In here, we pour whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, whiskey.

You are that creature in the ginger beard. Sturdy and ginger. Like vampires, the ginger gene is a curse.

Gingers are fugely. You owe me $5 for the whiskey and $75 for the horse.

Gingers, oh, hell no. This whiskey is excellent.

Ginger.

I like ginger. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Whisky Ginger. My guest today is one of my favorite people on Earth. I say that for all my guests, but I mean it once again today. It's Gary Owen. On time, by the way. Thank you. Perfectly on time when you showed up. Did I think you were going to be late?

I think you did.

Yeah, I did. I did. I thought you might be on BPT because you're honorary. So I thought he'll be late. And when I checked in, I thought, no, he's actually going to be prompt and on time. And you showed up with a caravan filled with people.

I'm a Barack Obama black.

Oh, yeah.

On time, punctual.

All about the business. Are you good at sports? Can you hoop? Average. Yeah, because Obama hoop. Or we saw a little glimpse of his hoop and you were like, Is this just one good clip? You know what's like if a comic did 10 minutes, but they only put up one good joke and you're like, Did I just see a good joke shot?

I was there that night. Yeah, you did 30 minutes, but that one joke.

That one joke. Killed. They got one turnaround jumper, and they're like, post it, post it, post it. Which is smart. No, I'm glad you came directly after doing Club Shay-Shay. So thank you very much. I appreciate it.

I feel like I just went from Dr. Phil to ridiculousness. That's That's right.

Yeah. Now tell us about your deep history with your father. I don't need to get into all that stuff, except for the fact that we're both Midwest boys. That's a good thing to touch on, because I feel like Midwest comics, we get overshadowed by all the people that come out of these other, the Boston comics or the Philly scene or the New York heavy comics, which a lot of those guys are from other places anyway. They pass over Midwest people. We're second.

I would I would say out of the black comedians, I think Chicago has got the best.

Black comedians are the best from Chicago, not Atlanta or any of that stuff?

No, I think Chicago has got it over Atlanta. Ohio is pretty strong, the state, because we were talking about Cat Williams. Chapelle is DC and Ohio.

I give him DC for some reason. Because he started in DC.

But I think he started in Ohio living. Then they moved to DC. Sure. I'm just going off where you started.

Where they birthed you. Yeah.

Well, see, I think Chicago is strong. You got Deon Cole.

Love Deon. Lil Rel. Love. De-re. Love.

Bernie Mac.

Oh, yeah, that's right.

R-i-p. Leon Rogers, radio guy and funny guy. Damon Williams. I mean, they're all different.

By the way, you could be making up any black name, and I would just agree. Yeah. If you were Jamal Croson, I'd be like, oh, yeah, he's fucking fantastic, that guy.

Now we have this discussion In the black community, we have this discussion. I said, I think Chicago is the strongest because they're so different. They all have their own vibe, their own point of view. Atlanta has got funny people, but it feels familiar. You know what you're getting.

Yeah. What do you think that is also, though, the accent, the cultural tone of Atlanta talk has a... The cadence is similar. In Chicago, the only people that sound really Chicago are usually white guys. You don't hear black Black guys don't talk like this. You don't have a Black guy get on stage. You go, It's going down, shy town. You're not going to hear that. It's like a white cadence of Chicago. So Atlanta, Black cadence, that's got a similar tone to it. So that's what I think you mean by that, which I understand. But yeah, it's comics from Chicago, and you get in the alternative world. I mean, even though I don't like the phrase, but Hannibal Burris, Chicago guy. Yeah, I'm thinking Godfrey. Godfrey. Yeah. So these guys, they are very different, which I do think I never thought about that until you said that. They don't really have that. There's no through line to those guys. Who's big out of Cincinnati? Cat Williams. He's Cincinnati? .

He got the key of the city a while back. Really? Yeah. He's dating, but it's Cincinnati-Daten area.

For some reason, I thought he was outside. Yeah.

Anytime you're... Daten's like the cutoff. Daten, Cincinnati is like the same almost. Yeah. I think Tom Segura is from Cincinnati, right?

Yeah, he is, but he doesn't really claim it. He's- Josh Sneed. Josh Sneed, yeah. Tom claims Florida because he lived there or went to school down there and everything. I think so. Yeah.

I'm trying to think. Any other- It doesn't matter.

Who cares about all these people, man?

George Clooney.

He's Cincinnati? Yeah.

Sarah Jessica Parker.

Really? Wendy Harrelson. By the way, you're digging. This is my favorite thing. This is what Ohio likes to do because I'm a Chicago guy. Ohio likes to prove to you how deep their roster is. Chicago is You know our roster. It's publicized. You know who we are. Yeah, you know who we are. Farley. You know who we are. Well, Farley is actually... He's actually Wisconsin, but- Oh, is he? Claims Chicago. Loved Chicago. Yeah, he went to Marquette, was a Wisconsin boy, but he's one of us. Yeah, we'll take everyone. Chicago, we take him off. We'll take Cat. You can have him. Yeah. This motherfucker. What a wild follow-up. Did Cat talk shit about you?

He said, I haven't. He's talking about the Illuminati. He goes, Tell me why Gary Owen hasn't crossed over what I say isn't true, which basically meant, I haven't crossed over to white people, been in any bigger white movies because I haven't joined the Illuminati. Is basically what that meant. So I was like, huh? It Which is interesting, though, my career, because I think I'm the one guy that I'm really famous with a group that isn't me. Like, Sebastian, Italian, Gabriel, Mexican, Joe Coy, Filipino. My fan base is the complete opposite of who I am. I don't know if there's someone else like that.

No. You might be the only dude that has... Well, maybe like... No, that's it. Like Russell Peters, same thing.

I think Shapel is opposite. Where white people knew Chapelle before black people was familiar with him like that.

Yeah. And I would say his audience is probably still dominant white. Yeah. You I go to a show. It's all white. I've been there. Yeah, that's pretty mostly white. Why is that?

They buy tickets earlier.

On time before they sell out.

There is a rumor, and I don't know if it's true. There was a rumor that when D. L. Hugley had the D. L. Hugley show late '90s before the Kings, he was starting to really blow up in the improvs and stuff. This is what I heard. I'll ask D. L. One day. I heard he said, Hold the late show Saturday to the day before before you put them on sale because you want to make sure black people had a chance to buy tickets. That's so funny. But I asked a lot of black comments. Why is that? Why do black people wait so long? And somebody broke it down. They go, you got to realize, especially with black women who buy a majority of the tickets.

That's the high majority of ticket buyers. In your shows, it's mostly black women.

Yeah. The guys will come because the women are coming. You know what I mean? But they're the biggest consumer period of products. So when a comedy show is coming, where white people just go buy the tickets, right? Sure. Yeah. Black people, especially black women. Okay, the comedy shows in three months. Three months out, I'm going to buy the outfit. Two months out, I'm going to buy the shoes. Then I'm going to get my hair done. Then I'm going to get my nails. The last thing they buy is the actual ticket, even though they're getting all this stuff to go to that show. Because it's no longer about the show. It's about, No, you're going to see me. I bought this for this show.

