The Black Pool New York Podcast #6: Seth Herzog

[00:00:00] Greg: Welcome to the Blackpool New York podcast, which is recorded by News Stan Studio at Rockefeller Center in the heart of Manhattan and is distributed by the swell season Surf radio Network.

[00:00:28] seth: Well, I stood stonelike at midnight, suspended in my mask green, and I combed my hair that was just right and command Bri. I opened the plane and cross.

[00:00:48] Greg: Welcome back everybody. I've been sitting downstairs at the blue bottled coffee since 9:00 AM pounding espressos and meowing like a cat at random people. So let me unbutton my blouse. Buckle up the chaps and [00:01:00] take the proverbial strap on out of the microwave. Sila, let's get into it. As always, big shout out to Mr.

[00:01:07] Joe Hassan on the soundboard for making the sound so good. And my producer Tyler Brewer. I'm very excited today because I have my friend Seth Herzog in studio with me. Seth is a popular New York City comedian and actor who is currently a regular sketch performer and resident comedian for NBC's The Tonight Show, starring Jimmy Fallon, formerly of Late Night.

[00:01:31] Recently, he hosted a two comedy science shows for Nat Gio, the Science of Stupid and Duck Quacks. Don't Echo Co-hosted with Michael Ian Black and Tom Papa. Seth was a regular commentator on VH1 for 10 years and has often popped up on Comedy Central performing on John Oliver's New York standup show as a panelist on Midnight and as well as parts of the Chappelle

[00:01:54] seth: Show.

[00:01:55] Very cool. And Broad City. I forgot to write that. Very, very

[00:01:57] Greg: cool. Very, very cool. [00:02:00] Um, he's been a regular panelist on MSNBC's The Beat with Ari Meur and Fox's Redeye with Tom Shulley. Shalu Shalu, pardon me. Seth is the producer and host of the much beloved long-running downtown NYC Comedy Showcase Suite, and opened for Jimmy Fallon on his clean cut comedy tour.

[00:02:20] Something that's actually not in this, Seth. Yeah. You know, not all men wear leotards. Well, and you happen to be

[00:02:27] seth: one of those men. I, that's not in the bio, and there's like so many other things I forgot. I gotta rewrite. That's not a good bio. I have to rewrite that. There's a lot of things that aren't in there.

[00:02:35] There's a lot of things that should be cut. Um, I have seen you in a leotard

[00:02:39] Greg: and lemme tell you something. Yeah. You're not

[00:02:40] seth: alone. You can't unsee. No. And I, that's what I hope. That's the whole point of that is that I want people to have that burned in their mind

[00:02:46] Greg: forever. Well being that it is, you know, uh, springtime Seth and it's almost Speedo season.

[00:02:51] Yeah. Which is all

[00:02:53] seth: year round for you. I call it Leo leotard

[00:02:55] Greg: season, baby. Is there a preferred locale you have for your, uh, pre-summer back crack and sack

[00:02:59] seth: [00:03:00] wax?

[00:03:03] I have my little girls do it now that save money on the, on this amazing. On the, on the salons. Amazing. I'm training my four-year-olds to do it.

[00:03:11] Greg: That sounds painful. Ins so many ways.

[00:03:16] seth: More painful for them mentally. Oh,

[00:03:19] Greg: wow, man. Well, thank you for coming

[00:03:20] seth: down. Of course. I wonder why your strap pot was in the microwave.

[00:03:24] Greg: Well, it's warmed up. Nobody wants a cold one. Oh. Unless it's, unless it's August and then you keep it in the freezer.

[00:03:32] seth: I love that. You know, your strap on seasons. Some people

[00:03:34] Greg: like ice coffee. Some people like hot coffee. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:03:37] seth: It depends what season it is. It is. You change seasonally.

[00:03:39] Greg: You're supposed to eat foods with the season, you know,

[00:03:42] seth: like, but if you're putting in the microwave, you only wanna for, if you're just warming it up, it's like, that's like a ten second.

[00:03:46] Oh God. 15. We're going 15. We're going down 15, 15 seconds. Okay.

[00:03:49] Greg: Okay. Okay. I started it, I take, I take four responsibility for it.

[00:03:54] seth: That's hilarious. Uh, yo, I'm glad to be here. It's, um, for today it's odd to be, uh, in, [00:04:00] in the building. Yeah, it is. Because we're, I work over at the, um, tonight Show, and we're shut down this week.

[00:04:05] We're on, the writers are on strike. Mm-hmm. And, um, there's no show. And I don't know when we're gonna get a show back. I mean, this is gonna feel so dated later, but right now we're in the middle of it. It might take months. It could

[00:04:16] Greg: take weeks, it could take days. It's, who knows. I

[00:04:18] seth: mean, they could figure it out today, but I, I honestly think it's, we're not gonna, I mean, my honest opinion, and maybe I'm hopefully completely wrong, is September we'll be back.

[00:04:26] Greg: So what does, what does it feel like to have the time off into perpetuity where you don't really know when you're going back? Because you do, you, you work a lot like you're working all the time.

[00:04:36] seth: Yes. Your schedule is, I do a lot of stuff bananas and this month I randomly got hired to do a lot of charity events.

[00:04:43] Ah. So I'm either like doing standup or I'm MCing or doing the auction at like 10 different charity events this May and June. So I'll be making some money doing that, which is nice. And that just happened and that, and that didn't just get booked. That got booked months and months, months ago. I was doing that anyway.

[00:04:59] [00:05:00] Um, but it's just a random other thing that just came up without, I wasn't trying to do that. It just happened, you know what I mean? I bet you'd be lethal as an auctioneer. I did it last night. And that sometimes it's really fun and sometimes it's. Painful. Cause people are talking and no one wants to really participate and everyone's having a conversation and you're like desperate to like ring as much money outta these people as you can.

[00:05:23] And it's hard. So I I I, I do pepper in a lot of jokes. I do make fun of the crowd a lot tomorrow night. I mean, this is gonna, has nothing to do with what we're talking about, but tomorrow night I have to go to Rye, uh, New York and they really want me to go after the crowd. Mm-hmm. They really want me to make fun of them.

[00:05:36] In fact, the organizers wrote jokes for me. Oh wow. Like, this are some sample jokes and they go pretty hard. Really? People. Yeah. And I was like, okay, so I gotta sit to 'em tonight and write even more. That ride is a rough crowd, let me tell you. Yeah. They want me to really like, make fun of them. It's,

[00:05:52] Greg: it's so interesting.

[00:05:53] I like so much of like what I've been thinking about recently just in terms of like, when I, I, I don't know, I [00:06:00] go in a million different directions with mm-hmm. People that I meet and what I do for a living. And it seems to be this like permeating theme around me of just connection and what you do for a living.

[00:06:09] Mm-hmm. Takes a lot of skill to connect with people. On so many different levels cuz you don't know who your audience is. Right. You don't know what they're about. And kind of what you do for a living is stand up on stage and Right. Find something to connect with people about. Yes,

[00:06:24] seth: yes, yes. And what, and that brings up a lot of issues about like, standup and what the art of it and what the art of an audience, listening to someone talking is really about.

[00:06:33] Mm-hmm. Um, but there's different versions of it. In fact, when you're doing warmup at the, at the Found show Tonight Show, it's a whole different thing cuz like, I'm there to connect with you and, and you're there to feel my energy and my energy is up, or I'm excited. We should, we should have a great time while we're here.

[00:06:49] So I'm communicating that energy and, but I'm also like teasing people and I'm getting laughs out of you and I'm kind of doing crowd work and making fun of people and like talking about what's, what's sort of [00:07:00] silly about your life. But you have to do it in a way that's both like warm, but I'm teasing you.

[00:07:05] But it's also warm. Like we're, we're, the vibe is we're on the joke together. Mm-hmm. We're in on this together. We're having fun together. And, but it's also super funny, which is just, which is a tight wipe. With a tight wipe. It's a tight rope wire to walk, and I've learned to do it well, but that's just by training that muscle, you know?

[00:07:21] But in terms of a standup show, that's a whole other slightly different vibe where everyone thinks I'm going to a standup show to laugh. Mm-hmm. That's not really what's going on, what's going on. There's the, whether someone does well and with a sh on their, on a show has so much more to do with other variables.

[00:07:42] Like every comic has their own energy, whether they know it or not, whatever energy they're bringing to the stage. It's like part of who they are or part of a stage persona that they've sort of cultivated. And there's, every audience has their own vibe. Every group of 200 strangers has their own vibe, like it's one person, but they don't know it.

[00:07:59] Right? [00:08:00] So your energy has to jive with the energy of whatever that crowd is. That's a weird particular energy. Plus the energy of the room. The room has an energy. You have to be a chameleon. Sort of, you have to just figure out how to create an energy on stage that works with a lot of different ways. So like the room has a vibe, the people in it have a vibe and you do, and you have to make it all work together.

[00:08:22] Mm-hmm. It's all unconscious too, which is crazy.

[00:08:24] Greg: Do you feel like you're almost like a, you surrender to whatever the vibe is and then you let it come through you? Or are you, are there like multiple little Seths like up there and there's like a control panel? Like No, it's more like, it's gonna be this kind of crowd.

[00:08:37] seth: Gotta bring that guy. Yeah, a little bit. It's like for me, I mean, everyone's different. Some people are like, I'm gonna be me and you either like me or you don't. And I'm like, okay, I'm gonna try and adjust my version of what I'm doing to what this crowd's into, or what this crowd wants, or what they think is funny or what they're kind of like, I'm gonna kind of adjust a little bit here.

[00:08:53] I'll be like a little quieter, I'll be a little more storyteller. I'll be a little more hard joke. I'll do a little more dirty, I'll do more crowd work, whatever. Like I'm adjusting a [00:09:00] little bit energy wise and content wise. By what I think the room will go go with. You know what I'm saying? You actually, um,

[00:09:07] Greg: you performed for the military.

[00:09:08] Yeah. Right in the uso. So going on like, like doing that set like before, like you're in front of

[00:09:15] seth: soldiers, like that was a learning curve. You we only did three shows too. We only did three shows. That was a whole, I mean, that's a whole story. That's like an hour. I can just talk about that whole weird experience.

[00:09:25] I mean, I dunno how much you wanna hear about that experience, but it started on April Fools. I get a phone call on April 1st, uh, of a guy I barely know was a comedy producer guy who's very nice and now he's producing all sorts of stuff. But he's was working at National and Pon at the time, I think, and he was working on tours.

[00:09:43] Mm-hmm. And he calls me up and he's like, Hey, do you want to go to Iraq and perform? It's, and I'm on April 1st. April 1st. I'm convinced it's an April Fool's joke. Mm-hmm. Like, why would he, why would someone call me who's like kind of a prankster, who I don't really know? Call me and [00:10:00] see if I wanna go to r April 1st.

[00:10:01] So I'm like, all right, he's fucking with me, so I'm not gonna let him flinch. I'll be like, yeah, okay. I'll go like, I'll see how long this bit lasts. I was like, yeah, I'll go. Really? You wanna go? Cause we had a dropout on this tour and we really need someone and it'd be really great if you could do it. Yeah, I'm in whatever it is.

[00:10:18] Let's just, let's just do this. Totally think it's a prank. 10 minutes later, someone from the, you know, state Department calls me and needs my like passport number and like social security number's, gonna do a background check. Wow. And I'm like, they're going deep on this prank. I was like, he just got some person to call me to call an A for say they're from the state, the state department.

[00:10:40] Amazing. And while I'm giving this person my social security number, I'm like, this might not be a prank, maybe this is real. And I, um, pushed the envelope. That's awesome. So, and this was two weeks before we were supposed to leave. So once I realized, oh my God, this isn't a bit, we're going to Iraq in [00:11:00] April 15th, I um, got kind of nervous.

