December 14, 2024 • 31 mins
Join Howard Mincone as he shares his incredible transformation from growing up in Pittsburgh’s steel city to making it in Hollywood. In this lively conversation, Howard reveals how he navigated his thick Pittsburgh accent, his unexpected path to beekeeping, and how these buzzing creatures became a source of healing—especially for veterans with PTSD. Along the way, he shares hilarious stories from his journey, including skateboarding, breakdancing, and performing on stage.
Tune in for a mix of Pittsburgh history, personal growth, and a lot of laughs. You won’t want to miss this inspiring and heartfelt episode!
#HowardMincone #PittsburghStories #Beekeeping #ComedyAndInspiration #HollywoodJourney #LifeLessons
Mocktails Or Messy podcast
IG: @mocktailsormessy | TikTok: @mockmess
Watch | YouTube Mocktails Or Messy
Listen | Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Featured | #11 of Best Local Podcasts: FeedSpot
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You were like running out and we thought you were
leaving us.
What were you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
You little funny honeybee.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
How did you meet her?
She was slumming.
God gives everybody a gift.
This is the gift I'm prettyconfident that he gave me.
Fuck yeah.
One way I cheated, he did cheat.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I cheated Not on his wife, exactly Kind of like
charming.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
These can be moody and they can change that mood
because they're females, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
I understand that.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I understand that she's never been like that.
Right, I'm four foot eleven.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
You know you had Jonas Salk.
He has saved billions of lives.
Wait, who is he now?
That guy ought to be famous,jonas Salk, yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Wait, who is he now?
So?
Speaker 3 (00:41):
many jokes, jonas Salk.
Yeah, I'm myself sitting in myapartment at one point going I
have $23 to my name, there'snothing I can sell in my
apartment that is going to getme money.
Not at all Nothing.
Okay, lord, how's this going tohappen?
So here's my 30 second miraclestory.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
How do you know all this Do?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
you see these gray hairs?
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Welcome to the studio .
Speaker 1 (01:06):
We have today.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Howard.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Minkone, welcome to Mocktails.
Are Messy, not Howie?
Don't get it confused, right.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Because I said that to you on set the other day of
the Golf Galaxy commercial.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yes, I don't get bent about it.
Some people call me Howie, it'sfine, I just it doesn't fit.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
No, and not that there's anything wrong with
Howie, but you are a Howard Kindof sort of.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
See, now, if you're from Pittsburgh or I grew up in
the South Hills they pronounceit.
They spell it as H-I-R-E-D.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
H-I-R-E-D Hard.
Oh, that would be how theywould pronounce it Bill.
Carr, that's the Pittsburghaccent.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Kind of sortof.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Yeah, okay, so we live in Pittsburgh.
I mean, for God's sakes, youknow you had Jonas Salk.
That guy ought to be famous.
But you ask anybody on thestreet who Jonas Salk is and
they're like I got nothing.
And you're like wait, do youunderstand?
He has saved millions of lives.
Wait, who is he though, jonasSalk?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yeah, she's young.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
The polio vaccine here in Pittsburgh, oh, okay.
And prior to like the 1960s,polio was taking people's lives.
It was crippling children bythe millions.
I didn't know that happened inPittsburgh.
He invented the polio vaccineSee we're learning.
He didn't get a patentintentionally, oh my gosh,
(02:29):
because he tested it out on hisown on he and his own family he
did that confident he should befamous.
Yes, look what he's done.
Yes, he should be.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, transplants were invented here in pittsburgh
you're kidding pittsburgh yeah,you don't have like as strong
of a yinzer accent is thatbecause?
You went to universitysomewhere else.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I grew up in Clareton .
Yeah, and Clareton does nothave that Pittsburgh ease.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Is that in the?
Speaker 3 (02:52):
country Clare-yon.
Clare-yon is.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Northern.
Oh, I got confused when youtold me that.
First time I thought you saidClareton.
Well, Clareton, Clareton.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
South Clareton, clareton, south Hills, south
Hills.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
On the Monongahela River.
Okay, okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
On the.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Monongahela River.
So here's one of the thingsit's known for.
Did you ever see the movie theDeer Hunter?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
I've definitely heard of it.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
So the Deer Hunter was about guys working in the
Clareton Coke Works.
Robert De Niro and all thoseguys came to Clareton and
actually went bar to bar to barto bar learning what it's like
to be a mill guy in Claretonfitting for Pittsburgh.
Yeah, and I know people thatactually like worked in the
mills and showed up at work,because a lot of the guys would
(03:36):
either go to the bar before orafter, yeah, and they were like
there's these guys and they'rebuying everybody drinks and they
were like oh yeah, right, andthere's some kind of these
famous guys and they're like, ohyeah, right, no no, that's who
it was, they were in town, sothat's where I grew up oh, my
god, and you know a little bitabout the south hills versus the
(03:56):
north hills.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
You explained to me like the south park was like a
hot spot to pick up ladies.
No, it was a place to cruise.
Uh well, cruise means checkingout the kitty.
Oh, you were checking out women, or maybe not kitty, guys and
girls.
So many jokes too much, it's alittle hard to follow but so
back up real quick.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
So I learned, I got rid of and worked really hard
not to have a strong pittsburghaccent.
Oh, because I found thatgetting in the entertainment
business or having that desireto be in the business, um, if I
had a strong pittsburgh,pittsburgh it would.
(04:38):
It would create a problem.
But if I could yeah, if I coulddevelop a a very generic
dialect, then people would sitthere and go.
I'm not exactly sure where he'sfrom.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah, good, the pittsburgh accent is a little
offsetting to people that aren'tfrom here, I think and it's
definitely, it's not.
Like you know, southern accentsare kind of like charming oh,
oh yeah, but the Pittsburghaccent it's a little rough, it's
rough.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
It's a little like.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
My wife is from Youngstown.
You go to Youngstown and speakPittsburghese, man, They'll look
at you like go back across theboard.
We don't like you.
We don't fucks with that youknow, no no.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
No, not a idea.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
So you two met on set .
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yes, you were doing a , it's 5 o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Oh my god, 5 o'clock in the morning at Akron, ohio.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
We both had to travel what?
Two hours One way, well, Icheated.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
He did cheat.
I cheated, not on his wife.
No, absolutely not.
My mother-in-law and herhusband live in Ohio.
Yes, so when I got to call timeat 5 am I was like oh why?
So I messaged them and theywere like absolutely, Come,
crash here.
So I crashed at their house, soI only had a one hour drive to
(05:53):
work.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Exactly, and you notice a lot of people like if
they get those like really earlycall times that are like a
couple hours away, they'll get ahotel.
But I'm sure for you I'm justkind of like I'm at that point
where I'm like just trying to belike strategic with it, like
I'm not gonna be getting a hotelunless it's, like you know, a
couple thousand dollarcommercial you are living.
Our dream is to be anentertainer in pittsburgh or
(06:18):
locally to be, like you know, anentertainer music um.
