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Daniel Sloss | The Biggest Lessons From 2020 | Modern Wisdom Podcast 228

Daniel Sloss is a comedian. 2020 has been chaotic to say the least. Daniel joins me to break down his biggest lessons from a year without comedy shows, Netflix Specials or the adoration of 1000's of strangers. Expect to learn why Daniel started going to therapy, his advice for couples who struggled during lockdown, the challenges of life slowing down, how to deal with a catastrophic ego and much more... Sponsor: Check out everything I use from The Protein Works at https://www.theproteinworks.com/modernwisdom/ (35% off everything with the code MODERN35) Extra Stuff: Follow Daniel on Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/daniel_sloss Check out Daniel's Website - https://danielsloss.com/ Follow Daniel on Twitter - https://twitter.com/Daniel_Sloss Get my free Ultimate Life Hacks List to 10x your daily productivity → https://chriswillx.com/lifehacks/ To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom #danielsloss jigsaw #chriswilliamson - 00:00 Intro 00:54 Comedians in Lockdown 08:17 If Daniel Wasn’t in Comedy 12:56 Creating Content During Covid-19 18:36 How to Respond to Fans 27:03 Desire to Build a Family 33:44 Why We All Need Therapy 40:03 Daniel’s Book & Future Plans 52:58 Lessons from 2020 56:00 Where to Find Daniel - Listen to all episodes online. Search "Modern Wisdom" on any Podcast App or click here: iTunes: https://apple.co/2MNqIgw Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2LSimPn Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/modern-wisdom - Get in touch in the comments below or head to... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx Email: modernwisdompodcast@gmail.com

Daniel SlossguestChris Williamsonhost
Oct 5, 202057mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:00 – 0:54

    Intro

    1. DS

      For the past 10 years, all of my confidence, all of my self-worth, all of who I am, I have gotten from the love and approval of strangers. And it's been brilliant for the past 10 years. It's-

    2. CW

      It's a very strong scaffolding-

    3. DS

      It's a very-

    4. CW

      ... to lay life upon for as long as it's still there.

    5. DS

      If you imagine my life as a f- a ... My personality and who I am as a human being is a fucking Jenga tower.

    6. CW

      (laughs) .

    7. DS

      20 story-

    8. CW

      Someone just coming at the very bottom.

    9. DS

      Aye. And took all three and went, "Do you need these?"

    10. CW

      (laughs) .

    11. DS

      I'm like, "No!"

    12. CW

      (laughs) .

    13. DS

      I had to really look long and hard in the fucking mirror. I ... 'Cause I've been D- I've been Daniel Sloss for ... It's intensely for, like, the past 18 months, and then I was just Daniel.

    14. CW

      (laughs) Dan.

    15. DS

      Aye.

    16. CW

      Dan. Who the fuck's Dan?

    17. DS

      Yeah. I've not ... (whoosh)

    18. CW

      Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. I'm joined by Daniel Sloss!

    19. DS

      Yeah. There's no audience to clap.

    20. CW

      Aw, there hasn't been.

    21. DS

      (claps hands) .

    22. CW

      There's no audience anywhere.

    23. DS

      There's not. No. There is not. (laughs) .

    24. CW

      How is it being a comedian

  2. 0:54 – 8:17

    Comedians in Lockdown

    1. CW

      during a pandemic? Tell me about it.

    2. DS

      Um, I mean, it wasn't. It's fine now. It's good now. Like, I'm a, I'm a, it's, uh, some gigs are slowly starting to break back. For the past, uh, month and a half I've had probably about close to 20 gigs. And it's, those have been really nice because even though it's much, much smaller crowds than we've been used to, especially in the past two years, uh, it feels like being four or five years into comedy again. Like, it's, you know how there's some people out there who are like, "Oh, I'd never go back to high school." And there's other people who'll be like, "I'd love to go back to high school with the knowledge I have now"? It's kind of like that, man. Like, I get to go, you know, smaller audiences, ones that, you know, that I would ... Used to playing to seven or eight years ago, but now I just get to play to them with this, I don't know, th- this wealth of experience that I have. It's, and it's, it's fun. I'm sort of relearning bits of standup as well, I'm relearning skills that I haven't had to use for years, and, um, oh, it's a, i- i- that's been positive. But it's taken six fucking months to get there. (laughs)

    3. CW

      Do you feel out of sorts? Do you feel like you had the, sort of the off season yips when you got back into it?

    4. DS

      Um, a l- well, a little bit. Like, there was, it was the first time I did it, it was the first time in a long time that I'd been nervous. Uh-

    5. CW

      Why were you nervous?

