Jim Breuer
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Hey guys, it's Spadoodle. You can always go to davidspade.com to look at my tour dates because I bless a lot of cities in America with my hilarious stand-up act. Or you could not go to it and get on my enemy list. Up to you!

Yes, I have actually stayed at Airbnbs from time to time. And truth be told, I do really like them. I'm being totally honest right now that I've had great experiences with them. Yeah, I mean, you can have your look at you go get your own place, get your own pool, your own living room. You're not going to walk in an elevator. You're not going to see people when you're walking around in your undergarments. Yeah.

Yes. And if you don't understand what we're talking about, you should go online. What we're saying is you have a house with a kitchen and a bathroom and it's just for you, tailored for you. You liked your Airbnb over a hotel. Yes. And I do think I've had relatives stay nearby and sometimes it's very nice for them to do an Airbnb and have a little house and they're not underfoot. The last thing you want is your house guest to say, excuse me, um,

Where would I find a towel? That's a toughie when it's- Because they're naked? Well, it's like the 1800th time you say, on the towel rack. Yeah. Thank you. Oh, I was going to look there. People don't even think hotels sometimes just go, hey, I'll go there, I'll get an Airbnb. So you won't regret it. Jimmy Jimbo Brewer. Jim Brewer is a buddy of mine. I don't see barely ever anymore.

He was on We Overlapped a little bit We talked about that He is such a character My two buddies in Arizona Always hit me up With the Jim Brewer clips He's got great stand up He's bananas He has a really funny story About when he worked at Sears I think he worked in paints Or something

And the paint department. And he does this elaborate story of how he called in a bomb threat. I think that's what happened. It was so, so nuts, but everything he says, he knows how to tell a story. I'll give him that. The guy knows how to talk. We were cracking up. Uh, we asked about, of course, goat boy. It took so long for him to get that on, I think. And, um,

I don't know if this is just a lot of laughs. We were all laughing. Sometimes it's like that. Sometimes it's more informative, but we just cracked up. So stick around, kick back, pull over, put it in park. And as you know, Dana is still not here, but we did this one right before last year. We banked it and we are going to get a few out and then hopefully Dana's back and we just keep going. We don't miss a beat. So yeah,

Thank you for understanding. And he appreciates everything. And he'll be speaking about it and everything when he comes back. Here's Jim Brewer. Don't do anything without me. Nothing. Look at Brewer. Oh, shoot. Like a rock star. I was just showing up when he's ready to go. Look at Brewer. Looks like De Niro. I'm on the road and I literally just checked into an Airbnb. Where are you playing?

This will come out in three months. All right. Someplace in Cincinnati. You look good, though. You look good. You do, too. I took three hours on this Zoom.

We look good. I mean, look where we're at in life. We're not sagging. We're not like... So, guys, great seeing you guys. These are good, you know. Dana, I was with my two idiot friends in Arizona, and we were leaving some deli, and we saw these guys.

And they were all like old and beat up. And we were like, holy shit, this is really us in 10 years. Then they go, hey, Spade, we went to school with you. And I go, oh, shut the fuck up. Really? Is this what I'm... So I was beating the system a little bit there because they go, we totally gave up. And I go... No, there's a lot of giving up. Well, let's put it this way though. My relatives...

they're not photographed. They don't want pictures that they don't, they're not on zooms. They don't see themselves. So they get in the mirror, they put the chin up, they have good lighting. And then they wonder what the fuck happened to me. You know, like if I put them on, you know, let me get a little iPhone around you. Let me get a side angle. But you can really think you look a lot younger. Why is everybody looks so old? But I represent a little further up the ladder than you do. So you,

Let's see you. Yeah, you can Wikipedia. Well, Jim's younger than me, so you're the kid here. Jim is still on fire. That's one thing I wanted to mention, Jim. The physicality and the energy, because I saw some of your special from last year at the Comedy Store in La Jolla. Yeah. And I was impressed, because a lot of times I'll jump around out there. I've seen other comedians do a physical move, and then they're...

They're doing kind of this, but you went ballistic at the beginning of that special. You came out super mellow, put like your phone down and then you'd be like five minutes of fucking Jim Carrey, 10 X energy and falls off funny. And then I'm waiting for, I'm going, this guy's going to have to take a seat like Frazier. Yeah.

But so do you work out? Is that just because you do it a lot? Because you didn't you sustained it and you didn't get you didn't get out of breath. So how do you do you have you like? No, I listen. So I think it was maybe two years ago before I did that, where I was on stage and.

I thought someone got up from the... I thought someone was aggravated by something I was saying and they took a baseball and they threw it at me because I was hopping around and I felt my calf pop. No. So I literally turned and I went...

okay, who did that? And they're all looking at me like I'm crazy. And then I went, oh, no, no, no, you're not getting away with that. Like, you don't throw things. And they're looking at me like I'm crazy. And then I went to walk and I was, oh, God. And long story short, I just...

I didn't know you could blow a calf muscle. My calf muscle. Wow. How high up was it? Was it where the meets the Achilles like two thirds down or was it up toward your knee? No, it was, it was literally the fat. Yeah. They were like, if it was just a little bit here, we would have talking about the Achilles heel and the whole. Okay. Yeah. So I didn't hit that. So because of that,

I even now I stretch and I do a lot of stretching before I get out there. I do a lot of, I do cardio, but I do a lot of stretching before I go out there. A lot of stretching. Yeah. Because you didn't before, right? No. What comedian goes out there like they're going to the NBA finals? I know I don't do it. And then now, and then I go, but I don't move around that much. You don't move around. And I don't do jokes. And I just lay down.

Yeah. And you, and you, and you sell out, it's called sleepy time with spade. I don't know how you sell the tickets. They love it. Lines around the block. You'll get some, but you're doing a rooster thing. Your hands are out. I mean, it's incredibly physical. So anyway, I, I, I loved, I grew up with that. Like I loved Lauren Hardy. I love, and the comedians once prior came out, it, it,

Richard Pryor's, I'm the same thing. I'm just a street entertainer. Whatever, what I grew up on the street, I just see the story and then I elaborate the story. And then he, he acts everything out like, Hey, this is what happened. No, I'm going to act it out. But yeah, I got that, that San Diego one. I went,

I went extremely nuts on that one. Well, plus you're taping. Well, it reminded me because you can fall asleep about stand up mentally. And when I saw that, I went, damn, you know, commitment should never be underrated. And to your point, like prior with the gangsters, the one in Long Beach is special. Yeah. Real commitment to the voice and to the character.

Yeah. Extremely entertaining. Whenever I see anybody throw their voice anywhere, I go, yeah, I do that. I better do that. But when you see it, you go, that's really entertaining. So thank you. Thank you. You know what you're doing up there, Mr. Brewer? Well, well, he's not walking through it, which is nice. Like you're saying, he's not just going, here's Mac. When I grew up and I was doing standup Dana before SNL,

Brewer probably the same thing. Like when you go on the road and you work with a headliner, they could do the same 45 every time you see them for 10 years. And then you go, and they're just beginning, middle, end, you know, back and forth and they walk back and then they get a drink and you go shit. But for someone actually think sometimes you even catch yourself in your own joke and it gets better because sometimes

You put a new spin on it because you're saying it. You go, what am I really saying here? And you get back into the story the way you thought of it. And you got to say it and lean into it and go this, this. And it sells it harder. You're not just saying it. And so when Jim is a little more animated or just that style, you have to bring it. It's a little trickier. It definitely is. You can't walk through it. No, I can't. I can't walk through this. And it's really...

