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[00:00:12] I was so funny because I was living on Wall Street and everything was happening
[00:00:17] and stuff but then I didn't realize that they were filming the third Batman.
[00:00:23] So they didn't tell us and I'd lived on the part of the street where the big battle
[00:00:28] with Bain happens and I'm walking down my elevator and you have the glass doors
[00:00:34] and I come out the elevator and I'm walking down the hallway and I just see hundreds of people
[00:00:38] running and cop running the other way and I was like, what?
[00:00:41] When I backed up against the wall and then I saw a production assistant in the lobby
[00:00:45] and she was like, oh, hold on, we're just...
[00:00:47] And then I put it together and I was like, oh my god, this is a movie.
[00:00:51] Well, yeah, there's a little bit of, you know, I think collective PTSD.
[00:00:56] I was actually, I'm from Calvary, initially and my first time visiting the city at all.
[00:01:01] I was flying in.
[00:01:02] Do you remember the big blackout around like 2003?
[00:01:06] Yeah, I was living in the flash and then I'd have it.
[00:01:09] So I was visiting a friend who lived out here and you know this is...
[00:01:13] I'm going to make us sound like the old men though we are but this was in the days before
[00:01:17] every airplane had Wi-Fi right?
[00:01:20] So you just flying to LA from LA to New York six hours of nothing
[00:01:25] and then we're approaching LaGuardia and the entire airport is just pitch black.
[00:01:34] And so naturally the woman behind me starts screaming there's been a terrorist attack.
[00:01:38] Because that's...
[00:01:39] That's all that.
[00:01:40] Yeah, and like you know, that would have been seven, eight years later but even now it's like
[00:01:45] for a good reason if something like that happens, that's immediately where your brain goes to.
[00:01:52] I'm anything big scale like that, yeah, that's crazy.
[00:01:55] But I was all statin alliners I think eventually either end up on Long Island or New Jersey
[00:02:01] like they make a left or right.
[00:02:03] You know so my one sister that lives in Jersey and my other sister lives out on Long Island as well
[00:02:08] so I ended up out here when I had the family and I was like my wife Bessie saw somebody going down the
[00:02:13] subway steps with a stroller and she was like this is not for me.
[00:02:16] She's like, I'm gonna get to the burps could we find house?
[00:02:19] I have to get more upper body strength.
[00:02:25] It's so... it's so stressful.
[00:02:27] I'm going down steps carrying apparatus and your child's.
[00:02:30] It's like just it can be worse.
[00:02:32] I mean New Yorkers are pretty nice and people will generally help you but you don't want to have
[00:02:35] to rely on a complete stranger to help you carry your baby down a flight of stairs.
[00:02:39] And you know, it's just like a thing where like you're gonna get to midday you get to one of the
[00:02:42] biggest staircases and just won't be anybody around.
[00:02:46] You're like oh, I'm not gonna do it yet.
[00:02:47] For all the nicest of New Yorkers you know, I think I could still say we have a habit of just
[00:02:53] putting our head down and moving our head down.
[00:02:55] Yeah, moving our head down.
[00:02:56] We got things to do, baby.
[00:02:57] We got things to do.
[00:03:00] That's been one of the really interesting things for me over the past month getting used to being
[00:03:05] in you know like what is effectively like it's a rural area and a small town is just like
[00:03:10] I went to a restaurant and was talking the waitress in Fana.
[00:03:14] She's my neighbor is realizing that there is it's great like there's a sense of community but also
[00:03:21] I immediately missed that kind of and an eminity that you have in the city.
[00:03:25] Yeah.
[00:03:25] Yeah.
[00:03:26] You can just disappear if you wanted to but now it's like they're like oh I saw you I saw you food
[00:03:30] chopping.
[00:03:31] I want to pick those grapes.
[00:03:34] Judging you.
[00:03:35] I don't know like before I moved up here.
[00:03:38] I don't know if you're on Facebook and all before I moved up here I joined all the
[00:03:41] Facebook groups just get it like a feeling like a vibe.
[00:03:44] There's a lot of careants and whatever the male equipment of careants are and there's a lot
[00:03:48] of like self policing happening which is good and bad right?
[00:03:52] For sure.
[00:03:53] For sure like if you have mine.
[00:03:55] I like that part of the community thing so like when we started our dog rescue out on Long Island
[00:04:00] for real it was like so we had our dog rescue run down or hasn't I was like you know what
[00:04:04] we should get in the community a little bit of nice to have like just an adoption center where
[00:04:07] people could come see the dog and whatnot.
[00:04:09] So I went into like the real estate like around here and we like whatever and I just picked up this
[00:04:13] little like across from one of the best delies where I go for lunch all the time adjacent to
[00:04:18] flat workshop they had a little space I started running and so now I have like a store front in the
[00:04:23] community which is so funny because like people will either just come by and see me in the store
[00:04:28] and then be like well because they don't put it together or it's like they know on there and
[00:04:33] it's like oh I could come and see me you know so it's it's really interesting piece of that but
[00:04:38] I enjoy it I really like you know because I think kids change at all too right like your friends
[00:04:43] with the parents the school you get involved and all that I think they're really my kids are 9
[00:04:46] 7 right now so it's really like you know fourth grade second grade really into the whole you
[00:04:51] know they're making their friends you want to know where their friends are and stuff like that.
