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The Joe Rogan ExperienceThe Joe Rogan Experience

Joe Rogan Experience #1096 - Todd Glass

Todd Glass is a stand-up comedian and also hosts his own podcast called “The Todd Glass Show”. His latest special "Act Happy" is available now on Netflix.

Joe RoganhostTodd Glassguest
Mar 27, 20182h 33mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:001:00

    Todd Glass’s new Netflix special: being proud of the finished product

    1. JR

      ... equipped, insulated walls put in (hands clap) the-- five, four, three, two, one. Someone's got a new Netflix special. (laughs)

    2. TG

      (laughs) (claps) (door creaks) Ha.

    3. JR

      (laughs) Couldn't think of any other way to start.

    4. TG

      The opposite of what I thought you... (laughs)

    5. JR

      (laughs) (burps)

    6. TG

      Wow.

    7. JR

      Dun-dun-dun. So you do have a new Netflix special, though?

    8. TG

      I do.

    9. JR

      I don't want this to be, like, an interview.

    10. TG

      No, but I, but I, but I, but I, I like it. I'm actually proud of it. You know, it's like, I'm still proud of it, you know?

    11. JR

      That's awesome.

    12. TG

      Usually, a certain amount of time will go by where I'm like, "Ugh."

    13. JR

      Yeah.

    14. TG

      Like, by the time I'm even... Now, I've gotten it better on the road, 'cause you know, I was-

    15. JR

      Right.

    16. TG

      ... you know, the day after you shoot it, you go out on the road-

    17. JR

      And you're a murderer.

    18. TG

      ... and you have a little fun with it.

    19. JR

      Yeah, yeah, yeah.

    20. TG

      And that's when you go, "Ugh," and then you go... But I'm still proud of it. It was my favorite thing I've... It, it... The guy did, Jeff Rowe is the guy who... And Scott Moran, but just everything I wanted, they did it perfect.

    21. JR

      That's awesome.

    22. TG

      The look, the lighting.

  2. 1:002:00

    Designing comedy spaces: The Lyric set makeover and what makes a room feel ‘real’

    1. JR

      Where'd you do it?

    2. TG

      I did it at The Lyric, but... And The Lyric is great, but there's no doubt-

    3. JR

      This, is The Lyric in LA?

    4. TG

      The Lyric is in LA. It's like at Melrose and, Melrose and La Brea.

    5. JR

      Ah.

    6. TG

      Pretty... But, but they sort of used it as a shell, and it's already a pretty cool club, but... You know, it's so... The b- the biggest compliment I got, someone said, "You know what's weird about your special? I wanna go there and it doesn't exist."

    7. JR

      Ah.

    8. TG

      What it looked like.

    9. JR

      Right, right.

    10. TG

      Like, "Where is that?"

    11. JR

      They had good set people.

    12. TG

      They... It just looked like a cool jazz club in New York City that was maybe, but not... It wasn't small 'cause it was an aft... You know, sometimes it's small, but it's shitty. It's, but it's-

    13. JR

      Right.

    14. TG

      That's the look. And it's cool. It's sort of a ki... What's the word? Kitschy or...

    15. JR

      Yeah, I don't know what that word is. I don't... See, written-

    16. TG

      Yeah, but it's charming and that's the look they want. I didn't want that. Not that I think that's bad, but... 'Cause some people have done that really well and it's a cool way to see a comedian just in a cool little raw space. But I wanted small, but like, like it's a jazz club in New York City, but it's like 150 bucks to get in and it holds 100 people. It's like a... That type of thing, run like a theater, you know?

  3. 2:003:50

    Great clubs and great layouts: Helium Philly, small rooms, and audience proximity

    1. JR

      Well, you helped design one of my all-time favorite clubs, Helium in Philly. You helped design that place, didn't you?

    2. TG

      Well, m- when Mark, Mark, uh... He... Acme, uh, Louis Lee said, "You know, Todd's from Philly. He'll probably love to give you advice."

    3. JR

      Right.

    4. TG

      So when it was just a warehouse, like cement, uh, I met him down there and he's like, "I'm thinking of opening up a club." And you know, I told him a lot of stuff. I wrote, I, I, I made like... Well, email, you know? Like six pages of... You know, here's... Very detailed things. And you know what? He listened to a lot of it.

    5. JR

      (laughs)

    6. TG

      I gotta give him credit, you know?

    7. JR

      That's awesome. It's a great fucking club.

    8. TG

      It is.

