Weed, Wait Times, and Why the Chicken Sandwich Is Always “Two Minutes Out”

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Attention, all you fishes in the sea.
You know him as the co-host ofthe hilarious Chubby Behemoth
podcast with Sam Talon.
You know him from the Kill Tonycommunity.
You know him as the hilariouslyfunny comedian Nathan Lunn.
Welcome to the Fish Bowl.
Thanks for having me, man.
Absolutely.
Thank you for taking the time toswim in the bowl with me.

SPEAKER_02 (00:23):
Yeah, I got my floaties on.
You can't tell.
But I uh I have floaties.
I have a little life preserverfor the around my waist, so I
can swim on my back easily.

SPEAKER_00 (00:34):
You know, I'm I'm in one of the the those chairs with
the cup holder and uh you knowflo floating right right by a
making story, you know, my myguppies don't drown.

SPEAKER_02 (00:44):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (00:45):
You know, but the key thing we gotta know is if
the temperature is just right.

SPEAKER_01 (00:49):
Yeah, it's like a bath.

SPEAKER_00 (00:51):
Feels good.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, not not too not toohot, not too cold.

SPEAKER_02 (00:56):
Feels like amniotic fluid, yeah, it's nice.

SPEAKER_00 (00:59):
You know, like the instead of the the three bears
with the porridge, it's the thethree fish with the fish food.

SPEAKER_02 (01:05):
Yeah, no, I'm getting my minerals and
nutrients, not and I'm notgetting it to be a fat fish, so
that's good.
You know, you gotta be healthyso I can live my full six months
or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 (01:15):
Right, right.
You know, and it's just swimmingupstream from here.

SPEAKER_02 (01:19):
Yeah, man.
What's that poster you got fromDust Till Dawn?
What's the other one?

SPEAKER_00 (01:22):
Forbidden Planet or what uh Army of Darkness.
Oh, hell yeah.
Dude.
Yeah, yeah.
And my my shirt uh shoot uh doyou know the comedian Steph
Tolev?
I I it I was it's funny you youI actually wore this shirt to so
it's funny you brought it upbecause if you weren't, I was.
I saw her this past week.

(01:44):
Oh shit.
In uh Pittsburgh and JeffersonMcDonald opened uh you know for
her, and I forget who Iapologize, Steph and Jefferson.
Uh the comedian who opened forthem, but uh it was a it was a
great show.

SPEAKER_02 (01:59):
I would imagine, yeah.
I love Steph and the all thevideos with with Jefferson have
been great.
They recre you know they reenactscenes from Happy Gilmore, or
I've seen you know a coupleother movies, but it's really
funny to watch Jefferson playhis own dad.
Right, right.
And then for Steph to play thatgiant that got the nail in the

(02:20):
head.
Jackass.
Or yes.
What's his name?
Shit.

SPEAKER_01 (02:25):
Uh he just died.
Yeah, he just died.
Yeah, also from Pittsburgh.

SPEAKER_02 (02:29):
Was it Joe something?
Joe Fleischer, no.
Yeah, not Flesh Fleischer, butyeah, yeah, I know I know I know
who you mean.

SPEAKER_00 (02:39):
Yeah, he was he was from Pittsburgh, I I found out.
And uh the funny thing I toldJefferson and Steph, because I
was talking to them after theshow, is the the actual real
shooter McGavin, you know, ChrisMcDonald, was actually in
Pittsburgh like a few weeksprior, same month, just a few
weeks apart for Pittsburgh's uhlike big uh Comic-Con film.

SPEAKER_02 (03:02):
Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_00 (03:03):
Yeah, so he was there, and they also had uh
what's his name?
Alan, is it covert?
He you know, the guy who's allin grandma's boy.

SPEAKER_02 (03:10):
Grandma's boy, yeah, isn't it?
Yeah, co covert or coburn.

SPEAKER_00 (03:16):
Yeah, something like that.
Covert, covern.
You met him?
Yeah, they were both at uh theconvention.
Everybody was like, Are we gonnaget Sandler?
and um people like me who havebeen going to those things for
years were like, no fucking way.

SPEAKER_02 (03:30):
Yeah, no, Comic Con.
Well, I can't say all some ComicCons get some heavy hitters, but
a lot of what you're gonna getare those really good character
actors that have been in amillion things, and and and it's
they're almost kind of goingaway, I feel, as you see a lot
of bigger movies, they just wantall of like they want a bunch of
A-list names, and then everybodyelse is kind of extras or

(03:51):
whatever.
But a lot of great movies wereas great as they were because of
those character actors fillingup those roles underneath, you
know, the the the romantic leadsor whatever.
Right.
And uh and it yeah, the a lot ofthose cons.
You get to meet a lot of reallytalented people that maybe you
don't know their name.
I've tried to get better atknowing a lot of those names
because you get I get sick ofbeing like, What's the who's

(04:13):
that guy he was in?
And so it is pretty cool to beable to meet some of those
talented people that really thatthat could elevate a movie, you
know, from good to great.

SPEAKER_00 (04:22):
Definitely.
And it's funny you say thatbecause like my my show kind of
it's it's like niche is like uhactually interviewing those
specific types of actors, theones that like are in everything
we would have seen growing up,because you and me are you know
a couple years apart, and youknow, basically everything from

(04:42):
like the 70s, 80s, and 90s, youknow, is is like all those
people or you know, thecharacter actors are who I like
to get on my show.
Like, and and it's funny you saythat because especially about
meeting them there.
One of the big ones that I gotjust from attending a con and
just going up to the guy andsaying uh it was his name is

(05:02):
Mark Ralston.
Yeah, aliens.

SPEAKER_02 (05:05):
I looked him up because he was the second guy
you listed as somebody that youhad on.
And I look him up and I'm like,oh shit, yeah, Shaw Shank, and
you know, like you say, millionthings, yeah, talented dude.
And then, you know, it's thesame with comedy.
Like I used to want long ago, Iwanted to be a you know one of
the biggest, or let's see wherewe can end up, you know,
hopefully near the top orwhatever.

(05:26):
And it's like over the years, Igot more realistic or more just
like, man, I don't want to doall that shit that I would need
to get up there.
So I just want to be funny andand do it for a living.
And some people think that'slike that doesn't count as
making it, and it's like, youknow, but they don't know what
they're talking about.
Really, you have to be able towork.
You want people to know thinkthat you're funny and talented,

(05:46):
and the rest, you know, you justI just want to see where I end
up with with luck and withpersistence, as opposed to this
head down grinding, you know,putting your all into it.
That's fucking exhausting, man.
So not to say that people whoaren't famous actors didn't work
very hard, but you know what Imean.
There's just there's only somany roles to go around, and if

(06:06):
you can stay busy and fulfilled,then that's you know, making it
to me, and it has been for awhile now.
And and you know, there'sthere's you know, people know me
and and like me, and that'sthat's enough for me, you know.
The rest is just icing on thecake.

SPEAKER_00 (06:21):
Absolutely.
And and you know, like peoplelike you, and I really have to
throw Sam Talent's name inthere, and just the whole like
Kill Tony team.
You guys made it seem like justencouraging like the average
person to you know just goofaround to at least try it.

(06:41):
If if you ever see Shane Gillis,tell him this story.
I won't I want this story to golike viral amongst comedians
because this this is like trulylegendary.
My my dad used to work theelevators at Rockefeller, you
know, plaza or whatever, the thebuilding where SNL right right

(07:02):
is shot.
And you know, he told me storiesabout how this is like back in
the the early 80s.
So like, you know, he he metlike you know, Belushi, Chevy
Chase, Bill Murray, GildaRagnar, you know, Gene Wilder,
you know, like you know, allthese like the the legends, you
know, the the people who startedit all and said they were really

(07:24):
nice guys and really nicepeople, had nothing bad to say,
you know, also used to selldrugs and stuff stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 (07:33):
Oh, perfect, yeah, good idea.
Yeah, and you're you're runningout of product.

SPEAKER_00 (07:39):
Right.
And I mean, he gave me therundown on the whole like
cocaine system and you know howin uh the rec room of uh of you
know the SNL area, you'd likeopen this this cabinet, you
know, and there'd be like thisbowl just filled with like
cocaine, you know, and anybodywas like allowed to help

(08:02):
themselves, basically.
The the the funniest thing hetold me, and I also just found
this out, him and his you knowco-worker buddy at the time, you
know, had turned on someproducers and writers and stuff
on the coke and you knowdifferent drugs and stuff, and
you know, they were partying andhaving a blast.

