too Much,
Frank the Original Frankenstein. All is good. Like, what do
you think it's the peak, the peak of movies, because
we have a theory the.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
Peak of movies talry about an era a decade.

Speaker 3 (37:40):
Yeah, I mean there's so many.

Speaker 1 (37:46):
And we also think we also think it's for TV
and music as well.

Speaker 3 (37:49):
Oh so you're saying the seventies, yes, yeah, well it
seemed like there was that. It seems like it was creatively,
commercially and creatively all going on full cylinders. And then
commercially and a little less create creatively, and you know,
and then there was that burst in like the nineties

(38:11):
going two thousand, that was everybody talks about.

Speaker 1 (38:14):
And now it's not just because we came of age
at this time, although I think that's a factor.

Speaker 3 (38:20):
There's a factor, but it was better.

Speaker 2 (38:23):
I think that's more a factor with music. I think
whenever you're a teenager, that becomes your core music.

Speaker 1 (38:29):
That's when you're in the car. Film parties.

Speaker 2 (38:33):
I feel it's just clear that, like American cinema, the
ambition of it, the sort of the range, emotion of
where it was going.

Speaker 1 (38:41):
I showed them my kids now, like we watch all
the Presidents men the other night. You wanted to see it?
They never saw it. Yeah, they're like, wow, that's good.
Damn right, it's good. First of all, it's brilliantly done.
It's about something really important. Yeah, and we just don't
have that. You count on one hand a year and
the number of great and import like did you watch

(39:04):
one battle after another? Y? Yeah, yeah, that's a good movie.

Speaker 3 (39:07):
Were great. I think that's even though in the movies
I had ticked off. Yeah, the Mummy, Yeah, the Man
who Knew Too Much? Yeah, Frankenstein, well done movies, well
done movies. And doctor Jacqueline mister Hyde was Spencer Tracy. Yes,
they all had had They were all philosophical, they were
all had big ideas, yes that they thought this medium

(39:28):
could help sort out. And they really were trying to
give you something to think about, and they were searching.
And but the thing that really caught me in watching
all these old movies was the eyes. The eye contact,
even like the small roles of like these good actors

(39:49):
and they're locked in with their eyes.

Speaker 1 (39:51):
Just because they're saying something worth looking at the person for.

Speaker 3 (39:54):
And it's hope. I had a little pang of hope
that maybe humans are will prevail, or to say, I
think because it won't have the highes, it won't have
what you see behind the eyes.

Speaker 2 (40:07):
Can I ask you about two directors who you've worked with,
because you've worked with this is a range of your talent.
You're the only person I know who's worked with brob
Zombie and Stephen Soderberg closely.

Speaker 1 (40:19):
Can you talk.

Speaker 2 (40:20):
About your relationship with each of them and what you
respect about them.

Speaker 3 (40:25):
I'll talk about the things that make them similar, because
you know their work is they both push. But the
thing that's similar and you know, you guys are these
people too. There's these motivated artists who just there's people

(40:46):
who say, I I hope they let me make this,
and there's other people who say, I'm making this And
you gave me that advice early on when I was like,
I always want to do this family comedy, but I
don't know where family comedy is fit. And you're like, no,
if you if you if that's the story you want
to tell. That's what you go when you do, when
you make it, you do that. And there's a certitude

(41:07):
with certain artists, and those guys are two of them
for sure, where they just they just go, there's no
they're not waiting for yes's, you know, and and they
really love what they're doing and are not ever going
to stop.

Speaker 2 (41:23):
How did you and Rob Zombie become because you've done
he directed I think your first couple stand up and
then you were you did an animated movie with him
and were the lead of it.

Speaker 3 (41:33):
Yeah. We had a mutual friend who was an actress
in his House of a Thousand Corpses and.

Speaker 1 (41:39):
Which film was up for Yeah.

Speaker 3 (41:45):
Night. He's a friend, but his movies are too scary.
I've never said that, Yeah it's scary. I'd rather watch
The Mummy. I can watch them. My wife can't do it.
But it's he just has this this love of horror.
It's the same in this film. Is why our relationship

(42:06):
work is that he also loves comedy and he was
a fan of my comedy and I liked his music.
And we went through our friend we ended up like
going to a destination wedding to like you know, and
you go to a destination waying you don't know anybody, a.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
Horror movie you loves wedding.