We kept saying musician magicianrightician.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Right, You're a magician.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
You have many titles, so I started out when I was in
my teens, riding skateboard.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Very physical.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
He was a skater boy, big time, big time oh shit,
hardcore skateboarder, you'regetting Kelly excited.
What's your boyfriend'shusband's name?
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Ryan.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Congratulations, ryan , he he's gonna get lucky
tonight so from that, a coupleof guys I used to skateboard
with got into break dancing.
When break dancing first hitand I'm like, oh, this is really
cool.
Well, what is break dancing?
Gymnastics, martial arts,formal dance like ballet and and
(07:11):
tap and all this other stuffmime movement, boxing, fencing
there's all these disciplinesthat keep coming in and out of
break dancing.
Got into doing that, starteddoing that, ended up with an
eight-man um dance crew out ofclareton and we started doing.
We had eight, we had four guysunder 21, four guys over, so the
(07:34):
four guys over would go todifferent nightclubs and we
would actually go walk in andthey were like, oh, you guys are
here, can you guys do a set?
Well, let's see what we gothere.
It's really cool and we wouldstart doing we would walk into
places that were velvet, ropedwaiting lines and all this other
stuff.
They were like oh, oh, you guysare here, can you guys?
(07:55):
Yep.
And we would go in and do likea three-minute presentation and
end up getting a couple roundsof drinks bought for us and
stuff like that.
And if we did high schools orfestivals or whatever, then we
bring the whole eight-man crew,because then we had the guys
under 21 from that.
Somebody came to me and saidyou want to learn mime and
(08:17):
movement?
You need to talk to this guy.
Well, here's where it getsreally fun.
Out in Monroeville used to be aplace called the Holiday House.
The Holiday House was the topshelf entertainment place
between New York and Chicago.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Woo Damn.
Can we go to a Holiday House?
Is it still?
Speaker 3 (08:38):
there.
Long gone, oh shit, long gone,see.
So you heard about the guy thattook a tumble the other night
in Greensburg yes, I did not.
Jay Leno slipped and fell gotbruised up and yet still did the
gig.
Jay Leno used to perform at theHoliday House.
(08:59):
When Jay Leno was at theHoliday House, he'd get a phone
call you need to go to Vegas.
You need to open for somebody.
And he said I can't.
I got to do the rest of theweek at the holiday house.
I said no, you're not Get a cab.
Get to Pittsburgh's airport,you're going to Vegas.
He says why, who am I workingfor?
He said you're opening forSinatra.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Damn that sinatra.
Damn right, that's fucking sicklike that.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Just gave me the chills a little bit harry
anderson who was judge harold tstone on the tv show night court
the temptations the jerry vale,all these people?
Performed at the holiday houseright right, right, right
exactly, so I get a gig workingin the comedy club downstairs as
a mind.
Okay, so wait, downstairs,upstairs.
There was a nightclub.
(09:50):
Upstairs.
Okay, there was a huge showroomthat was like a Las
Vegas-looking showroom.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
That is so crazy.
In Monroeville it was a hotel.
I bet you Jackie knows aboutthis.
Oh it was.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
It was a hotel, uh-huh, with a indoor outdoor
pool, a dry cleaners, ashoeshine man, a dry cleaner in
the building, because if youwere staying there for several
days, true you didn't have totake your stuff to the dry
cleaner out the road.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
You called room service and they took your stuff
downstairs to the dry cleanerthat's the place and did the
thing but that's where I started.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
That was like my first major gig.
Now, the whole time I'm doingthis, I'm working at a as a bag
bagger, stock boy in a grocerystore giant niggle can you show
us some mime move, wait, mimemime, mime can you show us like
a couple moves.
Here's the easiest one.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Is that called a worm ?
Speaker 3 (10:48):
It's kind of like a wave.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Yeah, oh, okay.
Yeah, I can't do that.
Can you take it that way?
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Yeah, or you take it that way, that's pretty Whoa Ooh
.
That is kind of wild to watchon the.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
TV and see it in person so it goes that way yeah,
okay, that was good thank youthank you for giving a little
taste.
Oh no worries, so real quick soreal quick.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
So I go from that.
I'm working at a grocery store.
I get a job.
No, a little private grocerystore chain in Clareton there
was three stores, little tinystores.
From that I end up as a salesguy at Nestle Foods.
I'm a sales guy at Nestle Foods.
I'm a sales guy company cardsdriving all around central
Pennsylvania selling chocolateOkay, fancy.
The company consolidates.
(11:38):
After I'm there four years andI'm out of a job the whole time,
though I'm getting a gig, maybeonce a month, once every two
months, to perform here, toperform there.
I get laid off and the nextthing, you know, my phone starts
stirring.
Hey, we hear you do this, mindmovement, juggling stuff.
Can you come here, can you comethere?
(11:59):
Sure, so now I have beentrained to sell a product by the
number one food producingcompany in the world.
Highly trained to sell aproduct, and I'm to believe it.
What am I selling me?
What am I selling me?
(12:20):
And the next thing, you know,it took off and it was all you.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Well, no, you had your hand in it.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Yeah, so this is what I told you the other morning.
God gives everybody a gift.
This is the gift I'm prettyconfident that he gave me.
Yeah, fuck, yeah.
But it has taken me places.
I have never, ever imaginedgetting to go.
I've gotten to do stuff I'venever, never imagined getting to
(12:49):
do so we're talking like asiaso I've done.
I've been to china twice.
I was there once in 2007 for aweek.
I was there again in 2017 fortwo months.
Oh my god, I toured 30 citiesin china for two months I'm sure
your kids missed you yeah yeah,my kids missed my kids miss me,
(13:09):
my wife and I.
That was, that was rough thatwas rough because it hit me Um,
rachel and I got married in 2014.
So this is only a couple ofyears after we get married and I
get this call and they're likecan you do two months?
And I went well, you're goingto have to give me some time.
We have to talk about my wifeand I have to talk about this.
(13:30):
We talked about it, we prayedabout it and she said you have
to do this.
You have to do this Supportivewoman.
How did you meet her?
She was slumming.
No, I'm kidding.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I was like what, Wait , what is slumming?
Because I love that word.
I feel like, is it like aslumlord?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Or is that like a hobo, Like what is a slumlord?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
You can't even say hobo anymore.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
That's politically incorrect oh please, what is
slumming?
Oh please, there's a clown.
There's a type of clown knownas a hobo clown.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Get out of here, man, wait, wait.
You got to tell us what'sslumming.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
So I tease my wife about this all the time so as
you and I talked briefly theother morning.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
I was Thank God we did.
Oh my gosh, this is so coolBecause you are bringing me all
the right vibes.
Seriously, thank you.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
So I was married twice before.
I was married twice beforeHighly highly dysfunctional
marriages.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Really bad the beginnings.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Two of them no.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Oh, so you're on round three.
Yes, oh great.
This is my third marriage,third time's the charm, you
better believe it.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
And to quote an old NFL friend of mine, he said I
far outkicked my coverage.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Good thing, good thing.