    9. JR

      It's like there's something about those intimate spaces. Like, one of the things that I've noticed when I'll take people on the road with me is that guys who have never worked at theater, like it takes a few tries to get... They go, "Oh, okay, this is a whole different thing." There's so many people here. You gotta kind of project out to them. It's like a different thing. It's not... You don't feel them the way you feel 'em at the, in the OR-

    10. TG

      Right.

    11. JR

      ... on like a Wednesday night, right? Or, um, Comedy Works in Denver where they're on top of you. You know, like you feel the people there more, right?

    12. TG

      Yeah. Yeah, and then you learn it pretty quick though.

    13. JR

      Yeah.

    14. TG

      You know?

    15. JR

      Do you ever do, uh, the belly room at the store?

    16. TG

      (smacks lips) I've done it a few times and of course it's... I love little rooms.

    17. JR

      Yeah.

    18. TG

      Like, I love, like, y-

    19. JR

      Well, when I used to do Tempe, you always did that-

    20. TG

      I did. (laughs)

    21. JR

      ... side room on purpose. They would-

    22. TG

      You joke, you know, every day.

    23. JR

      They were trying to get you to do the big place.

    24. TG

      But, well, the m- the side place, you know... Not to get too... But you get it.

    25. JR

      Yeah, the whole side place was-

    26. TG

      For the, for the listeners-

    27. JR

      I, I was jealous. I remember I came over, I was in the other s- the, the regular one, which is great. I was having a good time.

    28. TG

      It's, it's... It is.

    29. JR

      But the one, when Joey and I went next door and watched you, I was like, "This room's better." This is the better room.

  4. 3:506:19

    Engineering the vibe: bands, lighting gels, and getting every chair to face the stage

    1. TG

      (laughs) Well, even in DC, which I think is a good example. DC has a 60-seat room and, uh, whenever I'm in there, I go... I, I give it... I had a two-piece band playing.

    2. JR

      (laughs)

    3. TG

      We... They put black tablecloths on all the tables.

    4. JR

      Wow.

    5. TG

      The lights are gelled blue. So now people are turning the corner-

    6. JR

      Oh, nice.

    7. TG

      ... into this thick blue room with two guys with black suits playing jazz as they're being seated and eating. So now I don't feel like it's an afterthought. You're, what you just said, and I'll take it as a compliment, y- the other comedian that's in the main room there, which is a awesome room-

    8. JR

      Yeah.

    9. TG

      But they... You look into the little room and you're like, "It just looks like something's going on."

    10. JR

      (laughs)

    11. TG

      And that's how I want it to look.

    12. JR

      No-

    13. TG

      Does that make sense?

    14. JR

      Yeah. No, it does make sense. It's, uh, it's more of a hang, right?

    15. TG

      Right.

    16. JR

      Than a big show. And your style's so loose on stage, like lends itself to intimacy, you know? Lends itself to those nice compact spots.

    17. TG

      Yeah.

    18. JR

      Do you do the, ever do the Icehouse, that, the annex room?

    19. TG

      I mean, not forever, but yeah, I know what you mean right away.

    20. JR

      Same thing. That one's the, the craziest. The Icehouse is about as deep as this room. That's fucking (laughs) it goes side to side-

    21. TG

      Yeah.

    22. JR

      ... a little bit. I think the whole room, that annex only gets... What is it, like 70 people? Maybe 70 people.

    23. TG

      And all the chairs are like facing the audience.

    24. JR

      Yup. Yup.

    25. TG

      See that says, "Oh no, no, no, no, no. You're, you're sitting here, you're gonna say goodbye to your friend for a little while."

    26. JR

      Yeah. This shit-

    27. TG

      Yeah. Right.

    28. JR

      ... that they do at like some of the improvs like this, like... And then the people are watching the show like this and they have to kind of turn their head-

    29. TG

      Mm-hmm.

    30. JR

      ... and look past the person next to 'em. They're trying to feed you food too. Like you're working in a half restaurant.

  5. 6:198:50

    Phone addiction at shows: Yondr bags, etiquette, and why it changes the experience

    1. JR

      ... we got, you know, this ... Y- if you ever use those, use those Yondr bags? You know what those bags are? They make people put their cell phone in a bag.

    2. TG

      Yeah, Denver has them.

    3. JR

      Yeah. Denver uses them for all their shows now. I started using 'em for all my shows.

    4. TG

      So you just r- a company comes in and just-

    5. JR

      Yeah.

    6. TG

      ... does it for you?

    7. JR

      Yeah, you hire them. They come in, and then when they put the bag, the phone in the bag, they still hold onto their phone.