[00:04:54] I don't have children myself but I assume that there's a lot of forced friendship that has to
[00:04:58] happen between you and other parents yeah and then the wife picks you know the friends
[00:05:03] the friend group and then you gotta hope you click with the husband it's a lot of pressure it's like
[00:05:07] it's a lot going on you seem like an affable guy though I mean you you strike me as somebody is
[00:05:12] probably generally pretty easy to get along with what you say yeah yeah I would say that I would say
[00:05:17] that I'm a yeah I think it's just time you know I'm not really around this you know for those things
[00:05:24] but then like during the week now so now you know that my life is taking a change and I'm basically
[00:05:29] touring the week them are home during the weeks I'll do like school pick up so I'll just be sitting
[00:05:33] there with all like the moms and dads hanging out waiting for a kid to come out and stuff and
[00:05:37] it's so funny you still get it where people walk by me and we're like are you you
[00:05:42] are you supposed to be here like what's the point that that's what I was gonna ask like
[00:05:45] people coming in the store for an is this a prize because you're like Joe in the neighborhood or
[00:05:49] you're like famous TV guy I think it's a picture of both I think it's like they don't expect
[00:05:53] to see me standing there and or you know and it happens anywhere like we'll be in a supermarket
[00:05:59] shopping and stuff just around town for the most part it's faded I mean I've been in this neighborhood
[00:06:02] for I see like five years now I guess almost yeah five years almost and so you know it
[00:06:08] everything tapers you know they used to be people who drive by my house slow down look down
[00:06:13] the driveway to see if I was like how front you know like that every little weird stuff but
[00:06:18] you know but it everything tapers and it's good just to be part of it and no people but that's
[00:06:23] the hard part too or like somebody like Joe and I'm like do I know this person from
[00:06:26] do they know me do I know them like that's not hard part and you pretend like you do for a little bit
[00:06:30] until that order big I'm your my big line is there he is there he is there he is I got like
[00:06:36] I think because I can go either way I can go either now and I just wait to the what the next
[00:06:40] sentences it's like oh I love you make me laugh so hard I'm like okay they're a fan
[00:06:44] I have a similar reaction I'm a journalist so when I go to conventions and I idea the
[00:06:49] I'm not slay at this at all but my eyes go down to the name tag yeah just to do the double check
[00:06:56] and my reading I have to wear readers now so it's wrong I have to pick it up and I'm like what's
[00:07:01] those is like if it's a lanyard I'm like stizz poke it out yeah yeah or yeah or I kind of remind
[00:07:07] me how to pronounce your name again and they're like Joe Smith it's like it's like Frank Thomas
[00:07:14] I played baseball for the white socks I look like I have a friend who's who pronounces
[00:07:21] I just want to make sure I'm saying it correctly yeah he's a fostered yeah there's a funny
[00:07:27] story in the stand up and I I point this out because I feel like this is probably
[00:07:33] it probably speaks to a lot of experiences that you've had every year since the show started
[00:07:38] where I think your dog gets away from you and you end up with this very attractive family so
[00:07:43] but the the first thing that he asks you is well you know he thinks he's being set up yeah
[00:07:51] and that must be like that's another level of weirdness on your celebrity encounter
[00:07:56] that people think they're being fucked with yeah for sure I remember I I've famously
[00:08:00] tell the story about how I was in Target once and I was looking for paper towels and I asked
[00:08:04] this little lady she got a red vest on she stopped and she said excuse me miss where you can
[00:08:08] tell me where the paper towels are you can you don't talk it's your huge I'm looking to
[00:08:10] tell them where the paper towels are and she just thought slowly backing away from me as if I had
[00:08:15] a weapon it was like you're not getting me Joe and she started her and no no and she was waving
[00:08:20] her finger and then she literally started like lightly jogging away from me and I was on the
[00:08:25] other end caps and I'm just yelling at her down it looked like a cartoon I'm yelling at her down
[00:08:29] the eyes I'm like I just need paper towels like she's like no no so yeah it's interesting
[00:08:35] when I need help we used to joke but you know because we used to joke about how like you know
[00:08:40] I was used to be really much bigger and on the healthier but you know salad is always like oh you
[00:08:45] know hope you don't ever have a heart attack I'm public people who like ah you're not getting me
[00:08:50] I mean it's a joke but like right that could 100% happen yeah for sure yeah nope no but
[00:09:00] you have you have you pretended to have a life threatening situation on the show has that happened
[00:09:09] no I didn't pretend I had to I had a really bad sugar crash once and I had to bring them back again
[00:09:13] but it was it was doing one of the other guys turns and I made them keep going because I was like
[00:09:17] this will be like you know before I was like I knew I was okay I know it wasn't like I just got
[00:09:20] really dizzy whenever they were doing the blood pressure stuff in the back and I had ice back
[00:09:24] on the back of my neck and I'm still have the microphone until I was really fun but yeah I never had
[00:09:31] the the show gave me kidney stones though actually because I I don't exercise much at all and
[00:09:39] especially back when this happened but the they surprised me that I had to do 100 pushups
[00:09:45] during an interview and I just had to get out there and I couldn't stop it I could barely do you know
[00:09:49] 10 whatever and I said you can't stop whatever and I was playing a camera man so I would have
[00:09:53] to put down the camera whatever so I end up doing and I was so sore whatever and then two days
[00:09:57] later I got a kidney stone and I went in and the doctor said to me he goes he goes oh he said
[00:10:04] how do I get kidney stones he goes what did you exert yourself and not hydrate and I was like yeah
[00:10:08] yeah that's it and it sounds like the show got me the show coming kidney stones you were able to
[00:10:13] do 100 pushups though yeah barely yeah it took me over an hour it ended down to like that's
