November 14, 2023 • 33 mins
Clayton Fletcher is a standup comedian who has performed all over the world, but his favorite routine of all is his bedtime routine with his daughter. Clayton discusses juggling comedy, parenthood, professional poker and his new book published by HarperCollins, The ROI of LOL available now.
Episode Breakdown:
3:23 - Getting into Entertainment
5:48 - Where He Was In His Career When He Became a Dad
7:50 - How Fatherhood Impacted His Perspective and Approach
11:33 - The ROI of LOL
16:45 - How Being a Comedian Helps Transition to Parenthood
19:20 - On Being a Professional Poker Player
24:05 - DadLibs
26:25 - Rapid Father Questions
Follow Clayton:
@claytoncomic:
https://www.instagram.com/claytoncomic/
@claytoncomic:
https://twitter.com/claytoncomic
The ROI of LOL: https://roilol.com/
Episode Breakdown:
3:23 - Getting into Entertainment
5:48 - Where He Was In His Career When He Became a Dad
7:50 - How Fatherhood Impacted His Perspective and Approach
11:33 - The ROI of LOL
16:45 - How Being a Comedian Helps Transition to Parenthood
19:20 - On Being a Professional Poker Player
24:05 - DadLibs
26:25 - Rapid Father Questions
Follow Clayton:
@claytoncomic:
https://www.instagram.com/claytoncomic/
@claytoncomic:
https://twitter.com/claytoncomic
The ROI of LOL: https://roilol.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
For the first four years of mychild's life. I was a city comedian,
so I would take care of mydaughter all day. And my wife
works an office job, so Iwould take care of the baby until she
got home for work, and thenwhen she got home for work, just
hand off the baby, take myshower, and go do my shows.
I couldn't stand being on the roadonce my child was born. I didn't
(00:21):
even want to go. I didn'twant to go to New Jersey much less
to you know, Iowa or something. You didn't want to go to New
Jersey before then, anyway, butnow even more reason you didn't want to
go to New Jersey. You're goodboy. Good point. Every artist has
his or her own creative process tohelp them hone their craft and execute their
vision. But nothing throws a wrenchand a routine quite like having a baby.
(00:43):
How to creatives a justice still findthat time and energy needed to dedicate
to their work. How has becominga father impacted their creative process and the
material they create. I'm Tyler Gilden. I'm a writer, producer, director,
and podcast host. Most importantly,I'm a father of two, a
four year old boy and a threeyear old girl. Yep, they're three
(01:03):
hundred and sixty seven days apart.Hopefully my guests can help me and possibly
some of my listeners with some muchneeded guidance from their experience juggling parenthood and
being a creative This is father materialtoday's episode. I'm speaking with a very
funny Clayton Fletcher, comedian writer,performs all over the world. Has been
(01:26):
featured on Serious Access TV, Hulu, ESPN. Most importantly, though,
of course, Clayton is a lovingfather of an adorable eight year old girl.
I'm excited to chat with Clayton becauseI actually know Clayton. We have
been friends for over a decade inthe comedy scene. His recent book The
Roill just published by HarperCollins available whereall laughs are needed. Very excited to
(01:49):
chat. How are you? It'sbeen a minute. I don't think i've
seen you in a couple of years. Oh my god, it's been years.
Yeah. The last time I sawyou, I think you were playing
basketball on the court at what's thatarea, sty Town. It was years
ago. I was there with mydaughter. She's going to be eight in
January. Yeah, we moved tothe Upper east Side. My daughter got
(02:12):
into this school up here, soyeah, we're like fancy Upper East Siders
now or something. It's just reallynot me. But here we are eight
years old, all right, sotell me about that's what's that like?
I mean, I only have aalmost five year old and almost four year
old, so I'm not close toeight. So what's what's the difference now
in fathering an eight year old versusa toddler? I mean, you know,
(02:34):
just enjoy every step of the way. You know, it's like every
step is different. Like when they'refour and five, the emotional learning is
still happening. They're trying to learnhow not to throw a temper tantrum or
you know, just how to managetheir feelings and stuff. By the time
a kid is eight, I thinkit's a it's a little more fun because
(02:54):
you can just kind of hang outtogether and there's not as much of that.
Are you Guys have a lot ofcommonalities that you share. She into
what you're into, or you're learningto get into whatever an eight year old
girls into these days? Yeah,right right, I mean you know it's
like you got chess, which Iam into, and then you've got gymnastics,
(03:16):
which I've never had any interest in. So it's a little bit of
both, you know. So takinga step back to pre pre father and
so what did you always want tobe a comedian growing up? Was set
something telling jokes or you had thatcreative itch like take me back to pre
pre fatherhood, you know, Iguess when did you your interests for comedy
(03:38):
begin? So I was an actorand a musician. I was actually a
musician first. My father was awell known jazz bass player, Ashton Fletcher.
If there's any big jazz fans outthere, they might actually know my
dad's name. There are probably sevenbig jazz fans in the whole world,
(03:58):
so it's it's not a huge Ifwe can just get three of them,
you know, then we have almosthalf the population, so that's big.
Yeah, yeah, but yeah,my dad was a basis. He started
teaching me music when I was achild, and when I was about twelve
or thirteen, I played in thepit of a local community theater production of
(04:19):
a chorus line. My dad couldn'tdo the gig, so he offered me
and they didn't realize I was soyoung, So when I walked in,
they were surprised that the bass playerwas a twelve year old boy, you
know, and from being under thestage and watching the actors on stage,
I kind of wanted to try.What they were doing looked like more fun
(04:40):
than what I was doing. Andso then, you know, starting in
high school, I got into actingand I did all the plays in school
and everything. And I was inNew York working as an actor and we
were backstage, we were doing wewere doing a show called Godspell, and
I was playing Jesus in Godspell.And the guy who played Judas was actually
(05:00):
the one who said to me backstageone day, He's like, you know,
Clayton, you're really funny. Youshould try stand up. And I
said, no way, man,I could never do that. I never
I would never know what to eventalk about. You know, as an
actor, you're used to having ascript and a costume and a director in
a stage and everything like that.And then in comedy they just give you
a microphone and tell you how muchtime to stay up there for. So
(05:24):
yeah, it was different. Butthe first time I tried it, I
loved it. And yeah, Iguess I owe it all to Judas.
I owe him thirty pieces of silver. That's amazing. So wow, ask,
I can just imagine this Judas JesusJesus conversation, and that's what led
to you going into it all right, So Judas finally did something good for
Jesus. So there you go,totally, totally he made up for sins
(05:46):
of the past. Let's say,so, where were you in your career
once you had your daughter? Though? I guess, like, where were
you at that point? And Iguess how did things change for you?
Really? I mean, obviously havinga kid is a life change experience.
How did that impact you from whereyou were in your career. Yeah,
So at the time before my childwas born, I was on the road
(06:09):
a lot. I was working asa feature. Those who know a lot
about stand up on the road,there's like an MC that starts the show,
gets the crowd laughing, and thenthe feature goes up there and does
what would be considered like a ComedyCentral half hour twenty five to thirty minutes
of you know material, And that'sthe spot I was doing. And then
(06:30):
after me, the MC would introducethe headliner, who's usually the guy that's
making all the money that night.Right. So I was on the road,
and I was getting stronger and strongerand featuring, and I was even
starting to get some opportunities headlining,you know in places like Dayton, Ohio,
and Tempe, Arizona. You knowthe road as we call it here
in New York. And you know, then obviously, once my child was
(06:53):
born, I wanted to be homemore. So I was at a point
in my career as kind of acrossroads, like do I want to be
a road comedian or do I wantto be a city comedian. And so
for the first four years of mychild's life, I was a city comedian.
