Comedian Nick Scopoletti

Comedian (and personal training manager) Nick Scopoletti returns to chat about growing his comedy career, working with Lisa Lampanelli, managing personal trainers, and how his personal warmth has been kind of a cheat code. 

You can find Nick on Instagram @nickscopes https://www.instagram.com/nickscopes/ and as Lisa Lampanelli’s sidekick on her podcast, Shrink This https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shrink-this-with-lisa-lampanelli/id1819746873    

The AI generated summary

In this engaging conversation, Jim McDonald and Nick Scopoletti explore themes of friendship, cynicism, personal growth, and the comedy journey. They reflect on their experiences in the fitness industry, the impact of COVID, and the importance of networking in the comedy scene. The discussion also touches on family dynamics, wealth, and the challenges of managing people in the workplace. Throughout the conversation, they share humorous anecdotes and insights, emphasizing the value of perseverance and self-discovery in both personal and professional realms.

Chapters  
00:00 Warm Connections and Cynical Reflections
03:05 The Comedy Journey: Struggles and Triumphs
05:50 Navigating Life's Changes: Comedy and Personal Growth
08:46 The Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health
11:49 Family Dynamics and Personal Insights
14:38 The Reality of Working in the Fitness Industry
17:40 Acting, Comedy, and Authenticity
20:40 Nostalgia and Cultural Identity
23:26 Creative Outlets and Self-Expression
31:48 Expo Experiences and Bodybuilding Culture
35:44 Managing a Fitness Team
39:44 Clientele Development in Boutique Gyms
44:39 Wealth, Work Ethic, and Personal Growth
50:08 Networking and Social Media Surprises
55:58 Memorable Encounters with Icons

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
I guess we're running now, I guess, so, I guess.
So welcome.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is fifty percent facts and I'm with my one
hundred percent friend next couple of weeks.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
What's up, Jim, one hundred percent friend, one hundred percent lover?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, all those things, yes, wife, Yeah, I have Okay,
this is something I haven't did not tell you. I like,
I almost texted you this last year, like so many times,
and I could never get the wording right.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
So I'm gonna say it, and then we'll see what happens,
all right, where it goes from here.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
So you and I got together last summer, not this
past summer, but the summer before New York, Yeah, New York.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
I watched you eat, which was exciting.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
I was like, what's what else is coming?

Speaker 2 (01:00):
We had a we had a conversation. We hadn't seen
each other in person in a while, right, several years,
and although you know we we we text on it
on infrequent and then sometimes frequent basis right, And I
walked away from it from our from our little meeting there,
and I thought, Nick is just like one of the

(01:22):
warmest people ever. And I don't even know how that's
the case, because you just saw cynical sometimes and whatever,
and like you know, and and then like it was
like a great conversation and I felt really wonderful walking
away from it, except that it's like we haven't. It
sucks that I don't get you to do that all
the time.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
Because yeah, it's really cool, dude, I feel you. Yeah
you're saying I could be cynical sometimes, because I definitely can.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
Be a little bit.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
Yeah, no, it's do you know what it is? Man?
I am literally I say this to my friends all
the time, even just our generation collective, like all my
friends in their mid thirties whatever, we're like fighting our
ancestors so hard, like like we are fighting.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
You know.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
It's a different culture now, right, more like therapy. You're
more aware of shit. I catch shit coming up, Like
I'm like, oh, that's my grandmother, Uh, that's my dad,
or like you you know, and if I spend time
with you know, everyone pretty much my family, my mother,
everyone's dead, just my dad and I Not to start
off on a bummer note, but when I see my
dad and I see him have like anxieties and different shit,

(02:31):
and I'm like, oh that's where I get that. Fuck
where I see, like him getting pissed about something. I'm like, yeah,
there's it. That's me, I know, Like fuck so yes,
I do. I fight my goddamn hardest to like be
you exp people with that again, Like I first of all,

(02:52):
the fact that you said I was so warm and whatever,
thank you. That's how most people view me. But there
are moments where I'm just like I really have a
tony soprano vibe where I'm just like fuck this and
fuck you and I want to fucking smash your head
into the wall. Like it's all that stuff, but it
just you gotta find out where that ship comes from,

(03:14):
you know, and then kind of handle it and understand that,
like the feelings are real, but they're not like real
these you're making ship up in your head sometimes or
you're telling yourself a story that feels convenient or whatever.
But I appreciate you saying that. Jim, you're the fucking man.
You know you're the man let's kiss on air.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
Yeah, I think that.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
I mean, I keep seeing this meme going around, and
I think it's I think it's pretty legitimate that.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
That things are never quite a bad.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Situations are never quite as bad as we think they are,
we make them out to be in our heads and
I don't know how to stop doing that.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
But you know, it's it is the hardest thing.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
It's a protective reflex.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
I think.

Speaker 1 (03:59):
You know, you start, you plan for the worst.

Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yeah, like you just expect, Yeah, you just expect things
to go a certain way, and like the slightest I know,
for me, sometimes the slightest, like slight from someone or
like infraction of even at work and you're like, ah,
fucking god, damn motherfighter people, everyone's trying to fuck with me.
And you're like, no, it's just you know, like I

(04:27):
work at you know, I work at Equinox, and like
your boss will talk to you and be like, you know,
you gotta do this, this and this, and I'd be
like yeah, but all I don't want And then you're like, well,
I'm not really doing what I'm supposed to be doing
right now, Like maybe I just stop being a fucking
baby and like the world's out to get It's like, no,
I'm just not really doing my job. It's full capacity.

(04:48):
That's all he's asking or she is asking of me.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
You know.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
It's just like but that comes with a lot of
fucking a lot of work. So and I've done a
lot of work on myself and it won't stop.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
So, yeah, setting your day job beside for a second.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
Yeah, you're you're still doing the comedy thing.

Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yeah, I am still a stand up comic. I got
a podcast on iHeartRadio with the great Least Lampinelli. I
do that. I've been a stand up for seven years,
making some money from it and taking acting classes. I've

(05:34):
gotten some play readings, not actual play productions. I've auditioned
for stuff, but auditioning has been fun. It's it's it's
all been well and good, and comedy has been great.
But yeah, that's what I've been doing for a while,
and you know, I enjoy it. But there are you know,

(05:55):
talk about being cynical. There's moments where I'm like.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
I decide to do this.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
Like why, but also like what else would I be doing?

Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (06:06):
What is it really taking the place of.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
Like can I'd be spending my time better? Or yeah?

Speaker 3 (06:14):
Like what the the answers? No, The answer is if
I didn't have this stuff, you go crazy. I'd be
sitting right here on my couch in my apartment and
I would find other outlets, whether it's you know, food,
which is a favorite one of mine, or just something else,
like I need something outside of work. Do I want

(06:34):
to make it my full time thing? I guess I
keep you know, you try shit, keep going. I guess,
gun to my head, I don't really know. I just
keep trying shit and just having fun with it and
just seeing where things go.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
You feel like it's moving.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
I feel like it's yeah. I mean, I wouldn't if
I didn't feel like I had potential or the ability
to turn it into something, I definitely would have stopped. Like, dude,
people who like people who like have been bombing on
open mics for five years and keep going. I don't
know how they do it. Like I was lucky enough
by like my third time in open mic, I started

(07:16):
to like kind of get it and I was like, Okay,
this is clicking a little bit. But yeah, I mean,
I'm making money pretty consistently from comedy, get good opportunities, actings,
new It's only been about a year, but you know,
I've had auditions for things, and the theme of my

(07:38):
life if anything, is like I've been getting by on
sheer likability, like you do have that? I mean, dude,
Like it's how I graduated high school, like I just was.
I didn't do well in high school, but I wasn't
an asshole. So my teachers were just like come on, man,
and I'm like, yeah, I don't know. I just was
like in my own head and like a little sad
and like on steroids. I was just like playing football

(08:02):
and just like this is my life and like, no,
you have to do homework. I'm like, nah, I you
have to do that. We have to do that for
I'm fun, which like gets you certain places. But yeah,
at the end of the day, it's fun and I
like it, and so I'm just gonna keep going until
something happens.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
You know.