Speaker 3 (42:24):
Yeah, and you need an ally, you need a buddy
healthrough the thing. And and him and his wife were
our pals, and we just kind of hit it off
and and we just really respected each other and wanted
to work with each other. So when I was doing
my stand up special, this one of them, I was like,
I want to be more like a film. I wanted
what would make it. It was at a time when
everything was looking the same, and I was like, how

(42:45):
do I make this a little bit more like a
film like the specials I grew up with, you know.
And so I called on him and he jumped on it. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:54):
Great, And as Soderberg as interesting. I love his work,
but as interesting a character as are you.

Speaker 1 (43:00):
I've never met him, Yeah I haven't, but I saw
the movie at the Sphere, Yeah, that he made. Did
you see it? Which one the he made a it's
like at the Sphere Yeah, a kind of uh, here's
what we can do with the Sphere movie? And he
made like an outer space and then picked beautiful, gorgeous
pictures of the Earth, like movie you see at the museum,

(43:23):
but he put a little story in and then because
of the sphere, it totally surrounds you. Well you are there.

Speaker 6 (43:30):
One small correction, The sphere movie Postcards from Earth was
actually directed by Darren Aronofsky and not Steven Soderberg.

Speaker 2 (43:36):
I have heard the Wizard of Oz at the Sphere
is like a smash people too, and people who I
would not expect to say, you got it.

Speaker 1 (43:43):
I'm not interested.

Speaker 3 (43:45):
I know. I heard someone told me they went and
they saw the eagles and they saw Wizard of Oz
and they said, hands down, Wizard of Oz. Blew it away.
What they said. The monkeys are flying around and there's
all this stuff happening. And my wife said, there's some controversy.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
Well, because they've short First of all, you're not seeing
the full movie. And what happens is, you know, if
you're let's say you're watching on TV. Yeah, it's a
square format and there's a two shot and you see
Dorothy and the Scarecrow in a close up let's say,
or medium shot. A two shot. Now it's a the sphere,

(44:22):
so they stay relatively the same size and they created
a giant fake world around them. AI so what you're
seeing is the two superimposed cutouts of the characters against
a giant screensaver. That's not a movie anymore.

Speaker 3 (44:43):
No, that's different to the Eagles.

Speaker 1 (44:46):
Yes, I think if there's a band you want to
see and they're doing incredible visuals with it, I guess
that's great, especially if the band now is older and
they're not visually.

Speaker 2 (45:00):
And again, neither of you have been to a concert
yet though at the Sphere.

Speaker 1 (45:05):
No you have.

Speaker 2 (45:06):
I have, I said you too. In the early days.
After all I can tell you is there was a
moment where the experience of feeling outside. It was a
moment when you took you all of a sudden, you're
in the desert, you're outside the.

Speaker 1 (45:20):
Hype, cold air.

Speaker 2 (45:20):
And my wife did look at me and she goes,
are you crying? I said, I don't think so, but
I think any moment I.

Speaker 1 (45:27):
Could be because yes, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (45:28):
Maybe having spent my life in concerts, this was like
a mind blowing effect of like, especially I like being outdoors,
so it's like, oh, I can see you too indoors
and be outdoors amazing.

Speaker 1 (45:40):
There was a great moment I saw on my phone
of the Sphere which is hilarious to see, right, I
have that. Here's the Grateful Dead and suddenly you're flying
over San Francisco and you zoom down and you're on
the porch of the house that they would be in.
Oh cool, and that and that fills the world. Yeah,
I mean, yeah, that's great, it's great, it's great.

Speaker 3 (46:03):
It's a cool thing for sure.

Speaker 1 (46:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (46:05):
I guess they have to just try and keep But
I don't know, just do with AI? Why are you
doing it with a Well?

Speaker 1 (46:09):
I think there's movies that might lend itself to that,
Like I can imagine if you love Star Wars, you
want to see Star Wars the Sphere.

Speaker 3 (46:18):
Star Trek, you get those guys. Yes, yeah, I would
like to.

Speaker 2 (46:22):
See scenes from a marriage that's it in the Sphere. Yeah,
you hosted the Marriage Rush ref and I always wondered
if did that.

Speaker 1 (46:32):
Did you ever?

Speaker 2 (46:32):
Did that cause more arguments with your wife or not?