So I would take care of mydaughter all day. And my wife
works an office job, and soI would take care of the baby until
(07:17):
she got home for work. Andthen when when she got home for work,
just hand off the baby, takemy shower, and go do my
shows. So that's it was anecessary change, because I couldn't stand being
on the road you know, oncemy once my child was born, I
didn't even want to go I didn'twant to go to New Jersey much less
(07:38):
to you know, Iowa or something. Well, you didn't want to go
to New Jersey before then anyway,even good, but now even more reason
you didn't want to go to NewJersey. You're good boy. Good point.
Did you find that so obviously clearlyyour time management and prioritizing on the
road versus staying, you know,local change. What about material itself?
Did you feel like because you know, for me personally, a there jokes
(08:01):
that I will tell about my kids. But then there's also just I feel
like from an emotional standpoint, becominga parent, you just see the world
differently. So I'm just curious howany of that seeped into your routine initially,
or maybe maybe it took time.You tell me, that's a great,
great question, But yeah, becominga father gives you, I think,
(08:22):
a different perspective on life. Istarted thinking about politics in a way.
I never really cared about politics,but now I do because it's my
child's future that is at stake.Now. You know, when it was
just I just had to take careof myself. It was just, you
know, as long as I couldpay my rent and do what I love,
I'm a happy guy. But now, you know, everything is different.
(08:43):
Now I'm more concerned with how muchmoney I'm making so that I can
help her plan her future and makesure that she'll be all set by the
time you know, college comes aroundor whatever. It's just everything is different.
It really is the main thing inmy life that has changed me as
a person. You know, I'msure you agree without a doubt. I
(09:07):
mean, it's your at the endof the day, you know you used
to you. I mean sure,if you're married, you have somebody you're
you know, accountable for, youknow, but otherwise you wake up and
kind of do you every day,and the end goal is is is yourself.
And once you have a kid,you everything just shocks into perspective of
like, oh crap, it's reallyabout you know, him or her or
them or you know, however manykids you have, and just yeah,
(09:28):
everything that you want to do,Like there's things for me, there's things
for the kids. Then slowly thethings for the kids become for you as
well because you actually enjoy doing them. Some something's not, but yeah,
I so to me, you know, to follow up on that question,
though, did you find that thematerial you're talking about where you're talking about
politics more were you're telling jokes ofyou know, narratives about your kids.
I mean, obviously I've seen yourstand up, you know, many times,
(09:50):
and I know you have done somejokes but at what point? I
mean, I know, obviously asa comedian, a lot of the times
you well, you should be pullingfrom truth. You know you should be,
but sometimes there's always sometimes there's adelay, like I find, you
know, I was if I reallyliked my engagement jokes. I was,
you know, and I we gotengaged at twenty sixteen. Maybe in twenty
twenty, I was still telling theengaged jokes, like, you know,
(10:11):
there's some sort of a shelf lifelike this is inside Baseball. But I'm
curious, you know, were youimmediately jumping into that or you needed some
time to you know, sift offof your other stuff. Yeah, I
mean I actually talk about this inthe book that I just wrote, just
came out last week actually, Butto me, like I think comedians nowadays,
we talk about what's happening, youknow. So it's funny because you
(10:35):
asked me that question and I reallyonly answered it in terms of how my
thinking changed and how my perspective onthe world changed. But yeah, probably
some of your listeners might not realizenaturally my material also changed, right,
because what's on our minds is whatends up on the page, and what's
on the page is what ends upcoming out of our mouths when we grabbed
(10:56):
the microphone. So yeah, Imean I never used to focus on,
you know, what's going on inthe world today. You know, my
my material was more just designed likefrivolous things, mostly silly things like have
you ever lost your keys? Andthings like that. And now it's like,
how come the mayor gets more libertarian? Yeah? I really have changed,
(11:16):
like what the thrust of my ofmy comedy is. It's not that
it's gotten more serious, but it'sjust this subject matter that I never used
to delve into because it wasn't importantto me, now is more important to
me. So yeah, I'm talkingabout it more totally. And you just
mentioned the book, which obviously we'regonna jump into. So the ROI of
L O L great title for abook, I know, did you did
(11:37):
you come up with that? OrI know you, I know you co
wrote it with with Steve Cody,So tell me tell me a little bit
about the book and then we'll diveinto it further. But very exciting and
congrats, I know it just justcame out. Yeah, I'm very excited
about this book. It's it's designedto help business people learn what comedians know,
right, So if you work inan office, you might not realize
(11:58):
what it means to read a roomor to change the course of a conversation
that isn't going well. You know, these are skills that comedians develop over
time spent on stage that people inan office maybe never even considered before.
So the book really explores them,and we look at stand up comedy,
improvisational comedy, and sketch comedy andhow the skills that you learn from doing
(12:20):
each one apply to business. Now, when you ask about the title,
I mean the original our publisher,HarperCollins, they just gave us a working
title once they asked us to,you know, write the book, and
the working title was just Laughing Matters. And I said, that's a cute
title to play on words, butI'm sure it's been done before, you
know, I wonder if we cancome up with something more interesting. My
(12:43):
co author is the CEO of Peppercom, which is a public relations firm here
in New York City, and partof their job every day is coming up
with ideas and you know, pressreleases and pitches and things like that.
So we got a team to getat Peppercom and the employees helped us come
up with a better title. Wedid a big group brainstorm and at some
(13:07):
point somebody said, what about somethingabout LOL? And then somebody said what
about you know, f U lO L? And somebody said what about
FYI l O L? And whatabout the ROI of l O L?
And all of us knew right then, all right, this meeting's over.
Yeah, everybody could go home now. Yeah, we're extra vaco extra vacation
days. We're closing shop. Yeah, No, I mean, it's it's
(13:30):
it's it's a really interesting concept.So I guess how did you even come
up with the idea? Like whatwas the impetus to even begin to write
the book? Yeah, so aboutfifteen years ago, Wow, it's been
a long time. I Am Seeda show at the now defunct Carolines Comedy
Club and the Yeah Lrip Carolines,and the performers in that show had all
(13:52):
just recently taken a class where theywere all beginners and they just learned how
to do stand ups. So it'slike a five o'clock in the afternoon new
kind of show before the main stageshow with the big headliners and everything.
And so I was the mc Therewas a guy in the show that I
thought was really funny, and wheneverybody was congratulating each other afterwards, I
was like, you know, Idon't know if this is something you just
(14:13):
wanted to try once or whatever.He was an older guy, and I
said, but you know, Ithink you're pretty good and I can help
you get started in comedy. Ihave some contacts I could set you up
with some more performing opportunities. Andthis guy said, yeah, sure,
why don't you come to my officeand we'll look at my material together and
maybe you can coach me a littlebit before the next one. And I
(14:35):
said, isn't your boss going toget mad that you've got some comedian in
your office? And he said,don't worry about that. That guy turned
out to be Steve Cody, CEOand owner of this PR firm, so
he didn't have a boss to answerto and he could spend his workday doing
stuff like working on his stand upcomedy with me. After about a year
(14:56):
or two of doing that together,he discovered that he was it was changed
how he was doing his job,So all the comedy work that we were
doing was affecting his work as aPR guy. And so he said,
we got to roll this out tomy agency, offer it to our clients.
And yeah, that was fifteen yearsago. But about ten years ago
(15:18):
he first suggested that we write abook about the work that we were doing.