The bad part of it for me is if that energy is not there, I don't do very, if I, if my energy has to stay down here, I can adjust to it. And then I could do, you know, laid back storytelling. But when it's really, really most exploitive for me is when there, I can feel their energy right out of the gate. And then that feeds, I guess like a band. And then I, then I start,

Going in all different directions that I didn't really plan. And then I'm in the zone and that's, that's when I have so much fun, so much fun. Cause you're surprising yourself in the moment. You're going off. Yeah. Yes. That I'm addicted to that. I don't enjoy repeating. Yeah. Like even now it's all leading up to some specials, but there's one whole section where,

And if I, every night I'm hitting a section, I'm like, Oh my God, I'm bored with this already. I need to find another Avenue. And then I'll find another Avenue. Like, um, I love it again. Hmm.

That's very true. That's very true. It's one new bit, one new idea lifts the whole night up. God, you try to do another bit. You're going out there and you're doing an hour and you go, I have one joke that's new and you cannot wait. You're like, here I go. We're in the middle. And then I smash it because when it fucking bombs, I put a winner before it and after, and I just act like nothing happened. But if it works the rest of the time, I'm like, oh yeah, it does wake you up. I

Yes, man. It feels good. Yeah, you still can think of fucking jokes. It's so hard. I hate when something has been killing for a couple years and then just all of a sudden it starts to fade away. Horrible. Horrible. Did I...

Am I not committing to it? You know, I always tell young comedians, I mean, if you see someone run over something in a street, you come up to your apartment, you're talking to your friends, you want to have that kind of commitment and energy. You get right to it. You're very clear. There's this lady driving a car, this and that. And then months later, you just unravel it and you don't really, it's, but your energy is...

Still up there, man. Well, thank you. Let's get to the old... Wait, Jim Wan said he loved something. What? What'd you love? No, no, I loved... I got excited when I saw you guys hook up together and start doing this. I thought that was really fascinating, interesting. I was like, oh, because, you know, it's a billion podcasts now. Hey, we're going to talk about comedy again. Oh, God. But what...

Oh, my God. I was at the club. All right. But then when I saw... And the guy didn't pay me. Shut the fuck up. No, we agree. We just kind of went, oh, I guess we'll try this. We started hanging out in LA when I moved back down a lot. And then we just sort of said, yeah, let's try it. And we didn't really have a plan, obviously. But that's the best part of it. I mean, even when I started, we're able to...

Just who cares? Because at the end of the day, you go back on stage. We're already established in that world. All three of us are established. So who cares? I won't say who it is, but there's a gargantuan, at least one or two comics on there. Nobody's watching the podcast. But it doesn't stop the human being from selling out 18,000 seats somewhere. But this just opens a whole new door for us where –

In the years ago, we didn't have this. And human beings are fascinated by anything that feels authentic. It doesn't have to be funny every second, but just this is a new thing. I'm glad I'm around long enough to like, okay, this is a job that I have. A little side gig. Did you feel any point you didn't want to get vulnerable? Like on the podcast? I don't know how vulnerable the two of you get, like how truthful you guys get. Dana gets more.

I would imagine. Yeah. Yeah. There's different kinds of vulnerability. There's stuff that maybe would involve other loved ones. Wouldn't do that, but you can ask me anything you want about anything. No, that's, that's the way I mean. That's what I feel like. Yeah. I,

I, over the years, have found out the more vulnerability I put out there, the more honesty, even if I think people are like, oh, I don't care. I'm at that point. I don't care what you know about me. I'm going to tell you everything. This one's bad. I don't care. Tough shit. You got nothing to hold on to anymore. My problem, Jim, is I'm like a tough guy, a hard-ass athlete. That's my persona.

So people don't think anything could ever get to me. Impenetrable. Cause I'm so, yeah, I'm like the Schwarzenegger of comedy. And so when they see me, they go, nothing's wrong. There's nothing else other than toughness.

After about a hundred of these, I realized there was no- I'm the Lenny Dykstra of, well, that's not a good one. Lenny Dykstra. Nails. I don't know about that. Yeah, I was getting this. Just to nails, that's all. How about a podcast called There's No There There? Just so people know. There's nothing. Don't keep- So the name of your podcast is Brew- No Verse. No Verse.

I got two others for you. Ready? Brew-niverse, and it's on YouTube, and is it also audio, or is it just everyone? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got one if you interview people about their feelings. One's called Brew Who, and the other one is called The Brew Crew. Yes. With you and a couple guys. I like that. That's too easy. We'll go back to Brew Who. And then a fitness segment called Hit the Gym.

Wow. That doesn't have brew in it. I think you guys know, but no, but it's got to hit the gym. I like that. Well, Dave, I feel honored because one of them, one of them is brew crew.

Like we start a whole brew crew section, shirts, blah, blah, blah. But the other one, the who, would you say? Brew who? Brew who where it's sharing feelings. We'll make you cry, yeah. I like that. I like that a lot. Make you cry. Yeah. Just take it and run with it and start the shirts and hats. Do I owe you guys any? No. Okay. Thank you.

No, you're good. There is a little envelope in that hotel room and some per diem. I got $200. I got you. Toyota's national sales event is happening now, meaning it's a great time for a great deal on a dependable Toyota truck like the Tundra workhorse by nature powerhouse by design combines raw capability with premium comfort and advanced tech to fuel your wildest adventures.

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Visit buyatoyota.com, the official website for deals. All new Toyotas come with ToyotaCare, a no-cost maintenance plan. See your dealer or visit buyatoyota.com for details. Let's go places. Jim, I don't know if you're ever in LA, but when I drive on PCH coming out of the 10, there's an old Sears. It says you used to work at Sears. Yeah. I used to love Sears, and now I'm like,

This building, I think, is toast. I don't know what's going on with it. Well, they're closing all of them. Is that because of the massive robberies or did they skip Sears? I have no clue. I just know. Target and other ones kind of beat them up a little bit. Yeah, that's what I think would happen. But did you know, you guys know Freddie Armisen? Yeah. Me and Fred Armisen? Yes. Me and Freddie graduated from the same high school.

And Freddie and I used to work at Spears. I love it. In Valley Stream. And he was like, dude, Freddie was... He used to have a mohawk. That's before mohawks were cool. He had a mohawk. I would love a mohawk. And he had combat boots he would wear. What? Yes. And he'd walk around with like...

These guys that had dead Kennedy jackets on. And he worked in the lawnmower department? I want to say he worked in the auto department, but only as a sales guy at the Clint. Wow. Yeah, yeah. You know what?

I don't know if you know it, but when I was there, I did a big bomb threat, which I made a bit, but it was real. I cleared the entire store. Wait, what? Yeah, I swear to God. So I'm sure that both of you, especially Dana, have done so. When I worked there, this is, I'm like 19 years old. I would call other departments.

as characters all day long. That's funny. Right. I mean, I have a dangling cross earring. I'm wearing my Judas Priest denim jacket. So this is where I'm at. And, you know, there's a big fat guy that worked in toys. So whenever the cabbage packs would come out, he'd have all these Jamaican women come in and pissed off because there were no, there were no,

black cabbage patch dust. So they're like, why are we waiting for five hours? So you'd have, and that's when I'd call and you have to pick up the phone. Like, Hey, I need you to go look for Wilson basketball. Don't put me in a hole. So anyway, I swear on my kids lives. This is a true story. So I work in paint. I don't know anything about paint. I know nothing about people would come look at me like, Hey man, I'm

We want to paint the kitchen. I'm like, yeah, I would stain it. I don't know what that all does to you. You got to sand it. What? Right. So there's a guy in hardware.