Speaker 3 (08:19):
If it's not fun and it sucks, then I'll stop.
But it's still fun, so why would I stop?

Speaker 2 (08:26):
Yeah, you A couple episodes ago, I had Jonathan Gregg
on who lives in Queens and he's been an actor
since he was a little kid, you know, but he
did like, you know, a lot of stage stuff, and then.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
He's in.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
He's in an episode of Jessica Jones and he's I
talked to him about an episode of I don't know
if you ever watched High Maintenance on on on HBO
just just a great show, Like it was just an
anthology show where the only one recurring character was a

(09:02):
weed dealer and it would just show his day going
from person to person, and you know, would show those
people when he wasn't there too, you know, just to
establish character or whatever. So, and he's a little older
than you. He's forty three and just in the last
couple of years, it's like, Okay, I'd like to keep acting,

(09:22):
but it's probably not going to be the way that
I make money, and I'm just going to get a job.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yeah. But he also did stand up too, so probably
funny he does.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
He's a little bit of a of a Instagram influencer.

Speaker 1 (09:39):
Talking about various things. You know.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
Yeah, it's I don't know, man, you just keep trying shit.
Like I hear stories like that and I'm like, oh fuck,
like that sucks. But like at the same time, like that,
there's where I work in my you know, my day job.
A guy who's like one of our higher ups. He

(10:04):
pursued he was a trainer in West Hollywood and he's
like now he's like a regional manager of the whole Northeast.
But he has a sad card I mean, he was
tried acting for ten years. Yeah, so and you know,
now he's doing his job, he's got the family, lives
along island, the whole deal, and you're like, it's not
the worst. It's not the worst thing. But like, yeah,

(10:26):
I think I think it's I don't know. I go
back and forth, and like all I keep keep telling
myself is like, just keep trying it and it's fun
and you're having fun, and like, see what happens. You
know what I mean again, if it sucked and I
was not having fun, because there was there was a
time two years ago I barely wanted to do stand

(10:51):
up for like probably two years. I was just like
I did barely want to do it. I did it
when I could do it. I didn't write one new joke. Yeah,
I did not care. Like I was out to fucking lunch.
I was like I don't want to do this, fuck
this whatever. And it took me a while to come
back around. And now I'm like, oh, this is fun.

(11:12):
Oh I could just tellt like oh, I also taking
away the pressure of it too. Yeah, And then we
have other things in our lives, like we're like me
and all the comics like we're all getting older. And
like you remember my buddy BO was on Losers with
a Dream. Yeah, Bo's getting married in November, Like shit, really,
yeah dude, and like she's fucking great and like he's
he has a great job and whatever, and like yeah

(11:33):
we still do comedy. Yeah we still he pulled post
stuff on the internet.

Speaker 1 (11:38):
Why not try?

Speaker 3 (11:39):
But like life's moving on, man. You know, for for
a while I also used to think, and I don't
think this, I probably know this, but for all of us, Bo,
you know, it's coming out. He was, you know, he's
been sober a long time now, but he was in
recovery and still is. And for me, I was coming
out of like a relationship. And for a while I

(12:01):
was always like, I think we're just using this as
like stand up and whatever is like ways to get attention, yeah,
like ways to feel And I used to when I
was really going through it in therapy, I used to
sit there and think, in my head, I think we're
all killing time until like the right girl comes along,
or until like like I'm like, are we really in
this or are we in this? Because it gives us

(12:22):
like a little immediate attention eat over you meet a
girl at a show. You get attention from people whatever, right, like,
and every comic's a little fucked up, so it's like
it's all good. It's not bad.

Speaker 1 (12:35):
It wouldn't be funny if they weren't.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
Yeah, no, that's what all the rich kids that come
from money and they're just writing in their notebook. Come on,
you gotta have real mental problems. But yeah, yeah, I
always thought about that. So I don't know. Man, I'm
just gonna keep trying shit, see what happens. That's all
I can do.

Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah, Boa lost a bunch of weight several years ago.

Speaker 3 (12:58):
He's yeah, I gained it, so like he just gave
it to you, he gave it to me. He's down
and he's down. I don't know. Any Ways, he was
probably three to zero five and now he's probably two thirty. Yeah,
and he's like six y three, so yeah, you know,
he's a tall dude. He looks good. I'm only five
to eleven, but I went from like two ten to
like I'm at two fifty year but yeah, it was

(13:22):
it was tough, but my back was fucked up. So
I just, you know, depression eight and didn't do anything.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
So I yeah, I'm a stress eater myself.

Speaker 2 (13:31):
So that's you know, I have been I've talked about
it a little bit on here, but not a ton.

Speaker 1 (13:37):
But I've.

Speaker 2 (13:39):
Been on a little bit of a diet exercise kick.
And you know, for somebody who owns a gym to
not work out in it, that's weird. And I've said
this before and I think.

Speaker 1 (13:49):
It's it's true. It's just that it's it's hard. It's
a difficult thing to to to.

Speaker 2 (13:54):
It's not that it's not that the work is hard,
it's that the situation is often hard. Yeah, And you know,
we started the thing at a at a work time
and so yeah, and I'm sometimes you just like would
kind of resent being there, and so it's hard to
work out in a place that you kind of kind
of resent.

Speaker 3 (14:14):
Dude, I know, did people say that, like you own
a gym. I work at a gym and they're like, well,
you're just in a gym. You just work out all day,
and it's like no, no, like you're running it and
you have your business stuff you have to do. I'm now,
like I was a trainer. I still am technically, but
now I manage the PT department, So like I have
twenty trainers to manage. I have a co manager. Is

(14:36):
this right? Is this right? Is this right? It's like, no,
you just work out all fucking like, especially at a
company like Equinox, It's like you have shit to do,
and like there's things that need to happen in the
course of the day. You can't just fucking.

Speaker 1 (14:50):
You're you're inside of a corporate culture and you you've
got to.

Speaker 3 (14:53):
Yeah, you got numbers to hit, You got things, which
is fines get money for it, which is great.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
But you Yeah, the thing about being like, you know,
a very small, independent gym with just phenomenally too high
least number every week.

Speaker 1 (15:10):
Or every month, Like that's like you signed this.

Speaker 2 (15:13):
Thing during you know, early COVID when it was all
going to be over in two.

Speaker 4 (15:18):
Weeks, right you know did I'll never forget that two
weeks and two weeks and two weeks, two weeks.

Speaker 3 (15:23):
Yeah, when they when they closed the gym, they're allowed,
I was like two week vacation because those weird stupid
virus that doesn't even matter. Yeah, three months later we
were like, hey, you guys gonna open or that's up.