    8. TG

      Right.

    9. JR

      They can leave the room if they get a phone call for like, you have a kid or something like that and someone's watching the kid. You can always get out of the room and make a call. But you can't call people when you're in the room. And w- I was having people calling people and talking on the phone. You could see them talking on the phone while the show's going on. And people around them would be getting pissed off. And, uh, someone on Twitter commented on it, and you just ... Everyone's got their phones up, and look, I know. I've done it too. I'm, I'm totally a hypocrite. When I saw Honey Honey with Gary Clark-

    10. TG

      (laughs)

    11. JR

      ... he performed in this little tiny room in downtown LA. It was a midnight show on like a Tuesday, and I filmed it and I put it on my Instagram. So I, I know I'm a hypocrite. But that was a r- rare occasion, and it wasn't a comedy show. A w- it's like, a comedy show, you have to pay attention to what the fuck's going on. If you d- if you're filming it, you're n- definitely not paying full attention.

    12. TG

      Right.

    13. JR

      It's just not ... You're gonna miss some stuff. It's just not the same thing. When you're filming shit, like, everybody is just ... And even if you're not, you're checking this and checking texts, and boy, we got a real addiction problem in this country with these. These are new things.

    14. TG

      Well-

    15. JR

      These are new objects.

    16. TG

      ... I, I realize, 'cause I'm not delusional, that w- that the amount of it, I can put most of it to rest with the pre-show announcement, where I'm at in my career.

    17. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    18. TG

      But I get it. As you get to different levels, there's different intensity, so I don't f- I get it. But, um, the, uh ... I, I changed my pre-show announcement when I went to see Brian Regan. The person next to me, I ... They were texting. I couldn't hear them. Matter of fact, they even had their sh- their light down. So you think, "Well, what could bother me?" And it did. And it didn't matter if it was right or wrong. I know what it was.

    19. JR

      Yeah.

    20. TG

      I wanted the person next to me to be loving him as much as I was loving him.

    21. JR

      Yeah.

    22. TG

      And the fact that I saw 'em on their phone all night, even they weren't making a peep. It started to bother the fuck out of me. I was getting angry, and then I went, "No, that's ... I, I'm gonna do the same thing at my show." I go, "Don't turn your thing all the way down." I go, "I know what you're thinking. You pull it out near your knee." I go, "Seriously, if you pull your phone out after this announcement, you n- y- it, you look like a dick."

    23. JR

      Ah, that's a good move.

    24. TG

      I go, "And other than that, we're glad you're here." And you know what? It ... You just, you have to think of that announcement a little longer, but it works.

  6. 8:5012:58

    Technology creep and self-control: from phone habits to implants and discipline tradeoffs

    1. JR

      I'm worried about people. I really are. This is a really new thing. The more I'm thinking about it, the more, like, looking at your phone constantly is really only 10 years old. Right? Like, 2008-ish. The n- the iPhone came around 2009, right? Before that, people were a little texty. People, some people more texty than others. They really got into text messages. But once that iPhone came out, and once people started doing a bunch of stuff and apps and stuff on your phone, it changed the whole game.

    2. TG

      You know, I don't know with this topic if I'm like ... I could be way off or I could be off-kilt, but the way I come to my conclusion about like, you know, you know, it is, it is a weird thing.

    3. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    4. TG

      And even me, I can acknowledge it.

    5. JR

      Right.

    6. TG

      Otherwise, if I don't acknowledge it, w- y- and then you're never gonna tell someone the opposing side if they don't think you get what ... Yeah, you see it. But it just seems like in the past. Now, this could be different with no, no snarkiness at all. This could be a different thing. Every time they think there's one of these things, like TV, radio, it just seems like, "Can we get past it?"

    7. JR

      Oh, I think we'll get past it. I don't think-

    8. TG

      You know what I mean. I didn't think the world was going to explode, but-

    9. JR

      No. I'm worried about certain ... I'm not worried about the human race, but I'm worried about the lives of certain people, if that makes sense.

    10. TG

      Yeah.

    11. JR

      Because it's like saying, like, are you worried that crack's gonna destroy the human race? No. I'm not worried that crack is gonna destroy, but I do think it can destroy the lives of some people. And I feel-

    12. TG

      Right.

    13. JR

      ... the same way about this.

    14. TG

      Right, like the texting. Like, I, I-

    15. JR

      It's not just that. It's, it's like being plugged into electronics to the point where that's where you're getting most of your stimuli from. You're getting artificial stimuli. My concern, this is a real concern, is that we're, we're getting really into that, and that we're gonna let it take the next step, which is some sort of an implant. I feel like this is, like, a ... we're in a movie. We're in a movie about a person that becomes a machine, and we're watching this rationalization process as we slowly get more and more en- ingrained and interconnected with technology.

