Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / The Art Of Loving Spiders With LUKE SEVEREID

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The Art Of Loving Spiders With LUKE SEVEREID · HEAVY Music Interviews

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Speaker 1: What's upy all. My name is Luke Severright. I'm a
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Speaker 1: stand up comedian from the United States, Washington State to
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Speaker 1: be specific. I'm coming out this September. I believe it's
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Speaker 1: the sixth through the twelfth. I should know. It's off
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Speaker 1: the top of my head. But I'm gonna be in Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne,
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Speaker 1: Sydney and Pert on my tour here to fuck spiders
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Speaker 1: because I'm here to fuck spiders figuratively, not literally. You
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Speaker 1: guys have terrifying, terrifying spiders and other small critters. I'm
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Speaker 1: gonna I'm gonna keep my genitals away from them. But
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Speaker 1: I thought it was a funny name, and I hope
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Speaker 1: you do too.
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Speaker 2: I hope if you dinkate your general's wife from me,
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Speaker 2: you at least get ridden consent first.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, and they can write that consent quick. There's several
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Speaker 1: ones that can do it.
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Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us night, like pleasure to chat with
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Speaker 2: you again. Likewise, so either you're arithmetic or my arithmetics wrong.
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Speaker 2: But it says to you that you finish up on
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Speaker 2: the thirtieh to September, So I'm not correcting you. I'm
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Speaker 2: just making sure people know you said that I don't
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Speaker 2: go to the Roman show when they do catch you
0:54
Speaker 2: while you're at.
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Speaker 1: Here, you are correcting me, But in my defense, if
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Speaker 1: they looked for the information and it would have fixed
1:01
Speaker 1: that much before. You don't just buy a I take
1:03
Speaker 1: it through a day.
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Speaker 3: Right now, we go.
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Speaker 2: That downs it right your last visit here, I was
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Speaker 2: spotted office twenty twenty five, So it seems like a
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Speaker 2: pretty pretty different sort of thing to have on a
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Speaker 2: heavy metal festival.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, well it was, Yeah, I mean it just kind
1:22
Speaker 1: of timed out that way. I've worked with a not
1:24
Speaker 1: Test before in the past. I actually just recorded two
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Speaker 1: specials with them this last February that'll be coming out
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Speaker 1: later this year. And just kind of independently, the company
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Speaker 1: that I'm working with for this tour as well, destroy
1:37
Speaker 1: all lines that reached out to me. And I'd already
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Speaker 1: known people of not Fest so and they were already
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Speaker 1: working with them to bring an offest. So it was
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Speaker 1: kind of like just a just perfect storm of going,
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Speaker 1: Like this company that does music production but also comedy
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Speaker 1: like tours, was like, hey, we're also helping this heavy
1:54
Speaker 1: metal tour. You do heavy metal themed stand up comedy,
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Speaker 1: so why don't you just come be a part of
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Speaker 1: the not Fest festival, and then they had me as
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Speaker 1: a side show so I could be like under the
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Speaker 1: umbrella and all that stuff. It is really cool, man,
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Speaker 1: Like you know, once in a lifetime opportunity, but now
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Speaker 1: I'm coming back to do it by myself. So I'm
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Speaker 1: saying like as the as the getting a foot in
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Speaker 1: the door, it's just very very very cool, very fortunate.
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Speaker 2: How did you go personally, man like BOYK and alongside
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Speaker 2: all those heavy metal artists on the right light, did
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Speaker 2: any of them demand private audiences with here and private
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Speaker 2: one on one company times?