[00:10:19] actually like impressive though yeah I mean towards the end it kind of like we were doing
[00:10:23] comedically to where I would just like jump my body up you know but they weren't like proper so
[00:10:27] there's probably like 65 over the hour to 70 that were real and then I probably about you know
[00:10:33] 30 comedic ones he said you're in better shape now than you had been previously you talk you
[00:10:39] talk a little bit about you know going to doctor and everything what what have you been doing
[00:10:44] to you know I guess get healthier well for me it's mainly my eating it's habits right it's eating
[00:10:52] half the plate and said the full thing you know that was always the thing it's like you had to
[00:10:55] find you know I would keep eating when I was full and also timing like I try not to eat past seven
[00:11:00] PM is best I can now which is a little bit harder on the road but you know I try to stop eating it
[00:11:05] like past seven just just that in itself I could see the change like instantly you know
[00:11:10] and maybe I'll just skip like desserts for like a week I go in and out of being vegan
[00:11:14] because it makes me just feel healthier so I'll go full vegan for like a month or so at a time
[00:11:19] I did it once for like seven months I just did it for the past two months I just dove back in
[00:11:24] I'll go pescaterian I don't eat meat but um I'll come back and forth between that because that
[00:11:29] helps me like reset my system I feel like better so but I was like yeah my heaviest I was like
[00:11:35] almost 230 pounds which is huge for me and now I always waver around I'm 510 so it's not good you could
[00:11:41] always time then on you see yourself in high-devision high definition on television it's the worst
[00:11:46] so I look back at some seasons I'm like oh man wasn't anybody tell me why did you continue shooting
[00:11:51] me in profile again I want to bird's eye yeah yeah yeah that's lean up the lens this is nice
[00:11:58] yeah yeah I wonder I wonder so I I have a Jewish mom so I got a little bit of this but I wonder
[00:12:07] how much of eating your whole plate is sort of like ingrained in the growing out I think
[00:12:13] for sure for sure it's like definitely brought into uh to us to clear your plate you know I also eat
[00:12:18] really fast because my parents so I had the two biggest backyards on statin islands all our
[00:12:22] friend just to blame me and my next or neighbor Jason Joseph's backyard and my dad was super cool
[00:12:28] it was just like Eric Joe coming to eat and then he wouldn't send all the kids home he's like
[00:12:31] you guys could just keep playing so I'd be sitting there I would go in my kitchen which is right
[00:12:35] on the house right I'd hear the windows would be open because this is summer and he'll all these
[00:12:39] kids play in left and I would just come in scoff down my stuff as fast as I could and like
[00:12:44] I'd be excused with that like no so with the family and minute and you know you just want to
[00:12:47] get outside I want to finish my Brussels sprouts I want to get outside and finish this game of
[00:12:51] man hunt you know so that also is a thing in me so I eat fast and a lot.
[00:12:58] I come from a family a fast eater so I had that because they used to make fun of me when I would always
[00:13:03] be the last to fit I should I became a fast eater and it's there there's something that happens you
[00:13:08] know and just as you get older or you start to you know I'm not I promise I'm going into
[00:13:14] an end of old therapy mode but in therapy they call it a core beliefs where you start to sort
[00:13:18] of like challenge these things that you've taken for granted your entire life like even finishing
[00:13:22] a plate of food you're like oh you don't oh people get takeout like this is the thing that
[00:13:28] I can actually do yeah yeah you stop wonderful you know kind of think it's it's definitely interesting
[00:13:33] you know finish your plate I think it's definitely a generational thing right you know you know
[00:13:38] all the mothers being like this you know there's there's kids in Africa that can't eat because
[00:13:43] you know you're not going to finish your rice like it's like stuff like that you could get that all the time
[00:13:47] you know it would be like just moms I think were very big on because it was expensive to feed your family
[00:13:52] you know and money was always tight you know growing up so it was like the throat food away
[00:13:56] felt like such a waste you know yeah I think there's a lot of sort of generational too from the standpoint
[00:14:01] of like you know my like my my grandfather used to I guess it was China when they were younger
[00:14:08] they used to say they started to get to China but I think anybody with like any proximity to the
[00:14:12] depression right well you've got this sort of like generational thing that's instilled in you 100% 100%
[00:14:19] it's like you're throwing away money right yeah yeah yeah you need it you literally throw into
[00:14:23] me wanting yeah when did you go vegetarian vegetarian I met a cow named Caesar at this place
[00:14:33] woodstock farm sanctuary which is not not too far from far from me yeah yeah fantastic place so
[00:14:39] they do this thing every year called thanks living where you go up and feed the turkeys
[00:14:44] it which is funny so you go and feed the turkeys and it's like a little ceremony thing and then
[00:14:48] you hang out it's like you know it's there one of the big fundraises it's really nice but they give
[00:14:51] a tour of the place and I walked into you know during the tour we walked into the barn
[00:14:57] and here walked over this 800 pound gorgeous huge cow named Caesar who was like eight feet tall
[00:15:04] and he walked out to me and I was like well and he just walked up and like put his head down
[00:15:07] and I just started petting him like a dog and he nosled in and it was like I was like oh I was
[00:15:11] like and I wasn't my wife was already vegetarian at this point so I was the one and I do the cooking
[00:15:16] she doesn't so it was like I wasn't like cooking stakes all the time always really we were eating
[00:15:20] lunches like fish and not you know me that anyway and I was like all right I don't really have to eat
[00:15:25] me anymore and you know and turn that moment on and that was the last time I had me and
[00:15:30] and I don't really miss much of it I grew up on pursuit and what's it else saying which is
[00:15:34] though so that gets a little tough sometimes when those are hanging around and about buffalo wing
[00:15:37] I miss a good buffalo chicken wing but besides that it wasn't that hard or transition again