But at that time, Tyler,we we just we were both too
busy. But then during the pandemicis when we said, you know,
we've got obviously more free time thanwe're used to having. Maybe we should
read it, visit that book idea. And around that same time, HarperCollins
came calling and you know, hadheard about what we were doing, and
(15:41):
they actually asked us to write thebook. So, you know, a
big publisher like that wants to offeryou a book deal, you take it.
And then the you know, thestars aligned and it seems like the
world needs this book now more thanit ever has before. Everybody I tell
about the book are like, oh, my boss needs to read that book
for sure. Oh well, it'sa perfect time then, because everyone could
(16:03):
start gifting it for the holiday season. Though I though, I wonder,
is it a comple bed to giveit to your boss? Is it not?
I guess I guess it depends onhow you how you situate you know
how you set it up to giveit to your boss. But I mean
that, yeah, it's the framingis everything. It's it's it's the setup.
Uh uh, it is big there, uh but no, I mean,
honestly, it sounds like a greatbook obviously something that I can relate
(16:26):
to from a from a comedy perspective, but yeah, it's it's something that
I could definitely see offices because Iagree that a lot of it's funny because
a lot of your life, willyou know, dictate your comedy. But
then it also goes both ways too, where a lot of the skills then
that you developing comedy exactly reading aroom. And I'm curious if you find
(16:47):
that a lot of that also hashelped you as a father as well.
Some of the stuff that you've learnedbeing a comedian. Do you find like
that is translated to parenting also?Oh? Absolutely, I mean, Look,
one gift we can give our childrenis learning how to cope with things
that don't go your way. AndI believe that that's why God gave us
a sense of humor in the firstplace, is that we're supposed to laugh
(17:10):
through the madness, you know,learn to see the bright side when bad
things happen. So if my daughter'sdisappointed about something that happened at school,
you know, she's learning from mehow to use her sense of humor to
kind of deal with it. Andit's not that you don't process your feelings
or that you replace them with laughter. Obviously that's not the lesson I'm trying
(17:30):
to teach her, but just tomaintain your sense of humor through good times
and in bad because it really isa gift and that's something that I want
to share with her, and Idon't want I don would never wish on
her to have a career in thein the comedy. Obviously it's not a
career that any father wishes for hischild, but just to be able to
(17:52):
have some of those skills and know, we do make each other laugh.
We really enjoy spending time together anda lot of it is spent laughing.
Right. I also find that justthe way you can explain things and just
project and break things down, havinga writing and creative background and also just
having the background of being on stage, and you know, just from an
(18:15):
oral standpoint also I find is helpfuland translates also absolutely, I mean,
one of the key skills that comediansknow that other people should learn is how
to be clear when speaking. Youknow, when we're reading something a book,
a magazine article, we can alwaysgo back. We've all done this
too, Like you're reading but you'renot really comprehending because your mind is wandering,
(18:37):
right, So you can turn backa few pages and say, oh,
let me start this chapter over.I've been thinking about other stuff.
Well, when you're speaking to somebody, they don't have the option of rewinding
you or flipping back a few pages. So as comedians we need to grab
them and get their attention and makesure they understand what we're saying. And
you know, just being able todo that orally is so important. And
(18:59):
that's another thing that comedy teaches usand something that I share with my child
too, so that she becomes betterat communicating. I think comedians are expert
communicators, and that's the bottom line. I mean, you have to be.
I mean, that's that's all.That's all you're trying to do,
is you're on a stage with amicrophone trying to communicate to an audience of
people. So I think that's prettyimperative to be good at communicators. What
(19:21):
about what about poker players? Anythingtranslated from there? How's how's your poker
game been doing? Now? Withbetween the book and kids, how you
balancing all that? Yeah? Ilike to have a lot of plates spinning
in the air, don't I.For those who might not know, I'm
also a professional poker player. Iparticipate in major events like the World Series
of Poker every year, and man, this year I had the best time.
(19:44):
I'm in Vegas for the World Seriesof Poker. I'm also working as
an opening act for Jim Jefferies whilehe's headlining at the Mirage. So you
know, in one weekend, Imade day two of this big poker tournament
with a million dollar prize on theline. I got to do two sold
out shows with one of my comedyheroes of all time, the great Jim
(20:07):
Jeffries. And then I also madea final table of another tournament in the
same week, which won me likefifty eight thousand dollars in one day.
So if you talk about the bestweek ever, I think that was probably
mine. In many ways. Thatsounds like sounds like Vegas did well for
you. I guess what happened inVegas came home with you for you,
(20:29):
which is a good thing. Itgoes right to the college fund, as
you know. But yeah, yeah, but you know, using the skills
that you know that are important incomedy can also affect your poker game too,
you know, Like if I canget my opponents to relax and laugh
with me and we can all havemore fun together, you know, it
may or may not translate to mehaving an edge over them competitively, but
(20:52):
at least I'm going to have abetter time at the table, and to
me a part of the goal,Like the reason I played poker in the
first place is because I want tohave It's fun to play poker. I
make money from it, yes,but the main there are easier ways to
make money. Believe me, Playingpoker is a grind. It's hard,
and so if it's not fun,what are we even doing. And nowadays
a lot of my opponents they puton the sunglass I'm sure you've seen on
(21:15):
TV with the sunglasses and the hoodiesjust stare each other down in such a
serious way. If I can getthose guys to loosen up a little bit,
maybe just talk about what they dowhen they're not playing poker, maybe
laugh at something I say that thatmakes the whole experience more fun for me.
So that's a win too. Yeah. I played poker recently with some
(21:36):
buddies, and let's just say I'mnot played professionally anytime soon. The steaks
weren't as high as yours, butthey were high enough where I was like,
you know what, I think.I think I'm good. I think
I'm good. But I had fun. You know, it was you know,
sometimes you see an excuse they getout of the house for the night
and you know, let my wifeput the kids to bed, and but
I certainly should not be making ahabit of it. Bit. But we
(21:59):
had a good time, understood.But yeah, I mean there should be
a social element to it, whetheryou're playing with your buddies or a group
of strangers. I like to besocial at the table, and I won't
force it, you know, ifthese guys are just concentrating really hard because
they really want to win, andI understand, you know, there's a
lot of money at stake in thegames I play, obviously, you know
there's there's tons of money, sometimeslife changing money on the line, and
(22:21):
some players are just not comfortable,you know, also having a conversation while
we're playing. There's so much apoker is folding and waiting for the right
opportunity. That's when I really liketo have the chit chat and you know,
just meet people. I'm a socialguy. I like to meet people
and see what they're all about.And some people are comfortable sharing that at
the table and some aren't. Inever force it, but if I can,
(22:44):
if I can get a sense,that's part of reading people too,
is you get a sense of who'sopen to maybe joking around a little bit
and who isn't. I respect peoplewhat they you know, where they whatever
boundaries they want to set. Sothat's me the most importantly. Can you
tell when your daughter is bluffing?That's so funny. Her cousin, who's
about the same age, was intown the other day and we actually played
(23:08):
Uno together. And you know,if you've never played Uno, one thing
that is important to know is whatcolors the cards in your opponent's hands are.
So I've got this seven year oldgirl to my left and she's got
one card left, and I havea wild card, so I can pick
what color we do next. Now, if I picked the wrong color,
(23:30):
this little girl's gonna beat us.And I said to her, I played
my wild card, and I said, do you hope I say blue?
And she wouldn't tell me. AndI said, do you hope I say
yellow? And she wouldn't tell me. But I figured out just the way
she reacted. I could read herpoker face, and then I was able
to beat the seven year old UNO. Big accomplishment for me. You know
(23:52):
what, did it? Did itmake you feel good? Did it make
you feel good? It does?It does? I don't give out participations
trophies. If you want to beatme, you gotta beat me fair and
square. I love it. UhSo, speaking of games, let's steal
a quick little dad libs basically likeyou know mad libs, but for dad
things. Uh So, give mean adjective, right, give me an
(24:17):
adverb, carefully all night, apoker hand, straight, flush an adjective.