I'm coming to your show, and you're lucky that you're going to see me like this.

Gary, you're welcome. I'm here. Yeah, exactly. Now look at this. You haven't seen nobody with this, and it made the most sense.

To be fair, if they don't get tickets to the show, they're still laced up looking good. They'll go do something else anyway. They don't give a shit. For Whites, we're like, We have to make it and we have to be there early. And if we're not there early... Because sometimes we see people when we tour that are in the venue an hour and a half before show time. And it's shocking to me.

Is this where you're in your hotel, you're even close to getting ready for the show. And somebody will make posts on their story and tag you.

I'm here. Waiting for you.

I'm at the Fox Theater. Ready for the show. You're like this, holy shit. I got to shower, eat dinner, shave.

Most of the time I'm in the gym or I'm at the restaurant and I see people having a drink in Inside the venue I'm going to be at in two hours, and they're like, with the stage behind them empty. Kudos. I'm just the opposite. I show up either right on time or right after something started. I actually love showing right after it started, like with music shows. I love that. It's the same thing with a plane. Getting in line, beating the line and all that shit, I'll get on after everybody's on.

I like to board early because I don't put my bags up.

I know. See, I get this, but there's always a space. I feel like there's always a space. Someone's always like, Oh, you're not going to have a... You will, you'll have a spot. Yeah, you're right. They somehow find it all the time. You're right. Or they do the thing where they go, Ma'am, is this your purse? We're going to have to put this in below. You can't put that up with the bag. That's where the bags go.

Unless you're row one. Row one, you got to board early.

Row one, you're You're cooked because that's where the oxygen tank is for some reason.

Your bag's like row eight. Now you're stressed when it lands. God, I got to jump up. Excuse me.

I'm sorry. Can you get that? That's me. You know what I do? If people try to get up and get off the plane. It's not a connecting. We land in Los Angeles. You're not connecting anywhere. I know you're not going to Hawaii right now. So when I land here and people try to get up as the ding goes off and sneak up, I block the aisle deliberately. I will shoulder you out of You're not getting fucking forward. No way. I appreciate that. It's row to row. You wait your turn and people hate it. Now, here a guy be like, buy your ticket.

Buy your ticket early, pre-planned. There you go. And pick the row.

How dare you try to rush up to save $45 Five seconds. Now, are you one of these guys? Because look, your success is long-reaching. I've known you for so long in my mind, not as a person, but you've been in the game for so long. Are you a private jet guy? No. No. Never.

I have. And it hurts. I'm not like, I'm not even worried about it. Oh, no. I was sweating.

You're worried about it. Yeah. Yeah.

It hit. The one time, the whole month I had to fly private was I got this movie called Dottie and Soul, and our shoot date was Monday through Friday. And I was on a tour. And I was like, I told them, I said, I don't want to miss my tour dates. People think in this business, you get a movie, you're a multimillionaire. For comedians, a lot of times we're taking pay cuts.

Big time.

Because if they want six weeks, at six weeks, you can't be on the road.

So this movie comes along. And you're definitely making less than you would if you were out. Yeah.

For sure. So now a movie comes along and I want to do the movie, but I didn't want to cancel being on the road because it's just Friday, Saturday, two different cities. So I was like, I can do the movie if you guys can work it out, where I can be off early enough Friday day to get to my shows. And I gave them this. It was only three weekends, but it was three weekends that I had to get. Friday, we wrap, and the only way I was getting to the show on time was to get a private. So basically, my check was cut in half. So I still made money, but not as much as I'm used to on the road. And it wasn't a big private. It wasn't like some Drake shit. There weren't even a bathroom on it. I thought I was like, I'm about to kill it. I don't know if it was a G5 or something. It was like this.

It's a G1, my friend. I got on and I go, Oh, this is very Memphis Belly.

You know where I got it from? My buddy is like the guy for Harris.

So he knows-For Harris Casinos? Yeah.

So he knows a lot of gamblers. It was some gambler That has his own plane. And he basically was like, look, I got to pay the pilots, got to pay for gas, which is quite expensive.

It's so expensive.

So I got it at cost.

So you gave a little bit of a discount?

A little bit of a discount.

They made it worth it. Still, though.

Yeah. It was the same pilots for the three weeks, the same plane. And I was flying out of Oklahoma City, which is good. I was in the middle of the country. And I remember one show was in Nashville, one was in Memphis.

Those are quick flights, at least.

One was in Charlotte. That Charlotte was a little rough. That was middle of country. It was a little more expensive. It depends on where you're going. But I'm definitely not a private jet guy every week.

Because that's nowhere near my world. And I see guys doing it a lot online. And it's always like, man, I don't know if this is a status thing because it's so, so, so expensive that I just can't. I don't understand it. But I see in the stand-up world, you see guys doing it a lot more and more.

Well, I think it goes back to you're flying first now, I'm assuming.

Maybe.

Most of the time?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's hard to go back to coach.

That's tough. Yeah, that's tough. Once you start flying private, it's hard to deal with TSA and all that. I've been a guest on other people's private jets, but I I got to tell you, too, I don't have the scaries or anything. But when those things hit bumps, put me in that big ass thing to feel a bump. I don't want to feel a little... The bumps on those little shitty planes, I'm like, these wings look small. I don't know. There's something about them. We took me, Andrew Schultz, Mateo Lane, Theo Vaughn, Stavros, a bunch of guys. We got flown a year, two years ago now to go to Paris for Fashion Week. They were doing a comedy show. It was crazy. Shut up. I swear to God. They were like, Hey, we'll get you guys a jet. Puma is sponsoring one of these guys. He'll give you their jet, but you got to be in New York. I was like, I'm already in New York. This is fucking perfect. They put us on this thing. I was so amped. I was like, Dude, we're on a PUMA private jet going to Paris. Then I forget it's winter, and I'm going over the Atlantic.

Bro, the whole flight, they were like, Sleep if you want to sleep. Not a chance. This the whole time. You were worried? No, this the whole time. This the whole time was like this. It was bumpy the whole fucking flight. And the whole time they were like, Sorry, we're still trying to find good patches, but there's nothing we can do. So you didn't post?

You didn't take a picture?

I didn't take a picture. I didn't post, no. I talked about it on another podcast. I said it was cool. It was a privilege to be on it. It was cool that they gave that to us, but I didn't enjoy it. And I thought, I would have rather them give me a Air France first class lay flat ticket on one of those big fuck off planes. I'll do that any day of the week. I would much rather take that.

No, not me.

I'm going to go. You want to go quiet in private. Yeah.

And I'm going to do a fake floss, act like I'm not. Just say, hey, guys, I want you to know. Happy Thanksgiving.

It's about some other bullshit.

Andrew, say hi.

Happy Black History Month, everybody. Everybody just loading up real fast.

I know it's January, but I want to get a heads up before it gets here because. It's got to be early.

