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Jeff Arcuri on Nice to Meet You, Moving Beyond Crowd Work, and Nearly Canceling His Netflix Special · Kyle Meredith With...

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[SPEAKER_01]: That's me, Kyle Mirath.
1:48
[SPEAKER_01]: Today, talking with comedian Jeff Arcuri, he's got a special, he's first special.
1:53
[SPEAKER_01]: On Netflix, called Nice to meet you, we're going to talk all about it.
1:55
[SPEAKER_01]: It's one of my favorite things that I've seen lately.
1:57
[SPEAKER_01]: I've been telling all of my friends about it.
2:00
[SPEAKER_01]: So we're going to get into, you know, he's been working for over a decade and a half at this
2:05
[SPEAKER_01]: But just recently in the last few years finally started seeing success and it's paying off in a big way right now We sold out tours and this special.
2:13
[SPEAKER_01]: We're gonna talk about developing his style He does this really crazy Multi layer thing with the crowdwork and the jokes at the same time
2:23
[SPEAKER_01]: So we'll get into that and really the stress that he went through while developing this special.
2:27
[SPEAKER_01]: He'll tell you not only did he get sciatica during the ramp up to this special, but he had to go to therapy during the editing of it as well.
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[SPEAKER_01]: He's out now with a whole new hour of material.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So we're going to get into all that's and more as we discuss the new special nice to meet you out now on Netflix.
2:46
[SPEAKER_01]: It's Kyle Meredith with Jeff Arcurie.
2:48
[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, I had to tell you, I have probably recommended your new special, um, nice to meet you more than I've ever recommended a special, I mean, at least since my teen years or something, you know, like telling people about Eddie is your midshadburg and all that stuff like I feel like I'm having that moment again right now.
3:06
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, it's so awesome.
3:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much.
3:08
[SPEAKER_01]: I appreciate that it feels like it's a big moment for you I mean, that's that's that's that's part of the joke, right?
3:13
[SPEAKER_02]: You're like you've been working for a decade and a half and now you finally made it You're really yeah, yeah, yeah, it feels like it does feel like it all It happened pretty quickly and then I was talking to somebody about it's kind of doing interviews and stuff where I was like oh shit
3:29
[SPEAKER_02]: I started, you know, 2010, but I started putting and seeing success.
3:34
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, oh, I think I'm going to do well with this, like on social media in like 2022.
3:39
[SPEAKER_02]: And that feels like yesterday, but that was four years ago for it.
3:44
[SPEAKER_02]: So it's been four years of like, oh, wow, people recognize me sometimes.
3:48
[SPEAKER_02]: Things like that.
3:49
[SPEAKER_02]: And it still feels brand new.
3:50
[SPEAKER_02]: It still feels like it's just happened.
3:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, it's so good to watch you.
3:53
[SPEAKER_01]: And, and, and, you know, one of the reasons like I've been
3:58
[SPEAKER_01]: is, like, you have people that do crowd work.
4:04
[SPEAKER_01]: and they do it well and you have people that tell great stories but the level that you're doing it on I really like I can't name anybody else that's doing something like exactly like you're doing out there and that's what's so fun to watch that that's what I'm telling people about like like seeing you do it like how long did it take you as since we're talking about that past and finding you rampant up like how long did it take you to figure out how to do what you're doing.
4:29
[SPEAKER_02]: you it's so funny it was more at first of all thank you very much uh it's secondly it was more i think a culmination of how i was forced to do comedy for so long um like i used to write a lot cleaner when i first started um because i would do core i wanted to corporate gigs and i wanted to do gigs that i could get
4:51
[SPEAKER_02]: paid to do, so I wanted to like adjust to that.
4:53
[SPEAKER_02]: And then I was house him seeing for a while at Zannies that were they require as Zannies a comedy club franchise out of Chicago, Illinois.
5:01
[SPEAKER_02]: And they required that I do crowdwork for the first half of the set as a house MC, which means I am see every single show.
5:10
[SPEAKER_02]: And then that got me into out of my shell of, all right, break that fourth wall.
5:13
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to start talking to the audience a little bit.
5:16
[SPEAKER_02]: And then I started writing jokes for the common responses.
5:20
[SPEAKER_02]: If people had birthdays and you know, whatever happened, I would always have a response for when the guy Didn't have a birthday present or whatever it was like I always had these jokes and I started like Oh, okay getting confident with crowdwork doing that and then like I started doing cruise ships So I had to learn how to deal with with with people that are our drunk I had to deal with children in the audience.
5:40
[SPEAKER_02]: I had to deal with children that I think it's
5:42
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah.
5:43
[SPEAKER_02]: The drum killed the children on the carnival cruises versus too much.