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Speaker 1: No, Man, it was I don't know, like everyone was
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Speaker 1: super cool, but like I felt like I was a
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Speaker 1: transfer student to a high school that everyone like already,
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Speaker 1: cause it's like I was, And I mean I really
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Speaker 1: was only there for the I had. My my shows
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Speaker 1: were at a different time than the actual festival because
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Speaker 1: to actually compete with that would be that that's just
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Speaker 1: asking to lose. But I got to like hang out
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Speaker 1: backstage and do that in the back area, and like
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Speaker 1: everyone was super cool, but like this is what they
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Speaker 1: do for a living, and this is like a new
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Speaker 1: experience for me where like, yeah, I've been touring comedian before,
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Speaker 1: but not part of like a large festival. So I'm
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Speaker 1: like talking to the crew way more easily than I
3:04
Speaker 1: am talking to like musicians, because people are like, like
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Speaker 1: they would look at me and go, are you the
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Speaker 1: bass player from Hate Breed? I was like, no, but
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Speaker 1: that feels like a pretty good guess, Like I got that.
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Speaker 1: I got that so many times there is I'm not
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Speaker 1: that guy, but I've written probably at least twenty minutes
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Speaker 1: of jokes that would make that individual man lap very
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Speaker 1: hard based off of just me talking about how I
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Speaker 1: look and how he looks.
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Speaker 3: So how's the show? This going to be different? Like
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Speaker 3: it on the eighteen months? So is it gonna I'm
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Speaker 3: either is gonna be favor little.
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Speaker 2: Like a star and lost sobs he a bit, It's
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Speaker 2: gonna be a completed different experience.
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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, man, I'm the I don't do the same
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Speaker 1: show twice in a night like I do. Take my
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Speaker 1: my menudes, but they still don't stop me from being
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Speaker 1: like I just said that, I'm bored. Say something new,
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Speaker 1: say it in a different way, do a different thing.
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Speaker 1: So yeah, it's not It's not gonna be the same
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Speaker 1: thing A whole lot no, it's not all i'd live,
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Speaker 1: but it's definitely like I make a playlist and then
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Speaker 1: I hit shuffle like and also it is three months
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Speaker 1: away like down July. Yeah I got I got three
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Speaker 1: months of writing jokes still like this isn't I know,
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Speaker 1: like Australian comedians might write more of like here's an
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Speaker 1: act and here's the thing. But just the way the
4:27
Speaker 1: way my career is advanced the last like five years,
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Speaker 1: it's all been through social media. It's all been through
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Speaker 1: the internet. So I write, I write my act, my
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Speaker 1: whatever at like you know, a chunk at a time,
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Speaker 1: like a ninety second two minute, three minute clippable thing
4:42
Speaker 1: at a time, and then build around that. So it's like,
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Speaker 1: I don't know, we'll see. I don't know what it's
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Speaker 1: going to be in three months. It's going to be
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Speaker 1: definitely different than what it is today. I know that much.
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Speaker 3: Now.
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Speaker 2: I just realized I don't be speaking to you like
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Speaker 2: on your Regiam because I've made you before so I'm
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Speaker 2: familiar with the stuff. But I'm sure there's Peglin Astraya
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Speaker 2: who haven't heard of you yet, say what is it
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Speaker 2: You're actually big into Australia.
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Speaker 1: Oh, I like to yell, and so do you guys,
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Speaker 1: I know some of you do. If you like, if
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Speaker 1: you enjoy heavy metal music, I talk about that some.
5:10
Speaker 1: It's I where this isn't a Bancher, but it's a
5:13
Speaker 1: it's band of Jay Blackcraft. They're band adjacent. Uh, they're
5:16
Speaker 1: kind of on brand. But yeah, I don't know. Man,
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Speaker 1: I'm uh, I'm a noisy, silly fellow and that's kind
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Speaker 1: of the energy I bring. It's just you know, Adhd,
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Speaker 1: you've known a coworker, you have a cousin who's like me.
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Speaker 1: You've you've seen a version of me at the gym
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Speaker 1: and we look angry and then you talk to us
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Speaker 1: and you're like, oh, he's actually nice.
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Speaker 2: Anyway, if you have to sort of put it compared
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Speaker 2: to another comedio, what sort of humor is it?
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Speaker 3: Like? Who can people compare it to?
