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00:00Did you get to throw out a pitch at Comerica Park?
00:02Yeah, it was so horrifying.
00:03And I mean, I played baseball in high school.
00:05I played baseball all the time.
00:06So I'm like 90 feet, huh?
00:08And I got out there and I was like, oh, this is much further.
00:10I literally walked halfway to him and then I threw it.
00:13I'm like, I don't care.
00:14Hey, Chris, good to see you, man.
00:15How are you?
00:16What's up, my friend?
00:17Got your Michigan hat on, of course, represent.
00:20Always representing, I should say.
00:22Lions shirt, Michigan hat.
00:24Wow.
00:25All the things.
00:26You got all the stuff going there for you.
00:28Yeah, so when did you move out of Michigan?
00:322003.
00:34Okay, that's been a while.
00:35So you've been in Los Angeles ever since?
00:37Yeah, absolutely.
00:38How do you like it?
00:40You know, you can't beat the weather.
00:43I got to give you that.
00:44I mean, there's definitely a lot of different things than there are in Michigan that Michigan does way better.
00:51But yeah, can't beat the weather.
00:53I mean, I don't miss snow at all.
00:55Yeah, I bet.
00:56But yeah, what kind of stuff, what kind of stuff they do better in Southern California?
01:00Not pizza.
01:01I'll tell you that.
01:04Mexican food is amazing.
01:06They've like street tacos are to die for out here.
01:10You know, and you know, there's so much like a lot of outdoor stuff.
01:13If you like that, because it's like, it's always summer.
01:15It's always like 70 and 73.
01:17No, you know, cloudy, but very sunny.
01:20So weather, if the weather sucked here, I don't think anyone would live here.
01:23Yeah.
01:24Well, yeah, I wouldn't.
01:26You can have Southern California as far as I'm concerned.
01:29I haven't been there, I think, since 2009, and I'm good with that.
01:33You know, it's just too much, too much chaos for me.
01:35It's definitely chaotic.
01:37I mean, the driving is bananas.
01:38I mean, it's like the fact that they got seven and eight lane expressways and they're full all the time
01:43is, I'm like, where are these people going?
01:45Where are they coming from?
01:46Dude, I drove from here to Bar Harbor back around Thanksgiving.
01:51It was a Sunday afternoon and I was in seven or eight lanes of traffic in Toronto and it was
01:56stopped.
01:57I'm like, are you, what is going on on a Sunday afternoon?
02:01Right.
02:01Where are they coming from?
02:02Yeah, right.
02:03Exactly.
02:03So, but I see you have pretty much one gig this year, apparently.
02:08Yeah.
02:09It's the one I'm focusing on.
02:11I've got other stuff.
02:12I'm doing Vegas next week or Vegas next month for a week.
02:16But the only Michigan appearance that I have is Royal Oak Music Theater, September 18th.
02:21Super excited about it.
02:22Yeah, it looks like you're excited about it.
02:24I think I've seen about 18 ads for it so far on your page.
02:28Oh, you'll see more.
02:29Yeah, I'm sure.
02:30I'm sure.
02:30Yeah.
02:30Where are you coming up with the idea for these little clips and these pictures?
02:36I've just, I basically, I just, I mean, I've been working in TV and comedy writing out here for, I
02:42don't know, 20 years.
02:43So I basically, my job all the time is to create, create, create, create, come up with new stuff, different
02:48things.
02:49So I just decided to take the approach of classic things and different things.
02:52So like, you know, I'll spoof a really popular movie poster or, and then, or I'll spoof a, you know,
02:58a Cheek Can of Chef Boy RD or a Coney Island ad menu.
03:01Or I just, today I'm doing Nirvana's Newberg Mind and it's me, me in the pool chasing, you know, and
03:09it's like with my full head and a baby body.
03:12But yeah, I mean, it's working.
03:14Tickets are, tickets are moving.
03:16And I just, I don't know.
03:17I'm excited.
03:17It's my first, it's my first theater as a headliner.
03:19So rolling dice.
03:21Yeah.
03:22So it's your first theater as a headliner here in Michigan or ever?
03:25Ever.
03:26I mean, I've, I've, I've done, I've played there a bunch of times.
03:29I played there with Charlie Murphy once.
03:31I played there with John Heffern once.
03:33I think I played there as part of something else, but this, this is my first headlining
03:36thing.
03:37I've, I've, I've always been lucky enough to go on the road and do like bigger rooms and
03:40tour support, you know, in arenas and theaters, but never for me.
03:44And that's why it's really important.