[00:11:03] I'm like, okay, I have to prepare. I think it was like 20 minutes or 25 minutes set. So I was, I wasn't nervous about flying over there. I wasn't nervous about being there. I was nervous about like, what's a perfect, what's the set that these guys want to hear? I have no idea. I have, I know what like New York audiences want to talk about.

[00:11:21] I don't know what kids from all over the country who are in this weird circumstance wanna talk about.

[00:11:26] Greg: Yeah. And the level of stress that they go through every day and whether or not they're suffering from PTSD and what they've seen and what they've experienced. Like, you have to think about, you have to think about your perspective compassionately.

[00:11:38] Yeah. How am I gonna get these guys to laugh? Yeah. And make them feel good and connect with them in a soulful way. I

[00:11:42] seth: know. So what I learned was it wasn't. That complicated. Mm. They're so grateful you showed up to do anything Amazing that they're a pretty great audience and you have to be like, they do get a lot of bad comics, I found out.

[00:11:58] So if you're decent [00:12:00] okay. To great. They're like, this is amazing. And they love just making fun of the army. Amazing. So if you can do jokes about the Army or the Navy or the Air Force or what they really love, to tell you the truth, there's nothing funnier to them than when you make fun of other branches.

[00:12:20] So, so we did one Air Force show, one army show, and one Navy show. So if you make fun of the other branches at that show, that's literally nothing funnier. You could, there's nothing you could say that'll make them laugh harder. Amazing. So the, once I learned that, I was like, oh, okay. And I made fun of like, we would take a, we'd do a tour before each show, we'd do a tour of the bass with like the co whatever, right.

[00:12:40] And as I'm taking the tour, I'm making notes. I'm like, oh my God, this is good. I'm doing a joke about this. I'm gonna do a joke about that, da da da da. So I'm making fun of stuff on their base that they know about that's only gonna ever work in this room. You know what I'm saying? Are you like,

[00:12:53] Greg: so that actually brings something up that they, I want to touch on for a second.

[00:12:56] So, as a comedian, you're always [00:13:00] observing all the time and you're thinking, that seems weird. That could be funny. That could be a joke. Yeah. With everything. That's just the way your processing works. I tr

[00:13:07] seth: I used to do that. Mm-hmm. When I was first starting and writing sets, I had a show where I would write a new 10 minutes every week.

[00:13:15] So I was like, constantly like brain, like just drain, like writing, writing, writing everything. Every experience was like, how can I make this joke? And like, it drove me crazy. And I know a lot of comics do that, and at some point I like turned off. I'm like, I can't do it all the time. I don't, I'm not enjoying my life.

[00:13:30] I'm not enjoying anything. I can't sit, enjoy anything. And some comics live in that space. They're like, we, I don't wanna enjoy anything. I wanna make it into a bit like, I don't want to live that life. Mm-hmm. So, When things hit me as I'm living my life, I'll write it down, but I'm not constantly being like, how could this be a bit, how could this be a bit?

[00:13:45] But like two or three times a day, things hit me. You know what I'm saying? Just

[00:13:49] Greg: going about like going the process of being Seth. Yeah. Yeah. Stuff comes up and you're like, that could be funny.

[00:13:54] seth: Yeah. Or like, just something absurd or, uh, like the absurdity of life or the absurdity of whatever. [00:14:00] Like I had an experience, like one of the big stories I'm telling right now on stage is like a prostate exam I had with this doctor.

[00:14:06] My old doctor, he just, he just quit on me. He just quit. But the last thing he did was give me this prostate exam. And the whole situation was funny. And as I was telling the story to like my wife or someone, I'm realizing how they're dying laughing. I'm like, okay, I guess I could tell this on stage Isn't enough stupid things happened in the process of this happening?

[00:14:23] That is pretty, I'm funny. Who doesn't love a good prostate story? Sometimes it happens. Yeah, sometimes it happens. Like I'll just tell a story to someone like. Can you believe this fucking thing happened? And as I'm telling it, I'm realizing, oh wait, I, this could work on stage. There's enough. There has to be enough in there.

[00:14:37] And it has to be an ending. Yeah. So sometimes the story's funny, but like, you gotta fake an ending, right? You have to give it a button or else it's just like, and then it's stopped happening. You know? Like you gotta give it a final joke. But, so that's how it happens. Like just things will just happen in my life and then I'll, I'll tell a friend and then they're just laughing.

[00:14:54] They're like, okay. Amazing.

[00:14:56] Greg: All right, so let's, let's back up a second. Yeah. Like, where did life start happening for you?

[00:14:59] seth: Oh, where you born? [00:15:00] Born? You can talk about the army a little bit more if you want. So I went, so this guy, there was a guy, and I'll give him a little shout out cuz he's no longer with us.

[00:15:06] Mm-hmm. This guy named Scott Kennedy, who was an LA comic who was just an LA comic who then gave his life, I mean, he didn't die in overseas, but then like his whole life became flying back and forth to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait, and doing shows, being of service. So he would organize these tours and he would go to, for every month he'd go, Overseas for 10 days and he'd bring different comics with him.

[00:15:32] Mm-hmm. So I happened to go this one month where someone dropped out and then randomly the other guy supposed to come with us, dropped out. So it's just me and him. So it's just Scott and I and we had a great time and we were there for 10 days. We only did three shows cause we got caught. We were supposed to go to Iraq and do like a show every day, like two or three shows a day.

[00:15:51] But there was a sandstorm and we couldn't get in. There was like a crazy sandstorm. Have you ever been in like a Middle East sandstorm? No, I have not

[00:15:57] Greg: been in a Middle Eastern sandstorm. It's,

[00:15:59] seth: it's [00:16:00] everything you think it is, but I can imagine

[00:16:01] Greg: from what I've seen in the movies Yeah. That it's, it's not that far off.

[00:16:04] Like burning. Burning man on steroids. Yeah.

[00:16:06] seth: Just, yeah. So basically we were in Kuwait. We did one show in Kuwait and they were supposed to fly to Iraq and then there we got news that there's a sandstorm and no planes are taking off. But they made us show up on the little tarmac. It's like a tarmac on the base and they put this like, this like bulletproof vest on me and like a hat that's way too big.

[00:16:26] I felt like private Benjamin standing out there and the plane never came. Right. Whoa. We wait out there for hours. The plane never, never came. So like, okay, the plane's not coming. You guys go back to base and hang out. So I literally spent days just hanging out with soldiers on base, just hanging out, going meals with them, drinking with them, watching movies, just talking to soldiers about why they're there, what their experience is.

[00:16:49] Half of them are contractors, half of them are soldiers. Like there's a whole world mm-hmm. Of people there and what else I tell you. So it was just so, I just learned about their lives and [00:17:00] then we would, so then we did that one Air Force show and then we were like, okay, we're stuck here. Now let's just do other shows around Kuwait.

[00:17:06] So we did the naval base and we did the army base and they were really fun. And there was a Passover Seder while I was there. Of course there was. It wasn't that crazy. So I happened to be there during Passover and I'm walking around base and I saw this, this flyer, like a, like a printed flyer posted to the wall.

[00:17:22] Mm-hmm. If you want to go to the base Passover Seder, it's this date at this place, you know? And I was like, oh yeah, I'm going to that. How can I miss Army base Passover Seder. I'm going to that. How was the HSIs? That was an eyeopener. That was eyeopener because it just was such an interesting look at the military because there was, there's Jews from all over the country, from all different backgrounds and all different types, and we're all sitting there and everyone had to give a little like bio by why you're there.

[00:17:54] And there was probably like 30 people there. Mm-hmm. And they're like, Hey, I'm whatever. I'm from this city and this is why [00:18:00] I'm in the army. And there was just such different stories. It's so great. It was crazy. Like this girl next to me was this like super jappy Jewish girl from LA and I was like, what are you doing from the army?

[00:18:12] She goes, I went to go get my grad degree in teaching and I needed money, so I signed up for the National Guard to get money to get a teaching degree at like ucla, and now I'm here. Then he, they recruit you to come here. Wow. You know, and then there was another guy who was from South Carolina. He would look so waspy, you'd never know he was Jewish.

[00:18:32] And he had been in their family, had been in the country for hundreds and hundreds of years. He goes, everyone in my family has been in the military from the Revolutionary War to now male has fought in some war, and so is my duty. I was like, you're not Jewish. There's no way an American Jew would ever say that.

[00:18:51] Um, and then there was like the classic like New York, Brooklyn Jew guys and you know, Bronx kids who were there for like college. So you got you, [00:19:00]

[00:19:00] Greg: you plugged in, man, you connected. I couldn't connect, couldn't

[00:19:02] seth: believe. I couldn't believe it. It's amazing. I was like, this is just such a. Rainbow Coalition of Jews at this Seder and I'm

[00:19:08] Greg: glad that you got to have that experience, like, you know, to, to be outside your comfort zone.

[00:19:13] Yeah. And what you really know. And to think you'd be in a situation where you're uncomfortable and fine comfort there, you know, by Yeah. Connecting to people. Just

[00:19:20] seth: connecting to people. Yeah. It's just talking to people, hanging out. They want to know about my life. I was so curious. I wanna know about life.

[00:19:26] Where are you from? Where'd you grow up? Jersey. Like a regular person. Like a regular person. Like a normal human being. Lawrenceville, somewhere around Princeton. Princeton in, in, in, in, um, town. Right? Actually from Princeton. In Princeton. I, I know. I'm one of those snobs who's the one, people say they're from Princeton, but they're from like West Windsor, Hamilton, or Lawrenceville.

[00:19:42] Like you're not from Princeton, you're actually from Princeton. I'm right in the middle of town. We had, I had such street care, cause I had two homes. My parents got divorced and they each had a house in town. How old were they?

[00:19:50] Greg: When, how old

[00:19:51] seth: were you when they got divorced? When they, uh, 10. Something like that.

[00:19:55] So pretty young. Yeah, pretty young. Pretty young.

[00:19:57] Greg: Yeah. Yeah. Did they stay like in good [00:20:00] contact with each other? Or was it like in only cause they

[00:20:01] seth: had divorce or It was, it was ugly. Yeah, it was pretty ugly in a lot of ways. Um, yeah, they, um, well they were fighting all the time when I was a little kid. I remember that very clearly.

[00:20:14] And then they took, asked, you know what that is? I know exactly what EST is. Yeah. You're old enough to know what EST essence. Oh yeah. Yeah. I know a lot of people who are young us don't, no idea what, no, they don't know. But I, I, it was a big deal. It's a huge deal. My older brother did it. My dad's brother did it.

[00:20:29] My dad's mom did it. Mm-hmm. Like so many people went through it in our family, but, and I went, but, and I knew enough about it to know what it was. And I remember thinking the only thing that changed, they did it to try and like break themselves down and change their like re relationship, but only made them fight with different jargon.

[00:20:46] Sure.

[00:20:46] Greg: They used it, they pick up the vo vocabulary jargon of voca as they use that and they weaponize it. Yes, exactly

[00:20:51] seth: right. Exactly right. That's all they did. And you're

[00:20:53] Greg: 10 years old and wonder totally, what the fuck

[00:20:55] seth: is going on here? And I see it. I mean, I was very clear, I very clear what was going on. I was like, oh yeah, [00:21:00] your kids are astute.

[00:21:00] They pick up on the you weaponize. Yes. Jargon. I, I was very, uh, aware of what was happening and I thought it was funny actually. Right. So you

[00:21:07] Greg: are 10 years old and you're seeing like your parents' marriage just get super weird on you. Did you find that you were using your humor to soothe yourself? Or you were seeing humor in things around you just saying, you know what, this is, this is really funny.

[00:21:22] Like, all of this is funny. You know, it's sad, it's funny.