(08:22):
And the guys uh said to him, youknow, but we'll we'll put you in
a in a in a sketch, you know, asas like extras, you know, on uh
on you know, this this weekendon SNL.
You know, Friday comes andthey're like, oh, like they're
telling their friends, they'reyou know, telling all these
people like we're gonna beextras on a skit on SNL.

(08:42):
And you know, Friday nightcomes, oh you're cut.
Sorry, you know, it is what itis.
Yeah.
My dad, basically, especially atthat time, is like, these
motherfuckers are gonna cut usafter what we did for them, you
know?
So he's like, I'm gonna getback.
I'm gonna get back at them.
So he waited and he waited, andfinally it was a night after

(09:08):
rapping, you know, anotherepisode of SNL.
All the producers, you know, arein this elevator, which he has
control of at the time, andbasically they hit the button,
you know, for the first floor,the elevator starts to go down
and stops.
My and and I found out the themost recent element to this

(09:30):
story that kind of puts the thecherry on top of the the the
cake or you know, whatever, isthat that that producer was
Lauren Michaels.

SPEAKER_02 (09:39):
Yeah, he was in there, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (09:41):
And specifically the person who said all this to my
dad was was Lauren Michaels.
So my dad locked Lauren Michaelsand like several other, you
know, main producer, people,writers, or whatever, yeah, at
the time in in an elevator, andthey were all gone getting ready
to go to like studio, what wasit, 60 was 64, whatever back.

SPEAKER_02 (10:04):
I don't know, yeah.
I think of like 8H as a thing.

SPEAKER_00 (10:08):
Yeah.
Studio 60 was yeah, I don'tknow.
Yeah, it was it was one of thoseclubs basically all out the
party, and you know, they theythey Oh, oh not in rock, not in
30 rock.

SPEAKER_02 (10:20):
Yeah, what was that?
Studio 57, I think.

SPEAKER_00 (10:23):
Yeah, something like that.
That was the big one, the bigclub, yeah.
Yeah, and they were all all likeheading out to to go there.
And uh, you know how they had,you know, in the old elevators,
they'd have like a telephone,you know, in there you could
call for like maintenance orwhatever.
And they they you know, LaurenMichaels would call and be like,
excuse me, uh, you know, what'swhat's going on with the

(10:43):
elevator?
And my dad answered, you know,with his buddy, and perfect
response, and and just kind ofthe the butt of the joke is uh
we're working on it.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (10:54):
Well, that's why you don't fuck with uh elevator
operator, they can make you waitas long as they want you to
wait.

SPEAKER_00 (11:00):
Right.
My dad was like, you know, thisthis has to stay between us.
And I'm like, no, this thisstory needs to go, needs to go
viral.

SPEAKER_02 (11:10):
Did you watch Saturday night, that new movie?
You know, I haven't yet.
I wanted to.
Yeah, I thought it was good.
You know, yeah, the moviecaptures a lot of the
electricity that must have beengoing on, you know, and stress
for this unproven guy to get hisshot and to like everybody kind
of knows or finds out over thecourse of that day, like how

(11:32):
close or how perilous it wasbecause the studio, the
executives were like ready tonot air the show at all.
They had a rerun of the TonightShow ready to go.
If they I don't know, I I guessbecause they were in
negotiations with j with Carsonabout a new contract or
something, and so SNL was likethis threat to take away some of

(11:56):
Carson's reruns, you know, andand to renegotiate going forward
where they wouldn't need him onSaturday nights.
So yeah, there was just likethis big like power struggle up
until I guess either you know,night of, you know, and in the
movie, I think they might havemade it a little more dramatic
by making it seem like it wasthe last second that they were

(12:16):
kind of planning on showing arerun of the tonight show
instead.
But yeah, it was it was it wasgood.
I thought uh just abouteverybody was true to their
their uh character, theircounterpart, you know,
everybody, the Aykroyd guy thatdid Aykroyd, the guy that did
Chevy Chase, they were all theywere all solid.

SPEAKER_00 (12:33):
That's awesome.
I well it was uh Dylan O'Brienwho did Aykroyd.

SPEAKER_02 (12:37):
I don't know if that's is is he in a lot of
stuff?
I can't remember if I recognizedhim.

SPEAKER_00 (12:43):
He was like the the star of uh was it the uh the the
maze run?

SPEAKER_02 (12:48):
Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 (12:49):
I didn't see that.
To be honest, I didn't reallywatch it.
I I think I watched the firstone because it like reminded me
of Lord of the Flies.
Oh, okay.
But but basically it's it's oneof those like preteen or you
like young adult, you know,novels, like where there was
what was the one with a ShalenWoodley, uh like insurgent or

(13:09):
something.
Or it's it ba basically madelike I think three of them or
something, three or four.
The the last one might have Ithink was like a part one, part
two, so there might have beenfour altogether, but it's it's
like a you know young adult uhlike sci-fi novel series that
that's like the the onlydifference is like I think why

(13:32):
it uh it probably appealed to memore than you know those other
ones was because it the thewriter who you know wrote the
the novel series aimed it moretowards you know boys, so it has
more of like a I guess a guymeter.
Yeah, you know, where the otherones were like the these are
aimed towards chicks, you know.

(13:52):
Sure, yeah, maybe more uh actionor whatever instead of yeah,
yeah, more like guy stuff, guyoriented topics and action.
You know, I I guess you knowthey they've I I would imagine
by now they've done enoughstudies to to kind of gauge like
what guys and girls, you know,like, you know, at that age

(14:14):
range that it was aimed for, youknow, which is like young
adults.
The first movie I was like,okay, this was kind of cool.
As it went on, I was just Ihonestly lost interest.

SPEAKER_03 (14:26):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (14:26):
You know, me me with novels, it's like I like one of
those people who likes the moviemore than more than the book.

SPEAKER_02 (14:33):
Yeah, I uh reading for me, if once I've fallen out
of the routine, it's hard for meto get back in.
So it's been a while since I'veread anything.
And I do I I I do prefer moviesand TV just about every time.
Even though, you know, Sam issuch a big reader, I could get
so many good recommendationsfrom him, and I have, but I

(14:54):
don't I don't consume as manybooks as he does, and sometimes
I wish that I could get backinto it, you know, and he
started doing the Kindle thing,which makes it even easier.
Right.
But I haven't I haven't readanything on a Kindle.
I have one from uh a buddy ofmine uh gave it to me before he
passed, and so there's even somebooks on there, it's just ready
to go, and I just can't I can'tI I don't do it.

(15:17):
I'll I'll watch I watch a lot ofmovies and shows that I've
already seen because I want tohave them on while I am on my
phone, and I'll read articlesand stuff on there, and so I
feel like I am kind of reading,but I as far as like novels, you
know, or even like nonfiction, Ijust when I start to read, I
usually get get tired, and soit's like annoying.

SPEAKER_00 (15:38):
So I'm exactly the same way.
Like I I I keep up with the newsand kind of articles like that,
and just you know, but Idefinitely I I have my ADD is
way way too too bad uh to kindof especially since I haven't
been in school for like you knowover uh like about 10 years was

(15:59):
like since I was in college.
So and even before that, it waslike, you know, I I took time
off in between high school andcollege.
So like I started off like whenyou're in school, it's like they
program you to read, read, read,you know, you have the
assignment list, you know, andthen once you're like like you
said, out of the the swing ofthings or just the the system of

(16:22):
it, it's like makes it hard tokind of go back into it.
But you know, I I could not getinto novels.
I think that's because my dadshowed me total recall when I
was five years old.
And it was over.

SPEAKER_01 (16:37):
It's it's pretty much been uh, you know, like
what else can I watch?

SPEAKER_00 (16:42):
You know, that that is like you know, as you know,
graphically violent as as this.
I've also gotten a obsessionwith Schwarzenegger and Stallone
and pretty much the the entireexpendables, you know, cast up
to this point because of that.