    6. DS

      'Cause, 'cause I'd, I lost all of my self-worth during fucking lockdown, you know. Suddenly going, you know, I've, I've had, I've had a very, very good career, um, but especially in the past two years has been immensely in- yeah, intense, man. Netflix came out and you go from playing 400 seater rooms to 3,000 seater rooms and it's an 18 month tour that takes, you know, 300 shows and, you know, it's all very, very exciting, and, and for the past 10 years, all of my confidence, all of my self-worth, all of who I am, I have gotten from the love and approval of strangers. And it's been brilliant for the past 10 years. It's been absolutely brilliant. But-

    7. CW

      It's a very strong scaffolding-

    8. DS

      It's a very-

    9. CW

      ... to lay life upon for as long as it's still there.

    10. DS

      For as long as it's still there. So it was a, if you imagine my life as a f- my personality and who I am as a human being is a fucking Jenga tower.

    11. CW

      (laughs) .

    12. DS

      20 story-

    13. CW

      Someone's just coming at the very bottom.

    14. DS

      Aye. And took all three and went, "Do you need these?"

    15. CW

      (laughs) .

    16. DS

      I'm like, "No!"

    17. CW

      (laughs) .

    18. DS

      And, uh, the tower fucking co- but obviously then that's what I desperately tried to do was to try and prop the fucking tower back up again.

    19. CW

      What did you prop it up with?

    20. DS

      Uh, just t- I've, I mean, for the first two months, uh, it was bad 'cause it, 'cause I'd been so desperate for time off for so long, like-

    21. CW

      I saw you, I think, two days after you got back. We went for lunch in Edinburgh.

    22. DS

      Yep.

    23. CW

      And that was, like, the middle of March. It was two days before lockdown came in. Um, sorry, before Americans weren't allowed to go back to America.

    24. DS

      Yeah.

    25. CW

      And I remember because the chick that I was with in Edinburgh had left me at 4:00 AM.

    26. DS

      Yes.

    27. CW

      And I'm like, "Is this actually just all a big ... No, no, no, no, no." I'm sure that, I'm sure that that was what the truth was.

    28. DS

      Yeah.

    29. CW

      And I'd seen you and you were like (sighs) like, "This is lovely." But still, even then, only two days after you'd finished, in the back of your head you had this Australia tour and the book.

    30. DS

      Aye.

  3. 8:17 – 12:56

    If Daniel Wasn’t in Comedy

    1. DS

      Aye.

    2. CW

      Do you think that if it wasn't for the fact that you're talented and have been blessed with some, like, semi-okay good looks, that you would really, really struggle in life? Because Dungeons & Dragons, the Wii, like you have the makings of a really, like, successful incel.

    3. DS

      Aye.

    4. CW

      But you've managed to like, get past that.

    5. DS

      Oh, I think I would've been. Man, had I not discovered comedy, I would've, I would've absolutely been a fucking, uh, right-wing internet fucking troll. Uh, from the bot- uh, tru- truly fucking had I not discovered comedy, I would've been one of the... Well, I would've been a fucking Proud Boy, man.

    6. CW

      (laughs) Are you going Gavin McInnes?

    7. DS

      Y- yeah, man. If, if I fuck- if I hadn't, like, got into comedy, like, and, and had this world where I just got to meet so many different people from so many, you know, different backgrounds and, and get to travel the world and experience things, uh, I would've absolutely-lutely been one of them. You know, it, uh, it's hard being a white man.

    8. CW

      (laughs)

    9. DS

      (laughs) Like that would've been me 'cause I would've had nothing else to put it into. I would've just been... 'Cause I was quite an angry teenager and, and then... I mean, I've still got some anger within me. I'm... We all do, but, you know, I got to, I got to put that anger into stand-up, I got to put it into the performance. All the, all this stuff I had, there was an outlet for it and thank God, 'cause if it hadn't have been, it would've just been... I would've shot up a school, man.

    10. CW

      (laughs)

    11. DS

      (laughs)

    12. CW

      It's, um, it's interesting that people who don't have that outlet and don't find something in life, I think struggle with, like their internal monologue. And, and one of the interesting comments Douglas Murray made on a show that I did with him recently was he's adamant that the people who have the most extreme views on the left and the right have never traveled. He says because as soon as you travel and you start to meet people from different cultures-

    13. DS

      Yeah.

    14. CW

      ... you realize, like they're actually really fu-... I want to know Jap- like a Japanese person. Like they're fucking si-... And like, yeah, Chinese government probably needs a bit of work.

    15. DS

      Uh, pizza-

    16. CW

      But, like you meet some people from China-

    17. DS

      Yeah.

    18. CW

      ... from China and you're like, "Fuck, like this is awesome." And you're, you do, you know what I mean?

