Jackie "The Joke Man" Martling

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling is a comedian, writer, actor, musician and podcaster. He is best known as the former writer and in-studio comedian for The Howard Stern Show from 1983-2001.  He has a new documentary about his life coming out on July 18th called “Joke Man.”  We discuss the new movie, his autobiography, why he left the Stern Show, and so much more!!

0:00:00 - Intro
0:00:50 - Long Island Comedy Scene
0:06:28 - Self-Producing & Selling Albums
0:13:05 - Getting the Call From Howard
0:13:45 - Early 80s Comedians
0:15:26 - Jackie's Tenacity & Work Ethic
0:19:40 - Jackie's Book - From Bow to Stern
0:21:10 - Leaving The Stern Show
0:28:42 - Artie Lange
0:30:01 - Stern Interviews & Writing Jokes 
0:35:35 - Les Paul
0:35:48 - Private Parts Movie
0:42:13 - Busting Balls Going Too Far?
0:43:45 - Howard's Brilliance
0:45:46 - Why Howard Didn't Keep Jackie
0:47:20 - The Jackie Chair & Benjy Bronk
0:50:00 - The Ebb And Flow of Life
0:55:10 - Making People Laugh
0:57:15 - Politically Incorrect Comedy
1:00:10 - Doing a Q & A for New Movie
1:04:15 - Jokes on TikTok
1:07:30 - Movie & Aftermath
1:09:08 - Baymen's Heritage
1:10:25 - Outro

Joke Man Movie site:
https://www.jokemanmovie.com/

Jackie Martling website:
https://www.jokeland.com/

Baymen's Heritage website:
https://baymensheritage.org/

Chuck Shute website:
https://www.chuckshute.com/

Support the show

Thanks for Listening & Shute for the Moon!

Episode Transcript

Chuck Shute (00:00):
Well, it's an honor to have on comedy legend Jackie

(00:03):
the joke man martling on my showtoday. For those that don't
know, Jackie, he was a headwriter on The Howard Stern Show
for 18 years, and has alsoreleased several comedy albums
and appeared on many movies, TVshows and other podcasts. He has
a new documentary coming out onJuly 18, about his life titled
joke, man, and it's really good.
I think it'd be interesting forstern fans, but also just fans
of comedy and entertainment, andeven just Americans living out

(00:25):
their dreams. So we're gonnadiscuss that movie, his
autobiography, and many thingsthat were not in either of
those. So this was an absoluteblast having Jackie on the show,
enjoy.

Jackie Martling (00:50):
It moved for years, but now it's been here
for 20 years. So

Chuck Shute (00:53):
yeah, where is that house? Exactly.

Unknown (00:56):
I am on the North Shore of Long Island in Nassau County
on the Gold Coast. Right on LongIsland Sound looking across at
Stamford, Connecticut.

Chuck Shute (01:08):
Oh, nice. And that's where you grew up. Right.
That's where you're born andraised in Long Island.

Jackie Martling (01:11):
Oh, well, I grew up. I went to high school
two miles south to here. And Igrew up four miles south to
here. But my father's sisterlived here forever. So we were
on the beach in Bayville. Myentire life. But yeah, right.
And then, you know, the NorthShore, North Shore here, right?
And among the wealthiest peoplein the world, and my grandfather
was a blacksmith. So you tellme. Wow, that's cool.

Chuck Shute (01:35):
Well, yeah, tell me about like the New York Comedy
scene in the 70s. Because I'mreally fat. I'm always
fascinated by comedy or musicscenes. Like, you got to be
around that scene. I mean, I'massuming the comedy cellar was
there. What else what otherclubs were there? And what

Unknown (01:47):
No, no, no, I, I, I have a very strange path. I was
a musician in the 70s. And myband told that we told jokes and
played original songs. And bythe end of the 70s, I realized
if I want to eat, I better dosomething melts. And I knew all

(02:08):
these millions of jokes, andthere was no comedy scene on
Long Island. At the time, I hadheard about catch rising star
read about it and actually wentin and saw it online a couple
times for no apparent reason.
And after a year of being incomedy, I actually passed the
audition at the comic strip. Butfor the most part, I was a Long
Island guy, and there was noplaces out here. There was one

(02:29):
variety show and the guy. Idon't know if you ever heard
about this, but the guy's namewas Richard M. Dixon, and he had
his face surgically altered tolook like Richard Nixon true
story. And and the variety showwas at Richard M. Dixon's White
House in on route 107 InHicksville. And that's where I

(02:50):
met Bob Nelson and Eddie Murphyand Dave Werth one, Rob bar lead
Bob woods, which has been reallyall the guys all the starting
Long Island guys, but Dixonwouldn't pay us. So me and
Minervini found a restaurant inHuntington and said, Listen, you
know, we'll tell jokes onTuesday night, and we'll charge
people to get in and we'll keepthe money and you get the

(03:12):
drinks. And we'll have fun andthey said, Okay, so the first
comedy show on Long Island, wasat a place called cinnamon in
Huntington. And I recorded myfirst album, my first actual LP
on cassette at that club, atthat restaurant, and it grew
into the East Side Comedy Club,that Richie and his brothers

(03:35):
started, which was the firstfull time comedy venue on Long
Island. Now, of course, theimprov and catch rising star and
the comic strip were in there,but that they were, you know
lightyears away from us. Butthen we started to mix and match
because the guys would come outfrom the city. Because I was
putting on shows, in addition tothe one we started cinnamon and

(03:57):
Huntington, I was putting onshows any place I could find I
had an amplifier, and I hadspeakers and a microphone. And I
knew how to do that, because Ihad been a musician. And I put
on so many shows in so manyplaces, and that everybody was
thrilled to come out and work.

(04:19):
Because it was the work andthese people working in the
city, they're making $5 and ahamburger. And they come out and
work for me. And they get like40 or $50 and they get stoned
and they get drunk and theychase broads and other time in
their life. And that's that'show the whole thing got started.
And it's funny when the guy thatactually brought me into the

(04:40):
comic strip in Manhattan andintroduced me around that was
right in the days of science.
You know, Jerry Seinfeld?
polariser Larry Miller, Denniswolfberg, Carol Leafa they were
all appears of my friend Peterbales who here it is 45 years
later and me and Peter. We do Wehave a podcast called stand up

(05:02):
memories. And we have all thepeople from the new people, the
old people, the wives, thegirlfriends, the comedy
Booker's. And it's really a hootbecause the time just flies,
man, you know? It's like, wow,it was yesterday. And it was
really interesting, but I wasnever a guy. I mean, I did the
comedy cellar podcasts aboutthree or four times I know. But

(05:24):
on the stage there, I only wason the stage at the comic strip
a couple times, because I wasmoney making money on Long
Island, I, I tell dirty jokes.
I'm not really a comedian. Itell dirty jokes. So I did not
have my sights set on gettingthe Johnny Carson because that's
you don't do that on JohnnyCarson. So I was making lots of
money out of Long Island. Let mecorrect myself. What I

(05:45):
considered a lot of moneycompared to playing in the band.
And I was just a happy camper.
But then I made my albums. And Inever was in the city and never
did the whole thing of runningaround auditioning. What I sent
my three albums around and theygot the Howard Stern. So I

(06:06):
leapfrog over the whole clubcircuit. Right on to, you know,
am radio. And then the nextthing you know, we're on K rock
and all sudden, we're on morningdrive radio, and you know, we
went to the moon, you know, so Ikind of skipped that whole
thing. It's It's very odd, oddpath.

