Episode Transcript
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0:00
When. My parents were in the hospital when I
0:02
first got hit by the car. They were sitting
0:04
in the waiting room and was really lovely. Managers
0:06
kept talking to them the whole time and they
0:08
were like my mom as I can be. So
0:10
nice he made us feel so good and then
0:12
at the end of it when they were about
0:14
to leave the doctors call this and after like
0:16
you know whatever a seven hour surgery or something
0:19
he was like. anyway the reason I'm talking to
0:21
you is if you do it doesn't make it.
0:23
I have. I sell t shirts for memories say
0:25
I can put a photograph. the dates I make
0:27
bumper stickers for the car and my parents were
0:29
like what is your life You're. Just. Here waiting
0:31
for someone's love one to die so
0:33
that you can sell them t shirts.
0:39
Those The voice of the great
0:41
Janine. Her Rooney Janine is a
0:43
comedian with a fascinating backstory. She's
0:45
from Staten Island, She moved to
0:47
London. Started doing Stand Up.
0:49
She's one of a few guess
0:51
on the show who worked with
0:53
a great great theater director named
0:56
Adam Brace who sadly passed away.
0:58
He worked without Adelman. He worked
1:00
with Lose King's Men. He worked
1:02
with Phoebe Waller Bridge. So.
1:04
Gene I talk at Embrace We dug
1:06
Grief. You know what comedy She does
1:09
a lot of shows in the Edinburgh
1:11
Fringe Festival. We'd have a little bit.
1:14
About those types of kind of long
1:16
form storytelling shows. if you're able to
1:18
see her life, she's of fantastic comedian
1:20
by the way. things their own came
1:22
out of my Beacon Theater show in
1:25
New York City. It was so special
1:27
thanks to Odds Co A Caught Soccer
1:29
and Gary Simon's for of appearing on
1:31
that show, poses and photos on my
1:33
instagram if you want to check out
1:35
those next week I go to Atlanta.
1:38
We just had a second show at
1:40
the Tabernacle which is great then Charlotte
1:42
Richmond and we added a fourth. And
1:44
final show in Washington D C. We
1:46
just as a third show in Portland,
1:48
Oregon. That will be the third and
1:51
final show in Portland Oregon. I'm returning
1:53
to Portal into hurting him because we
1:55
had so many people say we missed
1:57
the show I did to last year.
2:00
It will be the
2:02
same show in process so it'll have
2:04
some changes in case you're wondering if
2:06
you already saw that last show It's
2:09
not an entirely different show from the
2:11
show you saw in Portland in the
2:13
fall All of that is under big
2:15
comm along with Niagara Falls sag Harbor
2:17
Red Bank, New Jersey Seattle San
2:21
Francisco Oakland Philadelphia Minneapolis
2:23
Minneapolis Madison Milwaukee champagne
2:25
Indianapolis Ann Arbor Detroit
2:28
Dayton Pittsburgh Louisville Nashville
2:31
Knoxville Asheville and Charleston
2:34
all of it on burbigs.com Today
2:36
on the podcast we have Janine Haruni hilarious
2:38
comic and storyteller I didn't know Janine very
2:41
well, but it turns out we have a
2:43
lot in common We
2:45
were both in awful car accidents.
2:48
She talks about a lot today Stories
2:51
that we both have told on stage we
2:53
go into the process of turning something like
2:55
that into comedy We talk about issues
2:57
with our dads. We talk about the importance of
2:59
being vulnerable on stage We talk
3:01
about her solo show minouche which
3:04
was nominated for best show at
3:06
Edinburgh last year She will
3:08
be performing it at the Theatre
3:10
Royal Stratford East in London on
3:13
July 6th Enjoy my
3:15
chat with the great Janine Haruni
3:24
Can you kind of pitch to me what your
3:26
show is that you're touring America with right now?
3:28
So it's the show that I did at the fringe
3:31
last summer while I was pregnant It's
3:33
it got nominated for best show.
3:35
Is that what that award is that
3:37
the fringe? I think so. That's what I read. I
3:39
don't know and it's about I
3:43
don't know I That
3:45
was a brag guy won my five
3:47
tickets I'm the show I won the
3:49
presidency is the United States The
3:55
mark Twain no
3:59
don't you I find it weird to, like how would you
4:01
have described Old Man in the Pool? No, that's a tricky
4:03
one. No, the way I describe Old Man in the Pool is
4:06
it's a show about life,
4:08
death, and mortality in my
4:11
journey of realizing that
4:13
things that I took for
4:17
granted when I hit middle age, all
4:19
of a sudden you realize you can't
4:21
take for granted. Yeah, but
4:23
it's funny. That's the
4:26
thing that I find really
4:28
hard because I'm like, it's
4:30
about pregnancy, parenting, friendship, grief,
4:32
pregnancy loss, but it's funny. I
4:35
know. This is a worthwhile digression, I
4:37
think, because it is a lot of creatives listening
4:39
to the show and it is
4:41
a whole thing where you have to think
4:43
about not only what it is you're making, but
4:46
then you have to think about what's the three
4:49
sentence version that makes people interested
4:51
in what it is. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
4:53
And also doesn't turn them off because when you
4:55
have an hour to go through all of those
4:57
topics and tie them all together, people
4:59
are with you, they're invested, they're on the journey with
5:01
you, but when you have three sentences, I
5:04
just wanna say it's a funny show about parenting and
5:06
pregnancy. How do you pronounce the name of the show?
5:08
Manoush. Manoush. It's
5:11
an Arabic word. It's
5:13
a food, yeah? It's a food, yeah, it's
5:16
like a pizza. It's like an Arabic pizza.
5:18
I'm in. With a flatbread. I'm in,
5:20
keep talking. Yes, yeah, very old brand food. Going
5:23
to the description. Yeah, yeah. But
5:25
it's also my family's nickname for me. Oh,
5:27
I love that. Yeah. That's
5:30
a good nickname. That's one of our slow round questions. What's
5:32
your nickname? Oh, is it, yeah. Favorite nickname. They all call
5:34
me Noosh, basically, which is short for me. Because you look
5:36
like a pizza. I've also recently learned
5:38
that Manoush is slang for vagina
5:40
in Arabic. There it is. In Lebanese. And
5:42
that's what the show's about. So that's what the
5:45
show's about. Yeah, so if you wanna pitch the
5:47
show. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. It's about
5:49
Manoush, which is a pizza, but also a vagina.
5:51
A vagina, yeah. And you're looking at one. Yeah,
5:53
yeah, see you guys there. But
5:56
it's funny. Yeah, yeah, exactly, yeah. But it's
5:58
funny. No, no, so. Do
6:00
you reveal why the title is the title
6:02
in advance of it or do you let
6:04
the audience it's a reveal at the end?
6:06
Yeah, so I've ruined the show but you
6:08
come do come along. Yeah, say no more
6:11
No and a title is of course significant because
6:13
you know my director and I talked about this
6:15
constantly of You want the show
6:17
you want the title of the show? to
6:21
to Sort of simmer
6:24
with the audience after they've seen the show
6:26
and you want them to look back years
6:29
Years from when they've seen it and go.