SPEAKER_02 (16:59):
They helped raise you while your dad was in the
elevator.
You were hanging out with uh youknow buff action stars kicking
ass.
Right, right.
Yeah, no novel, no Shakespeare,you know, play, and Moby Dick
doesn't have a chick with threetits in it.
So it's hard.
It's hard to compare.
Hard to yeah, sometimes I thinkre I think somewhere in my brain

(17:21):
I associate reading withhomework, with school, which I I
went right from high school tocollege and then kind of burnt
out and was sick of it.
Like I graduated, I wanted tograduate undergrad and then
didn't have a plan after that.
But all I knew was the idea ofgoing to grad school, of
continuing with more school,made me want to end everything.

(17:45):
Made me want to bring made mewant to bring a Philadelphia
pastry to the airport because itI was over it.
So I think part of part of my myl inability to read has
something to do with beingforced to read for school and uh
just never wanting to go back tothat, which is insane because if
I could pick and read whatever,then it's not like and I don't

(18:07):
have to write a book report onit, so yeah, I would have to
like retrain my brain, I think,to to get over that.

SPEAKER_00 (18:13):
I think part of my thing is the same thing as
yours.
I I did not have a good schoolexperience growing up, not at
all, which is one of the reasonswhy I really through watching
you know Kill Tony and seeinglike all the people that he's
you know helped and kind ofgotten like to do stand-up and
everything.

SPEAKER_02 (18:32):
Oh, yeah, we were talking about the uh make you
mentioned comedy feeling moreaccessible because of some of
the either Kill Tony orpodcasts, and that is a good
thing because I thought the samething when I was a kid.
I thought that there was somemagic connection you had to have
or you had to know somebody toget into any show business, you
know, let alone uh you know,including stand-up, but that's

(18:54):
not true, and I think somepeople could still think that.
But podcasts and just interviewswith comics, you know, comics
talking about how they gotstarted gets gets rid of that
because it's not true.
You just have to start whereveryou are.
You can just start doing it andpursuing it.
You don't need permission, youdon't need to take a class, you
don't need you just need to lookup where there's an open mic.

(19:17):
And even that, if well, youwouldn't start one before doing
stand-up, that would beliterally insane.
But just yeah, there's there'sso much information now that is
accessible so that you can kindof figure out what you need to
do to get going.
And there is not a lot of likeyou don't have to learn how to
play guitar or you know, take aa singing class in order to uh
figure out if you can sing, youjust have to be able to speak

(19:41):
English here, you know, and thenand then try to, you know, you
you watch enough stand-up, it'salmost like taking a class as
far as kind of the basics orwhatever, and then God, yeah,
there's so much advice andinformation that's ready, you
know, that's out there for you.
It's a good thing and a badthing.
I mean, uh there's probably waytoo many people doing stand-up,
but you can't really, you know,tell people who can't should or

(20:03):
shouldn't do it, because anybodycould be really good at it and
very funny.
You just have to be able to dothat.

SPEAKER_00 (20:08):
And I I feel like I feel like with like even though
like there there is a lot ofpeople doing it now, like more
so than when like we weregrowing up, you know, with the
accessibility of podcasting andinternet and everything, but I
also feel like it's it's not atthe point where like it's an

(20:28):
oversaturated market.

SPEAKER_02 (20:31):
Oh, it's saturated, but I just don't know what that
it's not like that means thatpeople suffer.
Like, and also how could you youcouldn't say we have we have
we're full of comics right now,so go home, you know.
It's not really how it works.
Right.
You're st you're just gonna havemore and more people trying to
stand out, and then if you can,you do, and ideally, you know,

(20:52):
you get rewarded.
But it's hard, you know, it'shard.
There is a lot of competition,and so some people, you know,
try to do everything they can toadvance, and others like me
don't do much at all, but luckout.
I mean, I moved down here toTrinidad and I didn't think I
was gonna do as much stand-up asI did when I lived in Denver,
but then Sam asked me if Iwanted to open for him, and I

(21:14):
said sure, and then got busierthan I was.
I mean, in in certain respects,got busier than I than I was
when I was working real hard inDenver trying to do shows every
night.
So it worked out, but yeah,there's a lot of people doing
it, and it is tough to uh figureout your path.

SPEAKER_00 (21:30):
I I I can believe it.
And I mean, you know, one of thethings I definitely wanted to
ask and talk about is like, youknow, like because since we're
on the the subject, it's like,you know, I I watch Kill Tony,
you know, I I I see you know I II follow Adam Ray.
I actually have some prettydecent seats to go see him do

(21:52):
the Dr.
Phil thing here in Pittsburgh inJune.
So I'm like really excited aboutthat.
But like, you know, it is likeI've seen people do well on Kill
Tony.
I've also seen people like bomblike really bad because they
they think just by listening toRogan and watching Kill Tony

(22:12):
that you know they can just goup and and and you know do it.
And some people can't, somepeople have like a you know
natural ability to you know justbe themselves and be funny.
Other ones, you know, they mightneed to work on material, they
might have like a premise thatthat you know that if they work
at it, you know, they can couldpotentially do something.

(22:34):
And then there's you know otherpeople that it's just like,
dude, you may think you knowwhat's funny, but you you got no
fucking clue, you know.
So just you know, it just it'sbetter to just stick to your day
job or whatever you're doing andjust not pursue this.
Me, you know, I've I've neverdone stand-up, but I know that

(22:56):
my writing like is and writingideas are funny.
Because like I have a a scripton Amazon that's actually like
Sam's that's uh available as anebook and for Kindle that
actually uh got publishedbecause it made it as a finalist
in a screenwriting competition.
It's called Gurr, a zombie lovestory.

(23:19):
And you know, there's like it'sit's a zombie rom-com, you know,
the adult humor.
You know, if you're a horrormovie fan, especially Ramiro
movie fan, like you'll reallyget the jokes.
It's like won like like over 20different awards besides being
published.
And like I feel like I have anidea for like what's funny with

(23:42):
like sketches and stuff, but uhyou know, there's a difference
between being like a a comedicwriter versus actually you know
doing stand-up comedy.
Yeah, you know, for instance,there's like a joke uh I came up
with in the script where there'syou know the the character is
you know a zombie who'sbasically he has a human wife

(24:04):
and she's cheating on him with ahigh school kid and trying to
kill him over a life insurancepolicy.
You know, already I kind ofthink that premise is you know a
little funny.
And there's a scene, you know,in the in the in the script
where he's at like somesupermarket and there's a
homeless zombie outside thesupermarket holding a cardboard

(24:27):
sign that says we'll work forbrains, you know.
I I think that's it's like youknow, I I think I'm funny, but
am I like you know, stand-upcomedy funny?
I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 (24:40):
Yeah, it's its own language for sure.
And right I think a lot ofpeople start out kind of
understanding it, and then somepeople have no clue.
And to be on Kill Tony as a newcomic is tough because if you
haven't figured it out yet, thebest part of being new is being
able to fail and not having abunch of people see it or you

(25:02):
know, know who you are untilyou've been doing it long enough
to where you're competent orwhatever.
So to hear that so many peoplemove to Austin and and try to do
Kiltoni when they're like lessthan a year in, right?
When they've only done stand-upa few times, like it's insane to
me.
Because I wasn't I I was funnyin the beginning, but I didn't
have it figured out yet.

(25:23):
It took me a while before I kindof realized that you need to.
The main thing that I think mostcomics don't realize is how the
language is very you have to cuta lot of stuff.
Like you have to get peopleright away.
You have to be funny right away.
And I think a lot of people, Iincluding me, when I started
out, I used to think, well, theyou know, the punchline is worth

(25:44):
the setup.
So if they just listen, then youknow, then it'll it pays off.
But they don't know who you are,you know, the crowd doesn't know
who you are.
So why would they listen to youfor a minute and a half because
they trust that it'll be funnyand worth it?
They they often didn't, and soand it wasn't worth it to them,
you know.
So the opposite is really truewhere you you gotta get them
right away, and and and and onceyou get more established, then

(26:08):
you can have the punchline, youknow, uh build to a punchline
because you're also makingpeople laugh before the
punchline, you know, and and soit is worth it because there's
little laughs that lead up tothe main laugh.
And but yeah, all the pressureof being on Kill Tony as a new
comic just sounds crazy to me.
And I understand because you'reyou're rolling the dice or

(26:30):
whatever.
And it's not like if you have abad set on Kill Tony, it's not
like you're fucked, it's notlike you can never perform
again.
But you also, I mean, that couldbe your first impression, and
then you try to get booked andyou're like, I did Kill Tony,
and then if anybody sees it,they're like, Yeah, that sucked.
You don't want that, but it it'sit's also not gonna, it's not
gonna be the end of the end ofyour career, so that is good.