Chuck Shute (06:26):
Well, yeah. And it's interesting to like, you
talked about this in the book inthe movie about how you made
your own album. And to me that'sso fascinating, because now
anybody can upload an album toSpotify. But back then to know
how to like physically produce,I'm still confused how you knew
that? Like you couldn't Googleit or YouTube it? How Oh,

Unknown (06:43):
no, no, no, it's, you know, I tell everybody, if you
take my life story and connectthe dots backwards, it's just
like backing out of a maze. Itall makes perfect sense because
everything lead to the nextthing. Okay, I work at a club.
And my band played at the sameclub. Twice a week, the guy had

(07:08):
two different locations. And heloved us. And they thought this
is I might as well go into somedetail. I think they thought I
was gonna kill myself because Iwas so crazed over this girl.
And we had the song we playedall the time, called the pot
song that had a reprise at theend, roll up the river, we'll

(07:30):
have some illegal fun, and thewhole crowd would go back crazy.
Okay, so the only gets a brightidea that he's going to take us
let us go into the studio andrecord that song that maybe
it'll perk me up and feelbetter. And meanwhile, one of
the other bands that worked sametwo clubs. The guy had just

(07:50):
started his own recordingstudio. So we recorded the song
at his recording studio. And bythe time we were done, him and
his partner said, you know,Jackie is so much fun, and
you're smart. Because, believeit or not, we recorded the song.
But then they get the insanityof the crowd. They brought the
song to the club and hooked upmicrophones and played it back

(08:14):
so they could get the crowdreaction to roll up the refresh
at the end. And when they show Iactually had a microphone on my
foot tambourine you want youit's so funny. That's my foot
tambourine that me right thisWow. And, and so they saw I had
a microphone on the foottambourine and we're like, I

(08:34):
guess he gets the concept ofrecording. And they asked me a
want you to come work for us. SoI started working at a recording
studio. I was just like thejanitor. They call me the studio
manager. I was the janitor. ButI met everybody and I learned
that any moron can have arecord. All you have to do is
have a tape and a few dollarsand what you want to write on

(08:58):
the back, and a few pictures andyou're like making a cake and
you send it I send it toNashville. I'm telling you when
I went to pick up my first 1000albums and in the Port Authority
in Manhattan, I thought I hadcured cancer. I couldn't believe
it. Here I had my own comedy LPI had been. I had been a

(09:18):
comedian for six months. Irecorded that thing at Cinnamon,
cinnamon, which was a barrestaurant. I had a Nakamichi
cassette player. Okay. When Iworked at the recording studio,
one of the guys put a an inputin the side of my guitar
amplifier with the transformer.
So you could play plug themicrophone directly in. So I had

(09:40):
my microphone and my guitar intothis amplifier with the two
extension speakers that wentinto one channel. And I hung two
microphones in the crowd. But itwasn't stereo because so the
left side of a cassette playerwas me and my guitar. And the

(10:01):
right side of the cassetteplayer, the right channel, was
the crowd. And I record and thenI'd come home and transfer the
cassette on to reel to reel. Andwith a razor blade, just chopped
out the bad crap, I would ridethe crowd up a little bit after
the joke. And I was very, I gotso good at editing, we're done

(10:25):
talking about a razor blade, andsplicing tape. And you know, and
it was crazy. I mean, I wouldlove to have a picture of me
sitting there with the pieces oftape hang in, and then you drop
them and you don't know whatshe's backwards. Oh, God. It
seems like a billion years ago.
But Olson, I had an album, andI'm doing gigs. And we're doing

(10:47):
gigs. And I'm standing at thedoor. I mean, this is 10 or 15
years before anybody elsebecause who else would know? The
only people that have albumswere like Bill Cosby because
they were signed to a recordcompany. And here I have my own
record. And I'm selling recordsat the door and the other
comics, I swear to you, they'rebreaking my balls. Like, look at
that idiot with his stupidrecords. What are you gonna do

(11:09):
stand there and hockey, right?
You want to jerk? So I'mstanding at the door. I'm
autographing records I'm sellingfor $5 apiece. And all of a
sudden, the other comics arelike, wait a minute, we made 40
bucks apiece tonight. He made anextra 75 bucks selling those
stupid records. Maybe he's notthat dumb. And for years, I sold
my stuff. And nobody was therewas no leg up. Nobody knew how

(11:33):
to do it. I did a second album.
And I did a third. I mean, as Iwas putting these out, I was
setting them everywhere. If Isaw you on the street, and you
said, Hey, I saw you at a comedyclub. You're funny. They had
taken out, let me send you now.
Not knowing just just doingwhatever you could to scratch
and claw. And then I heard aboutHoward Stern, who I'd never

(11:53):
heard of, they told me this adisc jockey coming to NBC. In
New York City. I didn't listento the radio. I was a hippie.
You know, as I grew up in thelate 60s, you know, I was a
hippie, I listened to theEagles. And James Taylor said in
my car, I didn't listen toradio. And I just sent my three
records. With everything. I'mtelling you, my future ex wife.

(12:15):
She really was my future exwife, Nancy, and he sent out I'm
talking three or 400 sets ofthree LPs, and the matching
cassettes and all the promo. AndI'm telling you that the records
cost money that cassettes costmoney. The promo costs money,

(12:37):
the postage costs money. And bythis time, thanks to my dirty
dial joke. We were hosting theshows at a place called
governor's comedy shop on LongIsland, which we actually
started. And I was making enoughmoney and we're spending a
fortune sending out all thispromotion, no idea what's going
to happen. And I you know, Istill have a list of a few

(13:00):
responses that got and oneafternoon she says, Hey, that
guy Howard Stern's on the phone,he wants you to come into
Manhattan. And I called him backand how we got right on the
phone, say, hey, we listened toyour records. Everything's so
funny. I want you to join us onthe air. And here I am working
at Governor's comedy shop inLevittown. And that's Manhattan,

(13:20):
you know, 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
Not too bad. So I drove intoManhattan and walked in and
there was Howard and it wasRobin, and there was Fred. And
we laughed our asses off forfour hours. At the end of the
day, Howard said, You know whatyou really funny wants to come
back next week. And as they say,you know, you know the rest.

(13:44):
Yeah, well, yeah.

Chuck Shute (13:46):
But before that, though, when you had that first
album, tell me this, because Ithink he just took touched on
this briefly how Eddie Murphyasked you to help him make a
record and you told them youwere too busy. So were you
really too busy? Or is thatsomething that you would say?
Because I heard that DICE talkabout the scene back then how
comedians weren't friendly toeach other like they are now it
was very cutthroat andcompetitive. Oh,

Unknown (14:06):
no, no, that dice, dice work that pips and Brooklyn, the
guy is on Long Island, we wereall so good to each other. There
was nothing personal about itwith Eddie. I mean, I was
working my ass off. And I had myhands full doing my gigs. I was
promoting shows, taking my stuffout. And it was everything I

(14:27):
could do to record my own album.
And I was at the side ComedyClub, which is the club that had
grown out of the little show.
And I had the microphoneshanging and I was recording my
second album called Going Ape.
And and he saw us doing he said,Jack, you have out I want to
have out. I said, Sorry, I'm toobusy and I wasn't being a dick.
I mean, I wasn't a producer. Iwas I was trying to get ahead as

(14:49):
a comedian. You know, I wasn'tlooking to produce other guys,
you know. So it's that simple,you know? Yeah. And, and he was
so funny, but then Nobody hadany inkling. It was funny when
he was like 17. And we're atthis Richard M. Dixon's White
House in, and we're hanging out,like, he'd be like, you know,
you guys, I'm gonna be biggerthan the Beatles. I'm gonna be

(15:11):
bigger than the Beatles werelike, shut up, Eddie. And next
thing you know, we're like JesusChrist that he's making that he
was so confident that any othertown could back it up, you know?

Chuck Shute (15:24):
Yeah. But, but for your own story, with your
tenacity, you talk about that.
It's in the book and the movie,just how you throw a bunch of
stuff against the wall. So youreally were busy. So explain to
me like, just like, how do youhave that tenacity? What do you
like? What advice would you havefor other people like for
myself, as a podcaster? I wantto get guests on, I feel like
I'm always reaching out, like,what advice would you have for
me to know why?

Unknown (15:48):
Scrape and scrape and I still see you just never
stopped. Like, I did fine. And Ihad some money. And, you know, I
tell people, I never changed.
You know, for all I had millionsfor a while. And it never
altered me. I was never acocaine guy, a drug guy, a fancy
sport, sports car guy andCountry Club guy. Me and my
wife. We live the same in 1995,when we're making a boatload of

(16:15):
money as we lived in 1982, whenwe had nothing, you know, and we
just both was so such hardworkers, we really didn't know
how to not work. And you have tohave that work ethic. And I
don't know if that's somethingyou can teach somebody, all you
can do is encourage somebody.
And, and you just don't give up.
You know, there's a great storythat I've been trying to get on

(16:40):
to, I really haven't tried, butI always thought it was going to
happen. Because Jimmy Fallonbecame kind of a friend. And I
don't know if you read this inthe book. But after a while,
when you even before I was evenknown when you do when you
decide to be a comedian. Peoplecome up, guys, girls come up and
say, I want to be a comedian.