5:46
[SPEAKER_02]: It was it was all these different things that kind of forced me to become this committee that I am now, but I will say I think I took the most the funnest parts of each of those experiences and applied it to what I do now where I'm only doing what I want to do.
6:01
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I'm not like, all right, well, I got to do this clean crowdwork political comedy tonight.
6:07
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't adjust to that, but I do go, I'm going to go out there and see how they're feeling.
6:11
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to vibe it out with them and do my own thing with them, but just based on all the stuff that I kind of cherry picks from all the different experience doing comedy and stuff.
6:19
[SPEAKER_02]: So I wouldn't say I designed or did this on purpose.
6:22
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I'm just the product of 15 years of comedy and choosing what I like to do.
6:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, so I would guess it that means like every show gets to be completely different.
6:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Like you have, it seems like to me like you have the destination sort of in mind.
6:39
[SPEAKER_01]: But how you get there, because watching you, you know, it's not just that you're playing off the crowd.
6:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Like it feels like they're helping you set up the joke along the way.
6:51
[SPEAKER_01]: So does that mean like every night is a different set up to get to the punchline?
6:55
[SPEAKER_02]: no, but that is actually a good point.
6:58
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a different set up.
6:59
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, actually that I would say that is
7:03
[SPEAKER_02]: I wouldn't say different setup, but maybe I don't know that's a really good way to put it.
7:06
[SPEAKER_02]: I haven't looked through that way that it's how we get into it is up to them.
7:11
[SPEAKER_02]: Like for example, right now I'm starting a lot of my shows talking about my current tour, talking about the positive the future and wins, things that people have that they're looking forward to because I'm done with the past.
7:26
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm so, was so bogged down by everything that I'm like, I want to talk about the future now.
7:32
[SPEAKER_02]: I've been saying that and bringing that into that.
7:35
[SPEAKER_02]: And I've had jokes.
7:36
[SPEAKER_02]: I have jokes about my wife and I buying a house recently, like a renovating a house.
7:40
[SPEAKER_02]: And I go into the audience saying, what do you guys look forward to?
7:43
[SPEAKER_02]: And somebody's like, oh, I've got a house.
7:44
[SPEAKER_02]: And guess what?
7:45
[SPEAKER_02]: I have four or five jokes about that and home ownership.
7:49
[SPEAKER_02]: So I started then talking to them about it and next thing you know 12 minutes of past and I've only talked a warning Remember we're going back and forth and that joke was actually three quarters into my set But now in my head I go I'm gonna remove that chunk because I'm doing it now with them and let's see what happens So it does kind of change a little bit but at the same the same breath like I wouldn't if you see me on Friday night I wouldn't like pay again to see me Saturday night You know what I mean you're not like a jam band and that's sort of a way
8:17
[SPEAKER_02]: No, no, no.
8:18
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that you're going to be like, oh, I see how he did it more than you're going to be like, wow, this is completely different.
8:25
[SPEAKER_02]: So I would say not doing seeing me in the same weekend, but then again, and I've had friends and my wife and other people tell me where they go, you really tell people that.
8:33
[SPEAKER_02]: And then the next night, it's a completely different show sometimes.
8:36
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and so, but I don't want, I don't want that pressure of like, yeah, if I'm in town five shows, you should come to every single show because then now I'm like, shit, I got to come up with something new every time if it happens great, but do not expect for me to go on a wild tangent about whatever it is because that doesn't always happen, you know.
8:54
[SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, to my point earlier, you know about, you know, when used to tell people, you know, like, oh, you got to check out this comedy special, like we were watching those same jokes.
9:06
[SPEAKER_01]: you know, as if they were our favorite song, like the amount of times, you know, those comedy specials and comedy albums when I was growing up, you listened to a comedy album.
9:15
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, the fact that you would actually probably have even minor differences, I don't know, that's what I'm, I'm contradicting what you're saying right here, because I think I would come to five shows.
9:27
[SPEAKER_01]: No, I'm going to get the same joke, but it's probably going to be a little different.
9:30
[SPEAKER_02]: How about I tear it?
9:31
[SPEAKER_02]: How about I tear it this way?
9:32
[SPEAKER_02]: The best way of
9:36
[SPEAKER_02]: the second best way to see comedy is the special that comedian put out and the third best way to see comedy is that same set again live.
9:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
9:44
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
9:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
9:46
[SPEAKER_01]: So you would have rather seen me have seen you first before maybe the Netflix special.
9:52
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I always recommend that.
9:54
[SPEAKER_02]: I always say if you catch a comedian on tour, you're seeing the best version of that.
9:59
[SPEAKER_02]: Seeing it live will always be the best version of it.
10:03
[SPEAKER_02]: compared to, and then now actually I'll contribute myself, except for tapings, tapings can sometimes take away from that, that special, oh shit, he's working on it, thing.