[00:15:43] I live in a city for a long time so I didn't have dogs but I have a rabbit that I rescued
[00:15:48] and I've had a few rabbits over the years and that for me I'm like you know what if I can form
[00:15:54] an emotional bond with this creature it's just not fair and like and you know you met a cow
[00:16:00] and my understanding is that pigs are like pretty close to dogs yeah they had them there too
[00:16:07] it was crazy they get so much bigger when they're not in captivity they don't realize when
[00:16:10] they're not getting slaughtered like you think how big a pig is it's quintuple the size of
[00:16:15] you think like it's not they're just huge and just awesome like their personality really
[00:16:20] really fun too but yeah I got a rescue rabbit too so part of my rescue we yeah we are
[00:16:25] brookie is our rescue rabbit we got here at cattlepups in friends we have that's one of the end
[00:16:30] friends we have we have a rabbit we rescued they don't get food names brookie cookie and brownie
[00:16:37] oh mix it's a fucking fun she was also found in Lynn Brook long island so it just worked on
[00:16:43] what are your impressions of having a rescue rabbit it's really interesting because we did
[00:16:49] we my daughter loves her and she is super friendly because so I guess I think what I think she was
[00:16:57] owned and escaped as seems to be the situation they found her on the highway so I think she is either
[00:17:01] escaped or the thing the thing that I discovered living the city is that people will they'll see
[00:17:07] a park and they'll be like oh I'll just let me know like when they want to get rid of it they'll
[00:17:10] get a park or something yeah but yeah they're interesting it's very much puppy like very
[00:17:15] lot of energy likes to be held in pet and played with my daughter like we bought the big
[00:17:21] carotent you'll hold it and just talk to it and as it eats the carot is really cute so
[00:17:24] it's nice to have when I don't know if I could have a lot though they're you know I can't do
[00:17:29] like I do with the dogs we have too many so and when the dogs go out and like run by some you
[00:17:34] know we have a cage not door play area for her to run around in so they'll run by and if she's
[00:17:39] out those go the log just like stop at the gate and they'll go no I should just go out and
[00:17:42] notice the nose of them and they're just like snipper and see what's up it's really really funny
[00:17:45] dogs are just generally a lot more social so you can have a lot of dogs you can't really
[00:17:50] yeah it's a packed mentality in my house I mean I have 11 dogs that are mine so for the
[00:17:54] gattles pups you know that are that are ours is 11 and you know you open the door a lot of
[00:17:58] them out they all run to where they go time to eat they will go to where they have to go
[00:18:02] time to go to bed they will get in their little spots you know it's uh it really is like an
[00:18:05] interesting thing to see what does that mean there are like you you have years that you adopted
[00:18:10] and they're separate from the agency or not they're not up yeah they're not up they're not up
[00:18:14] it's not yes so gattles pups there's 11 that are ours gattles pups and end friends are the
[00:18:19] ones that are everything that's available for adoption so we put that little disclaimer on it so
[00:18:22] you know so right now you know the end friends can range anywhere from four to 15 dogs depending
[00:18:28] on where we're at like right now we're pretty heavy where like 14 dogs I think that are available
[00:18:31] for adoption either that's day with us here at the sanctuary or are in fosters so it gets
[00:18:39] interesting when they're all out at the same time because I have a dog run in my backyard that's
[00:18:43] fenced in between and the end friends have one part in ours have the other so sometimes
[00:18:47] we'll have a bunch of dogs out there together and all play and stuff it sits it's cool to see
[00:18:52] does either you or your wife have like a more atory m on we can't I mean you're already in the
[00:19:01] 11 you think we yeah well the we actually had 10 and we just we just I just took one from
[00:19:07] it and made an upstairs dog that's the promotion my daughter is giving them an upstairs dog
[00:19:14] so yeah chestnut was we had rescued this pack we met this woman in a panera parking lot she had
[00:19:21] escaped a situation at home driven up from Florida and took her dog so she had
[00:19:26] this was the father of five younger dogs they were about their puppies they were almost a year so we
[00:19:31] were able to get all the pups taken care of the father found a home one somewhere didn't work out
[00:19:36] so they brought him back because he had I needed an ice surgery so he then became the ice
[00:19:41] surgery when he came back to the house again he just fell asleep by my feet and I was like
[00:19:45] God he was like comfortable and he had been through a lot I was like I got along with everybody
[00:19:48] he's smaller little chihuahua makes these nice enough everybody likes him so I was like I would just
[00:19:54] what's 11 and a 10 and a half you know so we keep saying that and you know all of a sudden you've
[00:19:59] got an arc yeah but we hadn't taken it all the other one in a long time we hadn't taken one in a
[00:20:05] couple years so it doesn't happen that often that's the thing you know I had an x and we there's
[00:20:10] a big SPCA kill shelter 110 like up in Harlem and you know she was thinking about buying a dog
[00:20:19] and I said that's great just you know be I need you to be like aware of the fact that you're
[00:20:28] not going to leave this place without having adopted one because like I like I know you
[00:20:32] you know what I mean and it's not like a lot of people can kind of just go shopping and
[00:20:36] you know and that's the thing is like at a certain point you do have to sort of you know
[00:20:40] stuff like set limits for yourself but realizing like at a certain point like it's probably
[00:20:45] not healthy to go past a certain number of dogs and animals right? Sure yeah you want to be
[00:20:50] fair to them too like they all that's the big thing because as long as they get along right
[00:20:53] because you want them all to be comfortable and they're awesome they have their little clicks
[00:20:56] there's a Napoleon and cupcake love to play together you know Struffle is the big girl who
[00:21:00] sits by herself and then she'll come out for when it's time for a treat and you know she just
[00:21:04] like lumber's around we have some of the older ones at the OGs that we've had forever that are