Speaker 1 (46:34):
Are you?

Speaker 2 (46:35):
Are you an expert now on solving marital discord?

Speaker 3 (46:39):
Yeah? I think I've always been pretty good at it.

Speaker 2 (46:43):
You've been married twenty five so yes, not as long
as Phil and a little longer than me.

Speaker 3 (46:50):
How long you've been married thirty five? Years thirty five. Yeah,
you got ten on ready. Yeah, yeah, very happy. That's
why it works. Happy joke, that's it. That's it yet your.

Speaker 2 (47:04):
Wife comedian as well?

Speaker 3 (47:06):
Right, yeah, she was.

Speaker 2 (47:07):
Is that how you met? But you you were from
the same town or something like that.

Speaker 3 (47:12):
When I met her as a comic, she told me
where she was going to for Thanksgiving and I was like,
where she goes? You don't know. It's a small town
in New Jersey, I said where. She said. We were
just young comics, just meeting, and she said, I'm going
to Park Ridge. I said, oh, did you have Miss
Conway for kindergarten? What before the Internet, before all of it?

(47:36):
And and that was it. She had to marry me
because you were in the same kindergarten class a year apart.
And then I moved in third grade to the next
town over, so we had the same high school jobs
at the hotel. We had all of these near misses,
and it wasn't until the comic strip in New York
that we finally met.

Speaker 1 (47:56):
What was the fact that said I have to kiss
her now, Ms Conway because he had a crush on.

Speaker 3 (48:08):
It was like, finally my dream girl. I love it.
So yeah, it was so great, but I mean, you
just we had all that shared history. So and then
as a comic, she understood like the lifestyle and she
was funny, and so it was just you know, did
you ever tour together a little bit like in clubs
like we would just like in the New York area

(48:29):
and she was big at the Comedy Seller and stuff
like that. So yeah, we had all that, but we
went pretty quickly and we had kids really fast. And
then she downshifted from she's up being with our daughter
might be more important than going to a holiday and
in Hartford.

Speaker 1 (48:48):
When it gets tough, though, there's always.

Speaker 3 (48:52):
Yeah, you could send me.

Speaker 1 (48:55):
Wow, yeah, how old are the kids though?

Speaker 3 (48:57):
Twenty three and twenty yeah.

Speaker 1 (49:01):
You know what happens now. You know what happened to
me last week?

Speaker 3 (49:04):
I know, congratulations so beautiful. I know it's I don't
have that on the horizon. You know, it comes up.

Speaker 1 (49:11):
Well, they're still a little young, but.

Speaker 2 (49:12):
Nobody does I remember. Maybe it's the start of the
last Netflix special. There was a joke about now that
the kids are.

Speaker 3 (49:19):
Gone, you are nobody to I'll help you. Yes, nobody
tells you how when your kids leave. Nobody tells you
how hard it's going to be pretending to be sad.

Speaker 1 (49:34):
That's so.

Speaker 3 (49:35):
But now in my new act, I say, but now,
you know, you want to succeed and go out in
the world. But now I'm hoping one of them lacks
the skills to make it right and they have to
come home for a while, not forever, but just for
a couple more.

Speaker 1 (49:47):
Years, hope for a little bad luck.

Speaker 3 (49:49):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (49:51):
By the way, that's what COVID was for us. Are kids,
you know, they're in the mid twenties at the time,
and yeah, what kids want to hang out with their parents.
But they had to look at each other. Monica and
eyes were making you know, dinner or getting it ready
for them, and we'd say, hah, they can't go anywhere.

Speaker 3 (50:07):
I wanted to ask you, Uh, when's the last time
you cried?

Speaker 1 (50:11):
I cried this morning, I cry every day, You cry
every day? Something touching.

Speaker 3 (50:15):
Cry to the movie at the wedding. I'm sure then,
Oh you have to, Yeah you do.

Speaker 1 (50:20):
And it's cheers of joy. Yeah you know, it's not sad. No,
it's just tears of you know.

Speaker 3 (50:25):
I can't believe it, but I cried.

Speaker 1 (50:27):
I'll tell you when it when it hit me. I
didn't cried you in the ceremony. At the end of
my little speech, huh you yourself said, how so here's
to my new son.

Speaker 3 (50:40):
Oh and oh.