10:13
[SPEAKER_02]: There can be a little bit of a, alright everyone, take your seats, alright we're going to be starting to show in five minutes everybody, remember to use the bathroom now, like that type of shit doesn't happen at a live comedy show.
10:22
[SPEAKER_02]: Live comedy shows just like what's going to happen, the lights go down, it just starts, and then it's a performance.
10:27
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a 90 minute entertainment and, and
10:29
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, that's it, but I forgot what we were talking about.
10:33
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll tell you a lot of tape and speak me out anyway for that rate.
10:36
[SPEAKER_01]: The one thing that's going to make me have to use a bathroom five times more than I ever have to do is for someone to say, please use the bathroom now we're about to tape.
10:43
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, yeah.
10:44
[SPEAKER_02]: If I'm on a plane and the guy sleeps, if the guy's in the wild seat falls asleep, I'm going to have to piss in 10 minutes.
10:49
[SPEAKER_02]: I know it.
10:50
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to have to pay as soon as he falls asleep.
10:51
[SPEAKER_02]: Yep.
10:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Take a quick pause to remind you to hit that subscribe button if you're enjoying the interview right now.
10:56
[SPEAKER_01]: It helps out so much and we'll be right back right after this.
11:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back.
11:02
[SPEAKER_01]: It's Kyle Meredith with Jeff Arcurie.
11:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so how was the ramp up then to the actual special because, obviously, we're seeing whatever finished piece, but everything looks perfect in that.
11:16
[SPEAKER_02]: Thanks.
11:17
[SPEAKER_02]: I was really happy with how it ended up coming out.
11:22
[SPEAKER_02]: The lead-up was intense, but
11:25
[SPEAKER_02]: I also had a confidence of, like, I'm really care about what I'm saying right now, and I'm really like, I'm going through it right now, so the emotions currently there, so I was confident that it was going to come out like genuine in the way it should, but the whole lead up to it was nerve-wracking, I end it was also dealing with
11:46
[SPEAKER_02]: I did, you know, when my wife died, we had my wife's diagnosis, we had a reschedule tour, but we still had to go on that tour.
11:52
[SPEAKER_02]: So on top of, you know, 40 US city dates, I had 25 different countries we went to last year.
11:59
[SPEAKER_02]: And then we had to come home and I did a residency at the Wilbur theater and then the week later I taped.
12:04
[SPEAKER_02]: And so it was just,
12:05
[SPEAKER_02]: non-stop travel, uh, being with my wife as much as possible and then traveling and taping right away.
12:12
[SPEAKER_02]: There was no breath at all.
12:13
[SPEAKER_02]: I developed sciatica.
12:14
[SPEAKER_02]: I was I didn't know you could get that in your 30s.
12:17
[SPEAKER_02]: I thought I swacked out it was like a 80 years older plus like all of my sciatica, you know, so I developed that and then I remember one of the doctor and she's like, what was going on?
12:26
[SPEAKER_02]: What's happened in the past six months?
12:27
[SPEAKER_02]: And I told her and she goes,
12:29
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's that like that's why you can I'm like this.
12:32
[SPEAKER_02]: This is physical pain and it's nothing to do with my emotional turmoil Like I'm an idiot, but yeah, I had no idea that that could happen and you know It was just a lot.
12:42
[SPEAKER_02]: It was very heavy leading up to it, but it was
12:45
[SPEAKER_02]: Still, it's one thing, even at my worst moments, I'm still living my dream, you know?
12:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
12:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
12:51
[SPEAKER_01]: So, but when you watch that special, as I know you probably do nightly, do you see all of that instead?
13:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, do you see the sciat and everything else leading up to that?
13:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Or are you able to kind of attach yourself and be like, man, what a piece of that that was?
13:10
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, it's funny.
13:11
[SPEAKER_02]: I when I first got it, I like slammed the laptop shut because they they chose a different starting point initially Because the one that that we had that we have now is the one we chose was the initial when they sent and they were worried that I was going to take it like, oh, that's such a mean way to start like they thought I'd hate that starting the special so they kind of hit that from me.
13:30
[SPEAKER_02]: and the one that they sent me made me cringe and I'm like, what joke was that?
13:34
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't even remember saying that.
13:36
[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, I would never start a special this way.
13:38
[SPEAKER_02]: And then the first intro they included crowdwork that I ended up cutting, where I was like, why did you include me saying hi to that guy?
13:45
[SPEAKER_02]: It was just like frustrated with them adding in.
13:49
[SPEAKER_02]: But what I found out was that they literally took every time I talked to an audience member, they put it in and they added it.
13:56
[SPEAKER_02]: And I was like, oh, I didn't want that.