(26:53):
But yeah, just all that pressureis nuts to know that you know
millions of people could seeyour minute and it's like the
fourth time you've been onstage.
That's all that's a wild ride.
Because I did not I didn't haveanybody looking at me.
I started in Vegas and just did,you know, random open mics
mostly for other comics, andthen for people like playing
video poker, so it's theopposite of you know, kill Tony.

(27:15):
It would be tough to uh to haveall that pressure when you're
just starting to you know tryand figure it all out.

SPEAKER_00 (27:21):
Right, right.
And and the way I kind of feel Icome off funny is just more
naturally being myself, youknow, v versus trying to like be
funny by telling a joke, youknow, or or like it does that
does that make any sense?
Like people sometimes are justnaturally funny if they're like

(27:42):
just joking around, but like themoment you kind of put like the
spotlight on them and say, here,go perform and and you know be
funny to a crowd of you knowhowever many people, whether
it's a you know an open mic oryou know, the the an improv or
like a arena or with like someof the the Kill Tony stuff.

(28:03):
I I mean like for instance, likeyou know, yesterday I I I
participated in the study tomake uh uh you know some quick
cash.
There was another participant inthe study.
I have no clue if they like youknow pre-screened us or
anything, but never met thisdude in my life.
First time interacting.

(28:24):
And you know, he told meafterwards I was wearing a uh
King of the Hill t-shirt, and hesaid, I saw your t-shirt, so I
knew you know who you were.
You know, essentially like youryour taste in you know movies
and everything is probably thesame as mine.
But you know, we like just hitit off and we're joking around

(28:46):
the whole time and just beinglike naturally funny, you know,
like like like you're not youknow it it's yes, it was
circumstances of like thequestions they were asking in
this study, but like, you know,we were just goofing around, you
know, you know, and I thinksometimes like especially like
if you're recording a podcastand it's like you know, you're

(29:09):
just organically being likeyourselves and sometimes you
know, being yourself ororganically interacting with
someone who you vibe with, youknow, whether it's a a longtime
friend or you know, a guest oryou know, a new new person,
what's or whatever factor, itcan come off just like the

(29:30):
chemistry, you know, is like youyou can't like you know
recapture it if it was like youwere told to like you know be
like a monkey and like perform,you know.
So I I think, you know, I mean II know my writing is funny, like
I wrote a uh a short scriptbecause I'm really into like my
two favorite topics are moviesand music.

(29:53):
And I wrote like a short rockopera called Space Rockers, and
uh the premise is like they uhuh intergalactic alien musician
crash lands on earth andtransforms a wannabe death death
core metal band into his minionsso he can conquer the world with
rock all right but but you knowI I I I like have a goofy sense

(30:15):
of humor and I have like youknow like my my writing I also
had that this I this long thislong running idea for a couple
sketches and let me see if I canI can run these by you to see
like if if if it you know beinga comedian would you think this
would be funny.
The first one I've always hadI've had this idea for a long

(30:36):
time because it's been based onreal experiences going to
multiple different fast foodrestaurants with the exception
of Chick-fil-A because all theysell is chicken.
But like you know I mean everysingle fast food place I've gone
to you know if you order youknow the chicken sandwich versus

(30:57):
the burger for some reasonyou're always waiting on the
chicken.
You know I I don't know ifthat's been your experience or
you know at least in Pittsburghevery single fast food chain
whether it's McDonald's BurgerKing Wendy's you know it's it's
I've always had to wait on thechicken.
You know and sometimes they'veactually asked me to pull

(31:20):
forward and and give otherpeople their orders because they
ordered burgers and and I'm I'mlike still waiting on the
chicken.
So the initial skit was like youknow a a joke on like the
Twilight Zone you know with withthe chicken sandwich premise.
Essentially a person walks intoyou know their they're they

(31:42):
would like start out wherethey're driving on the highway
you know they're travelingsomewhere it's like I'm hungry
gee this place looks good Icould use a chicken sandwich you
know they they pull off thehighway go in there you know
it's like one of those old youknow towns and there's like one
you know chicken restaurant inthere fast food chain chicken
restaurant they go in there theyorder the sandwich while it goes

(32:05):
by you know go into the bathroomand they come out and basically
they're like stuck in the thefast food restaurant and can't
escape you know and and theystart like you know you know
like they they go out one doorthey go back in the they end up
back in the restaurant you knowthen they start seeing you know
different people who've beenwaiting there you know like like

(32:27):
the waiting room in in in thefirst Beetlejuice you know there
there's people with like youknow the the the line and then
they say oh that's Bob overthere and it's like a skeleton
who's like you know holding youknow a number you know you know
but that's at least like the oneidea I had for for a sketch.
The other one is uh based basedon actually my dad because this

(32:51):
it's just literally him I my ifI had described my dad I would
say he in in movie characters Iwould say he's a mixture of of
probably four four celebritiesor three movie characters one
celebrity.
The movie characters are RayLeota from Goodfellas John

(33:11):
Goodman from the Big Lebowskiand and uh Bert Gummer from
Tremors.

SPEAKER_02 (33:17):
Which one is he the one with the stockpile or is he
yeah the guy from Family Tives?

SPEAKER_00 (33:23):
Yes yes Michael Gross or whatever okay yeah the
one the one the one who whokills the the worm in his
basement because he has afucking arsenal him and Reba
right right you know um greatmovie great series and then the
celebrity would be two's prettygood yeah yeah two is good they

(33:45):
kind of start to go downhill ohyeah my wife and I I think
ventured into three or shewatched three and four or
something and they're still kindof fun but yeah they oh and then
Michael Gross is the main guyand like yeah he he turns into
the the main you know guy thefranchise they've made like I I
can't remember there's likethere might be like seven or

(34:08):
fifteen there's fifteen tremorsno I don't know or like sci
sci-fi might have put out acouple of them right sci-fi put
out a series with with MichaelGross okay it it I think it made
it to the first like two orthree episodes and then they
axed it come on let it breathesci-fi right then then some

(34:29):
other channel that wasn't sci-fitried to revive it with uh Kevin
Bacon which was like the mostrecent thing they had a pilot
episode where Bacon came back ashis character from uh the the
first film that didn't even makeit past the pilot and uh and
basically uh Michael Gross hasbeen like the the guy who the

(34:51):
franchise has turned into beinglike the the star and and you
know we lost uh Fred Ward whatlike last year or something yeah
I'm not sure it was last year ofthe year before I remember that
because I was a big fan of his II would have that that is a
character actor who I would haveloved to to interview.

(35:12):
Oh sure yeah he did that moviewith like the most recent film
that I it was even not reallyrecent it's like I think over
ten years old at this point butit was with Danny McBride and
Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari30 minutes or less he was uh he
played Danny McBride's dad in inthe movie okay yeah I didn't see

(35:34):
that one that that was a it's afun little it's like I think
like exactly an hour and a halfor something with the credits.
That's a good yeah a good moveand uh Danny McBride I believe
wrote wrote the script if Iremember correctly it's it's
it's a very Danny McBride humortheme film from all all his

(35:56):
other stuff especially the HBOstuff like you know righteous
gemstones and Vice Principles.
Vice Principles right that wasbefore that but I was talking
about yes that was the one thatwas the one but it's very like
you can tell it's like his histype of humor.
It's basically it's based onlike a real incident that that

(36:17):
happened where basically thepremise is like Jesse Eisenberg
is like you know in his likeearly 30s in the movie and as
he's unsorry is like his bestfriend and basically all you
know everybody has like moved onwith their lives and he's like
you know a pizza delivery boywho's like you know everybody's
moving on and he's like beingstuck behind and basically Danny

(36:38):
McBride and also uh what's hisname Nick Nick Schwartzon is his
best friend who's in the movieand they come out with this plan
to basically strap a uh a bombvest onto Jesse Isenberg again
to rob a bank and basically youknow say if if you tamper with
this we'll be watching you knowit'll explode and uh the movie

(37:00):
just kind of goes from there andlike you know Jesse Isenberg is
basically forced to deal withhis his issues because he thinks
he has you know hours to to liveit all works out in the end.

SPEAKER_02 (37:11):
But you know spoiler alert geez I didn't I'm gonna
watch it eventually I justhaven't gotten around to it yet
geez.