And I could see him. He's right down the aisle. And I walk in his apartment. I'm like, hey, man, I'm Jim. I work in paint, blah, blah, blah. And he gets really snippy. He's like, hey, you know what, man? Stay in your department. You look high all the time. You don't know anything about what you're saying. So he's overheard one conversation with you with paint. This is 86, 7-ish. And all I remember, we had a bigger deal going on with Libya.

right it was all everywhere oh yeah he shot missiles out of plane and we gotta kill mu ma kadafi so i i call up i on my i could see this i could see him and he picks up the phone and i say hello he's he's all professional yeah john sears hardware bally stream how may i help you and i said

This is, you know, I'm doing the whole accent. This is Muammar Gaddafi. I've sent six Libyan missiles to blow up the Sears hardware department. And I'm going on and on. I'm doing the noises. And I said, long live paint. Right. Hang up. So I swear to God. Right. So I go into the break room because you go in the break room. You had to go through the paint, paint.

the doors to everyone would come out through paint and so i'm in the break room and i'm hanging out for like 20 minutes and and i got let me go back out there nobody's out there um what the fuck is going so um like nobody's there's no customers there's no people i go into i go into toys and the candy and and then the security guy comes out he's like hey man you gotta get out of here

So let's go. Ah, the new guy got a bomb threat. What? What do you mean he got a bomb threat? He's like, yeah, man. You don't even remember 20 minutes ago. Right? I said, well, I said, that was me. I said, I was Muammar Gaddafi. I said, I was sending missiles. What the fuck? I, I,

I ended with long-lived pain. He's like, oh, man, we had to evacuate this and the mall. I'm like, the mall? You're evacuating the mall? So this is Valley Stream, Greenacres Mall. Long story short, I had to talk with cops and they all laughed. I had a meet with the head guy of Long Island. Yeah, of all the pain. And

He sits me down. He's got a suit and tie. And I come walking in there. And he's like, so tell me what happened that day to the paint department. And I went, you know, I should have been doing more paint.

I apologize, but all my stuff was done. I got all the sales ones up in the, in the front display and it was slow that night. So I, I keep things light and I, I started, I called him and I, I said, I said I was a MoMA Gaddafi and I sent missiles to hit Sears hardware. And I ended by saying long live paint. And dude, this guy goes, yeah,

All right. Why don't you just sell more paint and we do a little less phone calls? And I keep my job. Yeah. That guy quit after five days because everyone would walk by his department going, look out, this missile's coming. Oh, John? Yeah, yeah. He was in his 40s. And I'm sorry, if you work in Sears hardware and you're 40-

Like something happened. You know what I mean? Like something. He's either living in the basement, like this bad divorce. Something's going on. You ain't working Sears hardware. And by the way, it's, it's more, it's more Amar Gaddafi calling directly. He doesn't have some guy call to threaten. Yes.

Yes. That's a red flag right there. Muammar Gaddafi is calling the hardware. From Libya all the way to a serious hardware department. Valley Springs. I'm going to call 5,000 tonight. Who the first? And you tell the people of the hardware.

And the tool bits that they're going down. You tell Prescott, Nevada that I'm coming for them. You spread it around. This is straight from the Dutch brothers with paint. Is that something? And you tell the department store Stearns next to you. They are next.

I'm going after Radio Shack. Every Radio Shack is going to be gone by morning. My name is Gratna Baki. You will never buy three suits for $99. And then again.

Food court, goodbye. Baskin Robbins must die. I have no problem with Panda Express. Goodbye, Panda King. All of you. So long, Sbarro. Ta-ta, Tater Junction.

That sort of made sense. But what? So, yeah, I know Freddie was, I think Freddie was one. Did he get caught in the rubble or what happened with that? So, so here, I don't even get the story. I go, so no bombs. The bomb didn't hit. No, no, no Gaddafi, no bomb. Just a joke. Some people just go, but there must've been some kind of bomb. It was some threat. No, it was really made up, but something got damaged. No, no,

No. Nothing did. No, it was all made up. Yep. That's good though, Dana. We stumbled into Sears because I love Sears and I used to go to the wish book and get all my... Oh, I always loved Sears. The wish book for Christmas. You know, you go through it and circle stuff and then Santa would guess. The only thing was is my brother, I had three older, the brother got the Schwinn Stingray.

Monster Green. Fucking score. My parents ran out of money, so nothing against Sears, but I got the Sears front loader. And it was just such a downgrade from the Schwinn, but I recovered. Jim's like, I knew a guy in bikes at Sears. Jim had a great Schwinn Stingray as a kid. I had a Schwinn Scrambler. Oh. And it had...

Multiple gears? It had mag wheels. No way. All my life. And this is when I realized... You're lying. There's no...

Absolutely. And I'm right around my neighborhood all like, yeah, this is I got a Schwinn Scrambler with black mag wheels. Eat it. It was stolen. What? That night out of my garage. That's the neighborhood was like, yeah, no, we don't show up here. Take it. Oh, you showed off. Oh, you puffed up. Yeah, man. Right into the neighborhoods. What's up?

I almost got my bike stolen. New pimp sled. We went into a hardware store and we shoplifted bike locks and then came out and locked up our bikes. That's a good, well, there was also a big racket going at Sears. Like you go to school, they had, it was like gangster mafia. I swear my life, there's a guy, I think his name was the Benedetto and he'd be in class.

He'd be like high school, the Benedetto of like Brewer. You know anyone wants a VCR? And VCR is then like, oh, shit, you can score a VCR. He's like, you're going to go into a hardware. You're going to buy like a wrench for like $1.99. And you're going to buy a garbage pail. The garbage pails you got to pick up down by the loading dock. You ask for Vinny.

You'll have that, the VCR being that, but I got to get you $40 by Friday. Oh, my God. You sure? That's a score.

It was a huge score. These guys were just shit. Oh, man. I just have to say that because you're standing and moving to the camera, it's like you're making your own feature film. It's so funny. Like you're going into a close-up and your face is a little distorted because your chin is down. So you're totally this weird character in a movie just then. I was going, damn, what is going on? It's like, hey, you know, I won't say this, you know, motherfuckers. Jim, this guy in my seventh grade

And he was such a little puss, but he was such a tough talker. And he goes, Hey man, where are you going? I go, I'm thinking, I'm one time he busts me. He goes, what are you doing this summer spade? I go, uh, we're thinking ahead into Calif. I tried to be fucking cool. I said, Calif. He goes, you fucking tried to say Calif and not say the whole word. Cool. And I go, no, I was going to say California. He goes, no,

He told everyone, but he, he, he was such a little puss and he walked around and he, he said, so no one would bother him. He goes, I'm, I'm tied into the Bonanno family.

