Latest / Yes And Land / Lilo and Stitch: Why Family Beats Fame | James Yon
Transcript
- 0:00here's how i know i'm supposed to be with her
- 0:02she said if you really want to try comedy because
- 0:04i know how much you've always loved comedy try
- 0:07it because of that wonderful woman believing
- 0:09in me she didn't have to do that being pregnant
- 0:12with our third kid she could have said no but
- 0:14now comedy led me to having two television shows,
- 0:19a nationally syndicated radio show. It's afforded
- 0:22me a great life. I put four kids through college
- 0:24with comedy, and now it's the only job that I
- 0:27do. I mean, when we look at Leto and Stitch and
- 0:30the idea of family, and one of the famous quotes
- 0:32from there is ohana, which means family, and
- 0:34that no one... gets left behind there's a reason
- 0:37i love the movie lilo and stitch because ohana
- 0:39i do believe without the people around me who
- 0:42love me and support me i wouldn't be successful
- 0:44i wouldn't be the james that you see here sitting
- 0:46today money is great fame is awesome but when
- 0:50you touch someone's life doing something that
- 0:52you love there is no better reward than that
- 0:57welcome to yes and land where we say yes to the
- 1:01reality of yesterday and today and we say and
- 1:05to the possibility growth and imagination of
- 1:09tomorrow welcome back to our next episode of
- 1:20yes and land very excited today to talk to a
- 1:23guest that we've been very excited to talk to
- 1:26for a while his name is james yawn he is part
- 1:29of theme park comedians uh which has really I'm
- 1:33going to say exploded onto the scene. James has
- 1:37been a comedian for a while, used to work at
- 1:39Disney, was a catering director at Disney, so
- 1:43he's very infused into the Disney world. And
- 1:45then he and his good, good friend, Devin Sebold,
- 1:47have created about seven months ago, right, James?
- 1:50Seven months ago, you guys started this thing?
- 1:52Seven months ago, absolutely. It's crazy how
- 1:56big and fast it grew. I still can't believe it
- 2:00that people like two grown men just being silly.
- 2:03And it's the best. It's the best. I really think
- 2:08there must be a clamoring in today's society
- 2:13for good, uplifting, clean humor because you
- 2:16see people like Nate Bargatze, right, who's just
- 2:19exploded onto the scene. There's some other folks
- 2:21like John B. Crist who has done that as well.
- 2:25There's just a number of other really clean comedians
- 2:28that are just bringing like wholesome stuff.
- 2:29And so to me, it's like, OK, it makes total sense
- 2:32that people are connecting with your content
- 2:35because it is that way. And James is also known
- 2:39for with this theme park comedians. He's also
- 2:41known as one half of the. Divorce attorneys,
- 2:46Colton and Jamal, for the pass holders, I believe,
- 2:51is what they are. So there's some great skits
- 2:56they do. So anybody listening, you got to go
- 2:58and go find their Colton and Jamal videos for
- 3:03the pass holders. They got some great stuff there.
- 3:05And as a divorce attorney myself, I find it to
- 3:09be absolutely hilarious. You're an actual licensed
- 3:13divorce attorney. We are not, by the way. And
- 3:17one of my favorite things is when we're walking
- 3:18through the parks, because we're there so much,
- 3:20about four times a week, there will be men who
- 3:23will come up to us with their wives and will
- 3:25complain that they're going to enlist our services
- 3:28if their wives don't stop beating them at Buzz
- 3:32Lightyear. I think she is cheating. I'm like,
- 3:38you could be owed compensation, my friend. So
- 3:40yeah, I love the fact that people will reference
- 3:43our characters and stuff like that. Call me Colton,
- 3:46call Deb and Jamal. And it just makes us feel
- 3:49good that people like us doing all the silly
- 3:52things that we do and they appreciate it. So
- 3:54thank you everybody. Like my wife, I know I'm
- 3:58doing a good job in our videos when she'll be
- 4:00there with us and I'll do something in the video
- 4:03and she'll just look at us and go. what's wrong
- 4:05with you that's what i know we got gold you're
- 4:08like mission accomplished thank you that's exactly
- 4:11what i was going for honey just looks at me like
- 4:14why why i'm like we don't know we don't know
- 4:18yeah we don't know but it's here this is us this
- 4:20is us so so james what we like to do at the beginning
- 4:24of each episode is we kind of like to get a little
- 4:26bit of a background for our guests so I referenced
- 4:29or I alluded to the fact that you were director
- 4:33of catering for Disney for a number of years.
- 4:35I think you worked for Disney for 15 years, I
- 4:38think, something to that effect. Absolutely.
- 4:41Take us all the way back, though. Take us back
- 4:43to Little James, right, when you were growing
- 4:45up. What was Little James like? What was growing
- 4:49up like? You're a native Floridian, I think.
- 4:51Maybe when you were three you moved to Florida.
- 4:54Well, first off, thank you. But I will say this.
- 4:57If you've ever seen me in a video, there's no
- 5:00such thing ever as a little James. Like, no matter
- 5:07how young I was, I was never described as little.
- 5:10But, yeah, thank you very much. But, no, I'm
- 5:13a natal Floridian. I was born in Tallahassee,
- 5:16and I moved to the Orlando area when I was about
- 5:19three years old. Here's the thing, the great
- 5:22thing about Disney for me, my early childhood,
- 5:25and I'll walk you through kind of my whole experience
- 5:28with Disney and where it comes from. I was growing
- 5:30up in a single parent home. My mom was my everything.
- 5:35She was our hero. She played mom, she played
- 5:38dad, and she always did a great job. Like, we
- 5:40didn't have a lot of money, but we never felt
- 5:43poor, if that makes sense. because my mom always
- 5:45made sure we had the things that we needed and
- 5:48also would provide so many different trips and
- 5:50entertainment and taking us places to just make
- 5:53us feel like, you know what, life's going to
- 5:56be okay. I give my mom a lot of credit for that.
- 5:58And I give credit to some of the people that
- 6:01she met. She met some really good people who
- 6:03were in turn very good to me. Like one of my
- 6:06friends, Mike, I had met him through my mom's
- 6:09friend, Miss Clara, God rest her soul. And Bruce
- 6:12was, his name his father's name and he actually
- 6:15worked at disney so as a young man we could never
- 6:18really afford to go to disney but i went quite
- 6:21a bit because bruce would take me and my friend
- 6:24mike to disney all the time so i always was just
- 6:28just amazed when i would go there at this wonderful
- 6:31place that was created to make little kids feel
- 6:36like they could do anything that's what disney
- 6:38was for me it was where dreams do come true magnificent
- 6:43rides and shows and make you feel like you're
- 6:46really in a different world somewhere so I fell
- 6:49in love with Disney at a very early age and I
- 6:51always said and thank you Bruce for taking me
- 6:54so many years ago one day I would work at disney
- 6:57that was my little dream i would tell myself
- 6:59i'm one day i'm going to work here fast forward
- 7:02after high school i graduated uh and i was a
- 7:06manager at a pizzeria a very famous one that
- 7:10everyone knows but i won't give them a free shout
- 7:12out and the opportunity came Where I could actually
- 7:16be a manager at Disney, and I immediately jumped
- 7:19at the chance to do it. And I was a young man
- 7:21at the time. I think I was around 19. And I actually
- 7:24got the job, and I worked my way up from being
- 7:27in the kitchen, doing my chefing, to actually
- 7:29being a catering director. And before I knew
- 7:32it, I looked up, man, 15 years had gone by. And
- 7:36the reason I bring that all up, because I remember
- 7:38Bruce, that wonderful, kind man who would take
- 7:41me to Disney all the time. When I became a cast
- 7:44member and I started having kids about eight
- 7:46years later, I got to raise my kids going to
- 7:50Disney and they became Disney kids and they now
- 7:53are Disney adults as well. So that's kind of
- 7:57how it started for me and my love of Disney and
- 8:00my appreciation of it and just. showing my kids
- 8:03all the movies. I remember we'd all get together
- 8:06whenever a new Disney movie would drop and we
- 8:08would get in the old grand caravan and head down
- 8:10to the movie theater. And we still do that even
- 8:13though my kids are older and we'll go see Disney
- 8:15movies together, which I think is just an amazing
- 8:17tradition that Disney's allowed me to have. All
- 8:20the bonding that I got because of Disney, I wouldn't
- 8:23trade that for the world, man. It's fun to take
- 8:26your family to things like that, right? And it's
- 8:30even as you start getting older and your kids
- 8:33are older, there's still a joy and a nostalgia
- 8:35to doing that together. I always think there's
- 8:38something special about going to the movies too,
- 8:40right? For me, that'll never go away. Yeah, I
- 8:42can have movies at home and I've got a little
- 8:44nice home theater and it's great and all, but
- 8:46it's not the experience of going to the movies
- 8:48and the fresh popcorn and the drinks and being
- 8:51there with other people experiencing it with
- 8:53you, right? Yes. I would liken it to going to
- 8:57Disney. When you go to Disney, you know you're
- 8:58there with a bunch of like -minded people who
- 9:00all are there to have a good time. And movies
- 9:02are the same thing. That kind of experience where...
- 9:05These group of people, we all saw the trailer.
- 9:08We all wanted to see this movie. We're all sitting
- 9:10down, and we come together, and we watch something
- 9:13that we know we can experience and enjoy together.
- 9:16So I definitely get that communion part of movies.
- 9:18I own that one pass where I can go to all the
- 9:21movies, me and my wife, and that is our jam.
- 9:23We see every movie in the theater. We love it,
- 9:27man. Yeah, absolutely. Love it. Yeah, that's
- 9:29the way to do it, man. That is absolutely the
- 9:31way to do it. So let me take you back to when
- 9:34you were younger and you're growing up and correct
- 9:35me if I'm wrong, but I think you were raised
- 9:37by a single mom. Is that right? Single mom, God
- 9:40bless her. We still talk almost every day, even
- 9:43though I'm a 50 -year -old man. So love you,
- 9:45mom. And so what was that experience like for
- 9:49you to... Be raised by a single mom, see the
- 9:53kind of hard work that she had to put into raising
- 9:57you and trying to provide a good life for you.
- 10:02It changed my life, actually. And if things were
- 10:05different, if I had a two -parent household,
- 10:08I don't think I would be the same James. And
- 10:10allow me to tell you why. My mother, when I was
- 10:15young, at a very young age, taught me some life
- 10:17lessons. She taught me that... you know look
- 10:20it's not ideal that i raise you guys by myself
- 10:24but your father made a choice and in life there
- 10:27life's not promised to ever be easy so i i got
- 10:31to actually understand that very early on in
- 10:34life seeing my mother and seeing how hard she
- 10:38works so she can move us to a good neighborhood
- 10:40actually a great neighborhood put us in good
- 10:42schools and what she had to sacrifice for us
- 10:46to do that it always taught me work ethic, seeing
- 10:49my mom work three jobs at one time to provide
- 10:53a good life for us. So learning that from my
- 10:57mom. It's helped me so much in my own progression
- 11:00as an adult, as a professional. Me moving up
- 11:03to catering director was definitely a direct
- 11:05thing that happened because my mom instilled
- 11:09in me work ethic, being honest, integrity, treating
- 11:13people right. So as I became in charge of other
- 11:16people, they would actually respect me because
- 11:19I respected them. I learned so many valuable
- 11:21lessons from my mother. I can't give her enough
- 11:23credit. She's the reason I am the way I am now.