SPEAKER_00 (37:17):
No but it's it's it's uh fun little movie.
I actually wanted to ask youlike on the subject of comedy
like you know who are some ofyour like what did you some of
your favorite like comedic filmsand comedians in general both
like current and uh you knowpast.

SPEAKER_02 (37:34):
Yeah favorite comedian is Mitch Hedberg great
great comedian I never I Istarted in 2004 he died in 05 so
I never got to meet him but Idid see him he did a tour with
David and Lewis Black through Ithink Comedy Central put that
together and so I got to see himthe one time and I'm glad you

(37:57):
know I'll never forget it he washe was great.
All three of them were great buthe like I said he was my
favorite for well still but itwas sad that he died because
I've been able to work with andmeet a lot of other comedic
heroes of mine David Tell DougStanhope right are still just so
good.
You know I just talked tosomebody who said they're gonna

(38:17):
see both of them in the nextcouple months and I was like
dude that's great becausethey're both just really still
on top of their game.

SPEAKER_00 (38:25):
David Tell is coming to Pittsburgh the Pittsburgh
Improv go see go see him.
Yeah I'm planning on seeing himI they're actually getting like
a hell of a roster this year.

SPEAKER_02 (38:35):
Steph Tolov I'm I don't mean to interrupt or or or
change uh subjects real quickbut uh yeah Tyler Fisher is
coming Marlon Wains is comingAtel the guy who plays Joe on uh
Family Guy at Warburton yes yeshe's coming he's doing stand up
yeah apparently oh I knew thatyeah no I I knew that somebody I

(38:58):
think my buddy Mitch Jonesopened for him recently pretty
sure and that that's cool he'sfunny yeah I haven't seen him do
stand up Bobby Lee Bobby Lee'scoming Bobby Lee haven't met him
but yeah he's he's worthchecking out but yeah who else
Kyle doing it now you know islike Kyle Canaan I think is the
you know just top-notch stuffevery time Rory Scovell just

(39:20):
moved to Denver like a year agoand I'm very like I don't miss
living in Denver because it gotvery expensive and crowded and I
was kind of over it you knowjust so much sudden growth.
I lived there 2008 through 2020and when I moved there in 08
like I didn't know anythingabout Denver.
Nobody did no it it was justlike not you know everybody knew

(39:41):
about Denver but they didn'tknow I didn't know shit about
what they had going on how bigit was you know it was all a
mystery I just moved with agirlfriend and and then to have
it blow up like it did it wascrazy.
Like I always say when I firstmoved there you couldn't buy
beer on Sundays they had thatyou know no liquor on Sundays
thing and then a couple years afew years later they have legal
weed and I was like all rightthey're catching up you know

(40:02):
like but then it just continuedyou know the growth just was
right right ridiculous and justthere was no real plan or
whatever.
It was like just come and buildyou know developers come build a
you know a giant apartmentcomplex going on here on
Pittsburgh so it's it's toughyeah and I I feel like you know
when Rory moved there was likeone of the few times where I was

(40:23):
like ah shit where I was likejealous you know and and wished
I was still up there because heit's so funny.
And then to just the idea ofbeing able to catch him
performing a bunch like I I Ihope Denver comics are taking
advantage.
I'm sure they are and are seeinghim you know often because he's
always he's always worthchecking out very inspiring.
But yeah what else oh you saidmovies.

(40:45):
I I watch a futile and stupidgesture a lot the the story of
Doug Kenny from Harvard Lampoon,National Lampoon, Caddyshack
Animal House I really enjoy I Iunfortunately a lot of my
favorite stories aboutentertainers are the tragic ones
like somebody's a genius butalong with that genius you know

(41:08):
comes demons or addiction orwhatever and then they die young
David Foster Wallace.
I haven't read Infinite Jets butI've read a lot of his articles
his essays and I love the movieThe End of the Tour which is
Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Siegelis David Foster Wallace and
Eisenberg's character writes forRolling Stone and they go
together they hang out for likea week as he's doing a book tour

(41:31):
and yeah I'm just likefascinated with the idea of like
tortured brilliant minds andMitch Hedberg obviously you know
didn't didn't kill himself buttragic ending you know uh died
very young and so yeah I I likea lot I returned to a lot of
those movies or or topics Ithink because I'm I'm glad I you

(41:54):
know grateful that that thatdidn't happen to me.
I'm glad I'm able that I'm stillhere you know for a long time I
thought I would probably dieyoung for no other real reason
than I didn't have any money,didn't have health insurance,
drank a lot, partied and justdidn't know you know where I was
going to end up.
And I think a lot of us Gen X orlike millennials maybe uh
thought like that where it'slike yeah you know I'm not gonna

(42:16):
like play the game and play itsafe and like inherit a home and
have a family so who knowswhat's going to happen.

SPEAKER_00 (42:21):
I'll probably get hit by a car at 26 you know and
then you don't and it's like ohshit what do I do now you know
yeah but but I'm I'm I'mgrateful that I'm still here you
know but yeah just like have Ihave you have had a fascination
with some of these these peoplewho were very talented and then
you know just died Chris FarleyBelushi you know gone yeah yeah
so soon and it's like what whatwhat else would they have done

(42:43):
you know how long would theyhave been around I sor sorry I
was just gonna say I just met uhJim Belushi he was in town uh
literally like the the lastweekend in uh March for a uh
actually a cannabis conventionuh okay he was uh he was there
because promoting uh cannabisawareness in Pittsburgh he was

(43:05):
there promoting his Belushi'sfarm marijuana products oh okay
yeah and uh one of the nicestguys I I celebrities especially
that status and everything youknow he he definitely came I I I
spoke with uh one of thedispensary people who was like
in conjunction with him beinghere and uh his exact words were

(43:27):
he's like that you know the theold grandpa who gets high you
know really cool guy and I haveto you know promote his uh
cannabis strain uh chemistrybecause that shit is amazing you
know I I've in in Pittsburghit's like we're still we're
still with with medical and andwith like the state that

(43:51):
Pennsylvania is you know withit's it's kind of fucked up it's
like we have I I can't rememberif it's the highest or like in
the top five states in thecountry that have the highest
DYs like every year.

SPEAKER_02 (44:09):
I thought you were going to say opiate opioid uh
addiction.
Well there there's there'sthere's a lot of hero that too
yeah that too yeah weed weedshould have weed should have
been legalized so long ago Iknow you said you don't get too
political but god damn I mean Iknow it sucks that it is being
kept from so many people that itcould help.

SPEAKER_00 (44:30):
I mean Belushi's one of them right I think he said
yeah he he literally heliterally said if my brother was
a pothead he would have beenalive today.
Right yeah yeah and and to keepit from people is insane to
continue to demonize it as ifit's the 30s you know it's like
right please let's keep let'smove beyond some of this old you

(44:52):
know limited thinking like I I'mnot sure what it's like in other
states where it's still medicalbut like you know in in in
Pennsylvania at least you knowyou have to give up your right
essentially your amendment rightto basically have a carry and
conceal weapon if you want tohave a medical license.

SPEAKER_02 (45:15):
Yeah have 12 beers and drive home and then play
with your gun yeah no it sucks.
It's the reason why getting abunch of bicyclists along the
way because you know you'reyou're you're you're all over
intoxicated yeah that was youknow I I I I never got my
medical license in Coloradobecause of that even though I I
don't have I still don't own agun I didn't like that

(45:38):
limitation.
Right.
And the trade-off was that themedical once we had recreational
weed the medical was likecheaper you know there were
better deals or whatever.
Right.
But I just didn't like thattrade off so I I said I'll I'll
keep I'll keep buying rec andand and reserve the right to be
able to get a gun.

SPEAKER_00 (45:55):
But yeah it's it's crazy that that's connected and
it's it's unfortunate but likebecause of medical taking over
the way it has in Pennsylvaniait's essentially wiped out the
the black market at least forreefer.