Speaker 2 (15:39):
Speaking of which, I just got a note that Yeah,
one of my guys, that's COVID. So you're committing tomorrow
or probably most of this week, so that'll be meat.

Speaker 3 (15:51):
Tell them it's five years later. Tell them.

Speaker 1 (15:53):
Yeah. Well, I mean, here's the thing. Like I had
not had COVID at all. My wife had not either.

Speaker 2 (15:59):
Wow until and this is retrospect, we couldn't even tell
at the time.

Speaker 1 (16:04):
In June, and like she was down.

Speaker 2 (16:07):
For a couple of days with just a killer headache
and didn't want to get out of bed and didn't
want to move and didn't want to have our eyes
open and whatever. And I just had like a like
serial running nose and cereal coughing and you know, the
sore throat.

Speaker 1 (16:19):
So nothing ever lasted more than a day or so.
I just felt tired, just felt fatigued or whatever. And
then the fatigue thing hung on for a long time.
And then you know, we went on a trip. We
were gone for like three weeks or whatever, and I
was just, man, I was just tired.

Speaker 2 (16:37):
But I thought, oh, I'm just jet lagged and I'm
not sleeping well and whatever.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
Whatever.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
Came back and started working on a consulting project, and
I was like, I just couldn't wrap my mind around it.
I just could not get it, you know. And it's
been like just a week ago, a week ago today,
I sat down and like, Okay, now I know how
to solve this, and I.

Speaker 1 (17:02):
Just like did it. I thought I wasn't capable. I
just had too much brain fog before. This is what happened.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
So so COVID sucks even five plus years later, you know,
I mean, not on the virgin of dying most of
the most of most people.

Speaker 3 (17:16):
But it's just like I had it last ship, maybe
a year ago. At this time, it was worse than
when I had it a few times. First time wasn't terrible.
Second time wasn't really anything. This time was I was like,
holy shit, this is it. I was really fucked up

(17:40):
also too, Like I remember talking about brain FuG. I
remember I have a client at Equinox. I won't say
his name, but he's an actor. He has no idea
I do stand up acting or anything. I would never
because he's well known and he's I would never be
that guy, but I will. Yes. But I remember at

(18:01):
home with COVID and I saw my YouTube algorithm. He
was on it, and like I saw him and it
was like a panel he did or something, and I'm
looking at him. I'm like, dude, he looks fucking great,
Like his shoulders look big and his fucking arms look good.
Damn dude. And I click on it and I'm like, oh,
it's from two weeks ago. I've been training for the

(18:23):
last two months.

Speaker 1 (18:24):
This is me.

Speaker 3 (18:25):
I did that. I mean, he has a good genetics,
he's hot as fuck. But like still, I was like,
I was like looking at him, like, damn, dude, I
wonder what he's been. I was so out of it.
I told him that story. He was like Jesus. I
was like, yeah, dude, I was not doing well.

Speaker 1 (18:45):
Yeah, you know, my my wife is in the same boat.

Speaker 2 (18:47):
And she's she's doing some consulting right now too, she's
you know, retired or whatever.

Speaker 1 (18:53):
And and it's like, why has it been so hard
this time? Yes, it's because you can't think straight. You
got a brain fog, and it's got it's scotten signific better.

Speaker 2 (19:00):
And just in the last you know, like in the
last couple of weeks or whatever, but particularly a week ago,
I was like, oh, now I know how to do this,
Like I couldn't. It was so weird because like I
would be thinking about like trying to get to sort
of the next level, to take a you know, like
a broad view of the thing so that I could

(19:21):
put it together though I wanted to, and I just
couldn't get there, Like just kept coming up on a
wall of fatigue.

Speaker 1 (19:26):
I just can't think straight.

Speaker 3 (19:28):
I still can't some days. But that's just you know,
everyone that raised me is fucking stupid, so that's all
they're fault. No, I'm just kidding. My dad's kind of smart.
He's pretty smart, i'd say, but and funny. He's very funny.
He says, he's my father has an ability I guess

(19:50):
like me as well. I like him. I'm like him.
He could be very like deep and have a con
like this is the best example was he could be deep.
And I don't know if I ever I know it
was on your podcast before. I don't think i've told
this story, but years ago I was talking to my dad.
It was me, Lisa and Bow. We had the podcast
and we were going to and Lisa kind of like

(20:12):
interviewed my dad, not on the podcast, just at We
want to go where he worked at Duchess, which, for
those that don't know, it's a fast food place here
in Connecticut. I had seventy five years old. You know,
he's an Italian guy from New York, like Saturday night fever,
like that was him, Like that was he was in
a band. He dressed like that. Him and all his
fucking friends, Tommy the Rose of Ronnie Vitti, my godfather,
they all went out. He was like, that's like real shit, right.

(20:33):
So Lisa asked my dad. She goes, what do you
think is wrong with the world today? And my dad goes, honestly,
he goes, I think people aren't spiritual enough. And he goes,
I don't mean religion, he I just mean that I
think people don't believe, don't have belief in something like
themselves or a higher power. And he's like, I'm not

(20:54):
talking about Jesus or God, like you need something like
people need belief and they need to be a little
bit more spirit bowl and grounded. And I was like wow.

Speaker 1 (21:03):
I was like that was like a excuse me? What
did you do with my father?

Speaker 3 (21:07):
I was like right? And then the second question she goes, Lisa,
of course she goes, so like boy, she goes, my
dad's name is Bob. She goes, Bob, you think you
can still get it done in the bedroom and he goes, listen,
he goes, I put my bib on and I get
to work right, And I was like, the fuck he

(21:32):
love like he's like ever since he yelled at me
wanting to drive through when I was nineteen, because he
assumed I didn't like to go down on women, Like
he's insane. Like he's like, you don't like that. And
I was like it's six am, Like what are you
talking about now? And I was like, you know, I'm
just gone from college. I'm like half asleep. It's up
to one pm every day, and he was like, you
don't fucking like that. I was like, shut up, dude,

(21:54):
fucking pussy and I was like okay, bye. I'd like
we were every We were like sharing the car that
day and I had to drop them at work.

Speaker 1 (22:01):
You couldn't work for him to get to the car.

Speaker 3 (22:03):
I was like, Oh, shut the fuck up. But like
that's yeah, my dad's the perfect everyone that meets the
same thing. Your dad's the sweetest, nicest man I ever
met in the world. He's also hilarious and disgusting. I
was like, right, he warms you up with that, and
then he comes in with the fucking.

Speaker 1 (22:19):
Well, that must have prepared you for dealing with Lisa.

Speaker 3 (22:22):
Dude, Lisa's so goddamn funny.

Speaker 2 (22:26):
Yeah, obviously this since you made a career of it
and then retired from it.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
You know.

Speaker 3 (22:32):
Yeah, she's she's very good, but like, yeah, working with
her has been the best. Dude, She's so goddamn funny.
At first, when I first met her, I was like,
I've never met a person who is like a machine gun,
Like I never witnessed that. And like I just I think,
like just Bo, me and Bow and our buddy Ginsburg

(22:54):
who was a comic as well. We all meet the
diner every week, every like Tuesday night. We all meet
the diner. Used to be writing meetings. Now we just
fuck around and just you know, but like you just
get like it's like training, like you just get skills.
Like in the beginning, I could not believe how fast
she was and I was like, how do you even
have thoughts that quick? And like jokes about everything. I

(23:16):
was like, damn, she's out of this world. And but
now it's just like we're all kind of similar. I mean,
we don't want to say we're not like her, because
she'll fucking rip you apart. But it's it's been fun. Man. Definitely,
She's similar to my dad in a lot of ways.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah, I hadn't really thought about that before before you're
talking about your dad this time. I mean I've heard
you talk about your dad plenty, but I really not
made that.