Oh yeah, good thing, good thingyeah.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
So um, and your kids, like the the third, oh they, I
wouldn't have married her Iwouldn't have dated her if they
didn't.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Oh good, because I that's a good dad for several
months before I said, hey, I'vebeen dating this girl and they
were like, oh, thank god, wedidn't think you were dating and
I'm like, well, I'm not gonnatell you, I'm dating somebody
because I don't want you to getattached they.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
They love you, they wanted you to be happy.
That's special.
That's what happened the secondtime.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
My children are to my first marriage and, um, I got
married after that and it wasextremely bad.
I was only married for a yearand it really put them through a
(15:34):
lot because they were like,okay, we got to know her kids,
we got to know, you know, thiswas a new life and all of a
sudden, within a year, it blowsapart.
Not healthy, not good at all.
So when I met Rachel and wentout with her and really really
saw that this was going to gothat direction, I sat down with
my daughters, who at this pointwere significantly older, and I
said, okay, look, we need totalk about this, and were like
you're dating somebody.
I said, yeah, they were like,oh, thank god, dad, we didn't
think you were dating anybody.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
I said yeah, they do they're, they're amazing.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
After everything they've gone through, they both
have done phenomenal they bothhave married, which?
Speaker 2 (16:03):
I love it.
Yeah, I have two daughters.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Yes, um 27 and 30.
One lives here in thePittsburgh area, the other one
lives in Florida.
They both have married.
Phenomenal, phenomenal guys.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
That's amazing, and they both have dated idiots in
the past.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
And then they marry these guys and you go whoa
that's cool.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
You've got a good place to go vacation to in
Florida when you visit yourdaughter, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
My job as a father is to teach my kids how to fly I
like it her husband's a pilotnot in that sense it's a
metaphor but it is, it is okay.
I didn't know, I was no, but ifyou look, if you look at an
eagle, an eagle's job is toraise the young to teach them
(16:48):
how to fly.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
They can spread their wings now and they can go.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Yes, okay, that makes sense, and I've taught my kids
the whole time it is a really,really big world.
Yeah, yeah, go do, go see whatyou love, go see, go explore the
whole world, because there'speople that live in a community
and they look at that communityand they say, well, there's a
(17:12):
bank and there's a post officeand there's a grocery store and
we have no reason to leave.
We've talked about this before.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Like we were gone for 10 years and we're so happy to
reconnect with family and likewe love that we experienced
outside of the Berg.
But I will say there was a partof me in like a one point in
New York.
I was like I don't want toleave Manhattan, like I have
everything in here, like youknow, within this, like five
mile radius.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Right, and the pandemic made this worse.
I'm going to say this.
I'm going to say this wordwrong, so I apologize to anybody
who listens who is of Japanesedescent.
I think it is referred to.
The word is called Hikimoro andit is a um.
(17:53):
It's a disorder where peopledon't leave their apartments.
Oh, for months.
So they will.
When I was in china, mytranslator, um, spoke english,
chinese, obviously chinese, butthree or four different dialects
in chinese.
And then um English, obviouslyChinese, but three or four
different dialects in Chinese.
And then she spoke English, soshe was my translator.
I was the only English-speakingperson on the tour.
(18:14):
Everybody else was from Spain,so it was a crew from Spain and
myself.
He is a hugely famous Europeanmagician and I was the comedy
act on the tour.
She said I don't need to leavemy apartment.
I order groceries.
They come here.
I want to go on vacation turnthe tv on.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
There it is, oh gosh oh my god, that's not if I want
to go to the grand canyon.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
There it is.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
There's the grand canyon I see their point, but
that's not living.
That's insane, yeah that'scrazy.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
she said no, you don't understand.
My friends have to come get meout of my apartment every couple
months because I have no reasonto leave.
But you understand this.
Because of the pandemic and theparanoia that set in, there are
people that are terrified todeath to step outside because
they believe what they hear,which is everything is a
catastrophe, everything's bad,everything's disease ridden,
(19:09):
blah, blah, blah, blah, blahoutside, so they never leave.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
I love that the Japanese have labeled this,
because I don't know if we'reaware of it in America.
I know that it exists here.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Oh, sorry, I was trying to pronounce Hikimora.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
It's okay.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
We'll be focusing on a new word that you might find
challenging or intriguing.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Oh, there we go.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
So, without further ado, let's dive into today's
word Hikikomori, which meansOkay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Okay, you were really off, but you did good to
describe reclusive individuals.
Yep, reclusive individuals.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Hikikomori.
Good enough, that was right.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
You were better at that, and I've got to say, when
we pulled up you were runningout and we thought you were
leaving us and come to find outwhat were you doing.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
You little funny honeybee.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Yeah, man, so I brought you guys.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Oh, my God what.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Okay, so your shirt is your, that's your brand.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
That's what I do.
That's one of the other thingsthat I do.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Oh my gosh, I thought it was just a.
I love that.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
So we were.
We had friends over for dinnerone night and we're sitting in
the dining room eating dinnerand one of my wife's friends-
sweet as he is, Hold on.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
why is it so dark?
Speaker 3 (20:29):
it's really dark so that's fall honey that is.
That is about as fresh as it'sgoing to get.
That's only been.
I mean, the only way it'sgetting fresher literally is, if
I took it out of the um, a hivebox right now drink it right
now.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Taste it.
That looks so good, yeah, or?
Speaker 3 (20:45):
stick your finger in there because it cleans it.
Oh, it cleans itself, okay.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
So honey is self-cleaning okay it's
self-cleaning, that's no fuckingjoke no, I'm not just saying
that how I'm a honey fan.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
This is gonna cure all of our cool.
We need to hear this story,though.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
We had friends over for dinner one night and this
was several years ago and theysaid you know you're doing this,
you're starting with honeybeesand all that.
And they said what are yougoing to call your honey?
And I said I don't know.
And the wife looked over at meand she looks at my wife and she
goes well, it's got to be funny, honey, you're a comic.
And we all looked at each otherand went yeah, that's it,
(21:32):
that's what it's going to be.
So my wife's best frienddesigned the logo for us.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
That is so cool.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
That's cute, do they have?
Speaker 2 (21:39):
equity partnership.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
No, Well they actually own the property where
one of my apiaries is down inBentleyville.
They own a 20-acre farm Wow.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
And in.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Bentleyville.
They own a 20 acre farm Wow,and I have one of my yards is
there and then my other one isup at Trax Farms.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Did you hear that beekeepers actually live longer?
What do you think the reasonfor that is?
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Happiness.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
That's one, but there's also a lot of benefits
to being around the bees.
I've heard that there is avibration that is extremely
calming, one of the things theydo right now is they are putting
together veterans who sufferPTSD and they are giving them
(22:25):
beehives and training them howto take care of beehives,
because when they start gettingreally, really, really cranked
up, go out in the bee yard.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Calms their soul.
That's amazing, and it calmsthem down from the inside.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Wow, then all the benefits of honey.