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Speaker 1: Oh? Well, they can google me. They I mean, I
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Speaker 1: don't know, Like, uh so I'm going to give them
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Speaker 1: another name that that they want to google. Yeah. Also,
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Speaker 1: it's hard to like compare yourself the people. Yeah, because
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Speaker 1: I also like.
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Speaker 2: Is it you're paying out on the audience stall comedy
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Speaker 2: or is it you're telling jikes?
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Speaker 3: And they lost that you talk comedy or is it interactive?
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Speaker 2: Uh?
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Speaker 1: Have you watched my stuff? Do you know?
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Speaker 3: I have not? It?
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Speaker 1: God damn it. So when you said Australians are lazy,
6:18
Speaker 1: you meant to say I am latey.
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Speaker 3: Well I should have said I represent the majority of Australians.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, there we go. Okay, you sound fucking American, my guy. No,
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Speaker 1: I'm I. I do interact with the audience here and there,
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Speaker 1: but it's usually I'm not seeking that out. I'm I'm
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Speaker 1: kind of exhausted by the by how much like crowd
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Speaker 1: work is prevalent everywhere. Like, I do it for fun
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Speaker 1: and I like to do a little bit of Q
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Speaker 1: and A during shows if I feel like bored with
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Speaker 1: the next thing, I know I'm gonna say because it's
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Speaker 1: a late show and I already did that bit on
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Speaker 1: the Early Show or whatever. But yeah, man, it's it
6:51
Speaker 1: is kind of just shooting from the hip. I try
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Speaker 1: to be as president in the room, but I want
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Speaker 1: to I want to have to be a high energy,
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Speaker 1: fun time and also make some say some silly shit
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Speaker 1: that I might actually believe, and make some nonsense and
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Speaker 1: make some points, but definitely have punchlines around it.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, but The main reason I asked that is because
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Speaker 2: some of Australia's biggest comedians have been ones that have
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Speaker 2: paid out on the crowd. So when you hear a
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Speaker 2: comedian in Australia, Rodney Reid is the first one that
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Speaker 2: comes to mind, and he had a lot of banded
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Speaker 2: with the crowd and stuff, and then you got Jim Jeffries.
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Speaker 2: He just stands up and sways the whole time. So
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Speaker 2: we haven't really got that big of a comedy scene
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Speaker 2: over here. So if if people know what to expect
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Speaker 2: coming to what you just said, then it's probably more
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Speaker 2: likely to bring him in.
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Speaker 1: I reckon, okay, good, good good yeah, And I uh yeah,
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Speaker 1: Jim Jefferies is a comic early on that I really
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Speaker 1: really enjoyed. But yeah it is. Yeah, I'm not drunk
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Speaker 1: on stage, but I do enjoy a good rant. But
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Speaker 1: I also enjoy some crowd work, if that is what
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Speaker 1: The problem that I have is that sometimes you start
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Speaker 1: crowd work that makes everyone feel like they can chime
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Speaker 1: in all the time, and then it's just a bunch
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Speaker 1: of especially the crowds that resonate with me like they're
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Speaker 1: already all kind of like neurodivergent, and so they're like,
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Speaker 1: got get guys. So then if it starts, it's just
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Speaker 1: like a bunch of squirrels just chirping at me. And
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Speaker 1: I know that's not the right animal, but you got
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Speaker 1: the point I was making.
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Speaker 2: I got the point I was speaking of. Animals might
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Speaker 2: reach tell you, but the chore it's called the spiders.
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Speaker 2: That's a Castralian colloquialism.
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Speaker 3: My life. Where did you hear it? First?
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Speaker 2: Uh?