- 11:27And she taught me self -reliance also because
- 11:30she was a single mom. She said, look, you're
- 11:32going to find a girl one day, James, like you're
- 11:35going to get married, but I don't want you ever
- 11:37to have to depend on someone else to take care
- 11:39of yourself. So my mom taught me how to cook
- 11:42at a very young age. I had to be like eight years
- 11:44old, standing on some kind of stool, watching
- 11:47her cook and helping her do things. And I loved
- 11:50cooking. Like when she showed me how to do things,
- 11:52I'm like. Cooking's like magic. I can take these
- 11:55things, these things, put it in a pot and voila,
- 11:58I have a whole dinner. So yeah, my mom at a very
- 12:01early age taught me how to cook and I've never
- 12:03lost that love of cooking. That's why I became
- 12:04a chef and that's why I became a catering director.
- 12:07And also my mom is very much a Virgo. If you've
- 12:12ever lived or talked with a Virgo, those people
- 12:14are very serious about the things they're serious
- 12:17about. And my mom was very serious about. a house
- 12:21being cleaned so at a very young age i learned
- 12:23to clean a house from top to bottom i'm talking
- 12:26toilets to moving an oven out to clean behind
- 12:30So I never lost that. My wife will tell you,
- 12:33I did all the cooking for my kids growing up.
- 12:35We actually would sit down at a table together.
- 12:39No one would just go off into their room and
- 12:41I would cook and I still clean. And that's what
- 12:43I did. So all that was attributed to my mom and
- 12:47her being a single parent and having to teach
- 12:49me those lessons early on in life. So with cooking,
- 12:53here's a question. What is your like, like, what
- 12:57is your. best dish that you are most known for
- 13:01that like it's your go -to someone wants a good
- 13:03dish you're like i got it here it is okay that's
- 13:06hard because i had okay let me tell you why that's
- 13:08hard for me to tell you what the best thing i
- 13:10can cook is um when my son jack was around i
- 13:14want to say 14 he got diagnosed with celiac disease
- 13:17celiac you can't digest wheat you can't have
- 13:21certain you know you just can't um so that means
- 13:24breads certain spices so i had to learn As a
- 13:28chef that already had learned to cook, I had
- 13:31to learn to cook for someone who couldn't have
- 13:33wheat. So I pride myself on finding ways to cook
- 13:38food that my son could still enjoy and the whole
- 13:42family could eat and nobody feels like they're
- 13:45being robbed of taste or flavor or normal foods,
- 13:49quote unquote. So one of the things I make really
- 13:52good, one of the hard things about celiac is
- 13:53you can't use regular flour. And there are so
- 13:56many dishes, especially from the South, where
- 13:58you use regular flour. Like my son, before he
- 14:01got diagnosed, loved pizza. and chicken wings
- 14:05so I had to learn how to make my own gluten -free
- 14:08dough make it trial and error wasn't great in
- 14:12the very beginning had to learn how to make dough
- 14:13to where it would have that same feel that Christmas
- 14:17on the bottom but still be kind of doughy in
- 14:19the middle you know what I mean and I learned
- 14:21how to make the best fried chicken wings that
- 14:25are a hundred percent gluten free I found a way
- 14:28to season them. I found a way to make that skin,
- 14:31that crispness, that crispness you bite into.
- 14:34There's still juicy and moist inside. So I would
- 14:37say I make the best fried chicken wings you'll
- 14:39ever have. And you would never be able to tell
- 14:42that it's not a regular flour fried chicken.
- 14:45Okay, so I'm booking a flight to Orlando and
- 14:49I'm coming to your house because I actually have
- 14:51to be gluten -free, James. I don't have celiacs,
- 14:55but I've got a... pretty bad gluten intolerance.
- 14:58And man, I have not had a good chicken wing or
- 15:02chicken fingers that are gluten -free. So I'm
- 15:06there, man. I'm coming to your house. Ryan, bro,
- 15:09when you get to town, I promise you, man, I make
- 15:14you a vow. I will make you the best fried chicken
- 15:16wings that you'll enjoy, not feel sick. You'll
- 15:18just sit back and rub your belly and be happy.
- 15:21I got you, bro. Oh, man, because fried chicken
- 15:25is absolutely delicious. I mean, obviously, in
- 15:27the South, it's huge, right? But, like, I mean,
- 15:29I grew up eating KFC, man, and I love KFC. That
- 15:32stuff's delicious. Like, I love it. So, okay,
- 15:35I'm here for it, man. I'm glad I asked that.
- 15:38I'm glad I asked that. That is challenging, though,
- 15:41right? When you have to make adjustments to what
- 15:44everybody else eats, I always feel guilty because
- 15:47I don't like being the person that makes everybody
- 15:50else have to do something different. And so I
- 15:52just. I always feel bad saying I'm gluten -free
- 15:56somewhere, like, you know, when I'm going to
- 15:58be with other people and then feeling like they've
- 15:59got to accommodate. And my mother -in -law is
- 16:02very, very kind. We go to her house every other
- 16:04week for Sunday dinner, and she's always got
- 16:07something separate for me. Like, if it's pasta
- 16:09or something, she's got the gluten -free pasta,
- 16:10or if she's got something that has rolls, she'll
- 16:12have some gluten -free rolls. Very, very kind,
- 16:14but also makes me feel horrible because I hate
- 16:16being the one that puts somebody out, you know?
- 16:18And so I'm just always like, oh, it's so hard.
- 16:21Like, I want everybody else to eat what they
- 16:22want to eat. It is hard. And let me tell you,
- 16:26I have a very selfless family, my four children,
- 16:28my wife, because when we explain at a very young
- 16:32age to our kids what celiac disease was and what
- 16:34it meant and how we'd have to change the entire
- 16:37house, because not only can the person with celiac
- 16:40not eat those things, but they can't come into
- 16:43contact with them as well. So that means. if
- 16:46we were eating toast and you put it in the toaster
- 16:48my son could no longer use that toaster because
- 16:51cross -contamination it we had to educate the
- 16:54entire house and not once did any of my kids
- 16:58make my son jack feel less than or it was a bother
- 17:01my kids jumped head first like feet first and
- 17:05said yeah we got you jack we're going to change
- 17:07this house so you can be safe and comfortable
- 17:10so it everyone changed how we ate and we learned
- 17:14so much about the disease and everybody was on
- 17:16board to do it so i i'm just telling you man
- 17:19we life gets hard but i believe family comes
- 17:23together and we do what's right to make make
- 17:25that person you know feel good and make them
- 17:27feel welcome and make them feel whole because
- 17:30it could be hard because jack would have to explain
- 17:33when he would go out with his friends to like
- 17:35the movies or a restaurant all the things he
- 17:37couldn't eat and it was foreign and we never
- 17:39wanted jack to feel that that he was different
- 17:42you know what i mean yes he is different but
- 17:44we didn't want to feel like that made him um
- 17:47less than so everybody was on board in my house
- 17:51and i thank god for it every day day because
- 17:52it could have been an entire mess, but everybody
- 17:55came together and here we are, man. Well, I mean,
- 17:57and that's the perfect tie into Lilo and Stitch,
- 17:59right? I mean, when, when we look at Lilo and
- 18:01Stitch and the idea of family and one of the
- 18:04famous quotes from there is Ohana, which means
- 18:06family and that no one gets left behind. No.
- 18:09And it sounds to me like it's exactly what your
- 18:12family did. Like, and that's a credit to. to
- 18:15your kids too for doing that because that's as
- 18:17a kid that's hard right that's hard to to be
- 18:20that selfless as a kid like we all have this
- 18:23selfishness this pridefulness this ego inside
- 18:26of us and when we're younger it's really strong
- 18:28right and so let's do credit to them uh as well
- 18:31as your whole family that they were like hey
- 18:34we're not leaving jack behind we're gonna embrace
- 18:36it not at all man i i you bringing a smile to
- 18:40my face because it's i hadn't thought of it in
- 18:43a long time because it's been so many years since
- 18:45Jack was first diagnosed. But man, I have a special
- 18:47family. I really do. And they're amazing. And
- 18:50I'm very appreciative of them. And I take stock
- 18:54in my life and say all the things that are good
- 18:56instead of waking up and saying, here's all the
- 18:58things that are wrong. And I've led a really
- 19:01blessed life. So thank you. I really feel good
- 19:04about that. Not everywhere can be the happiest
- 19:07place on earth. And at RCG Law Group, my job
- 19:11outside of our podcast, we get that. Life throws
- 19:14curveballs, legal stuff, family stuff, the things
- 19:17you didn't see coming. That's what we're here
- 19:20for. If you're dealing with something and don't
- 19:22know where to turn, give RCG a call. Yeah. So
- 19:26you've got this great family. You are doing this.
- 19:31catering director stuff for disney how does the
- 19:34comedy thing end up coming to life how do you
- 19:38end up as a stand -up comic as a comedian doing
- 19:42content creation tell me about that journey okay
- 19:45here's the crazy thing um we we started having
- 19:48kids fairly young like we we had three kids um
- 19:52and in three years we had a kid every year for
- 19:55three years straight and we thought we were done
- 19:57and I got a vasectomy. And the day I got my vasectomy,
- 20:01we found out she was already two weeks pregnant.
- 20:04So you talk about, you know, things are meant
- 20:07to be in the universe. My son Isaiah, my youngest,
- 20:11was meant to be here. Here's what was going on.
- 20:13I was young when we started having kids, so I
- 20:15would work. a lot because i wanted my wife to
- 20:18be home with our children i didn't want daycare
- 20:20to raise our kids i wanted someone to be there
- 20:22so i work day and night but i've always loved
- 20:26comedy right and i was always the guy cracking
- 20:28jokes at disney and one of my friends i'll never
- 20:31forget him jamie ryan from new york what's up
- 20:33jamie he said james you're so funny you should
- 20:36do stand -up comedy and i was like jamie how
- 20:39do you just do stand -up comedy and he introduced
- 20:42me to something called an open mic where amateurs
- 20:45would go to a location and a bunch of us would
- 20:49get on stage five minutes at a time and we would
- 20:52practice our little jokes and at the time five
- 20:54minutes seemed like forever like oh my god how
- 20:56does anyone get up there and make jokes for five
- 20:59whole minutes so he convinced me to write some
- 21:02material and he would come to my house religiously
- 21:05i gave him so much credit he would come to my
- 21:08house and make me say those five minutes ten
- 21:11times in a row every day until i was ready to
- 21:15go on stage so by the time i hit that stage for
- 21:18the first time i knew my routine from front to
- 21:21back and i thought I'm just going to go up one
- 21:24time in my life. I'm going to have a great story
- 21:26to tell my kids one day that dad did stand up.
