EP11 Jon Fisch: Balancing Stand-up Comedy & His New Family

Get ready for a rollicking journey through the world of stand-up comedy with our guest, the hilarious Jon Fisch! You're in for a treat as Jon, with a sparkling career graced by appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman and Stephen Colbert, spills the beans on his comedic expeditions, early days, and the peculiar chemistry between comedy clubs and old bank vaults.

Jon Fisch is not just a comedian; he’s a storyteller who will have you in stitches as he shares his adventures from the smoky comedy clubs of the past to opening gigs for comedy heavyweights like Louis CK. Hear how he navigated the tricky waters of comedy and personal life, and learn why fatherhood has not changed but halted his writing style. And if you've ever wondered what goes into the making of a comedy special, you'll love Jon's insights on HINGE, a hilarious take on online dating, his kids, and his wife.

But it's not all about the laughs. John's journey also offers a unique peek into the challenges of being on the road for work, finding family time, and the anxiety of taking weekends off. As John transitions from stand-up to podcasting, he reveals the power of collaboration with friends and the influence of comedy greats like Jerry Seinfeld and Louis CK. Not to mention, there's a preview into his social media antics and a warm invitation to his YouTube channel. So buckle up, and let's ride along with Jon Fisch on this exhilarating comedy journey!

Finnleigh would like to remind everyone that a 5-star rating from each of you would be a huge push for the podcast in the algorithms that suggest podcast to listeners.  Please take a second to give us a 5-star rating when you get the chance!  Thanks so much!

Transcript

Scott: 1:24

My guest today is John Fish.

Guest: 1:25

John's one of only a handful of comedians who have appeared on both the Late Show with David Letterman and the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. You may recognize Jon from Comedy Central or NBC's Last Comic Standing, where he was the New York City Capital One audience favorite. John has performed at multiple comedy festivals, including the HBO Comedy Arts Festival, the Great American Comedy Festival and Montreal's prestigious Just for Last Festival. He's a regular and favorite performer in New York City at Gotham Comedy Club, New York City Comedy Club and the world-famous Comedy Seller. His latest album and special, Hinged, was named a Laugh Button Top 10 Comedy Special and was nominated for Album of the Year by the Interabang John Fish. Welcome to Cardi. Saves the World, let's save it.

Scott: 2:08

Let's do it. Thanks for having me, buddy.

Guest: 2:10

Thanks for being on, man. It's been a long time, quite a long time. We know each other from a standup in Boston. Yeah, and when did you move to New York?

Scott: 2:17

I moved in May of 2001,. You know, just to set up.

Guest: 2:21

I kind of retired. I didn't quit, I retired in 2006.

Scott: 2:24

Yeah, I used to come back a lot back then those first few years. You could get a lot of stage time in New York City, but it wasn't good stage time. Yeah, I'd come back to Boston like once a month or every other month and you'd get all the good stage time you needed. So it was worth it for me.

Guest: 2:39

Get a couple of paychecks too.

Scott: 2:40

Yeah, yeah.

Guest: 2:42

So for the audience, let's kind of go over how standup works. A lot of people don't understand the struggles and the beginning stages. How did you get into it? I took two different workshops.

Scott: 2:52

First I took one with the man Rick Jenkins yes, yeah, the colony studios. It was actually through Brookline Continuing Education. I had just graduated college, I was living in Brookline and then everybody in the class was doing it for their job or their bucket list even though bucket list I don't think was a thing, pre-bucket list, you know and nobody wanted to continue with it. So I was just kind of did that graduation class that you do, you do like five minutes. At the end I was so nervous I didn't tell any of my friends. Really it almost didn't happen, yeah, but it was still in the back of my mind and then I knew I wanted to do more. So then I had moved to Jamaica Plain and I was going to take an improv class and I was the only one that signed up.

Guest: 3:33

Nobody signed up, it was just you.

Scott: 3:36

Just me. And they were like, yeah, we're not, we can't do this, but we have a standup class if you want to take that. And I was like, okay, it's a different continuing education place. And it happened to be Rick's partner, jim DeCrotto. Oh yeah, jim Opened the club with him, rip, and in that workshop I met two people that wanted to do it more. So we did.