    19. DS

      Aye, this, you, you, you, you, when you get to travel, you see the humanity that is so common across the world. As you go, here's all these people that are, you know, they're so different to who I am. And then you just see a mum yelling at a child and you go, "Oh, that's how my mum yelled at me. Oh, we're all the same."

    20. CW

      (laughs)

    21. DS

      We are literally, we're all the same fucking species. We've, we were just born in different parts. Um, yeah, I think it's... I, I... And I think it's such a, uh, it's such an important thing to travel, but it's such an unfortunate thing that it's, you know, it's something that you have to have money to do. And-

    22. CW

      Imagine, imagine if you'd not had this kind of like weird sabbatical break-

    23. DS

      Aye.

    24. CW

      ... from doing your comedy, and perhaps you further layered more and more and more and more-

    25. DS

      Aye.

    26. CW

      ... life and ego. Have you considered this?

    27. DS

      Yeah.

    28. CW

      The fact that the, the, the, the, um, stool's been turned upside down a little bit and you're balancing it on one leg and then sta-... You know, do you remember Tom and Jerry?

    29. DS

      I do.

    30. CW

      And when they'd... Like, the, the fridge would be balanced on top of a fork upside down on the floor and then da-da-do-do...

  4. 12:56 – 18:36

    Creating Content During Covid-19

    1. DS

      I've ... Mm-hmm.

    2. CW

      How much have you been able to create content then? Is a pandemic like a goldmine for content or is it quite difficult to turn COVID-19 into something funny?

    3. DS

      It's been real hard. I have the worst internet connection in the world. Uh, I live in a part of Edinburgh which for some reason, uh, it's just people ... There's n- My download speed is, uh, seven megabits per second and my upload speed's point s- 0.2.

    4. CW

      You can't do anything then.

    5. DS

      You can't do anything. And then obvi- And then the pandemic hit and that all sort of goes down. So I really wanted to get into ... I've got s- so many friends that are really good at, like, streaming on Twitch and it's ... And it seems to be, like, a good s- It just seemed like something fun to do during lockdown. Although I love, I love playing computer games. Like, people enjoy watching me talk for whatever fucking reason. Like, I started doing a thing on Instagram Live which was just day drinking with Dan because I was day drinking anyway.

    6. CW

      (laughs)

    7. DS

      And people were like, "What are you up to?" And I was like, "This." So I just sit and get drunk during the day on Instagram Live and p- And, and it's one of the weird things that happens in this fucking life. But, like, I, I think the average viewership while it was live was about 1,200 people. Uh, but, and then it would get like 50,000 views altogether. You go, "Why are people watching this shit?" (laughs)

    8. CW

      Watching you get pissed.

    9. DS

      But they ... A- W- I'm blessed that people-

    10. CW

      Care.

    11. DS

      Yeah. And enjoy for some reason me s- ranting about things that I'm semi-passionate about but then pretending to be really enraged by them, people enjoy watching. And I felt like I could do that on Twitch but I just don't have this fucking internet connection. It's finally happening now. I've, uh, I have the ... I promise you I have the most in- And I'll, and I'll tell you off camera, I have the most expensive internet connection in the UK.

    12. CW

      (laughs) Available?

    13. DS

      Bar none.

    14. CW

      (laughs)

    15. DS

      Uh, and it's still not in yet. But I hope to, uh ... It just seems, Twitch seems so interesting to me because it's ... I, I think everyone only really knows it as this sort of gaming platform. But having watched what people like, like Limmy's able to do on it and people are doing different sort of shows on it and cooking shows, it's just a new platform. And I think in the next year or two one comedian is going to do one thing on Twitch and then the rest of us are gonna go, "Oh, there we go. That's it."

    16. CW

      That's the- That's the one.

    17. DS

      And the good thing about Twitch is it's a direct relationship between you and your audience. You don't have anyone from the BBC who hasn't stepped foot in a comedy club in the past seven years being like, "Hey, hey, hey, we know you're great and we know you've got all these fans, but let us tell you what we think your fans want."

    18. CW

      (laughs)

    19. DS

      Do I watch comedy? No. No, I don't. Am I the head of comedy? Yes, I am. That's me. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

    20. CW

      (laughs)

    21. DS

      Um, and I'm desperate for any world where I don't have to work with the fucking BBC or any shit like that again. So Twitch seems to be the ...

    22. CW

      I had a, uh, we had a, a porn star sat right where you are actually-

    23. DS

      Nice.

    24. CW

      Uh, not long ago. Um, Sienna. And she was talking about she'd been in the game for a little while, maybe like eight years, and she was talking about the transition from the, like, typical porn model working for Brazzers or Fake Taxi-

    25. DS

      Right.