SPEAKER_02 (46:08):
So people are I mean like all that's basically around
now is people doing at least youknow in in Pennsylvania the big
problem uh I'm sure I've heardDave Chappelle talk about it
plenty of times in Ohio but it'sit's it's the heroin addicts and
the uh you know yes the opioidsand you know the the crack

(46:30):
addicts you know that that arelike the the big issues and you
know I I I definitely don't wantto get too political but uh I
will say Pittsburgh downtownright now looks like a a smaller
version of uh California so atleast with the homeless
encampment so well yeah we're Imean we're we're we're telling

(46:52):
people to fend for themselvesand you know right toughen up or
whatever and it's like no peopleyou know let's we need to help
people because we yeah we justkeep ignoring it it's like all
right well it's not going to fixitself so you kind of have to
try something else you knowthrow some money at it but yeah
no and and weed yeah just justin enabling people to be able to

(47:13):
smoke weed is helpful to acertain extent not everybody but
yeah you it's crazy that we'restill fighting access to weed
when there's so many otherthings out there that are more
destructive.

SPEAKER_00 (47:25):
All those movies and shows and stuff you see where
they depict uh people working atyou know dispensaries uh just
getting high you know not doingshit is bullshit because uh you
know I can I can tell you thisthe the the weed store at least
in Pennsylvania is actually waymore busy you know in in flow of

(47:47):
customers and everything thanthe liquor stores.
And I have actually you know Ithink there they even did a
statistic study that with likeGen Z, you know, more and more
you know of that generation andyou know the generation coming
up especially is getting leaningmore towards you know smoking
cannabis or vaping which I'magainst for various reasons.

(48:12):
Again it's government tamperingand there's already been like
you know deaths and stuff or youknow lung related issues related
to vaping and everything.
I mean I think you know weedthat you know just if if it
ain't broke don't fix it.
You know some weed is just likemeant to I mean weed is weed you

(48:33):
know you're meant to just smokethe the flour and my my dad
being a 40 plus year you knowweed smoker you know it's like
you know there like I I seecertain companies like spraying
you know at least here in PA youcan taste like weed that's
sprayed versus like you knowweed that's not like tampered

(48:55):
with.
Oh sure yeah yeah you know andand I I guarantee you that like
20 years from now there's gonnabe all these class action
lawsuits against those companiesfor spraying their stuff because
all these people that are likeyou know our age or younger you
know for for that matter uh thatare going to be our age or you
know older our parents age orwhatever are all going to

(49:17):
develop uh you know lung relatedissues cancer or whatever
because of of companies sprayingyou know the the weed just you
know it's it's like if it's shitweed they're like well let's
spray it and give it you know apunch up you know with with some
smell and and flavor it's allartificial sure yeah make it

(49:38):
make it look uh crystal rightcrystallized looking yeah I've
heard about some of thoseshortcuts yeah it's both it's
yeah we we will not know for awhile when it's too late yeah so
it is uh tough to know what to Imean yeah unless you really do
your research it's hard to knowwhat to avoid.
Yeah and that brings me to atopic of my dad who reminds me

(50:00):
of Willie Nelson and yeah justturned 90.
Yeah yeah it's it's it's prettyfunny the scenario of everything
that my dad is a 40 plus yearpothead I'm going on almost 20
years so I mean I I'm all forfor since you were seven oh no
no no for a second I thought youwere 27 I was like what 20 years

(50:24):
my ass bro right right I'm like18 17 to 30 yeah yeah me too
first time was 15 I didn't smokea ton right away but since I was
probably 20 22 so yeah it's beena while yeah I want to say
probably from like 2021 22 onI've been like consistent you

(50:45):
know yeah yeah yeah and you knowthat that's pretty much the only
drug uh of of like you know wellnow it's pretty much legal but
uh almost but you know I I meanI've I've done acid and I've
done shrooms like a couple timesbut acid I think I got bad acid
because I didn't feel a damnthing.

(51:06):
Damn yeah that's not normallythe case yeah shrooms I I've had
some fun with but I always kindof felt like I don't want to
like get to the point where likeI'm seeing shit like you know
morph and you know like go on afucking journey or something you
know because I always felt likeI always felt like I I don't

(51:28):
know like what happens if I havea bad journey you know yeah bad
trip you know I like I don'tknow if like I since I've never
done it like I don't know how Iwould handle it.

SPEAKER_02 (51:41):
And I and at this point in my life I'm just like
you know really all I need isrefer you know yeah yeah I think
acid and mushrooms are both veryfun useful but people do them in
the weirdest like at a party ora festival music festival for
your first time second timeright that's crazy.
You gotta be it has to be a morecontrolled environment I think

(52:02):
and you have to be ready I don'tknow I think you can get in your
own head and and the worst thingyou can do is expect or super
fear a bad trip because then Ithink it's more likely for that
to happen.
I think the main thing you haveto do is set yourself up for
success which is right with a aclose friend or two have the
ability to be inside outside sothat you if you're hot cold

(52:26):
whatever like you know you needsome options and you just don't
want a bunch of people aroundyou to affect you because you're
already going to have enoughgoing on in your own mind.
You don't need a bunch of othervariables that are going to you
know potentially set you ontothe the wrong path you know so
people have to yeah you have toyou have to have a little bit of

(52:46):
pre-planning you know right inorder to have a good time with
it.

SPEAKER_00 (52:50):
And I think it was uh Jordan Jensen who might have
might have said this um it mighthave been with I think it was it
might have been being withJordan or Jordan doing uh her
own stand-up but I think I'mpretty sure it was her she
talked about might have beenanother female stand I I can't
remember who it was but I I'mpretty sure it was Jordan Jensen

(53:11):
but if I if I am messing this upI apologize to whoever the
comedian is but they they weretalking about uh going to see a
uh a fish concert and they tookuh you know mushrooms before and
they're all like you know readyto trip and they you know
they're hearing about how youknow fish is like one of the
best bands to like to see liveand trip out to and essentially

(53:35):
it goes the opposite directionlike the wrong way because the
the song that like fish openswith is like nothing that she
was you know expecting and itjust becomes like a a bit a bad
trip from what she described youknow but like I get that because
I I mean I know fish like youjust said like music festivals

(53:58):
parties like especially for aperson like me I'm like that is
the wrong environment uh youknow to do and there's even I
mean Woodstock is a perfectexample there is that the actual
incident original Woodstock wasat 68 or something 69 69 yeah
pretty sure um famous instancewhere people were passing around

(54:21):
acid and one of the the peoplethere the hippies basically said
uh you know we they figured outthey had bad acid so they made
an announcement over theloudspeaker probably they
realized after the fact thatthat was the worst thing they
could have done yeah announcingsome of the this acid is bad

(54:42):
which in turn caused everyonewho was there whether they're on
the bad acid or the good acid tofeel like the to instantly turn
into a bad trap.

SPEAKER_02 (54:52):
Yeah yeah not not a great idea to announce some of
the acid's gonna kill you yeahback off yeah so yeah you're you
already took it I guess maybethe hope was that some people
would not take the bad acid ifthey could prevent it but yeah
if for everybody else that wasalready on it it was too late.

SPEAKER_00 (55:13):
Right right like uh you know we're we're beyond the
point of no return.

SPEAKER_02 (55:18):
Yeah I think I think one thing to keep in mind with
acid ore mushrooms that peoplewhere people get caught up is
you have to know you're gonnayou're about to get on this ride
and you can't get off when youwant to.
You have to ride it out.
And so you you know the worstthing you could do is have like
a time crunch.
Oh I have to work in the morningthen don't take acid or

(55:38):
mushrooms the night before likeyou need to know you're gonna be
on this for quite a while andyou just have to wait it out and
everything's gonna be fine.
Like you you have to know thatit's it could be a little scary
but it's not going to lastforever.
It's not going to make you goinsane or whatever.
So yeah and you and you have tolet go of the control that you

(56:01):
want you know when it comes todrugs or partying or whatever.
Like you can't dictate you'renot you're not the one that's in
control at a certain point andyou just have to be okay with
that and know that eventuallyeverything you know you're gonna
be done with the trip and thenyou can assess you know what
what you're gonna do next time.
Right right I I didn't I didn'tdo either of them until I was

(56:24):
like 29 because I wasn't Iwasn't confident that I could
have fun with it.
And eventually you know I talkedto enough people or read enough
online to think okay you knowlike I think I can do this and
and the first time I did acidwas actually at a birthday party
for my my buddy Bobby but I knewthat I was going to know almost
everybody there.
It was at his house where Ispent a lot of time and so I was

(56:47):
comfortable there.
I knew that I I I lived only afew blocks away so if things got
crazy I could leave right and Ihad I had a really fun time.
And actually I actually I washelped by Bobby because he gave
me two hits and said it was onehe was like yeah just take one
it'll be fine.
He g I I I take I take it andthen like a little bit later he
was like all right just so youknow I gave you two instead of

(57:10):
one because I didn't want you tobe scared but now that you've
taken it like it'll be fine andit was you know it was kind of a
funny way to go about it to lieto me to give me the pill and
the peanut butter but uh it wasit was a it was a hell of a
trip.
It was fun and I yeah uh luckilyhave had haven't had a haven't

(57:31):
had a bad trip on either of thembut again I I waited till I felt
like I was ready or more moreprepared for what what can come
of it.