    16. TG

      We'll definitely, in our lifetime, have somebody like-

    17. JR

      100%.

    18. TG

      I try ... Like, what you were just addressing, like w- we said before, like I, I catch myself and I t- really try. Like, if I had to give myself a grade on how much I've improved on, like, turning the phone off-

    19. JR

      Yeah.

    20. TG

      ... like, loving it for what's great about it, I give myself maybe a C-minus. But it means I've made some strides in, like, turning it off.

    21. JR

      You're not an F. You're not an F.

    22. TG

      Not an F, not from far.

    23. JR

      Yeah.

    24. TG

      Matter of fact, uh, I remember a week ago, I was going to The Grove and I went, "I'm not meeting anybody. I'm ..." And I left my phone in the car.

    25. JR

      Ooh, strong move.

    26. TG

      (laughs)

    27. JR

      (laughs) Right? That's a strong move.

    28. TG

      Now, what sucked is I had two ideas-

    29. JR

      Riding the front of the car is like, oof.

    30. TG

      I had two ideas and I was high and I didn't wanna write 'em down. I went, "Ah, shit." That's the thing about leaving your phone in the car.

  7. 12:5816:47

    Weed, joints vs vapes, and ‘moon spray’: health, highs, and ritual

    1. TG

      Um, I smoke now seven nights a week.

    2. JR

      Wow.

    3. TG

      So, I'll have like, a joint. I, I would say if I had to put it in joint size, maybe a joint per night. So it's not that, it's-

    4. JR

      It's not a tremendous amount.

    5. TG

      Not a ... Just at night.

    6. JR

      Right.

    7. TG

      Not that I'm saying I-

    8. JR

      Right.

    9. TG

      It's not I want a prize for that. Just for me, it works better at night. But I say I, I quit smoking and I did.

    10. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    11. TG

      I quit smoking. I used to smoke around a pack and a half a month.

    12. JR

      That's not that bad.

    13. TG

      Is this as bad-

    14. JR

      Pack and a half a month is pretty-

    15. TG

      It, it wasn't horrendous, but I quit-

    16. JR

      Right.

    17. TG

      ... because I had a, you know-

    18. JR

      Couple a day.

    19. TG

      Yeah.

    20. JR

      Yeah.

    21. TG

      Uh, is this smoking seven nights with a, just a joint as bad as when I smoke cigarettes?

    22. JR

      No, it's not. It's not the same thing.

    23. TG

      It's not even close?

    24. JR

      No, no. It's not even close. There's no evidence that marijuana smoke causes cancer.

    25. TG

      (coughs)

    26. JR

      What you can do g- is get respiratory irritation. You can like, it, it can fuck with your voice. It like, smoke-

    27. TG

      But the tar, like-

    28. JR

      But you could avoid all that stuff is what I was gonna say with a vaporizer.

    29. TG

      I know, that's what I should be doing.

    30. JR

      Vaporizer's the way to go. But it is a different high, oddly enough. Vaporizer seems like a little bit more clean in some weird way. Like, it, when I get high with a vaporizer, I'm always like, "Whoa, this is like a..." It's almost as if... This is gonna sound so crazy. There's something that's, there's something that has to do with the fire interacting with the plant that connects you to nature. There's like, something about a lit joint just (inhales) you take it in (exhales) and you just f- you... I feel natural. When I vaporize, I feel alien. When I vaporize, I feel like, this, what this is, is like let's extract all of what it is to be a living thing and get to the molecules. What's the molecule?

  8. 16:4719:25

    Food, impulse, and creativity: why discipline is harder for certain personalities

    1. TG

      You think why am I asking you this? But I think you might have an answer. So, but I'm being (laughs) totally honest.

    2. JR

      Okay.

    3. TG

      I'm exhausted from dealing with like, I, it's, it's like, not like it's a big deal, but it's like the first time you, whether... You can admit major things in your life like, "Oh, I have a drinking problem."

    4. JR

      Right.

    5. TG

      But there can be stupid little things, you know? Mine is eating.

    6. JR

      Hmm.

    7. TG

      Like, I am exhausted from doing it the wrong way. And it, everything comes back to me for self-control. So when people wanna tell me about a diet, I don't... It's not portions. I know what portions are. I just c- I wanna eat more.

    8. JR

      Yeah.