Scott: 3:53

It was the start of us doing it more. We started going to open mics together and Ann Manicus and Mike Diefenbach and we called ourselves the Comedy Trio. Oh yeah, we would go and we would infiltrate. You know, we would do the regular things that you could find out about in Boston, which was at that time like Dick's Comedy Vault and there was a Pizzeria Uno open mic. Dave Radigan had something I think it was called Bel Canto, oh yeah. And then in like Ball Fan Master or something. And then we found an open mic in Walfam Mass. That was just everything you could do poetry, you could do music. You got like a 45 minute slot or something like that. So the three of us would split that. Oh, that's nice, and even that splitting that 15 minutes when you start was a lot Brutal, yeah, brutal, but the best thing for us at that time was we would meet once a week after we were done with the workshop to just go over jokes, which was the best thing to be doing at that time.

Guest: 4:42

Yeah, it's going to be super helpful. Yeah, nothing teaches you the value of a minute like doing stand-up comedy Right. When someone says five minutes, you're like, yeah, five minutes, I got that Right. I kind of started the same way. I took a class in Rhode Island right after I graduated college with Rhode Island comedy hall of famer, frank O'Donnell. At the end, again, nobody wanted to do it, it was just trying to get out of their comfort zone or do it for work or something, and I was the only one that wanted to move forward. So Frank gave me this booker in Rhode Island. He books all kinds of comedy shows John Perrata. Yeah, and I worked for everybody's brother, john Perrata, who's my first booker. I called him up and he was like hey brother, who do you got? You got to go 15, 20 minutes and I was like, let's take five. He was like all right, I got you booked for Big Dan's comedy show 20 minutes and I was like I can't do 20 minutes, especially if you're not a storyteller.

Scott: 5:28

Yeah, if you're just telling jokes, jokes, jokes. It's hard to come up with a minute, you know.

Guest: 5:32

It was brutal. Big Dan's was. I don't know if you remember Jody Foster movie the Accused.

Scott: 5:37

Yeah.

Guest: 5:38

It was about a rape case. Yeah, this bar was the center of no, that rape case. So I was literally doing the Big Dan's rape case bar. That was awkward.

Scott: 5:49

Yeah, I had to remember Jack Lynch. Yeah, jack, yep, but funny, funny dude. Yeah, he had called me when I was starting out to do a show to open for him. And he goes, how much time do you have? And I go, when's the show, like how much will I be able to collect before I open for you? You know I probably had 12, but I was like if you need me to do 15, and it's in April and I have six months, we should be good. Yeah, you know.

Guest: 6:17

You know thinking back, you know when you're starting out you're like, oh, I got 15. In reality you had like two. The other 13 sucked.

Scott: 6:25

Yeah, and also I mean that was. The good thing about Boston, though, is you could do the kind of cool hip like comedy studio or the open mic or like there would be young people in the audience and but then also, on the weekends, go open up in these rooms with paying customers that were, you know, date night, and when you took that five to seven minutes that you were doing and having fun with in the open mic at the experimental level to those real shows, you were like, oh, that doesn't work.

Scott: 6:54

Adults that just works for these college kids.

Guest: 6:58

Yeah, it was the worst show I ever did, right off the bat and I was bombing miserably. I remember my mom wanted to go, so my mom actually drove me, which is just a no-no Trafficking to your own comedy show. It's awkward. I said the punchline of one joke and it just bombed and I just kind of held the mic out as I did. The bouncer walk by and put his head on the mic and was like dude, you suck.

Scott: 7:23

Well, speaking of Rhode Island, that was the first time I was doing 20 minutes. I was opening for Dom Irerra down at the East Providence Comedy Connection and my dad loves Dom Irerra and so he was going to come with me, but I was too nervous to let him see me do 20 minutes, so he waited in the car in that parking lot and he was like, if you think doing 20 minutes when you first started doing comedy is long, waiting for 20 minutes in that parking lot as long. He was like I saw two fights in 20 minutes and that place oh my god, that place was so small. That was the only place that we had when we started that you could do. It felt like a road week, yeah, you know, everywhere else was like maybe you did a weekend. I don't even think there was like a. There might have been Nick's, might have been Thursday, friday, saturday when I started, but like by the time I got to actually work there, it wasn't, it was like just Friday, saturday. Yeah, this was like I think you auditioned on Tuesday or Wednesday and then there was Wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, sunday or something like that.