I like to be early because they're not. All right, guys, we'll be right back. No, I see it now, and it confuses me a little bit about it. The private? I don't know. Yeah, it's just not for me. It's not for me. Let me ask you this. Hold on. I want to go back real fast because I skipped over in my mind. The Illuminati thing about you not crossing over. But don't you really think the truth of where we find our audience? It is so out of your hands that once it happens, it's a snowball, and you almost have zero control. So once the Black audience picked you up and then embraced you as theirs, it's almost as if nobody can get to you, where it's like, they don't even allow you to get as big as you'd want to be in another audience. It's almost like the audience grows so organically, it's on them, not you.

Yeah. It goes back to you don't choose your audience. They choose you.

That's what I mean. And they keep you a little bit. In a In a weird way. It's almost like- You could.

You look at, let's go, music. A kid rock. He started out hip hop, and now he's a rednake.

But made a drastic music. You would have to switch the way you do comedy, which is not you. You would have to change everything about the way you present yourself. Here's a good example of I took a car ride with Bobcat. We were doing like Toronto or something, or Just For Laughts, Toronto, or maybe it was Vancouver. But yeah, Vancouver. And Bobcat, from when I was young, you remember, he's a tag. Yeah, Bobcat, go with it. Well, young guys, young people may not know that. But Bobcat now is a director, but he still does perform, but he talks like him now. He doesn't do the character anymore. And I asked him in the car, did your audience change? And he was like, oh, yeah, dramatically. I lost a lot of people, but he's like, I wanted to get to do what I didn't want to do that anymore. So you would have to just change your whole game. And that would be so strange to do.

Well, I've seen, this is what I know. I've seen a drastic at the clubs More than the theaters. The clubs is definitely, it's not as black as it used to be.

In stand-up?

In stand-up, yeah. Comedy Clubs. Because theater is still, it's black. It's 80 %, right? Comedy Clubs isn't anymore. And what I've noticed is the newest people that are coming to see me, I'd say within the last five years, are ex-military because I really started doing Navy jokes in my experience. So I've noticed through the power of social media, and in particular, Facebook, my biggest clips are the military clips on Facebook. Oh, damn. That really took off. And I've noticed a lot of guys will come up and be like, Yeah, I was stationed here. I was stationed here. And they'll give me those coins.

Yeah, we get those coins sometimes. Yeah.

So it's It was real. I was like, oh, because I just did my newest special, which we're shopping right now, right? So I shot it in San Jose. So we get done Friday with the hour I've been working on for the last year. And Saturday, I still got the camera crew, but I was like, I think we went clean, right? And I called the guys and the DPRs. They're like, yeah, we're good.

So we're getting a coffee delivery right now. Look at this. This has got to be one of the best managers in the game.

Oh, no, they didn't.

But be careful. What? What's wrong?

Too much? The best part about the coffee bean is the ice.

And they put barely any ice. Barely any ice. Yeah. Look at her. You're gone. And you know what? I don't know how much you're paying her, but I saw that backpack. She's gone on her back. She's carrying around a gold bouillon in there. She's got a rich ex-husband. Oh, is that what it is? Don't we all wish we had that? A rich ex-husband.

That was the best part. That's my fault.

The little cube dice, that is the best.

When I order for coffee bean, I always like, Can I get another cup of ice? And I mix it myself. That That was on me.

That's okay. But you will yell at your manager when the cameras are off. I do know how that goes.

So what I was saying is, so we get done with the one Friday, right? Yeah. So Saturday, the same way it just brought the coffee bean to me, Lisa, I said, I think I got another hour. And she goes, But is it good? I said, Yeah, but this is the only time in my life I need my jokes taped to the floor. So I got my flow of show. So I did a whole different hour Saturday, and we got that clean. And Saturday, on purpose, I don't do one race joke. So it's all very military, observational, growing up type stuff.

More family-ish.

So I went, okay. So I really think, and I asked her, when you talk about crossing over and we talked about this, I said, the one we really worked on, that's going to the core of my audience, right? Sure. But that second one, if it comes out and the clips come out, hopefully you should, that could be the one that I could see a crossover effect. Not eliminating my Black fan base at all. Open it up, though. Open it up to people that might not be as familiar. And if you never saw me, you're not even going to know I have a Black fan base off that special.

Until they go to one of your shows.

What the fuck just happened?

Some old white couple like, Oh, my God. Glenn, are you sure this is the show we're going The Navy Man? This is the Navy Man show?

Andrew, I don't have a ghetto fan base. No, no, no. I always say the black people that comes to me have W2s. I don't have the drug dealers, hookers, and shit like that.

You have metal detectors with credit checks on top of them as they walk in. That guy's good. They're all HBCU brands. You see all the Howard. It's all Howard and Brown. I think that is... Well, what's interesting with time as comics go on, too, I'm interested as I'm growing older in the game. I'm 16 or 17 years. I see, I'm thinking now what this hour that I'm working on now is the next stage of what I'm really wanting to talk about. And it's interesting you say that because being in the Navy, the fact that you haven't talked heavily about that is strange because what a poignant part in your life. But you just kept it in the back because it wasn't... Well, you just didn't feel like it. It was not... Because I never knew that about you at all. I didn't know your memory.

How do I make that funny? You know what I mean? I was a cop in the Navy. I did let everybody go because you're living on the base with the criminals, let's say. The guy you're arresting, you see him at the Chow Hall.

That's your boy. Yeah.

That sucks. Some guys are assholes. 90 % guys, you just be like, dude. Interesting story. Not interesting, but okay. I'm on the gate, wave and cars on the base. We used to let taxis on the base to drop guys off at the barracks. Taxi comes on, guy has to show his ID, and you're good. Drop him off. Taxi guy comes back, the guy didn't pay me. I said, What? He goes, The guy didn't pay me. He got on my car and ran. We was on a big base, so you can go, Wait. Well, I knew the guy from playing pickup basketball. I said, Wait here at the gate. I get a guy to leave me off the gate. I go knock on his barrack store. He act like he's asleep. I go, Dude, I just saw you pull in. I go, Come on, man. Just pay the guy. It's 15 bucks. That's all it was. That's nothing. He goes, All right. I said, Let's go to the ATM, man. I'm not going to take you because I don't want him yelling in the argument, right? He goes on an ATM. He pulls out $20. Literally, he goes, You're going to bring me my change?

I go, Take the L, bro. I'm going to tip him. This is over. You're not getting arrested. Five bucks.

You need five bucks, bro. But that's a situation where When I ran into him later, he gave me a head nod.

I appreciate the other night because I'm sure he was drinking. He wasn't thinking straight. And the cab driver was an Arab-looking dude that I was like, he was all like, he left without pain. He's yelling and shit. I'm going, I don't want this to go left. I don't want him showing up there arguing. So technically, I could have arrested him. Could have got him in trouble. Technically, there could have been a bit... I was like, it worked out that I knew the guy, knew where he was. And the guy left happy because he got a five-hour tape. We got 25 % tape.