Speaker 1 (23:40):
And I listened listened to one of your episodes this morning.

Speaker 2 (23:42):
I think the thing about this point in the the
podcast landscape is that most people don't listen to their
friends podcasts.

Speaker 3 (23:53):
Dude, I don't even listen to my own. Lisa gets
mad at me.

Speaker 1 (23:56):
Well, I understand that.

Speaker 3 (23:58):
You get that, right, I don't. I don't again, I
don't watch I don't watch my stand up. First of all,
I barely record myself, which is like a self sabotage
thing I'm working on, like just there's no reason not to,
like it's so dumb, but I have this mental block
where I'm like, no, I just want to go and
have fun, and if I set up the camera then
it becomes like a real thing. Stupid. But like, yeah,

(24:20):
Lisa gets mad of me, so you can listen. I
was like, I don't want to hear myself.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
Yeah, Well, I mean, yeah, Mike Mike is I don't know,
people get it or not.

Speaker 2 (24:30):
Mike is away through the end of the year, and
so this is why I'm doing shows this way and
going back to stand up and whatever. This is kind
of like my creative outlet. That's that I don't really
want to give up. It doesn't it's not as remunerative
as it was back in the old days, back when
the fucking power cast made six figures and stuff. Nothing

(24:52):
I did, but it did. But uh, I know, I
don't want to actually going to comment on them. I
get sidetracked by two thoughts at one time.

Speaker 1 (25:04):
That's I can't handle that anymore. I'm not too old that,
you know what.

Speaker 2 (25:09):
I started recording with with Mike in twenty thirteen, right,
so that's been you know, twelve years this month, not
that I've recorded with him this year, but that's twelve years.
And we missed, you know, from January to February, February
to December September or something like that of twenty eighteen.

(25:31):
But he'd never listened to any show we ever did.

Speaker 1 (25:36):
Never. Yeah, about one time. I just don't want to
listen to myself. Yeah, But and if I could have
had a.

Speaker 2 (25:44):
Decent argument to say, you know, like you would get
better if you listen to yourself.

Speaker 1 (25:48):
I don't think it's true.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
Like he was, you know, just like spontaneous and he
would take us to directions and whatever, and I couldn't
complain so like, but whereas I was having to listen
to it at least twice more after it was recorded.

Speaker 1 (26:04):
Yeah, now I don't.

Speaker 2 (26:08):
I do a little bit like, uh, you know, I
put the ad breaks in and I drop in the
the opening closed music and stuff on the audio version,
and I do something similar with the video version.

Speaker 1 (26:21):
And that's that's kind of it. You know.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
I don't have to sit through every every moment of it,
but I used to.

Speaker 1 (26:27):
And there are plenty of people who do.

Speaker 2 (26:29):
Podcast editing that do that now they just like, you know,
we'll we'll sit there and try to take out every every.

Speaker 1 (26:37):
Quiet moment and every year.

Speaker 3 (26:40):
You gotta you kind of let it just go, man.

Speaker 1 (26:42):
Like.

Speaker 3 (26:42):
That's another thing too, is like another reason why I
probably don't listen to my sets or listen to myself
on podcasts, because it's like I just want to have
like fun, like like right now we're talking, it's a
I don't know if I could say it's a Sunday
and just got out of work, Like I'm just like,
let's go. I'm not sitting here with notes Like it's
just it doesn't it should not fun. Like if I'm
having fun, my natural self will come out. Your natural

(27:04):
self will come out connects with someone probably way better.
That's what even Like, dude, it's even like what I'm
learning an acting class. Like people think acting classes like
you got to really act like they're like, no, just
like be yourself and talk as if you were in
this situation like you're talking to significant other and you're upset.
What would that's what would that be like? And it's

(27:24):
like that's it. It's not like you mother, It's like
just talk like just relax. So yeah, and I don't
know if we really learn. I don't know if we
learn listening, you just keep doing them and and you know,
hopefully the skill increases over time.

Speaker 4 (27:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:45):
Well, some of the best known actors that we have
right now are people who are essentially playing versions of themselves.

Speaker 3 (27:55):
You know, absolutely, there's a couple, you know, there's a
couple guys for sure that our method and get deep
in a lot of them, but like a lot of
them are just like doing just being themselves. Man, that's it.
Like a couple guys definitely for sure can crush characters
like things like that. Like I always look at obviously

(28:16):
I'm obsessed with Sopranos, but like I just am, but
like GANDALFEENI and things like that, because like he really
wasn't that guy, right, he was like the night he
had birkenstocks, he like did theater. He was an Italian
guy from New Jersey, but like he wasn't a sociopath
fucking asshole. Like he had to you know, kind of

(28:38):
get there, which maybe was tough for him.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
So he I mean he was probably in some ways
playing versions of people that he.

Speaker 1 (28:47):
That he knew.

Speaker 3 (28:48):
Right, That's that's the thing too. Yeah, Like it's if
you are from the Northeast, even if you're not Italian,
like you roughly know guys who dress.

Speaker 1 (28:59):
Like that.

Speaker 3 (29:01):
Like that. I mean literally, like I watched Sopranos or
like good Fellas or anything, and like the living rooms
are like the same, Like it's like the same furniture
I grew up with. And it's like guys, it's like
it's like not a you know, everyone always makes fun
of me, like people know soprans is the best show
of all time. But you know, people when I tell them, like, well,
because you're Italian, I go, no, no, I go, I go.

(29:23):
There's a nostalgia factor, do not get me wrong. My
dad dressed like Tony like every the way he's built
like he does. He's like no ass but big shoulders
and like just kind of a little balding but has
hair kind of but like you know whatever, and you're like,
it's nostalgic, but like, at the end of the day,
it's about a mob boss who has panic attacks and

(29:44):
like it's trying to like go to therapy and like
there's like more to it, but yeah, for sure, it's
every guy from the Northeast can imitate a guy like that.
They know just I remember, you know, our our buddy,
our mutual friend here Steve, who I had my fitness
podcast with years ago, Strength Squad still out there. I

(30:06):
actually listened to an old episode of that, oh yeah,
and I liked it. I was like, damn, I was
having fun back then.

Speaker 1 (30:12):
You guys did a good job.

Speaker 3 (30:14):
Yeah, fucking fun. I literally like, so my job at
Equinox is to like teach I have a bunch of management,
but like teaching new trainers stuff. I played like an
old video Steve and I made for them, and I
was like, about core training, this is really I showed
like a couple of the veteran trainers are like, yeah,
this is great, and I was like, yeah, we actually
knew what we were doing, kind of like I.

Speaker 1 (30:36):
Text God, we knew how to make content.

Speaker 4 (30:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:38):
I was like, we're kind of killing it. But what
I was gonna say was that Steve, you know, he
also grew up in the Northeast. He grew up in Westchester,
as I did, like Harrison, his dad's Italian Irish, the whole,
you know, the whole thing. He went and lived out
in the Voto with kids who have never seen people
like that, and they watched this movie. I think it
was like, don John, that's that movie. Do you remember
that movie?

Speaker 1 (30:58):
I've never seen it, but I know which.