03:46Yeah.
03:46No, that's great.
03:47Family and friends, I'm sure coming out.
03:49And then I don't know if you know this or not, but there's a, there's a new restaurant
03:52down the street, Rock and Brews.
03:54You probably know about that, right?
03:55Yeah.
03:55Tony owns it.
03:56The guy who owns Fifth.
03:58Yeah, that's right.
03:59And it's, it's super cool, man.
04:01And I mean, you're a Kiss fan, right?
04:02Yeah, absolutely.
04:03That's where I got my, that's where I got my handle.
04:05Right.
04:06Exactly.
04:06Yeah.
04:06And so anyways, no, it's really cool.
04:09Gene Simmons was there on the grand opening a couple months ago, which was awesome.
04:14I got a chance to interview him, or at least I asked him questions and he said whatever
04:17he wanted to say.
04:18I don't know if he answered anything, but, but it's, it's super cool.
04:23So I'm excited for you to see that as well.
04:25I'm super excited.
04:25I'm having my, actually the after party after the show is going to be there.
04:29I already talked to Tony, but I'm going to be hanging out there.
04:31So I'm excited.
04:32I've never been, but I've heard good things.
04:34Hey, did Gene try to sell you stuff?
04:36He didn't try to sell me anything, but he didn't answer many of my questions.
04:39That's for sure.
04:40But, uh, you know, Gene is Gene.
04:42And then, uh, about two weeks later, I had Peter Chris right here in this studio.
04:46I'd never met Peter before.
04:47And again, he was great.
04:48I hung out with him all afternoon and he was fantastic.
04:51Have you met those guys before?
04:53I've met Gene.
04:54Um, no way on earth he'd ever remember me, but, uh, I definitely met Gene.
04:58Um, a fun, a buddy of mine, Adam is doing a kiss documentary.
05:03Um, and it's either out now or I think it's on Hulu is if it's out already, I apologize,
05:07but we were talking a bunch and he said, he goes, yeah, he goes, it's so weird.
05:12He goes to see these guys sit at a deli and, uh, uh, have soup, like two old Jewish dudes
05:19just sitting around having soup and talking about rock and roll.
05:22And I was like joking.
05:23And I said, oh, you should totally at the beginning of the documentary, have the waiter
05:27come to the table and be like, you wanted the broth and you got the broth.
05:32So did they take you up on it?
05:34I don't think so.
05:36Hey, so you just mentioned that you're, you're working in TV projects and stuff.
05:40Uh, can you talk about what you're working on or what you've worked on in the past?
05:43Uh, I'm currently in development on a show with Netflix.
05:47Uh, I can't really talk about it, but it's, it's a divorce competition show.
05:50So that'll be cool.
05:52Uh, I mean, I hope it goes.
05:54I had it really fun.
05:55Um, I've, I've written, uh, I was, I remember I've written on the Hollywood squares recently
05:59named that tune.
06:01Um, gosh, what's another one?
06:03The chase.
06:04I mean, just a bunch of, you know, just game show stuff, a lot of game show and
06:07been in production companies will reach out to me to have me just punch up stuff or punch
06:11up ideas or joke because I'm a joke guy.
06:14Yeah, that's what it is.
06:15But you know what?
06:16You're a joke guy and, and I get jokes and, you know, my morning prep and stuff like that.
06:21And, and I can look at, at something that may not be that good and go, okay, well, I
06:24can put the meltdown twist on it or a spin and make it somewhat amusing, but you're writing
06:29stuff for other people.
06:31Does that, how does that go into the, into the process?
06:33I mean, they don't tell a joke like you do, for example, so you got to, you got to kind
06:38of put yourself in, in their mind a little bit.
06:40Yeah.
06:41Well, that as well as it's, um, it's all music.
06:43I mean, it's all beats and rhythm because you can, when you hear someone talk to do an
06:47impression of them, you time out their rhythm and you figure out their delivery pattern
06:51and how they're going to put the joke down, how long they're going to wait for the punch
06:55line, whether or not it's a twist, whether or not it's like a double down on it.
06:59And, and it's like, you just get their rhythm.
07:02And once you get their rhythm, then you can write in their rhythm.
07:04So it's basically counting and math and, but it's all music.
07:07It's all meter.
07:08Hmm.
07:09That's interesting.
07:10Uh, what do you think of the, uh, the state of comedy, uh, today?
07:15I mean, I think if something's funny, it's funny, you know?
07:17And it's like, there's, I think there's a lot of critics.