    26. CW

      ... or whoever it might be, um, and like getting paid like okay but not ... They don't get mental money compared with how much they make. And then OnlyFans came along and then MyMe.VIP came along and they were able to have direct creator to fan, like, interaction, uh, the ability to get tipped and, and, and make money. And she has decentralized and taken complete ownership of her own earning potential. And now she uses Brazzers and Fake Taxi as the front end of her funnel to be like, "I know this will get four million plays on PornHub."

    27. DS

      Aye.

    28. CW

      "Then some percentage of those people will find me, then some percentage of those people will join my OnlyFans." And now she's making like 10 grand a week.

    29. DS

      Mm-hmm.

    30. CW

      Doing what she was doing in any case but doesn't have to leave her house, doesn't have to renovate a room into like this, this ... Probably glitter everywhere.

  5. 18:36 – 27:03

    How to Respond to Fans

    1. CW

      with fans, remai- like earned a bit of money. I don't know. I don't know.

    2. DS

      I don't... I've got a real issue with taking money off my fans. Like, the fact that they, uh, I have cons- it's one of the very few things that, uh, me and my agent butt heads over is ticket prices and stuff. I think comedy should be affordable at all times. Um, I, to any comedian that charges fucking over a hundred quid a ticket, I understand why you're doing it, but I think it's dishonest. Like, you don't get to go on stage and fucking pretend to be an everyman and try and relate to these people when, you know, you're going, "Give me, give me two weeks worth of your fucking money." So that just, I don't... And, and I've always had a problem. It's the same reason I've, I don't sell merch 'cause it just, to me, I know I need to get past it, but to me it just feels like why am I taking... You've already given me some of your money. Like, I don't want to, I don't wanna take anything more from you. I'm just like, you've got... I'm doing well already.

    3. CW

      (laughs)

    4. DS

      I don't need this. I've got real, um, yeah, just guilt when it comes to that shit. Um, whereas, and also I, I'm in charge of my fucking life. My fans do not get to dictate a single part of what I create, what I do, and that's how it works. It's, uh, I, you know, I, I don't... I create shows that I want to do. I create things that I want to do, make people laugh, but occasionally people have like, you know, I've had all this time off, people be like, "Why haven't you done your fucking podcast?" I'm sorry to can't... What do I fucking owe you?

    5. CW

      (laughs)

    6. DS

      What do, what do, what do I owe you beyond... Nothing. I owe you nothing. Um, here's, uh, uh, I'm about to drop a name here. Um, but it's, it's David Schwimmer. Uh, um, he, uh, after the Ne- he got in contact after my Netflix specials came out 'cause he's a massive comedy fan. And, uh, I was doing a show in LA and it was my first show since having been on Netflix, and it was at the Improv, and it was, you know, there was a real buzz when I went on stage. And I was trying to hang out with him afterwards, and, uh, I just kept going off on, and people are like, "Can I get a photo? Can I get a photo?" And I was like, "Yeah, yeah, of course." 'Cause I wanna fucking please everyone and I'm so grateful for this. And I'm just, I wanted to just hang out with fucking Dave and, and drink with him and talk to him and stuff. But I keep getting pulled away and I keep saying yes. And, uh, eventually two people finally recognized him and they were like, "Can we get a photo?" And he was like, "Yeah, no." And they were sort of taken aback. And he just kept talking to me and, and they went, "Can we..." And he was like, "No, it's... I appreciate that you're a fan of my work. I'm, I'm very, very grateful, but, no, I'm talking to my friend. I'm spending time with my friend." And I was like, "How the fuck did you do that?"

    7. CW

      Mm.

    8. DS

      And he, he was like, he was like, "Man, I'm so obviously grateful for everything, but I don't owe my fan- I don't owe them anything beyond what I create, beyond what I do." Like, it's fans are amazing and it's brilliant to have them, but the second that you feel you owe them something, then, then the relationship changes and then you resent them." And he's like, "And I don't want to resent people that love me." Like, that's not a nice, healthy relationship.

    9. CW

      Do you think that that is a little bit of a manifestation, again, of what you said about perhaps that, um, feelings of self-worth coming through? Like, I need to continue to please these people a little bit. Like, I'm not sure if I'm worthy of their support, therefore, like I need to... It's the person who doesn't love the girlfriend anymore, but is terrified of breaking up with her because deep down he's not sure if he's, if he's worthy. I don't know how it, how it manifests for you.

    10. DS

      Mayb- maybe, maybe. And I think also like, uh, like I, I'm s- yeah, I'm so desperate to please people that if I give them the chance to ask me for something, I know I'll do it.

    11. CW

      (laughs)

    12. DS

      So, so I don't want to give my fans the ability to ask for something because I don't want to feel obligated to them 'cause I will.

    13. CW

      Don't start an OnlyFans, then.