Speaker 3 (31:00):
Oh it's ridiculous. And the guys who was living with
his roommates at the time in Nevada were like, are
these like there's people like this back home? And He's like, oh, yeah,
like this is this is like a whole group of people.
They couldn't believe it. They're like no, and it's like no, no, no,
this is real. Yeah, this is a real type of person.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
Now he's an orient Yeah.

Speaker 3 (31:23):
He's yeah, he's in Portland. He's been there. What year
is this six years? He's been there twenty nineteen.

Speaker 1 (31:31):
I haven't seen him in a minute.

Speaker 3 (31:33):
I know he got dude. Just hit him up, bro,
he's the well, you know, he's he's okay with texting.
He's a little slow, but I me and his brother's
always like can you fucking get back to us? Quicker, dude.
But he's having a great time. He's going to music
festivals and shit, he's djaying. Yeah, he has a I
mean he has like a legitigraphic design job as well.

(31:55):
But he's doing great man. Yeah, hit him up. We
show all three of us. Should all.

Speaker 1 (32:01):
Come and see you. Guys should come and see me.

Speaker 3 (32:03):
We should absolutely, you're you're in sec okay, right, I'm down, Bro,
I'm down. We'll make it happen.

Speaker 1 (32:13):
Yeah. I don't make it to the Arnold to see you,
then you should come and see me.

Speaker 2 (32:17):
Yeah, the Arnold's you know, I like I want you know,
I'm ambivalent about expos after having so many years working
at them, I'm ambivalent about them, but like at the
same time, you have like a different.

Speaker 3 (32:32):
Vibe with it, Like you got to like I went
twice at the time of my life you had to
work at those fucking things.

Speaker 1 (32:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (32:38):
Yeah, that's a whole other thing, dude. I went and
had fun and like walked around.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (32:45):
And I mean, like, at this stage of the game,
if I'm going to walk around any crowd of people,
where where someone's going to recognize me, It's going to
be in an expo. And it depends on how badly
my my egle needs to be strugg by that.

Speaker 1 (32:59):
I don't know, right right, I'm not sure.

Speaker 2 (33:02):
I'm thinking I'm sort of thinking about going to the
Olympia for just like a day because it's a you know,
it's an hour flight basically to Vegas.

Speaker 3 (33:10):
Oh right, I was gonna say, doesn't it It moves
around usually, right, it's like a Florida, Vegas whatever.

Speaker 2 (33:15):
Yeah, they moved into Florida a little bit during COVID,
but it's back in Vegas now, all right. The problem
is that like the meat that they have is not
it's a like USPA or something like that. None of
our people compete there. Yeah, I think we might have
people who will compete at the Arnold. And that's the
last time I went was a couple of years ago,
twenty twenty three, two twenty three, something like that. We

(33:39):
had well, one of our one of our trainers, like
one she won the whole freaking pro thing.

Speaker 3 (33:48):
Jesus. Yeah, dude, speaking of like the Olympia, I don't
even know it's competing anymore, Like I have no Like
in my head, it's like it's still Phil Heath versus
Jacob It's like that's still happening, right, Like.

Speaker 2 (34:02):
No, no, there they're senior bodybuilders now, yeah, no, I yeah,
we We've got some folks at the gym who are
are legitimately into the current bodybuilding scene. So I hear
stuff from them. But am I super paying attention to it?

Speaker 1 (34:19):
No, not really.

Speaker 2 (34:22):
We've we've got we've got like three TVs in the gym.
We've got one of the cardio area, and there are
a couple on the other side that we installed largely
because we have meats and it was easy to project
the uh the roster up there so people could know
when they were lifting and stuff, and so we you know,
we put on YouTube or YouTube TV or whatever. And

(34:46):
our trainer, who like he only works one death shift
is like it's like eight to noon on Mondays and
the rest of it is just it's just one on ones.
But every time that I come in there is somebody
building video.

Speaker 3 (35:02):
Dude, I know that's the quickest way to like people
think you're gay immediately. You're just like, bro, when I
look back, when I was like eighteen, I used to
do The only thing I used to buy at like
a CBS was a flex magazine and condoms at the
same time. And everyone I'd like, I'm not I just

(35:23):
I like it. I just like the lifting weights. I
just want to read and they're like, okay.

Speaker 1 (35:29):
At all to do that?

Speaker 3 (35:31):
No, I mean I still I mean I condoms, who
needs those anymore? But definitely not going to read a
flex magazine.

Speaker 1 (35:39):
Tell you what, Yeah, magazines have kind of it's over. Yeah, sadly.

Speaker 3 (35:46):
But I used to watch this shit all the time. Bro.
Like they used to make like those like bodybuilding motivation
videos and it'd be like, yeah, J Cutler just like
lifting to like fucking I don't know Metallica, and you're like, yeah,
so stupid.

Speaker 2 (36:02):
Watch before YouTube started cracking down on all the copyright
stuff for music.

Speaker 3 (36:08):
Oh yeah, this was when I was eighteen. The year
was two thousand and six, so like they didn't give
a fuck about anything too. Nothing mattered at that point.

Speaker 1 (36:21):
So going to the day job, Like what is that
like in managing that many people?

Speaker 3 (36:35):
I mean, and you know this, but like everyone knows
this that has a job or whatever. Like, when you
have a good team, you got a good group of people,
it's fine. Yeah, when do you have people who suck,
it's really fucking hard. It's the worst. We were at
a point where we had a lot of people who sucked,
and then we got rid of them. That helps, or

(36:56):
they got rid of themselves or found other careers. And
like so many people I'm friends, I've been to their weddings,
Like but they just like they this wasn't their career
for them. They usually usually the next step we a
lot of people leave and go be cops, which is like, yeah,
it's kind of how it goes. It's all right. But
now we have a like a fantastic team of just

(37:17):
like adults who like want to work and like have
significant others or children or like goals of things they
want to do. Like it's just it's a different thing
versus hiring a twenty three year old kid out of
college who's like, I just like lifely lifting weights, d
it's my passion and it's like, yeah, no, it was
mine too. But like, training people is like a whole

(37:38):
especially an equinox like these are usually it's like middle
aged fucking people, old rich whites usually right, it's old
rich white fuckers who don't have asses and like they've
never done a hinge in their life, and it's all good.
Like they're awesome people. And guess what, they work really

(37:58):
fucking hard because of how access will they become in
other realms. They they're like, oh I made a bunch
of money. Now I got to take care of myself.
The last thirty years I spent building a goddamn business. Yeah,
and I got four houses and I got everything I need.
And it's like but now I you know, I gotta
get better. So managing people it's it's a I mean, dude,

(38:19):
it's a fun job. I gets. I always say, like,
especially had an equinox, Like a lot of people knock
it like it is what it is, right, it's a
big corporation's big company. But like I get to go
to work in shorts and sweatpants and a hoodie and
I have a four to one K and bonuses and
benefits and like, yeah, there's things you gotta do. You

(38:40):
gotta play corporate, the corporate game and do things. But
like it's just part of like you're lying to yourself.
If like and people in any trainer that has worked
in other places and then come here late later in
their career as I did, they're like, yeah, this is
the best, and you're like, yeah, no, it is. Like
the only other place you're gonna make more money is
if you go out on your own, and that's a
whole other beasts of itself, Like you know what that's like.