    9. TG

      So it's all down to how do I fucking get self-control? I have zero... I mean, if I'm not gonna call it zero self-control, then I don't know what the hell I'm gonna call it.

    10. JR

      But as you have-

    11. TG

      It's very hard for me. And, and very-

    12. JR

      No, you're, you're very hard on yourself. I think you have self-control, Todd. I think you're a wonderful man.

    13. TG

      (laughs)

    14. JR

      But you're, you're hilarious and one of the reasons why you're hilarious is because you're so... You're free, you're impulsive and that sort of, that, that, it's very difficult for that to lend itself to dietary discipline. It's like, "I wanna eat it. Fuck it."

    15. TG

      (sighs)

    16. JR

      "Do you wanna eat it? Should I eat it? I just wanna fucking eat it." Right? That's you, but that's p- also part of what makes you such a hilarious comic. It's like you have these impulses. You don't want-

    17. TG

      Well, that makes me feel better.

    18. JR

      Yeah, you don't want this comfort-

    19. TG

      Split the difference at least with what you're saying.

    20. JR

      But you don't want discomfort and you wanna have fun and it's like it's right there that I wanna eat, I wanna eat that food. Fuck it. Right?

    21. TG

      (laughs) I just had a, a thought of me like, picture me at the, at the, uh, Canter's shoving cheesecake in my, in my mouth. And my friends are like looking at me like, "Todd." And I go, "Joe Rogan said that because I'm creative-"

    22. JR

      (laughs)

    23. TG

      "... that I should eat whatever I want. He said it!"

    24. JR

      (laughs)

    25. TG

      "And you can go listen to his podcast. He said that I should eat... He told me-"

    26. NA

      Joe Rogan, and you can go listen, he said, "Clear out the mini bar before you get in your hotel bed."

    27. TG

      (laughs)

    28. JR

      (laughs)

    29. NA

      "Even if it's, even if you're not really hungry." 'Cause I'm creative, okay? So I don't have control over this.

    30. TG

      (laughs)

  9. 19:2522:18

    Can sober people be great comics? Yoga as a ‘psychedelic’ reset and mind-cleansing

    1. TG

      Let me ask you this.

    2. JR

      Yeah.

    3. TG

      And I, and I'm n- I don't... This thought could be wrong. Like, I'm okay with thinking something and then maybe finding out, but whenever a comedian, and I'm, I bet there's funny ones out there, definitely, 'cause over the years, I remember them. I can't think of which ones, but-

    4. JR

      Right.

    5. TG

      ... they definitely exist.

    6. JR

      (laughs)

    7. TG

      They are funny.

    8. JR

      Very funny.

    9. TG

      You know, they are funny. But they've never smoked, drank.

    10. JR

      Mm-hmm. Yeah.

    11. TG

      How... Can you be a good comedian if you haven't done those things? (laughs)

    12. JR

      I think you, you be a good comedian if you're a man, you could be a good comedian if you're a woman, you could be a good comedian if you're gay or trans. You just, you are a good comedian if you're a good comedian. And-

    13. TG

      Is that... W- Why do I ask that? Because I might-

    14. JR

      I dunno.

    15. TG

      ... should be embarrassed to ask that, b-

    16. JR

      There's a lot of people that are really good that don't do shit.

    17. TG

      They don't, uh, never.

    18. JR

      Yeah, they don't, they don't have a desire to. You know, it's just, everybody's brain works different. And some people, like, the idea of losing control with a substance is not, not fun.

    19. TG

      Right.

    20. JR

      They don't like that feeling. And s- but they can keep their shit together. You know, I know a lot of people that don't drink, they don't do anything, but they keep their shit together. And maybe that's better. For them, they feel like it is. I don't know, I don't know if-

    21. TG

      Right.

    22. JR

      ... I know-

    23. TG

      You know what? I, I, I, as I ask that, you gave me the answer that, you know, to go, "You're right, you're right."

    24. JR

      Yeah.

    25. TG

      But, like, I ask it, means that I had a question about that. And I th- and the, and then I, I think I've, I've talked about this in the past, and once I was like, somebody was saying, "Well, they maybe, what if you're not experimenting?" And at the... But no, there's-

    26. JR

      (laughs)

    27. TG

      ... a billion ways to, uh, to do those things-

    28. JR

      Oh, yeah.

    29. TG

      ... that you use pot to do without the pot, obviously.