- 21:30But that first time changed my life, man. I got
- 21:33on that stage. I told my jokes. People laughed.
- 21:37And that feeling I got from people actually enjoying
- 21:41what I was doing, biggest rush I've ever had.
- 21:44I couldn't drink. There's no drug I could take
- 21:47to make me feel that same rush of people laughing
- 21:50at my jokes. And I was hooked. but but here's
- 21:53the bad part i started doing open mics where
- 21:57i was i was not making any money and i would
- 22:00have to go there and it's late night when you
- 22:02do these things it's not you know just in the
- 22:05afternoon so i was working i'm not making this
- 22:08up and during the day working at disney at night
- 22:11working at universal Then I would go open mic
- 22:16after my second shift. So I told my wife, hey,
- 22:20sweetie, I really want to do stand up comedy.
- 22:22And I'm going to go to this thing called an open
- 22:24mic. And she's like, oh, you're going to go somewhere
- 22:26after your second job. Well, how much does that
- 22:28pay? And I'm like, good news. It doesn't. I get
- 22:33paid with laughter. Maybe they give me a soda.
- 22:41Yes. And here's the other part. My wife was pregnant
- 22:45with our third kid at the time when I started
- 22:47doing standup. So I told my wife, not only am
- 22:50I, you're not going to see me during the day
- 22:51because I work and at night, you're not going
- 22:53to see me for the rest of the night because I'm
- 22:55going to be going to this open mic once a week.
- 22:57To my wife's credit, here's how I know I'm supposed
- 23:00to be with her. She said, if you really want
- 23:02to try comedy, because I know how much you've
- 23:04always loved comedy, try it. Try it. Just go
- 23:08and see if you love it. And it's so funny because
- 23:10years later, because of that wonderful woman
- 23:13believing in me, she didn't have to do that being
- 23:16pregnant with our third kid. She could have said
- 23:18no, but now comedy. led me to having two television
- 23:23shows, a nationally syndicated radio show, performing
- 23:27with some of the biggest names in comedy. It's
- 23:30afforded me a great life. I put four kids through
- 23:33college with comedy, and now it's the only job
- 23:36that I do. So that's how I got started doing
- 23:40comedy, brother. It was... It was comedy in itself,
- 23:43me telling my wife, I'm going to do comedy while
- 23:46you're pregnant with our third kid. Bye. Well,
- 23:49there's something great when you find something
- 23:52that brings you that level of excitement, joy,
- 23:56and happiness. I've never done stand -up. I certainly
- 24:00don't have those skills. In my younger years,
- 24:03before I went to law school, i did i did do some
- 24:06acting in like local theater right like very
- 24:09low level local theater my favorite was comedies
- 24:12and when when i could be in a comedy and either
- 24:17deliver the line that was already pre -written
- 24:19in a way that gets the audience to laugh or even
- 24:21better when i could improv something based off
- 24:24of the feel of what was happening at the time
- 24:26and that got laughter it was that feeling that
- 24:30you described right you're just like oh my gosh
- 24:32this is this is better than any drug like it's
- 24:34keep me coming back like there's just something
- 24:37about it that's just like bringing joy and laughter
- 24:39to people oh man it is amazing brother you totally
- 24:44get it can i tell you one of the the best compliments
- 24:47i i love when i do a comedy show when someone
- 24:51will come up to me after this show and they will
- 24:53say this they'll say thank you so much um I am
- 24:57going through something really, really hard right
- 25:00now. I have a loved one that just passed away.
- 25:04I have cancer that I'm fighting right now. Or
- 25:07I'm getting a divorce. Or I have a sick child
- 25:10in the hospital. And I needed a good laugh. And
- 25:13this is exactly what I needed. Let me tell you,
- 25:16money is great. Fame is awesome. But when you
- 25:19touch someone's life doing something that you
- 25:22love, there is no... better reward than that.
- 25:26The feeling I get knowing that laughter truly
- 25:29is it for a lot of people, it's medicine, it's
- 25:32therapeutic, it's therapy for a lot of folks,
- 25:34man. And the fact I get to be involved in that
- 25:37is an amazing blessing. And I don't take it for
- 25:40granted. I really don't. To me, what I, what
- 25:43I hear when you're describing that is something
- 25:46that, that I, I talked to, to my firm about,
- 25:50I, I coach other business owners about, which
- 25:53is, that when when you're doing something especially
- 25:56something that you're getting paid for the goal
- 25:59is to bring more in value than you receive in
- 26:02payment and that's not easy to do but when when
- 26:05you're describing that it's exactly what you're
- 26:07doing yeah you now thankful you're getting paid
- 26:09for these gigs you're doing but the value that
- 26:12you're bringing to somebody going through something
- 26:14so hard and so difficult that helps them it's
- 26:18going to make me emotional james this is supposed
- 26:20to be a funny episode But what that brings to
- 26:23somebody going through a death, going through
- 26:26a divorce, is it's just immeasurable of the impact
- 26:30that you can bring to somebody's life because
- 26:32it's so needed, right? That's why we as creatures,
- 26:35we need humor more in our lives because it brings
- 26:39us a little bit more of that joy and takes us
- 26:42through difficult times. I really do. And I believe
- 26:46you wholeheartedly. You nailed it. And what I
- 26:48tell people, my only little soapbox message when
- 26:51I'm doing comedy at the very end, I tell people,
- 26:54I want you to look at what we got to do here
- 26:56tonight. And they'll look at me like, what do
- 26:57you mean? I'm telling the audience, look around.
- 27:00Look, there's everybody. represented in this
- 27:04room, from every walk of life, every culture
- 27:07is here. You know what we did tonight, people?
- 27:09Nobody cared who we voted for. Nobody cared how
- 27:13much each of you make annually as a salary. All
- 27:16we cared about was having a good time as a group,
- 27:19and we got to achieve that. I said, that feels
- 27:21kind of good, doesn't it? And they'll be like,
- 27:23yeah. I said, so don't forget that when you walk
- 27:26out of those doors and go back to real life.
- 27:29Keep that joy in your heart and understand. Sometimes
- 27:33people aren't going to agree, but that does not
- 27:36mean that we have to hate or not be friends with
- 27:40them. Then they're like, oh, yeah, that makes
- 27:43sense. I'm like, yes, something that simple does
- 27:46make sense. But sometimes we got to say it out
- 27:48loud so the rest of the world can get it. Yeah.
- 27:51So related to that, let me ask you this. So our
- 27:56podcast is called Yes And Land. Yes And is something
- 28:00pulled from improv comedy. Have you ever done
- 28:03improv comedy, James? A little bit, so I totally
- 28:06get that. If someone asks you a question, you
- 28:09have to answer it. Why is that a core principle
- 28:14in improv comedy? Because it is. It's like one
- 28:16of the core principles of improv comedy is yes
- 28:18and. So maybe share with our audience, from your
- 28:20perspective as an actual comedian, why that's
- 28:23important. Well, I believe it's like playing
- 28:27basketball. The ball can't stop bouncing. You
- 28:30know what I mean? You have to keep the ball going.
- 28:32So that's what improv is to me. And it keeps
- 28:35you thinking and it keeps you in the moment as
- 28:38an entertainer. Okay, this is happening. I'm
- 28:40going to bring this scenario up. So I have to
- 28:42answer, okay, and I'm going to add this to it.
- 28:45So it keeps your creativity going. And that's
- 28:47what I got when I did a little bit of improv,
- 28:49not a lot. There's a guy here in Orlando, his
- 28:52name is Ross Pageant. He's one of the leaders
- 28:55when it comes to improv. His mind, he's like
- 28:58an alien. The way he's so creative and on his
- 29:02feet. That's what I got from improv when I did
- 29:04it. It kept me in the moment to where if something
- 29:06happens in the actual audience, I can react to
- 29:09it, respond, make a joke really quick, and then
- 29:12intertwine back to my planned material. So I
- 29:16love improv. I'm not one of those comedians that
- 29:19hates on improv because there's been a lot of
- 29:21tension between our two camps, I think. Sure,
- 29:23sure. off i know that it's a real skill i know
- 29:28it's not easy so i tip my hats to people that
- 29:30actually do it like it's it's hard Very hard.
- 29:34Yes. And one of the things that I heard in you
- 29:37describing what you're talking to your audience
- 29:39about is honestly a yes. And because when we
- 29:41look at this principle of like, you've got to
- 29:43keep the entertainment going. If you, if you
- 29:46don't, if you don't say yes and build on the
- 29:49next thing, then you really shut it down. And
- 29:51I think that's what sometimes happens for people
- 29:53in, in discourse in life, right? Instead of acknowledging
- 29:58somebody else's perspective, instead of acknowledging
- 30:00that people can have different opinions. and
- 30:03then building on it we tear it down we we use
- 30:06a yes but right where we're really trying to
- 30:08invalidate what's going on and it does it stops
- 30:10it and when it stops it then we stop having that
- 30:13sense of community And we let that divide ourselves
- 30:16instead of creating better connections and better
- 30:20relationships, even when we have different views
- 30:24and opinions at times. And so I love what we
- 30:26can learn from improv comedy on keeping things
- 30:30going, but with relationships in life. That's
- 30:35well put. Very poignant, man. I totally agree
- 30:37with that. I think the best way to run, because
- 30:40I'm married 32 years and you're going to fight
- 30:42sometimes. There's certain couples out there
- 30:46who say, we don't fight. Those people are liars.
- 30:48Because yes, yes, you will fight. I agree, right?
- 30:51There's no way that somebody doesn't ever fight.
- 30:55No, we never fight. I'm like, okay. All right,
- 30:59but you do lie. I always say the best way to
- 31:05win an argument most of the time is by listening.
- 31:08Because you're going to learn more. You're going
- 31:10to understand more. Maybe see the other side.
- 31:12So I try to keep that in mind. I'll be honest
- 31:16with you. If we were keeping track of arguments
- 31:18like it was an actual boxing match, I am 0 -88
- 31:23with my wife. That woman is much smarter than
- 31:28me. She's good at what she does. Shout out to
- 31:31her, man. When you are having maybe a disagreement
- 31:36about something, are you able to bring in humor
- 31:40in a way that brings levity as opposed to humor
- 31:45that brings in disparity or disparagement, right?
- 31:49Are you able to do that? Does that ever play
- 31:51a role in the way that you guys sometimes, if
- 31:52you have a little bit of disagreement, but you
- 31:54can bring in the levity, then suddenly it brings
- 31:55you guys together? That's my wife. People don't
- 32:00know this. People think I'm funny. I'm really
- 32:02good at stand -up comedy. I will say that. My
- 32:05wife's ten times funnier than I am. Hands down.