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Speaker 1: There was a comic that I ran into in New
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Speaker 1: York City and she's from Australia and she just kind
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Speaker 1: of dropped it into conversation. She's like, oh, yeah, I'm
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Speaker 1: not here to fuck spiders. And I was like, dad,
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Speaker 1: is you need to explain more of what you just
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Speaker 1: said to me? And she told me and I was like,
8:29
Speaker 1: that's such a delightful idiom that you guys have. And
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Speaker 1: so when I started the conversation about this, it was
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Speaker 1: actually that night that I was like because we were
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Speaker 1: talking about how I needed to plan another Australia tour
8:44
Speaker 1: and she said that and then she goes, does this
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Speaker 1: that comes off stage? And I was like, what would
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Speaker 1: it be like? What if I call it here? To
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Speaker 1: fock spiders because I am there to just I'm there
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Speaker 1: to the muck about. I am doing jokes like this
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Speaker 1: is nonsense, like my job is talking. Uh, and she's
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Speaker 1: she was like that's great, and I was like that reps.
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Speaker 1: And then I kind of ran it by a couple
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Speaker 1: other people that I know from from your section of
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Speaker 1: the world, and they're like that, actually, that sounds like
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Speaker 1: a good idea. So I was like, cool, I.
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Speaker 2: Actually did a bit of research for you, mate, And
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Speaker 2: if you plan on doing any all ages shows, or
9:13
Speaker 2: if you haven't need a PG to show down a
9:14
Speaker 2: little bit, you could call it though. We're not not
9:17
Speaker 2: here to lick stamps, or there's also not here to
9:20
Speaker 2: put socks on caterpillars.
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Speaker 3: Apparently that's.
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Speaker 1: What tiny socks or how big are your caterpillars?
9:29
Speaker 3: At least you're not fucking yeah.
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Speaker 1: Now give me time.
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Speaker 2: After you here. Last time, bro, you said that was
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Speaker 2: he crouds every bit as one of them. So I'll
9:42
Speaker 2: started again, he said, by far and away one of
9:44
Speaker 2: the best crowds.
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Speaker 3: I performed in front of. Like what makes us so special? Uh?
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Speaker 1: You guys, I mean audiences always have like not all
9:55
Speaker 1: but like audiences everywhere can have like good energy, but
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Speaker 1: the I think the level of appreciation that came across
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Speaker 1: is that like it's just kind of like another thing
10:07
Speaker 1: because you guys know how much effort it takes to
10:09
Speaker 1: just get out there. Like I don't know how you
10:12
Speaker 1: guys are as like audience members for like local acts,
10:14
Speaker 1: but just the way everyone so intentionally was like, this
10:18
Speaker 1: is awesome. You just appreciate that people are coming out
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Speaker 1: there and doing stuff, and that's kind of like the
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Speaker 1: main Like I think that's what I was thinking of
10:24
Speaker 1: when I wrote that down, because that's what resonated with me.
10:27
Speaker 1: And also like that run of shows was the first
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Speaker 1: like show run of shows that I'd done not in
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Speaker 1: the States since the Internet kind of bumped me up,
10:37
Speaker 1: so it was it was like super validating and also
10:39
Speaker 1: be like, oh, all of these people came out so
10:41
Speaker 1: on purpose to see the guy they saw on their
10:44
Speaker 1: phone while they were taking a shit in the morning,
10:46
Speaker 1: and that's weird, but also that's fine. And it was
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Speaker 1: really that kind of like that level of just being
10:52
Speaker 1: like so so thank you for coming here. So oh
10:54
Speaker 1: this is awesome, thank you, thank you. I'm gonna buy
10:56
Speaker 1: a shirt. Please come back, Like the amount of like
10:59
Speaker 1: please I got I was like, okay, you guys, all right, yeah,
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Speaker 1: I'll be back, don't worry. That was just that's just
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Speaker 1: very it's very nice to be uh yelled at appreciation.
11:08
Speaker 3: I love you man.
11:11
Speaker 1: Yeah there was some of that and you're like, all right,
11:12
Speaker 1: I didn't I haven't gotten that in Portland, Oregon or Dallas, Texas,
11:17
Speaker 1: but sure I did get it in Prisbone. Okay, noted.
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Speaker 3: Have you ever had a shot that was like the
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Speaker 3: crowd were really fucking hard to get calent?