Speaker 1 (50:42):
My spectacular daughter, Lily Violet Rosenthal Royal. I could chuck
at the end, I got I could cry now, yeah,
because it's the sweetest it's your.

Speaker 3 (50:55):
Daughter, your daughter, anything you daughter, but.

Speaker 1 (50:57):
My boy too. I thought, you know, you'll see you
cry then too. It's so it's just yeah, when it
works out, you can't believe it all worked out. And
how lucky they are, but how lucky you are. All
we want is for the kids to be okay, I know.
And so now that they're both married, we do the
Las Vegas.

Speaker 5 (51:21):
Done.

Speaker 1 (51:22):
This game is over. Yes, that's right.

Speaker 3 (51:25):
See that's great, that's beautiful. How about you.

Speaker 2 (51:30):
I have two kids, two boys. You know you have girls,
so I yes, I have one. I have two weddings
with the same couple because one was sort of justice
of the Piece and then the other one. I'm going
to be going around the world for a destination wedding

(51:52):
and I'm really hoping Rob Zombie is there. And yes,
my other son is dating and living with someone very nice.
So it's all I have. No, I have no complaints.
I did have the but our kids are basically the
same age as And the COVID thing was an incredible
It's amazing how much time you got that you didn't
account for it, unlike your at least comedic persona. I

(52:17):
was one of those whims who when my first went off,
I didn't I remember saying. I remember saying to my
wife again, my feeling is women are smarter and more
emotionally mature. I said, oh, you thought about the fact
that they were going to go. I had not. Until
the moment left to go to Berkeley, I was like
I had no, I hadn't put it together, and I
spend like a week on the front lawn weeping.

Speaker 1 (52:39):
Yes, you know, I know, but that's the hidden blessings
in COVID. I mean, if you didn't lose anybody or
something terrible didn't happen. Yeah, that was the hidden blessing
this time and that time actually made us closer. Now, oh,
interesting carried over?

Speaker 3 (52:56):
Yeah, No, one's the last time you cried.

Speaker 2 (52:59):
Iry a lot? And I also cry the most. I
cry on every airplane. Any movie will make me cry.
And I and someone said there is a physiological thing
about being, you know, And I was flying back and
forth from England and I remember I forgot it wasn't
something that should have made me cry.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
But any movie will make a plane. Yeah, your your
standards are so much lowered on the plane that a
movie because you can really affect you. Yeah. I don't
know if it's the air in the plane, but a
movie you give it so much more leeway you do.

Speaker 3 (53:34):
I think it's because you're up in the sky.

Speaker 1 (53:36):
And you there's nothing else to do.

Speaker 3 (53:38):
You don't really everyone's just being cool and yeah, eating
and drinking a coke zero, and but underneath it, you're
like we could all die in at any moment. I
think I think you a little bit of you, but
you're all stressful.

Speaker 1 (53:51):
The whole thing is, yes, but you're hyper focused also,
and yeah, you're paying more attention to that movie, on
that little shitty thing than any other time.

Speaker 3 (54:02):
That's right. It was really nice being in Uh. We
saw Superman over the summer with my daughter, who's you know,
on our device all the time, like you were talking about,
it was so nice, like at home when we watch movies.
She still has the phone. That's right grab it. But
in the theater when they yell at you put your
phones away. Watching her for two hours watch a movie.

(54:24):
It was.

Speaker 2 (54:26):
I had the experience of going my all my kids.
This is six seven years ago, I'm not sure, but
Dave Chappelle was playing the Austin City Limits Theater. That
the beautiful theater they have an Austin and we made
a family trip because we all really loved Dave Chappelle
and ran into him later at the Grammys in fact,
and told them the story how it was so moving

(54:48):
to have a night where because he's he was one
of the first to walk up your phone. And I
remember going to I was so mad, but then I
was so thankful because like, you have a night with
four your two kids and my wife where we were
just talking to and experiencing something and it was so great.
And he started tearing up this and to get a
selfie and I remember going like, hold, no, you're the
guy who locks up phones for a selfie.

Speaker 3 (55:11):
It's now there is doesn't now and denver does it.
And whenever you go into a place that bags up
the phones, the murmur before the show is so different.
People are talking, it's there's music and they're talking and
there because their phones are gone. It's so fantastic. You
know that that show is going to be great because

(55:31):
everyone's got their stupid devices out of there hands.