6:31
Oh, yeah, my new my first show in the
6:33
pool was called Stand
6:36
up with your knee in her own II brackets, please
6:38
remain seated Yeah And that was just because I thought
6:40
that was funny But I don't know if you find
6:42
this that when you start writing the show you start
6:44
tying things together and then you're like Oh actually It's
6:46
a show that show was about being hit
6:48
by a car and becoming paralyzed for a couple
6:50
years of my life One of my legs was
6:52
paralyzed. That was the one I got really emotional
6:55
about this morning. Really? Why? What's
6:57
that about? No, I was mad because there wasn't
6:59
any pizza in it. I know I know. Yeah.
7:01
I tried to It in
7:03
the previews. I get really emotional when there's
7:06
no food in the special. No, no, no
7:08
for obvious reasons I was very emotional. Yeah,
7:10
you being hit by a car and going
7:12
into very very Intense
7:15
detail about it, right? Yeah, but
7:17
it's funny but in a funny way, but
7:19
it's funny But also, you know,
7:21
it's very funny. Right as a matter of fact,
7:24
one of my favorite lines in the special is
7:26
a hard laugh
7:28
line, which is You go
7:30
into detail about how you were hit by car
7:32
and all of your injuries and you go I'm
7:34
only saying this because I want to get a
7:36
good review in The Guardian and It's
7:40
a little bit of an inside joke in the
7:42
sense that in Europe like if these
7:44
friends shows like it is So
7:46
significant what your reviews look
7:48
like. Yeah, and and of
7:51
course if you have some kind
7:53
of Affliction you get
7:55
hit by a car something extreme sleep
7:57
walk through the story window, etc It's
8:00
like the classic Edinburgh show, which is
8:02
where it's about some moment of pain
8:04
or pathos
8:07
in your life. It's not just a
8:09
club comedy hour. And
8:12
those shows tend to do better. Although I say that, there
8:14
are lots of shows that are like, I had a little
8:16
bit of eczema on my leg for a year, so that
8:18
was painful for me. And then they try and make
8:20
an Edinburgh hour out of that. And that's right.
8:22
I love that show. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Exe-me-nation.
8:26
Eczema stage right. Eczema
8:28
stage right was
8:31
excellent. But
8:34
my first hour is about the
8:36
crux of the show is about my
8:38
relationship with my dad. My dad, I love him
8:40
very much, but he's a Trump
8:43
supporting son of Arab immigrants. Try
8:45
figuring that one out. Parse
8:47
as you will. Yeah, huge fan, big
8:49
Trump fan. And
8:52
we've always butted heads on politics. And
8:54
so the show is about our relationship and how
8:57
this car accident that I was in, which forced
8:59
me to move back home with my parents to recover
9:01
for almost three years, healed
9:04
our relationship. Yeah. Because
9:06
I think I wrote
9:08
it when Trump was in office. And
9:11
that was the thing I was grappling with at
9:13
the time was how could I hate this thing
9:15
so much that's happening in the country that I
9:17
love? Well,
9:20
the closest member of my
9:22
family is so into it,
9:25
like flags, bumper stickers,
9:27
the whole shebang. So
9:29
it's how do you love someone on
9:32
the other end of the political spectrum? Do
9:36
you have the answer for that one? No.
9:38
No. I struggle with it
9:41
also. Do you have people in your family
9:43
who are- My folks are in their 80s
9:45
and- Yeah. Yeah,
9:47
yeah, yeah. Different generations certainly. But
9:49
with my dad, it's challenging. It's
9:52
really hard. But At
9:54
the same time, I Think we demonize people on both
9:56
sides. I Think both sides do that. I
10:00
think the show tries to grapple
10:02
with that and bring out the
10:04
humanity because my dad at his
10:07
core is a wonderful, loving, generous,
10:09
kind person. Yes, Ah, and
10:11
it to sort of grapples with that. There's this
10:13
quote that I always go back. To it's
10:15
Arthur Miller. I'm gonna be absolutely butcher it.
10:17
but it's. Some the job of the
10:19
play is not to provide. Answers,
10:21
but to provide the most accurate
10:23
depiction of the problem. And so
10:25
I think I think. Getting.
10:28
On stage and saying i have all the
10:30
answers is very boring because no one is
10:32
only answers and always more complex than you
10:34
think it is. but also I think nobody
10:37
thinks they're the evil. One to don't I
10:39
mean oh I know, nobody's. Walking around like I'm
10:41
on the bad T and they all think that
10:43
they're answering the question the right way. A fever
10:45
at the short story. A Red Badge of Courage.
10:48
Oh My. God. one of the kids are gonna
10:50
read it in like maybe senior year of high
10:52
school or something job. but I am. But that's
10:54
at. I always think of that because it's
10:57
a soldier who is. He walks up to
10:59
of river bank and in the river he's
11:01
covered by trees. but in the river he
11:03
sees a soldier from the other side who's
11:05
just saving just like enjoying the weather and
11:07
having a nice time. And his gun is
11:09
on the other side of the river he
11:12
couldn't possibly get to it's and this soldier
11:14
had a gun with him and he can
11:16
kill this unarmed guy but he chooses not
11:18
to because he sees the humanity and him.
11:21
And then it ends with. The soldier who was in
11:23
the river days later. whatever was is the guy
11:25
who ends up killing him. And.
11:29
As comedy. But
11:31
it's funny. It's funny that. You
11:35
have this joke him in one ear
11:37
such as about for from for one
11:39
per hour Better friends. I was actually.
11:42
My husband, oh we will has
11:44
been. Lately so sick from and me I'm
11:46
my husband had a one. Man show wants to
11:49
one man's ah and I stole that from
11:51
I know has that offers my own Not
11:53
without a big fight for would say. So.
11:55
in other words he told you to store
11:57
the eye and you're like he was out
12:00
He had told it to friends and then one day I
12:02
did a show to one person. I did a preview to
12:05
one person And I was like, this is so weird. I have to call
12:07
it out. So I just Said
12:09
that story. This is so embarrassing. This feels
12:11
like I've admitted something
12:14
terrible, but he was gonna be in the
12:16
Scotsman Yeah, please do we're gonna run this in
12:18
the garden. They'll take my four stars away. Yeah
12:22
They took one star off Yes,
12:25
that was my husband's story Yeah,
12:28
yeah, he opens for me yeah, so we're on tour
12:30
right now and he's my opening way too bad Hold
12:34
on what's your husband's name? Andrew Nolan
12:36
Andrew Nolan. It's a very funny Irish
12:38
comic. That's great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh
12:41
Wow, so he had that joke
12:44
it wasn't he never did it on stage
12:46
He just told it socially and it was
12:48
before he really started doing comedy So he
12:50
wasn't a comedian at the time I would
12:52
say right kind of he did a few
12:54
open mics. I wasn't sure if he wanted to do it And
12:58
I told that story on stage once and I sent
13:00
the recording of it to Adam brace and he was
13:02
like you should open the show But
13:04
it's Andrew's I said it's Andrew's joke and he
13:07
was like I'll talk to him and Adam
13:09
was like I think it's funnier to come from a
13:11
woman You know There's just a man sitting in the
13:13
audience as you perform an hour-long
13:15
show to one person So when you
13:17
lie to audiences with all of your
13:19
show, there's gonna be a New Yorker
13:22
article Yeah, who's who
13:24
was hit by the car Janine? Well,
13:27
the car is a metaphor for it Emotional
13:31
truth of the car hitting me I
13:35
was I I built the show around
13:37
being hit by a car too. It was called my girlfriend's
13:39
boyfriend Yeah, and it wasn't as bad as
13:41
yours in the sense that in the real life
13:44
Car crash because it just
13:47
basically near missed me, right? I mean
13:49
it was it was a T-bone driver
13:52
side But it hit I
13:54
still have the photos of it. It hit the back
13:56
seat and so I just flew around but
13:58
it was To this
14:00
day I have PTSD when
14:03
I'm driving. Yeah, where I imagine it occurring.