And it was like a big real mafia family. And it was like, holy shit. No one questioned. Why is a seventh grader working for the banana found? But we all stayed away from him because that scares people. Dude, I grew up around all those bananas. There is nothing funny. You know, we, we'd be playing roller hockey and, you know, in the middle of the game,

And we're like nine years old, 11 years old, a bunch of us. And I remember there's always a couple of kids like, did you hear what happened to Uncle Nicky? The government arrested him.

taxes or something and then i never met there's at least three kids that i knew and their fathers would always get arrested but no one really knew what they're right and you don't know what's going on and then the old and then the older you get you're like oh shit you my god

Their parents are tied in the mafia. How do you know that? They come from little Italy? I mean, what do you think? They're fucking doing politics there? Yeah, they were. They found a guy behind around my street. This little bar I used to go into. Kate Saloom. And in there, it was only, I think we were there.

We'd go in there for like a year and we'd sneak in there and they found... And the cops are all out there like, what's going on? They found a guy in cement and a bunch of boxes. Like, what? Holy shit. Yeah. That... I watched all that around me. Dude, even in...

When you start making it, too, I'm sure both you guys were approached by many type of people. They all come out of the woodwork. You know what I get, Dana, is a guy will come up to me to this day, and he'll come up to me at a restaurant, and there's some girls near us, and he walks up, he goes, hey, man, what's going on? My name's Mikey, fucking blah, blah, blah. I'm all cool, like,

And then he turns me two inches and he goes, hey girls, my buddy Spade, blah, blah. I just want to say hi. And I'm like, wait, I just met Mikey literally four seconds ago, but it's a, it's an interesting move. Like he's my man. And some people are middlemen. Like they go, hey, you should come to this thing. And then they'll tell the place they're bringing me. And then he's the middleman getting attention because he's like the guy that got me in. But he goes, hey, these guys want you to come. And then I go and then.

He goes, hey, take care of your dinner. And then he goes, then I see him with the waiter going, just pay for his dinner. Like, he's a fucking on TV. And I'm like, oh, this wasn't even set up ahead. This is just a guy, a flim flam man bullshitting his way through town. But there's a lot of those. There's more of those than real people. No, you're right. You know, Dana, I think we have a connection. We've been friends for a long time. And for this episode of Fly on the Wall, we've partnered with eHarmony.

which isn't us. E harmony is a dating app to find someone you can be yourself with. We are not dating. I want to clarify that, but the connection is what you want in a dating partner. Um, just someone like if you found someone that listened to this podcast, that's somewhat of a connection. And then you sort of build on that. You want someone with some common ground. Yeah, it's not it. Look, if you want to connect romantically over, you know, super fly or fly on the wall, um,

It just makes us happy. You don't want to be watching The Godfather and the person next to you goes, this movie sucks. You want to- So dumb. Yeah. You want to connect on all issues and harmonize in life. Similar sensibility, similar sense of humor, and similar sense of sense. I don't like when they watch The Godfather and they're like, everyone in this movie is so old. I'm like, they're 40.

Watch 2001 Space Odyssey. Too much of this movie is in outer space. I don't like it. When do they land? When do they land? Why is that stupid red light acting so silly? Who's friends with a robot? We know dating isn't easy. That's why we partnered with eHarmony because dating is different on eHarmony. They want you to find someone who gets you, someone you can be comfortable with.

Yeah. I mean, the whole idea is you're going to take a compatibility quiz, helps your personality come out in your profile, which makes all the profiles on eHarmony way more interesting and fun to read. So I think this is the goal of dating sites, and I think eHarmony does it great. It's just finding somebody you're compatible with.

So get started today with a compatibility quiz. So you can find some and you can be yourself with. Get Who Gets You on eHarmony. Sign up today. I'm a nibbler, Dana, and I think you are too, but you always know me that I just have to keep the energy going. And I think because I learned from my dad, pistachios...

are a good source of just, you know, nibble, wake you up. They're always delicious. I actually named a character in a movie I did called Master of Disguise. The lead character's name is pistachio. That's how much I love pistachios. Yeah. Well, wonderful pistachios have literally come out of their shells. It's the same taste. It's delicious, but...

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So how were you in high school, Jim? I mean, were you popular? Were you a stud? Were you a nerd? No, no, no, no, no. I was way too shy. I wasn't a stoner yet. I wasn't a stoner yet. I didn't try pot until my senior year, right before I graduated. But that really didn't kick in until I was like 20 years old, 21 years old. But high school, I was really quiet.

Unless I was the back of the room kid. So I'd always go for the back of the room. And once I was back in the room, if I can disrupt this guy and get this guy on my team or this chick on my team, and then we'd have, you know, I draw a little cartoons, try to crack up this one. Um, but it wasn't until we did a, a sketch night. Ah, right. And, uh,

basically you know this kid one of my best friends was like jim you got to do sketch night i'm like i'm not doing no sketch night he's like no man this is different they're really cool i'm like ah this is fine no i don't want anything to do with theater so they basically like a cosby bit our school each grade um

Each grade had to do a thing from the Bible, even though we weren't a school of faith. Right? So...

My friend writes up pretty much, and he swears he had no clue Cosby did it, was the Q-Bit spit. You know, God goes, Noah, I need you to build a bank. Q-Bit, what's a Q-Bit? He goes, but at that time, all I would do is all day imitate professional wrestlers running into the locker, smashing their heads. And the other thing I would do is talk like Eddie Murphy, nonstop, all day.

all day so he said do it as eddie murphy so i finally agreed to it and this is so now that i really think of it like i could really get today's world oh my god they would have me he's racist so i came out as moses but as eddie murphy eddie murphy being moses because

And all I remember was... Well, I got to hear this. Yeah. Well, yeah. So I came out and I was like, what? Your mother. You know, I'm doing all that. And the place explodes. I've never...

I've never killed that hard since. Not really. I've been trying to. It's the most memorable. Maybe I should do all my stuff that I'm doing now. Just do it as Murphy back in 85. Yeah, that's funny. The next day in school.

I swear to God, it's like a movie. So all the hot chicks are like, oh my God, you're so funny. All the guys I always were intimidated by, like the jocks, and they were like, bro, we got to hang out, man. You're a pisser. I never known you were such a pisser. It's like a 10 movie. Everything's going perfectly the next day. It was, Dave, if you wrote the script, you went, eh, it's a little too predictable. Too corny. Yeah.

Yeah, it really was that. And then the next night I had to do it again. They were chanting. And I just, I was already on the verge of like, I'm going to be a stand-up. I'm doing it. But this...

This put me over the edge. I was like, oh yeah, I'm going after this. Did you swear at the high school thing or no? No. No, no, no. You did it without swearing. That's pretty good. But I said your mother a lot. I'm like, yeah, what'd you say? And I was doing this with my hands for some reason. Like gang sign. What'd you say? Your mother.

Your mother, your mother was enough back then. We didn't need crude language. Yeah. You can hint at it. Now it's got to be a nail on the head. Yeah. High school. If you can, if you can be cool, that's fucking spreads like wildfire. That's great. Yeah. So that, but otherwise high school, I really wasn't, uh, I was, I was mostly quiet. I liked, I grew up on a street. We never had to leave the street. I,

I mean, we had chicks. We had everyone who I still hang out with is from that street. We're all within two, three years of each other. It was, I really, to me, that was the greatest. Everyone knew each other. Everyone looked after each other. It was, it was like a brothers and, and still is to this day. So I wasn't into. Where were you? What city?