- 32:08My wife's hilarious, my friend. She just doesn't
- 32:11want to ever perform. I would love to see her
- 32:13on stage. She'll snap me out of it. If I'm being
- 32:16a grumpy bear and I'm grumpy about something
- 32:18silly, she'll snap me out of it. I'm like, oh,
- 32:22you're right. You're right. Again, you're right.
- 32:26I'm 80, oh, and 89 now. But yeah, my wife uses
- 32:30humor a lot. Like it snaps me out of it because
- 32:32I'm a comedian. I love humor. So she knows exactly
- 32:35after 32 years how to get me in the better mood.
- 32:38So yeah, she'll use it. If we're arguing, I'm
- 32:39like, yeah, you're right. That was just, it doesn't
- 32:41even matter. That's so silly. I, yeah. So yeah.
- 32:44Smart. Yeah. It definitely helps us. If we didn't
- 32:48have humor in my relationship, it would have
- 32:49never worked. My wife. That's how we deal with
- 32:53a lot of stuff. When things happen, you have
- 32:55to laugh at it and just, all right, let's tackle
- 32:57it. Yes, and, and let's go. Yeah, brilliant.
- 33:00Okay, so I got a couple of questions for you
- 33:02about, let's get our minds opening up here and
- 33:05let's see what you've got, okay? So what is,
- 33:10because you're in the parks a lot, right? Four
- 33:11times a week, I think you said. What is your
- 33:14biggest pet peeve of people in the parks? This
- 33:19is easy. We don't stop in a walkway. We don't
- 33:25abruptly come to a stop on a walkway when there's
- 33:28a thousand people literally walking behind you
- 33:31because accidents are going to happen. I love,
- 33:36man, the excitement of seeing someone brand new
- 33:38in the parks because you understand what they're
- 33:41feeling for that first time. But there's some
- 33:43etiquette, some rules to being in the theme park.
- 33:46If you're walking and you're on a main thoroughfare,
- 33:49you can't just stop. There's always going to
- 33:52be someone behind you. There just is when you
- 33:55go to the theme park. And if we could all walk
- 33:57the same speed, maybe, that would be great. I'm
- 33:59just putting it out there. That would be helpful.
- 34:02That would be nice. Some of us have to have a
- 34:06ride to get to. Okay, so let me throw this or
- 34:11that. Would you rather have, say, a big group
- 34:15of, say, 15 people all wearing matching shirts
- 34:18in front of you suddenly stop? Or the rope dropper,
- 34:25you know, dad with a stroller behind you that
- 34:28keeps hitting you in the back of the heels as
- 34:30he's going because he's trying to go faster and
- 34:32faster and you can't go any faster. You're stuck.
- 34:34Which would you rather have? Oh, that's a great
- 34:39one. I'm going to say the dad hitting me with
- 34:41the stroller. Here's why. I might need a little
- 34:47help sometimes. Like, help me along. It's a reminder,
- 34:52right? Can I get in the stroller with your kid?
- 34:56I'm going to go jump right in. I don't know what
- 35:00it's rated for, but adults are fine, right? I'm
- 35:02getting on this stroller. I meet the weight requirement,
- 35:07right? Oh, I love it. It's going to take you
- 35:13so long to get. I've been there. The 15 people
- 35:16with the matching T -shirts, they're going to
- 35:18block everything. It's going to take a while
- 35:21to get around them. So I've been there. I love
- 35:25your family reunion, people. Enjoy yourselves.
- 35:27But get out of the way. Go off to the side. Not
- 35:30in the middle of Main Street, okay? Let's go.
- 35:33everybody stops it's oh my gosh god bless you
- 35:36yeah so here's an anecdotal story so when i was
- 35:39maybe i was probably 10 years old um and back
- 35:43then so i'm i'm the son of a school teacher dad
- 35:47taught elementary school my my mom was a lunch
- 35:49lady but by golly they saved and scrimped and
- 35:52made it happen so we could go to disneyland just
- 35:54about every summer disneyland's closed out here
- 35:57out west um and so i can remember Walking in,
- 36:00I was so excited because we loved Disney. So
- 36:03I remember walking in, and when you first walk
- 36:06into Disneyland, I don't think you've ever been
- 36:07to Disneyland, right? Have you ever been to Disneyland?
- 36:09I have. Oh, you have? Okay, so you know. Okay,
- 36:12so you first walk in, you walk underneath the
- 36:14little tunnel where the train's at, right? And
- 36:17you kind of go to that roundabout right before
- 36:19you go up Main Street. And so I'm there, I'm
- 36:2210 and I am soaking it in and I didn't stop.
- 36:25All right. I'm still walking and I'm soaking
- 36:27in the sounds and the smells and the view. And
- 36:32I'm totally lost in this magical world that Walt
- 36:35has created, right? Doing exactly what he tried
- 36:37to do, right? Where he's creating all of these
- 36:39experiences for you. And as I'm walking along,
- 36:41not paying attention at all. And one of those
- 36:44posts that you have all the ropes for, for the
- 36:47parades was up and I ran. right into that, in
- 36:51the family jewels, James, and I was dead. Like,
- 36:56it was the perfect height to take me out, and
- 36:59take me out it did, and oh my goodness, I remember
- 37:03that so vividly like it was yesterday, because
- 37:06I was not going to stop, right? I was on a pathway.
- 37:10You were. Every man, when we hear a story like
- 37:14that, we instantly feel that. that pain we go
- 37:18back to the time we felt that same thing and
- 37:21i'm sorry brother that is you can literally hear
- 37:26like that's exactly the sound it would have been
- 37:30right yeah if it was a movie that's the sound
- 37:33they would have made right when that part happens
- 37:35yes oh man oh it's perfect Here's my pet peeve.
- 37:42I don't know why it is, but it's my pet peeve.
- 37:44And it's not just the parks. It's pretty much
- 37:46in general. My pet peeve is when you go into
- 37:50a men's bathroom and you go to the urinal and
- 37:54somebody starts at the urinal and in the 15 to
- 37:5830 seconds they're at the urinal, they can't
- 38:00stay off their phone long enough that they've
- 38:02got to pull out their phone and look at their
- 38:05phone while they're at the urinal. Like, that's
- 38:07my pet peeve. I can't do it. I can't do it, James.
- 38:10If you pull out a phone while you're using the
- 38:14bathroom, you're a serial killer. There's etiquette
- 38:17to using a cell phone when you're using the bathroom.
- 38:20The only time it is okay when you're doing the
- 38:23other thing, sitting down. That is the only time.
- 38:25I agree with that. But the urinal? I'm like,
- 38:30I don't get it. I don't get it. We're so addicted
- 38:33to the phone that 15 seconds, we can't be away
- 38:36for 15 seconds. I'm just like, I can't do it.
- 38:39And it's an epidemic. It happens so frequently.
- 38:43I see it happen all the time. And now you just
- 38:47gave me a visual because, you know, we've used
- 38:48other people's phones before in a pinch. I put
- 38:51that same phone next to my face. It's on my face.
- 38:56It's right here. Oh, my goodness. Oh, wow. Okay.
- 39:06Okay. That's a visual. Here's the next question
- 39:08I got for you. Obviously, you must have done
- 39:11a lot of stand -up, right, over the years. What's
- 39:15like the nightmare gig that was just like the
- 39:19worst or the worst audience member you've ever
- 39:22encountered? Well, the worst comedy gig, because
- 39:26we talk about this a lot between us comedians,
- 39:29is the surprise show. that you'll do and let
- 39:32me let me tell you what it is normally it's a
- 39:35bar show meaning you're going to be doing stand
- 39:36-up comedy at a bar a place that's not set up
- 39:39for comedy but it's the only place that will
- 39:41let you start doing comedy in your early days
- 39:44of you know trying to be a stand -up comedian
- 39:45and you need to get to stage time but when it's
- 39:48a surprise show meaning all the people there
- 39:52are drinking watching the game all of a sudden
- 39:55the owner turns the tvs off and a nervous pimply
- 39:59kid says all right guys it's time for comedy
- 40:02and people are looking at you like it's a mob
- 40:05hit they're going They're watching the game.
- 40:15They're drinking beer to the bar and you're going
- 40:17to surprise them with a comedy show that they
- 40:20didn't sign up to be a part of, man. It's those
- 40:23are the worst gigs when the surprise comedy show
- 40:27that no one knew they were coming to. Yeah. Before
- 40:31we jump back in, can I ask you a quick favor?
- 40:34If you're enjoying the journey so far, will you
- 40:37like rate? and subscribe to our show it helps
- 40:40us reach more people like you we can design and
- 40:44create and build the most wonderful place in
- 40:46the world but it takes people to make the dream
- 40:49a reality what what do you do in those moments
- 40:53and they they don't want to be there or they're
- 40:57wanting you to fail and you're trying to deliver
- 40:59these jokes and it's not landing at all i mean
- 41:02you had to have had that you you can be the best
- 41:04committee in the world you will still have times
- 41:06where jokes do not land like what is that experience
- 41:09like because i think that's what people are afraid
- 41:11of right that's why people don't want to do stuff
- 41:12like that because like what is that like Because
- 41:15you're by yourself. There's nobody on stage with
- 41:18you. There's no help. There's no friend you can
- 41:21call. There's no lifesaver coming, right? They're
- 41:23going to throw to you and pull you into the boat.
- 41:24No, no. It's just you facing those people and
- 41:29they're not laughing. It's happened to the best
- 41:31of us. You have to learn to bomb. That's what
- 41:35we call it when you're not doing well on stage.
- 41:37We have to learn to bomb while still smiling
- 41:39and being pleasant. That's something else, man.
- 41:42Imagine, it's like working. customer service
- 41:46when you have the rudest person in front of you
- 41:49you still have to smile listen and nod that's
- 41:53what it's like being a stand -up comedy and that's
- 41:55part of the process of being a great one is learning
- 41:58in that adversity to not let see people see you
- 42:01sweat because they can smell nervousness they
- 42:04can smell fear the audience they know and if
- 42:07they smell a little bit they're like a a shark
- 42:09that smells blood there it's going to be a blood
- 42:12bath so you have to learn to take it you have
- 42:14to learn to be okay in that silence of them just
- 42:17staring at you and keep doing your act like they're
- 42:20all still laughing and get better at it and at
- 42:22some point if you do it and you keep at it they'll
- 42:26start laughing when you do these shows even when
- 42:28it's a surprise one and that's how you know you're
- 42:29a good comic if you can do a surprise show and
- 42:32those angry people turn into an actual an actual
- 42:35comedy audience bro you're on your way you're
- 42:39gonna make it how do you differentiate with certain
- 42:43jokes that you tell between what's just a dead
- 42:46audience or what's just a dead joke like this
- 42:49joke just is not going to work like it it's it's
- 42:52i shouldn't have written it it's out of my set
- 42:54next time like how do you differentiate between
- 42:56those well it's kind of easy if you do a joke
- 42:59that normally works all the time and you do it
- 43:01a gig and no one laughs you're like it's probably
- 43:04the audience but if you tell this joke everywhere
- 43:07like it like five different shows and they're
- 43:10not laughing It's probably the joke. Like, you
- 43:12should stop telling that joke at some point.