    14. DS

      Oh no, I will. But I've got such a lovely cock. (laughs)

    15. CW

      (laughs) Um, did people get sad when they found out that you got a girlfriend? The, the army of singletons that you created with Jigsaw, did they feel like their leader had betrayed them?

    16. DS

      Uh, some of the ones that didn't pay attention to a word of the show did, yes, absolutely. But my, you know, people who... Man, I have n- I, like, I, there's the, uh, the reason I also, uh, don't go into my DMs on Instagram that much is because, man, Jigsaw and Dark re- and X as well, really fucking resonate with some people, like to a point where it's, it, it's kind of cultish. And, and not in a bad way, but just I'd never considered how much, you know, material would impact people's lives and stuff. And there's a level of responsibility a- and, and fear that I have there, um, that I'd just rather avoid. (laughs)

    17. CW

      Why, why do you not wanna see what they, people say?

    18. DS

      Uh, 'cause I'll feel responsible for them. Like I, I, when Jigsaw, and when Netflix started, first started coming out, I was in my Instagram mess- DMs all the time because it was a new level of attention. People were telling me they fucking love me, and then you start responding and then you start speaking to people who go through really, or going through really, really hard times. You, you know, some of my fans are suicidal and, and they start telling me about that. And I'm suddenly, I'm, of course I'm conversating with these people 'cause I don't want them to fucking kill themselves. And, but it was always when my agent was like, "You've got to step away now."

    19. CW

      You are barred. You're barred from the DM inbox now.

    20. DS

      Yeah, you can't. Um, so with the, the... There's, I've definitely noticed when I, I don't post about my girlfriend much on, uh, online, and that's not because, uh, I'm ashamed of her. It's just 'cause she's fucking hideous and it's just not-

    21. CW

      (laughs)

    22. DS

      Uh. (laughs) No. Um, because I, I agreed to this life. I signed a deal with the devil, uh, for the, for the life of fame and success. And if she wants to sign that contract herself, she's allowed to sign that contract herself. But just because she's-... my girlfriend, doesn't mean she's, she automatically, um, should be in the world. But when I do talk about her online, so you get some fucking stupid people in the comments being like, "Oh my God, what about Jigsaw?" I'm like, "If you actually watch the show, the whole point of it is I absolutely believe in love." I've always fucking believed in love. My parents have been together for 35 years. There's no divorces, anything like that. I know love is real and- and does exist. I just get ... I was always annoyed, and I still get annoyed, by fake bullshit love, the emulations of love, the fucking cut, the, you know, it's been cut with other things, obligation and responsibility and fear of loneliness. It's not pure. It's just shite, fucking meth-y love.

    23. CW

      (laughs)

    24. DS

      And, uh, yeah, no, and I, and I, and I still fucking rail against that. But, um, for me now, man, this is the, I'm- I'm properly in love. Like, I would not have got through this, uh, lockdown if it hadn't been for, you know, my girlfriend. She really, um, I don't know, she just made f- she- she made me confident in, you know, in the bits of me that I was never confident in before. So most people are v- very, very happy because they can see that, you know, she makes me happy and stuff. And then, um, also man, I don't, I couldn't give a shit what people say online, like from the bottom of my heart. Like if anyone tweets or describes me anything negative, I don't reply because I find it the equivalent of saying, "No you," to a dog's fart.

    25. CW

      (laughs)

    26. DS

      Like it's so unimpactful. Some people-

    27. CW

      How do you, how do you deal with sort of vitriol and- and hate and criticism and stuff online?

    28. DS

      By knowing I'm fucking better than every one of them. (laughs)

    29. CW

      (laughs) What an answer.

    30. DS

      Why would, why would I give a fucking wet hot shit about what some sad cunt in a fucking darkened room smashed his fucking cheesy fucking fingertips into on me? Fuck off. Like I g- fuck, when what world, in what world would that opinion ever affect me?

  6. 27:03 – 33:44

    Desire to Build a Family

    1. CW

      But because you, you moved your girlfriend in-

    2. DS

      Yes.

    3. CW

      ... the, the tactical implication of that was that you thought you were gonna have an empty house that she would keep clean.

    4. DS

      Yes. No, no, that's just a horrible joke I said on stage. No. (laughs)

    5. CW

      (laughs)

    6. DS

      No, my girlfriend moved in January because I love her dea- dearly, and-

    7. CW

      But was quite a good decision given the foreseeable pandemic-

    8. DS

      Yes. I was going t-

    9. CW

      ... that you didn't know about.