(39:02):
But managing people is great. Don't get me wrong. I'm
I'm for me. I'm coming around to like, like I
was very big, I'm like, well, if you don't do
your job, then fuck you. That's fine. I just want
to help you. Or like all right, they're on their own,
but like it's like you have to look past that

(39:23):
and be like, no, I need to try to help
this person. Like I had people help me. I've had
plenty of mentors. I've had plenty of you know again,
back to that fitness podcast. Steve and I started it
to like we were into it and we wanted to
talk to some of the best in the industry to
help like motivate us. Like I'm reframing it and looking
at it that way now. So but it's been fun.

(39:46):
We've had work to get We've had to work to
get the team. One of the things that we Equinox
give out like awards every year, and they give out
some joke awards, and one of the joke awards was
the Fort Knox Award, and that award is to the
club with the lowest hiring percentage in the company, which
was us, which I was like yeah, and our bosses

(40:10):
were like, you know, we understand why you like, it's funny,
like like yeah, no, we said yes to everyone years
ago because we needed people and it was post COVID
and like we need money and trainers and we need
to get clients back, and we just hired anyone and everyone,
and it bit us in the ass so hard. Yes,
Like now it was like, all right, we got to

(40:31):
focus on the quality of the person. So now it's easy.
It's great, but yeah, there's times where it's tough, where
like again my cynical. Like you said, I'm very warm,
but I'm most like fuck you all right enough, I
have a limit, so but I'm working on that.

Speaker 2 (40:49):
So I think that the hardest part for us is
just developing the clientele. It's just, you know, a small
boutique not to climate can troll to gym.

Speaker 1 (41:01):
It's a very specific.

Speaker 2 (41:04):
Client base that you're looking for, and it's it's hard
to it's harder to get a a critical mass then
I was hoping it would be. But like we started
out not anticipating doing having trainers at all, Like we
were just going to be like open gym. And and
you know, again it's a boutique gym.

Speaker 1 (41:22):
It's a marble gym. Not everybody is looking for that.
And we're not cheap, which which means that we don't
have a lot.

Speaker 2 (41:31):
Of the problems that other gyms have, right, Like, we
don't have a big problem with people leaving a mess.
We don't have a big problem with people not putting
weights away. It happens a little bit, but you know,
not not enormous that we don't have. We don't have
problems with people getting eating into hassle with each other,
we don't you know, we we have a probably lower

(41:51):
than average problem with people people's people's payments not processing
and stuff.

Speaker 1 (41:57):
Like that, you know what I mean. Yeah, but it's
a little self limiting for sure.

Speaker 3 (42:05):
Dude. Every every gym has their issue. We have it too, Like, yeah,
we have wealthy people and like all that stuff. Like,
we have our issues. Some of these people are straight
up nuts, bro, not because they're rich. I'm not knocking out.
I was raised by poor people. They're also fucking insane people.

(42:25):
It doesn't really matter. But like, you know, there's some
well we have what we have at the gym. The
only people at the gym that I'm like, there's like
remember the movie Malibusmost Wanted, Yeah, you get some kids
like that, right, Grandpa killed it on Wall Street and

(42:48):
no one's worked for generation now.

Speaker 1 (42:52):
Wealth group.

Speaker 3 (42:53):
Yeah, so like they're just walking around thinking they're cool.
They got a sick car, they've done thing, which like
they're not bad kids, but like they've they haven't had
to develop a personality, right, like beyond money, beyond having
money beyond which usually leads to like drugs because they're

(43:14):
not getting the attention they want and et cetera from
the right people and it's just they're bored and they're like,
what the hell do I do? Like there's no, there's nothing,
And I like, I say, like I hate those kids,
but I also don't, like I just feel bad in
some ways, but those the only people that gym where
I'm like, oh boy, this was fucking guy. Like it's
like they get easy kids.

Speaker 2 (43:36):
You know. I always thought that if I, you know,
just fell into a giant pot of money, that I
would not make significant changes to my life and definitely
not make significant changes to my kids or now grandkids' lives.
You know, like here's your safety net, so you can
you can take some like risks that other people can't take,

(43:59):
but don't don't lock into the privilege, you know.

Speaker 3 (44:03):
Yeah, that's the that's the problem. And like it's funny
because like I grew up, I grew up around money.
I grew up like first half of my life in
Westchester County and then I moved to Fairfield County in Connecticut,
which are like, you know, there's the money there is insane.

Speaker 1 (44:23):
I didn't have that.

Speaker 3 (44:24):
My dad owned a bagel shop and then my dad
went bankrupt twice. Like, but I grew up around some
wild like type of wealth that was insane, so you
just got to see. But I'm happy, but I wouldn't
I wouldn't trade it for the world because at the
same time, it like built everything. Like even like you know,
I joke with my friends, but like having this apartment

(44:45):
is like a big deal for me. Like the nice
building with the scan in and like parking garage and amenities,
and we got the windows, the windows for the ceiling
and on the high ceilings. And I'm like, dude, it's
like this is cool because like it's all mine, right,
like there's no whatever. But it's yeah. But growing up

(45:09):
around that, you kind of it's interesting to watch, you see,
And there's some there's kids who take advantage of it,
and there's kids who don't. A lot of kids that
came from a lot of money that worked their fucking
ass off.

Speaker 2 (45:23):
It's just like yeah, and some of it it's just
how people are put together, you know, like what their
personalities are like for.

Speaker 3 (45:30):
Sure, dude, I started training this guy. I mean, for
those who don't know, like, I started training this guy.
He was a private he was a cop forever. He's
a private security guy. I'm not gonna use his name.
But he was for those who know, like Nick Kroll's
dad is a multi billionaire, Like yeah, from Westchester, and
like he was a security guy forever. Like doesn't mean

(45:50):
that Nick Kroll is his dad, but he didn't do anything.
Nick Kroll is talented. He did the thing. It's not
Oh he's a billionaires kid, it's not fair. It's like, no,
I don't know. He's really good at creating stuff. Like
he's very talented. It doesn't matter. Like he also, it's
not an easy business, dude, Like did he have more?
Was he less stressed? Maybe because he probably didn't have

(46:12):
to pay rent an apartment in LA or New York City?
Maybe yeah, but like it's still fucking hard. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (46:21):
I think if you're born with a work ethic, it's
you can you can work hard in any situation, in
any scenario. And if you weren't born with one, he'll
take advantage of everything in front of you and not
and work as little as possible.

Speaker 1 (46:37):
I guess, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (46:38):
Yeah, it's just it's it's built in you, man. I
know plenty of kids that came from a lot of
money that worked their ass off, and there's some who
end up like fucking Jamie Kennedy from Malibus Most Wanted.
There's something you can do, but it's fun to watch.
It's cool. I enjoy it. I think it's hilarious.

Speaker 1 (46:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (46:58):
Do you have any like situations where you followed somebody
on social media and they followed you back and you
were surprised because they were like a somebody.

Speaker 3 (47:15):
Not yet?

Speaker 1 (47:16):
Not yet?

Speaker 3 (47:18):
No, I mean I'm friends with Lisa. That's like the
most like.

Speaker 2 (47:21):
Yeah, I mean, I mean, so I'm sort of setting
up a story.

Speaker 1 (47:28):
That has to do with Lisa kainda.

Speaker 3 (47:32):
Have I had an't even follow me? Not really, man,
I think I can't nothing off the top of my head.
I can't remember. I mean, unless you remember something that
I don't.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
But I don't. But you you you you should? And
how did you actually even meet Lisa? Do I even
know that?