Valley Stream. You keep saying this fake name, but where is that? What state? Oh, I'm sorry. New York. New York. Thank you. It sounds very, it sounds California. Long Island. Long Island. Yes. So we grew up where Valley Stream, the end of the street, almost like the movie

eight miles the end of the street was all black we were the beginning of all white so you had this racial tension and we weren't really allowed to walk on their side they were like get back on that side white boy oh sorry and then and then if they would come down the street we'd all just stare oh my god so you don't do shit you pussy what's that you don't do anything

No, we were scared to death. Are you kidding? What, were you going to challenge the neighborhood? Yeah, yeah. With a popsicle stick you sharpened? Well, were you friends with any black guys then or no? You guys are in trouble now. I'm going to sharpen this popsicle stick. It's like a knife, man. You roll a hula hoop at them.

Take that. Go get some dirt bombs. Oh, dirt bombs, yeah. So then you're friends with these guys still because of that bond of that street. Yeah, yeah. Every time. Have either one of you played the Paramount in Huntington, New York?

Yes. Is that when they give you a brick afterwards? Yes. Yes. It's a fucking 40 pound brick. I'm flying out the next day. I'm on Southwest. I have to take it. It's got my name on it. And we go like a few blocks to the driver goes, just pull over. But great, great club. Very hot, you know,

hot room dave you would they are hands down the greatest people towards artists i think it's one of the greatest venues in the whole country um the downstairs they have that whole hip private room and all that jazz but i play there like every three four months and my mike the kids i grew up with they always meet me there and then we go downstairs in a room and you

It's like being a bunch of knuckleheads back being kids again. Do you ever hear this, though, with relatives or friends that come to your shows? Backstage, they go, no matter how many times I hear those bits, they're still funny to me. Such a burn. Yeah. It's such a quiet burn. I've heard that thing you did 35 times. I still laugh. That's based on me, I think. And you're like, no, no.

No, no. I tell everyone that's about me, right? No. So how did these friends, no, it's about, no, it's not you. Go ahead. How did they respond when you started to get really successful? I mean, first you must've exploded in the clubs or became a headliner at some point, right? And started to make good money.

I'm assuming you weren't a 10-year tortured guy. It seems like with your skill set and attitude, pretty quickly, no one wanted to follow you. Put it that way. Yeah. So that started 89 to about 93. So Long Island, then my parents did the move. They went to Florida. I moved down there and I kind of...

lost my whole direction moving down there. I couldn't really afford New York on my own. So I went down there and then I reamped and I started going to comedy clubs. So it was 89 started, uh,

couple months in florida you started yeah okay yeah and then that led to being on the road i can't follow this guy this kid's a pain in the ass um and that was the i guess that was the greatest time ever like just stating and crappy condos and listening it was like i've been doing comedy like 10 years and you hear all the story it was a lot of fun and

Did you ever have novelty acts where you show up at the comedian's condo and the ventriloquist took the headliner's bedroom? Oh, yeah. You can't do that. Because if people are listening, there's a comedian's condo and usually the headliner gets the master bedroom. Yeah, for sure. But if the clown showed up early, then you're like, well...

Why is there a juggler in the master? Yeah, exactly. The novelty acts. We had a puppet named Chuck Wood. He didn't want you to look at it. Don't touch Chuck. It really was like a human being to him. It's a piece of wood, fuckface.

So anyway, I'm yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. I'm only walking my way up to your SNL thing and trying to figure out the timeline of that, where you found yourself as a performer. So, so stand up brings me back to long Island. Now I'm getting the city clubs.

I landed my first TV show pretty quick. It was an all-urban black show, Uptown Comedy Club. And they filmed it. It was the real poor man's In Living Color. Was it on UPN? Do you remember what UPN was? I think I remember that show. No, I think... MTV? No, Dave. No, actually MTV took the show. What's his name? Took the show. He told me. When I saw it on...

What's his name? Her song? Oh, God. Robert Townsend? No, no, no, no. So it's filmed in Harlem. It was a great show. It was fun. But you're doing sketches on it. We're doing sketches. And now I'm doing the clubs at night. Now I'm doing like seven, eight sets on the weekends. And I'm in every club.

I'm feeling like I'm a badass. And then I got a huge development deal and then another development deal. And then me and Chappelle were launched to spin off of a Tim Allen show, the home improvement. And we filmed, we were on, I was on the cover of TV. God, I was, I was buying leather pants. I was like, this was happening. Um,

And the second episode, the commercials were on. It was called Buddies. We were following Home Improvement and they fired me. What? Yeah, they fired me the second episode right before the premiere. So I had all my, I had my childhood friends out. You want to talk about traumatizing, right? So I just remember being

I just got told like, hey man, they let you go. But the commercials are on. Like, I don't know. Like, they're still airing the commercials. Like, what the fuck is going on? And that was my first big taste of Hollywood. So now, I go to my room and thank God my best friends were there that I grew up with. Because they bring it back to blue collar. Because I'm like, oh my God, the whole Hollywood world, they're going to be fucking angry.

And they already crushed my minibar. And it's like 1 p.m. They're like, hey, man, you all right? Something happened? I said, ah, fucking, they fired me. Like, what do you mean they fired you? Like, they fired me. It's like, there's no more doing it. And they think for a second. And my one friend goes, well, I got a fucking limo for tonight. So I guess I'm paying and we're going out because you ain't got a fucking job. Ha, ha, ha.

And he really just made it so simple. Like, fuck it. You ain't got a job. Let's go hang out. And I went to the improv of Melrose.

And I remember the comedian, you know, you think they're all your friends. You're like, hey, man, I heard what happened. Yeah. I'll never forget this. Oh, no. So your character that got fired, can you tell me about it? Because I'm auditioning tomorrow. You mother. Why? Blood in the water. God damn. What should I do different to get the job you got fired from? You have any hints? Well.

Wow. So then that led to another pilot. I can't believe Rob Schneider would say that to you. That's what shocks me. No, I'm kidding, Rob. He's a friend of ours. Give me some tips. I get fired from another one.

I'm sorry, I didn't get fired. The main character gets fired. Oh, it was Clerks from the movie Clerks. And they fire... What's his name? Kevin Smith? They fire Kevin Smith. So now I'm...

They fire the guy who invented it? Who's running these shows? Good God. You can't win a Kevin Smith. And so the Frenchie something from Third Rock from the Sun was on the show. French Stewart. Yes, Frenchie Stewart was part of it. He was a great guy. It gets picked up and then it gets dropped and then I'm developing and then SNL is like, hey, will you audition? And all my life,

I said, no way am I doing that show. And like, why? I'm like, no, because I saw this one and this one and this one go into that show and they came out miserable, dark human beings. I don't know what's going on there. I already hate the industry. I've already seen enough. And so the process...

to get on, which by the way, Lorne loves you, Dana. Loves you. I love Lorne. Dave, I'm sure he loves you too. I was about to say, you don't have to lean so hard. You start to say a D and I start to look at the camera a little harder and then you go, David leaned into it. No, he loves you guys. He loves you guys. No, he loves Dana. Fine. He used to bounce Dana on his knee at read-through. I remember. It's fine. Yeah, yeah. No, because, so it was a process and then once I saw it was a new cast,

Um, and I met Will at the club. I was the last guy hired on that cast. Dave was, uh, Spade was still on there. I did a year overlap with you, correct?