07:20I mean, now that we have social media you're dealing with, you know, the thing about social
07:25media now is like, everything is programmed to the individual, like our phone, every time
07:30we open up our phone, it's like, you know, your phone is meltdowns approach and thoughts
07:33from it and pages and different angles that you would agree with.
07:36Cause it's all programmed to you and everybody has their own phone and their own programs
07:40and all their news is their news and all that different stuff.
07:42And all of a sudden they go to a comedy club.
07:44Hold on a second.
07:45This is totally different from what I think.
07:47And that's where you get a lot of people getting offended or not, or worked up.
07:51But I think comedy is comedy.
07:53I mean, some of it's offensive, but it's, some of it's supposed to be.
07:56Well, I think, I think, I think kind of the, the, the, the, what I'm trying to ask is like,
08:00what do you think like now?
08:01Because like, you know, you got things like Kill Tony and you, you know, and you got guys
08:05like, you know, Bert Kreischer and Nate Pregatzi doing bigger theaters.
08:09And, you know, there was a time when there wasn't really, there wasn't really, there was,
08:12I seem to recall like back in the early two thousands, there wasn't like a whole lot of
08:16guys selling out arenas.
08:18Right now there kind of seems to be, and you know, and there seems to be more outlets
08:23like Netflix specials.
08:24Like you're just talking about Netflix and YouTube, but you can put your stuff anywhere.
08:28Yeah.
08:28And a lot of people have successful podcasts.
08:30I mean, like all of the people that you mentioned, I mean, Tony's he's selling out
08:34Madison square garden based on his podcast, which is him insulting comedians.
08:38And it's just like, you know, if that's a, if that's an angle that works, but you know,
08:42it is because it's like, it's magnetic.
08:44Cause all of those people are like, wait, I can go on the show and potentially be destroyed.
08:48Or I can go on and have a killer 30 seconds.
08:51And all of a sudden it's like the tonight show back in the seventies.
08:54It's like, you are all of a sudden working all of the time.
08:57So there's definitely more opportunity, but it's definitely a lot of the people who are
09:00really successful doing standup right now in theaters are doing it because of other
09:04mediums that they are leaned into their standup because of the podcast, because of other
09:09shows they're on.
09:10And that's been helpful.
09:12Yeah.
09:13And, um, and what, what's the biggest gig that you've played?
09:16You say you got the Royal Oak coming up here, but you've done TV and stuff like that.
09:19What's the biggest gig you've done?
09:21Uh, live gig.
09:23I would say the Muskegon Summerfest opening up for Skinner in front of like 70,000 people
09:30years and years ago when I was in the Voodoo Hippies, that was the biggest one.
09:33That was just like an ocean of people.
09:35Uh, and, uh, that had one of my favorite moments of all times.
09:39Um, it was, Billy was still the piano player was still alive.
09:43He comes waddling off the bus.
09:45And I was like, Hey, Billy, there's 70,000 people here.
09:48Are you scared?
09:49He doesn't even miss a beat.
09:50He goes, son, I fell out of the sky.
09:52I'm not scared of shit.
09:53Oh, I don't know if I can swear.
09:55I'm sorry.
09:55Yeah.
09:55You're fine.
09:55You're fine.
09:57And, uh, my probably biggest TV wise was probably America's Got Talent.
10:01Cause back when I was on that, it's like 18, 19 million people watching an episode.
10:05That's when it was really popular.
10:07And refresh my memory.
10:08Did you do a, did you do a set like a couple of minutes or something?
10:11I did.
10:12I made it to a top 20.
10:13I think I ended up a big, the big viral moment for me was when I roasted Pierce Morgan
10:19and I just took him out and it was super fun and it went well.
10:23I'll have to go in and Google that one.
10:25So, uh, so, you know, so people may or may not know, like we just talked to you about,
10:30but, uh, yeah, you grew up here in, uh, in Detroit, in the Michigan area.
10:33And I saw like, uh, on your, on your Facebook yourself, pictures with Vinny Dabrowski, who
10:37I was just texting.
10:38He's playing in Brighton tonight.
10:39Uh, what other guys do you keep in touch with here in the, in the area?
10:43Um, uh, let's see.
10:46I mean, Vin, I mean, whenever sponge comes to town, I always ask if I can announce them
10:50or, or introduce them at the, at the whiskey and I've been able to do it twice.
10:54It's fun.
10:54Uh, I still talk to Mike Walters who does, you know, but he's out in Arizona now.
10:58Oh, I didn't know that.
10:59Okay.
11:00I talked to Drew Lane every once in a while.