13:57
[SPEAKER_02]: I didn't want, like, from every show, Calvin, I just want for whatever the best show was.
14:02
[SPEAKER_02]: And then we added maybe one or two things.
14:05
[SPEAKER_02]: So I actually slammed my laptop shut and refused to look at it for like a month.
14:08
[SPEAKER_02]: Wow.
14:10
[SPEAKER_02]: I had, I had a start therapy for me to do it.
14:12
[SPEAKER_02]: I had a start, I actually started therapy and then I started reaching out to comic friends.
14:17
[SPEAKER_02]: after I would kind of put myself in like an isolation, um, and just really like got upset with myself and we thought about canceling in and all the shit, um, with the special and then I eventually sent it to friends and they're like, this is great.
14:29
[SPEAKER_02]: What are you talking about?
14:30
[SPEAKER_02]: And then I had a couple of buddies come over and we edited it together and I got out of my own head with it and then I finally okay the final version and that was the last time I saw it.
14:41
[SPEAKER_02]: and then me and my wife watched it when it came out and so it was like there was since taping it to then I was actually proud of myself because I only remember going alright this will do this is fine this is good I can't watch anymore and then I remember now watching it and I'm like posting clips from it and I'm like that was pretty funny you know like that is actually pretty funny because now I'm not doing the jokes at nausea
15:03
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not telling that same story every single night.
15:06
[SPEAKER_02]: So now I can watch it and go, okay, this is funny the way it is.
15:10
[SPEAKER_02]: Like I'm not as attached to it, you know, proximity wise.
15:14
[SPEAKER_01]: It's so interesting how that works across different mediums of arts.
15:18
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, whether I'm talking to, you know, the same thing, a director about a movie or artist about a record.
15:23
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you hear an artist like, I can't listen to my albums, you know, I don't want to listen my albums.
15:27
[SPEAKER_01]: And I would, you know, as a fan, you're like, why not?
15:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Those songs are great.
15:30
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, because I hear all of the other stuff.
15:33
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you hear and yeah, yeah, you hear all the other weather stuff, what keep going.
15:39
[SPEAKER_02]: Sorry, okay.
15:39
[SPEAKER_01]: No, no, that's it.
15:40
[SPEAKER_01]: You hear all the stuff that you're saying.
15:41
[SPEAKER_01]: You hear all of the, you know, whether it was written about someone, you know, like, or just, you know, the turmoil that was in the studio or how hard it was to make the album or all the mistakes that you still hear in there.
15:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Of course, the mistakes are what people usually like, you know, it's such a weird relationship.
15:56
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what I'm getting at.
15:57
[SPEAKER_01]: As you put your heart and soul or whatever, your time, your sweat equity, and everything else into putting this product out in the world.
16:06
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's like one of the least fun things that you could do.
16:10
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it was tough.
16:12
[SPEAKER_02]: I learned a lot from it.
16:14
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think I don't know what to do better to prepare myself for the next one.
16:18
[SPEAKER_02]: But overall,
16:21
[SPEAKER_02]: it's a very big success for me so that that's where I'm happy where I I now have full rounded proof of like my my my skills at least I could say is that where I did have a little bit of like
16:37
[SPEAKER_02]: worry or imposter syndrome with having mostly posted it improvised moments or or crowdwork, I, you know, people going, yeah, I've heard of him, but he's just crowdwork or even somebody complimented me on the street, hey, love your crowdwork man, like that's such a nice thing to say, but I can only take it as a small dagger because I'm like, I'm a stand up comedian, like that's, you know what I mean?
16:58
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, it's just one of those things where, like if
17:04
[SPEAKER_02]: was very self-conscious about that and then now I have like oh okay well you know I have a full hour of mostly material if you want to track it out um yeah which is what we were debating calling it mostly material or mostly written or something like that like we've had so many different names for it the nice to meet you is just like that's just what I say all day every time so I'll just do it.
17:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Just do that yeah yeah I get that too like I've got
17:31
[SPEAKER_01]: for different factions of my career and if anybody compliments me on any one of those, I'm like, eh, okay.
17:38
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's why, it's why.
17:41
[SPEAKER_02]: It's because we're all messed up, you know, we don't have any, you know, I don't know.
17:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I will say, for some of those jokes, the way you now that we use them in our daily life around our house.
17:55
[SPEAKER_01]: From there's one word,
17:57
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot of jokes, but there's one specific one word in your whole show, and maybe you've been getting this a lot, but it's become something we say and something we text and we just go, no, oh, that's funny.
18:20
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, that is probably like the first half of the set there's a few older bits that just people always loved and I'm like, I have to include that's why the first half is a little more silly and observational and second half is more personal is is those were all the jokes that I've been doing for so long and that was like a 10 year old that that happened and then I was doing a show at the location that that happened and so I went out and I'm like someone walked in on me dude.