Yes. And Will Ferrell started. Was it Sherry O'Terry? Yep. Sherry. Chris Kattan. David Kector. Darryl Hammond. Yeah. So they were sort of replacing not only Dana. That was a big reset. Yeah. Because Farley left. Adam left. It was replacing that whole bunch. And I hung in here too long. Dave, do you remember Do you remember the

So we for us, you know, I'm like, oh, my God, this is really happening. Now we're really going to be on TV. You, Dave, were we were on the bleachers and we're given a press conference. All right. Norm is right next to me.

You are one level down. And to be honest with you, I'm a little, I'm starstruck by you and I'm starstruck by Norm. I'm like, oh my God. Like, oh my God. And Norm came up to me. Hey man, you're funny. And they're going with their Marcy clients going, Norm, look at the goddamn cigarette. I'm not done yet. And he's smoking at this press conference. And then he,

He finishes it and they asked me a question and Lorne goes, no, no, it was Warren Littlefield. And Warren Littlefield goes, Jim Brewer. He goes, Jim Brewer, you're like the New York guy. You grew up here. And what's it like?

being perhaps the real New Yorker and your whole life watched Saturday Night Live. And now here you are part of this new cast. And I just simply went, I didn't watch Saturday Night Live growing up. And you went, wrong answer. You said it like under your breath, but I could tell it generally made you laugh. And I didn't know what that meant. And then...

like he tried to recover and I just knew at that moment, I'm like, Oh no. Cause Marcy came up and strangled you.

oh my god that was a bad answer and then he tried to they tried to recover and says um i said oh no it was because i was a kid and i wasn't allowed to stay up that late so surely when you were older and i went no man i was outside at night i'm so stupid jesus so stupid

Oh my God, Brewer. They go, do you know where you are right now? And you're like, I don't even know what the fuck is going on. Where am I? I was, I was like, I just got fired from this. Am I fired again? Yeah. Kevin Smith is God. Like, come on. I don't fucking ask me these questions. Ask Will a question. He's happy. So you came in with all those people. Now I hosted maybe 95 or 96, but I remember, uh,

you as just a powerhouse because on the show I did, the Joe Pesci show, which we should talk about, and then the madness and silliness and the verbal, I think we talked about it when I was there, of Goat Boy. Chibi. Goat Boy.

the that thing was like those two bits were killer as far as what i hosted i think i came on the pesci show was i ross perot or some shit i don't know yes yeah yeah with pesci and then goat boy so anyway i showed up a year later and it looked like you were you know just just doing you were hot i felt good but you were you brought like

When you came on, I mean, we started off with Tom Hanks. Whoa. And then that's where the goat really got launched. Did you do the first show with Tom Hanks? Your first show? Yes. Oh, boy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we did the goat. And to be honest with you,

That character, I pitched it as a guy with Tourette's. That's all. I said, I want to do a guy, and he gets nervous. He gets nervous when he's with chicks, and he sings, and he starts, you know, a little here. And then Tom Giannis, who is a writer. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

waited months and he finally came to, I already forgot about it. No one cared about this character. And he comes to me. He goes, Hey, I think I, I think I got a great idea. So I've been thinking about the goat. I went, yeah, I was eight months ago. He's like, no, no, no. So what if,

What if it was an experiment? Because, you know, we're in the Middle East a lot. So they're they're hybriding and they and they have to get up in the mountains. But our but our soldiers can't do it. So they get a goat and a person and the military. But it doesn't work. So they just they just really sing about it a lot. And then so they don't know what to do with this guy who loves the 80s. And so a VH1 gives them a show. I'm like, are you fucking kidding?

Are you serious? That's the craziest shit I've ever heard. And they insisted on doing it. And I was pissed. Like, this is so stupid. And it just, it, it murdered. It was, it was just confusing to people. You had goat ears. You were like a scientific hybrid. I didn't want the outfit. But the thing about it, Jim,

Is that as an audience member watching it, it's like, you don't, I don't know how long you're going to bray as a goat or when you might hit a little one. So there's an improvisational quality that the audience can feel you as a performer are in tune with that for all that standup of like, oh, they like it. I'm going to hit one here and I'm going to do a long one here. So it had this.

thing that was pretty electric everyone's just waiting for it then you go a long time without it everyone's like and then you hit it again yeah it is well here's something you don't know and I owe you an apology and you don't even know why oh okay accepted yes no so when you first of all you came on you know for a lot of us especially me I was like oh

oh shit like this is wow and Lorne was already prepping the table like we're gonna have when Dana comes here he's just it's gonna be like he was already setting the table you guys have no clue how this is going down right so I never had anyone improv

And by the time you came on, I started feeling like, I'm starting to have those Tuesday night dinners. You're in the cool group. I'm having Tuesday night dinners. I'm like, oh, shit. Jim, the Branzino was fresh. Give it a try. Right. And you came on and absolutely murdered. You were...

Wham? No. George Michaels. Yeah. And you were murdering. And I would like

Like I look back in time, like, God damn it. I wish I just listened and watched more and then fed off your energy where during that you're crushing. And then I would do something, but then you improv and I get, I'd be like, you're stepping on my shit. And I, and I try to recover. And there was even one where I put like an angry guard. And I,

I was George Michael and who were you? Goat Boy. Oh, is that mashup? Yeah. God, I remember now. Yeah. Yeah. So it's George Michael and the Goat Boy. Sorry. You are so funny at it. But it was the first time that we really had someone...

what I would say is super professional and like, so in the element of live, like we're still, we're still learning. Dave already left, he'd already left. So now we're figuring out like we stick to the lines. We don't go too far off it, but you brought this whole, and I just wish at that moment, I understood that even better because that sketch probably would have went to a

even on a monstrosity level, if I was willing to play as much as your expertise. You probably also thought you would get in trouble. I did. I did. Well, yeah, but just for a second, I mean, I had done 140 shows. Then I'm coming back. This was your third show.

This was the second season, but maybe my third real sketch. Yeah, and I felt that I needed 60 or 80 shows for the audience to kind of discover me and for me to get more confident. I mean, in another level-

I mean, I got more confident, but you were still early on. So, you know, I just thought you were a kindred spirit that you were playing with rhythms. I thought your Pesci was great. And it was just a really funny take on, on Joe Pesci. I don't know. I thought you were just a completely kindred spirit to me as a performer. I felt that way. And I always, I loved, I really admired Joe.

Like both you guys, like whenever you guys would just like Dave once in a while would come up and he would just interact with me backstage. You're like, Dave just talked to me. He thinks I'm cool. He didn't, you know, you had no clue you had that effect, but I, people always say, how was your experience there? And I always say, I don't have,

I loved being a part of the whole thing. And between you and I, I would have loved to even still be on there. I wanted to, I wanted to be the guy who stays on there for like eight years. And then the summer times makes killer movies. I wanted to make Lauren Pratt out. I wanted to, and you know, don't always go that way. I started, I started having with Fred Wolf, who is,

Oh, yeah. Our friend. He was a tremendous ally and Steve Korn and those guys. And then once they quit, it was a lot more difficult. You were on your own. Yeah, yeah. And they told me that. They literally, I swear to God, I'll never forget. I didn't understand what they meant. And Fred...

came up to me and said, "Jimmy B, Jimmy B, you're my guy, but I gotta be honest with you. I'm leaving, man. I'm gonna go help Spade, and you're on your own, bro. This is gonna get tough." I didn't understand what that meant. Politically, you didn't have anyone backing you? I had no clue what that meant. And then I learned it-- We've heard a version of this story from other cast members. Go ahead. And then, um... When Steve Korn left, he was the last guy

Like, I didn't know you can go to Lorne and plead your case. And I knew, I think it was, I think it was my third episode and I had enough with certain individuals, not cast writers. And it was really, I realized I was, I was fighting egos, which you can't fight. And, um, it was extremely frustrating. It made me very angry. Um,

And I remember that night it was Matthew Broderick and I, the person came in and said, Hey, I know it worked during the, the dress show, but we're not going to do that. We're going to do the other thing. I was like, you motherfucker, you, you want that sketch on. So God, then you fucking. So, um,

I said, whose decision was that? Lorne. I said, well, then I'll go talk to Lorne. He went, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm fucking talking to Lorne and I want to hear from him. We're not doing this shit because I had enough of your shit. You've been nonstop. And then I knew at that moment, it's like those memes. This is the moment when Jim knew he fucked up. And I got a call that summer from an NBC executive. And he's like, Jim,

I don't tell anyone I can get fired for this, but what happened between you and so-and-so?