I did a color last time,so this time let's do fast.
(24:41):
Give me an emotion, fear asong lyric party in the USA? Nice
Miley, gotta go Miley on thatone. Tyler? Is that is that
big? Is that big? Withthe with the daughter? Yeah, she
loves singing and like sometimes I'll justwake up to the sound of you know,
(25:06):
her mother getting her ready for school, and she's belting out Party in
the USA in the kitchen. Thereare worse ways to wake up. I'll
be hon you know what. Atleast she's she's a patriot. Give me
a verb past tense, forgotten orforgot. I guess for good is past
(25:27):
tense? Forgotten would be past partisiple? Yes, sir, well either way
you look at you, you're verysmart, obviously must have written a book.
Give me uh well, and I'llgive me two more adjectives. Okay,
how about perfect and discolored? Allright, let's see how this came
(25:51):
out. I love it. Dadlives all right as a green father.
I can carefully say that being adad is like getting a straight flush and
poker. It's a fast feeling.When we first found out we were going
to be parents, my first reactionwas pure fear. As I shouted Party
in the USA, I knew mylife would be forever forgotten. Fatherhood is
a lot like a perfect stand uproutine. You need to stay discolored or
(26:14):
you'll fall flat on your face.Okay, remember that everyone always stay discolored.
Very important. That's the number onething. And let's just get some
quick rapid father questions. So whatwould you rather do? Change a dirty
diaper or assemble kids toys? Definitelyassemble the kid's toys. Be in charge
(26:34):
of the morning routine or the bedtimeroutine? I'll take both? Can I
take both? You really like beingin charge of both routines? Yeah?
I love the morning routine. Ilove the night routine, I really do.
But if I have to choose,I'll take nighttime, all right.
Would you rather have your kid wakeup two hours earlier or stay up two
hours past their bedtime? Wake upearlier? Would you rather get a call
(26:57):
to come to your kids school becauseshe pooped herself or because she cursed out
her teacher? Definitely the second one. What's the worst show you've had to
watch with your kid? Uh,let's see, we don't watch a ton
of TV. But there was onetime she was watching something called Bubble Guppies.
(27:18):
I think it's on Netflix. Itwas ye, absolutely inane. Just
what's happening? Yeah? I justI couldn't. I really couldn't with that
one. No thanks, bubble Guppies? And what was that? What's the
best show? What's the show thatyou watch you like? Actually? I
kind of like this and maybe you'rewatching it for you, not her.
Yeah, let's see. Yeah,this one's tough because we really just don't
(27:42):
we don't watch a ton of TVaround here. But could be a movie,
could be a kid's movie. Yeah, we're just we're not really into
screen time. We're just we're allabout reading books. But I can tell
you this, it's not answering yourquestion, but our favorite entertainment Harry Potter.
(28:03):
She's obsessed with Harry Potter. We'regoing back and I haven't. I
only ever had read the first one, and now we're getting into book two
and book three, which I hadnever read before. So we're really enjoying
Harry Potter. We haven't watched themovie. I don't know if it's appropriate
or not, or if it mightscare her or something. I don't know,
but man, these books are aregreat. If it's been a while
(28:25):
since you picked up Harry Potter,I highly recommend it. And kids go
crazy over them witches and wizards andall that good stuff. Yeah. No,
I love Harry Potter. Growing up. I read the first five books
and then the movie started coming outand I kind of said, well,
you know, this will save mesome time, but I'll bet she maybe
I'll go back. If not,maybe with my kids. Does your daughter
(28:48):
think you're funny? Yeah? Ithink she does, And especially now that
the book came out and she goesto school and brags my dad's not only
a comedian, but he wrote abook about laughing and stuff. It's yeah,
she definitely thinks I'm funny. That'sawesome. Is there a favorite like
corny dad joke? He like totells her something that you know, always
just lands with her, like she'sjust your number one audience for Well,
(29:11):
what I'll do is whatever she'll say, I'll mispronounce it, you know,
like if she's doing her homework andshe's like, Daddy, I'm finished.
I'll be like, no, don'tyou mean you're a food housed and she's
like, no, it's not saidthat way, it's said finished. I'm
like, no, you mean funoshed and we goof off like that and
that just gets her giggling. Youknow, that's fine. Love it.
(29:33):
What gives you the most pride inbeing a dad? You know, when
I see my daughter do something kindfor another child. I can remember recently
we were in Central Park. Wewent to a playground, and you know,
she was climbing around and stuff,and she noticed this little girl kind
of sitting by herself and looking alittle bit sad, and you know,
(29:56):
without any prompting at all, mydaughter went over and she just started talking
to the kid. And I didn'tsay anything at the time, but maybe
a day or two later, Isaid, hey, do you remember the
other day when you were talking tothat girl on the playground. What was
going on with that girl? Andshe said, well, her friend had
to leave early and she didn't haveanyone to play with. And I'm she
goes, She's like daddy, I'mreally good with with shy kids. I
(30:18):
know how to get them to comeout of their shell. I said,
where did you hear that expression?And she said, I think I heard
it from you. So those arethe moments as a father that just feels
so good. You know. Yeah, that's great. Apple doesn't fall too
far from the trade. Sounds likeshe'll be good at the poker table,
also making friends, a big socialOh what would be worse for me as
(30:38):
a father if my child ends upbeing a comedian or a poker player.
You know, we don't wish thisfar children. We'll choose author. We'll
choose option three. I'll choose author. Yeah, let's go author on that
one. So give me what ClaytonFletcher's definition of a good father is one
who acknowledges his child's feelings while stillguiding the child towards a life well spent.
(31:08):
I like it. So, wherewhere can anybody get the r OI
of L O L? Where's thatavailable? Right now? It's any place
you'd ever bought a book, Barnesand Noble, Amazon Books a million,
any other place that sells books.We also have a website where you can
learn more about the book. It'sr o I l o l dot com.
So you just take out the othersmaller words and just do the two
(31:32):
acronyms r o I l o Ldot com and everything's there. And did
you did you do an audiobook?Did you record the audio for it?
Yeah? The two of us,you know, the two of us co
authors. We've gotten to the samerecording studio where so many big, important
audiobooks were recorded here in New York. And you see the posters of all
the authors who came in there beforeyou, and it's really wild to just
(31:55):
you know, be in that environmentand get the headphones on and we read
our book together. That was aan experience I'll never forget. I hope
people enjoy the audio version. Myco author, Steve, is a businessman,
but he does some pretty good voicestoo. He voices most of the
female characters in the book. Ohboy, oh boy, that's a spoiler,
(32:15):
a bit of a spoiler, butI think you guys will like it.
No, Honestly, I just becauseI'm running around a lot and I'm
driving a lot from work or whatever, so I find audiobooks are easier for
me, and I like when theactual author, especially when it's a comedian,
did the audiobook. It's just it'sso much. You just get so
much more out of it. Youfeel like it's just like an extra layer.
We're like, sure, you couldread it, but then when you
(32:37):
hear the person telling you the storytoo, there's just like, yeah,
there's it's just a little bit moreof a bonus. So that's great to
know, because yeah, I'm definitelygoing to to buy that and listen to
that. That'd be great. Well, I can't can't wait to hear what
you have to say about it,Tyler. You know I've always respected you
as an artist, as a comic, as a director, and all the
other hats that you wear. Talkabout me wearing hats. This guy's done
(32:58):
at all and I'm really looking forwardto your thoughts on the ro IO L
O L. My thanks to Claytonfor taking the time to chat today.
