Latest / Hey BigHead: The Vegas Local Podcast / The Untold Story of Comedian Ralphie May | 320

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The Untold Story of Comedian Ralphie May | 320 · Hey BigHead: The Vegas Local Podcast

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Brandon! We got a big episode today.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: We absolutely do.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm very excited for today because let me tell you something.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: When I grew up, I always wanted to be, it's such a weird thing.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: I always wanted to be like a late-night talk show host, hence the setup that we have here.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I and I know a big chance, a big part of that is getting into the local comedy scene and you know, working on talking in front of the mic.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: I was never good at that growing up, but I enjoyed watching videos and TV shows and movies that involved anything similar to that.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: So early 2000s, there was a show called Last Comic Standing.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: What year were you born?
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: 2002.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: 2002.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: All right, so you were you were still a baby by the time this this came out.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: You're you're a little guy.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: But um Last Comic Standing was an incredible show that just instantly hooked, instantly got me hooked.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: And the even though he didn't win this first season, the one person that stood out, and I am sure you asked 99% of the population, they'll say the same thing.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: The one person that stood out of that first season was Ralph Hume.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um honestly, I feel like he probably was the most successful out of everybody from that season.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Umfortunately, he passed away in 2017, but he left a huge, huge footprint on the comedy scene.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, it's still, even to today, missed and and beloved by so many people.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: Fortunately, we have a chance to not only sit down with Lana Turner.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, Lana, welcome to the show.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Lana, you were uh married to uh Ralphie.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: You have two beautiful kids with him.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: You basically came up in the the comedy scene together, right?
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, somewhat, yeah.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he was further ahead than I when I yeah, he'd already been doing stand-up for a little while when I first started, but yeah, I mean I watched his climb.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: There was a good solid seven years of nothing happening for him, just struggling and being broke.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I guess I did.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: The w tell me about the first time you guys met, because you you have this doc this uh documentary out.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's it's such a a great a great documentary, come what may.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um you're kind of traveling uh uh around is it just the West Coast?
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Are you traveling around the country right now?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: The country.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: The country.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we um we have a series of bookings already confirmed on the website, and then um others that are like being um sorted out right now.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I'd go next week to Houston.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's awesome.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, and then Nashville, Austin, Dallas.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: So do a lot of the south.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, because that's you know that's a big part.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's where he's from.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh Florida, we're gonna hit Florida in the heat of the summer, which is you know, my dream.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then um, and then go up to the East Coast.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's the plan.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if something were to happen, like the the film were instantly just like all of a sudden streaming, then maybe it'll curtail the tour.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I really want to see it through because this was something that Ralphie wanted actually, which is yeah, yeah.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: You you've had a few screenings in uh California around LA and something.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: Just two.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: Just two.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: We had the premiere, yes, and then we had the second screening, and it was packed and that's awesome.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was so gratifying to sit in a room of people and hear the and like just the energy of the like when you work on something for as long as we've worked on this film, like a decade of and it's painful to get through that, but then like oh my god to sit there and hear like audible laughter and sadly, but like it felt good to hear the tears.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there was a lot of tears, and I mean, like just very gratifying.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I I got a chance to check this out yesterday, and it was a phenomenal, phenomenal movie.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: You you did such a wonderful job.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I'm sure it's tough because you're you're not only opening up personal parts of your life, but also his life as well, and your your kids are in there too.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: And like it's it there's a lot of personal moments in there, but it's it it it tells the full story.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh uh it tells more about Ralphie and you and the relationship that you guys have, and the from starting from very little to where you were at the end, like it tells so much of that story, the ups and the downs.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, I I don't know what that's like to share that much privately, but you do, and it's it's it's you did a phenomenal job at it.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I didn't want to.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, it was kind of like we kind of had to share the whole thing, and it's a lot, right?
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean it's not a normal biopic of a deceased celebrity.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Ralphie left his story behind archived in that footage, and it I felt like as a as a part of the story, like being in the story, vulnerable, not my favorite thing.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Not something I want my kids being in it, not something I wanted to do.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: But there's a sense of responsibility, like there's an archive of footage, not just for Ralphie, but for the fans and for other people dealing with addiction and the opioid crisis or and food addiction.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like I felt a serious sense of we need to share this in the right way.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I have many conversations with David, the co-director, of how do we do this and like do it correctly and honestly and honor Ralphie and then also help people.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so those scenes that I'm in that are very vulnerable in, David, I let him take the lead because I can't direct a film in which I'm a subject and and people feel like, oh, maybe she tweaked something.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: So that was yeah.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: No, you you you you you checked all those boxes of touching on the the uh opioid addiction, the food addiction, the the highs, the lows.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like I feel I do feel never once did I watch that and think, oh, this is just her side of it, it's not the full side.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: I thought it was the entire story uh all wrapped up cleanly and and and properly into one excellent movie.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: So you did a great job.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's long because there was a lot.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there we could I joke we couldn't fit Ralphie in 90 minutes because he was too big.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there was no way we could like we I really wanted to try and get it into that perfect little nugget of time, which I don't think people care anymore, anyways, because everything's streamed.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like it can it can be two parts because it really is like it's a two-hour movie, yeah.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because and and that's not that long, but like I I was like, okay, if we do just the biopic, then that's one thing, but then you lose that whole like really unique part of the story that you just don't get with anyone like leaving behind their story.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Normally it's just like a talking head and then throw to an interview and then throw to some found footage and then back into it, and people try and piece the story together.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Ralphie, who was very private about his addictions actually in life, like I think he wanted to make sure that that story was left behind because there's no way like he left it in the footage, right?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: So he uh you were and I I I kind of want to talk, I don't want to talk too much about it, but I I I don't want to share too much about it because I want people to go see it, but I want to kind of dive into just a little bits and I mean there's so much to it that even if we talked at length about any one part, there's still like I it was funny because I showed it to a friend of mine who um works at film festivals, and he's like, there's wait, there's like normally when you watch a film like this, there's like maybe a couple of oh shit moments.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, This one has like 10.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: I guess.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: It really, I mean, I was watching it while I was working.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: I had a a meeting right in right in in the middle of the of the the the movie, and I couldn't wait for the meeting to get over so I can continue on through the because it was so good.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um you were filming like even before you guys were married, you guys I uh in the very early part of of the relationship between the two of you, you guys still had footage there.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: Who was recording that?