I don't know. I don't know. And I say, he's like, well, they're trying to ask you right now. I'm like, what? They're like, oh yeah, they're zoning. These, these guys want you out. I'm like, really? I say, you know what? I don't want it. I don't want to be there. That's the way it's going to be. I really don't want to be there. I'm smoking pot all the time. Trying to numb myself. I'm becoming angry. I've seen enough. I've seen, I've seen enough. I was, I was also traumatized by the Farley situation. That was,

So I saw enough on both sides of the curtain. I was like, ah, you know what? I'm going to have some kids. I'm going to, I'm going to walk away for a little while. I know this is, this is, I'm not made for this. I'm really not made for this. Not in this style of environment. Sure. Where, where it's that hardcore show business. But,

I really wanted to be there for like, I loved, I loved the show. I loved showing up on Thursdays to watch the band. I love tanking up the bands. I would watch the other sketches. I would cheer our cast on. You're a good cheerleader. You are. I fucking love it, man. I, I, I cheer for everyone. I really don't. I'm not in competition with anyone, but, um, so that was my tenure, but I also realized as life went on, like,

Lauren is, he's like, I'll use the word mobster where I would go to, they're like, Hey, we want to meet you. And the first thing they'd always say, so how are you with Lord? I'm like, I don't know. This is a reality TV show. Like, does it really matter right now? I'm like, yeah, I think it was good. I think we ended. Okay. And it did. And the last thing Lauren said to me was Jim, you're too nice for this industry. Right.

If you ever want to do anything, I'm your producer. And I said, thank you, Lauren. And that's how we, you know, and I see him in like four years or something like that. But I always had a deep admiration for him because I also understand his view where he's watching people and bringing them to a place. And some people get frustrated and they think they need more attention. I don't know. Even just having kids and dealing with that with a little staff here and there.

I don't know how you do that with entertainers like us that are just nonstop. You're like, oh my God. What is it about that show? I mean, the people we've interviewed, some of them have said similar kind of stories. One cast member said, I don't really know why I left, what really happened, but there was a sea change, a couple of writers left, and these are very successful people. And suddenly it got kind of tilted. But none of us ever get that experience again.

out of our heads just because it's eight H it's New York city. It's live. It's the, you know, you'll never get it quite out of it. But, uh, I just think, yeah, you're such an organic sketch player. Like it just fits you like a glove and it's too bad you didn't have just all you needed was one, one writer who gets you, who also has a voice in the room after read through Steve Korn. And it was great. Right. Yeah. And hell of a great guy. Yeah.

So also I had one against me, but I had a couple for me. And then, but it was still things were getting killed because I couldn't, I didn't have everybody on my team. So it would be like half would get through a third. And I was like, ah, I had a dis, I had a dissident in there. Is that the word? And, uh, it, but you don't know that usually I didn't know till later. And then you go like, fuck, it drives you batty. Like you don't know what's going on.

No, you don't know what's going on, even to the point where I found out something else later down the line. But I think why it's so frustrating for you, Dave, people like me, Dana, I would say more comedians. The reason being, we do our presentation, we get the immediate feedback, so we know what works.

So when you're creating a sketch or whatever, and you know it's going to crush, and then you do the read-through, and it murders, and then it's not even acknowledged, it's, as we say, imagine you're going for a

baseball team. And you're like, okay, everyone line up. All right, Spade, you're up. Ping! Oh, shit. This guy's hit 12 line drives off the wall, three in the upper deck. All right, here comes another. This guy looks smart. He's got glasses where he's from. Harvard. Okay, Harvard guy. Okay, that's a bunt. All right, that's a strikeout caught looking. Wow, that's another one caught looking with the running on base. Jesus. Okay, so here's who we picked. We picked out the Harvard guy. Like, what?

Wait, are we going to the game? Like, are we competing today? What is going on? And so it was when you're in those battles and you see them with your own two eyes, you just go, oh, my God.

it's, there's no rhyme or reason. Well, sometimes did you have anyone who would like you kill with that? And it doesn't get on the show that was in the room with Lauren picking the show and not even in an angry way, but like, what's up with my sketch? I mean, what was it? What was the, how is it too redundant? Host didn't like it. Was there any rhyme or reason that you could find out? I wouldn't, but what I would get is,

See, I'm starting to have flashbacks now. I thought I buried this and I patted it all down. But now like. Yes. Mission accomplished. There was. This is what drove me nuts. I would get this.

Hey, listen, Lorne doesn't like drunk characters. The character is really funny that you do, but he, you know, since, you know, since like John and stuff, like he doesn't, nothing like drinking ladies, not into it. I went, oh, okay.

Two weeks later, very similar, but now different cast member. And they just changed the angle, made a little smarter. And you're sitting there going, I know what the fuck you just did. They don't know. I know what the fuck you just did. I'm getting flashbacks to Jack Nicholson in The Shining. Then I'd have this, right? This one. So you're in your room. It's like.

3.30 in the morning. You're almost done with the sketch that you're finally going for. And this fucker would come in my doorway. Hey, with his little pencil in his mouth. So I see that you're doing a sketch about meatballs or whatever it was. He's like, I just want you to know I'm writing one just like it. Like, how do you know I'm writing a sketch? Well, we have a server with everyone, what everyone's writing.

I'm like, well, he's like, I'm just telling you, I'm right when it most likely will get on. Oh, boy. What? That's aggressive. Okay. Okay. So you're still going to write yours? That's what they want you to go. Oh, I'll skip it then. Yeah, right. But he's also someone that gets in the room. Yeah, because it's going to bump with him and he'll kick you out.

And you're like, God damn, like that is foul. That's just foul. So yeah, there was, there was a, yeah, there was, there was individuals that, that one in particular who I would call out. I know he's just honest when I told you this story. And then he finally reached out on Twitter. He goes, stop lying about I'm the one who wanted to get you fired. I went, well, it's the truth.

Well, that's what I need any finally I said I don't do Twitter you can call me and we could talk about it and He couldn't huh? Interesting go ahead. Yeah, he couldn't believe I was holding on to this this long But just like anywhere if you're enjoying your life and someone goes hey, man I'm gonna make your life miserable and get you fired you fucking remember that so the person emailed me and he said

It went from, I never had any pull with Lorne. And the fact that you think I actually had any power to try to get you fired, it's just looted, Chris. I have zero power. I go, well, it's funny because I know for a fact someone in that room called me and they said, quote,

Jim needs to go. I think he's an issue. We can get someone who's just as funny and maybe more animated, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I just don't think I think he's way overrated, blah, blah, blah. And he could tell by the quote, oh, shit. So he who's he talking to? So then his next email said, well, maybe I didn't.