[00:21:26] seth: I don't know. I never thought of that before of like I was using it to soothe myself or like, I was always into comedy and I had friends. Who would share that with me? Like, um, Mike Showalter, who's a big Sure, yeah. Movie director now. And he was, we have, him and I have been friends since like third grade.

[00:21:42] And one of our big things that bonded us is we loved, like Mad Magazine, Saturday Night Live and Animal House was like our favorite film. And like, you know, we would listen to George Carlin records and stuff like that. Love George Carlin. Yeah. These old records, you know? Yeah. So that's one of the things that sort of bonded us, but I don't know [00:22:00] if I was doing it as like an escape.

[00:22:01] Did you grow up with show Walter or six? Yeah. Yeah. Since th we were six. Amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. And, um, anyway, so I, I think I was just doing, cuz we, I just liked, I just loved it. I just loved perform since I was a kid. I was a performer. Loved, yeah. Senior Bar Mitzvah video, which

[00:22:17] Greg: is pretty

[00:22:18] seth: special. That was late stage.

[00:22:19] Seth, dude, I'm talking like, I'm talking like you were 13 years old before that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, we did, I mean, let's be honest, we, me, Mike, and another guy named Toby Miller, who's still an actor in town in New York here, we had a sketch show we did in fourth grade during recess. Amazing. And it was called, and I didn't even, this is how advanced it was called Sunday Morning Hangover was the name of the sketch show.

[00:22:43] And I had no idea what a hangover was. I didn't get the joke at all, but the, it was based on this one sketch we would do where it was a spoof of Saturday Night Fever Uhhuh. Oh, totally. As if we were the Saturday Night Fever guys. But we've been at the club all night Saturday night. So it's now Sunday morning [00:23:00] and we're still trying to have fun.

[00:23:02] And you're eight years over? Eight? We're seven years old. Eight, nine, yeah. Nine, maybe eight. And we were still like the idea of the first original sketch of the Sketch show. Was, we were like, still like, woo woo, this is fun. Let's just keep dancing guys. And the sun's coming up.

[00:23:22] That's amazing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I, someone had to explain to me what a hangover was. I was like, I don't, I I was like, I get the Sunday morning part. I don't get what this hangover thing is you guys are talking about.

[00:23:33] Greg: Oh, that, just growing up in Central Jersey, just making fun for

[00:23:36] seth: yourself. Yeah. We did a fake radio show.

[00:23:39] We would do sleepovers and we had these like, um, those Radio Shack tape recorders, you know, we had Oh yeah, yeah, totally. Yeah. Yeah. At the same time, and I still, I think I have the tape somewhere, but it was called the Zip and Zap show, and Mike and I were zip and zap. And Toby, our other friend, would call in as different call, like characters calling [00:24:00] in.

[00:24:01] And then we'd make, then we'd write songs that were like spoofs of like popular songs on like the radio and we'd sing. So we'd do the zip and Zap show. We'd have some call-ins. Then we'd say, now we'd go to a song and we'd sing like the spoof of whatever the, that's how I actually met

[00:24:14] Greg: you the first time was through the Cock lge, who was like a guy who wrote some songs, right.

[00:24:19] Who actually worked in the same industry, cock LOEs and, yeah. And that was, he was like, you gotta meet my friend Seth. And that's how we met.

[00:24:27] seth: Shout out. Did you come Cock Lorde? Did you come? Cuz he was performing with me somewhere. I think so. Yeah. Yeah,

[00:24:32] Greg: yeah. That's what it was. And then I, I wound up, I opened for him a couple times.

[00:24:36] You did? Yeah. What did you do? Sang silly songs with my guitar. You know, had this whole, uh, the Cornelius Blackpool. Did you still do it? It's my stage name. I haven't done that in for forever.

[00:24:46] seth: Because what I'm thinking is, I'm gonna make you do it again. I should

[00:24:49] Greg: probably brush up

[00:24:50] seth: on my, if you want, do it again, give you an opportunity.

[00:24:54] Okay. I

[00:24:55] Greg: might take you up on that. Okay. Okay. I think you, I think I have to

[00:24:58] seth: take you up on it. Yeah. I'm saying like [00:25:00] if there's an opportunity for you to have some good silly songs I've got, I need, I need some people I gotta brush, I gotta brush up on my silly songs. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Probably. But that

[00:25:10] Greg: would be

[00:25:10] seth: fun.

[00:25:11] Yeah, that's great. I realized that I met you through Cock. That's really funny. I forgot about that. And then

[00:25:15] Greg: there's that whole like community of like

[00:25:17] seth: Bonta folks. Yeah. I just thought it was through like Glen, but I forgot it was actually through Mort. Yeah. Yeah. Morty, shout out to Morty. Shout out to Morty LORs.

[00:25:25] Beautiful man out there making funny songs. Yeah. Um, I dunno what else. We were

[00:25:29] Greg: talking about Central Jersey. You as a young

[00:25:31] seth: man. Young man. So I was a performer from a super young age and, and that was it. I mean like even at the fifth grade talent show. So I had shown like some sort of, Aptitude for performance.

[00:25:49] And in fifth grade, my elementary school had a special class. Mm-hmm. That wasn't like the whole fifth grade class, but you were taken out for an hour to go to the special class and it was by invite [00:26:00] only and it was like a performance class and you had to be invited. They, they, they didn't, you couldn't audition for it.

[00:26:07] And I was in it and Showalter was in it. And other friends, Felicia Lewis was in it, who's now a doctor and I forget who else was in it. There was like 10 of us in this, in this special performance class that they just picked people that seemed to show an aptitude. And I forgot what we did in class. We a lot of like theater games and stuff, like little charade games and improv stuff.

[00:26:25] And then the talent show, the fifth grade talent show was happening. And to get people to know that we were gonna have a show, we were all required to do something in the talent show. We couldn't say no. Like, you guys all have to do something and then hopefully we'll get other people to join too. So I was like, all right, what am I gonna do?

[00:26:43] I have to do something in the fifth grade talent show. And I was like, well, I could write a sketch. Let's do a sketches. But I was like, I literally didn't feel like calling people to like, have to organize times to rehearse. Mm-hmm. Let's still do what it was. I was like, I don't wanna call the people in the class.

[00:26:56] I have to be like, when can we rehearse? What are we gonna write? I was like, I don't feel like doing [00:27:00] that. So I was like, I'm just gonna do standup.

[00:27:01] Greg: Nice. Was that the first time you did standup?

[00:27:04] seth: Yes. The first time I ever did standups was at the fifth grade to talent show. I was, and I only did it at a laziness cause I didn't want to call around and figure out with people what time we wanna rehearse.

[00:27:13] That's really what it was. It was the motivator right there. That was, that was the motivator. I was like, I don't wanna deal with the hassle of other people. So, um, I was like, what am I gonna do? How am I gonna stand? Am I gonna write my own bits? I'm gonna, I was like, I don't think that's gonna work. I'm, I was in fifth grade.

[00:27:27] I'm like, I'm not gonna write anything funny. So I was obsessed with Steve Martin and my brother had all this Steve Martin albums. Mm-hmm. And we happened to be listening to Let's Get Small at the Time, which was like, Not one of the more popular albums. Like it was like an album. Like, not like Joe Joe's pumping his fist

[00:27:41] Greg: in the air.

[00:27:41] Love it right

[00:27:41] seth: now. Let's, let's let, let, let's get small. That's the record. Right. But like it wasn't wild and crazy guy and you know, so I said to myself, I was like, I'm gonna do some jokes that people probably haven't heard. So I memorized side two of let's get small, not side one. Figure P probably gotten a side one but no one gets to side two.

[00:27:58] So I [00:28:00] memorized probably like five, 10 minutes or whatever of side two of let's get small, a handful of jokes. And they weren't dirty jokes. They were all very Steve Martin e. Weird. Mm-hmm. Clean stuff. Mm-hmm. And I did it. I didn't say it was Steve Martin, I was just like, here's just some material. And I did all this Steve Martin stuff and I didn't realize even how popular he was in a room full of 10 year olds.

[00:28:19] Like half the crowd was like that Steve Martin stuff is great. Everyone knew exactly what it was, you know, amazing. And half the kids didn't know, but half the kids did. But it went over pretty well. And some of the jokes I didn't get, I was like, I don't get why this is funny. But everyone seems to be laughing.

[00:28:34] I'm doing it anyway. I'm doing it anyway. Yes. Um, but that was my first time and I know there's a picture somewhere. Cause I saw many years ago, my mom sold the house, that house she was in. But she used to have this drawer of like random loose photographs. And in that drawer was a picture of me on stage at that show.

[00:28:52] And I'd seen it when I was like older, like in college. I was like, oh, that's, that, that from that show. And I just put it back in the drawer and I don't know if she moved [00:29:00] outta the house. I don't know if that picture ever survived. So how, how

[00:29:02] Greg: old were you when this happened? 10. 10. I love that the, uh, the recall maybe of

[00:29:06] seth: 11.

[00:29:07] No, it wasn't 11 yet. It was 10. I love that. The

[00:29:08] Greg: recall of that memory, is that vivid for you? Because it feels like that was really like a seminal point in your life.

[00:29:14] seth: Oh yeah. I remember standing on stage and getting laughs. Do you remember what it felt like? I remember the feeling of, I remember the feeling of, there's one joke that I didn't get, but I was like, I'm just gonna say it cuz that's what he says on the album.

[00:29:26] And I remember saying the joke and getting the laugh. And this weird feeling of like, I don't know why that was funny. Mm-hmm. But I know I'm supposed to. Yep. Because I said it. I'm supposed to get it, but I don't get it. But it's interesting. I remember that moment. I remember the moment of the friends coming up to me afterwards and tagging about how great the sea Martins.

[00:29:42] Yeah. It's like

[00:29:43] Greg: there's, there's these little moments in your life that change the trajectory of where you're gonna wind up and maybe you in the fifth grade at that talent show. Yeah. It's that one little millimeter shift where something happens and it just sends you down a path.

[00:29:55] seth: Well, I'll tell you, I'll tell you though.

[00:29:56] That's funny you say that because that's not what I wanted to do. I did not [00:30:00] want to be a standup.

[00:30:00] Greg: Hey, listen man, the universe puts you where you're supposed to be. My friends. Yes. And you cannot

[00:30:04] seth: fight this. Guess so I always love the art. I loved watching it. I loved watching the comics on The Tonight Show and all that stuff.

[00:30:11] And I What did you, what did you think you wanted to be actor? Like a real actor. Actor. You wanted to be a real actor, theater actor. Like I wanted to, you know, which I studied for years and years and years and years. That's what I studied. Mm-hmm. Like drama, like hardcore, like comedy too, like being funny on stage, but drama and.

[00:30:27] And I went to college and I did stand up once in college for a benefit. Mm-hmm. Because they were doing a benefit and they asked me to perform and I was like, I'll do some standup and I'll write stuff about school that everyone will get. It went over well, did just kill people. It was great. It was great.

[00:30:42] That was the second time I had done it. So fifth grade and then senior year of college. And then, but I had done some stuff like it in high school. I had hosted game shows mm-hmm. In high school, which is kind of like standup or I'm like kind of being a host and I'm making fun of the contestants and it's like standup b but kind of crowdwork vibe, you [00:31:00] know what I mean?

[00:31:00] So it's like standup esque. Right. So, so I, it wasn't like I was like totally separated from it, but I had done, you know, things, similar things, but not standup as a thing until college. Um, but I really wanted to be an actor. And I remember at my exit interview, cause I was a, I was in the theater company at college.

[00:31:20] Like there's like a company you have to audition to be in and then like you're at a bunch of plays and you have special classes and stuff. And you do an exit interview when you graduate. And my theater chair, department ahead, whatever goes, you know, if you wanna be an actor, you can do it. You could be a professional, you could do whatever you want.