And the real lesson is pick a basketball saves all. That is the real truth. That will save your life. That's a fact. Now, when you were in the... Because I've had a lot of friends that have been in the military, and they always say, the coming home fucked up thing, coming home drunk, it's not a violation, right?

If you're driving.

Well, no. But I mean, if you're just coming home drunk out of a taxi, it's not... That's okay. But if you're caught drinking on the base, they clip you, right?

Not if you're 21.

But I thought, I don't know, some of these bases, there's no drinking allowed. Are they dry?

I was never on a dry base. I was in San Diego. I think it's more overseas.

San Diego probably has to have drinking. I'll never forget that one time we had these, because NAB Coronado, you would have like, foreign military people staying there, officers and stuff.

I don't ever get this group of Australians pulled on, and they were so lit and didn't give a shit. You guys drinking, oh, yeah, you know we are.

We got to drink mine.

Aussie, aussie, aussie.

Oh my God.

I can't pull you over because I'm laughing. And they're just laughing and stuff. Guys, you shouldn't be driving. They're like, we know, mate. They don't give a shit, dude.

If you've been down there, you know that that is pride and joy. Getting drunk. They are experts. I mean, they are professionals, man.

So then I go, are you guys drinking Foster? They go, rat piss. Rat piss. Rat piss. Foster is because Foster's Australia from beer.

That's all we ever knew. Yeah.

No, that's rat piss. Yeah, they hate it. They was offended by it.

Yeah, well, that's the same thing as my college, one of my college best friends. His dad, he was from England, born in England. His father was a Brit, and he would come over and he'd visit us in Arizona. I went to Arizona State, and he'd come over and stay with the boys. He'd want to stay with us, which is insane. A bunch college scumbags. And every morning, in the morning, he would go read the paper and go to the liquor store and go get two 30 racks of Bud heavy. Bud heavy. And he'd come back in. What's Bud heavy? Bud-wise. Just regular Bud-wise. Budful. Yeah, instead of Bud light, Bud heavy. You never heard that? Bud heavy? No. That's wild. Budweiser. Do you ever heard of Bud heavy before? Oh, yeah. Instead of Bud Light, Bud Heavy.

I've never heard that.

You never heard that? Oh, wow. That's insane. He would go get two 30 racks and come back with them. And He would just sit and crack a few by the pool. It was his vacation. One day, I was telling him, I was like, Mr. B, why Budweiser? Like, of all the beers. And at that time, Budweiser now has a factory in England. They have a plant there, so they distribute it. But Budweiser was so hard to get in England. He was like, It's the best beer in the world. And to us, I was like, It's shit. It was filling shit. I was like, That's a terrible beer. He's like, No, you don't know what you're talking about. Wait till you get older. This is the best beer on Earth. Obviously, now it's over there. But back then, I was like, that's the only reason why we like shit like that because we're like, oh, you... That's like when I first went to... And I had a Stella. I was like, oh, Stella. And then you get back here. You're like, it's just warm. It tastes like piss. I'm not going to pretend like I like this shit anymore.

It was just like when stuff's exotic, we get into it. And then when you're able to get access to it, you're like, this is not as good as I thought. Like Zema? Yeah. I remember Zema. Yeah. Oh, man. Like, a Zema was such a cool thing. Then you drink it. You're like, this is fucking terrible. Why am I pretending?

I heard hypnotic was a thing?

Oh, hypnotic was huge.

Mixed with Hennessy, there's Incredible Hulk.

Yeah, that's right. This is a black drink for people that don't know. This is a very black- I forgot what podcast I'm on. Yeah, this is a black drink. I fall back.

I fall back in my family sometimes. No, no, no.

Full throttle. No, the Incredible Hulk. I remember that. Hypnotic was like Hypnotic was to young black America, what Jägermeister became for young white America. You know what I mean?

For a short period of time, too. It came and went fast.

Yeah, it was quick. Well, because I think everybody realized it was dog shit.

Yeah, the blue bottle, the Blue liquor.

There was another one called the Genie. Do you remember what was called the Genie? It was hypnotic and... Oh, my God.

I don't know what the Genie was.

Hold on. I'm going to find out. Hypnotic Genie. I have to find this out. What was your drink of choice? What is your drink? You don't really drink much, right?

I drink a lot now, but if I do, it's just vodka and club soda.

That's it? Yeah.

But back in the day, it was Captain Morgan Diet or Captain Morgan and Coke. That was the one for the long target. Probably 10, 15 years strong. That was my dream.

But are you cleaned out now or it's just not of interest to you anymore?

I'm older, so you feel it when you drink.

You're not that old. What are you?

It doesn't matter. I'm old. You know what I mean? I'm white. Thirteen. No. But the older you, you feel it. And now it's like, I remember telling my buddy 10 years ago, we were at a nightclub. I go, When does this end? I could feel it coming to an end shortly. And it was shortly after that. I was like, yeah, I'm not in the streets like I used to. It's got to be worth it.

Well, the days you wake up, you feel a little bit... You feel less and less like you feel like doing that again. I don't know, especially because the road kills you.

Airplanes and hotels. How about this? That's the road, right? What I know about the road for me, and I think this is more for most comics. First go on the road, getting attention, socially, you're tapped in, you're getting free drinks bought for you, and it's a rush. And then it comes less of a rush. And now I've got to the point where I'm going to say, I'm literally googling coffee shops. And I'm getting up in the morning.

Cafes.

Taking my walks and be like, this is good. Now I'm looking around Phoenix like, this is nice. I've never seen it during the day.

Yeah, because all it was before that was like, I'll see it till 4:00 in the morning, then I won't see it again until 06:00 PM at night.

Scottsdale, late at night.

I'm about to go there in two days, by the way.

Oh, are you? Stand Up Live?

Yeah, stand downtown.

One of my favorite spots, man.

Me too, man. I love that. And for me, it has this, the affinity towards it is so big because it's home. I've got the nostalgia. Not home, but I went to school at Arizona State. Phoenix was such a formidable point in my life. That was where I realized that I was going to go West, go West, young man, and I was going to be a comic. I wanted to do comedy, but I was so scared to admit it. I didn't want to start in Chicago. I started out here. I packed up and left on the fourth of July in 2006 and moved here. That's great. I never left. I know.

This is why I love Phoenix. It's the first club. They always ask you, when did you start to sell tickets and blow, so to speak, blow up?

Yeah, when it started to happen. Phoenix. Phoenix.

First club I went to, and I never seen a check that big for stand up. And I was at that point, when you first started out, at least when I started out, you got a set rate. It was like a couple of thousand dollars. A guarantee. Yeah. Guarantee. You get a bonus, whether it's paper or sold. If you sell out, you get a It was like 500 bucks.

I almost never got that fucking bonus. By the way, the club owners were like, We just didn't get there. It was like, it was every seat.

Yeah, I know, right?

It was every seat.