Speaker 1 (55:35):
I always say, the terminator is not Arnold Schwartzenegger. It's
in our pocket.

Speaker 3 (55:40):
I know, I know. But the other side of it, yeah,
back to I mean, this is the cause and effect thing,
the TV entertainment kind of collapsing. I had a stand
up clip, you know, I have the shows, like you know,
I'm trying to get off the ground and you know,
it's developing whatever and trying to get stuff made. And

(56:01):
as I'm doing that, we put up a stand up
clip and as of today it has over five million
What views? What TV show that I'm going to create?

Speaker 2 (56:12):
Now we'll go on exactly on a network.

Speaker 3 (56:15):
Not won't happen, It won't happen.

Speaker 1 (56:16):
But look at all the work you have to put
in to get the clip.

Speaker 3 (56:20):
I know that's true auditoring and the shooting, and they'll
make a.

Speaker 1 (56:24):
Clip a gigantic body of work. And someone found this
right hitting the zeitgeist for whatever reason, and nobody knows
what that is. No, And I can't wrap and we
can't make that series of clips.

Speaker 3 (56:37):
No, and I can't do it again tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (56:39):
I called, and would you have thought that clip? Oh?
I see why that clip?

Speaker 3 (56:44):
I know frankly, I honestly think that I posted it
two years ago and it probably did nothing, but for
some reason they posted it with it.

Speaker 1 (56:52):
Can we insert the clip right now into the thing?

Speaker 3 (56:55):
You have these kids and they take up with the
whole house, and then before you know it, they're on
their way out, and they don't even remember the first
five years that you did all that stuff for it,
and they have no memory of it. Then in the
last four years of just trying to get away, so
you get, well, eight years in the middle. I'm not
sure it's worth it. I told my daughter before she left,

(57:16):
just so you know, I did all of this for you.
I did all of this for you. I didn't want
this house, I didn't want to live in this town.
I didn't want any of these animals. I don't even
have friends anymore. All my friends are your friend's parents.
I did this all for you, and now you're gonna go.

(57:36):
I should go. You could have it all.

Speaker 2 (57:42):
When you mentioned you fly a lot, and you fly
commercially in a very good class. I wonder who is
the most magical or crazy person you sat next to
on a plane and got to know me.

Speaker 3 (57:53):
Oh, that's a good question, and I have a good one.
I sat It was one of the first times I
was in first cal. Last some show was sending me
in first class. So it was early and it was
from New York to LA and I sat next to
Bruce Jenner when when she was Bruce Jenner, Yeah, Bruce

(58:17):
Jenner in a suit and whatever. And he I don't
know if he knew me. Probably didn't. He probably asked
if I was a comedian. But he spent the five
hours flying back to LA as a goofy overly talkative
guy making bad wife jokes. Wow, the whole time was

(58:42):
like the old ball and Chain and you know how
she is and you're having a man. You know, you
had those moments when you meet someone you're like, oh,
this is cool, Bruce Jenner, Oh my god, the Whaedies guy.
And then like an hour and you're like, all right, all.

Speaker 1 (58:52):
Right, it's the mel Brooks carry Grant story. Yeah, story,
you want to go to lunch, tell him him out.

Speaker 3 (59:02):
Yeah, it was the same thing.

Speaker 1 (59:04):
That's so great.

Speaker 3 (59:04):
Yeah, that was a good one because then it all
happened like another two years from then the transformation and.

Speaker 1 (59:11):
Also wow, just two years later something.

Speaker 2 (59:13):
Like I flew right behind Oh, Jay, that's not as great.
It was not as great as story, not as much fun.

Speaker 1 (59:18):
Don't kick the seat. Oh that was the whole.

Speaker 2 (59:21):
Thing is there's a whole story there.

Speaker 1 (59:23):
I won't, I won't, I won't share that. Oh really,
but you you've sat next to everybody.

Speaker 2 (59:28):
Well, the nicest one was a comedian. It was Trevor Noah,
which ended up with him presenting the Grammy, which I
think might have gone to Jerry Seinfeld Orschappelle, I can't remember,
and then working with him for you know, many recently
and yes, but no sometimes it's amazing like yeah, have
you know you you had Keanu which ended up on

(59:51):
our We we ran that, Yes, conversation.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
That was cool and we're heard, so was cool.