[00:31:41] I think you're really talented, but you should just really be a standup. Hmm. And I don't know why I was so hurt by that. There was something, yeah. I felt like there was, I know she was a hundred percent right and I, and I give her all the credits. She was a hundred percent right. But I felt like there was something dismissive about it that she was like [00:32:00] dismissing my theater talent.

[00:32:01] She was like, can you, good? You can do it if you

[00:32:03] Greg: want to. We get attached to these ideas of who we think we're supposed to be. Yes, yes. Which is complete bullshit. Yeah. Because you are who you are, baby. I guess. Like you can't change that. Yeah. Like you cannot be in non-acceptance of the authenticity. Yeah.

[00:32:17] Of who you are. Yeah. And you're a fucking comedian, you know? Yeah, yeah. That's who you are. Yeah. Like the more you lean into that, the better it feels, the more organic

[00:32:26] seth: it feels. No, it's true. And the more doors open for me too. Yeah. Like I came to New York almost approve my, my theater, uh, uh, teacher wrong and be like, oh, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna be do fucking Broadway and I'm gonna do to interact.

[00:32:38] I'm gonna do, despite you, so I came to New York and I was doing plays. I'm doing all these like, off, off plays that are kind of like, take up so much time and effort. And they're kind of terrible and some are fun, but like, no one's going to see them. And it's like, just takes so much of your energy and time and like, why am I doing this?

[00:32:53] Yeah. Doing all these terrible plays. And I have a lot of great actor friends now. Um, but [00:33:00] like, I'm not really happy doing all these plays and I was doing standup on the sides from the day I got to New York. I was doing standup like once a month, twice a month, like here and there. And even though I had all these actor friends, I was known as the standup of the actor friends.

[00:33:12] Mm-hmm. That's what I was known. Even though I didn't want to be known that way. I'm not, I'm, I'm doing that as extra. Curricular, but that's not how I wanna be known. But that's what I was, and that's what I became. And then after like five years, five years of like trying to do theater and like doing standup, I just gave up.

[00:33:28] I was like, that's all I'm gonna do. And I'm, if I'm gonna do this, I gotta do it right? And I gotta do go out every night and I gotta do as many shows as I can. I gotta write every day. And like, you just gotta really do it. Do it. So how

[00:33:37] Greg: did that, how did that feel when you made that shift where you're just like, you know what, this is what feels most organic to me and this

[00:33:43] seth: is what I'm gonna do?

[00:33:43] It felt several opportunities fell in my lap at the same time, and I couldn't ignore it.

[00:33:48] Greg: It's kind of funny how the universe puts you exactly where you're supposed to be, I guess. And you can't

[00:33:52] seth: deny it. I guess I, I have a problem with that theory, but, Bring it on. Cuz that's like, I live by that. I know, but I don't think it's true.[00:34:00]

[00:34:00] I think that's a justification for not, for not working hard enough. Yeah.

[00:34:04] Greg: But that's like, so this actually is a good segue because my next question is like, do you have your prac, do you have a practice? Like what's your daily practice like, how do you go about like the day of being Seth? Like what's, what's your day look like?

[00:34:16] What's your practice like?

[00:34:16] seth: How do you become Right, right, right. Where does the material, well anyway, I'll tell you a little bit about how I ended up making that choice. There's three, two or three things that happened. I, at the same time, a friend of mine was producing a weekly new weekly economy show in New York and asked me to be on the first one.

[00:34:36] And then I was, he was like, you know what? You should be on I every week. You should just be like our regular guest every week. And there's like a few of us producing it and, and I was like, okay, great. So now I'm a regular guest on this show that's like, has a good audience every week. And I have to write a new set every week.

[00:34:53] And at the same time, another show started where they asked me to be on the first one. Mm-hmm. Same thing happened. They're like, you gotta be in every single show. And that [00:35:00]was every two weeks. So I had a weekly and a biweekly show that I was on all the time. So all of a sudden I was getting all this stage time that fell in my laptop.

[00:35:07] Wasn't asking that I didn't ask for, it just happened. And I had just start writing and performing all the time. So then I was trying to fill up other holes with other shows too. So I'm like, okay, now this is what I'm doing. I'm not doing theater anymore. I'm just doing this cuz this is just what, this opportunity just fell in my lap and I'm gonna embrace it.

[00:35:22] Right? And then I went to a wedding where I wrote this really funny speech and I wasn't even gonna give it because oh my God, this whole rigamarole happened where the best man was super drunk and he was the broom's groom's brother, and he didn't want to go after me. Right? Mm-hmm. He's like, he was so hammered.

[00:35:43] He was like, dude, you're like a professional and I don't want to go after you. And I'm like, not funny and da da da da da. So I was like, well, you're the. Best man, like, I'll do a little funny speech, then you do the best man speech, you gotta go after me. He's like, I don't wanna do it. I don't wanna do it, idiot.

[00:35:58] So he gives the [00:36:00] speech that it wasn't that it was that funny or interesting, but his, his ender, his closer was he drives a BMW motorcycle onto the dance floor as a gift. So he gives a speech and someone drives us giant, beautiful motorcycles. Like, this is my wedding gift to you guys onto the dance floor, onto on the motorcycle floor, motorcycle.

[00:36:21] And then everyone gets up to look at the motorcycle out of their seat and I'm like, what the fuck? Everyone's outta their seat now. I can't go on stage and give a speech now. Everyone's up. The band starts, everyone's outta their seats. Everyone's on the dance floor, in the motorcycle. The band starts. I'm like, uh, uh, I

[00:36:36] Greg: got fucked.

[00:36:37] seth: I got screwed. I can't give a speech. Now it's, the whole moment's passed. So about half hour later or an hour later, whatever it was, I'm talking to, uh, a friend who was there. And she's a real brassy woman. And I said, you know, I wrote this really funny. I spent a lot of time writing this really funny speech about this couple, and I'm not gonna give it because my, they [00:37:00] screwed me on the moment.

[00:37:02] He wanted me to go after him, but he didn't tell me that he was gonna do this giant motorcycle landing. The friend of mine goes, okay, we're gonna do it now. I was like, what are you talking about? The band's playing. There's like people dancing, half people are out of the tent. She's like, we're gonna do it.

[00:37:15] We're gonna do it now. She jumps on stage at that second, stops the band. Stop, stop, stop. Everyone. Stop. Band. Stop. Everyone stop. Seth does something he wants to say. I was like, what are you doing right now? I was like, I cannot believe you're stopping the whole party to me do this fucking thing. So I take out my speech Uhhuh, and it does well, it kills.

[00:37:37] I was like, this is the speech I was gonna give before the motorcycle thing and da, da, da da. And it does very well. So I was like, okay. At least I got a chance to do it. And then this guy who was a. Agent's producer at William Morris was in the audience and he was like, you're really funny. You're a real comic comic, right?

[00:37:55] Mm-hmm. I was like, I gotta get you into William Morris. I want these guys to meet you cuz you're really good. And I [00:38:00] was like, great. So he sets me up with all these meetings, no one cares cause none of them saw me, none. They kind of know who I am, but like none of them are interested. But like I'd go through a series of meetings with these guys who were like, I'm meeting you cuz Howard told me I had to, but so nothing happened.

[00:38:14] Nothing came of it that time. But 15 years later, really 15 years later, I'm working with tonight's show and these producer friends of mine are producing this show, duck Quack, stone Echo. And they're like, we wanted to come in and read for one of the hosts. So I go in and read to be a host. And then I get a phone call like a week later and they're like, net Geo loves you and they want you to be the host and they want you to choose who the other hosts are.

[00:38:43] Like you have to read with them and you choose who the other hosts are. And they have all these like, like stars. But I got picked first. I was like, how the fuck did that happen? I didn't even do like, I wasn't like I had an amazing read or anything. And it turns out Howard, that agent was now president of Nat Geo 15 years later [00:39:00] and he remembered me from the wedding and he was like, that's the guy.

[00:39:03] I should host the show. Isn't that crazy?

[00:39:05] Greg: And you don't think the universe has your back? Well,

[00:39:08] seth: 15 years later. I could have done it earlier,

[00:39:11] Greg: man. Like you don't get to pick the direction you're, I mean, you, you work, you do the work, right? I mean that's the practice every day, but you wind up where you wind up, man.

[00:39:19] Yeah. You know, you surrender into this practice,

[00:39:22] seth: I think. I think the lesson. Here is less that and more like you do what you do and you do the best job every time you can. But you, to me, the lesson is, and this has been proved several times, you never know who's in what room. Amen. Who's gonna say, because I can't tell you how many times I've met someone of note who was like, I was at this show you did where there was like 10 people in the room and you were great and no one gave a fuck.

[00:39:51] Cause it was 10 people in the room. But there was like some big agent happened to be there or some producer was there and they're like, I was like, you were at that stupid show where like, it's like, yeah. [00:40:00] And so you never know who's in what room and what's gonna happen, what, what's gonna come of it. You never know what nights are gonna change your life.

[00:40:06] You never do. So that's the thing, like there's certain nights you go out, you're like, I'm not even gonna go out, or I do go out, or I do perform, I don't perform. You do a good job, you don't do a good job, but you never know which of those weird nights. So that's really nice.

[00:40:16] Greg: Change your life. You're not attached to an outcome.

[00:40:19] From something that you think is supposed to happen. You just have this consistency

[00:40:24] seth: the night of how you go about, when you go to like a big industry party and you think you're gonna meet a producer who's gonna change your life. It's never that. Never that night. Yeah. It's a different night that you don't suspect is the night that's gonna happen.

[00:40:34] Yeah.

[00:40:35] Greg: But you could, you have consistency in how you roll. That's,

[00:40:38] seth: you should try to Yes. Yeah. Yes. That's, that's the point. That's your practice, man. That's the practice. That's your practice. You go out a hundred percent, 110 every time, no matter what's happening. In fact, I try to do that every night at our show tonight.

[00:40:49] Show, try never to fuck phone in you, your ass off, man. Because part of the vibe, again, bringing it back to what we're talking before, part of the vibe of being doing warmup is they are unconsciously connecting with your energy. And [00:41:00] if they unconsciously feel that you're phoning it in a little bit mm-hmm.

[00:41:03] They're not gonna feel it. Yeah. They can smell it. So I have to be as in present in the moment as I possibly can, even though I've done it now for 14 years, 3000 times, and sometimes I am a little on autopilot. But I try very hard to be as in the moment and present as excited as I can because I know that it makes a difference to them.

[00:41:23] It does make a difference to them. It makes a difference to the show. You know it like it's notable difference. You're bringing the Zen Seth, I like this. It's true. Be in the moment as much as you can because it does make a giant difference. Hell yeah. And they don't know that this makes a difference. They don't even know it.

[00:41:38] It's unconscious.

[00:41:39] Greg: But when you're in that present moment and you deliver that connection, they're like, I feel seen by Seth. This is really funny. Like he's, he's hitting on stuff that I feel. It's not just me up here hearing and seeing it. They're

[00:41:51] seth: feeling it in their body. I think they're feeling, they're relating to the energy I'm giving.

[00:41:55] And if I'm giving present excited energy, like I'm genuinely here with you and excited about [00:42:00] this moment we're in together, they feel that connection, baby. They do. They do. They change how they're vibing and it's different than if I'm like, Kind of half fake in it. Mm-hmm. And they can feel it.

[00:42:10] Greg: Are there any other comedians that you really admire that can really harness that sense of connection, where you feel like they can, they really penetrate the audience?

[00:42:18] seth: Rory Scoville. Rory Scoville. And, and I say that, I dunno if you know who he is. Mm-hmm. He lived in, he was from DC but he lived in a New York for a long time. He's been LA a while, he's become kind of a big deal like last two or three years. But I loved him forever. I met him first, God, like 15 years ago. Um, he's been doing these series of shows around the country this year where he just makes up an hour on the spot.