    10. DS

      I was going to be on tour, uh, for ages. So it was sort of like I moved into the house and, um, well, I mean, I bought the, I bought the house with in mind to, for it to be a family house. 'Cause I was like, I walked in and I was like, "Oh, this is the house that I'll raise my children in." Um, so we moved in and we knew I was gonna be away a lot, um, uh, which we were used to, but it was gonna, it was gonna be so much less than the previous years. So that was exciting. And then, uh, we were so worried as well 'cause she's, she's got a real job and stuff, so sh- like even when I was home, she would have her nine to five. We used to have this really fucking funny routine in January, which was I'd wake up every morning and, and, and I'd make her a packed lunch for-for her to go to work 'cause I was home and I'd never been home before. And I just got, uh ...

    11. CW

      You're a kept man.

    12. DS

      Aye. Well, no, no, no.

    13. CW

      (laughs)

    14. DS

      She's, and people go, "You've changed." I go, "No, no, no." This, I've seen my father. I know my f- like, this has, this has always been inside of me. Like the, you know, my, the- the ro- the romantic side of me, the- the kind, gentle side I just fucking put down for years and years 'cause it wasn't funny on stage.

    15. CW

      (laughs)

    16. DS

      And then, uh, it's been allowed to, um, flourish a little bit more. Uh-

    17. CW

      So you were house husbanding in it for a little while?

    18. DS

      Yeah. I- I- I-

    19. CW

      Packed lunches and Hoovering and-

    20. DS

      I'd love to ... man, man, it's a good fucking life. I'd love to be a house bitch. Like if, in the future, if she was to ... 'cause she, she really likes her job and I'd love to be a fucking stay-at-home dad. What a life. And I'm not, I'm not ... and, and to any parent being like, "It's not easy." I know being a parent isn't fucking easy.

    21. CW

      (laughs)

    22. DS

      But I relish the challenge of it. Like, uh, I'd like that, yeah.

    23. CW

      I can't wait to be a dad, man.

    24. DS

      Yeah, me neither.

    25. CW

      Like there's something, something interesting about being sort of around about 30 as a, a man, 'cause everyone talks about like, it's a, such a trope to talk about women have turned 30 th- and she's still single. She, you know, sort of ...

    26. DS

      Mm-hmm.

    27. CW

      ... the biological clock's ticking. You're like, "Oh, fucking hell, mate. Like how old's that joke?"

    28. DS

      Aye.

    29. CW

      But, there is an equivalent for men. Like I find myself not doting, 'cause that's too much, but children used to be disgusting and I wanted to throw things at them.

    30. DS

      Aye.

  7. 33:44 – 40:03

    Why We All Need Therapy

    1. CW

    2. DS

      Man, therapy's the tits, and it's, uh, I f- I think it's an absolute fucking disgrace that it's, uh, it's something, it's a form of privilege that like, I can afford to go to therapy. Um, and there, there are obviously free forms of, uh, therapy, uh, that people can go to, but they're difficult to get. It's not available to everyone. It's not readily fucking available. And, um, I just don't think it's ... especially this fucking year, man. Like, everyone needs therapy. Therapy isn't a fix to anything. The way I describe it, therapy is just putting a condom on the dick of 2020 before it fucks you in the ass.

    3. CW

      (laughs)

    4. DS

      Like, it's not, it doesn't get rid of the dick. You're still gonna get fucked in the ass, but god, it stops some of the diseases getting in.

    5. CW

      (laughs)

    6. DS

      It's a bit smoother. Like, it's a process. (laughs)

    7. CW

      (laughs)

    8. DS

      Like, it's not a fix. Meditation isn't a fix to anything. That, it's all a process, man. You just, uh, give yourself these tools there so that when you're going through good times, give yourself all the tools and all the knowledge that, that when things do get hard, uh, that you're able to ... You know, if you're one of these people that is so bad at asking for fucking help, give yourself the tools so that next time you don't have ... And also, just ask for help you stupid cunt.

    9. CW

      (laughs) What's it been? Psychotherapy?

    10. DS

      Um, no, I just, uh, so what happened was after the, after my tour last year, uh, I lost a lot of myself. I was very, I was just overworked. Overworked, I just snapped. Uh, didn't like who I was, didn't like how I was, uh, didn't like how I was, I always treated my agent. Uh, I didn't like how I was speaking to people. Uh, I didn't like how short tempered I was. Um, so I just, I literally emailed the thing and I was just like, "Hello," and then I just like, "I fucking don't like who I am. I'd like to start going to therapy." And, uh, they emailed back and they were like, "This is what we recommend you go with." And ever since then, it's just once a week, and the first couple ones is, f- like if you're a psychopath like I am, it's just you playing chess against a man trying to help you.

    11. CW

      (laughs)

    12. DS

      (laughs) It's like, like, I'm literally, I'm literally playing this man-

    13. CW

      Yeah. What do you want?