14:05
Do you have that? All
14:07
the time They're just these little
14:10
intrusive fantasies that I have about the
14:12
first Year that I would be in a
14:14
car after the car accident I didn't feel
14:16
like there was any car around me It just felt
14:18
like I was strapped to a seat that was
14:20
going 70 miles an hour down the highway with
14:22
no protection around me At all. Oh my gosh.
14:25
It's lessened recently I haven't driven in
14:27
like a year and then I had to drive my
14:29
husband and my baby to the airport yesterday and I Good
14:31
lord and because I live in the UK I was like
14:34
am I on the right side of the road and my
14:36
husband was like no I
14:38
was turning on to the wrong side of the road I my
14:41
license should be taken away, but then once I
14:43
dropped them off I had to drive
14:45
myself back and the whole time I was like to
14:47
keep it together woman like keep it together So
14:51
you had you how many years ago were you hit by the
14:53
car? Twenty nine no
14:55
twenty 2009 Wow,
14:57
so it's so long
14:59
in a while and you haven't really
15:02
driven a lot since I've driven loads
15:04
in the States But then I moved to the
15:06
UK and I don't have a license there. So
15:08
I haven't driven in so long Tell
15:12
me if yours is anything like this when
15:14
I have PTSD It's
15:17
gosh it's it's almost
15:19
it's really hard to to
15:21
even say because it's a very emotional
15:24
but it's It's
15:27
the PTSD of You're
15:29
going somewhere right in the net. Yeah It's
15:34
so abrupt it's it's more
15:36
abrupt than anything I've
15:38
ever experienced in my life. Yeah in a way
15:40
that I to people who haven't been hit by
15:43
a car I can't even describe. Yeah. Yeah,
15:45
that's exactly what it is. You're completely right
15:47
We were put we had a flat tire
15:49
we pulled to the shoulder and we were
15:51
waiting for help I rolled the window
15:53
down and was waving for someone to come over
15:55
and just maybe take a look at the tire
15:57
It was four girls in the car. Yeah And
16:01
I think my friend was on the phone with her boyfriend
16:03
at the time, and she was in the
16:05
middle of describing where we were. And I said, don't worry about
16:08
it. Like someone will just pull over and help us. He doesn't
16:10
need to come all the way out here. And as I was
16:12
saying that, a woman had
16:14
fallen asleep and there was a slight curve in
16:16
the road, and she just
16:18
veered into where we were and rear ended
16:21
just the seat that I was sitting in.
16:23
So a friend was sitting next
16:25
to me in the back seat and nothing happened to
16:27
her, but I got pinned inside
16:29
the car. And
16:31
because she spun out and knocked out
16:33
a street lamp, it was so dark.
16:35
So no one else who was in
16:37
the car knew what had
16:40
happened really. We weren't looking at the
16:42
car. And our
16:44
friend who was looking at her tire
16:47
outside of the car was hit by the impact
16:49
of her car being hit. So she was hit
16:51
by her own car, flew down
16:53
the highway. Everybody jumped out of the car
16:55
to go obviously and see if she was okay. She
16:58
was fine. She was just in shock. And
17:01
then I realized that I was stuck in
17:03
the car just completely. I couldn't
17:05
move and I thought, oh, my spine must be broken and
17:07
that's why I can't move my legs. I didn't realize that
17:09
the car was crushing me because
17:13
you can't look around. And
17:15
I just thought, oh, I'd seen all those
17:18
shows that were like, I shouldn't be alive. Those
17:20
reality shows that are on Discovery Channel
17:22
at 2 a.m. And
17:24
I thought, oh, I must be
17:26
bleeding internally. This is what you
17:29
always hear about that sounds like I got internal bleeding and I thought I'm gonna
17:31
die. Yeah.
17:34
But it's funny. How
17:40
long were you sitting on that? Halfway through that
17:42
story, you were like, I know exactly. Yeah, really
17:44
good. Very good. I like that. I
17:46
apologize for having it. Don't
17:48
apologize. It was very good. It takes
17:50
away something. Not at all. It takes
17:52
away something. It's a way to call
17:54
me out on it. And be correct.
17:58
You really looked like you were listening. Ah
18:01
ah very good icing. All of
18:03
I target a lot of improv
18:06
workshop assess the see it's. That
18:09
emotional really here again. Even though
18:12
a day urged Dillard's to her,
18:14
it's it's some. And
18:16
then when you when that happened to
18:19
you, you called your parents. yeah. That.
18:21
Was really weird I the phone
18:23
that my friends is using. To call
18:25
her boyfriend, tell him to come down to pick us up.
18:29
Ricocheted. Gals the windshield
18:31
and landed in my lap. So I
18:33
had a phone. So in the show
18:35
I don't think I say that. Do.
18:38
I say that. Know some things
18:40
that happened in the show were
18:42
almost too unbelievable and it they
18:45
didn't work on stage because the
18:47
actual story is slightly more. Unbelievable
18:49
them what happened. I find that a
18:51
lot. With. Storytelling where.
18:54
You have a detail that
18:57
is so strange. That.
18:59
Your. The Earth in
19:01
May that be. People are thinking
19:03
surely this incident as as six
19:05
hours and. Baron Lies.
19:07
I think in comedy the trial and error
19:10
of doing stuff on stage is you go
19:12
okay that's to on the nose. they don't
19:14
believe me. Yeah, see it in their eyes.
19:16
Yeah yeah or people who love to come
19:18
up to ask him about ah not the
19:20
whole end of the show is that someone
19:22
say months of and didn't believe that the
19:24
entire thing had happened as so. I have
19:26
like a slide show of all the pictures of
19:28
other people talking about their. Do.
19:32
When you were work shopping the.
19:35
Carson. Sorry for small at what point?
19:37
In. The car accident situation and life do
19:39
you go my? it's gonna be a
19:41
bit. Literally never. I
19:44
really didn't wanna do it. I I
19:46
had heard so many comics talk about
19:48
like well as he tells something sad
19:50
on stage and it's not a comedy
19:52
show you know that? sort of. I
19:54
don't know. Do have that over. Here
19:56
it's I've never heard that is
19:58
huge in the region. Because there's
20:00
a real divide between what a sort of
20:02
Edinburgh hour is and what real comedy is
20:04
So there are these club comedians who get
20:07
on podcasts and say stuff like well You're
20:09
not a comedian if you tell something sad
20:11
on stage if a show has a moment of
20:13
quiet or anything like that That
20:15
doesn't make any sense as someone who's uncomfortable
20:17
in most situations I find it so much
20:19
easier to make jokes than to stand Somewhere
20:21
and be vulnerable and know there's not a
20:24
punchline coming for a minute or two I
20:26
find that way harder than writing a joke
20:28
and saying it on stage and having everyone
20:30
laugh I'm
20:32
confounded by that criticism. I've heard that a
20:35
little bit. I don't know if you said
20:37
Gerard Carmichael special But the
20:39
reason one Rethanyel
20:43
But I heard that criticism sometimes people go. Oh,
20:45
where are the jokes? I'm like, I don't
20:47
know I don't I'm not I'm invested in
20:50
Him and his story. I'm totally enthralled
20:52
the whole time I'm kind
20:54
of some combination of laughing
20:56
crying feeling alive. Yeah Yeah,
20:59
and isn't that what the
21:01
whole thing's for anyway? have
21:04
you ever heard the thing of I spent like a little
21:06
bit of time in Belize and Studying
21:08
Garina goo Garifuna Garina goo drumming.