[00:42:45] Every night's a whole different hour. Improv, improvs, he improvs a new hour of standup every single time. Wow. And it's really fearless and really great. And he just trusts himself and he trusts the audience and sometimes it's not funny and sometimes it's amazing. Mm-hmm. [00:43:00]Um, but he just like heads the thought or someone says a thought and he just stinks it out and just makes jokes.

[00:43:07] And it's really, it's the process of writing on stage. So like a lot of comics, well the process is we think of a topic or something happens or something sparks an idea and then you just write it out what you feel about that. And the few jokes will come as you keep writing, jokes will come, it'll just happen in the process naturally.

[00:43:26] But then you synthesize it into like, oh, how do I get from there to here faster? This is cuz like I wrote out all this myth thought like raincoats and I write out all this stuff, but here's the joke, but I gotta put the joke earlier. Yeah, right. Yeah. He's just doing it live on stage. He's just doing the thought process live and he gets to the jokes faster, but it's just amazing to watch and how like fearless it is.

[00:43:49] Like I would do that if I didn't think the audience would be like bored outta their minds and like with asking themselves, why are we here? It's like, uh, that's why he trusts the audience that they're having [00:44:00] fun with him the entire time. His ability

[00:44:01] Greg: to create flow. Like getting that flow state to just be like, all right, we're in it.

[00:44:06] You're like, I'm in this with you. You're in this with me. Like we're connected. We're gonna find this flow. Yeah. Yeah. It's funny, I've been reading a, a book about a flow state and it's one of the things that they try to train Navy Seals to get the, into that mindset so that when they can execute on what it is they need to execute, they're, they're not trying to do it, it just happens.

[00:44:27] And the connectivity amongst the unit, they know what each other is gonna do before they do it. Like they're anticipating each other's like, of course, next move.

[00:44:35] seth: Yeah. That's what good improvisers do. Cuz good improvisers have worked together as a improv, improv group now for however ever many years and they've done so many improvs together.

[00:44:47] Topic comes up, I know exactly the bit you're gonna do before you do it, and I know exactly how I can make it, enhance it or cut off its legs. Mm-hmm. Like that. I've seen that really good improv improvisers. Like the Amy [00:45:00] Polars or Horatio Sands doing that together. Like they know exactly what kids in the hall do.

[00:45:04] Kids in the hall. Yeah. Although I've never seen 'em improv. They're just sketch writers. As far as I know, none of that was improv. That was always written. Some of it, I don't know. I don't know what their process is. It's Canadian. It's a little different. I think they're always sketch writers anyway, but I, but I, but I've done ascat enough, right.

[00:45:17] You know that show where like the sort of best monologue, the best improvers of New York would do the show together every Sunday night and they have like, um, monologists where they get like famous people or standups to like tell true stories about their lives and that's what their improvs are based on.

[00:45:34] So it's really funny to be like, cause I've done that a number of times, right? Just come and I, I ask for a word from the audience and then I was like, okay, that reminds me of a story of my youth and I tell a story about fast food or whatever the embarrassing, true story is. And then they come out and they do like an absurd version of your life that sounds amazing based on your story.

[00:45:52] And they're like, and the audience is dying. They're like silly version of whatever your story was. And then sometimes I'm like, that's really funny. But [00:46:00] sometimes like, that was my life. Yeah.

[00:46:01] Greg: But that's life. It's it's truth. Truth is stranger than fiction, you know? And that's where the real organic comedy comes from.

[00:46:08] Yeah. When you're like, yeah. You're looking at something that's really

[00:46:10] seth: happening. Yeah. When you look at the thing like, will you tell the story that really happened? And people can relate cuz they get that. It's absurd, but they get that it's real. Oh, there's no way you could have written. So you're recently

[00:46:21] Greg: a dad as of, uh, four years ago.

[00:46:23] Four years ago. So you have two,

[00:46:25] seth: four year old. I don't talk about him on stage much, but here's why. You don't get material from the, you think I would like every comic has to write, there're like, I'm a new dad special and everyone's doing it and then I feel weird cuz everyone who had a new kid is talks about their fucking new kid.

[00:46:37] Mm-hmm. And I'm like, I know. I just feel like a trope. Um, here's why. Maybe I haven't written good enough jokes about the kids yet. The stories are either like, this is what my kids said today, which to me is so funny and hilarious and weird, but audiences like, that's cute. Uh, or a lot of the audiences in New York are like, 25 to 30 year old people who don't have kids.

[00:46:59] They [00:47:00] don't, they can't relate to it. Don't give a fuck. Yeah. They don't give a fuck about your frustrations with your kid. Yeah. And if I tell in a very funny way, my how, it's like I'm frustrated with these kids. They're not parents, so they're not gonna laugh. They're gonna be like, why are you a terrible parent?

[00:47:12] Mm-hmm. How are you getting mad at your kid? You what a terrible parent you are. Like, so I don't talk about it because I can't win. You can't win with like kid. People don't have kids. They're either gonna politely laugh or they're gonna think you're a jerk. So

[00:47:24] Greg: at four years old, there's like, the personality is kind of starting to emerge

[00:47:27] seth: now.

[00:47:27] Similar. Oh yeah. Oh,

[00:47:29] Greg: hardcore are, and you have twin girls, similar twin girls, twins. Are there personalities similar? They were merging similar. They were

[00:47:34] seth: one similar, they're very, they're merging in utero. Similar in some ways, but very different in others. They're mostly

[00:47:40] Greg: very different. How are they, like, is one an introvert, one an extrovert?

[00:47:42] Like how are they different?

[00:47:44] seth: You'd think, but it's really, it's so weird because it's not traditional. Like if you met them randomly, you'd be like, oh, this one's kind of the introvert. And this one's kind of the extrovert, but it's actually like in different situations they switch. I'd say in general, the [00:48:00] difference is one is very self-involved and sensitive.

[00:48:03] Mm-hmm. And everything's about her and everything has to be her way. And she's tries to explain them. Everything has to be her way. And when she doesn't get her way, she flips out. Mm-hmm. About everything. She flips out about everything. And the other one is a little more zen and kind of sees the bigger picture and acquiesces to her sister.

[00:48:22] Mm. And kind of gets that she's being a brat and like just gets the bigger picture. She just kind of understands what's going on in the world a little more. And that's sort of like the general, her general thing is that like, I get it, I get what's happening and she's being very self involved now.

[00:48:39] Greg: It's such a trip having kids, I mean, I have two boys, so one is, uh, is, you know, 19 now and the other one's 14.

[00:48:45] And just you're, I mean, it's cliche to say, but like it changes the way you look at the world. It really does, it changes the way how I think about everything. Mm-hmm. And I, I find that, you know, where I thought I was gonna be and who I thought I was gonna be all just gets thrown out the window [00:49:00] when you have kids.

[00:49:01] And the more, as you said earlier, you kind of surrender into just being present. Yeah. The better a parent you can be, I've found. Yeah.

[00:49:09] seth: Yeah.

[00:49:10] Greg: Because if, like, you

[00:49:11] seth: know, with kids, I'm learning that now more than ever. Yeah. It's

[00:49:14] Greg: really challenging, uh, as a child to be told, like, you need to be a certain way.

[00:49:19] Mm-hmm. Because then all of a sudden you're like, wait a second, this person is not an acceptance of who I am. I don't want to be that way. I wanna wear like the lion sweatshirt or the green frog pants or whatever. And they're telling me I can't. And like, it's, it starts, it sets up this stage for not being in, you know, uh, acceptance of who they are, right?

[00:49:37] Mm-hmm. So just letting your kids be who they are. And really seeing them for who they are. Like as a parent, you credit start to create this relationship where, you know, they really get me, they understand where I'm going. Mm-hmm. You know, they understand like they see me and they know that I'm different than my sister, my brother, for that matter, whatever it is.

[00:49:53] Mm-hmm. And then all of a sudden it's, you're a parent, but you have a friend. Mm-hmm. And something changes, [00:50:00] you know, the older they get. Mm-hmm. The more inac acceptance they feel of your relationship with them and not pushing them to be something specific, just be letting them be themselves. The whole thing changes.

[00:50:12] I mean, it's amazing. It will blow your mind. Wow. Yeah. It's

[00:50:16] seth: very cool. Well, they're very picky about what they wanna wear and sometimes you'll let 'em wear, and sometimes we don't, for whatever reason, my wife's very picky about what they should be wearing at all times. But we try to make them, let them be as individual as possible.

[00:50:28] Like they do a lot of activities together and now we're just starting to have them do activities by themselves. Like someone wants to do ballet, no one wants to take an instrument. So like, But they're not. But every other activity before this, they'd had to do it together. Mm-hmm. And now we're like, okay, well do you wanna do it?

[00:50:43] She doesn't have to do it, but you can, you can,

[00:50:45] Greg: you can do it. It's pretty cool raising kids in New York City just cuz the, it is, the view they have of the world mm-hmm. Is massive, you know? Right. Every playground you roll up to, there's always kids running around playing. Yeah. It's like being in a paella.

[00:50:57] Yeah. It's a little bit everything. It's really nice. I [00:51:00] mean, I, I loved raising my kids in New York City. Yeah. Just cause they have such a very open view, uh, of everything, you know, and there were always other kids around to play with and they're just, the cool thing about New York City is like, whatever you're into, you're gonna find someone that's interested as well.

[00:51:14] Oh yeah. Yeah. Like, if it's some sort of like random Japanese anime, figurine collector mm-hmm. That you're really into. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You're gonna find a whole group of people that are into that. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You're never gonna feel lonely or isolated cuz that's

[00:51:25] seth: where your people are. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:51:27] Yeah. I never thought about that before because my, I, we were talking about not about leaving the city cause it's just cuz. It's too expensive. Yeah, it's getting crazy. It's crazy. Like rents and the nannies and like schools. Like, I don't know how we're gonna do it. You know?

[00:51:41] Greg: Is that, is that what you're thinking about doing the heading busting a move somewhere?

[00:51:44] Maybe

[00:51:44] seth: suburbs. Yeah. But like, the truth is I don't think it's gonna be that much cheaper. It's not, it's really not. It's not gonna be cheaper. It's not. Yeah. Um, we can cut that part out.

[00:51:56] Greg: No. Mm-hmm. The mo usually the show's like unedited, [00:52:00]

[00:52:00] seth: I'm sure. I'm just kind of like, let it rip. I'm, yeah. That's the vibe I'm getting.

[00:52:03] Which, which is, which is

[00:52:03] Greg: good. Um, I want to know, like, when you're performing, do you ever feel like there's, uh, not like outer body type experience, but has it gotten to a point now where you're really out of your head? Like you have, you have like your jokes memorized and everything, but do you ever feel as if like it's.

[00:52:26] The heart drive the bus as opposed to the head driving the bus where you're fully connected with the audience. Something is like coming through you

[00:52:33] seth: and you're just, I was just talking about this the other day. Be perfectly honest with you. So I was talking with someone else about this maybe two, three days ago.

[00:52:41] Um, sometimes, uh, yes, those are really magical moments where you're just in a zone or you're in a vibe and you are connecting to a part of yourself where you're just ranting on stage about something you really believe. Mm-hmm. And [00:53:00] it's funny, so here's the thing I was gonna say earlier in the podcast, which, which you didn't get to when I was talking about what people think.

[00:53:05] They want to come to a show, they think they wanna laugh and that's not where they're coming. What I was, the point of that statement was, what they're really coming for is to see a real moment. That's why they're leaving their house and sitting and think. They don't really wanna laugh. They don't really wanna see something funny, what they wanna see, and they don't know.