18:46
[SPEAKER_02]: I just had a
18:47
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm sorry.
18:48
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know why I said that.
18:49
[SPEAKER_02]: I did that.
18:49
[SPEAKER_02]: I did that joke for the first time live right after it happened to the person that happened to.
18:54
[SPEAKER_02]: And Jonathan from Kentucky.
18:56
[SPEAKER_02]: Jonathan from Kentucky.
18:57
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I'm in Louisville.
18:58
[SPEAKER_01]: So that was, you know, of course, I'm, I'm like, oh, it's Jonathan from Kentucky real guy.
19:02
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, now he was actually just another comic.
19:04
[SPEAKER_02]: I made up the photography.
19:06
[SPEAKER_02]: That was just, I thought that was such a fun thing to add.
19:09
[SPEAKER_02]: And like, it's photography, but that's not what he's doing right now is, is a silly thing to say.
19:15
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it was some kind of similar comic from Kentucky.
19:17
[SPEAKER_02]: This is in Chicago.
19:18
[SPEAKER_01]: He was visiting from Kentucky and he was the one I walked in Yeah, we got like me became friends from that That was so long that whole setup and everything was so perfect and and again the delivery and again, you know I could say that about so many parts of that special too because even the off the cuff stuff
19:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Like for me, I'm looking for the word, what's the line?
19:38
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't need a guy, no, just hire a contractor.
19:41
[SPEAKER_01]: And I thought, there are moments.
19:43
[SPEAKER_01]: If I were able to come up, it was like, I'd be so proud just that my brain did what it was supposed to do in that moment.
19:49
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that's not your words.
19:52
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going back to that moment.
19:53
[SPEAKER_02]: I remember, I thought of that, the hurts, I thought of, she doesn't, she won't have a gun and comes and she'll have a contractor.
20:01
[SPEAKER_02]: I had that in my head.
20:02
[SPEAKER_02]: In my head, it was planted there.
20:04
[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, I need to find a way to get her to talk about.
20:08
[SPEAKER_02]: her herself.
20:09
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm like, are you okay now?
20:10
[SPEAKER_02]: And as soon as she said, and I remember thinking, thank you for putting the ball on the tee because this is what I wanted to say in this moment was something with a contractor.
20:20
[SPEAKER_02]: And then I started laughing as I said it, because I learned shit dude, this is too perfect.
20:25
[SPEAKER_02]: And I almost ruined it with my laughing at it, but those like those moments are all so fun.
20:31
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's why I also love when it happens at a live show,
20:37
[SPEAKER_02]: to and they get to feel what I get to feel all the time and they get like let's say I'm talking to an audience member and then they call back to usually it has to be another audience member.
20:47
[SPEAKER_02]: If you're calling back to one of my jokes it's not going to be funny like if I'm if I'm like a
20:52
[SPEAKER_02]: You know what I'm doing.
20:53
[SPEAKER_02]: Hey, so what is your when your wife do for working like, oh, we make it sloppy or something like that, then I'll be like, oh, okay, I see from my special.
21:01
[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you for that.
21:02
[SPEAKER_02]: So for real though, like that's not funny, but if you go, you know, oh, we we're not as bad as that guy at this or whatever.
21:08
[SPEAKER_02]: That's funny to me because we're now doing all doing the same thing together.
21:11
[SPEAKER_02]: You're not trying to do my job.
21:12
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not doing yours.
21:13
[SPEAKER_02]: You're doing just a funny separate thing.
21:15
[SPEAKER_02]: So I love
21:16
[SPEAKER_02]: I love when I have to go in the better than when it happens for you is when you get to get to watch it happen for somebody else to in that moment and you get to be the curator of that.
21:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Take a quick pause to remind you to hit that subscribe button if you're enjoying the interview right now.
21:29
[SPEAKER_01]: It helps out so much and we'll be right back right after this.
21:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back.
21:34
[SPEAKER_01]: It's Kyle Meredith with Jeff Arcuri.
21:37
[SPEAKER_01]: And even the stuff that you were talking about earlier because the second half, you know, it does get heavier.
21:40
[SPEAKER_01]: You're talking about your wife's diagnosis.
21:42
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's still like you don't lose the momentum.
21:46
[SPEAKER_01]: There's like this small reset in tone, like right at the perfect time.
21:53
[SPEAKER_01]: And I would love to know whatever process you had to go through to figure like, how do we get to that?
21:58
[SPEAKER_02]: That was, so that was right.
22:02
[SPEAKER_02]: under the wire there.