21:10
I don't know same. Go ahead.
21:12
Yeah, very similar and We
21:15
did this like nature walk one time in
21:17
the rainforest and the guy who took us
21:19
in Showed
21:22
us all these things in the rainforest
21:24
that are poisonous and he
21:26
said, you know They touch this and you're gonna have
21:28
a rash if you touch this your eyes will fall
21:30
out or whatever it was and then Next to all
21:32
of those things are all of the antidotes. They all
21:34
grow So the poison and
21:37
the tonic all grow in the same environment
21:39
Yeah, and so I think when you're doing
21:41
a comedy show the tragedy helps
21:43
the comedy and the comedy helps the tragedy
21:45
I feel like they do go hand in
21:47
hand because they're bred in the same Like
21:51
for me when Adam died, it was
21:53
the saddest time and also
21:55
I laughed so much with the people
21:57
who knew him and loved him because
22:00
You need to. So I
22:03
really reject the idea that comedy exists in
22:05
a vacuum where it's just joke after joke
22:08
after joke. And I think that the comedy
22:10
is enriched by the
22:12
truthful telling of moments of
22:14
pain in
22:17
your own life. Yeah, I feel like
22:19
I think I made this joke and I think Alex
22:21
Edelman told me that at his memorial, a lot of
22:23
people made this joke, which is, Adam
22:25
Brace's death is going to create so many
22:28
solo shows. I know, I heard you say
22:30
that in your podcast too, Alex, while I
22:32
was talking about Adam's death in my solo
22:34
show. I
22:37
was like, good Lord. Not
22:39
to trivialize it, I really
22:42
genuinely think Adam, that would make
22:44
Adam very happy. So
22:46
you asked me about the car accident,
22:48
when did it become a bit? And it was
22:50
Adam. Oh, okay. He's the one who encouraged me
22:53
to always talk about the vulnerable things,
22:55
the sad things, the things you're ashamed
22:57
of on stage. And
23:00
so I think you're right. I think he would be
23:02
really happy that people were writing shows
23:04
as long as they're good. If
23:06
it was a bad show about his life and
23:08
death, I'm sure he would be that pissed off.
23:10
I guess the question would be there, when
23:14
does a show for you
23:16
tip from being a comedy about
23:21
dramatic things that have occurred or based around dramatic
23:23
things that have occurred, tip into,
23:25
okay, this is just kind of
23:28
taking advantage of
23:30
the tragedy of the thing. I think if
23:32
it's serving the story, right? If
23:34
it's just like, if it's just
23:36
out there on its own, if it's a moment
23:38
that's out there on its own and not tied
23:40
into anything towards the end of the show, if
23:42
it doesn't serve a purpose. So,
23:46
okay, so when I was doing this
23:49
new hour, which has maybe
23:51
like three main threads to it,
23:53
it's pregnancy and parenting, my grandmother's
23:55
life. My grandmother was a classical
23:58
Arabic singer who sang with Sehrouz, who's
24:00
like one of the most famous singers in the
24:02
Arab world. And her
24:05
experience of parenting, as
24:09
the breadwinner of her family and a
24:11
creative person. And then it
24:13
also talks about my relationship writing the show
24:15
with Adam, who is vehemently
24:17
against children. Like not a fan, always
24:19
in Sisidy didn't wanna have kids of
24:21
his own. So you basically
24:24
have these three threads in your show
24:26
and they kind of interweave. Right, they
24:28
do now. But when I was doing previews of the
24:30
show, it was very,
24:32
they were not connected. The
24:35
show was very unfocused. And John
24:37
Britton, who was one of
24:39
Adam's friends, probably the only other director
24:41
I'd ever heard Adam speak highly of,
24:44
I messaged him. And he very generously said he
24:46
would come on board to help with the show.
24:49
And really helped to make sure that, oh actually
24:51
this is a show about parenting.
24:54
My grandmother's parenting, my parenting.
24:56
And Adam, who said
24:59
he never wanted kids. But when
25:01
we went to his house after his
25:03
funeral, the walls were lined with show
25:06
posters, Alex Edelman's reviews, my reviews, ticket
25:08
stubs to all the first versions of
25:10
the show that ever went out. And
25:13
I realized then that he was a parent
25:15
to a lot of people. Oh, that's
25:19
so beautiful. Yeah, yeah. So,
25:29
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Plus. I'm a member of the
27:39
joined Jamie. I
27:47
didn't start comedy till I was 30 because
27:50
I just didn't wanna be bad.
27:54
Can you talk about that a little bit because I feel like
27:56
that is a thing that creatives
27:58
struggle with a lot. Is
28:01
this idea of. Is. It too
28:03
late. Oh right. Do
28:05
freelance. Ouch ouch. This.
28:08
Is thirty too? Late I know, I'm saying
28:10
for real. Like I've talked to people
28:12
who. Say. I'm
28:15
twenty three. Is it to wait? I'm
28:18
twenty Five is a two way sir.
28:20
Open my mouth that surrender new know
28:22
I And I mean that I'm setting
28:24
while and now spell these apocryphal ideas
28:26
at noon of a I know nine.
28:29
Oh, don't worry that one. but like
28:31
guy named him, some people say I'm
28:33
forty two. Mm fifty, I'm sixty. Whatever.
28:35
It's. Would. Use what Are you say? These people.
28:39
I think there's a lot of twenty year olds
28:41
out there. Trying. To do
28:43
something creative with their lives and I
28:45
think there's maybe for twenty year olds
28:48
I want actually here with their opinion
28:50
is. On things so I think
28:52
the older you get, the more
28:54
experience you hands as a human
28:56
being, the more you have to
28:59
say. About being human Iowa.
29:01
I don't think was. It's
29:03
issue lay until you're forty nine you'll
29:05
he has really nice when know it's
29:07
interesting because I I I tend to
29:09
agree with what you're saying. There's a
29:12
few exceptions every now and then. Someone.
29:14
Posts like I think you're said that there's
29:16
like four people say I a real and
29:18
some pokes are like Albarn alarmed yeah Bo
29:21
Burnham, guess Bob Dylan was like that. There's
29:23
of it is a handful of people with
29:25
sand of comedy. I think there's an intersection
29:27
and maybe music. So sorry to for like
29:29
an intersection of. Experience.
29:32
Colliding with life experience and
29:34
wisdom adherents on stage with
29:36
less experience? Yeah, day, Absolutely.
29:38
And when those two things
29:40
collide. Those. Are the comics
29:43
I want to watch? Yeah, that's a sweet
29:45
spot isn't that? We yell like if he
29:47
was acting the tar some oh my god
29:49
you're like oh clearly this person's lives a
29:52
lot allies hair and. And.