    30. JR

      Well, I think I use-

  10. 22:1825:43

    Todd’s ‘hot washcloth’ ritual: a simple group practice to force stillness

    1. TG

      I, as far as the stopping thing, think I have a great idea for people to do to get a smidget of what it's like to stop. If you go, "Okay, I won't meditate," or, "I won't do this," I get it-

    2. JR

      Right.

    3. TG

      ... I get it. But this, I th- If you do it, I promise, whoever does it that's listening will go, you'll get a little taste of it, and it all happens naturally. But it started by accident, but then I-

    4. JR

      Yeah.

    5. TG

      We started realizing, it's about stopping. So, like, one night, it was about, like, probably 10 years ago, after dinner, or before dinner, I had some hot washcloths. And I was like, "Oh, just like at a Chinese restaurant," joking around. But we all did it, and then we realized, wow, that really stopped us. The heat, putting it on your face.

    6. JR

      Right.

    7. TG

      So now I make it, I have a ritual that I do. I d- I have it all figured out. I get, like... Uh, eh, the less people, the better, because the hot washcloth has a short shelf life. It has to be so scorching hot when you hand it to people so it, by the time they get it to their face, you know?

    8. JR

      Right, right.

    9. TG

      You can't take warm. So I use the tea kettle, pour it all over, like, six of them. And here's the rule. The radio goes off. Sometimes you think, "Oh, I'll leave it on, I don't feel like walking over and turning it off." Nope, even if it's jazz, off. And I ask everybody, "Check the pulse of the room." If, if everyone, if you take yours off and you're ready to start talking but you see, oh, three people still have it on their face, "Shh," and I go, "I'll break it." But just, once the hot, once you get the hot washcloth in your hands, I go, "It's gonna be hot. You're gonna wanna go, 'Ow, it's hot.' It's way too hot. It's hotter than you think it is. So just get ready." I give everybody one, they put it on their face. No one even has to tell them to take a deep breath. You naturally do after, like, a second, 'cause you need to, so you go... (inhales deeply) Then you let it out, and then I go, "Wow." And then you literally, spiritually, you shut down, and then you wipe your hands, literally take some of the dirt off your hands from the day. And we always think, "Holy shit." Resetting yourself, that's a simple way-

    10. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    11. TG

      ... to get a taste-

    12. JR

      Yeah.

    13. TG

      ... of... And then we always make the joke. We're like, "Oh, well, are we just gonna eat and then we're gonna go throughout the whole day?" And then, "Oh, put our food, okay, blah, lah, lah, lah."

    14. JR

      Yeah.

    15. TG

      I go, "No, of course, stop." You got us... And that hot washcloth, it's like-

    16. JR

      Mm.

    17. TG

      ... fuck.

    18. JR

      (coughs) Yeah, I think your brain has requirements for those things. Those kind of things, I think so, those, those kind of moments are really good for your...... just good for your outlook, a reset. I think that's like the same feeling that a- a maybe primitive man would get when he would, like, walk up to the edge of a cliff and see, like, some crazy view and see nature and birds flying around, the sun as ... (sighs) "Wow."

    19. TG

      (sighs)

    20. JR

      You know, "Hey," you know, "This is, yeah, I'm getting chased by leopards every day, but look, this is fucking amazing." Like, a renewed e- e- enthusiasm-

    21. TG

      Yeah.

    22. JR

      ... about life, about life itself.

    23. TG

      And the simplest things, obviously.

    24. JR

      Yeah.

    25. TG

      I have a theory, I don't give myself any credit when I have these talks when things are going well. Like, "It's good. It he-"

    26. JR

      Right.

    27. TG

      You know, like ... But if I can be in a tense moment and get out of it-

    28. JR

      Right.

    29. TG

      ... where I would've ... Then I get my ... Then I'll be proud of myself.

    30. JR

      Yeah, that's the thing about all that motivational speaking stuff, right? Like, you know, it's like the guy who's doing all the motivational speaking, if he's pulling up in a Rolls-Royce and he lives in a big mansion, it's like, "Yeah, you're enthusiastic. Look, everything's going great." H- how are you if someone takes all this stuff away? Then, then it becomes-

  11. 25:4337:44

    Learning the craft: starting over, Taekwondo teaching, and the open-mic attrition rate

    1. JR

      (laughs) You know, could you imagine if someone told you ... Dane Cook was the first one I ever heard talk about this, so I'll give him credit for that. Uh, he said, "I would no- never wanna try to do standup again. I don't think I could do it. Like, that it is so hard to do that I n- I would never wanna start and do it again." Did you ever think, like, what it would be like if you had to start again? Like, right now, you don't, you have n- zero jokes, you've never (laughs) done standup, but somehow or another you have this vague memory of the grind that it takes to become an actual professional?