Yeah. Or the bonus is $500 and your three tickets short and your tickets are $20. I would have bought the last three for 60. Just for the It makes the $440. I know. So Phoenix was the first one that they said, hey, we're going to give you a door deal. And it was 50-50. And I was like, And then those contracts read weird because you've never seen them before. You're like, my minimum isn't But then you're like, walk out potential. And you don't believe in yourself. I'm not going to sell that many tickets. I'm not going to see this. And I was like, wait a minute. I think I'm doing okay this weekend. I think I'm doing okay. And do you remember Casey, the manager? Oh, yeah. I think he's got a club in San Diego now, right?

Microp? Yeah.

He was the manager, and he had seen me for years. I'm there for you. I walked in the office on Sunday, and he handed me that check, and I've never seen a check that big. And he was standing like this, like a proud day.

He goes, what?

He goes, It's happening. That's huge. I told you, man, you were always funny. It's happening.

I knew you believed in me, Casey.

Thank you, bro. And then I thought it was a one-off. I thought, the stars aligned that weekend. Monday, we get ticket counts for Dallas the next week, and they're bigger. I was like, whoa, I've sold that many tickets already? I was like, oh, my God. And that's when I was like, and it just took off from there.

How old were you when that happened in Phoenix?

Dude, that was twelve years ago. Wow.

We won't say how old you are now. So people do magic math. No, but I'm just trying to do there. That was 2012. You see that little magic trick? I tried to pull a tarot on you. I know what you did. Little three card Monte for your age. No, but you had worked for a long time before you blew in the way that you wanted to blow up, which I think is a testament to good comedy, because when people make it quick and young, that's a hard thing to last for a long, long time. So So you've paid your dues, such an annoying phrase I hate, but it is such a grind. I think people don't know. People think they just saw you, and it was like, yeah, it just happened for them. It was like it was nothing.

I got a guy on the row with me right now. I got a rotation, like three openers, right? Yeah. Two of them are a little older, and they have other stuff they do. So the standard for them is like, they like to get away, see new cities, they're making a little money, but it's fun, right? Yeah. They're not not chasing the dream, so to speak. They're doing their thing. If something happens, great. But they're content with their life, and they got a good life. But I got a young guy, and he's called the Mailman on TikTok.

What's his real name?

Sean is his real name. Sean. But he goes by that one Mailman on TikTok. He's a Cincinnati guy. He comes to my show. This is in January. And it became very evident when I met him, he's quick. His little comebacks was quick. And then we were talking, and then my road manager was like, You ever thought about doing stand-up? He was like, No. And he said, You should. So he flew to Tampa just to come see me hang out for a weekend, right? And then all of a sudden, they book him for a one-nighter in Cincinnati. He's never been on stage before.

To do an hour?

No. Here's the thing. They're using my advice. It's sold out so fucking fast. People don't know. They're just going to see a personality, right? Oh, right. So now I'm telling my roamer, I go, Yo, you booked him in a comedy club? He's never been He got to get some stage time. I said, You have to surround him. You got to put literally six people on this show. And he's just got to keep coming on, like hosting, almost.

Yeah, right. Just to fill in the mid so he can get rhythm.

So he did that. And then now he's coming on the road with me sometimes, right? Once or twice a month, and he's featuring, but he's getting there, but he's not there yet, right? It doesn't really have a solid.

But you can feel it's close. Something's there. He's there.

He just It has to get stage time. So to the point, when I'm trying to talk to him and my rolemate is trying to give him advice, I said, look, I know you're making money. You skipped a lot of steps, and you're making money, but you still need to, I don't want to say, pay your dues, but you got to It's hard to do those open mics. Yeah, you got it. Because that's where you find your voice. And you want to go on stage where there's no expectations. No one knows you're coming. If you don't do that great, who cares? But that's where you try shit out. And that's where it's like, I tell him, it's like our gym. You got to work out.

Yeah, you got to go lift.

But I think with him, it's like, he hasn't really been doing the open mics because he's so used to going on the road with me.

It's spoiled, man.

It's spoiled, but I get it, too, because it's hard to get motivated. With us, when you start, it was like, man, it wasn't about the money.

What about. Well, there was no fucking money. You were just doing it.

Yeah, but the goal was to hopefully eventually make some money.

Sure. But at the time, you were like, I'm just trying to get through.

And you're just so happy to be on stage. I literally missed the days of getting butterflies by saying, you made the open mic night.

You're going up. Or when your name gets pulled from the bucket and you're like, all right, we're on the list.

Let's go. 7:00 to 7:08, I'm up.

I'm going to fucking destroy that eight minutes. I do. That was the excitement. Do you still get any anxiety at all? Like any exciting anxiety before you go on? Do you still have that feeling at all? Oh, Because I know we lose it. It's hard. It's hard to keep it.

I had it. The one time I felt it was just probably a couple of weeks ago. I did a benefit for Kid Rock in Nashville, and it wasn't my audience that I'm used to.

It's like white country people. Yeah.

I had to close it. So it'd be different. I went up early, and I went up after Adam Carola. So when Adam went up, crowd went nuts.

Like, he was Chapelle. He's like, What's up with these drag queens? Yeah, right? Like, Gary Owen. So then he goes up and I was almost glad I was going last because I was like, all right, I'm going to have to work. Let's see what we got here. Two totally different styles. Who else was on the lineup besides you guys?

John Reep.

Chris Porter. Yeah, love John Reep. Porter, great. They're good friends. Him and- A great bunch of guys.

The vibe was great backstage. But when they said, I'm going last. I was like, okay. And then so I go up and I could tell it was funny. The crowd gave me the courtesy clap, but there was a couple of screams. Here, here, right? A couple of pops. Yeah. And then it took me a couple of minutes, but then they got locked in. And when they got locked in, I had them. And I was like, but I had the butterflies. When I saw the reaction, when Adam went up, I went, oh, shit. They love this dude. I'm going up after them? So I was like, I'm not going to get their reaction. And I didn't. So I had a little butterfly before that show.

Doesn't that feel so good?

I was like, oh, I'm still here. I'm still in the game.

The only thing that gives me anxiety now are things I don't want to do, like corporates. I'm not good at corporates. And when they ask me to do those, I've done a few because it's a great check. Those I get anxiety about because I'm like, man, this is not my people.

What about acting?

Acting, the only time I get anxious is if I have a heavy load to lift the next day. I'll get anxious at night. If I've got a big scene or a lot to get through, then I'm like, I can't sleep.

Have you ever worked with an actor and you was like, oh, shit, I got this big scene with him?

Yeah. No. See, I would be more anxious performing in front of an older comic that I really respect. Not nervous, just excited to do it. But with actors, I never grew up idolizing actors. So that didn't chime in with me. I was never like, Dude, it's fucking so and so. You know what I mean? I mean, I'd be excited to work with... If Daniel Day-Lewis was around, I'd be like, Fuck, this is cool. This is amazing.

What I've heard about him, too, is he don't break character.

No, he wouldn't talk to me. So that's probably I was part of it. That would be cool. I heard...

Who was him riding along with me? John McKinley?

John McKinley? Yeah. Mckinley. I'm sorry.

No disrespect.

Sorry. No.

