May 8, 2025 • 7 mins
Marcus and Corey talk to award-winning Actor Jeremy Piven about his current nationwide stand-up tour (including his dates in the Bay Area), why (after four decades of performing on stage and screen)"all roads lead to stand-up comedy," and why he thinks a lot of directors consider him an "artistic booty call." Hilarious! Grab tickets to see him live at www.jeremy-piven.com.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Marcus and Corey star one on one, three on with
Jeremy Piven. Come into the bay for a couple of
stand up comedy shows. Can't believe we finally made it
online together.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
I'm really proud of all of us.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Let's just have a group therapy session, because trying to
connect on Instagram live three times last week was impossible.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
I got a fangirl out just a little bit.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
Ory's been waiting to tell you something her entire life.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
One of my favorite scenes of all time is you
in Singles at the Register.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Amazing, you own that scene. Incredible, great eye, You're incredible.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
And then the next one is Judgment Night, another one
of my all time go tos.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Absolutely, I thought you were going to tell them what
you really want to tell him why you love his
acting so much.
Speaker 5 (00:37):
This is one of those moments where I feel like
I'm on a date and you say enough about me,
what do you think about me?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I just appreciate those scenes so much because you really
you own that scene. You were the only person in
that scene in Singles.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
The words that she used to me off camera were
I love him because he maximizes every scene he's.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
In, no matter what you're incredible.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
I was convinced that you were a stand up comedian
that had turned ant without doing any of your history,
and then I looked into it and it's actually the
other way around. Like four decades of acting Second City,
which is impressive. You said you came out of the
room making people laugh, but you only started doing stand
up like a few years ago.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Is that accurate. No, I've been on the road for
ten years.
Speaker 5 (01:15):
I started sketch comedy in the nineties with Chris Farley,
and I've been on stage since i was eight years old.
And I think what people do with stand up is
they try to label you how long have you been
doing it, because if you haven't been doing it for
thirty years, you're not good. And the reality is that
I've been lucky enough to have been on stage my
whole life.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
And yes, I am for.
Speaker 5 (01:34):
Some comics new because I've only been touring for ten years,
but I've got half a century of stage time, and
all roads lead to stand up. So all the films
that you mentioned, starting with Singles where Cameron Crow, the
reason why you said I was the only person in
that scene is it's true because they needed some comedy.
(01:54):
They call me up and they say, hey, on a
lunch break, can you come in and improvise a scene?
And of course it's my dream, and so I just
went in there and improvised that entire scene. And you know,
Campbell Scott is brilliant, was there, but just kind of
on the receiving end of Okay, here's a guy coming
in that the director wants just to kind of run
with it and give us some comedy. So I was
(02:16):
always the guy that like, oh man, we're stuck. We
need something. I just get that guy. And then I
became guys like, well he could do four page monologues
like Ari Gold and make it feel improvisational. We have
a ton of exposition. Who do we get? Let's get
that guy. I was the kind of into pinch. I
guess what I'm saying is I'm an artistic booty call. Okay,
(02:37):
not a lot of respect, but in a pinch, I
got to come in and I have to release something
that was the worst analogy of my entire life. I apologize.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Now give me a second to plug the shows, otherwise
I'm gonna forget. So Jeremy Piven gonna be playing a
couple of shows in our area May sixteenth.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
At the Golden Gate Theater in Monterey, and then May seventeenth,
that's a Saturday, that's going to be at the Uptown
Theater in Napa.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Beautiful Venues.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Beautiful Venues.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
I've heard you say this a few times that all
roads lead to stand up comedy.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Yeah, what do you mean by that?
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Just I've been on stage my whole life, and I've
done drama and comedy. I've improvised on sketch comedy, I've
done Shakespeare. I've been so lucky that I've done every
form that you can do, and I've studied all those
forms and they've all been incredible. And you know, if
I'm doing a film or a TV show, I'm always
trying to get you know, my writing in or be
able to improvise or do something that I can just
(03:29):
contribute as well as Once I get the language and
their very happy word for word, then I always say,
can I do a free take? Sometimes I get it,
sometimes I don't, and you have to be okay with
all of it. I just love to have options, so
I'll roads lead to stand up in the way that
I've been trying to get my writing and my take
on what's funny for my entire life, and it's either
(03:51):
received in the right way, like singles like you said,
Cameron Crowe, Let's do it, Rush Hour two, The Versace Salesman,
every word of it improvised with Chris Tucker and Jackie Chant.
There are moments in my career where they welcome me
with open arms and others they don't want you to
bring the improvise and that's listen, entourage.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Every word was written.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
Every once in a while I would slip something in
like let's hug it out, bitch, and it would become
a catchphrase or whatever. But when I say, all roads
lead to stand up, everything that I've done in my
life creatively has been incredible. And now I get a
chance to kind of write everything and perform without any
shackles and be very free and be able to speak
(04:32):
my mind and have all the freedom be careful what
you wish for. It's a lot of freedom, enough freedom
to hang yourself. And I love it because people come
up to me after the shows and they say, we
had no idea you were this funny, and that's a
beautiful backhanded compliment. Yeah, and standing ovations and it's just
I love a live audience. I love being able to
make people laugh. We have to laugh right now. It's
(04:53):
very confusing out there on many many levels. Does that
make sense?