29:54
They put in. Probably
29:56
twenty thirty thousand hours on stage
29:58
and years. Yeah, can't
30:00
get enough of this. Yeah, even tigs they
30:03
have something to say and they know how to say
30:05
it Yeah, even tigs 10 minutes. She's working on
30:07
it Largo. I'd be like, yeah, I'd
30:09
rather see that than like a 23 year old Who's
30:12
maybe not great? What
30:14
do you think about? Now everybody's
30:16
always putting content out. So there's so much
30:19
like half baked stuff that's going online
30:22
people are putting clips out of sort of There's
30:26
a feeling there's a feeling now and maybe I'm
30:28
wrong But it felt like 20 years ago You
30:32
would work and work and work until you to really solid
30:34
five minutes and you'd go and do that on late night
30:36
And that would help sell tickets to
30:38
your tours, right? Yeah now
30:40
it feels like people aren't waiting
30:42
for you to have a Perfect
30:46
set they just want to know you as a
30:48
person. So there's lots of like half baked stuff
30:51
That's going out online and people are getting really
30:53
big Followings from it
30:55
and then maybe they're putting out specials that
30:57
aren't as honed
30:59
as they could be because they're
31:01
not exercising the muscle to Home
31:04
stuff. Yeah, there's some people who are big
31:06
internet celebrities and and I they go on
31:08
tour and they don't have the craft of
31:11
it Right and I think people go see
31:13
them about once right and then they're like,
31:15
oh, I'm gonna go see someone who like
31:17
their craft Is this right? I actually think
31:19
the market oddly corrects itself on that front
31:21
and then also like I play devil's advocate
31:23
to the People are putting out
31:25
so many things thing which is which is to say it's
31:29
almost like the the Instagram
31:32
Tiktok Etc are
31:35
the new? Open open
31:37
mics or late night depending on how
31:39
many people see it, but
31:41
it's just kind of like Adjusted for the
31:43
inflation of the market see that's right And
31:45
also it's just like open mic because you do a
31:47
joke you put it out and if it goes viral
31:49
You're like, oh that joke works in the same way
31:51
that you would feel Crushed at
31:54
a at an open mic Anything
31:56
crushing an open mic Your
32:00
soul crushes the best. Yeah. There's
32:04
another clue into the audience about
32:06
how... Can
32:08
I say something? Yeah. I
32:13
get asked a lot in interviews in the UK, like, what made
32:15
me want to be a comedian? And do you know what I
32:17
always say? I want to know. No!
32:20
Come on! So, like, almost
32:23
20 years ago, I got
32:25
free tickets to Gotham Comedy Club. And
32:29
I didn't like stand-up, but I used to go
32:31
because the tickets were free. And I don't know,
32:33
were they free? You spent like $13 on a Coca-Cola. And
32:38
you came out as a headliner. It was comic
32:40
after comic of the thing that I hate the
32:43
most. Nobody's being themselves on
32:45
stage. They're just the smartest
32:47
guy in the room. You know, they're making
32:49
fun of everybody and everything around them, but
32:51
nothing vulnerable being shown. And
32:53
then you came out and did
32:55
headlines, did 20 minutes. And everything you
32:58
talked about was so... It
33:02
was vulnerable. It was self-deprecating
33:04
in like a really charming way. It
33:07
was so relatable. I felt super awkward.
33:09
You were talking about, you know, your life
33:11
as an awkward 20-something year old. And
33:15
I thought, oh, that's what comedy could be. Oh, my
33:17
God. And then I thought, I think that
33:19
maybe that's what I would want to do.
33:22
We're going to cut this out, but... Or
33:25
make it a clip. Hey. Okay,
33:30
this is a slow round. What are people's favorite and
33:32
least favorite thing about you? I
33:35
would say a very loyal. That's
33:37
a very like Staten Island trait. I'm
33:39
very loyal. I'll always... To
33:42
the mob. To the mob. I did work
33:44
for the mob. Did you really? Briefly as a
33:46
waitress. Did you know you were? You were? Big
33:49
time. Really? It wasn't
33:51
weird. I knew a lot of people who was
33:53
like, oh, his dad's in jail because he's in
33:55
the mob or, you know, isn't that crazy?
33:58
I didn't think it was crazy. We
34:00
had that a little bit in Massachusetts growing
34:02
up. Right, right, yeah. I went to a
34:04
high school. Worcester Mafia was the thing. Boston
34:06
Mafia, of course, was the thing. Woody Bolger.
34:08
Worcester Mafia sounds very cute. No, Worcester Mafia
34:10
was real. Right, okay. No, Worcester Mafia was
34:12
real. It sounds like something you'd put on a,
34:14
it sounds like a sandwich you'd order in a deli.
34:16
Like, oh, the Worcester Mafia. No, Worcester's a very
34:18
Italian town, and there
34:20
was, yeah, it was pretty real. Yeah, I think one
34:23
of the girls in my high school, her uncle was in
34:25
prison for killing her other uncle, like
34:27
her, by marriage, because of
34:29
a mob thing. Oh, wow. That's
34:32
a lot. So you worked at a restaurant where
34:34
you knew it was mafia connected. The guy
34:36
who owned, I'm probably gonna get killed
34:38
after this, but the guy who owned
34:41
it had taken the fall for these
34:43
like four big mafia heads. Like, he
34:45
went to jail for embezzlement or whatever
34:47
it was. Went to jail for 12 years. The
34:50
IRS took all his money, his wife left him, and
34:52
when he came out he had nothing, but while he was in
34:54
prison he fell in love with cooking, so there's nothing to do,
34:56
so he just learned how to cook. He was like, I'm good, fellas. And
34:59
so when he got out, these four mafia heads
35:01
who he had taken the fall for just gave
35:03
him the deed to a restaurant that he just
35:05
owned outright. So I worked at this restaurant. What
35:08
a happy ending. While I was
35:10
recovering from my car accident, so my leg
35:12
was paralyzed. Oh, God. My leg was paralyzed
35:14
for almost three years, but I still was
35:17
living my life. I just wore a leg brace that helped me
35:19
get around. And he told me
35:21
one day I came in, I was in the middle
35:23
of a lawsuit, you have to sue for the insurance
35:26
money. I'm sure you experienced this with your car accident.
35:29
And he was like, yesterday I got a
35:31
call from this guy asking me all these
35:33
questions. He said, you got a waitress named
35:35
Jeanine working there. How many hours does she
35:37
work? Does she lift everything? And I
35:39
was like, oh my God, I'm in the middle of a lawsuit.
35:41
Like, what did you say? And he was like, I'm Italian. I
35:44
don't talk to nobody. I was like, I love working for
35:46
the mob. I don't talk to
35:49
nobody. Yeah. That's wild.
35:52
It was great. Did you ever interact with crime
35:54
at that job? No,
35:57
but every single table that I served, like
36:00
you're Italian, right sweetheart? I'm like, yeah, yeah,
36:02
I'm Italian. Right, always just say Italian. Just
36:04
say you're Italian. I look Italian, I said, oh
36:06
yeah, I'm Italian. It doesn't hurt to be a
36:08
proviglia in Brooklyn. Oh my gosh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
36:11
So the favorite thing about you is loyalty.