Speaker 3 (47:50):
I don't know what I could tell you? So fun fact,
Bo was friends with her niece. They worked together at
Indeed We in Connecticut where I live, So I live
in Norwalk. Bo and her niece worked together at Indeed
in Stanford. Bo was a sales guy back then. This

(48:13):
is pre pandemic. This was twenty nineteen, twenty eighteen, and uh,
he kind of like asked, you know, his friend, her
niece was like, would you like aunt come see me? Like,
do stand up? Blah blah blah blah, and you know
she did, and they were in the car ride over
and Lisa just berated him the whole time because you

(48:33):
better not fucking suck waste my fucking time, you know,
just start fucking with him. And I was like, this
is so funny. And I didn't know her yet, and
you know, BO did well got off stage and she
was like, dude, pretty good. That was good. You know.
At this time, Bo and I were like really, I
mean I was only a year in year and a half, yeah,

(48:54):
and Bo maybe was three years. But long story short,
they meet and he was like, yeah, Lisa's coming to
one of our shows. We used to run a basement
comedy club here in South Norwalk. There was a like
a restaurant that hadn't turn into a nightclub at night,
and we used to and we were killing it. You know,
this is literally before the world ended, and we were
making our money. And one of Lisa's friends at the

(49:17):
time was headlining our club, little sixty room, basement piece
of shit thing in Connecticut. Lisa, Liza, she's also from here.
So she came to the show with her sister and whatever,
and I was one of the openers. This is literally
the week before the world shut down. This is the
week before the pandemic. Cut got on stage, did my thing?

(49:41):
Did well? Afterwards, she came up to me and she
was with a bunch of comics in the back talking actually,
and I walked in there and she goes, and you like, oh, no,
what she gonna say? And she goes, I liked every

(50:01):
single one of your jokes, she goes, except one, And
I was like, okay. And at the time, when you're
new to colmedy, like, I think three of us had
jokes about going down on chicks, which I blame my
dad for, right, So I had a joke about me.
She goes, none of you guys, this is a group
of comments in the back, all dudes. None of you
focks are good looking enough to be talking about going

(50:22):
down on women. Okay, none of you, she goes, and
we start dying laughing, all right, yeah, no, you know.
And then she goes, oh, you've been going up in
the city, And I go, well, you know, I work
and as a trainer, and so I was like, I
work early, so and she goes, oh, she stopped me
dead my sentence. She went, oh, fuck off. She goes,
you're good. There's something here. She goes, you want to

(50:45):
be a fucking comedian in Norwalk, Connecticut the rest of
your life. She goes, get into the city and I
was like okay, and then the next week shut down,
so it was like oh. And then through Zoom and
like I think the last time out to dinner before
the restaurant shut down, it was like me Lisa in
a few comics at a diner and then it shut down,

(51:05):
and then we would do shit through Zoom and then
it just every week and then you know, Lisa's retired,
and it was kind of like liked bo and I
led to the podcast and Alle, but that's how we
met was that night and she was like you can,
like something can happen here if you try, like you're good, yeah,
and you get enough of those where like I started,

(51:29):
it was fine. Then I had a client that believed
in me, helped me run shows, and that was fine,
and then like Lisa and you're like, oh shit, and
then you meet people in comics who were experienced they're like, yeah,
you're good man, and you're like, okay, I guess I
should keep going, you know, like why not try in
every comic you know that's worth anything now, you like
like like a Sebastian or whatever Bill Burr, they're like ten, eleven, twelve,

(51:52):
fifteen years in and sit starts clicking and you're like, oh,
you know, it takes a while. It takes a while.
And there's some people where it doesn't take a while
or something. There's social media people break through quick and whatever.
I'll tell you what, man, And it's all good because
they're making their money. And I'm not trying to be
a dick, like because I should be putting my shit
out there too more. But like most I've opened for

(52:15):
those people who have made it big on TikTok and
wherever I ain't good.

Speaker 2 (52:21):
I think I may have texted this to you at
some point in the past few months.

Speaker 1 (52:25):
But Ruby set Nik, I don't know. Maybe well she
just did. Uh. She was one of the first comics
this time round. Uh. And then Netflix is a joke.

Speaker 3 (52:39):
Okay, festival the festival okay.

Speaker 2 (52:42):
And like I she was in my first improv class,
which was her first improv class and she was eighteen,
I think, and you could tell she was just going
to kill it. And she's killing.

Speaker 1 (52:55):
She's very funny. Yeah, like she's one of those except
shouldn't that proves the rule?

Speaker 2 (53:01):
You know, where if you just have lightning in a bottle,
like if you just fell out of the womb like that,
and she had like you know, she had a difficult upbringing.
That is a real like rich vein of comedy for her.
And she and she's somebody that would say anything like

(53:21):
if you were in an improvi scene with her, you
really did not know where things were going to go
right And and yeah, just just the exception that proves
the rule. You know, She's that was twenty seventeen, you know,
and so she's.

Speaker 3 (53:40):
Yeah, dude, like I just keep trying shit, dude, It's
just like, why, why the fuck not?

Speaker 2 (53:47):
Some of some of the folks that you that you
know there, have been kind enough to when I follow
them on on social media, they followed me back.

Speaker 1 (53:57):
But the but a couple of ones that that bother
my mind. Uh, probably the one that boggles me the
most is Steve Hofstetter.

Speaker 2 (54:08):
Really he's you know, he's got three hundred thousand something
on Instagram. I followed him, he followed me back, and
I could never figure out why. But I have two theories.
One of them has to do with the fact that
Lisa still follows me for some reason.

Speaker 1 (54:24):
The other ones I have a blue check. Those are
those the only like, there's the only only ones I
can figure out. There's no reason why you know that
that that would be the case.

Speaker 3 (54:34):
That's so interesting. Yeah, but I yeah, I mean, you're
cooler than I am. Dude, I haven't really had anyone
follow me back. I follow I follow my actor client,
but I don't I don't want him to know anything
about what I do.

Speaker 2 (54:48):
So so you hope he doesn't follow you back?

Speaker 1 (54:51):
Is that this story?

Speaker 3 (54:52):
Well, he doesn't check it. I asked him. I was like,
do you check this? And he was like no. And
I asked to see his d MS because I was like,
it has to be crazy, like it has to.

Speaker 2 (55:02):
Be I imagine that it's like sometimes obscene.

Speaker 3 (55:06):
Oh I couldn't. I couldn't imagine. I was like, come on.

Speaker 1 (55:09):
To show me.

Speaker 2 (55:10):
And the other one that that surprises me is is
Brian Koppleman. He was the co showrunner of Billions on showtime.
He plays the computer on the bear.

Speaker 3 (55:27):
Oh bear.

Speaker 1 (55:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (55:30):
Oh fuck, dude, that's so cool. I love dude.

Speaker 2 (55:35):
Yeah, and uh he uh like we actually like he
He followed me back and then like we've had you know,
exchanges through through d MS and stuff, which boggles my mind.
And then he was he was interviewing Sam Suleik, bodybuilder.

Speaker 3 (55:57):
I know who that is.

Speaker 1 (55:58):
You know who that is?

Speaker 2 (55:59):
Yeah, at the Arnold last year, and he was wandering
around the Arnold the first time he had ever been
to the Arnold.

Speaker 1 (56:04):
And you know the Masconomics guys.

Speaker 3 (56:07):
Yes, a little bit. I only know. I think I
only know them through you, I believe.