Speaker 3 (59:57):
That's a good one.

Speaker 1 (59:58):
Yeah, I never heard that. Yeah, he was in the
we got to go first class and he was you
know the it was a you know, the maybe six
seats up there and you get up and you can
have a little snack at the thing. And so we're
up and we're talking.

Speaker 3 (01:00:12):
Oh wow, he was super cool. I saw have posts
on Instagram and He's like, I am one other sug
and I am going to start an Instagram accountant to
tell you the things that people want to know. And
I was like, wow, this is amazing. And then I
went to a county. He had like three posts and quit.

Speaker 1 (01:00:31):
I found a futility.

Speaker 3 (01:00:32):
I have a gift for you.

Speaker 1 (01:00:34):
Oh thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:00:35):
These are wooden.

Speaker 1 (01:00:38):
I have a wooden Nombae.

Speaker 3 (01:00:40):
Nambay is the company, and I have a whole line
of flower containers and cutting boards and knives. And I'm
such a bread nerve that I collect so like meets
on spoons.

Speaker 1 (01:00:52):
Me not knowing anything, I'm thinking, oh, you use this
for salads?

Speaker 3 (01:00:55):
Yes, you could use them for salad. You could do
whatever you want with them. This is just a tiny
little piece of the It's this a Casha would and
they're just beautiful, beautiful, And I developed them for every
year with this company because in making the yeah, because
I needed it to be practical for my bread baking
and they wanted to make it beautiful.

Speaker 1 (01:01:13):
Now isn't the natural evolution for you to have a
bread line.

Speaker 3 (01:01:19):
I don't know. I don't know if bread is a business,
it's not. I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:01:24):
Y Yeah, Nancy Silverton, LaBrea Bakery.

Speaker 3 (01:01:29):
It's true, Libray Bakery.

Speaker 1 (01:01:31):
You know there are it?

Speaker 2 (01:01:33):
Have you so?

Speaker 3 (01:01:34):
I would love to do it.

Speaker 1 (01:01:35):
Have you sold your bread anywhere?

Speaker 3 (01:01:37):
No, I've given it to everybody.

Speaker 1 (01:01:39):
Okay, But isn't there a moment where your bread becomes
the bread of a place?

Speaker 3 (01:01:46):
Yes? Yeah, and you're gonna do like a pop up
in l a and pop up, popa up. Maybe we
do the diner.

Speaker 1 (01:01:58):
Let's do it at the diner.

Speaker 3 (01:02:00):
Yeah, that would be use your bread for.

Speaker 1 (01:02:01):
A special sandwich or something.

Speaker 3 (01:02:03):
Yeah, maybe get Andy to help out. Yes, Bubb and Grandma.

Speaker 1 (01:02:07):
We love him.

Speaker 3 (01:02:08):
Yeah, he's or have your bread at Bubb and Grandma.

Speaker 1 (01:02:10):
See that there?

Speaker 3 (01:02:11):
Yeah, a collab?

Speaker 1 (01:02:13):
Why not?

Speaker 3 (01:02:14):
I'll tell you why not? Because as soon as I
do it, and I have this beautiful bread and they
have my beautiful Nambe stuff there, and you can sell
that at the same time. Yes, within two weeks, Shalub shows.

Speaker 1 (01:02:26):
Up, takes your whole act, takes the act, takes the act. Wow,
gotta stop Shaloub.

Speaker 3 (01:02:36):
Yeah, no, I think, Yeah, I would love to do it.
I mean because it is the natural evolution of it.
But I just never thought of like which way to
do it, you know, I was just purely out of
love of baking.

Speaker 1 (01:02:46):
I just did you grow up? We grew up. But
it's good. I mean, it's not just I mean when
I eat your bread, it's not like, oh, isn't that nice?
He made a bread?

Speaker 3 (01:02:56):
It's fantastic.

Speaker 1 (01:02:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:02:58):
Is this second generation? As you're growing up in New
Jersey with an Italian mother cooks?