(17:02):
Yeah, yeah. What should I do?
Yeah, I love and I finally cameup with my stock answer. Because
when people ask the same thing,you know that to be a deck, but
you don't want to sit around andtry and think of something
witty? And I just say give upand they said, What do you mean,
give up? Is it don't evenbother? You haven't got a
chance. Yeah, how hard it is theodds. And the truth of it is I
wasn't being mean. The truth ofit was if you want to be a

(17:25):
comic, and you say to a lowlifecomic like me, I want to be a
comic. And I tell you to giveup. If that stops you even an
iota. You are not cut out to dothis because you're gonna hit so
many brick walls so many times.
So just Jackie martling. Tanya,you shouldn't do it. You know,

(17:47):
should have no and I read MattDamon says this The people and
Sean Young says said, Matt Damonsays people tell me they want to
be an actor. I say, you know,there's no health plan. There's
no, it's a ridiculous thing.
And, and he said the same thing,if that's enough to deter them.
They're not made out made forthis. So Jimmy Fallon calls the
Stern show after us in almostfamous he said, Hey, Howard, I

(18:09):
never met you guys. Oh, Jimmy,thanks for calling in. He's
almost met you guys in Albanywhen you were running for
governor. I found out what hotelyou were in. I went to the bar.
And sure enough, there was JackStan at the bar. And I went up
to him. And I said, I want to bea comedian. And Jackie told me
to quit. Yeah, I love. Fallonloves that story. And every time

(18:32):
I've ever run into his Jackie,you got to come on a show and
tell that story. And then youcall and you hit 15 brick walls.
And I know he said, See, I gotsomething to promote. So you
know what? I came up with howI'm gonna put it in. You can be
the first this is yourexclusive. I'm gonna put in
Twitter as something thatsomebody went up to Jimmy Fallon

(18:54):
and said that listen, Jackiemartling has a documentary out.
And they just did a monumentthat building a monument to the
clam diggers from the shamansAssociation in Oyster Bay. And
you have two choices. You caneither put Jackie on your show
where you can donate $25,000 tothe shamans Association, and

(19:16):
Fallon says, What do I make themoney? Yeah. So get back to me
now. I'm actually something tosit there and talk about besides
the fact I left the Stern show,you know, actually got something
to promote and people seem tolike it. So we'll see what Oh,
yeah. I

Chuck Shute (19:37):
love it. Like I watched the movie. And I was
like, Oh, and you talk about thebook and the movie. And then I
was like, Wait, I didn't see thebook. So I then I chucked
through the book last night andtoday I just did on Audible
double speed. I listen to thewhole book because if people
want more after they see themovie, then they should check
out the book as the book haslittle more detail.

Unknown (19:53):
Thanks. Now listen, I don't know if I got your email.
Make sure I get your email whenwe're done because I wrote two
books. They miss. They missPlitt. They missed quoted me how
much they needed. And I hadenough for two books. So I have
a whole second book. And there'sso much stuff in there, that if
you're a fan at all, you'lllove. You know, so many people

(20:15):
found out about my book. So lefthandedly. Yeah, because of
course, Howard never mentionedit on the show. So anybody that
was a fan, unless you were, forwhatever reason found out for
me. It basically was under theradar. And then all of a sudden,
the publisher called me andsaid, Jackie, man, did you get a
huge bump in sales? What whatshow did you go on? What do you

(20:38):
do? And I said, I didn't doanything. What happened was
Howard put out another book acouple of years ago. And you
know, if you buy a book onAmazon, when you just about the
click recommendations, there'speople who bought this book also
bought things like Jack, he hasa book and they already have the
mouse, one click, they get mine,both my book tours, like 15

(20:58):
bucks. And so a lot of people,even people that don't like me,
you know, read it, you know,that's what I hope that people
that don't like me or commentcome away from this movie said,
you know, he ain't so bad, youknow, is is using

Chuck Shute (21:11):
kind of a love hate relationship with stern fans do
some like they hate you.
Because, Howard? Are you guys ongood terms? Or?

Unknown (21:18):
Yeah, not? We're on five times, you know, we're not
really, I can't call him afriend, because I haven't seen
him in 20 years, you know, butwe exchanged Happy Birthday
emails, and you know, and we'refine. There's just nothing going
on. And, you know, everybodywanted to make such a monstrous
thing about that. I asked myboss for a raise. And the boss

(21:40):
said, No, and I left my job.
That really is the the nuts andbolts of the situation. Of
course, you know, a lot moregoes into it. But that's
basically what happened. Butpeople, people aren't happy with
that.

Chuck Shute (21:53):
I'm so it's, I will say with the book and the movie,
like, you have to believe it'shonest. Because one of the
things you put in there that I'mcurious, like, if anyone tried
to talk you out of putting inwas the thing about how you
offer to come back two monthslater and said, No, you know
what, I was wrong. I'll takethat the original offer, because
I was like, That makes you kindof look bad, but you

Unknown (22:13):
don't care because I have a perfectly legitimate
explanation. I don't know if I'mnot even sure. Was that clear to
me right then. But it's such anodd thing. Okay, that show was
not like any other radio show.
It was just so much fun day inand day out. And after, after
being I figured I'm on thisradio show and having time my

(22:35):
life. But if I'm not on theshow, I'll go sit around with
other people and laugh my assoff and have so much fun. And
you don't realize what a specialspecial room that was and forget
about even compared to otherradio rooms that that was better
than a writers room becausepeople were listening. You know,
I mean, it was an incrediblesituation. And that was the

(22:56):
withdrawals. I felt not any kindof fame, not money. Not, you
know, like, wow, you know, Ireally miss sitting there and
land for my ass off for fivehours. So that, you know, and I
knew it too much time hadpassed. You know, it was a very
weird decision. It really was.
And I I still don't, I stilldon't hold myself up as as being

(23:22):
really wrong, because that's theamount of money we're making.
And I really did help build thefort. You know, and, but that's
arguable. You know, people cansay why you will make it five
times more money than you shouldhave, you know, like, so it's
everybody's opinion.

Chuck Shute (23:35):
Well, and also the part about how it wasn't just
the money was also you werefried, you were fried because
you were not a morning person,which I understand I'm not a
morning person either. So towake up at four in the morning
or fourth or whatever it was,like that would definitely wear
you out.

Unknown (23:48):
I still wonder if if they had said alright, we're on
coming in because I had leftthree or four times other times
and, and they had come acrosswith the money. And I remember
one weekend, I had left theshow. And it was very funny
because we used to always arguewhether or not Columbus Columbus
Day was the holiday. Do we comein do we not come in you know,

(24:12):
we haven't no and and one thatMonday was not a holiday. And
the guys came in on ColumbusDay. And the whole weekend like
this, he was so happy becauseshe was getting me back. You
know, she's getting her husbandback. I'm not going to be this
monster that's up at fouro'clock in the morning. You
know, the people that suffer thepeople around you, you know, I I

(24:36):
sit down with my pen and I pumpcoffee and for five hours I am
the life of the party. But on myway home all of a sudden the
caffeine in this monster comesthrough the door. So sudden
money. Gao had called me on thatMonday night said Hey, we gotta
have you and I can't do the showwithout you. You know, we
negotiated which was very funny.
And I said hey, Nancy I got myjob back. And I we actually had

(25:00):
a fight. Because she wasdisappointed. They said to you
that much money on what youknow, but she knew she was gonna
have that piece of crap husbandfor another two years, three
years fight whatever it was, youknow, but it was it the whole
thing was, it was such a uniquesituation. It really was and,
and I really was fraud. Youknow, it's funny because I, I

(25:24):
commuted from Bayville. Everymorning for 15 years, and the
white people tell Jackie wasnever you can count on one hand
how many times I actually missedthe show. A couple of times I
was late, because I was in ahotel that didn't wake me up,
you know, but it was so, sorare. And I was always there.