[00:53:20] It is the real you to have a real moment on stage. And that means either, Something messed up happened to the audience. Someone gets a fight or they want to see you, they wanna see you less be funny and really believe what you're saying. You flexability get biggest laughs when you really believe what you're talking about.

[00:53:39] You really are angry or upset or think it's silly, but like you're having a real vulnerable ish moment on stage and you really believe what you're talking about. Mm-hmm. And part of the art is people are really good at faking. Like they're really having a moment on stage and believing it and being funny, but it's really written out word for word.

[00:53:57] But they're making you think that it's not. [00:54:00] And I know some comics that do that really well. We're seeing how the sausage gets made here. Yeah. And I've, cuz I've, this is good. I've seen that because I was, there's one comic who's very popular and I was watching him do something that felt so spontaneous.

[00:54:10] It felt so like, he was making this up and he was having a moment. And then a week later I saw him do the exact same thing word for word. I was like, oh, oh man. He wrote that out. And then, anyway, so, uh, there was one time in LA. I was shooting after Duck Quack, stone Echo Howard. That same guy who was President Net Gio asked me to host another show for Net Gio called Science of Stupid.

[00:54:32] That was just me. And we shot in la. Mm-hmm. And because it was the same week that late night was becoming tonight's show, I couldn't take any time off. They, it was like I couldn't like take days off. It's like you have to be there every day. This is like very tense time for us. So what I did was I went on the weekends.

[00:54:49] So I'd do a kick of Red Eye Friday night, shoot all day Saturday, all day Sunday. Red Eye back Sunday night. And I did that for like four or five, maybe six weekends. [00:55:00] Wow. Yeah. So I was in the middle of shooting the weekends in LA and I was there on one Thursday for some reason. Cause I think we had some a week off from tonight's show.

[00:55:12] And I was there cause I was a regular comedy show on Thursday. I would do in LA. That my friends from the industry room, that first show that I was talking about. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Those guys had moved to LA and they were running this other show in LA so they would have me on when I was in la. So I was doing that show and I was so mad about production and how the production was being run, and I was so exhausted and tired.

[00:55:33] I just got on stage and started talking about the show and I had a few jokes in my head about it, but it was just like, just genuinely, I'd just gotten upset and I was genuinely angry and frustrated about all these different aspects of this stupid show I was shooting and just talked about it for seven minutes and it was great.

[00:55:53] And I don't rem I know and taped it. I don't remember what I said. I was just, in a moment I just talked. I literally remember anything I said, but I [00:56:00] remember thinking like that was a real moment. I wish I had that on tape. Mm. Cause I was just being honest about this production and making fun of it. And I don't remember what, but it was funny.

[00:56:12] It was great. But I'm saying that was the moment where it's like, there's no, nothing's written. I'm just gonna talk and see how it goes. That's amazing.

[00:56:19] Greg: You know? Yeah. But like that's, but that's what you really, that's, you find something that's just organic and you find you're in that flow state, and the magic just happens, you know, if it's over-engineered Right.

[00:56:29] You don't get the magic. Yeah. You know, as I, as I go to my notes. Yeah,

[00:56:34] seth: yeah, yeah. But sometimes, but I think it's funny you say that because I think the, and I've learned this from the roots. They rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, rehears, rehears, rehears, rehearse. They rehearse so much that, you know, it's so cold that new magic can happen because you know it inside and out.

[00:56:52] Well, that's the practice, right? And you can play

[00:56:54] Greg: with it. Yeah. You have to go through the pain of doing something over and [00:57:00] over and over and over again, and then all of a sudden you break through. To the next level and the next level is like that practice has become part of you and creates this spark of magic where you can get into this inspiration or get into the next level where you're in that flow state with your, you know, like the Navy Seals, they know what they're gonna do next before they even do it.

[00:57:21] Yeah. They all, they're just

[00:57:23] seth: super connected. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that that band is like that, but just the idea of like, I know this thing's so cold now that I can play with it and make it something new that it wasn't before, because there's no hint that I'll ever get it wrong, you know? Yeah, yeah. It's just, it's a wild state to be in.

[00:57:40] You can feel

[00:57:41] Greg: it too. Oh yeah. Like music makes, music has like a whole, you know, it's a body high. Yeah. Like when you hear something that's really good. So I've been listening to a lot of zero seven lately. Mm-hmm. And these guys were music engineers. Mm-hmm. So they, they understand like what they can do on the board with the music, and you listen to the baselines, they're like, that's pretty easy.

[00:57:59] I could play that. [00:58:00] But then there's this weird sound that comes outta left field with a, you know, a Moog organ that came from like 1972 and like has some echo on it. And it just, it changes the whole vibe of it. Like they know their stuff so well, so cold that it's brand new when you hear it Right and you feel it.

[00:58:17] Wow. I love it. Yeah. So when you, and you're in front of the audience, you can feel it like if you're connect, connecting and you're hitting with them. Mm-hmm.

[00:58:25] seth: Oh yeah. I definitely can feel it. Definitely can feel it. But I'm also so practiced at it that I can almost do it on autopilot and still be good, but, I could also play with the structure of it, cuz I've been doing, doing that thing for so long.

[00:58:39] Anyway.

[00:58:40] Greg: What was the first, uh, here's a non-sequitur. Mm-hmm. First live concert you ever saw. You know

[00:58:44] seth: what's funny? People ask me all the time and I don't really know, but I always think of it as when I was a middle school, the eighth grade talent show. They, there was a band, there was a bunch of guys that was your first live show did like a rock band.

[00:58:59] They played like, [00:59:00] I love rock and roll. I was like, that's the first time I remember seeing a live band. Although I'd probably seen a live band before that at some kid show or something like that. You

[00:59:07] Greg: know, it's like rock music, like big, you know, extravagant rock. The,

[00:59:11] seth: the first concert I remember seeing, and I bet I'm wrong, but I remember I went to the David Bowie Glass Spider tour at Giant Stadium.

[00:59:18] That's pretty awesome. Squeeze opened. And Lisa. Lisa in the Col Jam. Wow. Great show. So Lisa. Lisa was playing while everyone was walking in. I felt terrible for them. Great show. They were on stage killing it, like doing all the dances, singing all the songs, doing all the Lisa Lisa and the Col Jam stuff.

[00:59:34] Like a full choreograph thing. And everyone's just casually walking in, like kind of half listening, talking like it's still daylight out. You know, the sun's still up. And I felt so bad for him. I was like, their guys are really working out there and no one's paying attention. I felt bad. And then Squeeze came out and people started paying attention.

[00:59:50] They put on a really good show. Glen Tilbrook. Glen Tilbrook. And um, I've met them recently. They've been hanging out at our show because the Roots engineers, their engineer. [01:00:00]So they've been sort of hanging out up there. I saw them play. What's Glen Tiller? Who's the other guy? I'm

[01:00:05] Greg: spacing on it. Yeah. And my, my partner's gonna hate me cause he's a huge fan.

[01:00:09] He knows. Yeah, right, right. I saw them play at Canary Wharf in London, like in the nineties. Just Canary Whaf them, unplayed unplugged. It was very, very cool.

[01:00:16] seth: I saw them in London too. That's so funny. At Canary Wharf? No, in a teeny pub in Camden Town. Wow. A little performance. Amazing. It's like a bar that had like a little stage, a little performance bar.

[01:00:28] And That's right. Cuz I studied our uh, uh, junior year in college and we went to, it was this, I mean it's a whole other story, but it was this great program where it 20 students, 15 girls and five guys. Where'd you go to college? I went to Rhode in, in Memphis. Gotcha. So Rhode in Suwanee, which is other little liberal arts school in Tennessee, are like brother sister schools and it's a joint program between the two schools.

[01:00:52] And we go to Art Oxford for six weeks. Mm-hmm. And you study medieval history and art and Renaissance history and art. And then your professor [01:01:00] takes you around Europe seeing everything you had studied in class. That's amazing. So for like two months we're like traveling around Europe, going to like all these different cities like.

[01:01:09] Paris and Rome and Florence and Venice and Br and wherever, you know Munich going to museums and seeing all the architecture and art we studied right. And seeing it live. And then we, so we did this whole European tour and we go back to London for a few days before we'd go back to America. And there was one night that's write, cuz we all went out on Halloween nights.

[01:01:30] We got back to London on Halloween and we went to go see the dead. The dead were playing on Halloween and the whole group, we all went, we all went to together and the next day no one wanted to go out cause we all got so drunk, right? So I was like, I'm gonna go out alone, I'm gonna go out, I'm still in London.

[01:01:45] We have like a couple more days left. I'm not gonna sit in my ocean hotel room till tonight. Right? So we, um, I saw in timeout London squeeze one night only at this bar. I'm like, oh, I'm fucking going to that. I'm the only, I went [01:02:00] alone. No one wanted to go with no one to go. So I went to Camden Town Pub, whatever it was.

[01:02:05] And I somehow talked my way in because it was like sold out and I,

[01:02:10] Greg: uh, so wait, wait. You talked your way in. Yeah. Why does that not

[01:02:13] seth: surprise me at, I know, I know. I was doing that a lot at the time. Here's a, here's a story for

[01:02:18] Greg: you about the, so, uh, Radiohead was playing at, uh, I think it was, uh, Manhattan Theater where this is probably like 10 years ago, 12 years ago.

[01:02:29] And it had been sold out for months. And I just started like dating my wife and, you know, she we're both big Radiohead fans and she's like, you know, the show is sold out and yada, yada yada. And we weren't loo together or anything. And I was like, I'm gonna go up there and just see if I can get in. And she's like, you're crazy.

[01:02:44] It's like a waste of time. You're not gonna be able to just walk into the Radiohead show. So I attempt to walk into the Radiohead show and I'm like just cruising right past and I'm almost like past the ticket person. And I get in there and I feel this hand on my shoulder and they're like, sorry [01:03:00] buddy.

[01:03:00] Lemme see your ticket. And I'm like, I don't have a ticket. And they yanked me out. They throw me out. So I'm standing in on, you know, in the forties, whatever street it's on the whole street. Shut down. Cuz there's so many people. And I'm just, is this a Roseland? What were you It was a Roseland baller, I remember.

[01:03:13] Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was a Roseland. Yeah. And I'm thinking to myself, I'm gonna see Radiohead tonight. Yeah. I'm just not, I'm just gonna get in. And a guy who I knew who was an editor at large for spin. Walks up and he's like, Hey Greg, what's up? I'm like, Hey Dave, how you doing? And he goes, um, what are you doing?

[01:03:29] You going to see the show? I'm like, yeah, I'd love to. I don't have a ticket though. He's like, nah, it's okay. You're in my plus one. Oh, perfect. Walked right up to the desk, they're like, hi, I'm Dave Moody. Here's my plus one. And boom, walked right into the

[01:03:40] seth: show. That's how it happens. Yeah, it's amazing. It's so funny cuz that kinda stuff happens, has happened to me a lot too and it's just amazing what a thin line between like not being able to do something and totally being able to do it.

[01:03:53] It's just such a thin line. Yeah. You know, you're man, you have, you can manifest. Not only that, so I was at the Golden [01:04:00] Globes, I'll tell you something's so funny. So I was, Jimmy was hosting going Globes and he had me do a set before the show started, which was another disaster cuz no one's listening. It's 800 people talking eight.

[01:04:09] Literally the, the sound of that. And that's what I'm trying to talk. Imagine talk over, over that. But it was fun to do and whatever, but no one's really listening. Um, but I tried cause I knew I was gonna be there. I tried to get into all these parties, like, you have to call ahead of time to get yourself on the list to all these different parties after the Golden Gloves.