- 43:14When you try it multiple times at multiple shows
- 43:17and people are just like, nah, that's the difference.
- 43:21That's how you know this ain't working. Okay,
- 43:24so you're going to give it a shot. Like, if the
- 43:26joke bombs once, you're not going to quit there.
- 43:28You're going to keep going. No, that's the beauty
- 43:31of doing standup. You're going to take that same
- 43:34bombing and that feeling of dread. You're going
- 43:37to go do that some more. You're going to keep
- 43:39doing it. Bring it on. And there's no safe word
- 43:44in comedy. You just keep going. There's no safe
- 43:47word. No one coming to bail you out. Totally
- 43:52fair. Nope. Nope. Okay. So. Let me ask you maybe
- 43:58a question that might make you think a little
- 44:00bit. If you had to, say, create or since let's
- 44:06say to send somebody to a ride in any of the
- 44:09Disney parks where you would send terrible guests,
- 44:12right, that they were being terrible. So as a
- 44:15punishment, they have to go to that ride. What's
- 44:18the ride you're sending people to? Oh, this is
- 44:21very easy. This ride has been known to send people
- 44:24to a chiropractor. Space Mountain in Magic Kingdom.
- 44:28Bro. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. It's a wonderful ride,
- 44:32but it's rough. Bro, it is. That's a ride, an
- 44:36attraction that needs a safe word. It's rough.
- 44:42You will come out. Actually, they now hire Disney
- 44:46a chiropractor that's at the end of the ride
- 44:48now. The gift shop has a chiropractor office.
- 44:52They'll line you up, you know. That's right.
- 44:56They put you in that little chair they have that
- 44:58has the face thing. Like, here, we got these
- 45:00chairs lined up. Just get on that. We're going
- 45:01to. That's the way I feel about Matterhorn. That's
- 45:06the way I feel about Matterhorn at Disneyland.
- 45:08It's the rickiest. I get that when it came out,
- 45:12it was unbelievable. Nothing like it ever. The
- 45:14style of track with the tube had never been done
- 45:17before. I get all of that. I still hate it. My
- 45:21kids want to go on it, but I'm always sitting
- 45:23like this the whole time. Don't jerk me too much.
- 45:27Don't break my neck, please. And the kids are
- 45:30like, Dad, isn't this fun? You're like, yep,
- 45:32sure is. It's great. It's so great. Glad you
- 45:35wanted to go on this. Glad I spent my lightning
- 45:38lane for this. Like, oh, good gravy. Yeah, so
- 45:44if anybody was a horrible guest, I'm sitting
- 45:46in Space Mountain. They're going to come off
- 45:48feeling different. Yeah, no doubt about it. Okay,
- 45:52so what is a Disney Parks hot take you have?
- 45:59Parks just in general? Disney hot takes. Anything.
- 46:03Disney, Disney, Disney Parks, Disney movies.
- 46:06Maybe it's just a hot take you got. Give us a
- 46:07hot take. People are going to kill me for this
- 46:10because I know this is a Disney tradition. I
- 46:12never liked eating on a trash can and using it
- 46:17as a table. I know. How dare you? But I came
- 46:24from the culinary world. That's, you know, there's
- 46:26a distinction that we make between trash and
- 46:29where it's kept and cleanliness of the food and
- 46:32whatnot. So just me putting my food down on a
- 46:36trash can never, never been my thing. I never
- 46:39wanted that. I never thought that was the best
- 46:42idea. That was always like, like worst case scenario,
- 46:46right? When they're all the tables are taken
- 46:47out and you would have to do that. I didn't,
- 46:50I wasn't looking. to go to the trash can. I never
- 46:52wanted to practice being homeless. Like I never
- 46:55wanted that. So I know, but haven't, haven't
- 46:59we all been there? Like I with you a hundred
- 47:02percent, James, it's the worst. And yet I have
- 47:04done it on multiple occasions. I know. I know.
- 47:09And people, you know, you've heard this. People
- 47:12are losing their minds because the trash cans
- 47:15have changed in Epcot. You can no longer just
- 47:18put your tray on it. It'll fall off. It's rounded
- 47:20at the top, the new trash can. So people are
- 47:24going crazy right now. But they've done something
- 47:27along all the railings that they have in World
- 47:30Showcase. They started putting up these. Not
- 47:35boards, panels where you could stand and eat
- 47:37like you used to at the trash can. But now it's
- 47:40an actual clean surface that doesn't have, you
- 47:44know, trash and disposables inside of it. That's
- 47:47a little bit, you know, more cleanly for you.
- 47:50So they're trying to make up for it. But yeah,
- 47:53I never liked eating on the Disney trash can.
- 47:56I'm sorry. People don't hate me. You're going
- 48:00to get so much hate for this. You're going to
- 48:01get all these comments blasting you, James. It's
- 48:03going to be wild. You better buckle up. Keep
- 48:07your hands and arms inside the vehicle because
- 48:09you better buckle up, my friend. I'm going to
- 48:12be sent on Space Mountain. I know. I get it.
- 48:14Oh, that's exactly right. Yeah, they're going
- 48:15to be like, hey, you're going to have to suffer
- 48:17the same punishment that you were trying to dole
- 48:19out to everybody else, James. This is going to
- 48:21happen. This is the reality. This is your new
- 48:23reality. Okay, so when you're out in the parks
- 48:27and you and Devin are filming. I think some of
- 48:31the stuff you guys do are just like riffing off
- 48:33the fly. And some of the things you guys have
- 48:34like written some jokes and stuff. So when you
- 48:36have, tell me this, who's the first person to
- 48:40break between you and Devin? It's funny. Cause
- 48:44I think it's Devin. Like, cause I'm so silly
- 48:46and animated. I'll do something. He'll just start
- 48:49laughing. Like one of the cool things about our
- 48:52videos is. The genuine laugh at the end of our
- 48:55videos is us truly cracking up because we're
- 48:58like, we can't believe how silly we're being.
- 49:00And we leave those in on purpose on a lot of
- 49:02our videos. Like, I'll make Devin laugh. If I
- 49:05can make Devin break, that's my goal. He likes
- 49:07to make me scared to get on certain attractions.
- 49:09I like to see him break during an actual sketch.
- 49:12If I can do that, I know I'm doing a good job
- 49:15on this sketch, man. Yeah, that's what I love
- 49:18about doing these. Oh, I made Devin laugh. Oh,
- 49:21and Devin's like, oh, we got to stop. I knew
- 49:25I got him. Cut, cut, cut, cut. We got to refill.
- 49:28I can't do it. I can't do it. We were doing,
- 49:31we do these reviews of different toys and stuff
- 49:34that you can buy on property. We were at Animal
- 49:36Kingdom and they had this little squishy blob
- 49:40you could buy. And it was in the shape of a bao
- 49:43bun. And we had these little bao bun baskets
- 49:45that you would buy them in. So we were just reviewing
- 49:47it. And Devin's like, oh, this is a little bao
- 49:50bun basket. I'm like, hmm, funny thing. That
- 49:52was my nickname in college. And he's like, I
- 49:55was like, why wait? That's my favorite thing
- 50:01to make Devin break. You know what? I'm going
- 50:04to take that one because my kids are now going
- 50:06to know you as that because they love those Battle
- 50:08Bun things. Like, they are obsessed with them
- 50:11here. Oh, my gosh. Like, I don't know if it's
- 50:14to the same degree there where you're out in
- 50:15Florida, but here in Utah, it's like everybody
- 50:17wants them. You get to go to the Five Below store
- 50:19to get them, and you open them up to see what
- 50:21weird color it is. And so, like, my kids have
- 50:24just way too many of them, and they love them.
- 50:27So that's going to be – I'm going to be like,
- 50:29guess who I talked to today? Battle Bun Basket.
- 50:35Oh, my gosh. That's funny. I did not know it
- 50:37was so popular out there. All right. Oh, it's
- 50:39huge. It's huge. These kids these days, they
- 50:41love it. They love it. Okay. So I'm going to
- 50:43take you to a quick this or that. Well, maybe
- 50:46it won't be so quick. The rapid fire will be
- 50:48quick. But we're going to do this or that for
- 50:50just a minute here if you're game for it. You
- 50:51ready for this or that? I'm ready. Now, I always
- 50:55tell people, if you've got some controversial
- 50:56opinions, James, I am not going to be afraid
- 50:58to call you out on it. Okay? So you better be
- 51:00ready. Okay. I'm ready. Okay. So Stitch or Abu?
- 51:09Stitch. Stitch. I'm with you. I'm with you. If
- 51:13you know me – wait a minute. Wait, sir. Wait
- 51:16a second. Hold on. I'm about that life. Oh, there
- 51:20it is. You are about that life. I'm about – I'm
- 51:24telling you, man. You know that Stitch is my
- 51:26jam. I love Stitch, man. Yeah. That was a softball.
- 51:30You're like, yeah, boom. Well, yeah. Thank you
- 51:33for asking me that. So people know I have a love
- 51:35for Stitch, man. I really do. Are you excited
- 51:39for the Stitch 2 live action? I am. Here's why
- 51:45I thought the live action stitch worked because
- 51:48they didn't make the same movie frame by frame.
- 51:52They changed some things, made some stuff different.
- 51:54So it was a new experience. Here's my hot take
- 51:57for people when it comes to Disney movies. If
- 52:00we're going to make a live action version five
- 52:04years later. it needs to be a new property because
- 52:08all we're doing is re -watching a cgi movie that's
- 52:11been turned into a cgi movie when we added a
- 52:14couple live actors in it i i think it's just
- 52:18i don't understand it but hey if it's your thing
- 52:22but for me my hot take it needs to be a different
- 52:26movie if you want me to go support it yeah so
- 52:29you're hoping that stitch 2 is a little different
- 52:31uh you're hoping that tangled live action's a
- 52:33little different Hopefully it is. Yes. Yes. Don't
- 52:37just give me the same movie frame by frame. I
- 52:39saw the movie. It was great. I saw it. I don't
- 52:42need a new updated version of it. That's the
- 52:44same. Yeah. Okay. How about this one? Stitch's
- 52:50plasma blaster or Aladdin's lamp. Oh, the plasma
- 52:55blaster. These are too easy for you. If it's
- 52:58going to be stitched, it's too easy. Let me tell
- 53:01you why, though, because if you shoot a plasma
- 53:04blaster at a theme park, people tend to move
- 53:07out of the way. It's all I'm saying. Like, I
- 53:12get exactly where I need to go. I'm just going
- 53:13to fire this thing off. Bro, you've heard of
- 53:15a lightning lane? Plasma gun lane. I'm telling
- 53:18you, bro. Way more effective. If Disney Imagineers
- 53:23are listening, I'm just telling you. It's like
- 53:26Princess Bride, right? Andre the Giant. Everybody
- 53:29move. Right? Everybody just splits up. Plasma
- 53:32blaster. Yep. Everybody's out the way. I love
- 53:37it. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. What do you know?