Really excited to hear about this book. I really think it's a book that
probably most workplaces can use, soI'm looking forward to checking it out.
And you can tell how much Claytontruly loves being a dad. He's just
so passionate about it and how everythinghe said really resonated with me. You
(33:21):
could follow Clayton on Twitter or Iguess on X and Instagram at at Clayton
Comic and b RB. I'm gonnago get myself a copy of ROI of
L O L, so I'll tt y L. Okay, that was
a terrible dad joke, dand uson. But hey, I'm Tyler Gilden
and this is father material fucker Okay, I'm Dacke, I'm written red backle
For the first four years of mychild's life. I was a city comedian,
so I would take care of mydaughter all day. And my wife
works an office job, so Iwould take care of the baby until she
got home for work, and thenwhen she got home for work, just
hand off the baby, take myshower, and go do my shows.
I couldn't stand being on the roadonce my child was born. I didn't
(00:21):
even want to go. I didn'twant to go to New Jersey much less
to you know, Iowa or something. You didn't want to go to New
Jersey before then, anyway, butnow even more reason you didn't want to
go to New Jersey. You're goodboy. Good point. Every artist has
his or her own creative process tohelp them hone their craft and execute their
vision. But nothing throws a wrenchand a routine quite like having a baby.
(00:43):
How to creatives a justice still findthat time and energy needed to dedicate
to their work. How has becominga father impacted their creative process and the
material they create. I'm Tyler Gilden. I'm a writer, producer, director,
and podcast host. Most importantly,I'm a father of two, a
four year old boy and a threeyear old girl. Yep, they're three
(01:03):
hundred and sixty seven days apart.Hopefully my guests can help me and possibly
some of my listeners with some muchneeded guidance from their experience juggling parenthood and
being a creative This is father materialtoday's episode. I'm speaking with a very
funny Clayton Fletcher, comedian writer,performs all over the world. Has been
(01:26):
featured on Serious Access TV, Hulu, ESPN. Most importantly, though,
of course, Clayton is a lovingfather of an adorable eight year old girl.
I'm excited to chat with Clayton becauseI actually know Clayton. We have
been friends for over a decade inthe comedy scene. His recent book The
Roill just published by HarperCollins available whereall laughs are needed. Very excited to
(01:49):
chat. How are you? It'sbeen a minute. I don't think i've
seen you in a couple of years. Oh my god, it's been years.
Yeah. The last time I sawyou, I think you were playing
basketball on the court at what's thatarea, sty Town. It was years
ago. I was there with mydaughter. She's going to be eight in
January. Yeah, we moved tothe Upper east Side. My daughter got
(02:12):
into this school up here, soyeah, we're like fancy Upper East Siders
now or something. It's just reallynot me. But here we are eight
years old, all right, sotell me about that's what's that like?
I mean, I only have aalmost five year old and almost four year
old, so I'm not close toeight. So what's what's the difference now
in fathering an eight year old versusa toddler? I mean, you know,
(02:34):
just enjoy every step of the way. You know, it's like every
step is different. Like when they'refour and five, the emotional learning is
still happening. They're trying to learnhow not to throw a temper tantrum or
you know, just how to managetheir feelings and stuff. By the time
a kid is eight, I thinkit's a it's a little more fun because
(02:54):
you can just kind of hang outtogether and there's not as much of that.
Are you Guys have a lot ofcommonalities that you share. She into
what you're into, or you're learningto get into whatever an eight year old
girls into these days? Yeah,right right, I mean you know it's
like you got chess, which Iam into, and then you've got gymnastics,
(03:16):
which I've never had any interest in. So it's a little bit of
both, you know. So takinga step back to pre pre father and
so what did you always want tobe a comedian growing up? Was set
something telling jokes or you had thatcreative itch like take me back to pre
pre fatherhood, you know, Iguess when did you your interests for comedy
(03:38):
begin? So I was an actorand a musician. I was actually a
musician first. My father was awell known jazz bass player, Ashton Fletcher.
If there's any big jazz fans outthere, they might actually know my
dad's name. There are probably sevenbig jazz fans in the whole world,
(03:58):
so it's it's not a huge Ifwe can just get three of them,
you know, then we have almosthalf the population, so that's big.
Yeah, yeah, but yeah,my dad was a basis. He started
teaching me music when I was achild, and when I was about twelve
or thirteen, I played in thepit of a local community theater production of
(04:19):
a chorus line. My dad couldn'tdo the gig, so he offered me
and they didn't realize I was soyoung, So when I walked in,
they were surprised that the bass playerwas a twelve year old boy, you
know, and from being under thestage and watching the actors on stage,
I kind of wanted to try.What they were doing looked like more fun
(04:40):
than what I was doing. Andso then, you know, starting in
high school, I got into actingand I did all the plays in school
and everything. And I was inNew York working as an actor and we
were backstage, we were doing wewere doing a show called Godspell, and
I was playing Jesus in Godspell.And the guy who played Judas was actually
(05:00):
the one who said to me backstageone day, He's like, you know,
Clayton, you're really funny. Youshould try stand up. And I
said, no way, man,I could never do that. I never
I would never know what to eventalk about. You know, as an
actor, you're used to having ascript and a costume and a director in
a stage and everything like that.And then in comedy they just give you
a microphone and tell you how muchtime to stay up there for. So
(05:24):
yeah, it was different. Butthe first time I tried it, I
loved it. And yeah, Iguess I owe it all to Judas.
I owe him thirty pieces of silver. That's amazing. So wow, ask,
I can just imagine this Judas JesusJesus conversation, and that's what led
to you going into it all right, So Judas finally did something good for
Jesus. So there you go,totally, totally he made up for sins
(05:46):
of the past. Let's say,so, where were you in your career
once you had your daughter? Though? I guess, like, where were
you at that point? And Iguess how did things change for you?
Really? I mean, obviously havinga kid is a life change experience.
How did that impact you from whereyou were in your career. Yeah,
So at the time before my childwas born, I was on the road
(06:09):
a lot. I was working asa feature. Those who know a lot
about stand up on the road,there's like an MC that starts the show,
gets the crowd laughing, and thenthe feature goes up there and does
what would be considered like a ComedyCentral half hour twenty five to thirty minutes
of you know material, And that'sthe spot I was doing. And then
(06:30):
after me, the MC would introducethe headliner, who's usually the guy that's
making all the money that night.Right. So I was on the road,
and I was getting stronger and strongerand featuring, and I was even
starting to get some opportunities headlining,you know in places like Dayton, Ohio,
and Tempe, Arizona. You knowthe road as we call it here
in New York. And you know, then obviously, once my child was
(06:53):
born, I wanted to be homemore. So I was at a point
in my career as kind of acrossroads, like do I want to be
a road comedian or do I wantto be a city comedian. And so
for the first four years of mychild's life, I was a city comedian.
So I would take care of mydaughter all day. And my wife
works an office job, and soI would take care of the baby until
(07:17):
she got home for work. Andthen when when she got home for work,
just hand off the baby, takemy shower, and go do my
shows. So that's it was anecessary change, because I couldn't stand being
on the road you know, oncemy once my child was born, I
didn't even want to go I didn'twant to go to New Jersey much less
(07:38):
to you know, Iowa or something. Well, you didn't want to go
to New Jersey before then anyway,even good, but now even more reason
you didn't want to go to NewJersey. You're good boy. Good point.
Did you find that so obviously clearlyyour time management and prioritizing on the
road versus staying, you know,local change. What about material itself?