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: Why why why were you being a few years?
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: I know it's a big question.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: I know people are like, why do you have footage of you guys like in those early?
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: So a couple things happened.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: One, um, when I first arrived in Los Angeles, uh, my very first audition, which I don't hardly audition, I don't like that process of this business.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: I like telling jokes, I like doing stand-up, but got to LA, got sent on this it was for a documentary style reality show of seven people who live, work, or play on the Sunset Strip for Showtime.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I walked into this audition and met this documentarian Joe Gantz, who has been my friend ever since.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: And the film and that that pilot got shot, and it was right at the time when there was like a switch over at Showtime, and the new person that took over didn't accept any of the old person's pilots, so it got dropped.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: But all that footage, unfortunately, there was more footage that Joe didn't have access to anymore.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: But that was that's awesome.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: That was how we had the really early footage.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Then after Ralphie did Celebrity Fit Club, VH1 w wanted to do a reality show about us, and so we shot this like I I hated that experience.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: I decided after that I'd never do another reality show because Ralphie wanted to do more reality, but like so it just was very invasive and like oh trying to sensationalize these moments.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't my style at all.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: But again, we had cameras around us filming us in our daily lives, so some of that footage was taken from from that little window.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then of course, like I filmed, we filmed stuff, you know, in our like as not like nowadays where you're like everything's everything's being filmed.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Literally, yeah.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: But um, but that's how we had two big chunks of our lives were recorded at those moments when you know, when I first moved to LA and then like as as we were about to get married and embark on our lives together, which yeah, it's crazy.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: So many people know Ralphie from him being on stage or him being on Celebrity Fake Club.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: What's something that you feel the audience what's a side of him that you want the audience to see uh that they probably don't know prior to seeing the doc?
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: I can't resist the joke.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: You mean which side?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: There's like at least four.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I I banged fat for like 20 years, so I can fat joke and fat shame as a thin person.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: I can totally get I you can't get mad at me for making fat jokes.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: No one will ever get mad at me.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I get that.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: I get the right.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: So don't write me.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: You are blessed.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: You will not be canceled, I'm sure.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: At least four sides.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, from the film, what did they I mean, my God, like he I mean, he's sheer, I mean I I think people don't don't realize how much the people around somebody who's highly successful and hyper addicted affect the decisions that they're gonna make.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you hear about those things, but you don't see it in real time.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: And somehow we managed to get it recorded in real time.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: By the way, you asked about how much footage I left out, I completely left out a major part of the footage that was being recorded.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: So um we recorded nine months of him because we were supp we were trying to do a weight loss documentary.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: So what happened was Ralphie had already had um gastric bypass, and before I met him, he'd had a stomach stapling surgery.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: So he was trying things to lose weight that weren't actually like putting I mean a tremendous amount of effort to have surgery.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, but it's a tool.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so, anyways, he wanted to have the lap band, and I used to say to him, dude, just like duct tape.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like at this point, like you have to change your behavior.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: You can keep whittling away at your insides as much as you want.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: But at this is a couple years before he passed away.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: I looked at him, I was like, But I don't think you're gonna be around much longer if you don't get this weight off your body.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, whatever you're gonna do right now, even if it's a band-aid, like if you want the lap band, let's let's do it.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: But and then I said, But you've always he wanted to do more reality.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Let's record your journey because one he did well on Celebrity Fit Club.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I thought, well, a camera will keep you honest, right?
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh like also I thought, well, if you lose a lot of weight, you know, it helps your fans transition with you.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: We can watch the journey and celebrate it together.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: But it had it obviously when you see the footage, it didn't work out.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't qualify for Lat Bam because you know it wasn't gonna work and they weren't gonna pay for it.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Insurance wasn't, and um, we still recorded it, but it ended didn't end where yeah where I wanted it to by any stretch.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: So you you mentioned I was gonna the next question was that exactly that you mentioned there are some things that you did didn't get a chance to even just to fit in the in the dock.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Was there what's like something that um you is there anything that you didn't want to show?
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: Not necessarily that you couldn't fit into because of the time constraints, but is there anything that you didn't want to be in the dock?
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: That didn't make it in or that is in it?
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh both.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: Let's do both.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Well, one thing I can tell you is it's taking me so long to finish this film.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of stuff I couldn't put into the film that I wanted to share.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Either we didn't have footage on it or it just didn't, it wasn't look.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, this thing at one point was a three-hour string out.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's uh it's it was a lot of material we had to get through.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I wrote an autobiographical book to fill in the blanks.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: So that'll come out when the film streams.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, um but let's see.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: So something there was a piece of content that we had in the long string out that I really wanted to include, but it was just a little too much and hard to explain, which is um maybe we'll post it online at some point.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: But when Ralphie was first born, maybe he was just like a couple days old.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: His mother, her brother, wife, and two kids flew to see them in Arkansas in their own little private plane.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: And when they left, it crashed.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: It killed that entire side of her his family.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: So his mother, with a brand new baby, which was Ralphie, grieved.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: I just imagine she's nursing a baby and she's grieving into this child.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Her tears are landing on him.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: So his first real experience in life was drinking his mother's sadness.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: It makes me cry just saying that.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: You're making me tearful.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm not a comic.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody's gonna believe it.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Come see my show with the yak yangs, the funny farm.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see how I'll sing some songs about Dick.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um sorry, that's um yeah.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but, anyways, yeah, that was that's Ralphie's first introduction to life, really, was like losing his family.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, like when we talk about I I think babies absorb everything and it's so formative.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, like that was the beginning of his life, was like the death of three uh four people that loved him and he would have loved so much.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: So it very he had a sad story.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: So, anyways, that was something that we couldn't really fit into the film because it kind of took it on a tangent that was a little like detached from the over overall journey.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um but yeah, and as far as something that was in the film, it took a there's one piece of content that he sh that he had recorded where he's really in tears.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and I was like, oh maybe we maybe this is too much.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like it was shared in a text and uh David and I talked about it a long time, and like and it's so it shows how vulnerable he was at the end of his life, and so we we really like measured that out, but uh I I always throw back to the very first moment in the film because he says to us, When you tell my story, be honest, good or bad, I don't give a shit.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: I I really don't, just and uh I'm like that's what he said.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna honor his wishes and we're gonna be honest and let him tell his story.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: He really did.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: You unveiled it.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well he he said it, whether he meant it, because obviously there's that part where he he wasn't super honest, right?