22:03
[SPEAKER_02]: We were, I actually had a Matt Salacuse was filming a documentary for me, so he was with me throughout the Wilbur Theatre leading up and then into the special, and then during the special, and then slowly afterwards.
22:17
[SPEAKER_02]: And so it's a documentary on leading up to it, and he actually pulled out of me,
22:24
[SPEAKER_02]: what I should say about Katie because we were I was freaking out.
22:27
[SPEAKER_02]: I was in one of the green rooms and I was just like on my notes like I don't know how to do this genuinely but also prepared.
22:35
[SPEAKER_02]: How do I bring this up when do I bring it up and it was him and I walking through and I still haven't seen it because I'm scared to watch it but it's probably going to be one of the more powerful moments was the first time what I say about her and what I say about how I couldn't get her to laugh
22:52
[SPEAKER_02]: The first time I ever brought that up and talked about it, he filmed it and I was crying and then he was crying and it was me talking about that and he literally just like put the camera down and he was just say that just do that and so that's what ended up ultimately being in.
23:07
[SPEAKER_02]: the special as me, our conversation that we had, and then me, I just put it right in flat in the middle, and I thought, hey, let me bring up my wife in a positive way in the beginning, be silly, silly, silly, silly, but then I need to switch it to more, what we're going through now.
23:20
[SPEAKER_02]: I need to do that.
23:21
[SPEAKER_02]: And I, the figuring out what to do with that was by the hardest part of the whole thing was figuring out a way to bring it up, and then also go,
23:30
[SPEAKER_02]: All right, let's get back to work guys.
23:32
[SPEAKER_02]: How we doing, you know, but not like that.
23:34
[SPEAKER_02]: It can't be like that.
23:35
[SPEAKER_02]: It has to be like, I mean, that's what crowdwork is.
23:38
[SPEAKER_02]: That's what a lot of comedy is.
23:40
[SPEAKER_02]: It's creating attention, but this tension is not what people are going to laugh.
23:45
[SPEAKER_02]: to cut that tension just because that's their job, that's what they want me to do.
23:49
[SPEAKER_02]: But it's such a much more delicate thing to talk about.
23:53
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's not like an easy, like I would do a breakup.
23:56
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, you know, it's a heavy, heavy topic.
24:00
[SPEAKER_02]: So cutting through it is a little bit is difficult.
24:03
[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm glad with how it came out.
24:06
[SPEAKER_02]: But, you know, I hope I don't have ever to do that again.
24:10
[SPEAKER_01]: Right, right, right.
24:11
[SPEAKER_01]: But it is, I mean, that's one of those moments,
24:14
[SPEAKER_01]: like, I don't know, it's easy to recall like, take the taro and the moment like she did her thing.
24:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Like that's one of those moments where it takes us, you know, any kind of set or special from like, man, that was really good to holy cow.
24:26
[SPEAKER_01]: That's, that's probably minted, you know, that's, that's, that's, you took it there, you know.
24:31
[SPEAKER_02]: I appreciate that and I, um,
24:34
[SPEAKER_02]: It's so hard to like, I don't know, talk about that or like be happy about that.
24:39
[SPEAKER_02]: Sure.
24:39
[SPEAKER_02]: No, it's a weird thing, right?
24:40
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
24:41
[SPEAKER_02]: I wish I didn't have that second half of material that to talk about.
24:44
[SPEAKER_02]: I really didn't, I really don't, but I'm glad that it, like, I'm glad that it's affected people in a way other than, like, in addition to making them laugh is that if they've,
24:54
[SPEAKER_02]: Felt something else from it or if you know learn something from it or educate themselves in other ways about their own health or whatever may be then that's that's awesome, you know, yeah I think that's great yeah and especially that you can.
25:09
[SPEAKER_01]: you get the crowds trust, you know, like that was it, like again, when you go into that, I didn't know the story, I just didn't know the story, you know, and so I'm hearing that in real time and there's not one moment that feels like this isn't working or you need a bell or whatever, like the trust is there.
25:29
[SPEAKER_01]: from the end and so so I am separating the moment from from the art for a second just to say the way that you work it and I mean I know there's not a question there it's just really nothing but compliments you know thank you I mean I really really appreciate that it was a
25:44
[SPEAKER_02]: There was like, there was a big, I thought, I've talked about this a few times.
25:47
[SPEAKER_02]: There was like huge sadness I felt after we taped for like a month.
25:52
[SPEAKER_02]: And then I realized now what that was.
25:55
[SPEAKER_02]: It was that I'm used to a much more instant gratification.
25:58
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I did all this work and tape this special.
26:00
[SPEAKER_02]: And then I had to wait six months to then feel.