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Speaker 1: Like, yeah, well that's I mean, that's a large part
11:33
Speaker 1: of what comedy is starting off is that you have
11:36
Speaker 1: to it's just whoever showed up for the idea of
11:38
Speaker 1: stand up comedy, and then you have to present to
11:40
Speaker 1: them your iteration of it in a way that makes
11:43
Speaker 1: them come on board. That's kind of like a lot
11:46
Speaker 1: of just what the art form is for a while. Really,
11:50
Speaker 1: what you do is it's it's canaries and cold mines.
11:53
Speaker 1: Excuse me, cold mines is that you just have jokes
11:55
Speaker 1: and you kind of have to feel them out, and
11:56
Speaker 1: you have to sort of maybe engage and do some
11:58
Speaker 1: crowd work and stuff like that and figure out what
12:00
Speaker 1: pressure points, what subjects and what angles of attack on
12:03
Speaker 1: those subjects can you do to open them up to
12:07
Speaker 1: lap more that then you can then ease them into
12:09
Speaker 1: other concepts, like other subject matter, other genres of comedy.
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Speaker 2: Did you just say that you've got a couple of
12:15
Speaker 2: jokes that you really love and you said in the
12:18
Speaker 2: crayon is not going to be into them by the
12:19
Speaker 2: direction to the other ones.
12:20
Speaker 3: But would you put it out or would you still
12:22
Speaker 3: throw it in there and just to say, hey, you guys.
12:25
Speaker 1: Depends on what the job is, depends on what where
12:29
Speaker 1: I am on the line on the lineup, depends on
12:31
Speaker 1: how well I want to do on merch, depends on
12:34
Speaker 1: how angry I am at them, depends on is the
12:38
Speaker 1: is the booker there? And will they be mad at me?
12:40
Speaker 1: It depends on a lot of things.
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Speaker 3: A lot of things like in that short of spice
12:44
Speaker 3: of time, mate, you get a quick think up.
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Speaker 1: I mean, it's I'm not saying I'm smart, but I've
12:49
Speaker 1: definitely done this a bunch of times in a row
12:51
Speaker 1: to the point that I can at least go, here's
12:52
Speaker 1: here's what my brain would have to do in that moment.
12:54
Speaker 1: So it's really like there's no, there isn't enough defining
12:58
Speaker 1: parts of that circumstances given accurate question, because it is like, yeah,
13:01
Speaker 1: what the fuck do I do? Is it an old
13:03
Speaker 1: conservative crowd? Do I want to like? Do I want
13:06
Speaker 1: to twist the knife in? Do I want to be
13:08
Speaker 1: a third bird? Do I?
13:10
Speaker 2: Is it?
13:10
Speaker 1: You know?
13:10
Speaker 2: Are they?
13:11
Speaker 1: Is it a younger, more left leaning audience and not
13:13
Speaker 1: reacting because a certain thing that I said that made
13:17
Speaker 1: them think a certain thing about me? Do I want
13:19
Speaker 1: to further reinforce that point, to use that and play
13:22
Speaker 1: with that? Or do I want to subvert that? There's
13:24
Speaker 1: so many variables.
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Speaker 3: Basically, the short answers yes, yes, I fucking would sure.
13:31
Speaker 1: I mean, if you want to tighten it up. I
13:33
Speaker 1: like my long winded two and a half minute answer
13:36
Speaker 1: way more than yeah.
13:37
Speaker 3: Probably yours is more for the lawyers. Mine's more for the.
13:45
Speaker 2: Heavy metals banded around a lot when your name is mentioned,
13:48
Speaker 2: like where'd association come from?
13:52
Speaker 1: Oh? Wait? Wait, you mean uh you called a heavy.
13:56
Speaker 3: Metal you put your plate on, not fish, which is
13:58
Speaker 3: a heavy metal thing? Like wait, where does it connect
14:00
Speaker 3: between you and medal coming? I saw it from your
14:01
Speaker 3: beautiful shred?