Yeah, now when you go to Costcoor Walmart or whatever and you
see these like gallon jugs ofhoney for like nothing, that's
corn syrup.
That's what I've heard.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Yeah, so that's the real deal, and I heard it's
better to drink to or to eat thehoney that's local to you
within 50 miles correct yeahwhat's that?
Speaker 3 (22:58):
about, so it has all the local pollen from allergies
normally affect you.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
You know, if you get an over overwhelming amount of
pollen, then your histaminesystem kicks in, your eyes water
, your nose runs your cough andsneeze but if you're taking hits
of this, now do you have like asuit suit, so I wear I wear a
veil that kind of looks like ahoodie yeah so it's not a full
bee suit.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
I'm.
I'm not that.
The guys who mentored me, theguys who taught me beekeeping um
, taught me and, and you justget to where you're like, I
don't need all that stuff, soI'll go in a pair of, like long
pants, um last year.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
These are not aggressive by nature, right?
Are they more docile?
Okay, so if you upset them,they can.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
So kelly, don't take this wrong.
I have a beautiful wife and twodaughters.
These can be moody and they canchange their mood because
they're females.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Oh yeah, I understand that 98% of the hive.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
She's never been like that.
She's done tradition Right andI'm 4'11".
How did?
Speaker 1 (24:15):
you know, how did you know, how did you?
Speaker 3 (24:16):
know you're going to get these gray hairs from all.
You're not.
So during the year, during the,the, the spring, spring, summer
season, like 95 to 98 percentof the hive is female.
The male's only job is to breed.
That's it.
The male does not breed withthe queen from that hive.
Interesting she flies five milesaway to breed and then comes
(24:42):
back, and then all she does therest of her life is lay eggs.
Now what's really bizarre isfrom mid-March to mid-September,
a bee will live four to sixweeks.
From mid-September to mid-March, a bee will live four to six
months.
(25:03):
So interesting she lays aphysiologically different bee
now than she does in the summer.
But yet a queen will live fourto six I'm sorry, will live
three to five years.
Yeah, that's a long time.
So going back to your questionabout benefits of beekeeping and
(25:23):
longevity, the other thing iswe get stung.
We get stung all the time.
What happens for a lot ofbeekeepers is your body builds
up a tolerance to that sting towhere it no longer responds yes.
So when I get stung it's kindof like a carpenter getting a
splinter or a florist getting athorn.
(25:44):
You just kind of pull the thingout and just do you think it
helps your body's tolerance toother?
Speaker 2 (25:49):
things.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Oh God, yes, I can imagine oh yeah, oh, yeah, yeah,
yeah, you just don't get sicklike you used to.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I say that this is the first guest that we had,
that we did not follow a script,we did not follow the questions
.
It was You're the first guest.
All off the cuff it was all offthe cuff.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Roll with it, man.
I knew when I first met you.
I said he's a goodie, thank you.
You know and you know I want toshare, you know, what is your
like mantra with the audience.
Can you give us some likeinsight on like you said this
about, like having a passion andfinding it and then really just
double downing on it until you?
Speaker 3 (26:30):
No.
So my mantra, my thing, is thisLike I said to you earlier, god
gives everybody a gift.
My walk of faith has gotten methrough two really bad divorces.
Yeah, it's gotten me through alot of messy stuff in my life.
That's what got me where I am.
That's what got me two amazingdaughters.
(26:51):
That's what got me two amazingdaughters.
That's what got me an amazingwife.
Is I put my faith not in me, notin my skills, not in my talents
, not in my brains.
I have a faith in God.
I really do and I have noreservations about that.
That said, god gives everybodya gift and I'm not telling
everybody, everybody.
My job is not to sit here andconvert somebody to believe in
(27:11):
God.
No, but you asked me thequestion of what's mine right?
That's it.
My job is is to you know, behonest and transparent about
that.
And my, my experience has saidto me God gives everybody a gift
, follow it.
It ain't about being famous, itain't about being famous, it
ain't about being rich.
It is about following the giftthat he gives you and saying,
(27:33):
okay, I submit to something Idon't quite understand, but I
trust, and as soon as I starteddoing that, it's not a Damascus
Road moment.
It wasn't like I got hit bylightning and I'm on the ground
going.
I can't see.
No, I stopped arguing.
I just stopped arguing.
I went all right, look, I can'tsee.
No, I stopped arguing.
I just stopped arguing.
I went all right, look, I can'tdo this right, guide me, guide
(27:55):
me, you direct me, I'll go.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
And you just let it go.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Look, I get a phone call and somebody says hey,
Howard, how would you like to goto China for two months?
Really, Yep, really Yep.
I meet a woman who for, if youput my resume next to her resume
, absolutely no reasonwhatsoever Should she have ever
(28:21):
gone out with me.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Well, I was going to say, like, how does it kind of
like the last thing is likefinancially?
How is it like to kind of be anentertainer and raise two
daughters?
I mean, do you have to havethat supportive partner that's
going to be able to hold downthe floor?
I didn't.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Right, I didn't at all.
I found myself sitting in myapartment at one point, going I
have $23 to my name.
There's nothing I can sell inmy apartment that is going to
get me money.
Not at all, nothing, zero.
Okay, lord, how's this going tohappen?
So here's my, here's my, my32nd miracle story.
(28:59):
Client calls me.
This is in April of one year.
In April, two clients call me.
One is in Dubois, one is in alittle village called Brookville
which is on Interstate 80 justwest.
Okay, they want me to work inJune.
Their gigs are a week apart.
Okay, I sent them a contract.
It means nothing.
They both sent payment in fullin April and I went oh my gosh,
(29:30):
what am I supposed to do withthis?
And I called my accountant andI said this gig isn't until June
.
He said, howard, this isn'tabout you.
You have to cash the check.
If you don't cash the check,you're going to mess their books
up.
This ain't about you.
I have $23 into my name.
I couldn't even go to church.
(29:51):
I couldn't even go to church.
I couldn't even drive to churchbecause I couldn't afford to
put gas in the car, because Iwas like I got to save my money
because I got nothing.
They sent me checks whichlanded on the same day.
Paid in full for a gig in June.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Paid- in full for a gig in June.
I've heard God works his gifts,his miracles in threes.
Was there anything else thathappened in that time?
Speaker 3 (30:17):
I'm still here.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Hey, hey, hey.
But again, this isn't rubbingthe vase or rubbing the lamp and
getting your wishes.
Yeah, because I've been througha lot of really bad stuff and
people have said to me you'vebeen through all this rough
stuff, where's God in that?
It took a while down the roadto look back and went oh, there
(30:40):
he was.
It wasn't Again, you're notgetting Robin Williams in a
genie, I didn't worry about it.
Well, thank you, howard, you arethe best.
We really appreciate you comingon Mocktails or Messy.
This is awesome.
This is wonderful.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
I'm very blessed, thank you guys, the magician
entertainer the mime.
What else can we add to thelong list of talents?