(25:45):
And it I have no idea. You know,at one point I wanted to I just
said I gotta get off the show, Igotta go for the show nothing
against the show. And my lawyerwho was going to be my lawyer,
his wife said, Why don't you getan apartment in Manhattan. And,
you know, you can get rid of thecommute. And that'll solve your

(26:09):
problem. I said, You know what?
And I went and looked and Ifound the perfect place. And I
actually was going to see atherapist at the time, which I
never do. I think it was mythird visit. I set one and said,
You know what, you son of abitch. I'm going to rent that
apartment. That's going tochange my life. Because my show

(26:30):
was kill kill my marriage, italready had killed my marriage.
Nobody told me that if you rentthem in a Manhattan apartment,
okay, I'm not in Babel anymore.
I don't have to commute anymore.
But you're in Manhattan. You gotthis huge, fun city with all
that neon saying, Come play? CuzI think I slept less. In

(26:55):
Manhattan. Yeah, right. And thena year later, I was off the
show, you know, I kept that Ikept the Manhattan apartment for
22 years. I just, I just lovedit. But I was so fried. And you
know, the show saved my life.
Because you know, I was a drunk,and you really can't. You can't
be a drunk and get up at 420 inthe morning, I'm sure people

(27:18):
think I was out. You're notYou're not out swinging from the
chandeliers when you have to getup at 420. And more, you just
not. Of course, I found plentyof places between the cracks to
get way too drunk. And so I hada problem. But I wonder what it
was me and Nancy, who was outshe left you because you left
the show had nothing to do withit. We were already done for

(27:40):
years. But in my spare time,which I didn't have any of I
wasn't gonna go looking for abachelor pad. You know, I'm
working five days a week andthen weekends that dangling
money in front of you. That'sobscene compared to what you
weren't for before that. And soI'm working all week and then

(28:01):
working a weekend work in aweek. And then when I had a
weekend off, the last thing Iwas gonna do is go look for a
bachelor apartment. So we kindof, you know, we love we love
each other, we still love eachother. She's my best friend, we
coexisted. Because I knew herbefore we worked together before
we had an affair before we livethat together before we got
married, we had a whole buildup. So you know, it was easy for

(28:23):
us to be friends. But I can'teven envision what we're that,
you know, sometimes I look at myhouse and say, Wow, if I had all
those millions, what would Ihave done to this house? And
probably not much more than Idid you know, but you'll never
know. You know? No, you know?

Chuck Shute (28:41):
Well, yeah. And already is he does the foreword
in your book, and he's in themovie as well. And it was
interesting. He talked about howyou texted him when he was
struggling and offered to talkto him. Did he take you up on
that offer? I never got thefollow up on that. Like, do you
guys Oh,

Unknown (28:55):
no, but he was you know, because when, when you're
in that situation, there'sreally nothing, you know, it
just somebody reaching out toyou. Does 90% of the good. You
know, just you know, somebody,if he gets on the phone, I say
yeah, I know how it is. Ialready said I know how it is,
you know what I mean? So, but Ihad no idea that that had moved

(29:17):
him like that. So that was thatwas great. You know, he was
very, he was very generous. Youknow, it took so long to make
this documentary that in theproducer was supposed to
interview already. And then hegot in trouble and wound up in
jail and wound up in thehospital and wound up in rehab.
And I got we didn't get alreadyin it. But the thing took so

(29:41):
long that eventually alreadyhe's out of the hospital, he's
out of jail. He's fine. And weeven went and interviewed him
and he's in the film which isjust you know, which is just
wonderful. You know, I'mthrilled that he's in it to me
that he's the highlight becausehe's so he's so generous, you
know, which is which really niceYou know,

Chuck Shute (30:00):
yeah, he's great.
Well, what do you have that seaton The Howard Stern Show? You
got to see him interview? Ithink that's one underrated
thing about the Howard SternShow is such how what, you know,
what makes him such a greatinterviewer? Because it must
know you guys were passing himnotes and things. And does he
also have Gary in his ear? Anddoes he have a questions and
research that other people did?

(30:20):
No, he did himself.

Unknown (30:22):
They would do some research on who was coming in.
But me and Fred would writequestions for him to ask the
guests. But for the most part,you know, he hardly stuck to
those questions. Because everywe did every, I always say we
forgive me how I did everythingin the moment. So whichever way

(30:43):
it was going, so me and Fred arewhipping questions down a mile a
minute. So he's using them a lotmore than looking down and one
of the pre the pre preparedquestions that maybe didn't fit
what was going on. You know, Idon't know if I said it in the
book. But this people likedthis. I don't know if you ever

(31:04):
noticed. But after we went on tothe show, instead of me flipping
notes, where Howard could seehim, they put a lipstick camera
on a little, little love thing,where I write a note and put it
in the basket or whatever youcall it, with the camera on it.
And Howard had a computermonitor here and a computer

(31:28):
monitor here. So wherever he waslooking, he could, you know,
just like a politiciandelivering his speech, he's got
one of those, you know,teleprompters on either side,
you know, looking, and whenevera guest came in, Howard would
always put on his dark glasses.
And that never seemed weird toanybody, because he's mysterious

(31:49):
Howard. And he's groovy. So he'sgonna put on his, his dark
glasses to look cool for hisguest. But meanwhile, he's got a
computer monitor right therewith the notes that I'm writing,
and Fred specimen notes, thatFred's notes too. So he's got on
the glasses. So he's lookingover with his eyes, he's looking

(32:10):
over reading what we're writing,but the guest has no idea that
he's looking and that peoplelike, wow, I never thought of
that. It's kind of funny. Youknow? No, that

Chuck Shute (32:20):
is really interesting. It's really smart.
Because when you hear, you know,there's always heard like, Oh,
these people are writers on TheHoward Stern Show. I was like,
Oh, they write the skits andthings. And maybe some of the
prepared questions. I didn'trealize that you were writing
stuff like on the fly. Likethat's so cool.

Unknown (32:34):
Yeah. And, and you and right, that's another thing that
I'm glad that hopefully peoplesee that and because it's people
is so weird. Like, I'll run intosomebody who sent me Oh, boy,
that was so great. I can alwaystell I was no one you were
writing a joke, because it'd bea pause. And then Howard would

(32:54):
say it. And then you wouldlaugh. And I can always tell
what's your joke. And there wasso many myths people say only
like Jackie left hardest thathis own stuff. And it wasn't
true. I left the hardest thatwhat was the funniest. So I
would put up a note of mine, orFred's or how would say
something on his own. And I'dlaugh and I'd come home
sometimes. And he say, you know,the funniest thing you wrote

(33:15):
today is when you said, JamesTaylor is bold. And the No, I
didn't say that. I would saidthat on his own. But you laughed
so hard. I laughed that hardbecause it was that funny and
nothing to do with who writesit? We're doing a show here. You
know, and I laugh in conjunctionwith how much humor is generated
by what he said, not like RobRobin, every you know, he can

(33:36):
say somebody fell off a cliff.
Are you doing Robin? Bah, bah,bah. Not again. So that was just
his timing of device. But, butit was fun doing that. But then
I would run into people. I wasat a show. And I was sitting by
myself and I was sitting acrossfrom the guys as you check in
the choke man, he's I've beenworking at NBC for 30 years on
the cameraman, we start talking.

(34:00):
And I start explaining to himabout passing notes to Howard.
This is a guy in show businessfor 30 years. And he had no idea
what he he didn't almost didn'tbelieve me. And like how the
hell you think you know, and youknow what it is? People don't
care. They're entertained whowho gives a when Carson's

(34:21):
talking? You're not You're notthinking I wonder who wrote that
show? You live in a Johnnyyou're enjoying yourself, you
know? Yeah. And that was a verywell kept secret for a long
time. And and Howard will say,it wasn't a secret, but trust me
it was. You know, it's slowlyeked out over you know,

Chuck Shute (34:39):
yeah. Especially with the before the I guess
before the channel becausepeople would eventually see it
right. Didn't you say some ofthe guests would ask like, what
was it Bruce Jenner asked like,Hey, what's that note you're
passing? Like, I'm just writingdown the time. He's, Oh, that
makes sense.

Unknown (34:52):
That was well that was that. That's my favorite one of
my favorite chapters in a bookbecause Delaware's was on and I
passed a few notes to Howardwent to commercial. He said,
Jackie, that's amazing. You guysare sharing a brain here in real
time. You're synthesizing jokes.
That's unbelievable. And hesaid, and I was like, you know,
I said, Dom, you know, that'svery flattering coming from a

(35:13):
major celebrity like you. Andthen 10 minutes later, Bruce
Jenner was in the same chairwith that, and that was the A B
situation, you know, and then wego to commercials and what are
you doing? I gotta tell Howard,what time it is. And he actually
said, That's what I thought. Iwas like, Oh, you moron.