    2. TG

      I think I'd do it in a heart- I think definitely.

    3. JR

      Definitely, right?

    4. TG

      Definitely.

    5. JR

      Definitely. But that's because you already know, right? You already know you could do it. It'd be a totally different thing.

    6. TG

      Right, right, oh, yeah, I bet not.

    7. JR

      It's, it's actually a stupid question. Now that I think about it, fuck Dane Cook.

    8. TG

      (laughs)

    9. JR

      Just kidding. (laughs) Just kidding, Dane.

    10. TG

      (claps hands)

    11. JR

      Don't get ex- upset. But I'm saying if you, if you think about it, like, it, it doesn't even make any sense, because of course you would know that you could make it, so it'd be way easier, even if you just started, "Oh, can't believe I'm 21 again, doing standup."

    12. TG

      Mm-hmm.

    13. JR

      "This is ridiculous."

    14. TG

      Are y- are you 21 again, or are you just-

    15. JR

      Yeah.

    16. TG

      Oh, you are?

    17. JR

      I- you'd have to start from scratch.

    18. TG

      I'd just do it to go b- get younger. (laughs)

    19. JR

      But then once you made the decision, you would ... Un- unless you live in some bizarro world where you're allowed to live two lives, you would never even have memory, right? You'd be 21.

    20. TG

      Right. That's what I-

    21. JR

      Like, are you, would you w- ... All I'd have to do is just say yes-

    22. TG

      Yes. (laughs)

    23. JR

      ... and I'd be 21 again. It's a stupid fucking question. It's stupid.

    24. TG

      Maybe, may- maybe you're having a little off.

    25. JR

      (laughs)

    26. TG

      Maybe he'd be like, "No, I said this and that." Uh-

    27. JR

      I don't think he thought it through. (laughs)

    28. TG

      You s- you said something a minute ago, and I shou- that's when I should write shit down, that was when I asked you ... Was it about the food thing? No, no, no. What were you just talking about before, the d- the, we're talking about-

    29. JR

      We were talking about discipline, like hard asses, and then, um, then we got to, like, how difficult it would be to start over, do it-

    30. TG

      Mm-hmm.

  12. 37:4446:24

    Roast battles, bombing, and recording sets: where the ‘juice’ in standup comes from

    1. JR

      You know what? Some of comedy is a sport. You know why? It's 'cause, like, you're attacking things that aren't there, right? Like, you're going after stupid laws and dumb shit that happened, and, like, you- you're literally, by using your words and the way you're describing things, l- literally having a little battle with something that's not even there.

    2. TG

      I call them verbal- I hope I say it right- ver- verbal shit. What's it when they're in prison? They- what do they do? They-

    3. JR

      Shivs, right?

    4. TG

      Verbal-

    5. JR

      Isn't it shivs?

    6. TG

      Yeah.

    7. JR

      We're so white. Shank.

    8. TG

      Shank.

    9. JR

      Shank. It's a shank.

    10. TG

      Verb- a verbal shank.

    11. JR

      Like, don't you shiv them?

    12. NA

      Yeah.

    13. TG

      Yeah.

    14. JR

      You shiv them with your shank. (laughs)

    15. TG

      (laughs)

    16. JR

      (laughs)

    17. NA

      (laughs)

    18. TG

      We'll be back. Um...

    19. JR

      Aah!

    20. NA

      (laughs)

    21. TG

      So you- you- you shi- okay, sometimes when a comedian, like, has just a turn of phrase that would fucking... I always go, "Oh, he shivved them with his words."

    22. JR

      Mm-hmm, I think he does.

    23. TG

      Like, he just... A verbal shiv.

    24. JR

      I think that was correct.

    25. TG

      Like, oh, that's-

    26. NA

      Ugh!

    27. JR

      I think that's correct.

    28. TG

      It's fun to watch-

    29. JR

      Mm-hmm, yeah.

    30. NA

      (laughs)

  13. 46:2455:48

    Mitch Hedberg and Rodney Dangerfield: silliness, timing, and legendary freedom

    1. JR

      Hedberg had a joke about that.

    2. TG

      Too lazy to get up. (laughs)

    3. JR

      Yeah, about being too lazy to get up to get a pen to write something down. So I just convinced myself it wasn't that funny in the first place. (laughs)

    4. TG

      Is that great?

    5. JR

      But what's great is that, that was a bit he did on stage and it would kill.

    6. TG

      Yeah.

    7. JR

      I mean, I, I didn't do it well. I don't remember the way, the phrasing.