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: But was it hard looking with so much footage where it I I'm assuming it was, but how hard was it going back and and bringing up these old feelings, these old memories that maybe you forgot about or maybe just you know kind of were overwritten by other new experiences?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: How hard was it to relive those again?
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: Every time like every time it sucks, but like uh I don't even I mean you I don't know how to answer that because it just sucked.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean I it was like Are you glad you you relived it at least?
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like because do you able to remember those those times good and bad?
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's gonna help people.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: I because look, I mean, watching the footage, I I made mistakes.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm very codependent.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I still am, but like it allows me to figure out how to how to deal with my own issues a little bit here, right?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: On my side, what's what's my side of the fence?
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: How did I mess up things?
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I was really angry at him for a long time.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like I couldn't remember what it felt like to love him.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like I it took me a long journey to forgive him because I was doing this weird thing.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, I want to forgive you because it's not doing me any good not forgiving you, but I'm mad at myself because I can't forgive you.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: So now I'm mad at me and I'm mad at you, and it's just this like endless cycle of so I don't know.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: I I guess doing the film, getting the film done helped me find my way to like letting him, letting him go and let you know, I'm forgiving my myself for being mad at him.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: Beautifully said, yeah, right?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: It really is.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, but it sucked, and it's still hard like to sit in the screenings and things.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it it's yeah, not easy.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: You've uh so many celebrities, especially right out of the gate, big name, big A-list celebrities, Jay Leno, Jay Moore, Jeff Ross, Tiffany Haddish, Bob Saggett, they all say nothing but incredible things about him.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: And they knew him really, really well.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Looking at that, it when you hear those people talk about him, how does it how does it feel to you when you hear Bob Sagitt or Jeff Ross?
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like Jeff shared a lot of about his experience and his feelings towards him.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, how did that make you feel?
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: What did that feel like?
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I love that those people came out to support it.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like I wouldn't have a first of all, we wouldn't have a film, I don't think, without Jay Moore.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like really?
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and or we wouldn't have that whole section of Ralphie's rise.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because if it wasn't for Jay Moore, nobody would know who Ralphie was.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like I attribute Jay everything that that Ralphie had in success in his world to Jay.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because nobody would put Ralphie on TV and and Jay fought for Ralphie.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: He loved him.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that guy just solid.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I mean, we knew all those people throughout time, you know, throughout those years, but having them show up and record the interviews and just be there, yeah, it's bad.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's wonderful.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like they're nice people.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: I like that Jay Jay Moore is also he and has been pretty open with his addictions and his demons that he's dealing with.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: So in the doc, he he does kind of relate to it, say, especially during those days, he wasn't the true self that he was today because he he admitted that you know he's he's dealt with his own demons that he had going on.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, he was just a few weeks out of uh rehab when he did that interview.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: He was super vulnerable.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah, you can see it.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: He had a great line that just stuck with me.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: It was uh when you go up on stage, you give the audience an hour of the best of you, and then you just disappear.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you think that.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: But when you're high like that, you're not giving them the best of you.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's there's some times that Ralphie went on stage and he disappointed his audience.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: And and I mean, I know I know that there were a couple of shows that Jay had too that you know he was on stuff.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like it was never the best he you think that because you're high.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: But I mean, we've all been to shows where you're like, I I don't think that person's doing so good, and you feel bad at the show because it you know, yeah.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: So well let me I wanna I want to talk about how you guys got together.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: So obviously he's when when you guys first got together, he was still a big guy.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: Just a little bit.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: What is it about him that attracted you to him?
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: I got to know him on the phone.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like we became friends through comedy, um, but he wasn't living in Houston.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: He had lived, he would go back and forth because you know, you can't make very much money living in LA as a new comic.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: So he would pop back into Houston, but um, but I would we would have these long conversations on the phone and he was so damn funny.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I mean I just looked forward to talking to him and I got to know him that way.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I fell in love with him.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um the physical part, you know, I'm not a chubby chaser.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like he's my first and only moped.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: I did love him.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I I always expected him to lose weight.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, like you can see throughout the whole thing, yeah, he was gonna lose weight, right?
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and I was delusional enough to believe that and didn't understand really what it all meant.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: There was more to it than just the surface level.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like there was a lot and there was a lot of lying going on around me.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: And and that's true to anybody who I mean a dick addicts are fun.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: They're fun to be around.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: He did everything ginormous and huge and like big laughs, and and then the bad stuff was huge.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so like we just didn't I just didn't have any of the too much of the bad stuff as we were getting to know each other and getting into the the our lives together, and then and then that roller coaster really started.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, especially as you sp specifically, you're going through it, you're in it full time 24-7.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: There's no handbook to how to handle certain things.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: There's no, you know, way to okay, we need to do this and this and this.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like you can try to, you know, make efforts to improve certain situations, but there really isn't like you you weren't expecting to walk into a situation like that, were you in the early days?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: No, but I think there are sort of parameters that I've learned about.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like I Al Anon tells you that you know the only person you can help is yourself, you know, and what I I do think for people who have an at like an addict in their lives or are like everyone like the addict is rattling cages and making all these noises.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: I can't tell you how many times something just exploded in our lives that was ridiculous.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like even like something as minor as you're backing the car out of the garage and you you don't open the garage and you run right into it.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: And now the garage door is broken and dented by the Car and then you still leave the house and drive off.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: And now I'm standing there looking at a garage and trying to figure out how to fix a garage.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: Not my responsibility, by the way.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's your responsibility.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is just one minor example.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: But nobody says to me, Hey, Lana, you need help.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: They go, Hey addict, you need help.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think it's really important.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's other people in the in the situation.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm just in there like, oh, I'm trying to fix everything.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to make everything right.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's the codependent.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: So there are there are things you can do.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: I just didn't understand them.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: Well said.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: It absolutely does.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: No, it does.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, like you you I mean, listen, I I I've I haven't been in a situation like where you in.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I I I can't speak.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm on the outside looking in, given you know my advice.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: But I it's like you looking back on it, yes, there there were things that I'm sure you could you could say, oh I wanted to, I should have done this or I should have done that.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: But I I just feel like when you're in when you're in it, you're you're knee deep in it, and you don't have the proper experience, it's it's it's hard to navigate through that the right way and make sure you do the things the right way.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: But your your your example of the garage door thing spot on.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean Dr.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: Drew says it best about codependency, like the the you might think the addict doesn't need the do addict might not want to be rescued, but you're gonna keep trying.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, once we had kids, that really changed the uh everything because then I it became more about them and and the priorities change.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I was afraid.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: I was afraid of what I was about to be dealing with.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I didn't see I I I don't know.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: I look you can look back and see things with more clarity.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: When you guys were uh still up and coming, even before last comic standing, you guys uh traveled the road together a lot, is that right?