Scott: 8:23

Yeah, and I remember it was so disgustingly smoky somehow the smoke stayed trapped in that room. Yeah, I mean, I worked there probably half a dozen times. I remember I would just wear the same outfit every night. It was so smoky. I was like I can't, I just wear the same thing every night. It was crazy. I just want to mess up anything else. Yeah, there were two vaults like that had a bank vault in it too, like something about comedy clubs and Chinese restaurants. And comedy clubs and old bank vaults have a symbiotic relationship.

Guest: 8:51

When you're standing on the stage in that place, you could see like a smoke atmosphere. You could see, yeah, like there was a level of just like a cushion of smoke going across. I can't believe we did that.

Scott: 9:01

Yeah, you know it was crazy to smoke in some of these places.

Guest: 9:05

I remember when I started out, I did about a year in Rhode Island before I moved to Boston and I remember talking to PJ Tavito about it and he was like you know, you're going to be so much tougher because you did that. And I was like all right, I got up, yeah, and yeah, I mean it was like crowd work, heckling, and I was like that's just no big deal. And there were some folks that had just started out in Boston. They were like whoa.

Scott: 9:23

Yeah, yeah, tavito was a beast man, absolutely. I mean I think he's still doing it. He would kill, like he was one of those comics that like two months in because we're talking about how like you need a joke he had stories, yeah, and he had confidence and he had presence. I mean he was 65 or something like that, but he, that guy, could come out like after two months he was headlining because he just had so much.

Guest: 9:43

And he was from Rhode Island too, like he's actually from my hometown, and I went to high school with his sister and brother. I had never met him and he and I looked so much alike. So when I got up to Boston people were like, hey, pj, and I'm like I'm not PJ, I'm not PJ. I promise. He was so great to me when I first started, just kind of helped me out and guide me through Me too.

Scott: 10:03

We met we actually met up in Maine at the comedy connection up there and I remember we like coming back and both were at like the Burger King rest stop at the same time on the way back down and we just had a chat there and I think we're talking shit about someone else there and I was like, ah, we're going to be friends. I left thinking that guy.

Guest: 10:22

What was your one year hell gigs in New England before you moved?

Scott: 10:25

I mean, I think I had something like that where I remember out in Worcester I had gone out there no excuses, but like it wasn't set up well, and I was just eating it and I was like, well, there's no way for me to get out of this. Like they don't think I'm funny and I just have to stand up here and do 12 minutes. And I did. I probably wouldn't remember that, but it was a Dick Doherty room. Rip to the room and to Dick. I got it. It was one of those like huge stages at like a fish restaurant, which a short lived one or whatever, and I remember Dick calling me. He was like they said you had a hard time and but you know, I stood up for you and I was like, oh, thanks, like it was nice to have this guy you know this like legendary comic and the booker of the show tell you like because I know I ate it, but like I'm sure he's got feedback, but like at least this guy knew like yeah, that wasn't necessarily all on like this every time.

Scott: 11:13

Because I remember, you know to jump ahead to like Staten Island, which is an abortously rough comedy area, and I had some of the war. I had like an absolute, just frustrating night where this woman in the audience was just making sounds and she had ruined the entire show, really yeah, and I, like you know, it was the same thing with me and I like tried it, just it took me out of the game but I still have to stand up there for 45 minutes and I remember I didn't want to go back. I called the booker I'm supposed to go back the next day and I told them they're like it's fine, it's a new crowd, don't worry. And I went back and I remember the bartender said it was different bartender and he's like I heard the audience got the best of the comics last night. It was just so upsetting to me because it was like no, no, no, someone here didn't do their job. It wasn't us, it was you guys like that shouldn't have happened.

Scott: 11:57

But you know there are still people that think comics just go up and they're like shut down, like any. That's what comedy is like shut down that person or make fun of them or like. No, we actually planned material and have a show and so used to doing like just comedy podcasts. But if people out there don't know, like there is an actual I don't want to say theater to it, but there's an actual like show to stand up. There's like a psychology behind having an opener, a middleer, a headliner. Like the way a show blends into each other and everything from lighting to sound really matters and all that stuff and the stage height or having a stage or something like that, it all matters, yeah, and professionals are going to nine times out of 10 do a great show, no matter what. But you want to set us up, have the things right, yeah.

