CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 1:47
Tom Segura’s fan-made animation and the “Your Mom’s House” fandom
Joe and Bert open by praising an animation trailer made by Tom Segura’s circle, riffing on how talented and oddly specific the fan community is. They talk about Tom and Christina’s dynamic and why their couple-podcast chemistry works so well.
- •Shoutout to a high-quality fan-made/commissioned animation
- •Tom Segura’s Instagram as the likely place to find it
- •The creativity and inside-joke culture of the YMH fanbase
- •Why Tom and Christina’s relationship/podcast dynamic stands out
- 1:47 – 2:40
Having kids while building a comedy career (and touring broke)
The conversation turns to Bert becoming a dad while still early in standup, and how chaotic that timing can be. Bert recounts scheduling childbirth around a gig and how comedy ambitions and family realities collide.
- •Bert’s age when he started having kids and where he was in comedy
- •The financial instability of being 6–8 years into standup
- •Inducing labor to make a Dave Attell feature weekend
- •The stress and absurd prioritization of early-career comedians
- 2:40 – 3:40
Miami comedy crowds: phone bags, chaos, and no attention span
Joe describes doing shows in Miami with phone-lock bags and how the crowd kept leaving to access their phones. Both of them paint Miami as uniquely distractible and rowdy compared to other cities.
- •Phone bag policy logistics and why it can backfire
- •Miami audiences constantly getting up and moving
- •Generalizations about Miami’s party culture vs. ‘listening’ culture
- •How venue policies affect crowd energy and performance
- 3:40 – 6:57
Bert’s wildest Miami club story: gangbangers, stage invasions, and shock escalation
Bert tells an extended story from headlining in Miami when a threatening front row forced him to ‘tread lightly.’ His crowd-work strategy somehow succeeds—until multiple people get onstage and expose themselves, culminating in Bert walking off.
- •Manager warning: possible weapons in the front row
- •Using an ‘Attell trick’—questions with prepared punchlines
- •Stage invasion and the first shocking reveal
- •Escalation to a third person and Bert ending the show
- 6:57 – 9:00
How comedy clubs go off the rails (free tickets, language barriers, and surviving chaos)
Joe and Bert dissect why certain rooms become uncontrollable, including free ticketing and very young crowds. They reference working with comics like Joey Diaz and how ‘chaos training’ at The Comedy Store helps.
- •Free tickets changing the quality and behavior of crowds
- •Heckling spirals and audience debates derailing jokes
- •Non-English-speaking crowds as an additional challenge
- •Why chaotic rooms can be fun—unless you’re filming a special
- 9:00 – 13:54
Filming specials: how many shows, pressure vs looseness, and learning from bombing
They compare strategies for taping specials—two shows vs four vs nine—and what pressure does to performance. Joe explains how bombing and bad moments sharpen material, while Bert describes a disastrous first taping that led to the best set of his life.
- •Joe’s preference for recording multiple shows to reduce tension
- •Bert’s argument that ‘one last shot’ pressure can elevate performance
- •Philly taping disaster: rain delays, generator issues, cold crowd
- •Why eating shit is essential for tightening an act
- 13:54 – 16:03
Building material with strangers vs fans (internet comics and Montreal bombing)
The discussion shifts to the danger of only performing for supportive fans. They talk about internet-famous comics struggling in neutral rooms and why The Comedy Store’s mixed crowds are valuable for honest feedback.
- •Fans can create a ‘delusional perspective’ for comedians
- •The Comedy Store as a proving ground with mixed audiences
- •Internet fame vs standup skill development
- •A comedian getting booed in Montreal after living on fan energy
- 16:03 – 20:58
Comedy ‘shouldn’t preach’? Hannah Gadsby, Nanette, and genre confusion
Joe and Bert push back on arguments that comedy must fit one definition, using Hannah Gadsby discourse as the example. Joe frames comedy like music—many genres under one umbrella—and criticizes journalists for manufacturing culture-war narratives.
- •Debate over whether comedy should tackle morals/values/trauma
- •Distinguishing the artist’s work from media interpretation
- •Comedy as one label hiding many ‘genres’ (like music)
- •Rejecting the idea that ‘comedy is dead’
- 20:58 – 24:57
Gender, bathrooms, and the awkwardness of shared private spaces
They riff on how quickly social norms changed around gender and bathrooms, including stories of accidental bathroom mix-ups. The bit expands into why bathrooms feel more ‘tense’ than other shared spaces like elevators.
- •Preferred pronouns and the cultural whiplash of rapid change
- •Bert’s daughter encountering a man in an all-gender bathroom
- •Bert accidentally using the women’s restroom while drunk/traveling
- •Why bathrooms create social tension even when nothing happens
- 24:57 – 29:44
Old viral videos, Redban’s editing, and the content game (YouTube/Twitch/vlogging)
Bert credits early Rogan/Redban/Ari/Joey videos as foundational internet-era comedy content. They discuss editing as an underrated skill, the grind of vlogging, and the tradeoff between documenting life and living it.