Speaker 3 (31:04):
Howard.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
It just has fun, thank you.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
So this is Howard Minkow, and I've gotten to spend
the wonderful afternoon withMocktails or Messy with Kelly
and Ryan.
Tell your friends to listen,pass it on, man.
This is cool stuff.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Thank you so much, Howard.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
Thanks guys.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
This is Ryan Frankofsky, and.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Kelly Mazgorski.
Thank you for listening toMocktails or Messy.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Ciao, Howard, Thank you guys, we'll see you soon on
the Honey Farm.
You were like running out and we thought you were
leaving us.
What were you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
You little funny honeybee.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
How did you meet her?
She was slumming.
God gives everybody a gift.
This is the gift I'm prettyconfident that he gave me.
Fuck yeah.
One way I cheated, he did cheat.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I cheated Not on his wife, exactly Kind of like
charming.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
These can be moody and they can change that mood
because they're females, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
I understand that.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I understand that she's never been like that.
Right, I'm four foot eleven.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
You know you had Jonas Salk.
He has saved billions of lives.
Wait, who is he now?
That guy ought to be famous,jonas Salk, yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Wait, who is he now?
So?
Speaker 3 (00:41):
many jokes, jonas Salk.
Yeah, I'm myself sitting in myapartment at one point going I
have $23 to my name, there'snothing I can sell in my
apartment that is going to getme money.
Not at all Nothing.
Okay, lord, how's this going tohappen?
So here's my 30 second miraclestory.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
How do you know all this Do?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
you see these gray hairs?
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Welcome to the studio .
Speaker 1 (01:06):
We have today.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Howard.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Minkone, welcome to Mocktails.
Are Messy, not Howie?
Don't get it confused, right.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Because I said that to you on set the other day of
the Golf Galaxy commercial.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yes, I don't get bent about it.
Some people call me Howie, it'sfine, I just it doesn't fit.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
No, and not that there's anything wrong with
Howie, but you are a Howard Kindof sort of.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
See, now, if you're from Pittsburgh or I grew up in
the South Hills they pronounceit.
They spell it as H-I-R-E-D.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
H-I-R-E-D Hard.
Oh, that would be how theywould pronounce it Bill.
Carr, that's the Pittsburghaccent.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Kind of sortof.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Yeah, okay, so we live in Pittsburgh.
I mean, for God's sakes, youknow you had Jonas Salk.
That guy ought to be famous.
But you ask anybody on thestreet who Jonas Salk is and
they're like I got nothing.
And you're like wait, do youunderstand?
He has saved millions of lives.
Wait, who is he though, jonasSalk?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yeah, she's young.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
The polio vaccine here in Pittsburgh, oh, okay.
And prior to like the 1960s,polio was taking people's lives.
It was crippling children bythe millions.
I didn't know that happened inPittsburgh.
He invented the polio vaccineSee we're learning.
He didn't get a patentintentionally, oh my gosh,
(02:29):
because he tested it out on hisown on he and his own family he
did that confident he should befamous.
Yes, look what he's done.
Yes, he should be.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, transplants were invented here in pittsburgh
you're kidding pittsburgh yeah,you don't have like as strong
of a yinzer accent is thatbecause?
You went to universitysomewhere else.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I grew up in Clareton .
Yeah, and Clareton does nothave that Pittsburgh ease.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Is that in the?
Speaker 3 (02:52):
country Clare-yon.
Clare-yon is.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Northern.
Oh, I got confused when youtold me that.
First time I thought you saidClareton.
Well, Clareton, Clareton.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
South Clareton, clareton, south Hills, south
Hills.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
On the Monongahela River.
Okay, okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
On the.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Monongahela River.
So here's one of the thingsit's known for.
Did you ever see the movie theDeer Hunter?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
I've definitely heard of it.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
So the Deer Hunter was about guys working in the
Clareton Coke Works.
Robert De Niro and all thoseguys came to Clareton and
actually went bar to bar to barto bar learning what it's like
to be a mill guy in Claretonfitting for Pittsburgh.
Yeah, and I know people thatactually like worked in the
mills and showed up at work,because a lot of the guys would
(03:36):
either go to the bar before orafter, yeah, and they were like
there's these guys and they'rebuying everybody drinks and they
were like oh yeah, right, andthere's some kind of these
famous guys and they're like, ohyeah, right, no no, that's who
it was, they were in town, sothat's where I grew up oh, my
god, and you know a little bitabout the south hills versus the
(03:56):
north hills.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
You explained to me like the south park was like a
hot spot to pick up ladies.
No, it was a place to cruise.
Uh well, cruise means checkingout the kitty.
Oh, you were checking out women, or maybe not kitty, guys and
girls.
So many jokes too much, it's alittle hard to follow but so
back up real quick.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
So I learned, I got rid of and worked really hard
not to have a strong pittsburghaccent.
Oh, because I found thatgetting in the entertainment
business or having that desireto be in the business, um, if I
had a strong pittsburgh,pittsburgh it would.
(04:38):
It would create a problem.
But if I could yeah, if I coulddevelop a a very generic
dialect, then people would sitthere and go.
I'm not exactly sure where he'sfrom.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah, good, the pittsburgh accent is a little
offsetting to people that aren'tfrom here, I think and it's
definitely, it's not.
Like you know, southern accentsare kind of like charming oh,
oh yeah, but the Pittsburghaccent it's a little rough, it's
rough.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
It's a little like.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
My wife is from Youngstown.
You go to Youngstown and speakPittsburghese, man, They'll look
at you like go back across theboard.
We don't like you.
We don't fucks with that youknow, no no.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
No, not a idea.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
So you two met on set .
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yes, you were doing a , it's 5 o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Oh my god, 5 o'clock in the morning at Akron, ohio.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
We both had to travel what?
Two hours One way, well, Icheated.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
He did cheat.
I cheated, not on his wife.
No, absolutely not.
My mother-in-law and herhusband live in Ohio.
Yes, so when I got to call timeat 5 am I was like oh why?
So I messaged them and theywere like absolutely, Come,
crash here.
So I crashed at their house, soI only had a one hour drive to
(05:53):
work.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Exactly, and you notice a lot of people like if
they get those like really earlycall times that are like a
couple hours away, they'll get ahotel.
But I'm sure for you I'm justkind of like I'm at that point
where I'm like just trying to belike strategic with it, like
I'm not gonna be getting a hotelunless it's, like you know, a
couple thousand dollarcommercial you are living.
Our dream is to be anentertainer in pittsburgh or
(06:18):
locally to be, like you know, anentertainer music um.
We kept saying musician magicianrightician.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Right, You're a magician.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
You have many titles, so I started out when I was in
my teens, riding skateboard.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Very physical.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
He was a skater boy, big time, big time oh shit,
hardcore skateboarder, you'regetting Kelly excited.
What's your boyfriend'shusband's name?
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Ryan.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Congratulations, ryan , he he's gonna get lucky
tonight so from that, a coupleof guys I used to skateboard
with got into break dancing.
When break dancing first hitand I'm like, oh, this is really
cool.