SPEAKER_00 (57:40):
I have a a funny uh funny mushroom story to tell you
this was probably my my firsttime like really you know taking
mushrooms and it was one of thechocolate bars and I was at my
my cousin's uh 40th birthdaythis is like a couple years ago
and his sister my other cousinwas engaged to uh this really

(58:04):
cool guy they're married now andhave their first kid and it was
like a you know big familygathering like all these uh
friends of friends were gonna bethere and everything and my my
cousins are way bigger partiersthan than I'll ever be so they
were like you know you know doyou do you want to try this you
know no pressure and I'm likeit's mushrooms and we're already

(58:27):
smoking reefer and you knowhaving a good old time and we
rented this Airbnb that had likea lot of open space in Ohio and
I was like you know what fuck ityou know but what's what's the
worst that could happen you knowso typically a good good good
mindset yeah right right youknow I'm having a blast you know

(58:47):
I'm with family and you know II'm like okay give you give me a
good chunk of the chocolate baryou know so I eat it you know
and I'm I'm like I I'm a littleof a you know curvy a little bit
of a heavyset guy I'm also likeyou know six three six four so
tall and and big and wide and uhyou know I think like an hour

(59:08):
hour and a half maybe two hourswent by and I'm like I think I
need to eat more and my cousin'slike he's like no just wait you
know just wait and and I'm likeokay but I'm not feeling a damn
thing you know flash forwardlike half an hour I'm having a
conversation with my mom and andwe're talking and like

(59:33):
mid-conversation blast off andI'm like oh shit it's like
hitting me right as I'm like inmid conversation with my mom and
you know I just rememberactually being the most I think
like considerate sincere andlike emotionally available to to

(59:59):
my mom And like I ever have beenor will be ever again.
And like my uncle was havingsome health issues at the time,
their dad.
So, you know, I just rememberbeing like, just like totally
intuitive.
The other funny part of thatstory is my cousin gave my

(01:00:19):
grandma, who just turned 90 uhlast year, a little bit of the
chocolate bar too.
She now she didn't know what shewas eating, but but but but but
I'll tell you this there was oneof my his sisters, my cousin's
best friends, is is overweight.
And my grandma was tripping, butshe didn't know she was

(01:00:41):
tripping.
And she basically said to mycousin, Who is that?
You know, and she said, That'syou know, so and so's friend,
grandma, and and she's like, Isshe pregnant?

SPEAKER_02 (01:00:55):
Whoops.
Did she have did she have a goodtrip?
Did she like it?

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:02):
You know, again, she didn't know what she ingested,
but I I will tell you this.
She got you know, she usuallygoes to bed at like you know,
eight, nine o'clock, maybe ninethirty at night, and wakes up
like at four a.m.
You know, like as as many oldpeople do.
Yeah, yeah.

(01:01:23):
You know, I remember she went tosleep, I think it was like maybe
nine, ten o'clock, and she waslike out.
And she got like, I think, atleast what I could tell,
probably the best night's restthat that she's probably had in
in that age, you know, range.
So that was really funny, youknow, and I've done it a few

(01:01:47):
times since, and I've actuallyfound that like the caps work
better for me than just caps,yeah, the actual chocolate bars.
Those are way more potent uhthan than the chocolate bars.
But either way, like you know,it's probably been like two
years since two, three yearssince I've like I've done
mushrooms, but I'm just like Ithink in a different mindset now

(01:02:09):
where it's like, you know, Ijust you know I I don't have
time to to really you know dostuff like that, and even though
I you know I'd like to.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:19):
Yeah, they're commitment.
But microdosing, you know, a lotof people like to microdose too,
because you get a little bit ofthe positive effects and like
sparkly whatever feeling goodwithout the commitment of you
know 10 hours of stomach hurts,you think you're gonna puke.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:34):
I the last time I I did do do mushrooms was the
caps, and that's essentiallywhat I did.
Like I didn't eat like I think Iate maybe like three or four of
the caps, someone like my size,and I got like the whole like
head high, but I didn't get likethe the trip.
Yeah, and and I also have to saythis is where like weed doesn't

(01:02:59):
do this for me, and and theshrooms did, at least those kind
I tried, uh it like all myanxiety went away.
I felt like really good, and Ifelt like I want to go talk to
people.
I want to I want to go get mydick wet.
You know, I want to go talk topeople, I want to go like you

(01:03:20):
know, interact, like like I feellike you know, all my whatever,
you know, issues, like I feellike I can go like essentially
take on the world, but not inlike you know, make-believe or
unrealistic fashion.
You know, like like like I'm notI'm not fucking Superman and I
and I can go like you know, leaptall buildings in a single

(01:03:43):
bound, you know.
You know, let's let's go mingle.
Right.
Yeah, there's a middle ground.
Weed does that, but like, youknow, certain certain times like
I get paranoid just like anybodyelse, you know, with certain
stuff.
And you know, we I like weed alot.
Weed is my go-to, you know, ithelps with creativity, it helps

(01:04:03):
with, you know, writing, withyou know, I I even have a
segment where I interv where Iinterview like psychedelic rock
bands and musicians in generaland talk about, you know,
specifically how cannabisrelated to listening to like
certain genres of music,especially like shoe gays and
like you know, you know,pot-oriented like music uh can

(01:04:28):
help like open endorphins in thebrain that you know brings out
like you know, creativity,inspiration, positivity,
motivation, you know, all likethe the key attributes that you
know you you essentially want tohave to kind of like open the
you know neural pathways toenlightenment or whatever.

(01:04:50):
You know, so I'm really like youknow, pro an advocate for stuff
like that.
And the stuff I'm against islike, you know, coke.
You know, I was on Adderall foryears and I just recently got
off it, and my life is like waybetter for it.
So like, you know, I canunderstand, you know, some

(01:05:10):
practical uses for it, becauseyou know, you know, human beings
have been like, you know,messing around with like, you
know, caffeine, you know,uppers, downers, you know, since
like, you know, literally theEgyptians, you know, had had
stuff, you know.
Yeah.
So it's like it's like, youknow, it's been there for for

(01:05:30):
literally centuries.
And so on that note, I think uhI will rap wrap things up, even
though it it has been a realreal pleasure uh talking to you.
You know, I mean I I'm a I'm abig fan, uh, you know, again,
all the the comedy andeverything.
It's it's very cool.
You're like the the first, youknow, comedian of many in that

(01:05:53):
that niche that I really enjoyuh watching and listening to.
I did want to say before uhbefore we hang off, because uh
it was on the top of my head,and you said you lived in
Denver, one movie that youshould check out is called
Things to Do in Denver WhenYou're Dead.

SPEAKER_02 (01:06:11):
Yeah, yeah.
I I have not seen that.
I've meant to watch it and neverhave, but I have heard good
things.
Yeah, I don't think it's on alot of streamers.
It's it probably comes and goes.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:06:22):
It comes and goes on Showtime.
I've no idea.

SPEAKER_02 (01:06:24):
Maybe Tubi.
Tubi's got a lot of good olderstuff.

SPEAKER_00 (01:06:27):
Tubi, yeah, they they do.
You gotta watch the ads, butyeah, the good library on the
the most is the Showtime.
So if you have like ParamountPlus or Showtime in general,
yeah, they they they run itoccasionally, along with this
other film they're playing rightnow, totally forgotten about
from the 90s, uh Judgment Nightwith Emilio Estevez uh Cuba

(01:06:51):
Gunning Jr., one of my favoritegenre actors, Steven Dorf, and
again a famous, famous comedianwho played uh the villain,
Dennis Leary.