Guest: 12:43

You know, I remember those shows where you know the booker walks in with the app, puts the app down.

Scott: 12:48

Yeah, yeah, great. Well, my buddy Moody McCarthy. He does a lot of corporate and private shows and stuff where, like you know, you can email them till you're blue in the face to tell them what you need. And then you show up and they're like oh, that guy's not here today that you've been talking to, but I'm in charge and there's nothing. He travels with lights and sound system, just in case If he doesn't like what you got, he'll go out and set his up in like 15 minutes. Yeah, that's the way to go. That's a professional.

Guest: 13:13

This is bringing back so many memories of getting PTSD for a minute.

Scott: 13:17

Well, even that, you like you know I'll do these shows like high paying corporate events or something, and you're just like they like really don't want you to bring an opener, or really the opener for, like these non comedy venues is just a time to get everything, all those kinks, worked out. I remember having one of those shows where these people really didn't want me to bring an opener and they really fought me on it and I didn't, and, sure enough, exactly what was going to go wrong. One of that that I was worried about went wrong and it was like you got to stick to your gum sometimes or just for a link or shit. Just be like. This is the way it is. You know it's not my fault and hopefully they'll understand, but they often don't. They're like you know, you sucked, it's like well, you didn't have the mic working for the first 20 minutes, so I don't know what to tell you.

Scott: 13:58

I had another one where I did bring an opener and I was bringing my friend, so I just needed someone to do five minutes and he was about to do Conan for the first time. Gary Veter, oh yeah.

Guest: 14:11

Gary.

Scott: 14:12

Years ago. Yeah, so funny. So he was doing five minutes and then I went up so it was just this big event space and so people were just in lounge chairs like far away from each other, sofas like not facing us, and we were in like the DJ booth stage. It was just not conducive for stand up, flex a glass. Yeah, it was just awful. And they had spent a lot of money and we were doing a favor for a book, our friend of ours, and so they got us on the cheap. And that was another lesson they get you on the cheap, they don't respect you as much, you know. Yeah, everything else was to the nines, like the food, the tablecloth, like everything. But it was so bad that I was on and Gary went to get something to eat and one of the people said quick, they're going. Oh, we're not serving yet. And he goes oh, when do you start serving? And he goes oh, well, when your friend is done with his speech Speech. That's how bad it was. They thought I was giving a speech.

Guest: 15:03

No, they're looking for inspiration from you, John.

Scott: 15:08

That's crazy, you know. And then my friends mad at me. It's like no, no, no, no again, not our fault. Oh, you want to know. The worst bomb though Is that what this started? Yeah, let's go. The worst bomb. I can't believe. I didn't remember this so long ago, but I postponed my move to New York City for this gig at a temple in my hometown, Newton Massachusetts. The temple is gone now because of this. No, because of this. No, it was Michigan to Fila, I think it was called RIP.

Scott: 15:37

I was hired by this woman who saw me at the comedy connection, came back with the rabbi and some friends to make sure, and then hired me for this show and, again, wouldn't let me bring an opener. It was, dare I say, probably average age, like 75. And there was like one younger table, and it happened to be a relative of mine, and then this woman got up and told some street jokes which her table of friends and young people laughed, and then everyone else says what's going on? Like they didn't even realize the show was starting and I was new, I was three years in, I was not ready to do this without an opener. And I get up and I was supposed to do 20 and I think I did 13 and I ate it. And when you, when I say I mean I ate it, they didn't want to pay me.

Scott: 16:25

You serious, yeah, and I loved the boxers I was wearing but wouldn't wear them for a show until they deteriorated. That's how bad that experience was. And Frank RIP a lot of RIP today. But Frank from the comedy connection ended up getting some of the money. I came in and he's like what happened? I'm like dude, it was just brutal. And he's like all right, I'll get you. He got me like half the money or something. Yeah, that was the worst bomb in Boston I had and I had postponed my move because it was going to be the most I'd ever been paid by.

Scott: 16:56

a lot yeah.

Guest: 16:57

Especially when you start getting that money. You're like well, wait a minute. 20 minutes, this is all I have to work, oh yeah, let's rock.