    14. DS

      Yeah.

    15. CW

      What do you want?

    16. DS

      I-

    17. CW

      How are we-

    18. DS

      Yeah, I'm playing this-

    19. CW

      Can I win?

    20. DS

      Yeah. I'm playing, I'm playing this man. I'm like, "Oh, you're trying to get that out of me?"

    21. CW

      (laughs)

    22. DS

      He's like, "Yes. Yes, I am. What is this?"

    23. CW

      (laughs) Yeah, that's why you're here.

    24. DS

      Yeah. Have you paid me for a fucking duel?

    25. CW

      (laughs) Yeah.

    26. DS

      Um, and, uh, but no, man. For me, it's, it's just been a, it's been nice to ... 'Cause it's not that I don't have a support network and you know, you don't go to therapy b- just because you don't have anyone to talk to. Like, I've, I've got family that loves me deeply. I've got a very loving relationship. I've got friends. I can phone you anytime I want. We could talk about things, but that's not what therapy is. Therapy is-... somebody on the outside, somebody unbiased. Somebody who is gonna l- like, listen and he- and just recognize your patterns of thoughts and, and sort of going, "Hey, hey, you say this a lot, but that's not true." Like, I didn't realize I had anxiety, uh, when my therapist would come up to me and be like, "How's your anxiety?" I'm like, "I don't have any anxiety."

    27. CW

      What anxiety? (laughs)

    28. DS

      "What anxiety?" And it, you, like... They're not allowed to roll their eyes, but he did. (laughs)

    29. CW

      (laughs) They're not allowed to roll their eyes.

    30. DS

      He went, "What do you do " I go, "Oh yeah, I don't... Yeah, no, uh, don't have anxiety." He goes, "How do you feel when anyone's late to something?" I'm like, "They should die. They should be dropped dead."

  8. 40:03 – 52:58

    Daniel’s Book & Future Plans

    1. DS

      has been, uh, delayed because of this, um, because it's b- 'cause it's being released in America first, uh, 'cause it's an American book. Um, we wanna make sure that we could, uh, do a book tour with it, like go out and, and get-

    2. CW

      How do you do a book tour as a comedian? Do you play a comedy show that's around the book and the material?

    3. DS

      Yeah, essentially it would just be-

    4. CW

      That would be kind of fun.

    5. DS

      ... it would essentially just be... No, no, no. I would just go on the road and do my show, and then afterwards just do, uh, book signings.

    6. CW

      Signings. Oh, yeah.

    7. DS

      And, and then sort of go to the bookstores around the country and... Um, I've, I don't know. I've never done one. I always j-

    8. CW

      You ever said the word cunt in a Waterstones? You could do.

    9. DS

      Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

    10. CW

      That would be kind of fun.

    11. DS

      Yeah. Y- you've seen it. You've s- you've seen the cunts they get in Waterstones, of course I have.

    12. CW

      Yeah, but how are you doing it in there? Are you walking around and... You know what I mean?

    13. DS

      I, uh, well, I mean, I w- I would love to... I, I, I, I would be thrilled to see what, what parts of the book they would let me read in a Water, Waterstones. Uh, if, if, if... Oh, no. I mean, it will be released in the UK, eh, eventually. But once it... I'm also rewriting it at the moment, just because-

    14. CW

      Yeah, you mentioned you making a, making a few changes here and there.

    15. DS

      Yeah. Just, um, I, I wrote a chapter on... Well, I want to now write a chapter on mental health, because, uh, in January I thought I was the fucking god at it, and I was like, "If I could take..." You know, it was one of those, uh, that utter, utter arrogance of like, "Oh, look, look, hey, hey. Mental health is very, very important for other people who have problems with it, and I support them from a distance but I don't 'cause I'm perfect, so, uh, no self-reflection. Bye."

    16. CW

      (laughs)

    17. DS

      Um, whereas now that I've been, um, helped immensely thanks to, uh, therapy and, and upon self-reflection and meditation, I want to do a book on that. I also, um, just upon a fur- bit of further fucking reflection, I didn't... There was a couple of chapters in there where it was just the, the f- the ego was still in there and it wasn't... In irony, there wasn't enough reflection in it. And, um, also there was... I wrote a chapter on, you know, America and... 'Cause I do love America for many, many reasons, and I, uh, I did dislike many, many things about it, but I sort of wrote this chapter trying to explain how difficult that was. But it was, uh... I think it was, uh... I genuinely think I was being too gentle because, eh, my experience of America was as a, was as a successful white man.... and upon us during the lockdown, one of the things I did was started s- studying American history, 'cause I found it fascinating and learning about the country more and then seeing everything that's happened, especially this year. Uh, I think I was too fucking gentle.