Well, what is break dancing?
Gymnastics, martial arts,formal dance like ballet and and
(07:11):
tap and all this other stuffmime movement, boxing, fencing
there's all these disciplinesthat keep coming in and out of
break dancing.
Got into doing that, starteddoing that, ended up with an
eight-man um dance crew out ofclareton and we started doing.
We had eight, we had four guysunder 21, four guys over, so the
(07:34):
four guys over would go todifferent nightclubs and we
would actually go walk in andthey were like, oh, you guys are
here, can you guys do a set?
Well, let's see what we gothere.
It's really cool and we wouldstart doing we would walk into
places that were velvet, ropedwaiting lines and all this other
stuff.
They were like oh, oh, you guysare here, can you guys?
(07:55):
Yep.
And we would go in and do likea three-minute presentation and
end up getting a couple roundsof drinks bought for us and
stuff like that.
And if we did high schools orfestivals or whatever, then we
bring the whole eight-man crew,because then we had the guys
under 21 from that.
Somebody came to me and saidyou want to learn mime and
(08:17):
movement?
You need to talk to this guy.
Well, here's where it getsreally fun.
Out in Monroeville used to be aplace called the Holiday House.
The Holiday House was the topshelf entertainment place
between New York and Chicago.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Woo Damn.
Can we go to a Holiday House?
Is it still?
Speaker 3 (08:38):
there.
Long gone, oh shit, long gone,see.
So you heard about the guy thattook a tumble the other night
in Greensburg yes, I did not.
Jay Leno slipped and fell gotbruised up and yet still did the
gig.
Jay Leno used to perform at theHoliday House.
(08:59):
When Jay Leno was at theHoliday House, he'd get a phone
call you need to go to Vegas.
You need to open for somebody.
And he said I can't.
I got to do the rest of theweek at the holiday house.
I said no, you're not Get a cab.
Get to Pittsburgh's airport,you're going to Vegas.
He says why, who am I workingfor?
He said you're opening forSinatra.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Damn that sinatra.
Damn right, that's fucking sicklike that.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Just gave me the chills a little bit harry
anderson who was judge harold tstone on the tv show night court
the temptations the jerry vale,all these people?
Performed at the holiday houseright right, right, right
exactly, so I get a gig workingin the comedy club downstairs as
a mind.
Okay, so wait, downstairs,upstairs.
There was a nightclub.
(09:50):
Upstairs.
Okay, there was a huge showroomthat was like a Las
Vegas-looking showroom.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
That is so crazy.
In Monroeville it was a hotel.
I bet you Jackie knows aboutthis.
Oh it was.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
It was a hotel, uh-huh, with a indoor outdoor
pool, a dry cleaners, ashoeshine man, a dry cleaner in
the building, because if youwere staying there for several
days, true you didn't have totake your stuff to the dry
cleaner out the road.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
You called room service and they took your stuff
downstairs to the dry cleanerthat's the place and did the
thing but that's where I started.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
That was like my first major gig.
Now, the whole time I'm doingthis, I'm working at a as a bag
bagger, stock boy in a grocerystore giant niggle can you show
us some mime move, wait, mimemime, mime can you show us like
a couple moves.
Here's the easiest one.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Is that called a worm ?
Speaker 3 (10:48):
It's kind of like a wave.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Yeah, oh, okay.
Yeah, I can't do that.
Can you take it that way?
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Yeah, or you take it that way, that's pretty Whoa Ooh
.
That is kind of wild to watchon the.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
TV and see it in person so it goes that way yeah,
okay, that was good thank youthank you for giving a little
taste.
Oh no worries, so real quick soreal quick.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
So I go from that.
I'm working at a grocery store.
I get a job.
No, a little private grocerystore chain in Clareton there
was three stores, little tinystores.
From that I end up as a salesguy at Nestle Foods.
I'm a sales guy at Nestle Foods.
I'm a sales guy company cardsdriving all around central
Pennsylvania selling chocolateOkay, fancy.
The company consolidates.
(11:38):
After I'm there four years andI'm out of a job the whole time,
though I'm getting a gig, maybeonce a month, once every two
months, to perform here, toperform there.
I get laid off and the nextthing, you know, my phone starts
stirring.
Hey, we hear you do this, mindmovement, juggling stuff.
Can you come here, can you comethere?
(11:59):
Sure, so now I have beentrained to sell a product by the
number one food producingcompany in the world.
Highly trained to sell aproduct, and I'm to believe it.
What am I selling me?
What am I selling me?
(12:20):
And the next thing, you know,it took off and it was all you.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Well, no, you had your hand in it.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Yeah, so this is what I told you the other morning.
God gives everybody a gift.
This is the gift I'm prettyconfident that he gave me.
Yeah, fuck, yeah.
But it has taken me places.
I have never, ever imaginedgetting to go.
I've gotten to do stuff I'venever, never imagined getting to
(12:49):
do so we're talking like asiaso I've done.
I've been to china twice.
I was there once in 2007 for aweek.
I was there again in 2017 fortwo months.
Oh my god, I toured 30 citiesin china for two months I'm sure
your kids missed you yeah yeah,my kids missed my kids miss me,
(13:09):
my wife and I.
That was, that was rough thatwas rough because it hit me Um,
rachel and I got married in 2014.
So this is only a couple ofyears after we get married and I
get this call and they're likecan you do two months?
And I went well, you're goingto have to give me some time.
We have to talk about my wifeand I have to talk about this.
(13:30):
We talked about it, we prayedabout it and she said you have
to do this.
You have to do this Supportivewoman.
How did you meet her?
She was slumming.
No, I'm kidding.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I was like what, Wait , what is slumming?
Because I love that word.
I feel like, is it like aslumlord?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Or is that like a hobo, Like what is a slumlord?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
You can't even say hobo anymore.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
That's politically incorrect oh please, what is
slumming?
Oh please, there's a clown.
There's a type of clown knownas a hobo clown.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Get out of here, man, wait, wait.
You got to tell us what'sslumming.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
So I tease my wife about this all the time so as
you and I talked briefly theother morning.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
I was Thank God we did.
Oh my gosh, this is so coolBecause you are bringing me all
the right vibes.
Seriously, thank you.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
So I was married twice before.
I was married twice beforeHighly highly dysfunctional
marriages.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Really bad the beginnings.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Two of them no.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Oh, so you're on round three.
Yes, oh great.
This is my third marriage,third time's the charm, you
better believe it.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
And to quote an old NFL friend of mine, he said I
far outkicked my coverage.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Good thing, good thing.
Oh yeah, good thing, good thingyeah.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
So um, and your kids, like the the third, oh they, I
wouldn't have married her Iwouldn't have dated her if they
didn't.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Oh good, because I that's a good dad for several
months before I said, hey, I'vebeen dating this girl and they
were like, oh, thank god, wedidn't think you were dating and
I'm like, well, I'm not gonnatell you, I'm dating somebody
because I don't want you to getattached they.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
They love you, they wanted you to be happy.