Chuck Shute (35:34):
Was there other what other guests like really
stood out for you? I know, likeLes Paul to meet him. Is there
other ones that because y'all,let's

Unknown (35:41):
face it, if every guest on the show, let's go became my
pal. Off the show. Okay, justspeak just about before I left
the show, but Les Paul was ahuge fans of the show. Because
old people don't sleep. Iremember my father never slept.
He listened to Barry gay allnight. They sleep and snatches
not to make a bad joke. And sohe put on search, Oh, sweet. He

(36:03):
knew. And when Adam says thepublicist said, less, Jackie the
joke, man. And so he gotexcited. And I couldn't believe
that he knew who I was. It wasit was his 85th birthday. And
Keith Richards was there. And Iwent up stage and went on stage.
And at the point I quit drinkingyet. And I had a couple beers in
me. He said, I get it. Give uswhat you got. I said, Are you

(36:26):
sure? And he said, Yeah, I toldthe filthiest joke in the world
and the place went batshit. Andhe you know, and we're best
friends ever since until the dayhe died. We would deer deer
pals. Just like What's the oddsof that? But it was, you know,
had nothing to do with the factthat was like a top layer
everything to do with he lovedjokes. And I knew what the jokes
you know. Yeah. Great fun.

Chuck Shute (36:47):
Well, tell me about I love the private parts movie,
I think that made fans haveheard in the show for people who
had never seen it or whatever.
Because they didn't have it.
They didn't get the Stern showin Seattle, where I lived a long
time. But it's interesting. Youtalk about like, the bathtub
scene. That was actually thatwasn't Fred that was you in real
life in the I

Unknown (37:06):
can't wait to send you the unpublished chapters. Okay,
I have no idea. I'd have no ideawhat I was thinking of. But what
was probably the best chapter Iwrote, I didn't put in the book.
And I have no idea how I came tothat decision. What it's called

(37:28):
very private parts. The wholestory of how I almost wasn't in
the movie, and the whole taleand you'll, you'll get such a
major kick out of it. It's like,I began touched on everything,
like how cheap they were, andand how they tried to leave me
out. And how I didn't getcredit. And you know, all the

(37:49):
little, all the littlecheckmarks that and I people
didn't have any idea what wasgoing on in the show. Because
the things that bothered me wassuch little things. You would
people who didn't know, wouldthink like, that's nitpicking.
But it's not nitpicking, youknow, dropping water on, you
know, like, the Germans dropwater on people's foreheads. So

(38:09):
they gave up, you know, thatkind of thing. And, and it was
really interesting. Yeah. Andyou know, it's so funny, because
all sudden, we're making themovie and I'm like, Howard, how
could you put Fred in thebathtub? I was the one about
them. And he said, Yeah, butyour wife would kill you. And I
was like, Yeah, okay. And thenbecause that she almost didn't
kill me overnight. Yeah, life.
But I'm, like, reenacting it ina feature film. I'm not sure

(38:33):
that would have gotten me introuble. But you know,

Chuck Shute (38:37):
was there was there more of the movie that was I
thought I heard one time therewas a three or four hour cut of
the movie that they cut it downto two and a half hours or
whatever,

Unknown (38:44):
I would not be privy to that. Okay, I know,

Chuck Shute (38:48):
there wasn't scenes that you were in that were cut,
because like, there was

Unknown (38:51):
one scene I did that wasn't that good. And I don't
even know if we've finished it.
But the stuff I wasn't in thatmuch. But what I did what I did
was in there. Your

Chuck Shute (39:02):
introduction is not like one day, you're just
you're, I think your firstintroduction. They don't show
you how you join the show. Theyjust show you doing the Match
Game, which was a brilliantscene, by the way.

Unknown (39:12):
I you know, what happened was, I wasn't going to
be in the movie, and I don'tthink Fred was either. That's
how they I guess they came upwith the first script or
whatever. And Howard always say,someday we're gonna be more
bright a movie, and somebody'sgonna write it and Fred, you and

(39:33):
Jack, he'll punch it up. It'llbe great. And all sudden, he's
doing the movie and all sudden,he's talking on the air, but
it's the greatest movie and it'sthe funniest movie and every
scene is fantastic. Bah, bah,bah, blah. And all of a sudden,
the guys are coming in. Eachday. There's a different guy
wearing a hat with an H on it.
Like what the hell's going on?
They'd opened up productionstudio, and one by one they

(39:56):
would take people down and putthem on camera and interviewing
them. About the Stern show. AndI was never asked. And I like
what's going on at some point isstuttering John, what's going
on? He said, Yeah, he said thatI had to sign my rights away.
And they said, don't. Don'tDon't mention this because
everybody's not included. Inretrospect, I think it might

(40:20):
have been both me and Fred.
Because there was no way thatyou could have me in the movie,
and not show what I was doing. Iwas making him funny. And
there's no way they're going toshow that. So what they did was
they threw out that whole thingstarted over with Ivan Reitman,
and how it said, I didn't likethe movie the way they were
writing it. So we're startingover, and we'd like you to be in

(40:43):
it. And I'd said, Fine. And whatthey did was, they made the
movie. So it ended. At W NBC. Wewent on to K rock we went on in
mornings, I say we again, I'msorry. So it looks like they
went to the moon. And I steppedon the ship, just as it was
taken off, or just as it waslanding, whatever. If if he had

(41:04):
said Robin Lukas on the showtoday, Jackie, Jackie martling I
wasn't jacking the joke bed yet.
But that, you know, whatever.
Jackie martling. And he had aheld up my three comedy LPs and
said he sent us these Forget it,those things would be
collector's items, you know, butI was just some guy, you know, I

(41:25):
would just the guest on theshow. And I happened to be
there. You know, I was thrilledto be in the movie. But it
didn't really depict a lot. Andyou'll love the story, the whole
story of of my line in themovie, which by most accounts is
the funniest line in the movie.

(41:47):
You know, how I wrote it? Andhow I wrote it and how it came
about. It's just so interestingand why it's not my it should
have been the first chapter inmy book, you know, but yeah, as
you know, I'm not the best atmaking decisions, I'm sure.
Now, that's funny selfdeprecating humor, that's always
the best. You can laugh at someof this stuff now.

(42:10):
Oh, please, always, always.

Chuck Shute (42:13):
But is that is that today ever? Like, when you were
on the show, or when you leftthe show? Like the busting
balls? Does it ever just go? Didit ever hit like hit home? Or
like, oh, that crossed the line?

Unknown (42:24):
Of course it did. If if, if the bully is on top of
you, and punching you andpunching you, he's going to keep
punching you till you say out.
So you eventually learn to youknow, to let it get to you. Or
like he'd be going off on mywife. And it'd be brutal. And
you had to be very walk a fineline, how you defended, like the

(42:46):
most the best way to defendagainst any of that stuff? Would
be Yeah, but what about and in,turn to Fred or turn to Gary
turned out Robert James, I tryand twist it and walk people off
the subject. And, you know, hewould sometimes he'd be going
off on Nancy and I would writesomething insulting but funny,
and put it up there. And he'dsay something really funny, even

(43:11):
though it was insulting and be abig laugh. And so he got to
commercial, which was like, youknow, taking one for the team,
you know, but for the most partit the reason it didn't hurt is
because if it wasn't me, it wasFred of one Fred, it was Gary
wouldn't go, you know, I'mwriting these notes a million
miles an hour, and I'm writingan insult about Gary and Howard

(43:33):
might turn it make it about meor turn it make it about Fred
or, you know, I always say thatthought the whole show was such
a team effort. Because as funnyas what we wrote was, there was
no way it could have been pulledoff. Unless the person we were
hitting the notes there was asbrilliant as Howard. I mean, he

(43:54):
would swallow what was in frontof him and spit it back. So
seamlessly. That's why peoplecouldn't believe that we're
writers, because everybodythought it was totally on the
fly. And sometimes Aline was sogood. And we were going so fast.
He'd circle around and switchthe topic to come back so we can
use the line. I mean, it was itwas such a study. It's a shame

(44:17):
that what what the actual gutsof that operation was, that
should be studied. Because itwas phenomenal. You know, like
the whole thing. I don't know ifyou ever want to listen to the
show, but when he did, TedKennedy, the timing, everybody
say is comedic timing wasunbelievable. This Teddy was
like era, era era, and he do itway longer than any comic ever

(44:39):
would. He was doing that becauseme and Fred was scrambling to
write the next thing thatTeddy's gonna say. So we're
scrambling, right era era. Era.
Oh my god, Jonah, you're gonnafloat away. You're so drunk. You
know what I mean? It was like Iwas just It was just a wonder to

(45:01):
behold and then when you threwBilly Weston into, you know,
into the works with, and Billy'sgot eight or nine pieces of
paper on the floor in front ofthem. I mean, we were just
cooking, we were cooking, he had

Chuck Shute (45:14):
such an eye for talent that he could find all
these people find yourself andall these other writers in the
wack packers, and he would makethem all funny. I mean, he was
the director, like he said, hewas a brilliant genius mind
behind all this. He was,

Unknown (45:26):
he was nice. He was not 100%. And he wasn't 99.9%. But
he was 99%. You know, he, youknow, he was Dorothy, he went to
Oz, he picked up the people thathe should have picked up. And it
was I never I've never taken athing away from how it's
incredible brilliance. Yeah, Iwill never know why he didn't

(45:49):
keep me on the show. And I am sosure that money was the least of
the reasons. So

Chuck Shute (45:56):
I really don't know, the real reason as to what
happened. I mean, just from whatthe people told you.