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah what are some stories that uh what's what's a story from being on the road with him that didn't make the dock that really stood out to you?
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I mean, so much didn't make the dock, right?
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean we didn't record every minute, but um I mean just well you what you do see on the on the on in the documentary you see this bus, right?
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yes that we got to travel around on.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: That was the result.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: So he when he had pulmonary embolisms, we ended up getting a bus so that he didn't have to fly.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: And it was a it's like literally a land boat.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's so it's like constant repair and work to keep that thing on the road.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it was so fun.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, like I and when I got to go on that bus and wake up, I would my favorite thing would be I'd fall asleep on the bus.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: And and when you go from town to town, you always hear you don't know what town you're in.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, hey Cleveland, and you're like, You were in Detroit, right?
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: You really do lose your bearings.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm on this bus and I'll wake up in the morning, I've got my kids, I'll open my phone, I'll see where I'm located, and I'll find out what adventure we're gonna have in that area.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: And and then that's that was that was probably my favorite thing.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: But I love I love traveling, I love telling jokes.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: So like combin and then I loved being with Ralphie.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so combining like jokes and travel and then being with people that you love being with, I mean, it's just like you know, you're just it's the best, you know.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: I've seen some of your stand-up too, and you you were very good.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: You're you're very you're first of all, you're an incredible guitar player too.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: Do you um did you guys ever share notes on the material or like help each other with material?
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: Did you?
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, like we like comics will um, you know, give people jokes or like tag jokes.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um I inspired some of his bits.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: And like I the Kennedy joke, like Daryl Hanno, and the whole thing when I don't know if you remember that bit, but that I that was the first bit that when we first met that I inspired for him to write.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so yeah, there's been there were times, yeah.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, when you spend enough time with another comic, but never I was always really guarded with my material because I never wanted people to be like, oh Ralph, you wrote your jokes.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because I that's not something I ever wanted.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, we're very different, also.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like I write songs, um, so and he was always very topical and I'm more I'm more personal with what I talk about.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: But do you feel that with him being on the road as often as he was, especially towards the the middle and the end of the doc, did it help that you were also or that you're also uh a comedian and you kind of understood the life being on the road thing?
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like it I'm assuming having your significant other be away for X amount of days, weeks, months out of the year, it's not easy.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Did that help you at least uh understand what it's like to not have your husband there as often when you have you know kids at home and you're you're trying to work too?
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: I underst I mean I know I know what it's like to be on the road.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: I do not think that Rafi needed to work as much as he did.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: He was I know factually he didn't need to work as much as he did.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um this might be TMI, but bring it up.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: He passed away here in Vegas, yes, and he had to stay at Harris, which was an excellent thing for him to have because he was in one place.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: But he had been offered a deal at South Point, where he had been working before, which was like six dates a year, so every other month, to go into South Point where he already had a nice relationship and they were gonna pay him very well.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: And at the time I was like, Ralphie, let's like get rid of the house in Nashville.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: This was right before things really got dark.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: So let's uh sell the house in Nashville, move back to LA, you know it's enough money for us to be fine and do six dates a year, pick up anything else you want in between and get off the road and work on your health.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: And the man that's in the film that I won't I won't spoil too much, but that person that our um at our uh at the screening got called the villain of the film.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he wedged himself physically between Ralphie and I because he was in the room having the conversation, physically put himself between us and said, I'm gonna get you a real stay in Las Vegas, and moved him out of my way.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then he did get a real stay in Las Vegas, which was awesome.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not Harris's terrific, but it was it wasn't it didn't allow him the freedom to like be with his family.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: And that man had no intention of wanting Ralphie to be with his family.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it was it was wild.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: It was wild.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad he got called the villain of the Yeah, he got called straight up the villain.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: I I I was like, wow.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then I got told I stood up to the patriarchy.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, okay.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like that's a scene that people just have to see.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to poison the well and talk about it too much because I I want people to see it and make their own decisions.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, Ralphie was never shy about joking about his way, even very early on.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it it's it's kind of like the that's kind of like the formula for for comedy, is you kind of put everything out on the table and you you laugh about it, and then everybody just has a good time, whatever.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: But dealing with food issue type trauma, I feel I don't feel like is is now getting talked about, especially because of Ozempic and everything like that.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: But how hard is it to hear him looking back and hear him joke about his weight and and know that a lot of what he was joking about was also real life you know issues that ext that kind of stemmed further than what he said on stage?
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_01: How hard was that to hear?
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he needed to work on himself, but he you know, he was in full-blown addict mode throughout his life.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: He I don't think he knew how.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's funny.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: I've been asked a couple times, do you think Ralphie would have been on Ozempic?
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that and of course, but then I would say, well, he'd put it on a cr on a cracker and eat it.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, it's there's only so much that that type of drug is great because it gets the weight off your body and allows your heart to have the opportunity to like hopefully not be labored with all that weight and like the immediate effect.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: But you still have to work on the issue.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: The habits like what I mean, look, we're in a we are in a hyper food-focused uh world.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: We're so lucky that this is a problem.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we're we're not starving.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: We have like, but I mean, I read this book about um about food and how we're sold food, right?
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: Everything's with the maximum amount of sugar, fat, and salt to make it as addictive as possible.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: But like our we're designed to walk like five miles be to a blueberry bush, eat the blueberries and go there every day until all the blueberries are gone.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: And the next season, as soon as you think there might be another blueberry, you're gonna walk back to that blueberry bush and eat those blueberries, and it's gonna be the greatest thing you've ever had.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: And now you're like sit on a sofa and don't do anything, watch TV and then like, oh, there's there's like every possible yummy thing like 20 feet from you stored in a fridge.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's an impossible equation.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, like how just without having an issue from your childhood that that you're masking in in food, like it's a hard we live in a hard world when it comes to food.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, understanding that alone is one thing, but then the issues behind food addiction is no different, I think, than any other addiction.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's just you're masking stuff and you're getting that, you know, you get the same like dopamine hit in your brain that you do from like a hit of heroin when you when somebody is a food addict and they get that high from eating.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I learned that when Ralphie did do one stint and rehab, they told they talked to us about food addiction, and yeah, that's pretty damn powerful, right?