That's special.
That's what happened the secondtime.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
My children are to my first marriage and, um, I got
married after that and it wasextremely bad.
I was only married for a yearand it really put them through a
(15:34):
lot because they were like,okay, we got to know her kids,
we got to know, you know, thiswas a new life and all of a
sudden, within a year, it blowsapart.
Not healthy, not good at all.
So when I met Rachel and wentout with her and really really
saw that this was going to gothat direction, I sat down with
my daughters, who at this pointwere significantly older, and I
said, okay, look, we need totalk about this, and were like
you're dating somebody.
I said, yeah, they were like,oh, thank god, dad, we didn't
think you were dating anybody.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
I said yeah, they do they're, they're amazing.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
After everything they've gone through, they both
have done phenomenal they bothhave married, which?
Speaker 2 (16:03):
I love it.
Yeah, I have two daughters.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Yes, um 27 and 30.
One lives here in thePittsburgh area, the other one
lives in Florida.
They both have married.
Phenomenal, phenomenal guys.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
That's amazing, and they both have dated idiots in
the past.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
And then they marry these guys and you go whoa
that's cool.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
You've got a good place to go vacation to in
Florida when you visit yourdaughter, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
My job as a father is to teach my kids how to fly I
like it her husband's a pilotnot in that sense it's a
metaphor but it is, it is okay.
I didn't know, I was no, but ifyou look, if you look at an
eagle, an eagle's job is toraise the young to teach them
(16:48):
how to fly.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
They can spread their wings now and they can go.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Yes, okay, that makes sense, and I've taught my kids
the whole time it is a really,really big world.
Yeah, yeah, go do, go see whatyou love, go see, go explore the
whole world, because there'speople that live in a community
and they look at that communityand they say, well, there's a
(17:12):
bank and there's a post officeand there's a grocery store and
we have no reason to leave.
We've talked about this before.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Like we were gone for 10 years and we're so happy to
reconnect with family and likewe love that we experienced
outside of the Berg.
But I will say there was a partof me in like a one point in
New York.
I was like I don't want toleave Manhattan, like I have
everything in here, like youknow, within this, like five
mile radius.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Right, and the pandemic made this worse.
I'm going to say this.
I'm going to say this wordwrong, so I apologize to anybody
who listens who is of Japanesedescent.
I think it is referred to.
The word is called Hikimoro andit is a um.
(17:53):
It's a disorder where peopledon't leave their apartments.
Oh, for months.
So they will.
When I was in china, mytranslator, um, spoke english,
chinese, obviously chinese, butthree or four different dialects
in chinese.
And then um English, obviouslyChinese, but three or four
different dialects in Chinese.
And then she spoke English, soshe was my translator.
I was the only English-speakingperson on the tour.
(18:14):
Everybody else was from Spain,so it was a crew from Spain and
myself.
He is a hugely famous Europeanmagician and I was the comedy
act on the tour.
She said I don't need to leavemy apartment.
I order groceries.
They come here.
I want to go on vacation turnthe tv on.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
There it is, oh gosh oh my god, that's not if I want
to go to the grand canyon.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
There it is.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
There's the grand canyon I see their point, but
that's not living.
That's insane, yeah that'scrazy.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
she said no, you don't understand.
My friends have to come get meout of my apartment every couple
months because I have no reasonto leave.
But you understand this.
Because of the pandemic and theparanoia that set in, there are
people that are terrified todeath to step outside because
they believe what they hear,which is everything is a
catastrophe, everything's bad,everything's disease ridden,
(19:09):
blah, blah, blah, blah, blahoutside, so they never leave.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
I love that the Japanese have labeled this,
because I don't know if we'reaware of it in America.
I know that it exists here.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Oh, sorry, I was trying to pronounce Hikimora.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
It's okay.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
We'll be focusing on a new word that you might find
challenging or intriguing.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Oh, there we go.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
So, without further ado, let's dive into today's
word Hikikomori, which meansOkay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Okay, you were really off, but you did good to
describe reclusive individuals.
Yep, reclusive individuals.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Hikikomori.
Good enough, that was right.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
You were better at that, and I've got to say, when
we pulled up you were runningout and we thought you were
leaving us and come to find outwhat were you doing.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
You little funny honeybee.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Yeah, man, so I brought you guys.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Oh, my God what.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Okay, so your shirt is your, that's your brand.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
That's what I do.
That's one of the other thingsthat I do.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Oh my gosh, I thought it was just a.
I love that.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
So we were.
We had friends over for dinnerone night and we're sitting in
the dining room eating dinnerand one of my wife's friends-
sweet as he is, Hold on.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
why is it so dark?
Speaker 3 (20:29):
it's really dark so that's fall honey that is.
That is about as fresh as it'sgoing to get.
That's only been.
I mean, the only way it'sgetting fresher literally is, if
I took it out of the um, a hivebox right now drink it right
now.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Taste it.
That looks so good, yeah, or?
Speaker 3 (20:45):
stick your finger in there because it cleans it.
Oh, it cleans itself, okay.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
So honey is self-cleaning okay it's
self-cleaning, that's no fuckingjoke no, I'm not just saying
that how I'm a honey fan.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
This is gonna cure all of our cool.
We need to hear this story,though.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
We had friends over for dinner one night and this
was several years ago and theysaid you know you're doing this,
you're starting with honeybeesand all that.
And they said what are yougoing to call your honey?
And I said I don't know.
And the wife looked over at meand she looks at my wife and she
goes well, it's got to be funny, honey, you're a comic.
And we all looked at each otherand went yeah, that's it,
(21:32):
that's what it's going to be.
So my wife's best frienddesigned the logo for us.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
That is so cool.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
That's cute, do they have?
Speaker 2 (21:39):
equity partnership.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
No, Well they actually own the property where
one of my apiaries is down inBentleyville.
They own a 20-acre farm Wow.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
And in.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Bentleyville.
They own a 20 acre farm Wow,and I have one of my yards is
there and then my other one isup at Trax Farms.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Did you hear that beekeepers actually live longer?
What do you think the reasonfor that is?
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Happiness.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
That's one, but there's also a lot of benefits
to being around the bees.
I've heard that there is avibration that is extremely
calming, one of the things theydo right now is they are putting
together veterans who sufferPTSD and they are giving them
(22:25):
beehives and training them howto take care of beehives,
because when they start gettingreally, really, really cranked
up, go out in the bee yard.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Calms their soul.
That's amazing, and it calmsthem down from the inside.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Wow, then all the benefits of honey.
Yeah, now when you go to Costcoor Walmart or whatever and you
see these like gallon jugs ofhoney for like nothing, that's
corn syrup.
That's what I've heard.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Yeah, so that's the real deal, and I heard it's
better to drink to or to eat thehoney that's local to you
within 50 miles correct yeahwhat's that?