Unknown (46:02):
It was, I didn't ask for so much money, that it was a
deal breaker. I what I askedwhat was absolutely reasonable,
within the bounds of what wasbeing made, et cetera.

Chuck Shute (46:15):
So did Robin and Fred make that.

Unknown (46:18):
And, you know, I'm not going into the whole thing.
Robin made a lot more than Idid. And I won't discuss Fred
because I just, I really do lovehim so much. But, you know, he
was a good soldier, you know,he, he took what they gave him,
you know, and I here I am aloudmouth saying, you know, I'm
sorry, it's not enough, youknow, so. But he once again, it

(46:42):
was it made the whole thing sointeresting. You know, I love
it. I look back at it say sofondly. And you know, it's so
incredible because I get, I getfan mail from, like a kid that
says, I'm 24 years old. And Istarted listening to Howard
Stern. And then I found the oldshows from the 90s. And you're

(47:03):
my favorite character on theshow. He wasn't even born when I
love the show. Yeah, it's like,it's very flattering. You know,
it's very flattered. You know, Idon't get, you know, 5000 those
a day, I get one every month,you know, but that's still, you
know, whatever. No,

Chuck Shute (47:20):
it seems like because when, I don't know if I
think I might have just caughtthe tail end of when you were on
because in Seattle, I don'tthink it came on to either your
last year or like after youleft, and then already came on.
And I was like, Oh, this show sogreat. And then already left,
was there ever talk of bringingyou back because they never
filled that spot really afteralready? Well,

Unknown (47:38):
after I left, they tried a bunch of different
people, they call it the jaggychair and they'd put in people
for a week at a time. And it'sfunny because rd didn't come on
until after 911. And that wasmonths and months after I left
and people like Wow, is thatreally tense was already coming

(48:01):
in. You guys pass in each otherand blah, blah, blah. I'm like,
No, it was there was nocrossover at all. I was long
gone before RT came on. Neverbeen a problem between me and RT
ever. You know, we're good pals.
So but that, you know, it's it'sa weird situation, what I was
doing was really weird. Youknow, people, the reason people
probably had a hard timebelieving that I was writing so

(48:25):
much is because I was a guy whodrank too much the smoke pot
that would sit there I had agood laugh. And I was easy, that
was easy to break my balls. Soall that the combination of all
that almost was enough tojustify me being there in the
room. I you know, then, youknow, I'm the guy that breaking
his balls, and he's a drunk. Andhe's, he's a comedian. And that

(48:48):
was a character on the show. Sothey didn't necessarily have to
make the, you know, the leap toOh, and he's writing to which
was, you know, 90% of myimportance to the show. Just
nobody knew it, you know, but Idon't know what the people did
that came in I don't know ifthey wrote jokes, or if they
just sat there. You know?

Chuck Shute (49:12):
Well, Benji Rojo jokes are so though he was kind
of like, the intern kind oflearned from you a little bit.

Unknown (49:17):
Yeah. You know, that that was a whole annoying thing.
Yeah. And I actually at somepoint, I had actually went
through my mind that you knowwhat, he's such a pain. Yes.
Maybe I should just say, Yeah,I'll take, I'll take, I'll take
the deal. But I don't want Benjiyou know, with his thumb up my
ass next to me for the wholeshow anymore. And I said, You
know what, you can't do that.
You know, the guys scrape andclaw and trying to get ahead and

(49:39):
the last thing I'm going to dois fault somebody who's trying
to get ahead, you know,especially how crazy in this
business owner was it his ideato come sit in there? Well
Gary's but you know, he's tryingto get somewhere so you know,
that's his deal. So that had tobe fine. Yeah. So when

Chuck Shute (49:59):
you When you left Stern, did you you talked about,
oh, maybe I could just joinanother radio team did you have
ever do that up,

Unknown (50:06):
I never, it never crossed my mind. It never
crossed my mind that I wasn'tgoing to still be on the show. I
didn't make any plans. After Ileft the show, Nancy and I
finally had time to get divorce.
We had bought a beautiful homeright here on the water, which
is where I live now. And I quitdrinking. Because after a month

(50:29):
or two, I realized I, you know,I can't spend the rest of my
life waiting for it to be fiveo'clock every day. And so that
the only solution was to have itnever be five o'clock. So
between breaking up with my wifeand losing my job, and moving
into a home all by myself andquitting drinking, people say if
you do any one of those fourthings, you shouldn't change

(50:53):
anything else in your life,because you're going to have to
adjust and I did well for at thesame time. So it was it was a
little rocky, a little rocky.
But, you know, then one day Iwoke up and said, Wait a minute,
you live in a beautiful house onthe water and the most gorgeous
place in the entire world Shutup. Just shut up and enjoy.

Chuck Shute (51:13):
How did you get through those rocky times
without your the crutch of boozebasically is like, I mean,
that's probably how you weregetting through some of the
other tough times.

Unknown (51:21):
Know, what it was, is after I left the show, you know,
I would get drunk. But Iwouldn't wake up at 420 in the
morning and be off to work andnot have and not have an
opportunity to be hung over. SoI would drink too much. And I
would wake up so depressed.
Because you know the situation,you know, there's no wife,

(51:43):
there's no job. And I said, Youknow what, I can't deal with
this. It was I was unhappy. Andfor years for years and years, I
way back in the early 70s. Iremember having a conversation
with myself that, you know, oneof these days, we got to stop
drinking. And I wrote a songabout it. 1971 I wrote a song
called three days rest. BecauseI try and quit drinking. And

(52:05):
after three days, I'd befreaking out. So I wrote a song
about it, you know? So it was aproblem for a long time. But you
know, even that, I don't knowhow full of crap I am. Just
people say oh, you quitdrinking? What was the DTS like,
so I'd never had the DTS, well,then you weren't a drunk? And I
say, yeah, well tell my familyand friends that you know, and

(52:26):
who cares? I'm not looking forlabels. I'm just looking to try
and make things happen, youknow, make things better for
myself. Make it work, you know?

Chuck Shute (52:37):
Yeah. 16 years sobriety, I think
congratulations on that. It'sgotta be tough to do.

Unknown (52:43):
22 but who's counting?
22? Oh, maybe

Chuck Shute (52:45):
it's 16. And you said the book and the book is a
few years old? Yeah. So yeah.

Unknown (52:49):
You know, it's, you know, when I was poor, when I
was in high school, when I wasin, in college, when I was in
the band in the 70s, when I wasrich, when I was poor, runs
happy. And the sad, nicegirlfriend got broke up with, I
was really happy some of thetime and really miserable some
of the time. And then I got onthe stove and shoulders really

(53:11):
happy. So that, you know, mywhole life, I'm really happy
summertime and really miserablesummertime. And that's, that's
the ebb and flow of my life andprobably most people's lives.
And that's, you just try andlearn to live with it. And it's
easy to live with it except forthe parts where you don't feel
good. Yeah, that's full of crap.
You only talk long enough, I'lllie to you all day.