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: How do you and you know I joke of all the things to quit, food is the toughest one, right?
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: You can't quit cold turkey.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's so good, especially after Thanksgiving.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: Especially.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, stuffing and all that.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: Can we talk a little bit about the last comic standing?
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, like I was I was in it.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like what year was that?
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: 2000?
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: Oh god, don't ask me that.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: Let's just say early a long time ago.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: Early 2000s-ish.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: Back in the day.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: Back in the day.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: So when he he did come in l in in second place, but I feel like like the American Idol thing, like not all the winners are as big as the runner-ups and the people that that don't win.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like he out of every successful comic that's come from that show, I feel like he's definitely topped the top one.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: When that all went down, how were you reacting when you saw that he got second place?
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I was there.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: I was sad for him because I could tell he was disappointed that he didn't win.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, but funny thing about that show is that it was airing on TV, right?
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: We were before we didn't have the ability, we didn't record it.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I was working so hard just to pay rent and debt because I'd paid for his flight that I didn't like that I couldn't even watch the show.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I remember one day he came.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: So when he went into the house, we talk about how we got a roommate to help pay the for rent.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I mean that's how broke we were.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: I Sean and Sean has passed away, which is I saw I saw that at the end.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, bummer, really, really sad.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: I wish he was alive to see this.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: It would have meant so much to him.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: But we were so broke when Sean moved into the apartment.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: It was him and I for quite a few weeks while Ralphie was out.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I had my bar soap in the shower.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: And Sean, I I didn't know what was happening, but my it disappeared.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then the hand soap was disappearing next to the sink, and I couldn't afford, like, I was so broke.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't have money.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: I was emptying my pen rolling pennies just to like pay.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I have to confront him.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, dude, are you using my soap?
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: And he was, and I was like, oh my God, like you're washing your balls, and I'm washing my face.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what the hell, man?
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: So that's how that's where I was in that moment in my life.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: So here this show is streaming, like, or not stream, it's like airing on night on NBC.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: Millions of people are watching Ralphie on TV, and I'm not even, I'm just focused on like, how am I gonna get groceries this week?
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then one day, while it's airing, now, because they so they did all the house stuff, pre-recorded or recorded stuff.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: Right, when the comics were in the house together and all that.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: And now he's home and they're doing the competition part.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: So he's showing up and doing like the the the final, and he comes home and he says to me, I got recognized in the parking lot filling up gas.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody ran up to me and took my picture and said, You're Ralphie May from that show.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: And he was stunned.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: He was a little white, like ghostly.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: As he goes, I think this is gonna be a really big deal.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I could cry.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, just thinking about that.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because yeah, we didn't even, I mean, we're just trying to get through the day, right?
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: And here he was about to be like a nationally touring headliner.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's incredible.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_01: With with all the the bad that was in those days of of just scrounging every last penny, is there anything about those days that you do miss?
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_01: Now that you're you fast forward to where you are today, you got the house, you got kids, you get you can buy as much soap as you want.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: Is there anything about those days that you do miss, even though looking back it's you know, at the time it was tough, but looking back on it?
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: Well, fun story here.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_00: We love fun stories.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: Since this is a yeah, um, we're digging deep.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um when Ralphie and I separated, we didn't talk for a year.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that man that we'll just say is in the film, the villain hyper involved in our lives.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: And uh when he passed away, there was$17 in his bank account.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it might have not just been that man, there were other people.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I want to make sure that that's clear.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: But the and it could have also been Ralphie.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: He was he was addicted and spending and God knows where the money went.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: I could never figure out if he had a secret account.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: But there was like$17, that's it.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I had$300,000 debt and$80,000 probate.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I got to experience being broke again only with two kids.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: When he died, my credit cards were so maxed out.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: The last thing I put on it was his cremation, and I went three weeks without the ability to buy groceries.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but isn't that wild?
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: That is wild.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I thought I was gonna lose the house.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_00: I thought, and I at the time my goal, my only goal was to be able to stay in the house for two years and be able to keep my son from leaving elementary school before he finished because he had his friends, and I just that's all I that that's it.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, I'd gotta be able to s keep this.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I wanted to also, and I wasn't sure if I was gonna be able to do it but we had uh joined a tennis club and it was the consistent one consistent thing in the kids' life where they could go there and be with their friends, and I didn't want and they lost pretty everything else, they lost all their like music lessons and extracurricular activities, but those were the two things I I just for two years, and then I was like, I'll move to Florida, be close to my parents, and and then figure out how to live that my life.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: And um fortunately I was able to pay off the debt and I was able to say I'm still in the house.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I I worked really hard.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: So the experience of being broke again with two kids was way worse than being broke in my in my twenties, right?
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like that was you know, I just had to not like I had to make a car payment and not and like rent and yeah.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_01: You're a fucking awesome mom.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm 41 years old, and I I see my mom was as a single mom.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: My parents divorced and I was very young.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_01: And for a a good amount of time, like five, six, seven, eight years old, a lot of that it was just me going with her to from one job to another, whatever she put me in the daycare.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I know how hard it was looking back now.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm 41 years old.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_01: I looking back, I see how hard it was then.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_01: At the time, I was you know, I didn't I didn't know, I just thought I was just getting in the car and going.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_01: But you you really are sponge at at that stage of your life when you're a kid, you take in everything around you, just like even when you said Ralphie was born, like he was a sponge.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_01: That first experience of of life was his mom, the mother's sadness.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_01: And it's experiencing what your kids did and what you did, uh it's it's it's so hard.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_01: I couldn't even fathom what that's like.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_01: But knowing that you did it and still are doing as much as you can and going above and beyond.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_01: Not everybody could do that.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that's I I don't I hope you get enough credit for that because that's fucking awesome.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I've made my mom mistakes.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: My kids are awesome.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and they love me, and like but yeah, I mean, I'm not perfect by any stretch.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's such a hard job.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like I had no, I had no experience like at all.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I didn't even like kids.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_00: I joke, I I joke that I still don't like kids.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't like other people's kids.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like I love mine.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: I say I say this in my I used to say this in my kids are like farts.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: You always kind of like your own, right?