Speaker 3 (22:58):
about, so it has all the local pollen from allergies
normally affect you.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
You know, if you get an over overwhelming amount of
pollen, then your histaminesystem kicks in, your eyes water
, your nose runs your cough andsneeze but if you're taking hits
of this, now do you have like asuit suit, so I wear I wear a
veil that kind of looks like ahoodie yeah so it's not a full
bee suit.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
I'm.
I'm not that.
The guys who mentored me, theguys who taught me beekeeping um
, taught me and, and you justget to where you're like, I
don't need all that stuff, soI'll go in a pair of, like long
pants, um last year.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
These are not aggressive by nature, right?
Are they more docile?
Okay, so if you upset them,they can.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
So kelly, don't take this wrong.
I have a beautiful wife and twodaughters.
These can be moody and they canchange their mood because
they're females.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Oh yeah, I understand that 98% of the hive.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
She's never been like that.
She's done tradition Right andI'm 4'11".
How did?
Speaker 1 (24:15):
you know, how did you know, how did you?
Speaker 3 (24:16):
know you're going to get these gray hairs from all.
You're not.
So during the year, during the,the, the spring, spring, summer
season, like 95 to 98 percentof the hive is female.
The male's only job is to breed.
That's it.
The male does not breed withthe queen from that hive.
Interesting she flies five milesaway to breed and then comes
(24:42):
back, and then all she does therest of her life is lay eggs.
Now what's really bizarre isfrom mid-March to mid-September,
a bee will live four to sixweeks.
From mid-September to mid-March, a bee will live four to six
months.
(25:03):
So interesting she lays aphysiologically different bee
now than she does in the summer.
But yet a queen will live fourto six I'm sorry, will live
three to five years.
Yeah, that's a long time.
So going back to your questionabout benefits of beekeeping and
(25:23):
longevity, the other thing iswe get stung.
We get stung all the time.
What happens for a lot ofbeekeepers is your body builds
up a tolerance to that sting towhere it no longer responds yes.
So when I get stung it's kindof like a carpenter getting a
splinter or a florist getting athorn.
(25:44):
You just kind of pull the thingout and just do you think it
helps your body's tolerance toother?
Speaker 2 (25:49):
things.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Oh God, yes, I can imagine oh yeah, oh, yeah, yeah,
yeah, you just don't get sicklike you used to.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I say that this is the first guest that we had,
that we did not follow a script,we did not follow the questions
.
It was You're the first guest.
All off the cuff it was all offthe cuff.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Roll with it, man.
I knew when I first met you.
I said he's a goodie, thank you.
You know and you know I want toshare, you know, what is your
like mantra with the audience.
Can you give us some likeinsight on like you said this
about, like having a passion andfinding it and then really just
double downing on it until you?
Speaker 3 (26:30):
No.
So my mantra, my thing, is thisLike I said to you earlier, god
gives everybody a gift.
My walk of faith has gotten methrough two really bad divorces.
Yeah, it's gotten me through alot of messy stuff in my life.
That's what got me where I am.
That's what got me two amazingdaughters.
(26:51):
That's what got me two amazingdaughters.
That's what got me an amazingwife.
Is I put my faith not in me, notin my skills, not in my talents
, not in my brains.
I have a faith in God.
I really do and I have noreservations about that.
That said, god gives everybodya gift and I'm not telling
everybody, everybody.
My job is not to sit here andconvert somebody to believe in
(27:11):
God.
No, but you asked me thequestion of what's mine right?
That's it.
My job is is to you know, behonest and transparent about
that.
And my, my experience has saidto me God gives everybody a gift
, follow it.
It ain't about being famous, itain't about being famous, it
ain't about being rich.
It is about following the giftthat he gives you and saying,
(27:33):
okay, I submit to something Idon't quite understand, but I
trust, and as soon as I starteddoing that, it's not a Damascus
Road moment.
It wasn't like I got hit bylightning and I'm on the ground
going.
I can't see.
No, I stopped arguing.
I just stopped arguing.
I went all right, look, I can'tsee.
No, I stopped arguing.
I just stopped arguing.
I went all right, look, I can'tdo this right, guide me, guide
(27:55):
me, you direct me, I'll go.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
And you just let it go.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Look, I get a phone call and somebody says hey,
Howard, how would you like to goto China for two months?
Really, Yep, really Yep.
I meet a woman who for, if youput my resume next to her resume
, absolutely no reasonwhatsoever Should she have ever
(28:21):
gone out with me.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Well, I was going to say, like, how does it kind of
like the last thing is likefinancially?
How is it like to kind of be anentertainer and raise two
daughters?
I mean, do you have to havethat supportive partner that's
going to be able to hold downthe floor?
I didn't.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Right, I didn't at all.
I found myself sitting in myapartment at one point, going I
have $23 to my name.
There's nothing I can sell inmy apartment that is going to
get me money.
Not at all, nothing, zero.
Okay, lord, how's this going tohappen?
So here's my, here's my, my32nd miracle story.
(28:59):
Client calls me.
This is in April of one year.
In April, two clients call me.
One is in Dubois, one is in alittle village called Brookville
which is on Interstate 80 justwest.
Okay, they want me to work inJune.
Their gigs are a week apart.
Okay, I sent them a contract.
It means nothing.
They both sent payment in fullin April and I went oh my gosh,
(29:30):
what am I supposed to do withthis?
And I called my accountant andI said this gig isn't until June
.
He said, howard, this isn'tabout you.
You have to cash the check.
If you don't cash the check,you're going to mess their books
up.
This ain't about you.
I have $23 into my name.
I couldn't even go to church.
(29:51):
I couldn't even go to church.
I couldn't even drive to churchbecause I couldn't afford to
put gas in the car, because Iwas like I got to save my money
because I got nothing.
They sent me checks whichlanded on the same day.
Paid in full for a gig in June.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Paid- in full for a gig in June.
I've heard God works his gifts,his miracles in threes.
Was there anything else thathappened in that time?
Speaker 3 (30:17):
I'm still here.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Hey, hey, hey.
But again, this isn't rubbingthe vase or rubbing the lamp and
getting your wishes.
Yeah, because I've been througha lot of really bad stuff and
people have said to me you'vebeen through all this rough
stuff, where's God in that?
It took a while down the roadto look back and went oh, there
(30:40):
he was.
It wasn't Again, you're notgetting Robin Williams in a
genie, I didn't worry about it.
Well, thank you, howard, you arethe best.
We really appreciate you comingon Mocktails or Messy.
This is awesome.
This is wonderful.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
I'm very blessed, thank you guys, the magician
entertainer the mime.
What else can we add to thelong list of talents?
Speaker 3 (31:04):
Howard.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
It just has fun, thank you.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
So this is Howard Minkow, and I've gotten to spend
the wonderful afternoon withMocktails or Messy with Kelly
and Ryan.
Tell your friends to listen,pass it on, man.
This is cool stuff.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Thank you so much, Howard.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
Thanks guys.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
This is Ryan Frankofsky, and.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Kelly Mazgorski.
Thank you for listening toMocktails or Messy.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Ciao, Howard, Thank you guys, we'll see you soon on
the Honey Farm.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.