[01:04:26] And I really wanted to go to the HBO party. Mm-hmm. And I'd emailed them and I was emailing people that, and like, all, I got a bunch of rejections. No, no, no. We we're over capacity. We can't put you on the list. You're not gonna get in, da da da da. So I run into Justin Thoreau, who's an old friend, backstage Glow Gloves, and he was on The Leftovers at the time on hbo.

[01:04:45] Mm-hmm. So we're hanging out, we're hanging at the bar during the show, and he's like, all right, the show's over. He goes, let's go to the party. He goes, I gotta jump by this HBO party. If you wanna come, come with, come with me. I was like, yes, I do. So, and I had, my wife was in the audience and a couple other friends.

[01:04:59] So we [01:05:00] go to this party that had sent me several emails. I wasn't getting in. Mm-hmm. And Justin says to the woman at the door, he goes, this is my friend Seth. I have to leave, make sure he gets in anyone he, he he's with. So not only was I getting in, but I had, I was able to have carte blanche. To give, get as many people as I wanted in.

[01:05:18] Amazing, amazing. I was like, it's such a, it was just funny how fine line it is. Yeah. It's just such a, it's so weird.

[01:05:25] Greg: Sometimes it's, you know, it's so ridiculous that whole, sometimes I don't want you, you know, you don't wanna take no for an answer and sometimes it's just, you know, your persistence and tenacity or just

[01:05:33] seth: being in the right place, the right time, or doing the right friend who happens to show

[01:05:36] Greg: up at the right time.

[01:05:37] So, has, has anything like, on that note, has anything in your life that started out like really bad, turned out to be a really good thing?

[01:05:46] seth: Kids, I have kids. I will say that first year is really hard, especially having twins. You don't know what you're doing. Like people say all the time, do you have advice from your parents?

[01:05:56] I was like, yes. Don't get divorced the first year. Yeah. It's, it's, [01:06:00] everyone's gonna wanna get divorced that first year. Don't do it. And if you can get past the second, you're gonna be all

[01:06:04] Greg: right. I feel like you have, uh, like when you have kids, you're basically born with this toolbox that you don't know that you have.

[01:06:11] And then when you have kids, you know exactly what to do with them. Like when it happens, there's a tool for that. There's a tool for that. And you just, you're,

[01:06:19] seth: I mean, humans have been having, because I feel like I had to be shown,

[01:06:22] Greg: humans have been having kids for eons. Yeah. You're sort of hardwired to know what to do.

[01:06:28] Yeah. You know,

[01:06:29] seth: I mean, there is some natural instinct cuz just all animals have natural instinct for that. Um, or you've just seen it enough or people had people tell you enough by the time you get it that like you kind of piece together bits of information you've heard from different sources. Mm-hmm.

[01:06:45] But I had, you know, night nurses living with us for a while who like taught me how to do it. Yeah. That helped a lot. But I, I, we all, we felt underwater. We literally, my wife and I felt underwater for so long. Like literally like literally had the underwater feeling. [01:07:00] Even though we had help, it was just like two screaming babies at the same time.

[01:07:03] But two people who like, who, two like career people who don't have any patience for it. Mm-hmm. And you're like stuck in this room with like two screaming babies, dunno how to deal with it. And like it doesn't end. And the next day it's another thing like having the

[01:07:14] Greg: exercise of being present, you

[01:07:15] seth: know?

[01:07:16] Yeah. And like patience. Just learning, learning infinite patience at a time when you don't have it and you don't want it. Oh, so here's, so here's

[01:07:22] Greg: something that I work on with myself constantly. I know that if I can be more patient with myself mm-hmm. I can be more patient with everyone around me. Ah, has the exercise of procreation and being patient with your kids led you to be more patient with yourself and therefore more

[01:07:40] seth: patient with It's led me to be more patient with the world.

[01:07:42] For sure. That's a beautiful thing. It's not l I've never thought about being more patient with myself, but it's definitely led me to be more patient with them. And the world, but sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I feel like I was really expanding my patience and was [01:08:00] growing and then at some point recently it snapped back and I was like, I don't have time to grow my patients anymore.

[01:08:05] I'm dumb over it. I feel like I'm done enough work on it. I don't have time anymore. But that's, but it is a practice. That's when you do into the practice is a, that that is the only thing I feel like is, feels like a real practice. It was like genuinely consciously practicing patience with your kids cuz they test it every day like six times a day.

[01:08:28] And that, that to me, and knowing you have to do it. You can't not do it. Yep. You have to do it.

[01:08:35] Greg: Well some parents don't do it. Right. And then the kids wind up, you know, not feeling seen. Yeah. And that's when you

[01:08:41] seth: know you have to practice. That's a real practice. That's, that's cuz it's forced upon you every day.

[01:08:48] Like, you know. Well when, um, the Pink Panther, Cleo has like Cato jumping at at him to surprise him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what it feels like. It feels like surprise training [01:09:00] for patience. It's four times a day. Like, Cato's kind of kill you and you never know when he is coming. Amazing. Amazing. You know?

[01:09:08] Yeah. That's, that's the kind of training it feels like because you don't know when it's coming. This morning, this morning it happened, you know, it's crazy And it's not only it's patience with me, but it's patience with the wife cuz she's freaking out and I gotta be, and I try so hard not to be a knee jerk, to like rise to her sense of anxiety and her freaking out.

[01:09:27] I was like, all right, now you have to really be patient and like really go this way when she's going this way. Yeah. Seldom we, and try to resent,

[01:09:36] Greg: we jump to react to things. Is it the right move? You know, we can't be pragmatic when our cortisol and our, you know, adrenaline is like spiking. Mm-hmm. And I'm sure you feel that on stage too.

[01:09:48] Like, you know, like when you're comfortable and you feel like you're in the moment and you're finding that flow state, it just feels good. Yeah. And you're not reacting to things. You're just letting

[01:09:57] seth: things unfold. Well, here's another practice I've had to learn on [01:10:00] stage is that you can't freak out to on audience members.

[01:10:04] It literally ruins the show and you can't go back. So like someone's freaking out in the audience. You have to, you can make fun of them. You can even like be very real that they have to leave or whatever. But you have to stay in control and calm and cool the whole time. Hmm. Because I've freaked out on audience members before and like, it's ugly.

[01:10:22] And the audience is like, what just happened? Dad got mad. And like, that's cuz that's how it feels. And they can't go back. You can't, it's hard. It's hard to get them back to being like, okay, we're all having fun again. That makes sense. That makes sense. So nothing good

[01:10:34] Greg: happens when you panic. No. Unless you're being like, chased by a wild animal or something, you know, like, then we gotta panic.

[01:10:41] Yeah.

[01:10:42] seth: I, I'm gonna say something a little revealing about my wife. She, this is an argument I have with her. I don't like to worry, I don't like to stress, I don't like to panic. This, there's zero good. I've learned over and over and over again. I think about it a lot. There's nothing good can happen. Mm-hmm.

[01:10:59] If you stress [01:11:00] or freak out or worry or panic about anything, every time, every time. It's always better if you don't give a fuck or you care, or you chill out and you relax and you handle it with a cool head every single time she grew up in a house where if you're not freaking out, you don't care. Mm. The only way you show you care about something is if you're freaking out.

[01:11:19] That's interesting. So her whole thing to me is, you don't care. I'm freaking out about this thing doesn't mean anything. Freaking out about this thing doesn't mean anything. Freaking out about this thing, this thing. And maybe the real issues that are like legitimate issues about whatever, but like, Freaking out's only going to waste time and you're not gonna change anything.

[01:11:36] Wait to see what happens. Anyway. But so she always accusing me of not, of not caring about the thing.

[01:11:42] Greg: So it's interesting how you wind up with somebody like that. Like, you know, like the universe put you with her, you know, to maybe show her the lesson that she's never gonna learn you, you're gonna freak out so much.

[01:11:54] Right. And then you, for you, it's like, you know, take this a little more seriously. Like, you, you have to meet [01:12:00] like in

[01:12:00] seth: the middle maybe. I don't think that's the lesson me taking more seriously, cuz I think it's just, I've learned over and over again stressing about something that you really can't change.

[01:12:08] You gotta see how, what the outcome is and then handle it from there. Yeah. I'm, I'm

[01:12:12] Greg: the same way. Yeah. Like, just I've learned that, you know, the hard way that reacting is really usually not the right thing to do.

[01:12:18] seth: And I, not, not reacting is hard for me. Like I've learned something how a friend does something that pisses me off.

[01:12:26] Mm-hmm. I have to wait several days before I talk to them. And you know what, also,

[01:12:33] Greg: or email them or text them, like Yeah. And the friend has to learn to be patient with you because they do know that they did something that pissed you off and not just keep badgering you about it. Just let you be and have your space.

[01:12:45] Well, they're not

[01:12:45] seth: badgering me. I just ha, I can't send an angry message or like a sarcastic message cuz it's just not gonna lead to anything good. No, no, no. So I have to wait and then not react. Have you

[01:12:57] Greg: done that in the past and it just is

[01:12:58] seth: blowing up on you? Yeah. Oh [01:13:00] yeah. Okay. When I've sent something like preemptively being like, why the hell did you do that?

[01:13:03] Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. And then it blows. Blows up on you. And I was like, I shouldn't have said anything. Well

[01:13:08] Greg: this is, you get, you get older, you get better at being yourself, you know? Yeah, yeah. You change differences, don't you? Change the frequency. Yeah. At which you're broadcasting life. So for you it's W Z O G all zog.

[01:13:18] All the time. Maybe. Yeah. That's your station.

[01:13:22] seth: That's a real station.

[01:13:23] Greg: That's a real station. W Z O G. Yeah. Yeah. But, uh, you know, and there's a lot of people listening to, there's two little girls listening to that station. There's your wife all

[01:13:31] seth: the time listening that station all the time. I know they

[01:13:34] Greg: like that station.

[01:13:35] They're into it. It's a fun station to listen to.

[01:13:37] seth: Yeah. Hopefully.

[01:13:41] Greg: But you also have to remember that what you're broadcasting, their hearing, you know, and if you are the, the signal that's permeating a lot of people, they're gonna pick up what's going on with you. So the more calm, the more pragmatic, the more, less reactive you are.

[01:13:58] That's the vibe that permeates the [01:14:00] house.

[01:14:03] seth: The vibe that permeates the house is not my vibe. I mean, maybe it is,

[01:14:10] but I'm not the, I don't rule that roost. Do you know what I'm saying? You might not

[01:14:15] Greg: think you do uhhuh, but you're part, you're a big part of it. Hopefully. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Especially with the kids, right? Like they see you and they see how you react to certain things, right? They pick up everything. A hundred percent of it that's happening.

[01:14:29] They're in, they, they see what's going on. Yeah. They feel what's going on.

[01:14:35] seth: Yeah. I know that. I mean, I, I, I learned that when they were babies. Yeah. They react to the energy in the room, and I never really believed it till I saw it firsthand. I was like, whatever energy's happening in the room, they're gonna react.

[01:14:49] They're gonna cry, they're gonna be rose, Gus, go to sleep, they're gonna, whatever it is. So, for someone

[01:14:53] Greg: like you with what you do for a living Yeah. Like your energy. You read energy in the room. Yeah. You should be like a and

[01:14:59] seth: I fucking [01:15:00] wizard with these kids. Well, I wasn't, I would just, I, I had to be more sensitive to it.

[01:15:03] Mm-hmm. I was like, oh, if I get mad, they're not gonna notice or care. They're gonna be asleep or they're not. They're like babies. They're not gonna notice if I'm, like, they, they're like bees. They smell fear, dude. They really do. They really, really do. They really pick up. They pick up and they relate to people's energies around them and just, it's so real.

[01:15:25] And I didn't really, till I saw it over and over and over again, I was like, oh my God. Like we had an interview with this nanny who we still work with on weekends here and there, who, she came in and they were freaking out, like babies, just crying, crying. And while she's talking to us, telling her, her, us, her story, she just grabbed one of 'em and started just petting it and just immediately calmed down.