Chuck Shute (53:34):
Well, I think that's life. I think that
there's, there's a lot of peoplethat have a lot more money than
both of us that are miserable.
There's millionaires andbillionaires that are as

Unknown (53:43):
five, I see him every five minutes. But you know, he
used to make me nuts as I'd beso exhausted. And I'd come out
of the Stern show, and I knewthat we had just signed on to
another year at Channel Nine,and my salary is gonna be double
that my gigs tripled in price,and I'm kicking ass. And I'm so

(54:06):
miserable. And I see two guysleaning on, leaning on the
shovels, filling in a pothole.
And these guys are laughing allthe time in their life. I'm
like, What am I doing wrong? Imean, it's a million degrees and
they're working with tar andthey're slapping each other and
laughing and so it's all yourhead, man. It's all It's all how
you how you rate things, Iguess. I don't know.

Chuck Shute (54:30):
So have you figured out how to be happier than or
maybe more grateful is that kindof the key I've heard that's the
key to happiness is just beinggrateful.

Unknown (54:39):
Yeah, you know and that and that's absolutely true. And
I'm so old man. I just I get upand I look out from my bedroom
and I look at the Long IslandSound and I look across at
Connecticut I'm like you knoweven my my podcast partner Peter
bales who says you know when Imet you, and you just started
comedy you said Peter well Iwant in life is the habit House

(55:00):
on the watering Bayville. Yousaid and you did it, you said,
you know, put your feet up andsay, Thank God. And I saw I put
my feet up and say thank God andthen go what is the phone gonna
ring? You know, people say, didyou retire from comedy? I said,
Yeah, I'm retired until thephone rings. And then they call
and I go into the game. Youknow, sometimes I drive too far

(55:21):
for too little. Sometimes theypay me more than they should.
But you just do it, you know.
And, you know, somebody saidthat it was really weird. I was
surprised that they left it inbecause stuttering John said
Jackie should have stayed aroundfor five more years, you could
have made enough money, youwouldn't have to do these gigs
anymore. And somebody said, theysaid, if you had a billion
dollars, you'd probably still dothese gigs. And I said,

(55:44):
Absolutely. You know, you can'treplace, you know, going up
there and doing it. You wonderwhether it's good or bad. It's
just something. It startedreally explainable. You know, I
went to therapy for a couple ofyears with this woman because
she was like an alcoholcounselor, but she was a
therapist. And the only reason Iagreed to Sears because I don't
want to ask her. What is it?

(56:08):
That makes me feel so good?
After a good show? When I getlaughs What? Why is that? so
fulfilling? What is that stupidhole? Because you can never fill
up that hole? And we we nevergot to that. Never got to them?

Chuck Shute (56:27):
No, I think it makes sense. I mean, that's what
everyone's put on this earth fora purpose. Your purpose is
literally I mean, you're thejoke, man, your your purpose to
make people laugh. So if you'renot fulfilling that, you're
going to feel like a waste ofspace. You know, I

Unknown (56:38):
tell people I go down to see Larry at the post office.
And if I follow him around himand make him laugh, you know,
I'm good for a half hour, youknow, I'm not shallow. But you
know, I? Yeah, my whole life.
You know, I just stood at thebar and told jokes or stood at
the party and told jokes. I wantto make somebody laugh so hard.
It was like, I punched him inthe stomach. Because I you tell
dirty jokes. I said, Man, thoseare the jokes that get the wild

(57:01):
reactions. You know, I'm notlooking to be Superman will be
president, I just want to makesomebody laugh the balls off.
And that's what I've been tryingto do for forever. You know, I

Chuck Shute (57:12):
think you've definitely done it. Do you
think? I mean, you're sure theshow was obviously so
revolutionary, and a huge partof that. Do you think that the
world needs something like thatnow? Because it seems like I
mean, people say you use theword woke or PC or whatever, but
it seems like we need somebodyto come in and shake things up
again, and be like, andpolitically correct. Do you

(57:33):
think that's, there's gonna be

Unknown (57:35):
like that? That clip? I think it's Led Zeppelin. Does
anybody remember? Laughter? No,like, I have never changed my
stripes. And I'm sure if youlistened my early CDs, they'll
lock me up, you know, becausethey were and politically
correct. But yeah, you know,everybody gotta just take a
chill pill. You know, when I'mdoing the show, I got a Jewish

(57:57):
guy here and a black guy there,you know, an Italian guy here,
and I'm hitting everybody in theblack guy's lip and the Jews and
the Jews are laughing at theItalians. You know, it's, it's
just jokes, and it's just fun.
And these people get so carriedaway, whether it's the women
with you know, this whole thingwith the pronouns and you know,
it's it's all it's allridiculous. You know, everybody

(58:20):
is wants to be loved. And if youwant to be loved, make somebody
laugh. You know, not decide whatlabel you know, I'm not a
politician. I don't I don't wantto go on and on for Yeah, and
you know, what, people areloving my jokes, more and more
and more, you know, people say,Oh, you must have such a rough
time on stages. And nowadays,more people showing up than
ever, you know, I track that Iattract an old audience, but

(58:42):
that's because I'm old. There'sold people out there and I say
Yeah, well I did find one ishold his mate, you know? Yeah.
And yeah, just left I go on. Youknow, I go on the mark Simone
show and I'll tell you know, 12minutes of jokes that are almost
way too dirty for his shown thenhe coughs and chokes. And then I
get 100 phone call Jackie was sogreat on Samoan because they

(59:05):
just want to laugh. Now, peopleused to laugh at that, you know,
ask people about the Stern show.
Yeah, it was interesting. And,and it was, you know, found
things out hurts this about thisand your interview this guy. But
the main takeaway was how hardpeople laugh. I love when people
say, you know, I listened tothat show. And I used to have to

(59:26):
pull over because I was laughingso hard. That is such music.
They say Oh, Jackie, you mustget sick of hearing that. I will
never get sick of hearing that.
That is the finest compliment.
You know, you know, let's saythat I got a fish that I got in
an accident because I laughed sohard. Maybe that would be the PS
there was this

Chuck Shute (59:44):
one. I think for me it was I remember always because
this before podcasts, youcouldn't pause a radio show. So
I remember listening to sternand I did in my car and have to
go to work or something. I'mlike, I don't want to get out of
my car like because you get likehooked. You're like, I gotta
hear what's going on next. Like

Unknown (59:58):
you want to find out where it goes. was and and
there's no way to chase it down,you know? Yeah, people say they
pull over because they know thatcome into the tunnel. You know
all that stuff is great, great,great fun. Yeah. So

Chuck Shute (01:00:12):
with this new movie, it's great. Like I said,
I love it so much I went andbought your book to to learn
more what is

Unknown (01:00:18):
that? That is such a kind of I'm so thrilled that you
like the movie, but I'm hopingpeople want to go. And because I
got that whole second book readyto go and people that want you
to self publish it. And youknow, I think I'm going to self
publish it and, and sell it andgive the money to like the
Bayman of this new statue and Isay I'm old, you know, I am

(01:00:38):
taking my money with me. Solet's, let's have a little fun.
My dream about this. And I don'tknow how it can happen. Because
there's so much garbage in this.
I can't look at anything in thisroom. Without an incredible
story popping up. You knowwhether you know there's Keith
Richards and Les Paul and WillieNelson and Eddie Murphy and the

(01:00:59):
rascals Comedy Hour, you know,everything. My dream is to take
this documentary and show it atthe the film festivals are small
theaters, and do a q&aafterwards, because the devil is
in the details. And people haveso many questions about the

(01:01:19):
Stern show, even the people, thepeople that liked it that hated
it. So I want to show it, andthen do a q&a after each
showing. But videotape the q&a,because the q&a is going to be a
whole nother film. Becausethere's so many stories, they
just go on and on and they tripinto other stories. But the
great thing about the stories ispeople will listen. There's so

(01:01:43):
many people that go I actuallyremember that. Whoa. I remember
that. You know, certainly we dida podcast the other night. And
our old friend Bill McCarty is agreat comic from 1979. I knew
him. And I said and we had thenext guest but Bill was still
there. And I said we would KellyRogers wedding. And he said No,

(01:02:05):
I said, you know, and we wereoften done with the podcast, I
said it was we're talking aboutchips, Cooney and we're talking
about politically incorrect,whatever. And Kelly Rogers was a
kid that was born when hisfather was way too old. So all
of his relatives, is it not nothis grandparents, but his aunts

(01:02:27):
and uncles were all very, veryold, and they were wealthy and
had a really fancy weddingsomewhere in Jersey. And all the
comics went invited everybody soit's all these very wealthy rich
old codgers and their wivesdripping in jewels, and his
little comics. He's like, Guys,we'd really like you to do a