- 53:41Okay. How about this? A 45 -minute stand -up
- 53:44set to a completely silent room, or it's a small
- 53:49world on loop for three hours. 45 minutes. 45
- 53:54minutes to dead silence. Just people looking
- 53:56at me. That's a lot of Small World. Let me tell
- 54:00you something. If you ever rode Small World twice
- 54:02in a row, I did that. Because we had two of the
- 54:06kids with us in one part of Magic Kingdom. And
- 54:09my mother -in -law had the other two kids. And
- 54:12I'd just gotten off with two of the kids. And
- 54:14the other kids wanted to ride it. And the mother
- 54:17-in -law was like, my knees, I can't do this.
- 54:20So I had to go on with them. Yeah. Woo. Two times
- 54:24in a row. That's a lot of small world. That is
- 54:27a lot. I almost jumped in the water. I'm just
- 54:30saying. You're ready to bail. Get me out of here.
- 54:33Pretty much. I'm like, I wish the world were
- 54:35bigger. Way too small. Way too small. That's
- 54:41one of the rides that I, again, for Disney lovers,
- 54:44it's. They love it. They nostalgia for it while
- 54:47themselves created it. And I get all of that.
- 54:50The only way I like going on that ride, James,
- 54:53is if it's the middle of the day and it's super
- 54:55hot and I need a break and I'm going to take
- 54:57a nap. Give me that 10 minute nap and it's fine.
- 55:01I'll sleep. My kids will enjoy it. It's good.
- 55:03I've mastered the like taking a nap when you
- 55:05like fold your arms, kind of lay back and your
- 55:08head goes down, you know? Yeah. I can do that.
- 55:11I can do that. And then I can make it work. Other
- 55:13than that, I'm like, I'll pass. You guys go on
- 55:15that. I'll go eat a churro or something. But
- 55:19could you imagine three hours of that? That's
- 55:22a lot. It would be torture. It'd be like Chinese
- 55:26water torture, right? Where they're dripping
- 55:27the water on your head. Oh my God. No, no. Okay,
- 55:36so speaking of Disney food, how about this? Eat
- 55:39only turkey legs for a week or only Disney corn
- 55:43dogs for a week? I'm team corn dog. Corn dog
- 55:47all day. Disney got great corn dogs. And I know
- 55:52there's a lot of you who love the turkey legs.
- 55:55I know my manatee friend out there, he loves
- 55:58those. This is going to be a hot take, and I
- 56:01tell people. i am not a fan of the disney turkey
- 56:05leg i am it's not my favorite at all out of all
- 56:09the wonderful delicious snacks and treats that
- 56:13they make that's on the bottom of my list i am
- 56:15not a turkey leg fan i really am not i know don't
- 56:19hate me people i'm just being honest i'm yeah
- 56:22really okay and it for me it goes back to that's
- 56:27actually not disney's fault but i remember it
- 56:30was I graduated law school. Some family and a
- 56:34friend came into town. We drove up to Dallas
- 56:38because I went to law school at Baylor, which
- 56:40is in Waco. We drove up to Dallas and went to
- 56:41Six Flags. We got a Six Flags there. And it was
- 56:45super hot. I had not hydrated well, and I was
- 56:49super hungry. And so I got a turkey leg they
- 56:52had there. and then i was so sick the rest of
- 56:56the day like i couldn't hardly go on a ride like
- 56:59my head was pounding i was other things and since
- 57:03then like i can't even hardly see the turkey
- 57:05legs i'm like nope fast that's not gonna be for
- 57:07me i'm not doing a turkey leg yeah i i don't
- 57:11hate them it's just not close to being my favorite.
- 57:14I just think they're okay. And I know there's
- 57:17going to be people who hear this and they're
- 57:18going to lose their minds. I'm sorry. I'm just
- 57:21being honest with you. I'd rather have a corn
- 57:24dog. Yeah. I mean, cause the corn dogs are really
- 57:26good too. I mean, they're like delicious. A little
- 57:29bit of mustard, like corn dog, mustard. Oh man.
- 57:32I could, I could eat that right now. Oh yes.
- 57:35I'm going to go get one. I'm going to have the
- 57:36chef here on the ship, make a corn dog. Yeah.
- 57:39And what's, what's hard is, is I, Because I just
- 57:43in recent years have developed this gluten intolerance.
- 57:46I can take a gluten pill. I've tried a whole
- 57:50bunch. I've experimented with a whole bunch.
- 57:51I found some that won't make me as sick if I
- 57:55have some, but I have to really want it because
- 57:58I'm still not going to feel great. Disney churro,
- 58:02Disney corn dog, I will do it. Give me that pill.
- 58:05Give me that gluten pill. I'm going to eat that
- 58:06corn dog. I'm going to eat that churro. It's
- 58:08worth it. I will totally do it. It's like Texas
- 58:10Roadhouse Rolls. I will do it. It's delicious.
- 58:12I'm making it happen. Texas Roadhouse Rolls,
- 58:16sir. Right? You took me to a happy place. You
- 58:21see me closing my eyes like you? So good. God
- 58:28bless you. It's embarrassing, James, how many
- 58:31rolls I'll eat when I go because we don't go
- 58:34that often. And I'm going to have to have a pill.
- 58:36So it's like if I'm in. man i'm all in seriously
- 58:40it's i probably eat 10 to 14 rolls when i go
- 58:44like that's embarrassing like it's ridiculous
- 58:46but i'm like brother bringing more bring in two
- 58:50two baskets don't give me one basket give me
- 58:53two baskets Brother, that's impressive that you
- 58:57can put that many down. I would stand up and
- 59:00give you a slow clap like, okay, yep, mm -hmm,
- 59:03yep. They're so good. They're so addicting. It's
- 59:08just like a Pringles. Once you pop, you can't
- 59:11stop, you know? There you go. That's how my wife
- 59:14was giving birth. Yeah, just one right after
- 59:19the other. She's just like, yeah, have another
- 59:20one. Let's have another one. Here we go. We thought
- 59:24of naming our kid Pringles the first one. You
- 59:26should have, right? You should have. Maybe that's
- 59:30the nickname. Okay, how about this one? This
- 59:32also might lead to a hot take. Tiana's Bayou
- 59:36Adventure or Splash Mountain? Ooh, I see what
- 59:42you did there. Well, it's easy for James because
- 59:46remember how we talked about me, well, people
- 59:49seeing videos of me being terrified to get on
- 59:52Tower of Terror? Yes. What makes you think I
- 59:55feel anything different about going down a steep
- 59:58waterfall in a log? So you can keep both of them,
- 1:00:05okay? Pass. Neither. The answer is neither. Yeah.
- 1:00:12Bro. Have you never been on it? Once. And I was
- 1:00:18small. I took, I think, a 30 -year layoff, it
- 1:00:22feels like, 20 years at least. I did it one time
- 1:00:25and I thought, oh my gosh, I'm never doing this
- 1:00:28again. This is horrible. So I believe, the reason
- 1:00:32I bring it up, we did this whole campaign for
- 1:00:35St. Jude's, the good people there. If you donate
- 1:00:39a certain amount of money, our fans, I would
- 1:00:41get on Tower of Terror. And I thought it would
- 1:00:43take weeks or a month to get there because it
- 1:00:46was close to $5 ,000. was the goal. The next
- 1:00:51morning, the money was there. The next morning,
- 1:00:55so many of you wonderful people donated to St.
- 1:00:57Jude's. And I want to believe it's because you
- 1:01:00really think it's a great cause, but a part of
- 1:01:02me believes you just wanted to see me cry because
- 1:01:05the money, we put the video out in the evening
- 1:01:09and the next morning. people had donated the
- 1:01:12full amount and went over i couldn't believe
- 1:01:14it so i i actually had to get on tower of terror
- 1:01:17and i am terrified of that ride like i was having
- 1:01:22heart palpitations i thought i wrote a will to
- 1:01:24my wife which was funny because she owns everything
- 1:01:28already so it was just it was that was that colton
- 1:01:31and jamal was it colton and jamal that did that
- 1:01:37That Colton is a handsome lawyer. But yeah, I
- 1:01:41actually got on the ride and it's the funniest
- 1:01:45thing. I had worked it up in my head that it
- 1:01:47was going to be the worst experience in my life
- 1:01:50riding that ride. I was so terrified. It was
- 1:01:52so ingrained in my memory how bad it would be
- 1:01:56to get on something that dropped. And I rode
- 1:01:59it the first time. and realized it wasn't bad
- 1:02:02not only was it not bad and it nearly wasn't
- 1:02:05as bad as i thought it would be but i actually
- 1:02:07enjoyed it so when i got off the ride all the
- 1:02:11cast members kind of knew who we were and they
- 1:02:13said well did you like it and i said actually
- 1:02:16i did and they're like you want to ride it again
- 1:02:19i'm like Okay. And I went on it again. I brought
- 1:02:24my wife the next day and we rode it together
- 1:02:27again. And now it's become one of my favorite
- 1:02:29rides at Disney Hollywood Studios. And I just
- 1:02:33think about the fact that. I let that fear over
- 1:02:36time get to me and it made me afraid to try something
- 1:02:39that I now love. And I think about that life,
- 1:02:42like do the things that scare you in life because
- 1:02:45there are probably things you're gonna really
- 1:02:47enjoy and you don't give yourself enough credit
- 1:02:50or you don't give yourself enough, you don't
- 1:02:53think that you can do things and we put a mental
- 1:02:55block in our head. You gotta stop that. That's
- 1:02:58the one thing I'm learning in my old age now
- 1:02:59is you can do the things that you thought you
- 1:03:02couldn't do. if you just try to do them you can
- 1:03:05really do it you can accomplish anything in life
- 1:03:07i'm a firm believer in that now if i can ride
- 1:03:10roller coasters if i can get on tower of terror
- 1:03:12there's there's nothing that i can't do if i
- 1:03:15put my mind to it yeah and what i what i actually
- 1:03:18really love about this this particular story
- 1:03:20and why there is a real life lesson here too
- 1:03:21is not only is it that we we sometimes build
- 1:03:25it up too much we tell ourselves this narrative
- 1:03:27of what it's going to be that keeps us from doing
- 1:03:29it and also the value in the support that we
- 1:03:34have around us right and in in the community
- 1:03:37stepping up to donate for like for obviously
- 1:03:41an amazing cause i mean who who doesn't want
- 1:03:43to donate disney jude's right it's incredible
- 1:03:45and also like that support of like hey we're
- 1:03:47also here to like support you trying this thing
- 1:03:49and devin's there to support you trying this
- 1:03:51thing and you know what power support can we
- 1:03:54have to us And also what support we can have
- 1:03:57to other people when they're maybe keeping themselves
- 1:04:00held back, when they're afraid to do something.