Speaker 3 (01:03:04):
They were all cooks, okay, So like I learned how
to cook Italian food from my grandmother's and all of that.
But and baking always seemed too complex. But bread is
this nice middle ground where it's precise, more precise than cooking,
but not as precise as like pastries and cakes and
that kind of thing. So that was like my sweet

(01:03:25):
spot and I just I'm obsessed with it. Obviously, use
your regular oven, yeah, two Dutch ovens and my big
biking oven. Crank it. Yeah, it just has service. And
now it's really popping. It was really cranking. Yeah, it's
good stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:03:41):
Now I want the breadmaker I got for my wedding
along with the nambe that I got.

Speaker 3 (01:03:46):
They are beautiful.

Speaker 1 (01:03:47):
They are very Yeah, well anything wood, it's great.

Speaker 3 (01:03:50):
I know they're like these like porcelain containers to put
the flower with wood handles.

Speaker 1 (01:03:55):
They just feel nice, they look beautiful natural.

Speaker 3 (01:03:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:03:59):
Is there anything that we didn't get to that you
need to you want to plug while you're here.

Speaker 3 (01:04:04):
No, I'm on tour. Great everything you can find me
Tom Papa for Everything good online and with the Breaking
Bread podcast. My radio show is Fortune and Serious XM.
And uh yeah, this is all going. This whole tour
is going to lead to the next special next year. Great.

Speaker 1 (01:04:23):
So yeah, you're writing as you go.

Speaker 3 (01:04:26):
Writing as I go. It's it's solid now. But now
the fun part of like you know, adding little little
stuff isn't an hour and it's going to show up.
It's like an hour ten right now.

Speaker 1 (01:04:36):
Wow, and you're you just after you do that hour
hour ten? Yeah, that materials retired pretty.

Speaker 3 (01:04:45):
Much, right, pretty much. You know, if I do private events,
I'll break something out or you know anything. Oh there's
a joke that's so old. Yeah, it's like some like
one of the first things I did, and I'll break
it out in a corporate event because it's not really
you know, they're not all there to see me. They're
there because they work for whatever company. Yeah, and they
hired me. And I'm telling you some of those jokes,

(01:05:08):
some of those old jokes kill in a way that
they really do get better with time. They just marinate
and get so much. That's kind of like the the
unfortunate thing of having all of our stuff go out
all the time. Now, you know, you can't repeat a
lot of it for the next special, But like Leno

(01:05:29):
would say, he never shoot a special because it's killing
his act.

Speaker 2 (01:05:32):
Well. By the way, even I think, like twenty years ago,
the idea that you didn't repeat stuff was crazy. And
I remember going to see Dennis Miller, you know, early on,
and then I went to see him twenty years later
and he did the White album. He did a lot
of the greatest hits, and yeah, it was still yeah funny.

Speaker 3 (01:05:49):
Yeah, it's kind of this weird mix. But yeah, some
of those oldies. Yeah, it's fun to break them out
and do them like that, But you can't go on
your next Netflix like you wouldn't. It'd be weird if
Carlin did like something for his last special and did
on his next one, you'd be.

Speaker 2 (01:06:03):
Like, it'd be especially weird.

Speaker 3 (01:06:04):
Now, Yeah, really weird.

Speaker 1 (01:06:06):
Now, did you break.

Speaker 2 (01:06:08):
Bread with someone who I got to break bread thanks
to fill with Carl Reiner and George Shapiro many many times.
Was he someone who you got to break bread with much.

Speaker 3 (01:06:18):
With Carl or George?

Speaker 1 (01:06:19):
George?

Speaker 3 (01:06:20):
George? Yeah? He was war Piero. Yeah, George was was
what a special guy, legend, just the legend and so
nice and encouraging sed you feel great.

Speaker 1 (01:06:31):
Miss him every day.

Speaker 3 (01:06:32):
He's the greatest guy.

Speaker 2 (01:06:34):
For those who don't know, he's Jerry Seinfeld's manager, among
other people. But what I remember is having lunch with
him and Carl and they were Carl was already ninety whatever.
They were so inspiring and at one point I think
you said, George, what are you doing? He goes, I'm
getting on a plane tonight.

Speaker 1 (01:06:49):
I'm going to be.

Speaker 2 (01:06:50):
Going to New York. And you said, are you sort
of dreading that? And he went dreading it? He goes,
I get on a plane. They served me a lovely dinner.
I can have a drink, I can relax and read.
It's like he was his positivity and nobody was fantastic.