26:03
[SPEAKER_02]: the joy of the work coming out and I know actors have to do this all the time and people have to do this all the time I did ever had to do that so I was like why am I sad for no reason and now I'm like oh because the joy is delayed and I now I'm getting the joy and now I'm like now I'm too much happiness I don't know what to do with it that's a good good thing to have so you take it out of the tour you're doing all this stuff like how does how does your stuff translate in a place like Paris
26:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, is it, what's the challenge there?
26:30
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I think it's, I will say, my one's stay through things, stay true is being honest.
26:39
[SPEAKER_02]: So if I had shitty experiences, I had a shitty experience in Paris.
26:43
[SPEAKER_02]: It was more than venue than it was meeting else.
26:44
[SPEAKER_02]: I won't go back there.
26:45
[SPEAKER_02]: We just had a lot of like,
26:47
[SPEAKER_02]: the light they would just turn the lights off randomly and I'm like, hey, the lights are off and then they like, they literally gas lit me anything and they're never were lights and it was like a lot of that.
26:55
[SPEAKER_02]: I then talked to the audience about it.
26:57
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm like, these guys, I go, this is my first time in Paris and this is you guys turn the lights off and then just maybe think there's no lights and like.
27:03
[SPEAKER_02]: talking about it and just being transparently myself is when I would get the biggest reactions as opposed to trying to work out.
27:11
[SPEAKER_02]: Hey, you guys noticed, you know, this news article, whatever it is, like, that doesn't work as well.
27:16
[SPEAKER_02]: The joke for joke writing.
27:18
[SPEAKER_02]: Some people over there for me to see me.
27:21
[SPEAKER_02]: be funny.
27:21
[SPEAKER_02]: They weren't there to see what I wrote that week or that month or whatever it is.
27:26
[SPEAKER_02]: So I would say I didn't really have a problem with traveling, especially overseas.
27:30
[SPEAKER_02]: I loved you know, I loved a lot of Europe and stuff and I love love Australia and New Zealand.
27:36
[SPEAKER_02]: And I would definitely go back, I'll anywhere that if you can speak English, it will be funny.
27:41
[SPEAKER_02]: But I think that what people are there to see is less of the
27:44
[SPEAKER_02]: I would, I don't know, I want to, this makes me sound stupid, but like, they're, they're to laugh and I think what they're there, they're there to see is going to, is happening, you know, like, they're, I'm going to make them laugh if it's whether I'm talking about whatever it is, but just my transparency and seeing myself is what is kind of always keeps me afloat overseas.
28:01
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
28:01
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
28:01
[SPEAKER_01]: That's interesting.
28:02
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's something I've always been curious about, like, like, does a, does a comic
28:07
[SPEAKER_01]: I have to change their set, you know, depending on where they are or something.
28:11
[SPEAKER_02]: I had to slow down.
28:12
[SPEAKER_02]: I figured that out.
28:13
[SPEAKER_02]: I had to slow down.
28:15
[SPEAKER_02]: I got that note, like four shows in, like almost every show.
28:20
[SPEAKER_02]: They're like, it's not that you talk fast, is that we need to, like, translate it.
28:26
[SPEAKER_02]: So if you talk slow and then that messed me up, I came back to the States and I was like, hello, everybody.
28:34
[SPEAKER_02]: It was, it was a rough couple of shows back, but I got good in Greece.
28:39
[SPEAKER_02]: You know what I mean?
28:40
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, I was better in France.
28:42
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's comedic jet lag.
28:44
[SPEAKER_01]: That's it.
28:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
28:46
[SPEAKER_02]: I had a switch back to talking like me.
28:48
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, I was told that if we just came from their little family vacation for two weeks, and that was, we're getting these conversations.
28:55
[SPEAKER_01]: And every now and then you got to be laughing like, all right, slow down.
28:59
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm with you.
29:00
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
29:01
[SPEAKER_01]: Talks that was like, right, yeah.
29:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Were you in Paris?
29:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we did, uh, we did London for a, it was my, um, as my son's graduation present graduate at high school.
29:10
[SPEAKER_01]: So we did London for a handful of days then we did, uh, couple spots in Belgium and then we went over to Paris for, uh, five days.
29:17
[SPEAKER_01]: And, um, which is great.
29:19
[SPEAKER_01]: I'd never been to Paris, my wife had.
29:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, my son took his girlfriend and they broke up on the, uh, next to last day.
29:26
[SPEAKER_01]: of the trip.
29:27
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, no, how is he?
29:28
[SPEAKER_02]: How was he?
29:29
[SPEAKER_02]: How old?
29:30
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, he's 18.
29:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, shoot.
29:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
29:33
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that they're supposed to be a guy forever, though.
29:37
[SPEAKER_01]: I think they were both realist about.
29:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me tell you the best thing was the best thing was them breaking up because it'd been kind of rocky.