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_00: Because I I like mine most of the time.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I don't, sometimes they're real douchey.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like, but I love them and they're my life.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, the my daughter's 18, she's going to quality.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's crazy because then I was just watching.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: They were so young.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_00: I know they attended the premiere and we and they are well spoken and it's amazing.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but my son's 16, so they're basically adults now, and they're pretty self-sufficient.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_00: So like most, I would say most women that have children don't aren't able to to have a career that they want.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like I I spent a lot of time, you know, focused on them.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then a lot of time focused helping my husband build his career.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_00: And in the meantime, I always kept stand-up on a nice steady boil.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like I never stopped doing doing stand-up, telling jokes, working on the craft, but I couldn't do it to the degree that I I hope to be able to do it now.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we'll see.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: I I I can still make people laugh, and apparently now people like make a room full of people cry.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: You could you can have a whole wide range of emotions that you Yeah, just whatever it is, we'll get the emotions.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess I'm entertaining and and creating art, which at the end of the day is really powerful.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm super proud to do that.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: And and have relatively healthy adults.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_00: I I I think that the one of the well, I don't think, one of the goals of doing the film also was the hope of breaking the addiction cycle.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because there's you know, my kids can I can tell them all day long that this is what happened when you were little, but they can actually see the film now and understand and hopefully knock on not repeat the patterns because what happens we all repeat those patterns over and over again.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, so we need to break that.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well said.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yes.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_01: So what are you doing these days?
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_01: What's what what takes up your time?
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_01: Now that now that the doc's out and you're kind of you're touring the the country and showcasing that.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_01: What else takes up your day besides being a mom?
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, it's not out, it's just going on tour.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_00: I need to.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, on tour.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm figuring this out.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_00: So um what eats up my time?
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, so much.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_00: Well, right right now, I'm touring the film.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm here in Vegas because we're screening it, right?
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_01: On screaming it uh Thursday at the Beverly Theater, Thursday, May 7th, which I am very excited for, 7 p.m.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_01: Tickets are still available.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: Tickets, yeah.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: There's and we can I can give away two tickets with this air before Thursday, right?
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna we'll edit it and we'll post it tonight.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so if if two people um want tickets, I don't know how they can reach out to you, maybe, or reach out to me.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: We'll figure out some sort of contest, some sort of giveaway.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, then we'll give away two tickets.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, so I'm taking the film on the road because so Ralphie at one time we had did our wills and we talked about what we wanted done with our bodies posthumously.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I and he told me, he goes, I want you to take my ashes on the road, take me on one last tour, and sprinkle me on every stage.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Dude, you'll end up in the nachos, and I laughed and said, That's where you belong.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_00: Someone in the front row will be eating you.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so such is the circle of life, yeah.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_00: It was really funny.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I was like, I can't take his ashes on the road.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_00: His mom wanted him in Arkansas, so he's that's where he is.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_01: Good.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: But um, but I am taking his film on the road for him, and I'm taking his jacket so people can look at that jacket.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't that great?
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: So people so you know, Ralphie always took pictures with his um with his fans and people after the show.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so what we're doing, and the idea is that people can put on his jacket.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_00: It was crazy.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_00: I I unboxed it from the frame, posted it online.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_00: It got like, I don't know, 100,000 views in the first like day.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's crazy.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then um I put it on Mark Norman, and that video hit like half a million in no time.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_00: Incredible.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_00: So people are really excited about this.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's such a great looking jacket.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he had really good style.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that was just like talk about a you know, traffic stop, right?
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like if you're flipping channels, you're like, wow, that's a big dude.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_00: Look at that jacket, yes.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he was always smart about like how he represented himself.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's pretty awesome.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then also, so my son didn't have very many positive memories of his dad because he was so young when he well, when he got sick, and then you know, and then he passed away.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: So um knowing that, I did not know that it was gonna take me so long to create the film.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_00: My son was really young when I started editing on this project.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_01: How long do you think it would take?
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know, but like a year or two?
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_00: Not 10 almost.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was just it's very expensive and time consuming to do a project like this.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_00: Anyone who I mean, I I had to pay for a lot of it myself, which by the way, side note, um, the way I was able to perpetuate myself in the house and um create income enough to pay for this project was um through this project I started getting figuring out because a lot of his material, his stand-up was in like locked up in legal purgatory and it wasn't airing anywhere.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so I needed access to the footage.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I started calling, I was my own legal team.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm like calling all these places and unraveling.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_00: So sometimes a a one-hour special can have a chain of title that goes back four or five people deep, and finding that legal chain was quite hard.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, which is why, especially now, I want to look in the camera, which I own your content because nowadays, like you can self stream, which is a possibility for this film, but I think it's really important to own stuff because.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: The streaming s uh world has changed so much.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: And in the pro and it all changed while I was getting back this material.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_00: So we started streaming it.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: I I formed a business with a friend of mine.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's called Comedy Genius.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_00: And my my partner, he's the genius.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I just bring in the comedy and we have some wonderful we're a small company, have some great clients, and we post material online and and uh it aggregates income and it it it kept me in the house.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_01: And that's awesome.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's another thing that keeps me busy.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: So we got the film, we got the autobiography, we got raising two kids, and then I also wrote this comic book for my son because I was like, I wanted him to have a positive memory, even if it was like created around Ralphie for him.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um this was an idea that Ralphie and I had uh over 20 years ago.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_00: He um Ralphie had done a a commercial in which he played a superhero.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and I don't know if you can see this.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is a picture of him in his superhero suit.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: And he we uh after he shot these, he said, Me, you know, I'd I'd really like to play a superhero.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, and we talked about it, I was like, well, what what would be his name?
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_00: And we decided on Superman.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then um and then the conversation went on, and I it didn't go it was like literally uh, I think Rafi was probably high, he was probably stoned.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_00: But because it was very quick, sure.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like maybe five minutes.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_00: I said I asked him one question after Supperman How does he get his power?