Scott: 17:03

Well, that's then. That's what you learn. Like you learn All right, if it doesn't go well and you don't do your time, they're just looking for any way to not pay you. So then you learn to bomb for 30 minutes.

Guest: 17:14

If you have to do 30 minutes, and then that makes you stronger because you know you can do that, and then and that helps you, like, figure things out- Sometimes you get a false sense of security when bomb in front of comics because that's what comics love to see, it's the funniest thing for a comic to watch other comics bomb. So you're out there and you know, I remember we did the Dick Doherty's comedy vault and that gigantic vault in the back and you could just hear the from the back. You're like oh okay, I'm eating it. That was the part of the thing. I never had a problem with eating it Like. I was like and I did it quite often. People always ask me they're like you did stand up, don't you still do it? And I was like, if I was good at stand up, I would still be doing it. That's the whole premise of it.

Scott: 17:55

Plenty of people that are good. Don't you stop. They're magic and die at some point. Yeah, I had a tweet. It was really funny. I had recently a friend who had stopped doing stand up, but it's still like in the creative world. He posted a screen grab of myself and a friend, julie Rossi, who's now on the West Coast. We had like tweeted basically the same thing within four hours. Oh really, it was essentially mine was.

Scott: 18:17

People always asked me how I got started in comedy and more people asked me how I plan on stopping. And hers was very similar to the point like of like new, new comic. How do you get started in old comics? How do you get out of this? You know something like that. It's true, this guy, ben Bailey, one of the New York City legendary comic, who was most known for cash cab oh yeah, he was the original cash cab driver. I remember one night he was talking and we spent so much time getting into these clubs and then even more time trying to get out. Yeah, because it's like you know you get in and that's all you ever wanted. But then you're like, oh, there's got to be something more.

Guest: 18:53

Yeah, I remember when I was like slowing down, I probably should have pulled the plug maybe six, eight months before I actually did. Yeah, I think I still got this. I just I just started losing interest and I knew I was not meant for greener pastures in the standup world and I was like, hey, I think I need to take a break. So you've got all kinds of new stuff going on in the last three, four years. You got yeah, got babies and kids and wife.

Scott: 19:18

Technically no, but yes.

Guest: 19:22

It's the basis for your comedy special hinge. That is on YouTube, which is fantastic. I watched it a second time last night, thank you, those folks that are listening, go out, check John's show out. It's amazing. His specials are free on YouTube. It's amazing, but that's the whole basis for that.

Scott: 19:36

Yeah, and well, I remember I was doing a show because, like, my show was always about pretty much online dating and dating and being single and struggling with that and I remember doing a show up in Rochester with a friend, marianne, and she said, what are you going to do if you ever do get married or find someone? And I was like I guess I have to retire, I'll have nothing else to talk about. But of course you start talking about all this crap. But yeah, I met right before the pandemic. I met a woman on that dating app, hinge, and everything that I had been trying to get in my life, my personal life, just happened in like a span of a couple of years and we just added another. So, yeah, we got really pregnant really quick. We had the baby, there was the pandemic, we had her during quarantine and then we moved out to the Burbs, to New Jersey, and then we had another one and now.

Scott: 20:24

So now we have like a nine month old and a three year old and we're a little family. You know, I joke that we want to have a wedding, but fiance wants to have a drink at her wedding and I keep knocking her up. So I refer to her as my wife. So congratulations.

Guest: 20:54

That's awesome and good for you. That was kind of my issue when I was 29. And I was like my friends were all getting married. I wasn't getting the plus one to the weddings and really hard to balance stand up and a new relationship right. I mean sure, your weekends are pretty much booked with stand up shows.

Scott: 21:10

Sure, yeah, it is. It's a struggle. Now I still get that anxiety because, like now, I do have things. You know in the books that I have to take the weekend off, and there's always a joke in comedy. It's like you want a big gig, take a vacation that weekend, you'll get the call the next day with a big gig that you can't take. But it's better. It's a better, well rounded life. You know, I remember doing like, even in Boston. I remember having a buddy's bachelor party during the day and like not being able to pass up opening for Richard Lewis that night so I would leave the festivities. I can't believe I have to say this again, but you remember Mike Baker. Yeah, Mike Baker, Mike Baker RIP His wedding.