- •How early YouTube clips built recognition and fandom
- •Redban’s editing talent and why it made videos memorable
- •Vlogging as creatively fun but life-cannibalizing
- •Advice: build content libraries early for future discovery
- 29:44 – 34:27
Bert’s ‘Open Tabs’ podcast brain: internet rabbit holes to spearfishing obsession
Bert explains his solo podcast concept—closing browser tabs while discussing what he watched—and describes falling into extreme niche content. The focus lands on spearfishing, freediving, and admiration for elite underwater hunters.
- •‘Open Tabs’ format: sharing the weekend’s internet consumption
- •Flash-flood chaser videos as an example of niche mastery
- •Kimi Werner and the allure of freediving spearfishing
- •Joe’s upcoming guest Valentine Thomas and plans to try spearfishing
- 34:27 – 38:40
HECS suits, diving adventures, and endurance inspiration (Goggins/Cam Hanes)
Joe introduces HECS suits that allegedly mask electrical signals underwater, and they talk about diving trips like the Great Barrier Reef. The conversation pivots to endurance culture—marathons, suffering, and how it reshapes respect for elite athletes.
- •HECS suit concept and controversy; Shark Week mention
- •Liveaboard diving trips and ‘do something crazy quarterly’
- •Bert’s marathon experience and ‘decide not to quit’ mindset
- •New perspective on Cam Hanes/David Goggins-level toughness
- 38:40 – 55:42
Cutting back on drinking, panic loops at night, and coping tools (tank/sauna/Sober October)
Joe notices Bert isn’t drinking much and Bert explains how training and aging changed his relationship with alcohol. They discuss nighttime anxiety patterns, how sobriety shifts sleep and dreams, and the benefits of Sober October as a reset.
- •Moderation vs quitting: keeping ‘party life’ without the daily pace
- •Bert’s panic attack loops (checking alarms/locks)
- •Joe suggests flotation tanks; Bert prefers sauna/infrared
- •Sober October takeaways: coping without substances; vivid dreams after quitting weed
- 55:42 – 1:05:44
Food and cooking detour: Something’s Burning, humane crab killing, dry-aged beef, and sous vide
They go deep into food content—Bert’s cooking show, odd platform rules about crab killing, and Joe’s fascination with extreme dry-aging. The talk becomes a mini-masterclass on beef aging, sous vide cooking, and wild game like elk.
- •‘Something’s Burning’ one-take energy and momentum rules
- •Crab prep: ‘humane’ killing instructions and comedic confusion
- •Dry-aged beef visuals, waste, and extreme aging (400+ days)
- •Sous vide technique and cooking lean wild game vs fatty beef
- 1:05:44 – 1:18:03
Family gross-outs, puke immunity, backyard chickens, and the realities of pets
A run of domestic stories: Fear Factor made Joe immune to vomit, while Bert can’t handle it. They compare chicken-keeping problems (squirrels) and dog behaviors, then shift into the emotional weight of aging pets and expensive surgeries.
- •Joe as the designated puke-cleaner; Bert’s gag reflex
- •Chickens, egg theft, and dogs hunting squirrels
- •Joe’s reflections on putting down elderly dogs
- •Bert’s mastiff’s knee/ACL surgeries and the cost of pet care
- 1:18:03 – 1:40:30
Wild dating stories, early-career nostalgia, and the craft of capturing jokes
They swap outrageous dating/sex stories, then reflect on what era of their careers they’d revisit. The chapter closes with practical talk on writing—capturing ideas fast, notes apps, rhythm in storytelling, and developing new hours post-special.
- •Bert’s chaotic one-night-stand story and ‘I won’ punchline
- •Choosing a ‘year’ to relive: Joe’s early road days vs Bert’s early headlining
- •How bits slip away and why immediate note-taking matters
- •Bert’s bullet-point writing, recording sets, and building 50+ new minutes quickly
- 1:40:30 – 1:49:44
Autonomy vs network bosses: Travel Channel, making your own studio, and wrapping with ‘Secret Time’
They discuss why creator-owned content beats network TV: fewer notes, more authenticity, and faster output. Bert describes wanting a dedicated content space and editor help; Joe cautions about hiring and then wraps the episode promoting Bert’s Netflix special.
- •Why network TV/film sets feel miserable and overmanaged
- •Bert turning down/hesitating on Travel Channel offers; Discovery changes
- •Plans for studios, branded content, and outsourcing editing safely
- •Episode wrap: Bert Kreischer’s ‘Secret Time’ release and tour plugs