36:14
Oh geez. Least, least favorite thing. Uh,
36:16
I am learning that. I have
36:18
very black and white thinking. So,
36:21
um, let's say I do a
36:23
gig and it goes like fine. I'll feel
36:25
like I've bombed. Because it's
36:27
either I've succeeded and they're like, standing
36:30
ovation, carrying me out on chairs, kind
36:32
of feeling, or it just feels like
36:34
I've done absolutely terribly. It's hard for
36:36
me to say, oh, that was okay.
36:39
That bit went well and I'm gonna
36:41
move that around and maybe that'll work
36:43
now. I find that really difficult. So
36:45
it's sort of a glass half empty. Very glass
36:48
half empty. A approach to a lot of things.
36:50
Is that hard for in your relationship? Yes,
36:55
next question. No, yeah. No,
36:58
my husband's constantly reminding me like there,
37:00
you know, that there is value in,
37:03
in failing and
37:05
value in not absolutely smashing
37:07
something because
37:09
failure is just a chance to learn, isn't
37:12
it? So you and your husband are both
37:14
comedians. What is,
37:16
you know, I had my wife standing on the show
37:19
recently and we were talking about the relationship
37:21
between two artists in
37:23
a family. What are the upsides? What are the
37:25
downsides? Upside
37:29
is he understands, we
37:31
both understand the small
37:34
successes and what
37:36
it means to God at the Edinburgh Fringe,
37:38
you start so low down the rung, but
37:40
if you get into the venue called the
37:42
Pleasance, that's like, it's very hard to
37:44
get into that venue. But
37:46
you're performing in an underground bunker that
37:49
seats 48 people and is very clearly
37:51
giving everyone around like emphysema because walls
37:53
are sweating with like
37:56
hundreds of year old mold that's
37:58
been growing there. The an
38:00
end to end to you. It's like winning
38:02
a pure sir. Yeah, I'm like I'm on
38:04
the Apollo. You know this? Yeah, the best
38:07
thing ever. And and you know to someone
38:09
is not in comedy. they'd be like you're
38:11
performing to not even sixty people in a
38:13
in a bunker like you. What's going on?
38:15
A huge you need money? Are you okay.
38:17
By writing is that have he was like
38:20
to orthopedists in the family sarah like as
38:22
a shoulder cause or. Whatever.
38:24
And the our yeah I know, So.
38:28
So that's goods. And then what
38:30
are the downsides? Financial instability. Ah,
38:32
of course the good. Lord and on
38:34
times on like one of us just. Needs to
38:36
work and insurance I would be this
38:38
ideal. Can you remember time your life
38:40
where you are an inauthentic version of
38:42
yourself? Ah, My whole
38:45
life, until I was maybe like thirty
38:47
two. I would side of the as
38:49
have. You ever heard? The thing of my
38:51
therapist always talks about the difference between sitting
38:53
in an belonging and of her mouth. So
38:55
I feel like for the first thirty years
38:57
of my life I was so I was
38:59
a funny person because I was just trying
39:01
to fit in Vr. Ah and. There's.
39:04
A big difference when you're trying to sit in
39:06
your changing who you are to try and get
39:08
people to like you. Yeah, but. The.
39:10
Idea of belonging is being who you
39:12
are and then finding people who like
39:14
that. So.
39:16
I think it's a man. So maybe thirty
39:19
two to realize I go. I can. I'm.
39:21
I. Can be myself and say what my
39:24
thoughts are and ceilings are and I think
39:26
comedy help me do that. Beautiful
39:29
now. When you're growing up was or
39:31
group that wouldn't let you in. I.
39:35
Never really felt like I
39:37
was in any. Group I
39:39
always felt like an outsider vr. And.
39:43
Yeah I. I felt
39:46
like when I was a kid said, this happens to
39:48
a lot of girls I was kind of like. Basi.
39:51
and i was in charge role play
39:53
in my games and then puberty happen
39:55
and i became like very shy and
39:57
aware and of you'd notice assist with
39:59
your daughter but I'm very aware
40:01
of the people around me and what was I
40:03
saying, what were people thinking of me. And I
40:05
think because of that, I started to really retreat
40:07
into myself and I didn't put
40:10
myself out there in groups.
40:12
So even people who, when I was a kid, I
40:15
would say I was friends with, I think I didn't
40:17
really feel like I was part of their thing. Yeah.
40:22
Did you feel that way? It's funny,
40:24
your answers in the slow round really give, a
40:26
lot of them give me pause because they sort
40:28
of send me back to my own childhood. I
40:31
relate to a lot of what you're saying. Because I know,
40:33
I probably know every joke you've ever written, but I
40:36
would say, I think we had a
40:38
very similar upbringing because I'm also Catholic,
40:41
also from like a suburb of a big city that
40:43
can be quite tough. Loud family. Big
40:45
loud family. Yeah, yeah. Italian sounding
40:47
last name. Yeah. Traveling
40:59
with pets can be so much
41:01
fun, especially in the summer. I've traveled with my pets.
41:03
If you saw my special, thank God for jokes, you
41:05
might recall my trip to Massachusetts or Massachusetts
41:10
where we brought our cat Ivan. And
41:13
it was kind of a debacle. Traveling with pets can be eventful
41:15
is what I will say. And
41:18
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42:13
working it out. That's
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aspcapetinsurance.com/WIO. Again, that's aspcapetinsurance.com/WIO.
42:17
This is a paid
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advertisement. Insurance is underwritten
42:22
by either Independence American Insurance Company
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or United States Fire Insurance
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Company and produced by PTZ
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Insurance Agency Limited. The ASPCA
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is not an insurer and is
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not engaged in the business of
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insurance. Support for
42:37
Mike Robiglia's Working It Out comes from Helix Sleep.
42:40
By the way, it's come
42:42
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42:44
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43:47
Now, right now. Right
43:50
then, just then. Now. Do
44:00
you have any material? I do,
44:02
but what if it's bad? We're going to talk about
44:04
it. Because I think
44:06
all my stuff is half baked too. That's the premise
44:08
of the working of that section. Here's a couple
44:11
things in my notebook. Obviously
44:13
I'm biased, but I feel like, sometimes I feel like
44:15
I'm in the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and
44:17
my daughter's Charlie and her friends are the other kids.
44:21
They're like, I'm my TV, I'm O'Gorse's Glue,
44:23
I'm Veruca Salt, I'm my Bar Guard. And
44:26
my daughter is nice, and she deserves a chocolate factory. That's
44:28
funny. I
44:31
also think every parent thinks that. No parent
44:33
thinks their kid is Augustus Gloop. Right,
44:36
exactly. And they all are. There's a lot of
44:38
Gloops out there. There's a lot of Gloops, there's
44:40
a lot of Violets. The reason I wrote that
44:42
down is precisely the thing you're saying, which is,
44:44
I think, I want to
44:47
figure out how to capture this feeling you have when
44:49
you have a child, which is, your
44:51
kid is awesome, other kids suck.
44:54
Yeah, yeah. To
44:56
me, that's an archetypal example of that. Charlie
45:00
is an angel, the other kids
45:02
are garbage. Also, do you
45:04
not find it crazy that that whole premise
45:06
of that movie and
45:09
book is killing
45:11
kids? Kids are
45:13
making mistakes. Oh, you mean
45:15
when they fall into chocolate and stuff? Yeah,
45:18
and then he's like, let's just carry on with the tour. Yeah,
45:20
yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true.