[01:15:45] Mm-hmm. And didn't, it was, it was instinctual to her. She wasn't even know, know what she was doing. And I was like, what just happened? She's totally in that person's energy and the energy's so calming in like, like a rock. It's [01:16:00] so stable for this baby. I was like, oh, we gotta work with this person. Yeah.

[01:16:05] Addie wasn't even listen to her. I was watching how she dealt with the kid and how her energy affected the kid. It's

[01:16:10] Greg: amazing what you can learn just by picking up on like what other people are, they're signaling or their broadcasting is, you know? Right. You're calm and collected on stage and having fun.

[01:16:20] I'm sitting in the audience, I'm calm, collected and having, having fun. Yeah. You know, it's true. You're freaked out or an aggressive, then I'm feeling or

[01:16:27] seth: nervous, like, is this working? Is this not working? Don't be z og. Yeah, you're fucking, no. I've seen that on stage a thousand times where like people are nervous and everyone's nervous for them.

[01:16:36] And I was just saying about Rory Scoville, like half the reason that show works that he does is he's very calm and confident and he's having fun. He knows if any of this is gonna be funny, but you're gonna go on a ride with me. I'm, I'm

[01:16:48] Greg: on a ride with you right now, darling. You know, where do you, where do you see yourself, uh, and I know that's like, this takes away from, you know, being present and takes away from like being in the what is [01:17:00] versus the what if, but where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

[01:17:04] seth: Right here at the news stand baby. Yeah.

[01:17:07] Greg: Doing the follow up show. Yeah. A decade later. Yeah.

[01:17:14] I mean, what, what do you wanna do? Like you have this amazing skillset set. I don't know, like, do you wanna to write movies? Do you want be in movies? Do you wanna have your own show?

[01:17:21] seth: Like what you all Yes. All yes. I mean, look, a lot can happen in 10 years and hopefully one of those three things will happen 10 years.

[01:17:29] But yes. And I've had a lot of close calls and some of them, and, you know, I wanna host more shows like I did when that g it was really fun. Mm-hmm. That was, I'd do that again in a second. Um, I've had some close calls and hosting some shows and producing some TV shows that got canceled the last minute. Um, but yeah, something like that.

[01:17:48] I like

[01:17:48] Greg: your attitude though, cuz it's more about, it's about the practice and just going forward every day and then what pops up pops up.

[01:17:55] seth: I'm, I have to have to have that perspective. Yeah. I've, I'm like, [01:18:00] my perspective right now is, If I continue, I got this job at Sideshow and I have other steady things.

[01:18:08] Like I'm doing these charity events, I'm doing these other standup shows that are regular and like I'm making enough money right now, I can just do nothing. Hmm. So what do I put my energy towards? So like you work really hard towards these other things that are like the goals and if they happen, great.

[01:18:22] And if they don't, you can't put you, you can't hang your hat on it. You can't be crushed. It doesn't happen. So like, yeah, working on a special, working on a new album, working on maybe producing a TV show, but like working at it. Just working at it and see what happens. Like there's a kids show. I've been working with this other partner for three years.

[01:18:38] Let me see Interrupt.

[01:18:39] Greg: But that's that Chuck close comment. The inspiration does not come from just the, the sky. You have to do the work. Yeah. To find the inspiration. Oh, interesting. So Chuck close the artist like every day. He just did the work. Did the work, did the work. And that's where the inspiration came from.

[01:18:53] Oh, interesting. Yeah. It's just so I, I like that. And you're sort of emulating

[01:18:57] seth: that in your life, so kind of, yeah. Yeah. Kind of just [01:19:00] like doing things that. I'm gonna take you towards the goal. If you have like, the hustle makes the magic happen. Hustle makes the magic happen. Your friends,

[01:19:07] Greg: the roots. Yeah. You know, that shit cold.

[01:19:09] Yeah. And that's where the magic happens. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Surrender to the practice.

[01:19:13] seth: Yeah. If you wanna call it the practice. Yeah. Yeah, baby. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[01:19:18] Greg: Yeah, baby. Um, are there any, um, scratch and sniff or pop-up books that you think would be wildly inappropriate? That's a such a silly

[01:19:28] seth: question.

[01:19:29] I would love to write one. I'd love to write a pop-up book and a scratch and sniff book. I don't know of any that are like, that's a perfect medium for something super dirty, but I don't, I don't know of, I don't know

[01:19:40] Greg: why I was thinking like that. I was writing down like a list of stuff like, what am I gonna ask Seth?

[01:19:44] Mm-hmm. And for some reason like scratch and sniff

[01:19:47] seth: and popup books. Yeah. I bet there is one. I bet if you did enough research, I bet you could find a really dirty popup popup book or

[01:19:54] Greg: the scratch and sniff element of that would be terrifying. Do you

[01:19:57] seth: ever see there was a [01:20:00] documentary. About in the sixties, they had smell of vision, whatever.

[01:20:03] These like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They'd go to the movies and they had a little card. Yep. And then you'd scratch and sniff when certain scenes were happening. I was bummed. That was so short-lived. John Waters. Yeah. John. John Waters. John Waters, right. Yeah. Um, was that during, uh, pink Flamingos, uh,

[01:20:22] Greg: the eighties?

[01:20:23] Yeah. Yeah. Pink Flamingos is one of those movies that you really cannot unsee. Those are corner. Yeah. You really, really can't. Yeah. Um, I wanna talk about the Wonder Woman sketch for just real quick. Sure. You know,

[01:20:34] seth: as we're sort of wrapping things up here. That's a funny, there's an interesting origin to what?

[01:20:37] To that and then what we're talking about. So, because I, that makes me feel good. Yeah. So just being you and not just doing, entrusting yourself on stage or whatever. So that came from, um, it was before I'd really surrendered to doing standup all the time. Mm-hmm. I was just, Just in the vibe of like doing it more regularly and sort [01:21:00] of transitioning away from theater and kind of doing my stand.

[01:21:02] It was right at the end of the nineties and I was in my, one of my best friend's apartments, and the Josie in the, he had the, that disc, that TV theme song Disc, can, you've seen that as a popular, and it was all seventies, eighties stuff. And he had, uh, Josie and the Pussy Cats theme came on. Mm-hmm. It's like fucking Hot Jam's.

[01:21:23] A nose song song. That's that's a great song. Pussy.

[01:21:25] Greg: And the Pussy of Cats.

[01:21:26] seth: Yeah. Long

[01:21:27] Greg: tails.

[01:21:27] seth: Tails, long tails and ears. Fat hat. Yeah. Um, so anyway, I'm just dancing around the apartment, like getting crazy, just crazy dancing. Like really feeling it, like really genuine. And he's dying laughing, just laughing, laughing, laughing.

[01:21:40] He's like, you gotta do it on stage. I was like, what? Just dancing judges pu That's not a, that's no context. So what's the joke? He's like, trust me, you have to do it on stage. Trust me, it'll kill. I was like, I don't get the joke. Like I'm just dancing around having fun. He's like, Do it. So I started, it was the first show I did it at was the show.

[01:21:59] I can't believe, I Can't [01:22:00] Space the name. That was a really popular show in New York that was out of theater and it was every week. Anyway, I just danced to the Josie and the Pussycats theme, but no con, no costume. Just came out and danced to it. And then I started, then I'd stand up after it. It was like the minute song, you know?

[01:22:16] And it did well. And how people are like, that's great. I was like, all right, I guess I'm gonna start shows Dancing with Josie and the Pussy Cats. Who

[01:22:23] Greg: doesn't like seeing someone dance Right. To Josie and the Pussy Cats. I mean, it's

[01:22:26] seth: genius. But that, but then a friend of mine was like, you know, the, the, the, the people who know that song, that window is closing all the time.

[01:22:34] You know, it's a very small window of people who actually enjoy that song or get the nostalgia of it, you know? So very, so I did Josie for like two years, pretty regularly, and then I was like, I need another song and I need a costume. So you're gonna do like a wacky dance, you'd have a costume, you should have a better song.

[01:22:53] So I sat and listened to this TV show, theme song Disc all the way through. Mm-hmm. And the Wonder Woman song came on, and I remembered it from the TV show, and I [01:23:00] was like, this song, fucking slaps Wonder Woman man, wonder Woman. I was like, I could dance to this and I could just get a Wonder Woman outfit.

[01:23:08] Perfect. So that's where it came from, like trying to find something new that I could do that had an outfit that you could do a funny dance to. That's where it came from.

[01:23:17] Greg: That was a seminal moment in your career, I guess. So taking it all the way back to the fifth grade talent show too, you know, like those were those moments and I bet you could feel what those felt like.

[01:23:27] seth: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think Wonder Woman, I started doing that in like 99, 2000, something like that. Yeah.

[01:23:35] Greg: You're, you're a soulful guy in how you go about the practice of being you, I guess. So. I didn't realize that. But I like, I'm, I'm psyched that you came in and we got to sit down and talk because it's interesting, you know, like you think that.

[01:23:48] I'm always like to go back to that theme of connection. Mm-hmm. When you're really in touch with the, you know, organically with who you are, you just sort of connect with people, you know, and you [01:24:00] being present and having your practice mm-hmm. And working your ass off. Mm-hmm. It's just a great example to show people.

[01:24:05] Right. Just to be hon, just, you're just being true to who you are trying Yeah. Yeah. And working your ass off. Yeah.

[01:24:10] seth: And it's happening. Well, it's funny you were saying about what's my day-to-day like, I wish I had a better practice day to day. Cause my day-to-day is just like trying to get like administrative stuff done in my life.

[01:24:22] Like, I have to go get a new passport now, and I have to deal with taxes and like, that's my day. Yeah. And then like, I'm dealing with meetings about like, other projects. Like that's what I do all day. And then I come here, you know, normally, but that's, you're, you're

[01:24:35] Greg: being a human. Yeah. And then you're, you're going to work.

[01:24:38] Yeah.

[01:24:39] seth: But like, but then I write what I have to like, Like, so tomorrow night I'm doing rye and I have to write all these jokes about the rye crowd. Mm-hmm. So I have to do that tonight or tomorrow. And then I'm doing a big standup show in Kansas City in, in June. Nice. So I have to really kill it. So I have to write a whole great set for that KC show.

[01:24:58] So that's what I'm gonna be working on this month. [01:25:00]

[01:25:00] Greg: So if people want to know more about Seth Herzog,

[01:25:04] seth: where do they go? I have a website, the seth hiza.com, which I, for some reason Squarespace couldn't register. Seth herzog.com, so to the seth herzog.com. So there's some good fun videos and stuff on there.

[01:25:19] Uh, my Instagram, I update all the time, so you could find interesting stuff and information about me there. I tweet. That's about it. Nice. Yeah. Very nice. Seth, the, the Zog on Twitter, Seth Zog on Insta. That

[01:25:33] Greg: was like a good full like hour and 25 minutes at W

[01:25:36] seth: Z G. I'm not even finished yet. Dude, we have a lot to discuss all the time.

[01:25:40] We have a lot to do here.

[01:25:44] Greg: All right, so Seth, thank you so much for coming on,

[01:25:48] seth: Greg. This is the best time I've had this afternoon.

[01:25:53] Greg: Remember people we're all just driving a meat covered skeleton on a rock hurdling around the sun [01:26:00] at 67,000 miles an hour. Drink good coffee, listen to good music and be kind to the humans.

[01:26:06] seth: Yeah,

[01:26:20] flag of piracy flew from my mass. My sales were set wing to wing. I had a box graduate for first meeting. She couldn't sail, but she sure slam

[01:26:38] gear. Gear set, stubborn on standing.