29:41
[SPEAKER_01]: It was a good trip, by the way, it was a good trip.
29:44
[SPEAKER_01]: But, but you know, they were towards the end of the cycle.
29:49
[SPEAKER_01]: The moment they broke up, it was like the weight was lifted and they were just like best friends.
29:54
[SPEAKER_02]: So, that's funny.
29:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's kind of cool.
29:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
29:58
[SPEAKER_01]: But I didn't think it shows like that over there.
30:01
[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, I would have been interesting to do.
30:02
[SPEAKER_01]: You've got a whole new hour.
30:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, I'll wrap it up with that.
30:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, that's exciting.
30:06
[SPEAKER_01]: You're already doing that out there.
30:07
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm taking a lot of, like, basically, I'm, I'm reworking a lot of the old stuff I have into my new life, uh, into what I'm doing.
30:17
[SPEAKER_02]: But I have a lot of new, since then, what's happened.
30:21
[SPEAKER_02]: materials.
30:21
[SPEAKER_02]: That's what I'm touring with right now.
30:22
[SPEAKER_02]: And I was worried about feeling the time, but now I'm going over on my time.
30:26
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm like, alright, shit, I'm fine.
30:27
[SPEAKER_02]: Now I need to cut stuff.
30:28
[SPEAKER_02]: So now I'm now in the cutting it up, process, and figuring it out on the road.
30:33
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's what I'm going to be doing for the next foreseeable future.
30:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Because I got to imagine, especially when you put a special out.
30:40
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, well, I'm done with those jokes now.
30:43
[SPEAKER_01]: Now that they're on a special,
30:48
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, it's all, they're bringing back jokes that didn't get to the special and then reworking them and making them, you know, viable for a new special or going back or just living my new life.
31:00
[SPEAKER_02]: And you know, we're able a lot of stuff happening in our life right now.
31:02
[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm just writing about that and traveling and and everything.
31:06
[SPEAKER_02]: So it's, I'm figuring it out.
31:08
[SPEAKER_02]: But the lack of material is never it's not an issue for me right now.
31:12
[SPEAKER_01]: How often do you say the words, but is it funny?
31:15
[SPEAKER_02]: How often do I say that?
31:16
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's I always hear that you like, you know, especially observational humor, you know, like you'll be talking to your, you know, whoever is in the moment, you're like, that'd be a good joke.
31:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Is it funny?
31:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, so that's not you.
31:27
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I, you know what, it's actually the opposite.
31:29
[SPEAKER_02]: I have more, I have people reminding me more to do bits.
31:34
[SPEAKER_02]: like, hey, write that down.
31:36
[SPEAKER_02]: It was funny.
31:36
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm like, no, I'm just talking.
31:38
[SPEAKER_02]: I've had my wife.
31:39
[SPEAKER_02]: I was just on how we meant that was podcast.
31:40
[SPEAKER_02]: And he goes, you should write that down.
31:42
[SPEAKER_02]: It should be a bit.
31:42
[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm like, right now.
31:43
[SPEAKER_02]: All right.
31:44
[SPEAKER_02]: And then I ever wrote it down.
31:45
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, I don't realize sometimes.
31:47
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's like, like, uh, if anything, I'm the opposite.
31:50
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm like, that was funny.
31:51
[SPEAKER_02]: That was funny.
31:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, Glenn, Glenn, you have those people in your life for you because it's worked out for us anyway.
31:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Seriously, I'll just keep gushing about this special.
32:01
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to keep telling people about nice to meet you.
32:04
[SPEAKER_01]: It's so good What you're doing out there and and seriously man, it's been such a pleasure getting to talk to you about it today too.
32:11
[SPEAKER_02]: Likewise nice to meet you man.
32:13
[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you again for having me.
32:14
[SPEAKER_01]: My thanks to Jeff, our curie, the Netflix specials out now, it's called Nice to meet you.
32:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks to you for checking out the episode, do hit that subscribe button before you get out, to keep up with all the interviews that I've put out every single week and Spotify, Apple Podcast, NPR, WFPK.org, consequence, YouTube for the video versions, again, anywhere you get your podcast from, you can subscribe, Kyle Mayardeth with, please to give us a series of rating.
32:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Leave a review if you feel so inspired after that you can head over to WFPK dot org right to a show Monday through Friday start 6 p.m. Eastern it's four hours of classic alternative Andy Rock and Americana you get the best in new music bonus interviews lots of music and film news as well one of my recent shows and
32:58
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33:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Consequence says your music and film news you can also find me on any of the social media sites It's always at Kyle Meredith.
33:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Please do like follow along and that does it for another edition I'm Kyle Meredith.
33:34
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll see you next time
33:49
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33:53
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33:57
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