[00:21:08] just tight because they've been together for the past seven or eight years you know so it's definitely
[00:21:13] an interesting kind of thing to see. One wife and I separated for a couple years I took two
[00:21:20] of the dogs with me that were kind of my dogs that very much mine and they were with me and it
[00:21:26] was interesting to see at first they missed like in the apartment they were kind of like where
[00:21:32] is everybody and then eventually they were like when I came home like to have dinner here and
[00:21:37] then I would take them with me and then I would leave with them they'd be like by the door
[00:21:40] like are we ready to go I've had enough of this crazy let's go so it was interesting to see
[00:21:46] they depth pretty quickly for sure that's right yeah that I mean again talking of compounding
[00:21:55] things on top of other things like going through a separation is difficult enough but to have
[00:22:00] that happen and almost like you know obviously you know you're well-known person it kind of happened
[00:22:04] to profile a high profile way and then it minder-sanding is a coincided with you leaving the group
[00:22:10] too I mean that must have been an incredibly difficult time for everybody involved but especially
[00:22:17] you because these are you know work and your friends like those are the things that you fall back
[00:22:23] on and all of a sudden yeah yeah and all kind of really have neither of them yeah exactly yeah
[00:22:29] I mean I equated it to like it was just like everything piles on top of you and then you know
[00:22:34] how do you how do you get out of something around do you can't you can't just stand up when
[00:22:38] you're buried right you have to start moving piece by piece and that's how I started doing
[00:22:41] I was like okay what what do we need to fix here what could we do to make things happen and
[00:22:45] go but first and foremost I had to pay the bills right it was like okay the bills keep coming
[00:22:48] so like what are we doing yeah to provide for my family you know television show even basic
[00:22:54] KVL TV shows are quite lucrative as well yeah yeah we are when you're in your you know
[00:22:59] 90s and for sure you know in the beginning they're now but by the time you get there it's pretty good you
[00:23:03] know so you know that was like first first thing I had to figure out was okay what's the
[00:23:08] day job now like what do we do and then okay now that we have that done how do we fix the pieces that
[00:23:13] aren't working in our life and you know and it's really easy to think about all time when it's you
[00:23:17] know it's the first time living alone I'm 46 years old sitting alone in a apartment you know
[00:23:22] doesn't even have anything hanging on the walls you know that I just barely had to move into so it's like
[00:23:27] there's nothing like a wake up call like that so it's depressing yeah for sure sure you know
[00:23:32] hardly hardly hardly part of my journey so far in life was definitely you know there but
[00:23:37] you know you get through you get resilient you lean on who you lean on people show up for you and
[00:23:43] you know you take it day by day and eventually you get to a spot where you're okay so
[00:23:49] and that we and that was also during the pandemic right after you yeah well 2021
[00:23:54] you've gone to think yeah I feel like it's all the minutes all dawn yeah that was definitely
[00:24:00] during which again like I you know I had what go in ahead had my own issues and it's just like
[00:24:06] I think everybody who went through that obviously again like collective trauma for just about
[00:24:11] everyone and you know you definitely don't know where to look to because it's like everybody
[00:24:18] it like that world seems to be falling apart yeah it's tough like you know you you go to people
[00:24:23] or have their stuff they're going through so it's it's interesting but I mean you know
[00:24:29] I just always come back to the place where like as long as you're trying not you know as long
[00:24:35] as you find one person to lean on I mean that could always that could always be enough people always you
[00:24:40] find your tribe I was like you know but some tribes are just one person sometimes you know it's like
[00:24:44] really good find your person that help you get through and I'm very lucky to be extremely
[00:24:48] tight with my sisters and had them in my life in a way you know working out but you know also there's
[00:24:53] the truth that nobody knows what you're going through so you gotta really all you can do is rely on
[00:24:57] yourself you know when you talk you go to therapy and you talk you figure out what's going on
[00:25:01] it's like you know there's oh yeah like and when it comes down to it you know you gotta do it so
[00:25:05] yeah you seem that too large extent the guys in the group have been that for you but there's
[00:25:11] there are probably certain things that you can't discuss with them because that that's part of
[00:25:16] kind of the breakup that you're going through at the time yeah yeah so like you know they can't really
[00:25:21] relate to having the whole you don't have a career anymore right it's like you know you don't
[00:25:27] or that part of your career right you don't have that your main vehicle so what's your you know
[00:25:35] just being a creative person right I'm very creative I'm always thinking the ways to entertain
[00:25:39] I love doing it I love being that for people I love being the person that gets people through
[00:25:43] stuff so as you're going through stuff I'm out there doing stand up you know sitting in the back of my
[00:25:48] you know in my green room before I'm about to go out on this theater stage and just in my head
[00:25:53] being like you know just saying good night to my kids on FaceTime and being like oh I just
[00:26:00] and then it's like ladies and gentlemen Joe Gadot and like you gotta go out there and do
[00:26:03] you thing you know so it's it's super it's hard because you want to also like I want to be that
[00:26:08] for people that's why I'm in entertainment that's what I do what I do and I heard the stories
[00:26:12] from everybody throughout my career about how I've done that for people getting everybody through
[00:26:16] loss cancer their dogs dying in whatever it is you know just all these things and just being there
[00:26:20] with people they were in the hospital everybody found just in hospitals in prisons because it's
[00:26:25] your TV's the same bad you yeah I don't know man I don't know so I find people when they're on a