    18. CW

      I think anything that was written at the beginning of this year...

    19. DS

      Null and void.

    20. CW

      Yeah.

    21. DS

      Yeah.

    22. CW

      Like, you can't expect... and th- there's something bizarre as well. You can create a YouTube video. I could publish something now that we recorded in January and just, like, title it as, like, was recorded in January, and no one really gives a shit.

    23. DS

      Aye. Aye.

    24. CW

      However, if you write a book, there's something about it that's, like, supposed to be evergreen and incarnate, you know, like it transcends time and space.

    25. DS

      Yes.

    26. CW

      And people presume... I think it's par- partly the medium. It's so fucking bourgeois. People just presume that it's like, eh, you've got this th- 20/20 vision, literally.

    27. DS

      Ah.

    28. CW

      And, um, y- I can imagine that if you had written that, it would have felt like you'd kind of cemented something that you probably didn't agree with.

    29. DS

      Yes. I, like I... and I was so grateful to my publishers. They instantly... Random House, when I was like, "I'd like to update it." They were like-

    30. CW

      "Excuse me?"

  9. 52:58 – 56:00

    Lessons from 2020

    1. CW

      had some challenges with their relationship during COVID, what would you s-... Any, any bits of advice of how they might be able to deal with it a little bit better?

    2. DS

      Oh, man, uh, I mean, I st- here's one of the stances I still stand by thoroughly in Jigsaw is if your relationship qui- requires any fucking effort. (whistles)

    3. CW

      Even during a pandemic?

    4. DS

      Man, I, me and my girlfriend didn't fall out once. And, and again, don't get me wrong, I know there's gonna be fucking people who have been married for 25 years and they're gonna be like, "You're still in the fucking honeymoon phase."

    5. CW

      Just wait. Just wait.

    6. DS

      Ugh, they're gonna be, "You're still in the honeymoon phase." Maybe. (laughs) Or maybe I didn't fall in love with a cunt.

    7. CW

      (laughs)

    8. DS

      Um, who knows? We'll never know. Uh, we- we'll know in 25 years time. (laughs)

    9. CW

      (laughs)

    10. DS

      Um, no, I th- uh, man, no advice. I, like, 'cause I'm, I'm in a shitty... Not a shitty position, I'm in a really good position where I didn't have to work on my relationship.

    11. CW

      Non-representative position, perhaps.

    12. DS

      Aye.

    13. CW

      Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

    14. DS

      And, and also, yeah, you see, I, I thoroughly recommend people watch, uh, Jigsaw: During Quarantine, because a lot of the-

    15. CW

      Wait, where can they get that now? Is it still on Netflix?

    16. DS

      It's still, still on Netflix.

    17. CW

      Is it?

    18. DS

      Still on Netflix.

    19. CW

      Awesome.

    20. DS

      Yeah, yeah, yeah.

    21. CW

      That's, that's quite a long time it's been on. Two years?

    22. DS

      Uh, yeah, I think.

    23. CW

      Shouldn't it be less?

    24. DS

      I think they, I think they have it forever. (laughs)

    25. CW

      Is it? Oh, jeez.

    26. DS

      I'm, I'm genuinely not sure.

    27. CW

      Fuck me. Uh-

    28. DS

      I don't know, where, I mean, where else would it go?

    29. CW

      Well, I don't know, I didn't know how long it had it up there.

    30. DS

      No, um, I don't know how long it's up there.

  10. 56:00 – 57:02

    Where to Find Daniel

    1. DS

      think. Uh, or Daniel underscore Sloss. It's not a common name. You'll find me. But I don't have many followers on it yet and the account's barely set up 'cause once again, slowest internet connection in the world still.

    2. CW

      Mm-hmm. Where else? Instagram, where, where-

    3. DS

      Uh, Instagram, um, also-

    4. CW

      Watching that f- watch Jigsaw.

    5. DS

      Yeah, go on Dar- go on, uh, Netflix to watch, uh, Dark and Jigsaw and also if you follow ... Go on my website, Danielsloss.com, we're adding tour dates. Well, not tour dates, we're adding dates all the time. We'll be doing spots in random places over the next couple of months and, uh, just, uh, real- come, come see me while I'm humble again. (smacks hands)

    6. CW

      What a unique opportunity.

    7. DS

      I know. Again, small, small bit of ... There's people watching this being like, "I can't believe he thinks he was humble for an interview." (laughs)

    8. CW

      (laughs) Dan, thank you so much.

    9. DS

      As always.

    10. CW

      Thank you.

    11. DS

      Ooh, shouldn't have done that. Illegal, absolutely illegal this.

    12. CW

      All the fans. Get away, yeah. All the fans.

Episode duration: 57:02

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