14:03
Speaker 1: Oh uh, well, I think it's I mean, I think
14:06
Speaker 1: it's just that that's what I said I was, and
14:09
Speaker 1: that I wrote enough jokes that were about it that
14:11
Speaker 1: everyone just started saying it too. And then I got
14:14
Speaker 1: put on a festival tied to it. I go, all right,
14:16
Speaker 1: I guess that's I guess that's that. It feels weird.
14:25
Speaker 1: But it's like to not sound groath, but it's like
14:27
Speaker 1: it's branding, it's marketing, it's the it's the you know,
14:30
Speaker 1: I gotta run ads and go ah, stand up, that's
14:32
Speaker 1: metal as fuck whatever. You're like, Yeah, I'm gonna yell
14:34
Speaker 1: at you, like, come to the show. Here's a clip.
14:36
Speaker 1: Does that? Did that make you laugh? All right, well
14:37
Speaker 1: you can trust that I'm gonna yell some more and
14:39
Speaker 1: do some other weird shit.
14:41
Speaker 3: And of course you mentioned heavy metal at least once
14:43
Speaker 3: in the show.
14:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, And usually, oh man, people get so mad because
14:46
Speaker 1: sometimes I'm like sixty minutes in and I haven't even
14:49
Speaker 1: said anything about it, and I'm just like a dude,
14:51
Speaker 1: I tricked you.
14:53
Speaker 3: I'm actually a pianist.
14:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, dude, I don't even like it. It was just
14:57
Speaker 1: a joke. This is just this is just the haircuts
14:59
Speaker 1: I have.
14:59
Speaker 2: To have Uh, you mentioned this before, Brough, but you've
15:05
Speaker 2: just done a couple of specials for not Fasts that
15:07
Speaker 2: are going to be released explicitly through them. So does
15:10
Speaker 2: that mean you have to go on the knock Fitt
15:11
Speaker 2: site to buy it or you can't get another places?
15:14
Speaker 1: Well, it's gonna be my understanding as of this moment
15:18
Speaker 1: because we're still like editing it, so we don't really
15:20
Speaker 1: have the things locked in, but it will be through there,
15:23
Speaker 1: Like they have like a streaming VIP access thing that
15:25
Speaker 1: will initially be released on that and then after a
15:28
Speaker 1: time exclusivity there, it's going to be put on their
15:31
Speaker 1: YouTube account.
15:32
Speaker 3: And does that actually shows that you performed at knock
15:34
Speaker 3: Fast or were they other shows?
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Speaker 1: Oh?
15:37
Speaker 3: This was?
15:37
Speaker 1: This was It wasn't produced by not Fest, not recorded
15:42
Speaker 1: at Okay, this would they were recorded? It was four
15:46
Speaker 1: shows recorded at Cissifus Brewery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Uh and
15:51
Speaker 1: the first show was the day after like Ice officially said,
15:56
Speaker 1: it was leaving. Okay. Yeah, interesting town, interesting, interesting town. Well,
16:04
Speaker 1: just an interesting time to go to that town where
16:05
Speaker 1: you're like, oh civil and rest.
16:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm like, oh my stay for fifty days?
16:10
Speaker 1: Yeah?
16:11
Speaker 2: Three member, thanks for your time did the pleasure chatting?
16:13
Speaker 2: Did the tour kicks off on June the sixth in Auckland.
16:18
Speaker 2: Then you move over to Australia. I'll be at the
16:20
Speaker 2: Brisbane Rember I finally get to see them, and that
16:23
Speaker 2: you'll then take care and keep fucking spiders.
16:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I'm gonna not fock spiders until I visit
16:29
Speaker 1: yours and you have such terrifying once.
16:32
Speaker 3: Whole jar of them in for you and do what
16:34
Speaker 3: I'm alive or dead.
16:36
Speaker 1: Ah, I'll give back to you on that half half
16:40
Speaker 1: a life, half dad actually