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Why can I ask you?
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Like talking about two different genres like Old School versus
Judgment Night, how much of that was you and how
much was improv They said, didn't we put you in
a dumpster?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Ones?
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Yeah? I got out like is that you? No, that's
not me, that's Todd Phillips.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
Todd Phillips is a genius, and I, my god, I
hope he goes back to comedy.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
You know.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
Vince Vaughn is an improviser from Chicago as well. Luke
Wilson is not an improviser. He's not of work. I
have a corombie model. No, I kid, Why did I
say that?
Speaker 2 (05:29):
No need to say that? Why would I say that?
Speaker 5 (05:34):
But so, something like old School is the script that
you read and go, oh, no, this genius. I would
love to play this role. And Todd goes, oh, that's
already taken. Vince is playing that, Oh, Luke's playing that. Oh,
Will's playing that. What's left? What's left is the nerdy dean.
You can't play the nerdy dean? Why not look at you.
You look like you're Vince's best friend. You're this is
word for word of my audition with Todd, and he goes, yeah,
(05:57):
you can't, you can't do that role. I said, well,
let me be a shot, coming in an improvise. So
I go and find a bad sweater vest and I
do a comb over, and you know, I play the role.
Todd is a genius, But we come from different backgrounds.
I come from a background where we play all these
different characters and we have a blast. And I've been
on stage my whole life, and so I can play anything.
I played the gay Risachi salesman in Rush Hour. I
(06:21):
basically played Lloyd before I played Ari. So you know,
if someone's curious about my range, I got receipts. I'm
eighty movies into the game. Just take a look. All
I'm doing is celebrating myself, and it's embarrassing.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
You know what, Sometimes you gotta do it. Jeremy Piven
doing stand up May sixteenth and Monterey at the Golden
Gate Theater, May seventeenth and Napa at the Uptown Theater.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
I want you guys to come so that we can
circle back and have a conversation about the stand up.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
That's a great venue. Welcome to the Bay Area. I
know we're out of time, but dude, we just want
to wish you the best de luckment. I know you're
gonna crush you.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Thank you guys so much for your patience.
Speaker 5 (06:54):
You know, we tried before and it was very surreal
because I could just see your faces and you couldn't
hear me, or you could and see me, so I
was looking at your faces. It was like watching two
cave men trying to discover fire and we couldn't do it.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
So we did it. I'm proud of us.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
We're here.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
It's on.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Thank thank you for your time.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Thank you to see you soon.
Marcus and Corey star one on one, three on with
Jeremy Piven. Come into the bay for a couple of
stand up comedy shows. Can't believe we finally made it
online together.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
I'm really proud of all of us.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Let's just have a group therapy session, because trying to
connect on Instagram live three times last week was impossible.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
I got a fangirl out just a little bit.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
Ory's been waiting to tell you something her entire life.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
One of my favorite scenes of all time is you
in Singles at the Register.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Amazing, you own that scene. Incredible, great eye, You're incredible.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
And then the next one is Judgment Night, another one
of my all time go tos.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Absolutely, I thought you were going to tell them what
you really want to tell him why you love his
acting so much.
Speaker 5 (00:37):
This is one of those moments where I feel like
I'm on a date and you say enough about me,
what do you think about me?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I just appreciate those scenes so much because you really
you own that scene. You were the only person in
that scene in Singles.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
The words that she used to me off camera were
I love him because he maximizes every scene he's.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
In, no matter what you're incredible.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
I was convinced that you were a stand up comedian
that had turned ant without doing any of your history,
and then I looked into it and it's actually the
other way around. Like four decades of acting Second City,
which is impressive. You said you came out of the
room making people laugh, but you only started doing stand
up like a few years ago.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Is that accurate. No, I've been on the road for
ten years.
Speaker 5 (01:15):
I started sketch comedy in the nineties with Chris Farley,
and I've been on stage since i was eight years old.
And I think what people do with stand up is
they try to label you how long have you been
doing it, because if you haven't been doing it for
thirty years, you're not good. And the reality is that
I've been lucky enough to have been on stage my
whole life.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
And yes, I am for.
Speaker 5 (01:34):
Some comics new because I've only been touring for ten years,
but I've got half a century of stage time, and
all roads lead to stand up. So all the films
that you mentioned, starting with Singles where Cameron Crow, the
reason why you said I was the only person in
that scene is it's true because they needed some comedy.
(01:54):
They call me up and they say, hey, on a
lunch break, can you come in and improvise a scene?