11:02Drew's always nice to me.
11:03Um, band wise, you know, pretty much sponge.
11:08Yeah.
11:09Cause you've been gone now for a long time.
11:10Yeah, definitely.
11:11Don't I, I mean, I mean, I think my last interview in town was with you a dozen, like a
11:16dozen
11:16years ago.
11:16I came into the, to the studio.
11:18It popped up in my memories a couple of months ago.
11:21Really?
11:21Wow.
11:22I can't remember.
11:22I, I, well, you were here in the station with me.
11:25It must've been audio only, audio only probably.
11:27Right.
11:27I think so.
11:28Yeah, it definitely, it definitely was.
11:30And you were playing a gig probably in Royal Oak.
11:32Right.
11:32Yeah.
11:33Yeah.
11:33Cause I, I've done the comedy castle so many times and every time I play there, it does
11:37well.
11:38And, and it's like, I fill out, I fill it up three or four or five times.
11:41And then I thought, well, why not just get all those people to come to one show?
11:45Right.
11:45Right.
11:46And you're putting all the eggs in that basket right there.
11:48And will you be doing anything special for this show?
11:51Like you recorded it or anything?
11:53I'm going to film it.
11:54I'm going to film it for a special.
11:56I'm going to record it as well.
11:58Yeah.
11:58I've got a couple of bands that are opening for me.
12:00Uh, and then I'm going to jam with them at the end and it's going to be fun.
12:04And you know, yeah, there's going to be a lot of production value.
12:06I've got some video things that'll be in and out.
12:09It'll be interactive.
12:09So it'll be definitely bigger than just a regular club show.
12:12And what, what bands are you playing that you mentioned it?
12:15Uh, the Steve Taylor three, Steve was in the voodoo hippies with me.
12:18So his band is opening and, uh, my wife, Michelle's band cat hammer.
12:23They're going to open also.
12:24And a couple of their local comedians.
12:26It's going to be great.
12:27Yeah.
12:27What's your wife do?
12:29She's a musician and a dancer.
12:31Okay.
12:32You know, typical LA, LA bride.
12:34And she likes Michigan guys with big beards.
12:37Yeah.
12:37She loves a beard.
12:38I would have shaved this a long time ago if she didn't, she didn't like it so much.
12:42Hey, so if, if I were, if I recall last year, did you get to throw out a pitch at,
12:46at,
12:47uh, at Comerica Park?
12:47Yeah.
12:48Oh, that was so cool.
12:49Yeah.
12:50I, I get it.
12:51I was so horrifying.
12:52I was so scared and not because of the people.
12:54I just didn't want to throw it in the dirt.
12:58So, so I like, I'm, I'm on the, I like, I practice.
13:01I literally practiced.
13:02And, and I mean, I played baseball in high school.
13:04I played baseball all the time.
13:05If you don't pitch it, if you don't throw baseball, you're, you know, you're, you're not
13:08in high school either.
13:09Right.
13:09You know, it's like your arm hurts and, and, and the opportunity to throw it.
13:13So I'm like 90 feet, huh?
13:14And I got out there and I was like, oh, this is much further.
13:16This is much further than I was practicing.
13:18So the guy, the catcher got down and I literally walked halfway to him and then I threw it.
13:24I'm like, I don't care.
13:25I'm not throwing in the dirt.
13:26Well, first of all, it's only 60 feet.
13:28It's 90 feet to first base.
13:29Well, it was a million feet in my brain when I was standing out there.
13:33So that's pretty cool.
13:34That was a great experience.
13:35How'd you get hooked up with that?
13:36Uh, my friend, Amanda works for the Red Wings and works for, uh, the Tigers.
13:42And I just, one day I said, um, I said, you know, I see a bunch of my comedy friends
13:46or
13:46my peers who are, you know, in their hometowns throwing out baseballs.
13:49I'm like, I obviously support Detroit all the time.
13:52I'm always talking about it.
13:53I'm so pro motor city.
13:55I'm like any chance they would let me throw out a pitch and she goes, I'll ask.
13:59And she called me back the next day.
14:00She's like, yeah, let's do it.
14:02And they made me, they made me a team Jersey with my name on it.
14:06And it's like, it's like, I still have, it's got the Meyer logo and everything.
14:10And it's just like, it's bad-ass.
14:11It was cool.
14:12No, that's awesome.
14:13I've been on the radio here 30 years and I've never been asked to throw out a pitch.
14:17I'm sure.
14:17I'm sure if you reached out, they would say, of course, that's all right.