Encourage them to keep you. And then I finally said who the person was. And they went, well, I'm sorry that you've been holding on to this. You're a great power. If I did that, I apologize, blah, blah, blah. And I went, that's all right. I just wanted you to acknowledge that I knew. And because this person's an incredible writer. And it's tough. It's tough coming from somebody good, too.

He's so good. Like, I wish I could be in any of his stuff. They're incredible. And that's what hurt more, and that's what was more frustrating. It's like, dude, just, if you don't like me, just, there's other ways to do it. As long as it's funny.

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There's an organic, volatile, emotionally violent thing around Saturday Night Live. It just is. You throw 10 comedians in a room, 20 writers, and there's only so many spots on the show, and all kinds of stuff happens. You create alliances. It's Game of Thrones. You start moving the chess pieces. Survivor. I'll get this person. I'll combine with this person. We'll try to defeat, you know. So it's...

It's a very typical story. I mean, the great thing is, like, you're as funny or funnier than you've ever been, and you're killing it. I feel that way. You've got a huge following, and you're just... Everybody's at some point off SNL, except for Kenan Thompson. But...

He's unfireable. Maybe the greatest cast member ever. But we all are ex-cats. And it's no matter what happens, even if you're Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell, they're going to say Saturday Night Live and their movies. So it is a thing. But I think you made a great mark. And your story, you just have to forgive...

the whole experience. And I know that we talked to us about it right now. I have the same thing. I'll go completely back to something. It brings me back to you. And I'll be really animated for 10 minutes and then just move on. But we're all X cast members. Most people have some regret or something that didn't quote, you know, there's certain, it's just very common. So anyway, I, you have my, you have my empathy. That's, that's a wicked story. Well, I'll tell you, I'll tell you both. Like it's, um,

I'm honored to come on here. I've always looked up to both of you. I've always looked up to both of you. So when I saw you guys connecting, actually, I really like the fact that you can finally see a different side of the two of you, just a talking side, and you can go in all these directions. I love what you guys are doing. So

I was very honored to be part of this for sure. Thank you. That's, I mean, it is the thing about podcasting because if I go on stage, you know, it's always a passenger comedy safety belts there. The man's going, you know, and the, you know, and now I'm just in a room chatting. I can be myself, but there is that pressure. He's, Oh my God, he's going to fucking levitate.

you know so it's it's a good problem to have you know i feel like back at snl i was like especially that year i stayed over it was such a weird bridge year for me because adam and chris left my two main guys schneider was gone maybe timmy was still there but i was there i was only doing lauren goes stay and i'll give you five minutes a week and you do whatever you want and so i didn't have two sketches

So there's a slight disconnect. So I don't even know how I came across to cast because I was so worried about

doing these five minutes. I had my own little thing to do. It was like update. You get your own little chunk. And so I am in the cast, but I'm not really, I don't think I did many sketches. It was more like I'd go on the road, try to do field pieces. So I come back and I didn't get that close to anybody, even though it was kind of fun. I was in the middle ground. You know what I mean? You were. And it wasn't as fun for me. Probably wasn't as fun for them to be on the cast with me either, because I felt like I was a senior that stayed a year too long.

and i was like what am i still doing here and i sort of had that caustic humor but

which, you know, changed over the years, but it was, uh, it was definitely a weird time for me. And I thought I shouldn't be here anymore. It wasn't as fun. It was fun doing those little bits, but there's so much time in between. I mean, I'm not really part of rehearsal. I'm not really part of music. I'm not part of, and the show's going on without me. And I'm like, I'm with one writer on the side doing bits pre-tape a lot of the time. So definitely weird. I just didn't get that close to anybody that time. It was a, it was an odd, uh,

It was like one step too many. I should just pull the plug. But like you, if you got nowhere to go and you're on SNL, everywhere else feels like down. I know. And you know, like you're saying these stories and the reason they resonate is because everyone isn't asking you about buddies.

the pilot, they're asking about SNL the rest of your life. So they just have nothing else to say. They go SNL. And then that's just the thing that you're stuck with. You know, it's also no matter how, what your timeframe is, you've got two iconic things that people would always bring up. I assume if you do a Q and a or someone yells out for sure, go boy or Pesci. I don't know if you throw it in there when you're riffing. So you, you made your mark. Um, it's, and I like that. I call it like you went to battle, uh,

And everyone got the tat too. And no matter what, they're like, how was your career? And you go, and they go, oh, shit. You made a mark. The dad...

The goat is wow. Yeah. Because to get through that and get a catchphrase or get a sketch, people know it's almost impossible. That's what I wanted. Even having bye-bye or something where people knew it and you go, hey, I went on the show. I came out and there was something that caught on or, you know, you're just part of the history of like, hey, I got...

something in there that people would remember. And the show is still fucking going and still going. It's still coming up with shit going full circle. And Fred Armisen left the show. He emailed me and goes, how do you deal with it? How he left and he couldn't watch it. He goes, well,

They're doing my show. What's going on? So everybody has this melancholy. If you're ever near the building again, it's like going back to your high school on a Sunday afternoon and going, really? There's this sort of emotionality. That's the fun part of this podcast because everyone has these feelings about that show, you know, something about it. And Lauren is still there and it's still an eight H and it's all the sex. Same. Amazing. Yeah.

Yeah, you get terrified walking in those halls. Anyway, are you going to have enough energy to perform tonight? Are you feeling good? I'm actually off tonight, so that's good. I get an off night. Tomorrow, I'll do the show. And then I'm doing, I think I'm losing my mind. I booked, I think, 50 shows tonight.

All the way through May where I'm doing like two weeks on, two weeks off, two weeks on, two weeks off. I haven't done that. That's tough. You'll get sharp. And then are you going to shoot another special? You shoot that on your own, right? And put them on YouTube? You know, this is what I learned. I don't have, yeah, on YouTube. It's all YouTube. So I'm filming three shows next week. One is at one venue and the other one is at that Paramount.

That'll be hot. So, yeah. And we'll see how that goes. And it's three cameras. I mean, you control the lighting. I mean, it's kind of like not overkill, but it's not 20 cameras and all that shit. No, no, no, no. No one cares about that anymore. No one cares about that. What I noticed, too, is like you can hire the biggest production team and put everything in it. If you just put from your phone a little piece of the set, it's...

That's all they want to see. No, it doesn't matter. No one ever says, it looked like Scorsese. They go, no, it was funny or it wasn't. It looked like Lawrence of Arabia. Yeah. Was it funny? No, but fucking David Lean came back from the dead, man. Well, good luck with it, man. Good luck with it too. Thank you, Jim. A pleasure. I hope we see you around campus. Talk to you soon, buddy. Pleasure. Enjoyed it. Thanks, man.

This has been a presentation of Odyssey. Please follow, subscribe, leave a like, a review, all this stuff, smash that button, whatever it is, wherever you get your podcasts. Fly on the Wall is executive produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade, Jenna Weiss-Berman of Odyssey, Charlie Finan of Brillstein Entertainment, and Heather Santoro. The show's lead producer is Greg Holtzman.