45:23
I was terrified of being a bad kid because I
45:25
watched that movie when I was little, and I was
45:27
like, oh no, I'm going to turn into a giant
45:29
blueberry if I don't listen to my parents. So
45:32
that's one. And then, this is the one
45:34
you wrote down the other day, but I think it's a funny fact to
45:36
you, I don't know what to do with it. A
45:39
few years ago, Jen said to me, she goes, when we
45:41
got married at City Hall, I didn't think we were going
45:43
to stay married. And I was
45:45
like, I think we have to have better communication, because
45:47
I was sort of thinking this is like a whole
45:49
life thing. That is a very
45:51
funny thing for your wife. It is, right?
45:53
Yes. And I think if
45:56
you unpack it, she's from Divorce Parents.
46:00
from married for like 50 plus
46:03
years and like... Divorce is never
46:05
on the cards. No, I mean
46:07
my... And the stuff that my
46:09
dad would say was
46:11
so the opposite of romantic. Like I had
46:14
this flashback the other day that my dad
46:16
used to, cause my mom talks a lot,
46:18
she's like me or I'm like her. My
46:23
dad as a kid would say to my mom, you
46:26
would talk to anybody, you would talk
46:28
to a doorknob. And
46:31
they're still married. If
46:33
that is not a happy ending, I don't know what
46:35
it is. Like something in
46:37
that universe could be the joke.
46:39
That's really funny. Why, why? You should
46:42
ask, did you ask her why she said that? No,
46:44
why did she say I didn't think we
46:46
were... Oh, Jenny said that.
46:48
Where did she go through with it? You know,
46:50
I think honestly, like I think a lot of
46:52
what your relationship with marriage or whatever it is,
46:55
is based on what you were raised on. So it's
46:57
like she was raised on her parents, broken
47:00
off when she was really
47:02
little. And... That's
47:04
just what marriage was. That's just what marriage was. It's something you do
47:06
for a little bit of time and then you move on. Right,
47:09
and then for me, I
47:11
grew up in Catholic town in Massachusetts, nobody
47:14
got divorced. Nobody got divorced, yeah. I
47:16
couldn't, like when I think back to
47:18
the interactions between parents that I saw as
47:20
a kid. You're like, you should be divorced.
47:23
Oh, you should all be divorced. What are
47:25
you even doing? What are we doing? Yeah,
47:27
yeah. And then it's like, so anyway, that's
47:29
something that I feel like maybe in the
47:31
next show, I might break open. I
47:34
think that's really good. There's something there, right?
47:36
A huge thing there. Me and
47:38
my husband, it's the same thing. He came
47:40
from a, his family had like a crazy
47:42
divorce. They were one of the first families
47:44
in Ireland to get divorced. It was illegal
47:46
to divorce when they did it. So
47:49
they were like in the paper. And it was illegal. It
47:51
was illegal to get divorced in Ireland. What, in the
47:53
70s, 80s? In the 80s. Yeah,
47:56
so he came from a place of like a crazy
47:58
divorce. It was in the paper. as kids would
48:00
say to him, my mom says I can't talk
48:02
to you because you're a bastard. Oh gosh. And
48:05
my parents, there were times when I was
48:07
like, you guys should definitely get divorced. Like
48:09
you're fighting a lot, you know? So
48:12
am I. Are you putting this on stage? Because
48:14
this is very funny. No, no. I like this.
48:16
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But in my
48:18
mind, you just stay
48:20
married. No matter how much you fight, you just
48:22
don't split up. But he lives in sort of
48:24
a constant fear of like, oh no, if we
48:27
fight too much, we'll divorce. Yeah.
48:31
So that's not a joke. It's
48:33
the same. Is it? I think it is funny.
48:35
I would do some of that. I would do some of
48:38
the stuff that you're talking about. Well,
48:40
the Ireland. Here's what I like
48:42
about the Ireland thing. The
48:44
Ireland thing, it was illegal to be
48:46
divorced, blah, blah, blah. I
48:48
always like it when jokes are, you know,
48:51
you have to find out exactly what the punch line is. But it's
48:53
like, I always
48:55
like it when the jokes are telling you about something
48:57
you actually don't know about. Right. Like, I'm
49:00
half Irish. I actually didn't know that.
49:02
Yeah, yeah. I guess where
49:04
I live, people probably do know that more
49:06
because there's such a huge Irish population. They're
49:09
just, you know, across the waterway
49:11
from each other there. But anyway,
49:13
I would consider telling you that. Yeah. As something. Yeah,
49:16
I know. What else you got? What do you got?
49:18
OK, I have this feeling of having a
49:20
son is like dating an asshole. If
49:22
I were to describe our relationship to you, but
49:24
change the words, my baby to my boyfriend, you
49:26
would be like, you need to leave. Very funny.
49:28
Like you're up every night with him because he's
49:30
crying. He made you take months off work and
49:32
he can't survive without your boobs. Like leave him.
49:34
He is very funny. I like it. Is
49:36
that funny? I think it's great. I think like
49:41
where you might want to have it turn
49:44
is into something really specific
49:46
about your husband. Right. Right.
49:48
Definitely isn't right. Your baby.
49:50
Right. Right. Or
49:52
something about your baby that's very specific that
49:54
isn't your husband. Yeah. Yeah.
49:56
What else you got? OK.
50:00
So my dad has now reached this age where he just
50:03
doesn't care what he looks like. I don't know if your
50:05
parents have gone through this, but my dad,
50:07
he has Raynoid's disease,
50:10
so it means that his hands get really cold.
50:12
So he started wearing latex medical gloves everywhere he
50:14
goes because he says it warms his hands up.
50:16
This is a true story. He pairs that with
50:18
a t-shirt. He wears latex gloves everywhere?
50:23
Everywhere he goes. He wore them to
50:25
my son's christening. Why? His
50:28
hands get cold. He says he has Raynoid's
50:30
disease. For years I was like, oh
50:32
God, he's been diagnosed with these things. He wears these
50:34
gloves. My mom was like,
50:36
yeah, we never got diagnosed, but he Googles it.
50:39
He thinks it's Raynoid's. I'm like, what is going
50:41
on? That's a riot.
50:43
You could definitely do that on stage. I
50:45
once went to church
50:47
because whenever I'm home, my parents are
50:50
very Catholic. I went to church once. Play
50:53
the game, baby. A field, Christmas money. I
50:58
went to church and my dad was there
51:00
early praying in the pew before mass started.
51:03
I surprised him so I tapped him on the shoulder.
51:05
He was so moved that I had come to church
51:07
that he started crying into his latex gloves. I was
51:09
like, you have to stop crying. It looks like you're
51:11
repenting for the murder you just committed. Oh, that's funny.
51:14
I love that. That's
51:16
great. It's funny when you
51:18
talk about how your parents
51:20
prayed for you when
51:23
you had your accident and you were hit by a
51:25
car and you were like, I'll take it basically. I
51:28
relate to that so much. I've been doing
51:30
this joke recently on stage about how my
51:33
friends who pray, I have so much respect
51:36
for them. My Muslim friends who pray five
51:38
times a day, I can't get myself to
51:41
drink water five times a day. You're
51:43
talking to a fake person. That's
51:46
a commitment. You're worshiping a higher power. Then
51:48
I say to the audience, I go, no
51:51
offense if anyone's religious. I'm
51:55
viewing your God as a fake person,
51:58
but also. Daily
52:01
I go. Good. Come on like.