[00:26:30] low point you know people find find me and I've been there for them so it's I mean it just fed
[00:26:35] the whole reason why I did it I very quickly my career became because of that like very quickly
[00:26:40] it was like oh this is it had a purpose besides you know making making money out of doing what I love
[00:26:46] which is to have fun with my friends and make people make people laugh it was like oh there's a purpose
[00:26:50] behind it where you're you know therapeutic a little bit it's more like you know your bonding
[00:26:54] families like I would see here that all the time you know you're the only reason my my teenage
[00:26:59] son hangs out with me we get to watch your show together and like I remember watching Tim Allen
[00:27:03] and in a home improvement with my father and being you know that and loving that show and
[00:27:08] being out in a grocery store and quoting his lines and you know things like that and bonding
[00:27:12] with my dad over that so you know all that pressure mixed into your world form apart it's a lot
[00:27:17] handle and you got a process it and take a day by day there's a moment and in this upcoming
[00:27:23] special where like you get real earnest there you know and then I actually it was funny because
[00:27:30] I was sort of you know I was listening to this morning and I was kind of like doing house work at the
[00:27:34] same time and I'm like is it is this the end like you know it's out of it because you kind of
[00:27:39] give your like you kind of give your peps off but it's it's actually during it and it it's interesting
[00:27:47] because it it's really difficult to mix being funny with being completely earnest and
[00:27:54] and it seems to me like you may this very deliberate choice to really to to to stick that moment in
[00:28:01] there yeah for sure I mean you know I joke about I say you know life sucks on Carter because
[00:28:06] yeah you know it's just something that just got me through you know a joke that we did there was actually
[00:28:10] a joke like a thing that happened during you know I to balance motivation to get people through
[00:28:17] and then also make people smile with it and we did this show dinner party during COVID
[00:28:21] and there was this theme that came up where I started making motivational posters that didn't
[00:28:25] really necessarily make sense to anybody but me and it just became a thing and I'd always make
[00:28:29] a poster and put it behind me you know and I'd be putting out these posters and whatever and
[00:28:34] it became a joke I running joke in the show but they were kind of come from a place of oh this
[00:28:39] just makes sense to me when I say it in my head it'll make sense to be a war sounds like a
[00:28:43] joke but you could kind of pull something away from it so when I make that joke in the show about
[00:28:47] like life sucks or Carter it really is just like you know it's not easy for anybody you just
[00:28:51] got to get through it and you know I felt like I won that and especially I want that to be part
[00:28:55] of the message for this special because you know it really is like a graduation of getting to know
[00:29:00] me from messing with people that's the title on purpose you know and I share I start with sharing
[00:29:05] of how I've always done that in ways I do it but then taking you to any end with it too I mean
[00:29:09] it's not it's not a theme that ends during the no during the release make you know it's my
[00:29:14] life I did this before this camera's I do what I'll do it when there's after you know I've just
[00:29:19] just part of my personality it's always how I made my friends laugh is I've always put myself
[00:29:22] in a weird position and let everybody watch the outcome like that's that's it that's a really
[00:29:27] interesting way of putting it to because that I think that separates it from other like hidden
[00:29:35] cameras or other prank shows where to exerten it's stand it seems like the purpose is
[00:29:42] putting the making yourself the joke versus making some stranger the joke yeah for sure I mean we
[00:29:47] would stop production multiple times and people like this isn't working people get mad like
[00:29:51] you know I like I'd be like cut you know to like South come back here and we like this isn't
[00:29:56] what do we got to different here what do we what's the movie got to make or even when you're out there
[00:29:59] you know you feel like that guys will be like oh dry I'm a like that's this isn't it's not
[00:30:03] going to want it so let's stop and go and I remember I mean so many times throughout the show like
[00:30:09] you'll see and then the gold comes like we'll stop and be like we'll play this game we'll just playing
[00:30:14] this game it's not working and I'm like what if we just do this or blah blah blah and then go you know
[00:30:19] it's not even necessarily the joke it's like the overall theme of something you know so
[00:30:23] and you just gotta do the stuff in the right way where like stuff like that could seem like so
[00:30:29] mean or like weird or hard like make to make people angry but if you do it in the right way
[00:30:34] where it's weird and you're making this to yourself the bother the joke like I remember when
[00:30:37] we did a punishment where we made mar take cigarettes out of people's mouths while they were smoking
[00:30:42] on this smoking prick and what was like okay what's your motivation for doing this you can't be
[00:30:46] you can't just be a jerk you have to be like enforcing the the law of you have to carry yourself
[00:30:53] like then it makes it feel like you'll get punched if you're a jerk too yeah what does that
[00:30:58] does that you know and then that's not what we're looking for you know that's that's
[00:31:01] nobody wants to watch that I don't I don't like those kind of pranks you see all that kind of stuff
[00:31:04] all the time like these kids on youtube and whatnot where they do they were like we do what you
[00:31:07] do I like no you don't you don't you don't at all like you're just your making people the
[00:31:11] butt of the joke and then we'll also get hey why don't you ever show the people's reactions
[00:31:15] because they don't realize they're on our hidden camera show and that means we did our right thing
[00:31:19] they don't realize you're getting prank they don't realize when we're done they should just be like
[00:31:22] oh that guy was weird and then we've done our job if they feel got or if they feel like that that it's
[00:31:27] like it's not candid camera it's our version of it and we're the butt of the joke so you are seeing
[00:31:32] the reactions pragmatically they're probably not gonna sign that release if you have a couple of