Did you feel like because you know, for me personally, a there jokes
(08:01):
that I will tell about my kids. But then there's also just I feel
like from an emotional standpoint, becominga parent, you just see the world
differently. So I'm just curious howany of that seeped into your routine initially,
or maybe maybe it took time.You tell me, that's a great,
great question, But yeah, becominga father gives you, I think,
(08:22):
a different perspective on life. Istarted thinking about politics in a way.
I never really cared about politics,but now I do because it's my
child's future that is at stake.Now. You know, when it was
just I just had to take careof myself. It was just, you
know, as long as I couldpay my rent and do what I love,
I'm a happy guy. But now, you know, everything is different.
(08:43):
Now I'm more concerned with how muchmoney I'm making so that I can
help her plan her future and makesure that she'll be all set by the
time you know, college comes aroundor whatever. It's just everything is different.
It really is the main thing inmy life that has changed me as
a person. You know, I'msure you agree without a doubt. I
(09:07):
mean, it's your at the endof the day, you know you used
to you. I mean sure,if you're married, you have somebody you're
you know, accountable for, youknow, but otherwise you wake up and
kind of do you every day,and the end goal is is is yourself.
And once you have a kid,you everything just shocks into perspective of
like, oh crap, it's reallyabout you know, him or her or
them or you know, however manykids you have, and just yeah,
(09:28):
everything that you want to do,Like there's things for me, there's things
for the kids. Then slowly thethings for the kids become for you as
well because you actually enjoy doing them. Some something's not, but yeah,
I so to me, you know, to follow up on that question,
though, did you find that thematerial you're talking about where you're talking about
politics more were you're telling jokes ofyou know, narratives about your kids.
I mean, obviously I've seen yourstand up, you know, many times,
(09:50):
and I know you have done somejokes but at what point? I
mean, I know, obviously asa comedian, a lot of the times
you well, you should be pullingfrom truth. You know you should be,
but sometimes there's always sometimes there's adelay, like I find, you
know, I was if I reallyliked my engagement jokes. I was,
you know, and I we gotengaged at twenty sixteen. Maybe in twenty
twenty, I was still telling theengaged jokes, like, you know,
(10:11):
there's some sort of a shelf lifelike this is inside Baseball. But I'm
curious, you know, were youimmediately jumping into that or you needed some
time to you know, sift offof your other stuff. Yeah, I
mean I actually talk about this inthe book that I just wrote, just
came out last week actually, Butto me, like I think comedians nowadays,
we talk about what's happening, youknow. So it's funny because you
(10:35):
asked me that question and I reallyonly answered it in terms of how my
thinking changed and how my perspective onthe world changed. But yeah, probably
some of your listeners might not realizenaturally my material also changed, right,
because what's on our minds is whatends up on the page, and what's
on the page is what ends upcoming out of our mouths when we grabbed
(10:56):
the microphone. So yeah, Imean I never used to focus on,
you know, what's going on inthe world today. You know, my
my material was more just designed likefrivolous things, mostly silly things like have
you ever lost your keys? Andthings like that. And now it's like,
how come the mayor gets more libertarian? Yeah? I really have changed,
(11:16):
like what the thrust of my ofmy comedy is. It's not that
it's gotten more serious, but it'sjust this subject matter that I never used
to delve into because it wasn't importantto me, now is more important to
me. So yeah, I'm talkingabout it more totally. And you just
mentioned the book, which obviously we'regonna jump into. So the ROI of
L O L great title for abook, I know, did you did
(11:37):
you come up with that? OrI know you, I know you co
wrote it with with Steve Cody,So tell me tell me a little bit
about the book and then we'll diveinto it further. But very exciting and
congrats, I know it just justcame out. Yeah, I'm very excited
about this book. It's it's designedto help business people learn what comedians know,
right, So if you work inan office, you might not realize
(11:58):
what it means to read a roomor to change the course of a conversation
that isn't going well. You know, these are skills that comedians develop over
time spent on stage that people inan office maybe never even considered before.
So the book really explores them,and we look at stand up comedy,
improvisational comedy, and sketch comedy andhow the skills that you learn from doing
(12:20):
each one apply to business. Now, when you ask about the title,
I mean the original our publisher,HarperCollins, they just gave us a working
title once they asked us to,you know, write the book, and
the working title was just Laughing Matters. And I said, that's a cute
title to play on words, butI'm sure it's been done before, you
know, I wonder if we cancome up with something more interesting. My
(12:43):
co author is the CEO of Peppercom, which is a public relations firm here
in New York City, and partof their job every day is coming up
with ideas and you know, pressreleases and pitches and things like that.
So we got a team to getat Peppercom and the employees helped us come
up with a better title. Wedid a big group brainstorm and at some
(13:07):
point somebody said, what about somethingabout LOL? And then somebody said what
about you know, f U lO L? And somebody said what about
FYI l O L? And whatabout the ROI of l O L?
And all of us knew right then, all right, this meeting's over.
Yeah, everybody could go home now. Yeah, we're extra vaco extra vacation
days. We're closing shop. Yeah, No, I mean, it's it's
(13:30):
it's it's a really interesting concept.So I guess how did you even come
up with the idea? Like whatwas the impetus to even begin to write
the book? Yeah, so aboutfifteen years ago, Wow, it's been
a long time. I Am Seeda show at the now defunct Carolines Comedy
Club and the Yeah Lrip Carolines,and the performers in that show had all
(13:52):
just recently taken a class where theywere all beginners and they just learned how
to do stand ups. So it'slike a five o'clock in the afternoon new
kind of show before the main stageshow with the big headliners and everything.
And so I was the mc Therewas a guy in the show that I
thought was really funny, and wheneverybody was congratulating each other afterwards, I
was like, you know, Idon't know if this is something you just
(14:13):
wanted to try once or whatever.He was an older guy, and I
said, but you know, Ithink you're pretty good and I can help
you get started in comedy. Ihave some contacts I could set you up
with some more performing opportunities. Andthis guy said, yeah, sure,
why don't you come to my officeand we'll look at my material together and
maybe you can coach me a littlebit before the next one. And I
(14:35):
said, isn't your boss going toget mad that you've got some comedian in
your office? And he said,don't worry about that. That guy turned
out to be Steve Cody, CEOand owner of this PR firm, so
he didn't have a boss to answerto and he could spend his workday doing
stuff like working on his stand upcomedy with me. After about a year
(14:56):
or two of doing that together,he discovered that he was it was changed
how he was doing his job,So all the comedy work that we were
doing was affecting his work as aPR guy. And so he said,
we got to roll this out tomy agency, offer it to our clients.
And yeah, that was fifteen yearsago. But about ten years ago
(15:18):
he first suggested that we write abook about the work that we were doing.
But at that time, Tyler,we we just we were both too
busy. But then during the pandemicis when we said, you know,
we've got obviously more free time thanwe're used to having. Maybe we should
read it, visit that book idea. And around that same time, HarperCollins
came calling and you know, hadheard about what we were doing, and
(15:41):
they actually asked us to write thebook. So, you know, a
big publisher like that wants to offeryou a book deal, you take it.
And then the you know, thestars aligned and it seems like the
world needs this book now more thanit ever has before. Everybody I tell
about the book are like, oh, my boss needs to read that book
for sure. Oh well, it'sa perfect time then, because everyone could
(16:03):
start gifting it for the holiday season. Though I though, I wonder,
is it a comple bed to giveit to your boss? Is it not?
I guess I guess it depends onhow you how you situate you know
how you set it up to giveit to your boss. But I mean
that, yeah, it's the framingis everything. It's it's it's the setup.