- 1:04:02Can we bring in some support to them? And honestly,
- 1:04:05I think a little bit of levity and humor is a
- 1:04:07great way to do it, right? A great cause to help
- 1:04:11people through difficult times. Help them when
- 1:04:14they're holding themselves back when they shouldn't
- 1:04:16because they're capable of a lot more than they
- 1:04:19think. I think there's a lot of lessons in that,
- 1:04:20James. There's so many. And yeah. i gotta say
- 1:04:25i got to be a part of something like saint jude's
- 1:04:28and the wonderful cause that they are and they
- 1:04:30were it's funny because when i made the little
- 1:04:32proclamation that i would get on the ride if
- 1:04:34they donated saint jude's actually commented
- 1:04:37and was like oh my gosh we love this like you
- 1:04:40know what i mean they're like this is a great
- 1:04:41way to bring awareness to what we do so i got
- 1:04:45to overcome my fear saint jude got got a great
- 1:04:48donation in fact devin became the number one
- 1:04:50donor and those brackets they were using for
- 1:04:53you know influencers he was number one because
- 1:04:55of all the great support that they showed us
- 1:04:57so it was a win -win most definitely man i was
- 1:05:01very happy to be a part of it okay so then i
- 1:05:04guess that that begs the question of when are
- 1:05:07you going to go on guardians of the galaxy in
- 1:05:09disney california adventure okay that's a great
- 1:05:13question because we're actually planning on a
- 1:05:14trip to go to disneyland to go to um um the california
- 1:05:18and when we do i just lost you for a second i
- 1:05:21just lost it for a second give me that again
- 1:05:23okay we actually made a plan me and devin are
- 1:05:27going to disneyland and i will be writing guardians
- 1:05:30of the galaxy over there and of course we're
- 1:05:32going to It's coming up soon. I think the first
- 1:05:36of the year we're going to be going out there
- 1:05:39and it'll be a great trip. I think I'm bringing
- 1:05:41my son, Noah, who Noah's my all my kids love
- 1:05:44theme parks. But Noah has a special love of theme
- 1:05:48parks like his dad. And he wants to go with me.
- 1:05:50So I think that's going to be our trip. Me, him
- 1:05:52and Devin are going to go out there and I'm going
- 1:05:54to ride. guardians of the galaxy i'm gonna film
- 1:05:57it of course because if i don't it didn't really
- 1:05:59happen so you guys will see me get on that for
- 1:06:02the first and i'm gonna be nervous because it's
- 1:06:04a new attraction i'm always nervous no matter
- 1:06:06what new attraction i get on so i'll be doing
- 1:06:09that and i think the next thing we do to help
- 1:06:12out charity for for theme park comedians i think
- 1:06:16i'm gonna be riding Tiana's. I was going to ask
- 1:06:20exactly that thing, James. I was just going to
- 1:06:22say you've got to do another fundraiser for Tiana's
- 1:06:25Bayou Adventure. You have to. That is brilliant.
- 1:06:27That is brilliant. Oh, gosh. I love how excited
- 1:06:30people get when I'm going to be terrified. You've
- 1:06:32got to do this, James. It's going to be great.
- 1:06:35But if it helps a good cause, I'm willing to
- 1:06:38do anything and be terrified, to be scared. And
- 1:06:42I'm scared of that ride. I really am. It's worked
- 1:06:45up in my head like Tower of Terror. So I think
- 1:06:47I know that's going to be the next one. So when
- 1:06:51you go out to Disneyland, are you going to meet
- 1:06:53up with the magical millennial? I think her name's
- 1:06:55Megan. I'm going to travel. Yes, absolutely.
- 1:06:58And I definitely want to meet my friend Biscuit.
- 1:07:01I want to meet, yes, Jeremy. Oh, yeah. He is
- 1:07:03so funny. They're amazing. Bro, he, oh my gosh.
- 1:07:07His energy, his love. It just seems boundless.
- 1:07:10His energy doesn't stop. I'm just like, this
- 1:07:12guy has so much energy. I love it. It's infectious.
- 1:07:16Watching his videos where he just walks for no
- 1:07:19reason. Like, I'm going to see if I can walk
- 1:07:2010 miles to Disney real quick and see if I can
- 1:07:22do it in an hour. I'm like, you can Uber. It'll
- 1:07:30be fine. It does exist. It does. I think you're
- 1:07:35going to love the Guardians ride. So when DCA
- 1:07:40first opened up. Tower of Terror became my favorite
- 1:07:43ride. I absolutely loved it. I loved the whole
- 1:07:44experience of it. I loved the throwback to Twilight
- 1:07:46Zone. It just made it so creepy and fun. And
- 1:07:49I was so nervous, James, when they said we're
- 1:07:52going to change it. I was like, oh, how can you
- 1:07:55do that to my beloved Tower of Terror? It can't
- 1:07:58be possible. And then they did it. and now it's
- 1:08:02my favorite ride at dca the dis the guardians
- 1:08:04version is so fun and and and i mean it's just
- 1:08:08so light -hearted obviously the guardians are
- 1:08:10hilarious right but they've created it in such
- 1:08:13a way that just brings so much joy i mean i just
- 1:08:15go on and i just laugh the whole time whereas
- 1:08:17before it's a little creepy right you're like
- 1:08:19scared but have to creepiness now just sit there
- 1:08:20and laugh it's like this laughing the whole time
- 1:08:22with this amazing music playing and this hilarious
- 1:08:24story they've created i think you're gonna love
- 1:08:27it I am excited. I'm a comic book geek. So I
- 1:08:30love Guardians of the Galaxy, of course. So I'm
- 1:08:33looking forward to that. But I'm not going to
- 1:08:35lie. I'm still going to be nervous. Oh, sure.
- 1:08:38It's a new experience, man. But I'll do it for
- 1:08:40the people. I do it for you guys. Do it for the
- 1:08:42people. I'll do it for the people. The people,
- 1:08:44yeah. Hey, one more thing before we move on.
- 1:08:48There's a show I've gotten really into lately
- 1:08:50called The Wisdom of Walt. And I don't usually
- 1:08:53do this, but it's earned it. If our show is your
- 1:08:56kind of thing, I'll bet you'll enjoy that one
- 1:08:58too. So go give it a listen. All right, let's
- 1:09:01go to a little rapid fire. You ready for this?
- 1:09:05I think I am. Okay, favorite Disney movie? Lilo
- 1:09:10and Stitch. Easy one, right? Favorite Disney
- 1:09:13song? Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. i'm just in my head
- 1:09:23there's so many i love them oh my gosh um you're
- 1:09:27gonna colors of the wind oh it's a lovely song
- 1:09:30really is yeah that's a great one that's a really
- 1:09:34good choice i haven't gotten that one much and
- 1:09:36i really i like that song too it's great it brings
- 1:09:39you back yeah favorite disney princess snow white
- 1:09:44snow white okay you're going throwback all the
- 1:09:48way to the beginning I remember, it's my very
- 1:09:52first cartoon crush. I remember watching that
- 1:09:55movie going, huh, I think I like brunettes. I
- 1:10:02get your blondes and all that, but yeah, something
- 1:10:05about this one. Bro, for me, that was Jasmine.
- 1:10:09I remember, I was like, Jasmine, girl. Gotcha,
- 1:10:13yeah. Because I was like, yeah. I'm old. So,
- 1:10:17yeah. That was Snow White was for me. But Jasmine's
- 1:10:21a good one. Jasmine's a good one. Because she
- 1:10:23comes with a very, like, different aesthetic
- 1:10:27than what we were used to as far as princesses.
- 1:10:29So, I definitely understand that. I thought she
- 1:10:31was the beastie, man. Yeah. Favorite Disney hero?
- 1:10:38Wow. 626. Okay, let's go. Let's go. I love that.
- 1:10:47Favorite ride in all of Disney. Guardians of
- 1:10:52the Galaxy. Guardians of the Galaxy. Cosmic Rewind.
- 1:10:57Cosmic Rewind. It's so innovative. Everything
- 1:11:00that happens on that ride was new as far as experiencing
- 1:11:04for me. And I've been on all kinds of attractions.
- 1:11:09The storyline, great, funny. Love the Guardians.
- 1:11:11Just the pre -show is amazing. Just the whole
- 1:11:15experience of being teleported. You feel like
- 1:11:18you're actually going somewhere new. And when
- 1:11:20you get on the actual ride, the fact you're like,
- 1:11:23yeah, we do launches when it comes to roller
- 1:11:25coasters, but let's do it backwards. Come on!
- 1:11:30Let's have your car spinning the whole time,
- 1:11:33right? Like, this way, going down the track.
- 1:11:36Yeah. Let's have huge LED screens where you're
- 1:11:42watching an actual movie as you're riding this
- 1:11:45thrill ride going by at 60 miles per hour. What
- 1:11:49an amazing attraction, man. There's nothing like
- 1:11:53it. It's a thrill every single time. Yeah. Yeah,
- 1:11:56it is absolutely phenomenal. That's why for me
- 1:11:58in Disney World anyways. epcot's gotta be my
- 1:12:02favorite land because i love that ride i love
- 1:12:04ratatouille i love yeah the frozen ride right
- 1:12:08like it's just yes test track is fantastic oh
- 1:12:12man it's just like bangers after bangers after
- 1:12:15bangers there it's just like i enjoy so many
- 1:12:17of the things i've got epcot's so great um mission
- 1:12:20phase yeah yeah you're a big fan especially when
- 1:12:24you get stuck on it right oh my gosh i break
- 1:12:28everything Everything I get on at Epcot, I break.
- 1:12:33And I'm sorry, guys. I don't know why. I broke
- 1:12:36Ratatouille twice in one week. I broke Spaceship
- 1:12:39Earth. I don't know. I'm sorry. They just see
- 1:12:42you coming like, shut it down. Shut it down.
- 1:12:45Shut it down, number one. I'm going to go Beverly
- 1:12:51Machine for everybody. That's what I'm going
- 1:12:53to do. Use my powers for good. Did you say Beverly
- 1:12:57Machine? Yes. I'm going to go break it. You know,
- 1:12:59the famous Beverly drink. The terrible drink.
- 1:13:02Yes. I'm going to go break that. Go break that.
- 1:13:05Like nobody wants that. How do they still have
- 1:13:07that there? Like it's terrible. Well, I think
- 1:13:11it's a rite of passage. I think certain women
- 1:13:13will marry a man if he actually drinks it. He
- 1:13:17has to drink the cup of Beverly to be able to
- 1:13:19pass and to marry me. And there's guys who are
- 1:13:23like, you know what? Let's just be friends. Not
- 1:13:25worth it. I'm out. Yeah. Yeah. I'm out. Yeah.
- 1:13:29How about for you, your favorite land to visit
- 1:13:33or your park to visit? What's your favorite park
- 1:13:35of all the parks? Epcot. Epcot. Simple. Epcot.
- 1:13:39And there's so much to do. So much great food.
- 1:13:42The festivals, the drinks. It's Epcot, man. Nothing
- 1:13:45comes close to me. Yeah, I love it. Favorite
- 1:13:49Disney park treat? Ooh, the ice cream sandwich
- 1:13:55at Animal Kingdom. Okay. It's a cookie. It's
- 1:14:00square. Ice cream and a brownie on the bottom.