[00:31:38] blurs we got a couple of blurs but for the most part those blurs were because you know people
[00:31:41] going through their day to day they don't want to deal with this bull you know or we missed them you
[00:31:45] know it's New York City they get away in the park we can we couldn't find them you know so
[00:31:49] like that kind of stuff happens but I think there's only been honestly a handful of times you know
[00:31:53] like I said over 300 episodes it's an over decade you know of my life and I can only remember
[00:31:58] like a handful of times where somebody walked away upset and that's you know this you know thousands
[00:32:03] of people we've interacted it's kind of the purest form of the idea of not punching down
[00:32:08] yeah there's your yeah yeah I've always been a place where I want to make my comedy
[00:32:13] making people not feel divided and not leaving with a bed days in their off you know
[00:32:18] like it's kind of like that's where you know they shouldn't even be thinking about laughing
[00:32:22] they shouldn't be thinking if it my type of comedy is if they're thinking about if it's okay to
[00:32:27] laugh it's not a joke for me you know I'm not necessarily being like we don't want people
[00:32:32] I don't that's this I never it's you know and all the people do very well I laugh at a lot of
[00:32:37] comics I do that it's just not how I do it it's just not my thing yeah so it's like going through
[00:32:41] and reading up a little bit about you know some interviews that you did and I still I want
[00:32:46] to name the publication but I still think it might have been a student publication and then it was
[00:32:50] talking about when you're standing upset and it was like he you know I'm surprised that he opened
[00:32:56] with a joke about Joe Biden but it was just a joke about Joe Biden being sleepier you know
[00:33:01] I mean it's like a thing that we've all now everyone can accept now right all all sides of the
[00:33:06] political spectrum but that wasn't that wasn't me though that wasn't me that was my opener
[00:33:11] it was your opener okay yeah yeah I know what you're doing sports at some yeah that makes
[00:33:15] I don't make either I don't make you just wouldn't even you wouldn't even reference like a political
[00:33:20] no I don't know anything about politics either it doesn't interest me you know so like I don't
[00:33:24] want to get and then why even open that can't a warms you know I think I I don't even I think
[00:33:28] I even had like a joke that was like not even the punchline wasn't Trump or anything
[00:33:34] and it was just like it could kind of be interpreted that way and I didn't think the joke was
[00:33:38] good anyway so I'm gonna take it out boy why keep it you know so like I don't I don't think yeah
[00:33:43] it's just not what it's not something material like right you're always funny when you're talking
[00:33:47] about stuff you know and I'm very much a storyteller like all my I mean you've seen the special
[00:33:52] and you know it's story based and my new hour you know the new let's get into it tour is story
[00:33:57] based it stories about how I became the guy I am you know telling stories about from my child
[00:34:01] to growing up on my parents and then you know oh oh oh oh by Jeremy through it literally
[00:34:06] through college and then on the show how things that have happened there and then now being a
[00:34:10] parent it's all stories because that's the kind of comic I am you know the tour that you're all
[00:34:15] now I mean is it is it obviously you're right what you know and all of that you know you've been
[00:34:19] off the show for a couple years now and you were full-time parenting so it has that
[00:34:25] taken more reference seat in terms of the subject matter for you yeah sure I mean my kids are
[00:34:30] a starcoil like you have you have so much fun and and it's kind of relatable to people even if
[00:34:35] they're not a parent because I'm taking it through the lens of also being a child you know we've
[00:34:40] all been children you know so it's kind of like what my some of us still are at 100% I mean here
[00:34:45] I am if someone was making a good living by it you know so I think that's part of it but yeah for
[00:34:50] sure like I've also had time to reflect and think about that kind of stuff like and I think about
[00:34:55] I haven't really spoken about my dad much of my any of my stuff and my dad is a huge part of my
[00:34:59] life I lost him when I was 19 and he had the most impact in my life of any person and you know I only
[00:35:04] had him for 19 years and it's I was like oh you know I should think about his impact and talk
[00:35:09] about that and it on earth a lot of funny things like I remember the one of the stories I
[00:35:13] talked about I hadn't even said out loud and now it's one of my favorite parts of the new show
[00:35:18] and it's just like oh wow like you know just when you sit in the quiet and think about what
[00:35:22] you want to talk about and that's part of it you would just cool to be an accountant correct your
[00:35:27] math guy you mentioned your math guy I'm a math elite baby yeah that's right you know again
[00:35:33] you you know you unfortunately lost your father at a young age but what what your mother
[00:35:39] what did your family members think of this career trajectory super supportive I'm super supportive
[00:35:46] family so my mom was around for season one of Joker she passed away early in season two she didn't
[00:35:51] see it out but she was around for season one and she was just like a peacock man on standout
[00:35:56] telling everybody my sons on television you know one of those you really really great but
[00:36:00] she's a stage mom yeah like a stage mom but she was like she would come to my improv
[00:36:05] shows in the city there was 50 people in the audience and my mom would be there we used to
[00:36:08] rehearse in her basement I used to live in her basement and sal my room cues to come over and we
[00:36:13] used to rehearse improv in her basement and you know and she would just find a reason to be downstairs
[00:36:18] doing laundry whatever and I could hear her listening you know she was just always my number one fan
[00:36:23] and advocate and I remember when I told her in 2003 I moved to LA to chase the dream
[00:36:27] to become a writer and director and she was like I said hey mom I'm gonna go to LA and she's
[00:36:32] like one I'm like two weeks like I'd already said everything up I had a friend who was living
[00:36:36] out there and she wasn't using her place for the next two months so I could go stay there for