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_00: And Rafi goes, an accident with a microwaveable burrito.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_00: That was it.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_00: The conversation ended and I sat down and I wrote book one of Pounds of Power.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then I have a friend, Andrea, who's if anybody is thinking about wanting to create content like this, yeah, I have an editor.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_00: He also is he has uh he edited my autobiographical book too.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_00: He's a brilliant man.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_00: His name's Andrea.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_00: Just message me, I'll give you his contact because I absolutely kiss this man's feet.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_00: He is so brilliant.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_00: I call him up and he and I go, because we had a mutual friend who introduced us.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_00: I said, I want to do this comic book.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_00: And he goes, Okay, first rule, you need to know this.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_00: You will never make any money.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_00: You do this because you want to.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_00: I go, Well, I want to do it.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, Great, you gotta write four books.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I wrote four books and we hired the illustrator.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't illustrate these.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_00: I I actually have an art degree, but I could never, I could never do that.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's incredible.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_00: You need Illustrator, you I I gotta there are people who do everything from beginning to end.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_00: But Illustrator, who's amazing, like they're all in here.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like beautiful design.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I mean, uh Hugo Petrus is the is the did the lines.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_00: Werner Sanchez did the color, and Letter Squids did the lettering.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_00: And even the lettering is just it's like so unbelievable what That's so cool.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm anyways, it's a hilarious book.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_00: Book one just happened to come out a couple like I think it's just being distributed now to comic book stores.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then for the next three months, so book two comes out next month, three and four, and and then so the series will be available.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_00: And you can get it online at poundsofpower.com.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_01: Poundsofpower.com.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_00: But only this version, this is this is a I I'm learning all about like all the like what makes different books special.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_00: This one has um a foil cover, and so it makes it a collector's edition.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know, this there's a limited number of these printed, and you can only get them on the website, or guess where else you can get them?
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_00: Where when you come to one of the screenings, I'll have them for sale and buy them there as well.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so I have one for you.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_00: This one's mine.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: Oh thank you.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because the kids help me help me feel like that.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so how how are your kids involved with this?
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_00: So um August was less involved.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_00: So they both have their like credits.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_00: So um August was creative consultant because there was a couple things in here where he was like, Mom, that would never happen in a comic book.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, okay, so like we have a shape shifting that occurs at the end of book four.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and so that one he was like, they would never shape shift into that.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, okay, so yeah, so he knows his comic books pretty well, and so does my daughter.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_00: And she was a visual and editorial consultant.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_00: She literally was involved in every like once I started doing this, she she and she's going for an art degree now.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, it's great.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_00: So this one as I have both of these for you.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_00: This one you can read.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's out of the bag and board, which is, you know, very good for it.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_00: I've loved it.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_00: Look at you with all the terminology and everything.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_00: I am I'm a I'm a nerd.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_00: I am a nerd.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm my boyfriend's a nerd.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm uh but it's signed by me and both kids.
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then in the back is a little flyer for the for the film.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_00: Come what name?
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_00: Ralphie is an angel and a devil.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_00: So very proud of this artwork.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_00: The artist who put this together is great.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_00: The photographer actually um is local to Vegas who took a picture of Ralphie.
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, Bruno is his name.
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know Bruno's last name, but he's phenomenal.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, this picture was taken when I shot my one hour special here in town.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_00: I because I he did my photo um for my cover, the cover of my album or my my special.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then while we were there, Ralphie had some concept that never came to fruition, which was him in Angel Wings.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_00: And it never got used.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_00: The photo sat on on my hard drive.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_00: And when I was looking for pictures, I shared it with the artist.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, how perfect it's a perfect, perfect image.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's just well, you know, it's it's so funny.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_01: You uh before I wrap this up, I wanted to share this.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_01: In the doc, you have at the end, you hear you have uh Ralphie on the morning blend, which is like a was a local talk show here, and uh one of the hosts, uh Sean Tempesta, is a friend of mine.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_01: And when I saw that, I was like, oh, I gotta text Sean, like tell me about you know this time you remember interviewing Ralphie.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_01: And he said, Yeah, he interviewed him a few times, and every time he was so sweet, so genuine, such a nice guy, so so just great on the mic and great behind the camera too.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I I thought that was pretty cool too.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like it the having that Sean kind of share his story about what it's like.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_01: And he everybody that's met him, uh I'm sure has nothing but great things, but I thought that was pretty cool that he was in there too.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_00: No, so good.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm looking I'm looking forward to it.
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be on the morning blend tomorrow.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, you really?
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm looking forward to meeting them and I sh I clipped that out for them in case they didn't remember.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_00: He was pretty high in that interview.
• 50:09
  SPEAKER_00: Was he really?
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_00: It was one of the last interviews I think he did.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_01: I think you mentioned that in there.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so that's it's it's wild because I me on the outside I wouldn't be able to tell.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_01: I I I wouldn't I just thought that's just who he is.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_01: That's just his, you know, his his character on screen.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_01: But wow.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's pretty amazing.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_00: But Vegas was awesome for Ralphie.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, it I when um when we were booking the film to come here, it's kind of a conversation.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, it's not really like a screening town.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's towns that are known for their like screening indie films.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, no, we have to go to Vegas.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_00: We have to start the tour there because it just has to it just has to happen.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so good and bad, you have a history here.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's it's it's all good actually.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean it's sad that he passed here, but I mean we even got married here.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_00: You did yeah, it's uh so I don't know.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_00: I just was like, we have to start here.
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_00: So right after LA is it was straight to Vegas.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, and I think people really enjoy it.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_00: They think they just need to come out.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_01: How was it with uh getting married by the three elvises?
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_00: Hilarious.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't really I'm I'm not a big wedding kind of person.
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I used to work as a photographer, okay, so I filmed a lot of I shot a lot of weddings.
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and uh I just was like, this is not my thing.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_00: So you know, when we decided to get married, I was like, yeah, whatever.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_00: Just have fun.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, perfect.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_00: Our vows were like, don't step on our blue suede shoes, don't step on his blue suede shoes.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, don't treat him like a hound dog.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_01: I like they made you repeat that twice.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_01: You gave him a look like what?
• 51:43
  unknown: Yeah.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, I just want to make sure you heard that.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_01: Come what may, Beverly Theater, Thursday, May 7th.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely get your tickets.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's such a phenomenal documentary.
• 51:55
  SPEAKER_01: You were awesome.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_01: You did a fantastic job.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_01: You and your team did such a great job.
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_01: You did an awesome job here today.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_01: I am so thankful and so blessed that you were able to come on today.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_01: This was so much fun.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_00: Thankful and blessed as well.