14:20I was just playing catch with my son.
14:22He was 23 and I know exactly what you're talking about.
14:24It's like, yeah, the arm isn't what it used to be.
14:26You got to really loosen that up.
14:28Yeah.
14:28You can't hit the corners like you used to.
14:30Well, yeah.
14:31I don't know if I could ever hit the corners per se.
14:32I'm more of a hockey guy for sure.
14:35So, yeah, you just talked about the food and stuff.
14:38Are you a Detroit style pizza guy?
14:40Cause I, I like could eat it all day if I could.
14:42Absolutely.
14:43Yeah.
14:43I love buddies and I love, oh gosh, there's that one in Madison Heights.
14:47I can't think of.
14:48It's really good.
14:49Also, I guess it was the original buddies or one of the original.
14:52Clover leaf.
14:53Could be.
14:54I don't know.
14:55Yeah.
14:55One of those.
14:56I mean, I'm out of the loop, but out here, they, they try to do Detroit style pizza.
15:00They try to do Detroit style pizza.
15:03There's a good place out here called Detroit Depot, which is pretty good.
15:06You know, and I would imagine they're Detroit dudes and it comes close, but I mean, you can't
15:09beat the burnt crust of buddies and, you know, and that stuff.
15:13And then the way they do it in Michigan can't beat it.
15:15No doubt.
15:15So, uh, so I grew up in Western New York and I moved here in the mid nineties and I
15:20get people all the time asking me like, what's, you know, Buffalo like, or then when I'm home,
15:23what's Detroit like, do people ask you about what, what's Detroit like?
15:26Because people have this, when I first moved here, we were riding our motorcycles and it
15:30started raining and we pulled into a bar and one of my friends, I'll never forget, he
15:34goes, he goes, yeah, you're dodging raindrops here, but you'll be dodging a 38 in Detroit.
15:38That's what people think.
15:39So, so do people ask you about that?
15:42I mean, you know, I, I, I can't really relate to dodging bullets, you know, growing
15:46up in Birmingham at 14 and Woodward.
15:48I can't really like, I, I, I jokingly just say, you know, I, I used to do drive-bys, but
15:53I had a driver, I was driven, you know, I sat in the back and I told him where to
15:56go.
15:56Uh, no, I mean, Detroit to me, it was, I mean, I growing up in Metro Detroit, any experience
16:01I had going downtown was always just, you know, Hart Plaza and the festivals and, and, you
16:06know, and it was just a, such a positive, wonderful experience.
16:08It was never dangerous to me and out here, holy goodness.
16:13It's horrifying.
16:14Sometimes it's so scary.
16:15So there's so many crazy people and homeless people.
16:18It's like, I don't, you know, there's areas I just don't go to.
16:21Yeah, I can imagine.
16:23And, uh, so did, did, did, did you go to the dream cruise a lot?
16:26I mean, you moved out kind of when it really got cranking, but.
16:30Uh, yeah, I mean, I used to like, I used to live right there.
16:33So like dream cruise, I was, I was pinned into my, into my condo for, you know, two
16:38days or whatever.
16:39And I would sit on the balcony and drink beers and watch and then walk around a little bit.
16:43So, yeah, it's fun.
16:44I mean, it's like, but it's like the funny thing about it is dream cruise is every day
16:49out here and it's just called traffic.
16:50You know, it's just like, it's wall to wall and it's just slow people and not as cool
16:56cars.
16:56Most of them are electric.
16:58Oh yeah, that's right.
16:59Yeah.
16:59I can imagine.
16:59Well, give us your final pitch here for, uh, September 18th at our Royal Oak, the,
17:04uh, uh, Jay, Jay, Jay, Chris Newberg, you're, you're the, the Chris army.
17:08What give us the final pitch here.
17:10Okay.
17:11If you come to the Royal Oak music theater on September 18th, uh, you can get tickets
17:15at the chris army.com.
17:16Not only are you going to laugh, not only will it be spectacular, but it's entirely possible.
17:20It's entirely possible that one of you could win a billion dollars.
17:24It's possible.
17:27And I'm all for it.
17:28Okay.
17:30That's a, that's a possibility anywhere you go.
17:33Yeah.
17:34It could happen anywhere, but the odds increase on September 18th.
17:39Like, in fact, I guarantee the odds increase that it's entirely possible.
17:45All right.
17:46Are you done?
17:47I hope so.
17:48Thanks for having me, brother.
17:50I appreciate it.
17:50I appreciate it.
17:50I appreciate it.
17:50I appreciate it.
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