(01:02:48):
little bit. So one by one, we'regoing up, and I'm biting my lip
to try and make it nice andeverybody's making I was the
dirtiest slide to work on. Andthen they put up Chips, Cooney
and this guy got up. He said,Fuck 200 times, in five minutes,
the comics would like a guestand it was like the most

(01:03:13):
uncomfortable thing in the worldand nobody remembers it and we
get done talking. And McCarty isgoing to diner with us. He comes
on he says, you know, Jackie, Iwas at Kelly's wedding. He said
that was the biggest douchechills. minute that I ever
experienced. Like we were allfresh. And thank God I got a
witness. He said, Yeah, it wasunbelievable. Donna Pulido is

(01:03:34):
that they aren't playing fuckfuck and what like. So great.
So,

Chuck Shute (01:03:43):
so many stories like that you're right, I think
the q&a would be a movie initself,

Unknown (01:03:49):
and be so much fun, because it'd be happening live
from the people that are there,and the stories and be fresh.
And, and we also got to placeeverything is Theodore Roosevelt
in this town. So they got to abookstore now called Teddy's.
And like all of a sudden,they're like, Jackie, you gotta
help raise money for the Baymanstatue. And I said, You know
what, the first chapter of mybook is all about that Teddy

(01:04:11):
Roosevelt, I'm gonna ask theguy. Can I come and sit there
and do one of those things wherepeople read from their books,
but it's a chapter aboutTheodore Roosevelt. And then
we'll sell the books and giveall the money to, you know, to
the Bayman thing. It's fun. I'mold now so I can do whatever on
people. i Why did you take thatgig? Because I can, you know,
why would you drive three hoursto work in a library? Because I

(01:04:34):
can you know what I mean?
Because my mother used to say goyou might meet somebody, and
every time he goes somewhere youmeet somebody else. It's
interesting. So it's thatsimple. Very cool.

Chuck Shute (01:04:45):
We if you ever get down to Phoenix or even Vegas, I
could drive to Vegas. I'll comesee you. I'd be really fun.

Unknown (01:04:50):
Now, are you in Phoenix? Yeah. Because that
there was a guy there who hadthree radio stations and Yes, we
need to do jokes for him. Andthey had to be clean enough for
radio. And I did a couple of 100jokes then he was paying me
pretty good, but they will cleanand then the pandemic and he

(01:05:12):
will fell apart. I don't know Idon't know where he is even now
but I think it was Phoenix orone of those Arizona home.

Chuck Shute (01:05:20):
homers big down here in Phoenix, you know, I,
you know,

Unknown (01:05:23):
I have to look, I gotta get your email address. But then
one day, I woke up and said, Youknow what, those jokes are clean
enough to put on tick tocksalsa, and I started loading
them under tick tock, one a day.
And the response was incredible.
Some better than others. Butwhat am I stupid? It's funny.

(01:05:43):
Because I don't know about nowbecause I stopped doing it
because I want to use Tiktok topromote joke man documentary. So
I stopped doing it like sixmonths or a year ago. But they
don't. They don't delete you. Ifyou if you do a joke that they
don't like. They mute it. That'sthat. So they muted a joke

(01:06:05):
because I said the word dildo. Iwas like, wow. And then. And
then then you did a joke where Isaid, masturbate. And I'm like,
This is crazy. I said, so youknow what I gotta do? I gotta do
the old thing where we do theHoward Stern, K rock dance. And
I'm telling you the jokes thathave been on there have been so

(01:06:29):
filthy. But, you know, you couldtell the filthiest joke in the
world. But if not, somebody'snot listening for the context,
right? You know, a girl says tothe guy behind the counter, and
you're drunk, so I need a dozencondoms. And the guy behind the
counter says, Oh, you won't haveany kids? And she says, No, my

(01:06:51):
boyfriend doesn't want to getany poop on his rocket.
Pass them. And

Chuck Shute (01:07:01):
they just look for certain words. So there you go.

Unknown (01:07:04):
The dirtiest joke in the world that's on there. And I
will send you the link.

Chuck Shute (01:07:07):
No, I thought you're taking one of them has
like 2 million or somethingviews or whatever.

Unknown (01:07:11):
One of one joke in particular got 1.1 million
plays. This dirty as it can be,you know? Yeah. And people are
flocking, people are flocking toit. Because you can go on you
can spend the whole afternoonlisten to every joke on there,
you know? So? Absolutely.

Chuck Shute (01:07:29):
It's great stuff.
So yeah, the movie comes outJuly 18, I believe?

Unknown (01:07:33):
Yep. On all the major streaming platforms that I don't
know what that means. But Iguess it means it will be
pretty, pretty easy to find. Andwhen it gets closer, all the
details will be out there. ButI'm very excited. It's been a
long time coming. You know, itwas it was ready before the
pandemic. And then Netflix wason the verge of taking it and

(01:07:54):
then Netflix went into thetoilet. What are the odds of
that? And then finally, finally,we got a distributor random
media and, and I'm thrilled, andI just hope people love it. You
know, I think that people thatdon't even like me again, just
go just out of curiosity.
They're gonna watch it. So yeah,

Chuck Shute (01:08:09):
well, it's interesting to hear your story.
And I mean, I'm like a middlechild. So I just, I want
everyone to get along. I love tosee you go on Howard Stern and
promote it, and you guys hug andbury the hatchet? Because
there's just too much too manygreat, great years there, too.
You know,

Unknown (01:08:25):
I absolutely agree. And you know, when my book came out,
so many people said by us, so,you know, why didn't you listen
to Howard? Why don't you say Isaid, because everything that
happened on that show, happenedon that show, that was no secret
that this trivial stuff thatreally annoyed me is, is not
stuff that people are going tounderstand. It's way too subtle,
you know, and just like, I don'tthink, the documentary, it's not

(01:08:49):
mean, in any way, shape, orform, except it does. Show that
I was writing a real lot of thestuff which the whole world
supposedly knows. So we'll see.
You know, I'm thinking ofsending the trailer to him, and
maybe I will just somebody sentit to him already. So for sure,
let's see what happens.

Chuck Shute (01:09:07):
Thank you so much for doing my show. I'm always in
promoting a charity is that thatwas the thing. You mentioned the
Bayman is that something peoplecould do?

Unknown (01:09:14):
It's the O Bayman.
Damon statue.org I think it is,okay. statue to commemorate all
the clam diggers and oysterdiggers throughout the centuries
here in Oyster Bay, it's gonnabe right in the park. And you
know, and then everybody'scontributing. And it's a

(01:09:35):
wonderful thing, and I'm gonnaprobably do a charity event for
them, you know, the BayvilleFire Company in Teddy's
bookstore and everything youknow, it's it is a great it's,
it's a it's a great thing, youknow, and it's very hometown,
you know, yeah, I mean, you'relooking at you're looking at the
statue and over the statuesshoulder you see Billy Joel's
house, etc island, so it's, youknow, it's pretty fantastic. You

(01:09:57):
know, there Record well, I'll

Chuck Shute (01:10:00):
send you my email hopefully can send me the second
book. I'm dying to read it thatsounds amazing

Unknown (01:10:05):
that you are so such a generous interviewer and I
really, really appreciate it.
And I'm going to tell ourpublicist Maggie Simpson that
you were a delight. Oh, good.
And, and then I'm gonna lie tothe producer and say the guy
hung up on me just the break.
All right. Thanks so much,Jackie. I'll talk to you later.
I appreciate it. Bye, bye.

Chuck Shute (01:10:27):
All right. I don't often say this. But I was really
blown away in this interviewwith Jackie, he was so kind and
funny and openly candid abouthis time and stern and how he
dealt with leaving in his lifesince then. And I find his whole
story to be very fascinating.
Definitely check out that moviejump in on July 18. And if you
want to dive deeper, like I did,I recommend getting his
autobiography. It's called frombow to stern. And as always, you

(01:10:48):
can support the guests byfollowing them on social media
and your likes, comments andshares are always appreciated.
You can support the show in muchthe same way. Make sure to
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channel. We have a lot ofexclusive content on there
that's only on YouTube. Andright now it's all free. So
thank you for your support ofour show. And our guests. Have a

(01:11:10):
great rest of your day and shootfor the moon.