52:03
The. Inside A if you pray five times a day.
52:07
One of the time you're like this
52:09
is Marlene Enemy Lines as com like,
52:11
Can't we be a little bit honest
52:13
about that? Yours it isn't That was
52:16
faith is. Isn't. Say they
52:18
don't know ears or sure that there's
52:20
a mountain of evidence that what I'm
52:22
with a that God doesn't the guess
52:24
now and. Here announcer
52:26
says that now once a
52:29
day. Do you feel like
52:31
the older you get, the more you are
52:33
inclined to believe in Gods? Will. Do
52:35
you believe. In. I was.
52:37
I am a I'm definitely a revolt against what
52:39
I was raised on which is like.is watching you
52:41
at all times When I was six years old
52:44
and which I always assume like i guess it's
52:46
just some guy follow me around in a Chevy
52:48
Malibu know I'm like what's my for bailing out
52:50
there. Yet another thing that your parents told
52:52
you to stay at like stranger danger is. Omnipresent
52:56
ley lines of like i definitely don't
52:58
wanna teach that like to my daughter
53:00
it on a relay that and so
53:02
in some ways of her aca that
53:04
offense so. We. Took our or
53:07
donner for birthday the Museum of
53:09
Natural History and we're in a
53:11
planetarium and are watching kind of
53:13
them. The miracle yeah that is.
53:16
That. The sun. Is
53:18
aligned with the earth in such a way
53:20
that created vegetation and water and this and
53:22
that a discount. Well they do. Someone must
53:24
be. Then there's something of a mirror and
53:26
so who am I to be like man
53:29
he delights of is. So clearly I go.
53:31
I don't want to raise my daughter of
53:33
in a the as to the what's that
53:35
like? Grandma's dead and there's no further information
53:38
at this time. Know exactly. What
53:40
Is that? that? nothing? Now and now when
53:42
Adam died at it's the most I've. Ever
53:44
felt connected to my faith. In any
53:47
way because I just thought like he's gonna be
53:49
somewhere he can. Be nowhere in
53:51
a completely. When. My parents were
53:53
in the hospital when I was a when I
53:55
first that hit by the car they were sitting
53:57
in the waiting room and is really lovely. Man
54:00
is kept talking to them the whole the time
54:02
and they were like my my message to be
54:04
so nice to meet us feel so good and
54:06
anna at the end of it when they were
54:08
about to leave the doctors call this and after
54:11
like you know whatever seven hour surgery something he
54:13
was like anyway if you during the reason I'm
54:15
talking you is if you know doesn't make it
54:17
I have I sell t shirts for memories I
54:19
can put a photograph the dates I make bumper
54:22
stickers for the car and my parents were like
54:24
what easier lies users here waiting for someone to
54:26
love one to die so that you can seldom
54:28
Caesar. So
54:31
he ethics all kinds of them. Snow old. I
54:33
noticed in onstage thing to do not use
54:36
of on hygiene and arrival than we found
54:38
a lot of good submarines. Are
54:46
vital things were going out for cause what's
54:48
the nonprofit view like to support? And
54:50
then we will support them. And.
54:53
Put and linked to the mission Us. So ah,
54:55
I'm from Staten Island and and
54:57
there's this foundation called Stephen Sylar
54:59
Foundation. It's the towers to tunnel
55:01
run. Where is what they do.
55:03
They build homes for heroes. So
55:05
Stephen Seller was a firefighter. He
55:07
was actually in the car accident
55:09
that I was in. The girl
55:11
who was sitting next to me
55:13
are her name was lives Sailor
55:15
she's his nice. He was a
55:17
firefighter who wrote i think he
55:19
wasn't working that day or nine
55:21
eleven. Drove to
55:24
his firehouse. Got all his gear,
55:26
got to the tunnels, couldn't drive
55:28
through the tunnel so he run
55:30
ran the whole way to the
55:32
twin towers to try and help.
55:34
He didn't make it. Up.
55:37
Because of that they set up this
55:39
foundation for him and they build homes
55:41
for people. A neat so
55:43
at is. Really
55:46
inspiring and beautiful. We will contribute
55:48
to them Ruling to them in
55:50
the shown on to name is
55:53
is is the complete. It
55:56
honor and blastoff news simmering. Amazing.
55:58
talking to them. The me on
56:00
Awesome in Law. To. The
56:03
know. Who.
56:07
Doesn't know. That's. Going
56:09
to do it for another episode. A
56:11
Working in our you can Follow Janine
56:13
on Instagram at Janine Her Rooney or
56:16
on Tic Toc add Janine Her Rooney
56:18
Comedy Find her live dates as you
56:20
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56:22
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56:24
be the first to know about all
56:27
of my upcoming shows. The full video
56:29
This episode is on a You Tube
56:31
channel at My Big Lamps and subscribe
56:33
we're posting more and more and more
56:35
videos. Popular One sweet was the Pete
56:38
Holmes episode from. Last week where we. In.
56:40
His duty a burn each other over
56:42
and over and over again but then
56:44
also go super deep. One of my
56:47
favorite episodes of all time are Producers
56:49
of Working Out Or Myself along with
56:51
Peter Salamone and Joseph Verbally or Mabel
56:53
Louis. Associate producer Gary Simon Sound mix
56:55
by Sub Saharan Supervising engineer Cable and
56:57
Geese. Special thanks to Jack Has an
56:59
oven Bleachers for their music. Their on
57:01
Tor now they get a great new
57:03
album. special thanks to my wife, the
57:05
poet J. Hub science her audio book.
57:08
For. Little Astronaut is gorgeous and was recorded
57:10
right here in the Working It Out
57:12
studios. Special thanks as always so my
57:14
daughter owner who built the original Radio
57:16
Four made of pillows and thanks most
57:18
of all to you realising if you
57:20
enjoy yes rate is in review it
57:22
on Apple podcasts It really helps just
57:25
right in your favorite episodes. Good or
57:27
yeah no. A hundred and
57:29
forty something episodes. People on the know
57:31
where to begin. If you've missed any,
57:33
go back there all up there. All
57:35
three know pay wall. We've. Had
57:38
come to Brunson. Gary Gorman, Seth Meyers, Nick
57:40
Kroll, Jamal Amy's only good ones days was
57:42
while the you are listening tell your friends,
57:44
Tell your Enemies as a you're arguing. About
57:47
politics with somebody. So painful.
57:49
Maybe it's your dad son? pardon who it
57:52
is, Instead. of getting
57:54
old wound up and bar this is ahead
57:56
and or whoever you are but football this
57:58
is i didn't outgrow was real important
58:00
podcasts. My favorite
58:02
podcast is called Mike for Bigley's
58:05
Working It Out. It's a mostly
58:07
apolitical podcast where comedian talks to
58:09
other creatives about creative process and
58:11
jokes. I think you'd really enjoy
58:13
it. I think that's
58:15
going to solve our political divides. I think that's going to
58:17
do it. We're working it out. We'll see you next time,
58:20
everybody.
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