Speaker 3 (01:07:05):
Like I got to interview he set up in the
early days of my podcast before it was breaking bread.
I got to go to Carl Reiner's house and sit
in his office and interview. Carl and George set it
up and George was there, which I don't know if
you ever visited carl house a lot, Like that's the
desk where he wrote Dick van Dyke by himself, you know, crazy,

(01:07:30):
so great. It was so great, and they're both have
that similar lust for life and beautiful. And we had
this great interview and I went downstairs and they walked
to the front door, and there's tall Reiner and little
George and they're like, thank you so much, Tom, thank
you so much. And as I took two steps down,
Ryner goes, what an asshole and they shut the door.

Speaker 1 (01:07:53):
Perfect, perfect timing.

Speaker 3 (01:07:56):
Made me love him more than done earlier. So fantastic.

Speaker 1 (01:08:01):
That's another world, those guys. And it was the only
one left. Yeah ninety nine.

Speaker 3 (01:08:07):
You drive around those neighborhoods. I'm a big Jack Benny fan. Yeah,
and that Jack Benny lived next door to Lucy Crazy
and like what fuck? Like that part of that old
show business.

Speaker 1 (01:08:21):
We talked about this one day. It was it was
the movie that didn't happen because the Sunshine Boys was
originally Walter Mathow and Jack Benny. Oh, and they filmed
for two weeks and that Benny died and then they
shut down and they got George who his best friend
George Burns to do it, and George Burns won the Oscar.

(01:08:45):
But and as great as he was, I didn't know.
I wish I could have seen Jack Benny do it.

Speaker 3 (01:08:52):
You've watched to Be or Not to Be.

Speaker 1 (01:08:54):
My dad's favorite movie, really favorite funny movie.

Speaker 3 (01:08:58):
So good it is hysterical.

Speaker 1 (01:09:00):
I recommend it a really good mel Brooks remade it
with Van Bancroft and that was charming and adorable. But
to see Jack Benny, to see him in anything. The shows,
even the radio shows are funny.

Speaker 3 (01:09:12):
If you can go on YouTube if your listeners want
to see like an old Jack Benny comedy always kind
of it always kind of times out, and there's certain
things that last. And there's a great sketch from the
Jack Benny Show with mel blank Is playing a guy
working behind the counter. Mel Blank bugs Bunny is working

(01:09:35):
behind the counter at Macy's or or or whatever story.
I think it was Macy's. And anyway, Jacket comes in
and he's buying something a gift, and he keeps having
going away well and then coming back, would you mind
rewrapping this? And and he does that this sketch.

Speaker 1 (01:09:55):
I got to see this.

Speaker 3 (01:09:56):
It'll still make you laugh, so yeah, I will will
and we'll put a lill So like to see something
like a sketch that still holds up and will make
you laugh.

Speaker 2 (01:10:07):
Is it's just so brilliant, you know it doesn't hold up,
Tony shaloop.

Speaker 3 (01:10:12):
Stay in your lane, Tucci, that's it, Stay in your
lane shaloup. That's right. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:10:18):
Your next bread whatever specialty bread it is is monk bread.

Speaker 3 (01:10:23):
That's brilliant. Just filled with lies, all right, everybody, Tom Papa,
we love you.

Speaker 1 (01:10:32):
Come back an time.

Speaker 3 (01:10:33):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (01:10:34):
I think I'm doing yours soon.

Speaker 3 (01:10:35):
Yeah, I hope so great. That'd be great.

Speaker 1 (01:10:37):
Thanks for the gift, David. I know you, I know
you like having him, but say something nice, yes, calm
an asshole.

Speaker 3 (01:10:51):
An answer.

Speaker 6 (01:10:53):
Naked Lunch is a podcast by Phil Rosenthal and David Wilde.
Theme song and music by Brad Paisley, produced by Will
Sterling Ryan Tillotson, with video editing by Daniel Ferrara and
motion graphics by Ali Ahmed. Executive produced by Phil Rosenthal,
David Wilde, and our consulting journalist is Pamela Chella. If
you enjoyed the show, share it with a friend. But
if you can't take my word for it, take Phil's.

Speaker 1 (01:11:14):
And don't forget to leave a good rating and review.
We like five stars.

Speaker 6 (01:11:18):
You know, thanks for listening to Naked Lunch, a Lucky
Bastard's production.