SPEAKER_02 (01:07:00):
Yeah, I watched that not that long ago, and you know,
I I forgot how it's kind ofcampy.
I didn't I remembered it, oh,and you know, I read about it.
The whole thing was that the Ithink the original writer had it
as a very dark, fucked up movie,and a lot of it is, but then
somehow the studio or someoneelse, a producer, executive
producer, somebody wanted tohave more levity, and so it ends

(01:07:23):
up being this very funny likeclash of tone.
Didn't you think?
Like it's like some of it islike funny and some of it's very
gritty.

SPEAKER_00 (01:07:33):
It's a funny, it's a weird it it it starts out like
especially like reasons.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Like like it starts out likelike fun, you know.
This is gonna be a fun kind ofroad trip, yeah.
Yeah, and then it just does atotal, right?
It just does a total 180.
And then especially anothercomedian who's in a Jeremy

(01:07:54):
Pivon, when when his charactergets killed, spoiler alert.
Yeah, I came out in 94 orwhatever.
Right, right.
Yeah.
Sorry.
You know, right.
You know, I you know, especiallyhow he dies and kind of like how
he starts out, and then how hehis character kind of, you know,
the the arc, you know, kind ofcomes to be in that movie.

(01:08:14):
But there's there's definitelysome some clashes.
It goes from like being realkind of PG 13 family oriented to
the total 180 with uh being likemore dark and violent pretty
totally like switching the tone.
But the the other thing I wasgonna say is uh that movie has
one of the best 90s soundtracks,you know, that uh that came out.

(01:08:38):
I remember it it's likeincredibly hard to find, uh like
it's out of print or something.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, but it's a pretty hard tofind.
But things to do in Denver whenyou're dead.
I interviewed someone who's oneof the main characters in that.
Uh I mentioned in the email uhor or message, uh William
Forsyth, uh another uh anotheruh awesome character actor.

SPEAKER_02 (01:08:59):
Um yeah, man, raising Arizona.

SPEAKER_00 (01:09:02):
Yes, yes, very funny, very funny.
Even uh Blue Streak or uh or uhMuslim Rob Schneider, where he's
Deuce Bigelow.

SPEAKER_02 (01:09:11):
Yeah.
Is he a cop?
Is he a cop in that?
He's he's the bad guy.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, I haven't seen that in awhile.

SPEAKER_00 (01:09:19):
Yeah, yeah.
He's in that and uh among uhGod, you know, virtuosity uh
90s, Denzel, Russell Croweaction flicks, Cyberpunk uh, you
know, he's great in that.
Just he he's I mean Dick Tracy,you know.
Like I mean, the the list couldgo on with but yeah, just wanted
to bring up things you do inDenver when you're dead as like

(01:09:41):
a must must see because hespecifically talks about in our
interview how that movieprobably single-handedly put
like Denver on on the map.
Yeah, but before like everyeverything else.
So another thing I wanted to sayon the topic of what we opened
with Mark Rawson and JudgmentNight, Hard Rain.

(01:10:02):
I'm not sure if you rememberthis action flip from the 90s.
No Christian Slater, MorganFriedman, Randy Quaid, you know,
uh, and Mark Rawlson was in it,mini driver.
It's like Christian Slater is anarmored car transport in like
Louisiana, and there's this likehurricane going on, and Morgan

(01:10:24):
Freeman and his like crew arelike He's the bad guy, right?
Yeah, yeah, they're thieves.

SPEAKER_02 (01:10:30):
Okay, I saw that, but it's been a long time.
I saw that they were in boatsand shit going through uh yeah,
yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:10:35):
The town was like flooding.
Flooded, okay, yeah.
I saw that boost like uh longago in there.
But he he talked about how likewith Judgment Night, that movie
was supposed to be a whole lotdarker than it was, and it got
turned by produce the productioncompany into like a you know.

SPEAKER_02 (01:10:55):
They wanted some levity, but it yeah, it kind of
made it a little bit of awhiplash kind of a thing.

SPEAKER_00 (01:10:59):
Yeah.
I'm not sure how to feel aboutit, but you know, it's like it's
basically Conair, just just withlike uh, you know, a hurricane
and and and boats, you know.
And it's actually because ofthat movie that I got Mark
Rawson on my show.
Before I let you go here, onelast question.
Any upcoming projects, comedytours, podcast stuff to promote.

SPEAKER_02 (01:11:24):
Yeah, I mean, you know, uh Sam and I do our
podcast, Chubby Behemoth.
There's a free episode everyweek, Patreon episode every
week.
Patreon is five dollars a monthif you want to get in there.
You know, there's almost as manyPatreon episodes as free ones,
because we just knew, you know,we wanted to to have both pretty
much from the start.
We've been doing that since overfour and a half years.

(01:11:47):
This will be five years.
We started during the pandemic,and then we have a travel show
on YouTube called Wide Worldthat you know is uh Yeah, yeah.
The episodes come very randomlybecause it takes a long time for
our buddy to edit them.
We shoot for a week, you know,somewhere, and and and our
friend Patrick turns that intothree episodes.
So there's a lot that he has togo, you know, a lot of footage

(01:12:09):
for him to go through and andand edit those down.
But we have uh, you know, aseason from first one was in
Tokyo, then Paris, and now youknow we we shot where Sam grew
up, we shot here in Trinidadwhere I live.
So it's uh a big departure fromfrom the first two seasons to to
shoot in like eastern Colorado,southern Colorado, where there

(01:12:31):
aren't mountains.
You know, we didn't shoot inDenver where everybody kind of
is familiar with Denver or youknow, at least the idea of like
Rocky Mountains.
We are not there, we're in theplains, but I think it was a fun
contrast to Tokyo and Paris.
But then after these episodes,after this Colorado season,
we'll be we shot in Rome for aweek last summer.

(01:12:54):
So we'll go back back and forth,I think, between like major m
global cities and more personal,you know, locations.
We're just kind of having funwith it.
But that those are on why onYouTube, on Sam Talent's
YouTube.
And those are you know, thoseare my main projects is is
working with Sam on the podcast,on the travel show, and then
stand up, you know, we're allover.

(01:13:15):
My website is Nathan LundComedy.
I've got dates on there,samtalent.com, he's got his
dates, and I try to open for himas much as possible so that we
can do our podcast togetherversus over the computer, you
know, it's a little bit tougher,right, right nice, nicer to be
in the same room.
So we you know, I'm trying to dothat, and I and I'll be
headlining shows as well.

(01:13:35):
You know, I'm I'm trying to domore headlining shows next year.
So we gotta get lungcomedy.com.
We gotta get it.
Nathan Luncomedy on Instagram,right?
Right.
Hopefully we'll be in Pittsburghagain soon, but uh I don't think
there's anything on the calendarright now, so stay tuned.

SPEAKER_00 (01:13:52):
Definitely.
And when you guys come, I wouldlove to maybe do another podcast
in person.
Definitely uh like meet you guysin person with all the people
that are coming to thePittsburgh Improv this year
alone.
It is pretty fucking amazing.
I was at Ari Shafir's show uh inJanuary.
Great, great show.

(01:14:12):
Yeah, Steph Tolov again.
Shout out to her and Jefferson.
Yeah, she is really funny.
She's like my dad.
She she reminds me of like mydad.

SPEAKER_02 (01:14:22):
Yeah.
You know, like yeah, she she'san elevator operator for a long
time.

SPEAKER_00 (01:14:26):
Right, right, right, you know, especially you know,
crop dusting in people's facesand stuff.
Uh nice.

SPEAKER_02 (01:14:34):
Well, yeah, thanks for having me, man.

SPEAKER_00 (01:14:36):
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Nathan, again, thank you fortaking the time to swim in the
bowl with me.
Yeah, baby.
Hoping the temperature was justright.
Glug, gluck.
All right.
Pleasure, and love to have youon again anytime.
And please tell Sam again if ifyou guys want to do another show
or something or podcast episode.

(01:14:57):
I'd love to have the Chubbybehemoth.
Chubby Bubby.
You're right, right.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Awesome.
All right, man.
Yeah, until next time.
Till next time.
Take care.
You too, man.
Attention, all you fishes in thesea.
Thank you for taking the time tolisten to the fishbowl hosted by
me, Sam Fish.
You can help Fishbowl out bysubscribing on all major

(01:15:20):
podcasting platforms and bydonating anything that you're
able to to help with purchasingmics, different podcasting
equipment, and things to keepthe show running so I can keep
creating great content for allmy fishes in the bowl.
So thank you for taking the timeto swim in the bowl with me.
Uh-uh.

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