    8. TG

      No, you got the gist. You got the gist.

    9. JR

      But ...

    10. TG

      We ... You know the used to? We were think ... Okay. I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to too.

    11. JR

      Yes. (laughs)

    12. TG

      So last night we were saying, I used to do Mitch Hedberg's "I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to too." I mean, "I still do, but I used to too."

    13. JR

      (laughs)

    14. TG

      Okay. I know I- Let me back up for a second. So I do Mitch doing Rodney Dangerfield. You know, I do Rodney if he did Mitch. I'll be like, "I'll tell you the other day, guys, I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to too." You know?

    15. JR

      That's actually pretty good.

    16. TG

      And you, yeah. So you do any Mitch Hedberg joke as Rodney and it's, you know-

    17. JR

      And it's kills.

    18. TG

      He says, "I'll tell you the other day, a guy asked me if I wanted a banana. You know, I said, 'No, I want a regular one later.' He said, 'Oh, right.' You know?" Oh no, right. You know what are you gonna do, right?

    19. JR

      (laughs)

    20. TG

      So I u- I do the used to... I hope this goes somewhere.

    21. JR

      (laughs)

    22. TG

      So I used ... I, I, I did the, uh, "I'll tell you, I used to do drugs. I st-"

    23. JR

      Right.

    24. TG

      So my friend asked me if I still do that. He ... I go, "I used to do the Mitch Hedberg 'I still do drugs but I used to too.' I still do but I used to too." (laughs)

    25. JR

      (laughs)

    26. TG

      Do something in there.

    27. JR

      It's amazing that you kept it all together through that.

    28. TG

      I did for that one.

    29. JR

      Through some of the used to, to the used to too.

    30. TG

      But it makes sense. It makes sense.

  14. 55:481:08:17

    Relationships and communication: checking in, avoiding gender generalizations, and college exposure

    1. TG

      Can I tell you-

    2. JR

      ... that's bad.

    3. TG

      ... what you do to prevent that?

    4. JR

      What do you do?

    5. TG

      I hope I'm answering, I hope I'm... Is that... Like, 'cause you know when people tell stories and be like, "And, and, and everything was great." I, I think this is addressing what you're saying. Um, everything was great and then it just, he, he, or he or she, or she or she, whatever the relationship is, somebody else goes, "And they wanted to end it. Everything was great." Well, look-

    6. JR

      Hmm.

    7. TG

      ... because what do you want them to do? "Wait." I'm not saying there's not rules and feelings and how you present it, but-

    8. JR

      Right.

    9. TG

      ... I think most of the time everything is great. And then you, uh, you realize one day, you wake up. And I've had a... To me, I must have been on the other end of this, and they-

    10. JR

      Yeah.

    11. TG

      ... they just don't wanna be in it, but they stay in it because that doesn't mean they don't, not care about you.

    12. JR

      Yeah.

    13. TG

      So they stay in it and it gets bad. You see it coming. So I always say... I always let someone know. D- Let them know you're not crazy. That, like, you... They learn that by what you tell about past stories. Like-

    14. JR

      Right.

    15. TG

      And I once said this to someone, it was very early on, but I said, "I have a feeling." I practiced it in my head and I was glad I did. And I was, like, 23 or 24 at the time. I said, "I have a feeling that I like you more than you like me."

    16. JR

      Whoa.

    17. TG

      And I said, "I... It's okay." I go, "Let me say this 'cause I don't want this to be the day where I threw you off. If I'm wrong, I really like you. So if you're... If I just read it wrong, that's great."

    18. JR

      Right.

    19. TG

      "But, but, but if that's the... But I don't think that's it."

    20. JR

      Right.

    21. TG

      I go, "I won't... Of course I'll be sad, but I won't hate you. I won't be... I wo- I, I'm... I'll be okay."

    22. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    23. TG

      "So if it's..." And then, and then he was like, "You, you're right." And 'cause I said it-

    24. JR

      Damn.

    25. TG

      ... in a way that I could... That he would be comfortable to say, "You know what?"

    26. JR

      Right.

    27. TG

      "I, it... I w- I put a little bit of choke, a little bit of, like, swa- But I was okay." And I, and I wanna know that. So that's my answer to your question.

    28. JR

      Right. You don't wanna be delusional.

    29. TG

      I don't wanna be delusional. I felt it and I asked and I asked... The fact that, the fact that I put that preface in there, "Look, I need to let you know this, not to make you feel bad."

    30. JR

      Right.

Episode duration: 2:33:30

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