He did Lincoln with him. So we were in the van on our way to set one day, and I started asking. I said, Yo, is he really like that? He don't break territory? He goes, Yeah. The director would say, Cut. I think it was Spielberg, right?

Yeah. Right. Didn't he do that? Yeah.

When they were doing Lincoln, the director would say, Cut. And me and him, we could continue the conversation like it's 1860 something. He just kept talking. If you asked him a question, he would answer as Lincoln, and he would talk to you like it's 18 something.

No, no, no. I was like, whoa.

I I can't imagine if somebody never breaks character.

I would have to check. Could we go talk us to some of these hoses? You're like, all right, do we got to... Let's kick out here.

My voice is black. It's illegal.

They laugh like that, too.

Don't tell anybody.

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Ginger. I like ginger.

I couldn't... That, I could never... The whole people getting really emotional through their acting, if that's what you do, that's what works. I've never... That's why I'm not good at that. I check in and check out.

So you're telling me John This guy.

He never broke character. You weren't allowed to look him in the eye. Senna, you couldn't even look him in the eye. He would choke-slam you. He seemed like the coolest guy. One of the nicest dudes I've ever been able to perform with. And I mean that because he paid me to say that. But no, he's a guy's guy. And by that, I just mean he's affable and open and warm. He's a people's person is what I mean. Not a guy's guy. He seems like it. He's a man of the people. He doesn't have any rules. There is no like, hey, man, John doesn't want to talk to people before 9:00. He doesn't have any of that bullshit, which I respect the most because he's just a human. You have to respect people's space because they do get crowded a lot being that famous. But he was always very open and affable and so malleable. He was down for whatever. What does that mean? Oh, it- Malleable? Malleable, moldable. He was very fluid. You could just be like, Hey, we're changing this whole thing today. He'd be like, Okay. He didn't complain He didn't fight back on stuff that I do know in the history of actors I've worked with that people are like, No, fuck that.

And then it causes riffs between production. John didn't once go, No, I'm not doing that. No way. And if he did, he would have been like, Hey, can we maybe try something? He would just vocalize it a different way, where I've worked with people that I won't mention that they made a big fucking stink all the time.

Who's the biggest star you've worked with, actor-wise?

He's probably the biggest global star in terms of scale and and box office worth. Him and Efron, for sure, were the two biggest I had ever worked with before that. But credibility-wise, people that I love. I did an episode of Curb. That, to me, was pinnacle because I think Larry is one of the greatest comedic writers of All Time. I mean, I've touched on a few different projects over the years, but this scene has got to be the biggest dude I've ever even come close to working with. Being in the same room. Is that doing? I mean, you've done enough where you've- I think, of course, all the big black ones.

Not actor, not Denzel not Samuel. Comedian-wise? Yeah, all of them. I think I'm going to move with all of it because I did Daddy Daker with Eddie Murphy. I did Rebound Martin Lawrence.

Did you get on with Eddie, by the way?

Yeah, it was a carrot of broccoli.

We did our- No, but I'm saying, do you guys get along? Are you guys buddy still? You're cool?

We're not, but he knows all the stand-ups, right? I heard he watches it. Yeah, that's so funny. So it was funny. My part wasn't that big, but it stood out, the Karen of Broccoli in there. But we did a table read. He's not there for the table read. Sure. So when I first meet him is when we're about to shoot the scene. His stand-in ran through the scene before we got ready to set the cameras up. So blocking, he wasn't there either. So right when make up uniform, we're going to do one take and then we're going to shoot it. I come on the corner and he's this close to my face because that's the scene. He's right there. And the whole time, as he's talking to me, I'm just going, Oh, fuck.

This is Eddie Murphy.

And I'm looking at his teeth, his nose. I'm like, he breathing.

He talking. Eddie Murphy's mouth. Eddie Murphy's face. That's raw and delirious.

But as soon as I came around, he goes, Hey, man. And he sends his hand out. And I got to go. He goes, Yeah, man. He did a joke about Tiger Woods and M&M. And I was like, you're fucking lying. He knows your shit. You know one of my jokes? That was the time when Tiger Woods was on top of the golf world and M&M was on top of the rap world. And that's when I said, We're in We're in a weird age where the number one golfer is black and number one rapper is white. It was just silly, simple. But it's great. He knew it. And I was like, oh, shit. No way. So that was probably the coolest, most fun I've had. We definitely Held up with Jamie Fox. Because we were in Canada the whole summer of '98. And it was like, he got me the party, saw me on stage and asked me to audition for this movie. So I wink, wink. I really had to fuck up the audition. But I was so prepared because I had like two I was like, I got two weeks to prepare for this audition.

So ever I was going, I'm just reciting the lines to get ready for this. And it was only like two pages. It wasn't like a big audition. So I went in there and I was like, I called him. I said, I think I did good. I'm calling him. I think I did good. I did good, Jamie. All right, we'll let you know. And then I was over his house and he was like, this is for cell phones. He goes, Hey, when you get home tonight, you should have a voicemail. And I was like, What do you mean? He goes, I ain't trying to let the cat out the bag, but check your messages. So we got the Bart. I'm going back to my apartment after leaving his fucking place. Hey, they make it sound so nothing. Hey, Gary, this is Zozo from whatever production. Hey, so we want to hire you.

It's like a job. Talk to you soon. Yeah.

It was so nice. You're like, this whole shit. I think I got a movie. Week later, I'm in Canada. It was just the age frame. I was in my early 20s. Jamie was 29, 30. And then the whole cast He was young. This was before any given Sunday. So he was still like... He was like me. He was black famous, but he wasn't global famous. And we just had the best time hanging out. We were on this... They made a desert in the middle of nowhere in Canada, right? Saskatchewan. So every day we're in a van driving 45 minutes to set, and we just were there all day, whether you have one line or you're in all the scenes, you're just stuck in these trailers all day.

I know it.

And it was just so cool. I thought all All Sets were like that because I could just go into Jamie's trailer and hang out. He likes people around, though. I assume that's what all movies. You just knock, what's up, bro? And you go in and hang out. No, sir. Oh, it's not like that on all sets. But everybody's like that. Everybody was so welcoming, come to my trailer. Come here. Let's hang out.

Most people are cool. I did a thing with Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg. Most guys know that they have to be this way these days. The old days of Hollywood, where it's like, don't talk to me. Don't come to my trail. ' That's tough to do these days because everyone's got a cell phone and they have the Internet to be like, you know who fucking sucks? ' You know what I mean? It's too easy to leak it. So I think nowadays I don't feel it as much where when I first started getting on sets when I was 28, 29, it was different. You felt it a little bit more that people were like, you stay in your fucking lane and you shut up and you don't talk to so and so. ' You got a good vibe, though, about you.

I would think you're very disarming.

I just want to go kick. I We just want to hang out. We're playing dress up. Seinfeld did an American comedian Ward one time, and he was making fun of actors. And I always remember that speech, and he was like, you're playing dress up. My daughter does this. He's like, They tell you, wear these clothes, say these lines, what we told you to say. Now stand there and do the thing. It's for fun. It's all for fun.