[00:36:40] free and then find a place put my I didn't know anybody get it together and figured all out and she was
[00:36:45] like all right she goes and she goes in when you come back and I said well I don't know and she
[00:36:53] feel like it's not working and being a way for it's got to be more important than being
[00:36:57] away from your family because I was very tight my nephew's and I had nephew said the time I
[00:37:01] think I'm my niece was born too you know and it was very much like okay so it's got to be
[00:37:05] more important or you got to be enjoying it more than knowing how much I enjoy my family you need
[00:37:11] to be enjoying what you're doing more you know give it its time but there's gonna be a point when
[00:37:15] you have to have a honest look at yourself and be like it's time to come home so when did you come home
[00:37:19] my grandmother had passed away and my mom and grandma had became widows together within three
[00:37:25] days so they had become the widows guy and they best they best friend of it up like a kind of
[00:37:28] a golden girl situation it was very funny and she was living across the street very tight with
[00:37:32] there and I was very tight my grandma and when I came home for the wake I said to my mom I said
[00:37:41] you know what maybe I'll come home for a little bit and she just started sobbing and hug me said thank
[00:37:46] you thank you thank you and I was like okay I guess I am and then I came back home and that's when
[00:37:49] I were united with the guys I had a lot we got some stuff going on pretty quickly and I was like oh
[00:37:53] I said you know what maybe it's not where you are to you with so let me see what we could do here and we
[00:37:58] got our success and started right there it's not where you are to you with but also and I'm not
[00:38:03] casting dispersions but you weren't in like bumfuck Kansas yeah it's New York City you know what I mean
[00:38:12] yeah for sure this is you know stuff happens there yeah for sure you sure you know it's uh
[00:38:16] it's also like I think you know we started and got a lot of exposure on the internet where
[00:38:23] people didn't have exposure to comedy of our type or whatnot so I think we we caught fire a little
[00:38:28] bit that way too which helped you know we started when my space in YouTube home pages the algorithm
[00:38:34] was a person they were deciding what goes on there and for some reason we clicked with the home
[00:38:38] page editor of YouTube that really enjoyed our stuff and we ended up on the home pages of my space YouTube
[00:38:43] a lot and it just started catching fire that way and we started to get some notoriety and
[00:38:48] entering some online contests and you know the snowball effect happened but um you know when
[00:38:54] you get your stuff in front of people and people react to it in a good way like it makes everything easier
[00:39:00] but it's something that I've been thinking about my own life you know as you probably have
[00:39:04] used to realize from this conversation like I can be joking I find humor to be a good way to
[00:39:10] relate to people that that I don't know obviously our jobs are different in that there's a certain amount
[00:39:15] of like you know it's not necessarily my job to be funny but I had a moment of years ago and I
[00:39:20] was talking to a colleague and I said do you think that I would be further along in my career if I
[00:39:27] was less joking you know if that if my immediate reaction wasn't always to to make things funny
[00:39:33] and I'm kind of curious like in your own life a little little probably less professionally but
[00:39:39] certainly you know I know you went through some struggles with the relationship that you just talked
[00:39:43] about has it been how much of sort of the learning process and the maturing process is really
[00:39:50] figuring out when to be funny and when to be serious about things. I think there's a time for both
[00:39:57] but I think if you're looking at something through the lens of humor it you're doing a little bit
[00:40:03] of protection of your own mental health and psyche which I think is as important as worrying about
[00:40:08] somebody else and as with everything it's a little bit of balance like for me my my I know the
[00:40:15] type of things that you're referring to like where people would just not take some serious and laugh
[00:40:20] at off that wasn't the issue I was going through my issue that I was going through was
[00:40:25] where was my focus and distracting myself like I'm working you know not being present when I
[00:40:30] I should have been and that kind of thing but I have never been that type of guy that was like
[00:40:35] afraid to get serious like people the thing that I get which is hard for me is when I get serious
[00:40:40] when we touched on this earlier when I'm getting serious people think I'm joking and I have to be
[00:40:44] like I'm serious like kind of thing you know but I've always found that there's a time to be serious
[00:40:51] it's a time to be serious it normally is that somebody needs that from you and you need to be
[00:40:58] aware enough that it's time to be serious and I think that's that's important and I joke about
[00:41:04] everything I mean I remember you know one of my good friends you know you wait one of my good friends
[00:41:10] parents died and I was you know to it only took me like a day to be like what are you jealous
[00:41:15] yeah I couldn't have the only dead parent like that kind of thing like it was like that kind
[00:41:18] and it was like you know I'll joke about anything and everything I don't think that matters but
[00:41:22] again that was sort of redirecting it to yourself to a certain extent yeah sure yeah sure
[00:41:27] but I think I think that's that's it like you just because people expect it from you too right
[00:41:31] what are you do your people is very important if you somebody's coming to you talked about some
[00:41:36] serious do they want you to solve it or do they want you to help you get through it by laughing about
[00:41:40] it with you right so I find myself being that person for a lot of people who go through some heavy
[00:41:45] don't even necessarily need my input they need my my hype man skills to get them through it
[00:41:52] and bear it by being like okay you know what yeah this is terrible you should just you know you should move
[00:41:57] you know like that kind of thing um so yeah but I do I don't have that issue that you're
[00:42:02] referencing but the people that do I would just always say if somebody's coming to you and want
[00:42:07] you to be serious about something if they're important you be serious