And of course it's my dream, and so I just
went in there and improvised that entire scene. And you know,
Campbell Scott is brilliant, was there, but just kind of
on the receiving end of Okay, here's a guy coming
in that the director wants just to kind of run
with it and give us some comedy. So I was
(02:16):
always the guy that like, oh man, we're stuck. We
need something. I just get that guy. And then I
became guys like, well he could do four page monologues
like Ari Gold and make it feel improvisational. We have
a ton of exposition. Who do we get? Let's get
that guy. I was the kind of into pinch. I
guess what I'm saying is I'm an artistic booty call. Okay,
(02:37):
not a lot of respect, but in a pinch, I
got to come in and I have to release something
that was the worst analogy of my entire life. I apologize.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Now give me a second to plug the shows, otherwise
I'm gonna forget. So Jeremy Piven gonna be playing a
couple of shows in our area May sixteenth.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
At the Golden Gate Theater in Monterey, and then May seventeenth,
that's a Saturday, that's going to be at the Uptown
Theater in Napa.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Beautiful Venues.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Beautiful Venues.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
I've heard you say this a few times that all
roads lead to stand up comedy.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Yeah, what do you mean by that?
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Just I've been on stage my whole life, and I've
done drama and comedy. I've improvised on sketch comedy, I've
done Shakespeare. I've been so lucky that I've done every
form that you can do, and I've studied all those
forms and they've all been incredible. And you know, if
I'm doing a film or a TV show, I'm always
trying to get you know, my writing in or be
able to improvise or do something that I can just
(03:29):
contribute as well as Once I get the language and
their very happy word for word, then I always say,
can I do a free take? Sometimes I get it,
sometimes I don't, and you have to be okay with
all of it. I just love to have options, so
I'll roads lead to stand up in the way that
I've been trying to get my writing and my take
on what's funny for my entire life, and it's either
(03:51):
received in the right way, like singles like you said,
Cameron Crowe, Let's do it, Rush Hour two, The Versace Salesman,
every word of it improvised with Chris Tucker and Jackie Chant.
There are moments in my career where they welcome me
with open arms and others they don't want you to
bring the improvise and that's listen, entourage.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Every word was written.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
Every once in a while I would slip something in
like let's hug it out, bitch, and it would become
a catchphrase or whatever. But when I say, all roads
lead to stand up, everything that I've done in my
life creatively has been incredible. And now I get a
chance to kind of write everything and perform without any
shackles and be very free and be able to speak
(04:32):
my mind and have all the freedom be careful what
you wish for. It's a lot of freedom, enough freedom
to hang yourself. And I love it because people come
up to me after the shows and they say, we
had no idea you were this funny, and that's a
beautiful backhanded compliment. Yeah, and standing ovations and it's just
I love a live audience. I love being able to
make people laugh. We have to laugh right now. It's
(04:53):
very confusing out there on many many levels. Does that
make sense?
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Why can I ask you?
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Like talking about two different genres like Old School versus
Judgment Night, how much of that was you and how
much was improv They said, didn't we put you in
a dumpster?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Ones?
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Yeah? I got out like is that you? No, that's
not me, that's Todd Phillips.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
Todd Phillips is a genius, and I, my god, I
hope he goes back to comedy.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
You know.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
Vince Vaughn is an improviser from Chicago as well. Luke
Wilson is not an improviser. He's not of work. I
have a corombie model. No, I kid, Why did I
say that?
Speaker 2 (05:29):
No need to say that? Why would I say that?
Speaker 5 (05:34):
But so, something like old School is the script that
you read and go, oh, no, this genius. I would
love to play this role. And Todd goes, oh, that's
already taken. Vince is playing that, Oh, Luke's playing that. Oh,
Will's playing that. What's left? What's left is the nerdy dean.
You can't play the nerdy dean? Why not look at you.
You look like you're Vince's best friend. You're this is
word for word of my audition with Todd, and he goes, yeah,
(05:57):
you can't, you can't do that role. I said, well,
let me be a shot, coming in an improvise. So
I go and find a bad sweater vest and I
do a comb over, and you know, I play the role.
Todd is a genius, But we come from different backgrounds.
I come from a background where we play all these
different characters and we have a blast. And I've been
on stage my whole life, and so I can play anything.
I played the gay Risachi salesman in Rush Hour. I
(06:21):
basically played Lloyd before I played Ari. So you know,
if someone's curious about my range, I got receipts. I'm
eighty movies into the game. Just take a look. All
I'm doing is celebrating myself, and it's embarrassing.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
You know what, Sometimes you gotta do it. Jeremy Piven
doing stand up May sixteenth and Monterey at the Golden
Gate Theater, May seventeenth and Napa at the Uptown Theater.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
I want you guys to come so that we can
circle back and have a conversation about the stand up.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
That's a great venue. Welcome to the Bay Area. I
know we're out of time, but dude, we just want
to wish you the best de luckment. I know you're
gonna crush you.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Thank you guys so much for your patience.
Speaker 5 (06:54):
You know, we tried before and it was very surreal
because I could just see your faces and you couldn't
hear me, or you could and see me, so I
was looking at your faces. It was like watching two
cave men trying to discover fire and we couldn't do it.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
So we did it. I'm proud of us.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
We're here.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
It's on.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Thank thank you for your time.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Thank you to see you soon.
Popular Podcasts
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial
Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!