I agree. It ain't that easy, though.

No, it's not.

I like this.

Look, he's shitting on it, but I know It's not easy. Some of that shit's hard. No, it's hard. It's hard. But it is dress-up. We get to play dress-up. So it should be loose. You shouldn't feel like the end of the world is coming if you screw up. I always felt like that was it. When I was younger, I felt nervous. If you screw up a line, you're cooked. They're going to fire you.

See, I'm a terrible auditioner.

Oh, really? That was my strong suit. I could get in there and go get them.

No, especially if I'm not motivated. If I feel like, oh, then I'm going to get this. They probably got to offer out to somebody already.

Well, they definitely had an offer to somebody. Yeah, they always do that shit. I'm always like...

And then especially as a stand up, when you start making a little loot, you're like, I'm not motivated. I don't feel like this is going to change my life. Yeah. And then when you get those roles, you feel like could change your life. You put so much pressure on yourself. I've had some really legendary bad auditions.

I left there like, whoa.

There was one for Jag. Remember that TV show, Jag?

Oh, yeah.

It was so funny. I got two. I got an audition for the Wayne's Brothers and Jag on the same day. I get the part. The Wayne's was such a small part, though. It was just one episode. And they called me before I got to the I go to the Jag audition and said, You got it. I said, Shut up. I got it. I was like, No way. So now I'm all happy. So I'm not focused on this audition now because I'm still thinking, Oh, my God. I want to call everybody and tell them, Oh, my God, I want to call everybody and tell them I got this part. And then I go to the Jag audition. I'm just butchering this. It's getting worse. And I was playing a Marine on the run that me and my girl were wanted for murder or something. We killed somebody, and we're getting surrounded now by everybody. They get us on the beach, and she got shot, and I'm holding her. And it's supposed to be like, I just crying. I just want to be a Marine, man. I was like, Oh, everyone, he was a Marine. I could tell it's going bad, and I'm feeling it.

And I go, I just want to be a Marine. I don't even like this bitch. I'll be honest with you, man.

Take her back.

So there's four people in the room. Three of them are stoneface. Almost like I saw them scratch my name out.

Thank you. We'll be in touch.

The one girl went… I was like, okay, it's a win. That's the win. We got something.

We got something.

I had a deal. You know who Avette Lee-Bowser is? Mm-mm. She created Living Single. Okay. Half and Half. So we had a TV deal together for Fox, and we put this show together. I never did a table read before. I didn't know what it was. I had one movie, and that was a Jamie Fox movie, and that was an audition, and then we went to Canada. I don't really have a lot of acting experience in all these deals. So we get to script, and they cast the show. Holly Robinson Pete was going to be my wife, things like And then we do the table read for the network. And I thought you had to memorize the script. I didn't know it's a table, put the script on it, and you read it.

Yeah.table read.You're off book for a table read.

That's hilarious. I'm racking my brain for a week. It's 38 pages. So we get there and I'm the lead. So I got the most lines. So I don't even open my script. And I'm so into my own zone. I'm not realizing everybody else I was just reading because my head is on a swivel because I'm talking to this person. I'm talking to my mom, and I'm talking to my wife, I'm talking to my kids. I'm all over the place. And then I was like, we got to page eight, and I got lost. I go, It's my turn. I'm going, fuck, fuck. And now I realize everybody's reading. I go, Oh, shit. Then I'm open a script, scrambling, trying to find the page, butchered it, right? We have a table read, air of my clap. Good job, everybody. Great I'm like, no, wasn't it?

Not really.

A vet takes me in her office. I remember she kicked her feet off. She goes, what happened? What happened? I go, I thought I had to memorize it. I didn't know I could just read it. She goes, it's literally called a table read. Table read. I said, no, I told me.

We did. We told you the name, the name of it.

I didn't know. She didn't know. Long story short, Fox passed. You When the men wanted to see it. They brought in Jason Bateman to read for Gary Owen. Oh, wow. As Gary Owen.

That's so funny.

Jason Bateman, he was at a lull in his career at that point. This is 2000. Sure. So he wasn't... He was at that... It's an evidence. It's a roller coaster.

Yeah. This is an Ozark Jason Bateman.

Yeah. Or was it not modern? No, no.

Restive Development.

Restive Development. Yeah. Before that. So he's... Because even Jason Bateman, Jason Bateman He didn't admit it. So they told me, literally, they go, look, if the show goes, you're not going to be in it. You will have an executive producer credit, a creative by credit, but based on the standup of Gary Owen, but you're not.

It's your whole life, though.

And he was going to be called Gary. Jason Baywood would have been playing Gary always. So it didn't get picked up. An event went on to do half and half, and Jason went on to an amazing career. And we're all doing fine right now. I I've avoided everybody in that room for years.

Out of fear? Holly Robinson Pete.

I thought they'd be like, That guy.

That guy. That guy. He can't act.

I run into Holly Robin's the Pete. I like to think like a man at the premiere, like the premiere party. I literally pulled her aside and said, Hey, Holly, you know I avoided you for the last 10 years? And she was like, Why? I go, The table read for the show. She acts like she didn't remember. She was, What are you talking about? I go, My show with a vet. You were playing my wife. And she goes, I didn't think it was that bad. I go, Come on, Al.

Yeah, literally. No bullshit.

I was like, that's when I knew Hollywood was full of shit because when everybody clap, great job, everybody. I was like, come on, Al. You just recast to me.

You saw what happened.

Should have went great job, everybody. Except you.

Gary, not great. Not great at all.

In here, we pour whiskey.

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Ginger.

I like gingers. I mean, I had the horror stories that I used to... When I was first auditioning for sitcoms, I was always scared of people do get fired at these table reads, and you've heard this historically Basically, this happens. I was nervous. The first sitcom I booked, we had a table read at ABC, and probably one of the most experienced people there, she got clipped after the table read, and she knew it was bad. And she has gone on to have a fine career. It didn't matter. But I remember her calling afterwards and being like, Was that really bad? And there was no other way. I was just like, I don't think it was great. The rhythm was all weird. You told that to Monique? I had to. Baby, baby. How bad was it? Monique. Yeah, Monique and I, we had a long run, a long run together, me and Monique. No, but when people get clipped from those things, it sucks. It's uncomfortable. Well, it sucks because you're like, it's not a reflection of your talent or lack thereof. It's just those moments. It's almost like when you have shows sometimes where you're like, man, it's fine.

But it's not what it was for the early show. You know what I mean? Or whatever. Oh, my God.

Isn't that the weird thing? How... And even a theater, I've seen people, comics, just not get laughs. I go, it's crazy to me that 2,000 people can all come together and be like, we're not going to laugh at this.

Yeah, it's not our vibe.

At the same time. And then you got other shows, 2000 people like, this is the greatest guy ever. And you just saw them do the same jokes. I know. But it's wild to me.

Something What happens with the rhythm of the room and the way that people are moving with each other that is so magical when it works, it's amazing. When they all feel that they're not really into something, man, it's so, I don't know, it's just so infectious. Precious, where some nights where it's a dull, it's dull. But I mean, we take the hit and we keep moving. Are you touring a new hour now?