Speaker 2 (56:11):
Yeah, And I knew they had a booth there, and
I said, you know, have fun whatever. And then I
go say hi to Tommy and Tanner for me, and
so we did that and he's like, you know, messes
me back, Oh they were great whatever whatever.

Speaker 5 (56:28):
And then this weekend they've been doing Tommy and Tanner
been doing like home gym tours, like going to and
so they went to Brian's gym.

Speaker 2 (56:38):
They do it like a Northeast tour. And they went
to Brian's gym and so I saw the picture yesterday
that that Brian posted and I was like, oh, hell yeah,
and he said.

Speaker 1 (56:47):
Yeah, we we gave you full credit.

Speaker 3 (56:52):
Oh I love that.

Speaker 1 (56:54):
My brushes with with fame.

Speaker 3 (57:00):
The coolest. I didn't even get like obviously Lisa is
a friend now, so it's not even even think of
it like that, but like no one really, I will
tell you. The most like not even nervous or like
excited I got was like honestly meeting like honestly meeting
like you when you were working on the Power cast

(57:20):
and like getting to come to the gym and like
meet you, Matt Vincent, fucking Kelly Sturett. And then when
I went to the Arnold and met Jim Wendler and Daved,
that for me is like like that's why, Like even
like I have an actor client or I meet people
who were like whatever. I went to Jeff Ross's show

(57:42):
on Broadway recently, like Seth Green was in my row
like oh wow, big deal. Can't hardly wait like that
was I don't get, like I'm like, oh that's awesome,
but like meeting fucking Louis Simmons and I was like,
holy fucking shit, like this is like yeah, take you guys,
like that was like a big fucking deal for me.

(58:04):
I got more nervous with that, Like I feel like
I feel like DiCaprio. Leonardo DiCaprio could fucking walk in
here and I'd be like, hey man, it's so cool
to meet you. But I wouldn't be like, oh shit,
like those were met. I got to meet John Cena
and he went to my college and he came back.
Yeah for like to do like a make a wish thing,
and he used to live with the football team. His
numbers retired the whole year. Is this sweetest man in

(58:26):
the world. Like a week my first He's the nicest
guy ever. He was literally in an ESPN T shirt
and Cargo shorts. It was November in Massachusetts. He was
drinking a pap stole ribbon in the corner of the
townhouse is where like the seniors live. It was his
old townhouse, and like I just went up to him
and started talking him about deadliftings. I was like, I'm
not I have no wrestling, but I not like my

(58:46):
friends do, Like they're really fucking into it. Yeah. I
used to watch how he used to I used to
watch his lifting videos and I was like obsessed with that,
and I used to read Louis and then I used
to read Elite Fts and like that's why I used
to spend my time doing so those were guys were
like fucking celebrities for me. That Arnold in like twenty eighteen,
Like nothing's ever gonna top that was like hanging out

(59:08):
with Mike vaihe and podcasting at West Side Barber Like
I'm good, I'm great. I don't need to do anything anymore.
It was the best time in my life.

Speaker 1 (59:18):
I need to get mic on sometime soon. Oh he's busy,
but having kids now.

Speaker 2 (59:26):
Yeah yeah, yeah, I got to meet his kid last year,
all right, yeah, yeah, they were they were in town
here and we went and hung out for a while.

Speaker 1 (59:35):
He's the best, dude, good guy, he's the best. Really,
this is a great guy. And yeah, no, I get
what you're saying.

Speaker 2 (59:43):
I like, I'm never overly overly impressed with with anybody whatever.
I'm I like this social media thing, I'm shocked when
I get followed back, but like when I meet somebody
in person, I'm not usually overwhelmed by.

Speaker 1 (59:56):
Because I realized that it's a job, Like it's a job. Here,
A lot of people know who you are.

Speaker 2 (01:00:02):
That's that's you know, and and some people get paid
a lot of money for doing that and being that
and some people don't. And there's like you can be
very well known and not make any money.

Speaker 4 (01:00:11):
That's in this day and age for sure, So I
hear yeah, but yeah, no, I mean that's you know,
we used to hang out with a lot of different
folks and like, you know, I like you.

Speaker 2 (01:00:29):
I've never was, never been the biggest wrestling fan, except
like when I was a little kid and my grandmother
was into watching the Rocks dad wrestling.

Speaker 3 (01:00:40):
That's dude, that's old ship.

Speaker 1 (01:00:42):
That's some old ship.

Speaker 2 (01:00:43):
Yeah no, I I was like this close to meeting
the Rock back then, and I just didn't. I like
called it a night early one time and and just
missed him. But seeing now a couple of times, and
you know, several of the other and we had we
had seth rawlins in the him a few months ago for.

Speaker 1 (01:01:02):
And like we just left him alone. Like we had
actually two members who wanted to.

Speaker 2 (01:01:06):
Take pictures with him, and they were girls and they
went did that, but we just like, you know, we're
blocks from the arena where they're performing, and he came
in and like, you know, signing it with his real name,
and and the guy was working the desk is like,
pretty sure I know who that really is. Okay, yeah,

(01:01:30):
but you know, you just you people want to be appreciated,
but they don't want to be like overwhelmed if they're
you know, and I mean probably the other big one,
stone Cold was cool. That's awesome, meaning stone Cold was
cool and he just gave me endless.

Speaker 1 (01:01:50):
Shit too, So he was like, he was like, Lisa,
does you you know?

Speaker 2 (01:01:55):
That was pretty much what it was like really like
you know, roughly the same age or whatever.

Speaker 3 (01:01:59):
And you know, that's so fun.

Speaker 1 (01:02:02):
It's easy to mess with me.

Speaker 3 (01:02:04):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (01:02:07):
All right, this is good. I love you.

Speaker 3 (01:02:11):
Fuck this dude.

Speaker 2 (01:02:16):
Where can people find you?

Speaker 3 (01:02:18):
You can find me on Instagram at nick Scopes because
my last name is too long and hard for people, you.

Speaker 1 (01:02:26):
Know, too long and too hard a problem to have.

Speaker 3 (01:02:30):
That's so my dad always said about me. Yeah, Nextcopes
on Instagram and TikTok. That's really it. You can listen
to the podcast that I have release. It's called shrink This.
I'm her co host. It's mostly her podcast, but like
people write in and I have questions just about life stuff,

(01:02:51):
he said. We try to answer them to the best
of our ability. It's been so much goddamn fun. So
that's been cool. That's on iHeart Radio, but like that's
really it. Just follow me on Instagram and tiktoks and
send nudes if you want. You know, only if you're
a guy though, because if you're a girl. Yeah, guys,

(01:03:12):
it's easier. You know, women cause too much trouble. So please,
just got a flood of dig pics. What are your
what are your downloads? Like jims, it's gonna be bad.
Did I make it?

Speaker 1 (01:03:24):
I don't think you have to worry?

Speaker 3 (01:03:26):
Okay, cool, cool, care It's great. Yeah, but yeah, that's it, dude,
And I as always dude. I appreciate you having me
on man and it's always a pleasure talking to you
even when we're not on a podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:03:38):
Person, I appreciate you being on.

Speaker 2 (01:03:39):
I am at dj mcdehon all the social media that
shows fifty percent facts percent is the word and fifty
is just numbers. Fifty percent Facts is a speaker prime
podcast with like Art Media on the Obscure Celebrity Network.
I'll talk to you next week.