Uh uh, it is big there, uh but no, I mean,
honestly, it sounds like a greatbook obviously something that I can relate
(16:26):
to from a from a comedy perspective, but yeah, it's it's something that
I could definitely see offices because Iagree that a lot of it's funny because
a lot of your life, willyou know, dictate your comedy. But
then it also goes both ways too, where a lot of the skills then
that you developing comedy exactly reading aroom. And I'm curious if you find
(16:47):
that a lot of that also hashelped you as a father as well.
Some of the stuff that you've learnedbeing a comedian. Do you find like
that is translated to parenting also?Oh? Absolutely, I mean, Look,
one gift we can give our childrenis learning how to cope with things
that don't go your way. AndI believe that that's why God gave us
a sense of humor in the firstplace, is that we're supposed to laugh
(17:10):
through the madness, you know,learn to see the bright side when bad
things happen. So if my daughter'sdisappointed about something that happened at school,
you know, she's learning from mehow to use her sense of humor to
kind of deal with it. Andit's not that you don't process your feelings
or that you replace them with laughter. Obviously that's not the lesson I'm trying
(17:30):
to teach her, but just tomaintain your sense of humor through good times
and in bad because it really isa gift and that's something that I want
to share with her, and Idon't want I don would never wish on
her to have a career in thein the comedy. Obviously it's not a
career that any father wishes for hischild, but just to be able to
(17:52):
have some of those skills and know, we do make each other laugh.
We really enjoy spending time together anda lot of it is spent laughing.
Right. I also find that justthe way you can explain things and just
project and break things down, havinga writing and creative background and also just
having the background of being on stage, and you know, just from an
(18:15):
oral standpoint also I find is helpfuland translates also absolutely, I mean,
one of the key skills that comediansknow that other people should learn is how
to be clear when speaking. Youknow, when we're reading something a book,
a magazine article, we can alwaysgo back. We've all done this
too, Like you're reading but you'renot really comprehending because your mind is wandering,
(18:37):
right, So you can turn backa few pages and say, oh,
let me start this chapter over.I've been thinking about other stuff.
Well, when you're speaking to somebody, they don't have the option of rewinding
you or flipping back a few pages. So as comedians we need to grab
them and get their attention and makesure they understand what we're saying. And
you know, just being able todo that orally is so important. And
(18:59):
that's another thing that comedy teaches usand something that I share with my child
too, so that she becomes betterat communicating. I think comedians are expert
communicators, and that's the bottom line. I mean, you have to be.
I mean, that's that's all.That's all you're trying to do,
is you're on a stage with amicrophone trying to communicate to an audience of
people. So I think that's prettyimperative to be good at communicators. What
(19:21):
about what about poker players? Anythingtranslated from there? How's how's your poker
game been doing? Now? Withbetween the book and kids, how you
balancing all that? Yeah? Ilike to have a lot of plates spinning
in the air, don't I.For those who might not know, I'm
also a professional poker player. Iparticipate in major events like the World Series
of Poker every year, and man, this year I had the best time.
(19:44):
I'm in Vegas for the World Seriesof Poker. I'm also working as
an opening act for Jim Jefferies whilehe's headlining at the Mirage. So you
know, in one weekend, Imade day two of this big poker tournament
with a million dollar prize on theline. I got to do two sold
out shows with one of my comedyheroes of all time, the great Jim
(20:07):
Jeffries. And then I also madea final table of another tournament in the
same week, which won me likefifty eight thousand dollars in one day.
So if you talk about the bestweek ever, I think that was probably
mine. In many ways. Thatsounds like sounds like Vegas did well for
you. I guess what happened inVegas came home with you for you,
(20:29):
which is a good thing. Itgoes right to the college fund, as
you know. But yeah, yeah, but you know, using the skills
that you know that are important incomedy can also affect your poker game too,
you know, Like if I canget my opponents to relax and laugh
with me and we can all havemore fun together, you know, it
may or may not translate to mehaving an edge over them competitively, but
(20:52):
at least I'm going to have abetter time at the table, and to
me a part of the goal,Like the reason I played poker in the
first place is because I want tohave It's fun to play poker. I
make money from it, yes,but the main there are easier ways to
make money. Believe me, Playingpoker is a grind. It's hard,
and so if it's not fun,what are we even doing. And nowadays
a lot of my opponents they puton the sunglass I'm sure you've seen on
(21:15):
TV with the sunglasses and the hoodiesjust stare each other down in such a
serious way. If I can getthose guys to loosen up a little bit,
maybe just talk about what they dowhen they're not playing poker, maybe
laugh at something I say that thatmakes the whole experience more fun for me.
So that's a win too. Yeah. I played poker recently with some
(21:36):
buddies, and let's just say I'mnot played professionally anytime soon. The steaks
weren't as high as yours, butthey were high enough where I was like,
you know what, I think.I think I'm good. I think
I'm good. But I had fun. You know, it was you know,
sometimes you see an excuse they getout of the house for the night
and you know, let my wifeput the kids to bed, and but
I certainly should not be making ahabit of it. Bit. But we
(21:59):
had a good time, understood.But yeah, I mean there should be
a social element to it, whetheryou're playing with your buddies or a group
of strangers. I like to besocial at the table, and I won't
force it, you know, ifthese guys are just concentrating really hard because
they really want to win, andI understand, you know, there's a
lot of money at stake in thegames I play, obviously, you know
there's there's tons of money, sometimeslife changing money on the line, and
(22:21):
some players are just not comfortable,you know, also having a conversation while
we're playing. There's so much apoker is folding and waiting for the right
opportunity. That's when I really liketo have the chit chat and you know,
just meet people. I'm a socialguy. I like to meet people
and see what they're all about.And some people are comfortable sharing that at
the table and some aren't. Inever force it, but if I can,
(22:44):
if I can get a sense,that's part of reading people too,
is you get a sense of who'sopen to maybe joking around a little bit
and who isn't. I respect peoplewhat they you know, where they whatever
boundaries they want to set. Sothat's me the most importantly. Can you
tell when your daughter is bluffing?That's so funny. Her cousin, who's
about the same age, was intown the other day and we actually played
(23:08):
Uno together. And you know,if you've never played Uno, one thing
that is important to know is whatcolors the cards in your opponent's hands are.
So I've got this seven year oldgirl to my left and she's got
one card left, and I havea wild card, so I can pick
what color we do next. Now, if I picked the wrong color,
(23:30):
this little girl's gonna beat us.And I said to her, I played
my wild card, and I said, do you hope I say blue?
And she wouldn't tell me. AndI said, do you hope I say
yellow? And she wouldn't tell me. But I figured out just the way
she reacted. I could read herpoker face, and then I was able
to beat the seven year old UNO. Big accomplishment for me. You know
(23:52):
what, did it? Did itmake you feel good? Did it make
you feel good? It does?It does? I don't give out participations
trophies. If you want to beatme, you gotta beat me fair and
square. I love it. UhSo, speaking of games, let's steal
a quick little dad libs basically likeyou know mad libs, but for dad
things. Uh So, give mean adjective, right, give me an
(24:17):
adverb, carefully all night, apoker hand, straight, flush an adjective.
I did a color last time,so this time let's do fast.
(24:41):
Give me an emotion, fear asong lyric party in the USA? Nice
Miley, gotta go Miley on thatone. Tyler? Is that is that
big? Is that big? Withthe with the daughter? Yeah, she
loves singing and like sometimes I'll justwake up to the sound of you know,
(25:06):
her mother getting her ready for school, and she's belting out Party in
the USA in the kitchen. Thereare worse ways to wake up. I'll
be hon you know what. Atleast she's she's a patriot. Give me
a verb past tense, forgotten orforgot. I guess for good is past
(25:27):
tense? Forgotten would be past partisiple? Yes, sir, well either way
you look at you, you're verysmart, obviously must have written a book.