- 1:14:05Ooh. Bro. That sounds pretty good. It's good.
- 1:14:12Followed closely by Dole Whip because come on.
- 1:14:15Come on. That's good. It's hard for me to not
- 1:14:18go to the tiki room and not get Dole Whip. Like
- 1:14:20if I'm going to be going to the tiki room, which
- 1:14:22that is a nostalgia one I actually like. Now
- 1:14:25I want a Dole Whip. I want to be eating that
- 1:14:26Dole Whip while I'm waiting for the show to start.
- 1:14:28I want to like, yes, give me some Dole Whip.
- 1:14:30Love it. yes what's your favorite disney food
- 1:14:34so non like dessert what's your favorite disney
- 1:14:36food oh that's hard i love all of it oh i know
- 1:14:42you're a culinary guy this one was gonna be challenging
- 1:14:44they had at goose um um little shack during the
- 1:14:50festival they had one of the best things i've
- 1:14:51ever eaten in my life and it was so simply done
- 1:14:53it was a slider but it was a blackened catfish
- 1:14:57slider with a garlic aioli on it. It was me and
- 1:15:02Devin would go back numerous times. It was one
- 1:15:05of those special things that you can't get all
- 1:15:06the time. So it just made it that special. Oh,
- 1:15:09my gosh. It was so good. Oh, my God. It was so
- 1:15:13good. And I will say one other thing. Epcot's
- 1:15:16so great during the festivals. During food and
- 1:15:18wine. They have this Irish nachos. They have
- 1:15:24these kettle chips. They fry fresh. They have
- 1:15:27shredded corned beef. And they have a beer white
- 1:15:31cheese that goes over it. It is one of the best
- 1:15:34things I've ever eaten in my life. Oh, my. I'm
- 1:15:37tearing up right now. Oh, my gosh. It's so good.
- 1:15:41You got to try it. You got to come for wine.
- 1:15:43yeah the food the food and wine festival at dca
- 1:15:45isn't quite what it is there but they do some
- 1:15:47good stuff and i remember a couple years ago
- 1:15:50the food and wine festival there they had a snickers
- 1:15:53macaron shaped like mickey it was so because
- 1:15:59i love macarons in general like i eat those up
- 1:16:02they're so good yes but then they had a snickers
- 1:16:05and it was bigger because it was a mickey head
- 1:16:07like oh man i still dream about that one of the
- 1:16:12things that disney does better than any theme
- 1:16:14park i've ever been at is the food they're just
- 1:16:17great at making good food man oh my god yeah
- 1:16:20and it didn't used to be that way because look
- 1:16:23when we were growing up it was mediocre but they
- 1:16:26have really made concerted effort to take that
- 1:16:28to the next level and i think they have knocked
- 1:16:31it out of the park i think it's terrific they
- 1:16:33really have and being that my son jack has celiac
- 1:16:36what i love Every Disney park, every restaurant
- 1:16:41has gluten -free options. The chef will come
- 1:16:45out and personally make the food for you to make
- 1:16:47sure there's no cross -contamination, that you're
- 1:16:49going to be safe. And I love that Disney takes
- 1:16:52that extra step where a lot of theme parks are
- 1:16:55very far behind that. So shout out to Disney
- 1:16:58as always. Yeah, they definitely do a great job.
- 1:17:00Okay, how about this then? Favorite Disney restaurant?
- 1:17:04Ooh, Yak and the Yeti. yak and yeti at animal
- 1:17:09kingdom if you've never been and i'm not this
- 1:17:13is not an advertiser they do not pay devin and
- 1:17:15i it is one of the best restaurants i've ever
- 1:17:18been to period not at a theme park period it
- 1:17:24is that good we went in there and the owner said
- 1:17:27james you guys have to try something and i said
- 1:17:29what he goes we make a very special appetizer
- 1:17:32it's a ahi tuna nacho i said they take mounds
- 1:17:40and mounds of ahi tuna and i'm not just saying
- 1:17:42that i mean mounds of it cut it into beautiful
- 1:17:45squares and instead of using tortilla chips they
- 1:17:48use wonton chips that they fry fresh they put
- 1:17:53it over a bed of shredded lettuce the wontons
- 1:17:56then all the ahi tuna shredded lettuce a sweet
- 1:17:59ginger sauce a sour cream oh my we're not It's
- 1:18:05so good that they make shirts that says ahi tuna
- 1:18:09nachos. If you know, you know. And I know. People,
- 1:18:15let me tell you, that was just the appetizer.
- 1:18:19Then it's an Asian blend place, an Asian fusion.
- 1:18:21They have, oh my gosh, so much. They have pho.
- 1:18:24They have all these different rice dishes with
- 1:18:27fresh chicken. And the flavors are amazing. Yak
- 1:18:31and Yeti is absolutely one of the best restaurants.
- 1:18:33And then I ate their, oh my God, butter cake
- 1:18:37for dessert. i literally drove to tallahassee
- 1:18:41and slapped my mama when i ate it it's that good
- 1:18:52Write it down. And I used to say Victoria and
- 1:18:54Albers. That's the fine dining restaurant that
- 1:18:56wins awards. It's a beautiful seven -course meal.
- 1:18:59But that Yak and Yeti, the value for what you
- 1:19:03pay and what you get, the experience, the ambiance
- 1:19:06of looking out into Animal Kingdom while you
- 1:19:08eat, Yak and Yeti, hands down. Yeah, sounds awesome.
- 1:19:12That's definitely going to be on my list. I'm
- 1:19:13going to make sure I do that because I actually
- 1:19:15really like Animal Kingdom. I think it's terrific.
- 1:19:17Gross. Amazing. Okay, how about this is the last
- 1:19:20rapid fire question. Name a Disney villain who
- 1:19:24would actually be great as a stand -up comedian.
- 1:19:29Ursula. Yep. Ursula. She'd be so good. She'd
- 1:19:36be so good. Ursula is wonderful. I think she's
- 1:19:41just a misunderstood villain. I don't think Ursula
- 1:19:43did anything wrong, by the way. This is my hot
- 1:19:45take. She made a contract with a young lady and
- 1:19:48she didn't live up to it. Where I come from in
- 1:19:52the legal field, that's breach of contract. Yeah,
- 1:19:56Colton and Jamal got that one locked in. That
- 1:19:58is a breach of contract. Now we're going to execute
- 1:20:00on what the consequences were for breaching that
- 1:20:02contract. Yeah, I'm just going to. What we have
- 1:20:05here, Your Honor, is a failure to communicate.
- 1:20:07Literally, she couldn't talk. I'm just saying.
- 1:20:13Ursula is so in your face, so herself and okay
- 1:20:19with being that, I think that would shine through
- 1:20:21as a stand -up comic. I think she would be absolutely
- 1:20:23hilarious. Like, she would be someone's... She
- 1:20:27looks like everybody's favorite auntie on stage.
- 1:20:30You know what I mean? Yeah. She'd be funny. And
- 1:20:33she delivers stuff with a smile, too. She's like,
- 1:20:36hey, it's okay. You don't got your voice. You
- 1:20:37got your looks. You got your pretty face. And
- 1:20:39don't underestimate the power of body language.
- 1:20:41You're like, girl, all right. She's not messing
- 1:20:43around. She delivers some truth with a smile.
- 1:20:46I like it, Ursula. She got material. She's already
- 1:20:50ready, man. I'm telling you, Ursula would absolutely
- 1:20:53kill it as a stand -up, man. Yeah, she would
- 1:20:55slay. Well, James, it's been such a pleasure
- 1:20:58visiting with you and learning about your background,
- 1:21:01the things that you're doing to bring so much
- 1:21:04joy and happiness to people. I love everything
- 1:21:07that you're about. I love the reasons that you
- 1:21:08do it. I love the content that you guys have
- 1:21:12that just has me rolling. And I just hope you
- 1:21:15guys continue to do it and kill it. So as we
- 1:21:18end every episode, what we like to do is throw
- 1:21:20it to our guest for. Some actionable takeaways.
- 1:21:23And so, James, based off of kind of the overall
- 1:21:26things we talked about or just advice you have
- 1:21:29for people maybe to have a little bit more humor
- 1:21:31in their life, advice about family and not leaving
- 1:21:34people behind or trying things that they're maybe
- 1:21:37scared of, what would three actionable takeaways
- 1:21:39be that you could give to people that they could
- 1:21:43put into action in their life this week? Fear
- 1:21:47is the enemy of joy. When we work up in our head
- 1:21:53to be afraid of something where it just keeps
- 1:21:55us from even trying, that is going to rob you
- 1:21:59of so many opportunities and so much happiness
- 1:22:01in your life if you let it. So fear is the enemy
- 1:22:05of joy. So try things. Don't let fear get the
- 1:22:09best of you. Try it. Because at least you tried
- 1:22:11something and it didn't work. But you never know
- 1:22:14unless you try it. And another thing would be
- 1:22:17for me. Family is everything. There's a reason
- 1:22:20I love the movie Lilo and Stitch because Ohana,
- 1:22:22I do believe without my family, without the people
- 1:22:26around me who love me and support me, I wouldn't
- 1:22:28be successful. I wouldn't be the James that you
- 1:22:30see here sitting today. So family is one of those
- 1:22:33things that's very important to me. And the last
- 1:22:36thing is leave the world a little bit better
- 1:22:38than when you found it. I would say that. Do
- 1:22:43some good in this world. And that can be anything.
- 1:22:45So many different facets. I think what I do is
- 1:22:48I try to spread joy. I really do in the world.
- 1:22:51I think I touch people's lives. I think I try
- 1:22:55to give them something to look forward to. I
- 1:22:58think laughter is medicine. So that would be
- 1:23:01my third thing is just leave the world a little
- 1:23:03bit better than how you found it. Yeah, I love
- 1:23:06it. Those are terrific, James. Again, what a
- 1:23:09pleasure to have you on. Looking forward to seeing
- 1:23:11some videos of you. riding Guardians of the Galaxy
- 1:23:14in Disney California Adventure. Can't wait to
- 1:23:17see that. Can't wait to see whatever other fundraisers
- 1:23:20you do. And as you do, we want to share those
- 1:23:23out too. Anything that we can do or our community
- 1:23:26can do to promote and contribute to the wonderful
- 1:23:29charitable things that you guys are doing, bringing
- 1:23:32so much good to things that need it, right? St.
- 1:23:35Jude's is one of those places. So really appreciate
- 1:23:38your time, man. No, no. Thank you, first off,
- 1:23:41for inviting me. I get excited and bewildered
- 1:23:46every time somebody wants me to be anywhere.
- 1:23:47So thank you. Really, man. It means a lot to
- 1:23:51me, man. I appreciate it. As you leave this conversation,
- 1:23:55remember that, yes, the past can hurt. And you
- 1:23:58can either run from it or you can learn from
- 1:24:00it. So here's to learning and finding joy in
- 1:24:04the journey. See you real soon.