It's a combo because when you do two hours and two nights- Yeah, that's insane that you did, I'm literally going, I don't think I did that, did I? And my manager's like, I don't know. There's some jokes I'll put bullet points on my phone, like a word, and I'll know. I use notes.

I do notes.

Yeah, I'll be like, Waffle House. I'll be like, okay, I know I didn't use a Waffle House joke in the last special.

The hour, right. Yeah.

So when you do two hours like that, I was like, I think it's like a high. And then you don't want to do one because you can be adding on to it. And now it's better. But you're like, I can't do it once it airs. So I know there's about 45 minutes that I know is put to bed because I know what that's about. That was about my divorce, avoiding a process server. That was about the issues I had with my family, my divorce. So I know that's gone. I'm not doing those jokes anymore. I moved on. But the other stuff, am I? I'm not doing military stuff right now because I know I did a lot in the second hour. So I'm going, it's a hybrid. There's a lot of new stuff, but I think I'm still touching on a couple of topics from the special, but it hasn't, nobody's bought it yet.

Well, they will.

When they do, then I'll know, they'll put it to bed.

And now that you are, don't know if you care to, but now that you're single, are you out there? I'm dating somebody, though. Are you in the streets?

I'm dating somebody. Are you out in these streets? No, I'm dating somebody. You are. Yeah.

The streets are over. You're too grown to be out running around. I'm not saying that. No. I'm not saying that.

I'm just saying I'm tired.

Yeah, you're tired. I'm I'm tired. Yeah. You want someone that's- That's why I just want to come home. You don't want someone that's like, let's go to the club.

Let's go out. I can't do that. No, I don't have the energy. I'll go out every now and then. Sometimes you just want to, I don't know. Sometimes you just want to go. But I like I can't just go to clubs and just watch. I can't just go and be in the people. I need a section and not the floss to sit down.

Right. Just to take the weight off. Yeah. The sciatic has got me. I don't want to be out all night.

I want to be like an hour. I'm good for an hour. And if you're with your boys or something, it's always That's good. Just listen to music and hang a little bit. But I can't do like I used to. We're shutting it down. We're getting tanked.

I'm shutting it down. I'm shutting this down. I'm going to go to bed. Irish goodbye every time I go out now. I always leave. Irish goodbye, you don't say goodbye? Yeah, you don't say goodbye. You just disappear. My easiest Irish goodbye to lead myself into getting there is maybe telling one friend being like, I'm going to go to the bathroom, and then I'll never come back. I'm going to go to the bathroom, and I'll never come back. And then no one gives a shit. They don't know that you're gone.

And even if they did- I read on social media, they said, if you don't say goodbye when you leave a room, you literally save... It's some enormous amount of time in your life. You literally save six months of your life. You said years. I went months.

Okay. Because the amount of time that I've spent. Bye later, man.

I'm gone. You're leaving? Yeah. Wait, come over here.

Say hi to Mark. Mark's here. Yeah, it's like, fuck, man. I don't want to say hi to that guy. Well, listen, dude, I appreciate you coming on the show. I knew you had a busy day already, so this means a lot. It's great to sit with you. If you want to plug dates, please Plug away. Tell these people where to go see you.

What do you got coming up? You're on AndrewSantino. Com. I like to plug other people's dates.

Dude, I'm out. I'm only doing six little six clubs, and then I'm doing theaters down in the fall. I'm done. I'm cooked for the year. I'm like, I don't even want to do six clubs. So where are you going?

Tell people.

When does this air? Whenever you want it to air. When are you out right now?

I'm out year round. I'll put dates that I know this is going to air. July 27th, I'm at the Pearl Theater inside the Palms in Las Vegas.

Is that where you always play? Do you always play the Palms?

I used to do the Orleans. Oh, yeah. Then the Palms stepped up and we... Yeah. They pay well. It's come a tradition. It's always like that last weekend in July. It's great. And same with New Year's Eve. I always do the Texas Trust Theater in Dallas, New Year's Eve.

Now, what is that about? Why Dallas?

Probably about 10 years ago, I did it because they said they were doing music acts. Music is a lot more insurance, moving parts. Sure. We tried it, did pretty good. Sold enough tickets that everybody made money. The next year, we came back. I headlined again, we sold more tickets. Third year, sold it out. I was like, Oh, but now I'm going, year four, guys, a new hour every year in the same venue. Tough. I was like, you're trying to remember what you did the last year, right? If you'll come back. I said, okay, we're going to switch it. I'm going to host, and We're going to really go after big headliners. That's smart. And we'll do two nights. We'll do the 30th and 31st. So that's what we've done every year since. I've had Cedric, I've had Epps, I had Deon Cole this year.

That's super smart. Then you get to have fun and goof off.

And then we do two nights and we pack it out.

You'll do that again this year.

We're not only doing the 31st. I think it falls on a Tuesday this year or something. Does it? Yeah. It's a weird day that New Year's Eve is. So We don't have... People got to go to work on the 30th. So they're going to be like, let's just do the 31st, pack it out, and then we'll go back to two days once it falls on a third day, Friday, Saturday. We're going to fill it up this year. So we'll say those tickets aren't on sale yet.

They will be soon.

But the Palms is on sale.

Vegas is a tough, weird market sometimes. So come out to Vegas.

July 27th.

Yeah.

And then, hold on. Okay. The Keswick Theater in Philadelphia is July 28th. Keswick Theater.

I think that's what it's called. I mean, you know better than I did. I don't know. I've only played the Met is the only other theater that I played there. You know the Met?

I'm pretty sure I've done it at some point.

I'm sure.

But yeah, Keswick Theater on the 28th. The Pearl Theater inside the Palms. That's in July.

We'll just go with that. We'll go with that.

We don't know where this is going to go.

In a couple of weeks.

That was the longest pump your date end of a podcast.

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. They get what they deserve. But go to what? Gary Owen. Com. It's got to be, yeah?

Gary Owen. Live.. Live. The divorce, I lost. Com. You lost the.

Com. She will take everything. Yeah.

She paid the domain. She was paying it to keep the domain.

And then refuse to give it to you? Yeah.

Wow. Isn't that crazy? So I had to go to- That is ice cold. I don't know if she refused to give it to me. It's just at the time, the payments due just for the domain, which isn't that much, and we're in the middle of divorce, I can't call her and be like, Hey, can you pay for the website? Everything was going like her email, her password. So we just said, Let it go. I'll just get different websites. Now it's Gary on. Live.

Now she'll take over your website and just start putting a fake shit on there. All right, dude, I appreciate you. We end the show the same way. Look in that camera right there and you say one word or one phrase to end the episode. It used to be a word, and then some people wanted to say a phrase. So however you want to end the episode in that camera whenever you're ready.

Fuck you, Bobby Lee.

I forgot we didn't talk about that asshole. Fuck him.

In here, we pour whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, whiskey whiskey.