Give me uh well, and I'llgive me two more adjectives. Okay,
how about perfect and discolored? Allright, let's see how this came
(25:51):
out. I love it. Dadlives all right as a green father.
I can carefully say that being adad is like getting a straight flush and
poker. It's a fast feeling.When we first found out we were going
to be parents, my first reactionwas pure fear. As I shouted Party
in the USA, I knew mylife would be forever forgotten. Fatherhood is
a lot like a perfect stand uproutine. You need to stay discolored or
(26:14):
you'll fall flat on your face.Okay, remember that everyone always stay discolored.
Very important. That's the number onething. And let's just get some
quick rapid father questions. So whatwould you rather do? Change a dirty
diaper or assemble kids toys? Definitelyassemble the kid's toys. Be in charge
(26:34):
of the morning routine or the bedtimeroutine? I'll take both? Can I
take both? You really like beingin charge of both routines? Yeah?
I love the morning routine. Ilove the night routine, I really do.
But if I have to choose,I'll take nighttime, all right.
Would you rather have your kid wakeup two hours earlier or stay up two
hours past their bedtime? Wake upearlier? Would you rather get a call
(26:57):
to come to your kids school becauseshe pooped herself or because she cursed out
her teacher? Definitely the second one. What's the worst show you've had to
watch with your kid? Uh,let's see, we don't watch a ton
of TV. But there was onetime she was watching something called Bubble Guppies.
(27:18):
I think it's on Netflix. Itwas ye, absolutely inane. Just
what's happening? Yeah? I justI couldn't. I really couldn't with that
one. No thanks, bubble Guppies? And what was that? What's the
best show? What's the show thatyou watch you like? Actually? I
kind of like this and maybe you'rewatching it for you, not her.
Yeah, let's see. Yeah,this one's tough because we really just don't
(27:42):
we don't watch a ton of TVaround here. But could be a movie,
could be a kid's movie. Yeah, we're just we're not really into
screen time. We're just we're allabout reading books. But I can tell
you this, it's not answering yourquestion, but our favorite entertainment Harry Potter.
(28:03):
She's obsessed with Harry Potter. We'regoing back and I haven't. I
only ever had read the first one, and now we're getting into book two
and book three, which I hadnever read before. So we're really enjoying
Harry Potter. We haven't watched themovie. I don't know if it's appropriate
or not, or if it mightscare her or something. I don't know,
but man, these books are aregreat. If it's been a while
(28:25):
since you picked up Harry Potter,I highly recommend it. And kids go
crazy over them witches and wizards andall that good stuff. Yeah. No,
I love Harry Potter. Growing up. I read the first five books
and then the movie started coming outand I kind of said, well,
you know, this will save mesome time, but I'll bet she maybe
I'll go back. If not,maybe with my kids. Does your daughter
(28:48):
think you're funny? Yeah? Ithink she does, And especially now that
the book came out and she goesto school and brags my dad's not only
a comedian, but he wrote abook about laughing and stuff. It's yeah,
she definitely thinks I'm funny. That'sawesome. Is there a favorite like
corny dad joke? He like totells her something that you know, always
just lands with her, like she'sjust your number one audience for Well,
(29:11):
what I'll do is whatever she'll say, I'll mispronounce it, you know,
like if she's doing her homework andshe's like, Daddy, I'm finished.
I'll be like, no, don'tyou mean you're a food housed and she's
like, no, it's not saidthat way, it's said finished. I'm
like, no, you mean funoshed and we goof off like that and
that just gets her giggling. Youknow, that's fine. Love it.
(29:33):
What gives you the most pride inbeing a dad? You know, when
I see my daughter do something kindfor another child. I can remember recently
we were in Central Park. Wewent to a playground, and you know,
she was climbing around and stuff,and she noticed this little girl kind
of sitting by herself and looking alittle bit sad, and you know,
(29:56):
without any prompting at all, mydaughter went over and she just started talking
to the kid. And I didn'tsay anything at the time, but maybe
a day or two later, Isaid, hey, do you remember the
other day when you were talking tothat girl on the playground. What was
going on with that girl? Andshe said, well, her friend had
to leave early and she didn't haveanyone to play with. And I'm she
goes, She's like daddy, I'mreally good with with shy kids. I
(30:18):
know how to get them to comeout of their shell. I said,
where did you hear that expression?And she said, I think I heard
it from you. So those arethe moments as a father that just feels
so good. You know. Yeah, that's great. Apple doesn't fall too
far from the trade. Sounds likeshe'll be good at the poker table,
also making friends, a big socialOh what would be worse for me as
(30:38):
a father if my child ends upbeing a comedian or a poker player.
You know, we don't wish thisfar children. We'll choose author. We'll
choose option three. I'll choose author. Yeah, let's go author on that
one. So give me what ClaytonFletcher's definition of a good father is one
who acknowledges his child's feelings while stillguiding the child towards a life well spent.
(31:08):
I like it. So, wherewhere can anybody get the r OI
of L O L? Where's thatavailable? Right now? It's any place
you'd ever bought a book, Barnesand Noble, Amazon Books a million,
any other place that sells books.We also have a website where you can
learn more about the book. It'sr o I l o l dot com.
So you just take out the othersmaller words and just do the two
(31:32):
acronyms r o I l o Ldot com and everything's there. And did
you did you do an audiobook?Did you record the audio for it?
Yeah? The two of us,you know, the two of us co
authors. We've gotten to the samerecording studio where so many big, important
audiobooks were recorded here in New York. And you see the posters of all
the authors who came in there beforeyou, and it's really wild to just
(31:55):
you know, be in that environmentand get the headphones on and we read
our book together. That was aan experience I'll never forget. I hope
people enjoy the audio version. Myco author, Steve, is a businessman,
but he does some pretty good voicestoo. He voices most of the
female characters in the book. Ohboy, oh boy, that's a spoiler,
(32:15):
a bit of a spoiler, butI think you guys will like it.
No, Honestly, I just becauseI'm running around a lot and I'm
driving a lot from work or whatever, so I find audiobooks are easier for
me, and I like when theactual author, especially when it's a comedian,
did the audiobook. It's just it'sso much. You just get so
much more out of it. Youfeel like it's just like an extra layer.
We're like, sure, you couldread it, but then when you
(32:37):
hear the person telling you the storytoo, there's just like, yeah,
there's it's just a little bit moreof a bonus. So that's great to
know, because yeah, I'm definitelygoing to to buy that and listen to
that. That'd be great. Well, I can't can't wait to hear what
you have to say about it,Tyler. You know I've always respected you
as an artist, as a comic, as a director, and all the
other hats that you wear. Talkabout me wearing hats. This guy's done
(32:58):
at all and I'm really looking forwardto your thoughts on the ro IO L
O L. My thanks to Claytonfor taking the time to chat today.
Really excited to hear about this book. I really think it's a book that
probably most workplaces can use, soI'm looking forward to checking it out.
And you can tell how much Claytontruly loves being a dad. He's just
so passionate about it and how everythinghe said really resonated with me. You
(33:21):
could follow Clayton on Twitter or Iguess on X and Instagram at at Clayton
Comic and b RB. I'm gonnago get myself a copy of ROI of
L O L, so I'll tt y L. Okay, that was
a terrible dad joke, dand uson. But hey, I'm Tyler Gilden
and this is father material fucker Okay, I'm Dacke, I'm written red backle
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
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.
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.