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_01: Where can people find more of you personally?
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, please come find me.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be performing.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm actually doing spots in town while I'm here.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the La Factory partnered with us in the film.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I popped in there last night and did a show with Butch Bradley, which Butch is hilarious.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_00: So if you haven't seen him, go see his show.
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but uh, but I do perform all over and and I'm posting a lot about the film and all the other things of the comic book and the autobiographical book.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_00: So yes, my name's Lana Turner, and it's important to put an H in Lana, so it's L-A-H-N-A.
• 52:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_00: Remember the H, otherwise backwards it spells anal.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_01: What when did you realize that?
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, a long time ago.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so yeah, but Lana Turner on Instagram, Facebook, all the all the places.
• 52:50
  SPEAKER_01: All the things.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_00: All the things.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_01: All the things.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 52:53
  SPEAKER_01: Brandon, what did you learn today?
• 52:55
  unknown: Oh.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_01: I learned that even though you you were too young to understand Ralphie's coming up, but uh now that you've kind of experienced it all, you got you got the the the total package.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_01: What did you learn?
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I will say that even before coming here, Ralphie was one of the people that I recognize on Instagram.
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like all of the great comedians have this distinct voice, like Gabriel Inglesius, Joe Coy, and Ralphie was one of them.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_03: So it's just really awesome to see the behind the scenes with this docuseries.
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_03: Well said.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_03: Good job.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_00: That is well said.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_00: That was good.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_03: I wasn't expecting that.
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know what?
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's interesting.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_00: He's really made a resurgence online because of Mike and posting and having access to the content.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 53:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's just been amazing.
• 53:36
  SPEAKER_00: People find him and then they realize, oh no, he's not around anymore.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_00: Which but but I mean the the he's his voice resonates now somehow more than ever.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, his his material is evergreen.
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it really is.
• 53:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's phenomenal.
• 53:51
  SPEAKER_01: He's he what do you I don't want to play the what if game, but if uh if he was still around, what are the topics you think he would what kind of material do you think he would write about now?
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's so funny.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, uh everything I I think obviously he'd be talking about Trump and and the various wars in and out of.
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he was so topical, right?
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_00: He was yeah.
• 54:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I I think he'd have a lot of fun with all that.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then I mean the not being able to say certain words, I think like would that would that be tough for him?
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_00: No, I mean it retard is a fun word to say.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like you can't like all of a sudden you're gonna tell somebody not to say that.
• 54:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's is truly retarded.
• 54:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like it changes so often.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I think I but I I don't know.
• 54:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's an interesting question.
• 54:39
  SPEAKER_00: The Ralphie that he he was struggling so much at the end.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I would love to imagine what it would have looked like had he s had he gotten healthy.
• 54:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 54:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 54:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's a hard one for me to think about.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_00: I can imagine.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_00: It may actually make me really sad because that was sort of that was my dream when we were together that he would find his way and be around whether we were together or not, by the way.
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't as important for the marriage as it was for just for our kids.
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 55:06
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, comedically, I think that would have been really rad for him to have been able to share his his sharp opinions.
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, just for my kids to have one more minute with him.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_00: No, you may be crying.
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_00: No, I don't want to end on a sand now.
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_00: Don't end on a sand out.
• 55:19
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do something funny.
• 55:21
  SPEAKER_00: Damn it.
• 55:22
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 55:23
  SPEAKER_01: Can I come over there and try to try that jacket on?
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 55:25
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, hang on.
• 55:26
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do that.
• 55:27
  SPEAKER_01: I want to see what this jacket is like.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_01: This is such a great looking jacket.
• 55:33
  SPEAKER_01: Let's throw this on.
• 55:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna sit down here.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_01: All right, wait, don't sell the looks.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_01: I won't not sell the looks.
• 55:38
  SPEAKER_01: Look at us.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_01: Look at this.
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_01: This jacket is so awesome.
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_01: This jacket's fantastic.
• 55:44
  SPEAKER_00: It fits you really well.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I I I'm working on it.
• 55:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm working on my biceps a little bit, I'm working on the chest.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_01: So this is great.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_01: This is a good look.
• 55:51
  SPEAKER_00: I can fit in there with you.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, the whole the the whole the whole team.
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_01: Brandon, get over here too.
• 55:54
  SPEAKER_01: We're getting everybody involved.
• 55:56
  SPEAKER_01: Come on over.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_01: Come on over, get over here.
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I want to see Brandon with the jacket on, actually.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good idea.
• 56:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, you absolutely are.
• 56:04
  SPEAKER_03: Throw that throw that jacket on.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_03: This is an honor.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my goodness.
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_01: Let's see what oh, Brandon.
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_01: You can fit 10 of you in there.
• 56:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm a fireman.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good look.
• 56:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's an incredible look.
• 56:17
  SPEAKER_00: What are those uh head-to-toe things that people wear on the couch?
• 56:20
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, like the Snuggies or something.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's like below my kneecap.
• 56:25
  SPEAKER_01: Stand up, Brandon.
• 56:26
  SPEAKER_01: Let me see.
• 56:26
  SPEAKER_01: Let's see.
• 56:27
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 56:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's so funny.
• 56:30
  SPEAKER_00: He was a big dude.
• 56:30
  SPEAKER_01: He was a big guy.
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_01: Was he tall too or no?
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_00: No, he was like 5'9.
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_01: So it's so funny.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_00: He said from the film, he's 5'9 in every direction.
• 56:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_01: That was a good one.
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_01: That was a good line.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Lana, thank you so much for coming on.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_01: This was so much fun.
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 56:46
  SPEAKER_01: Beverly Theater, Thursday, May 7th.
• 56:49
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my God.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_01: Come what may.
• 56:52
  SPEAKER_01: Phenomenal.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_01: Phenomenal.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_01: Get your tickets at thebeverly theater.com.
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_01: Check out Lana Turner on all the platforms with an H.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_01: Don't forget the H.
• 57:01
  SPEAKER_01: Let's play this outro song before we go.
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, this was awesome.
• 57:04
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for coming on.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 57:07
  SPEAKER_01: Boys and girls, check out new episodes each week on Heybighead.com.
• 57:11
  SPEAKER_01: Brandon, you looked phenomenal in that jacket.
• 57:13
  SPEAKER_01: That was that was great.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see you next week.
• 57:20
  SPEAKER_00: Watched it.