Scott: 21:44

I was like in his wedding with my buddy, dave Greenberg, and I had to leave that to go do a show and stuff. And you know it's like when you're starting out. There was so much of that like you can't say no to anything and just you know, doubling up on everything that I could. And now it's like I take Sundays and Mondays off, and then more sometimes, but definitely Sundays and Mondays for like, family days, weekends that I just take off for things that I wouldn't have as a single man, for weddings and a weekend with family, and it's still a little bit of anxiety sometimes when I do it, but it's made me a happier, more well rounded person.

Guest: 22:14

Yeah, it must be so tough to. I mean, if I go on like work trip or something, I'm like I'm gonna miss my kid and this is you know. You know you've got to go out and try to make people laugh while you're doing it. You know too.

Scott: 22:25

Well, it's one thing. When I leave for the night, you know, and I can still come back, and you know I just miss, like maybe bedtime or something which is hard enough. I wake up with them.

Guest: 22:31

If.

Scott: 22:31

I'm on the road if you're on a work trip. You know my wife. When she goes on a work trip she's working all the waking hours and thinking about it while she's sleeping. Usually she's busy. Hopefully I have two shows in a night, sometimes just one show, and then I got 20 hours to think about how I'm not at home with my kids.

Scott: 22:49

You know, yeah, it's really hard to be on the road these days. I really took a step back these last couple years, easing back in a little bit more, but still welcoming more like driving gigs that I can end up back home.

Guest: 23:02

A little closer to home.

Scott: 23:03

Yeah, for sure.

Guest: 23:04

So how has fatherhood changed your writing and your writing style? I?

Scott: 23:08

don't think it's changed my writing style as much as it's stopped it. I mean, I really I really put things on like I stopped pretty much going on stage about a week or two before our boy was born and didn't go back on stage until I opened for Louis and Madison Square Garden. So it would have been longer, wow, yeah, but I couldn't say no to that, obviously. Yeah, oh, absolutely not. So that was about six to seven weeks and then after that week of getting back in gear and doing it, I think I, you know, didn't do stand up for a few more weeks. I remember having a cancel shows.

Scott: 23:44

I was a little ambitious with getting back and I was like I don't think I can leave my wife right now, and so I sort of became daddy daycare until two weeks ago when we put our boy in daycare finally, and so I kind of put writing on hold Like I wasn't you know, I was very diligent about, you know, at least two hours a day of writing in my days, and so I'm just getting back to that now.

Scott: 24:06

Yeah, but you know, I still just not as methodically or diligently or routinely, but as far as I feel like it's the same same approach and the same, the same lens I'm looking through because I've always been since I moved to New York more personal than observational. And so, yeah, it's now. It's a lot about my wife and kids and it where it used to be, as about the dates, I would go on, or you know the struggles of feeling like I was going to be alone forever. Maybe what I thought it would have been a happier tone, but it's still. There's still worries about everything. So now it's just the worries and the interesting struggles of this life.

Guest: 24:41

Yeah, I remember when my wife had our daughter, folks would be like, hey, you know, now you're going to have all sorts of stuff to write about, I don't have time to write about it. There's diapers to change and noses to wipe, and got a time for that stuff. So, yes, you mentioned you open for Louis CK in Madison Square Garden. I saw it on your all your social media. How does that come about and how awesome was it?

Scott: 25:01

Well, it was pretty funny because the other day we went to see Stevie Nicks at Madison Square Garden and we were driving in and my wife goes when's the last time you were here? And I go, I think when I opened for Louis. She's like, yeah, me too, you know. So that it was pretty crazy. I've been opening for him, you know. He has like a stable of us that opened for him, you know, and you kind of put in your availability when he's about to start a tour. And I was actually supposed to go out with him. He was.

Scott: 25:28

It was actually going to be the first week I was going to be back out since our son was born.

Scott: 25:33

Yeah, about six weeks after he was born, the end of January, and my wife had thrown me a 50th birthday party and got COVID, so I couldn't leave and so I had to cancel. And so we were texting and I had originally I had a like a corporate event on that day, so I didn't put in for that availability. We were just texting and he was just checking in and blah, blah, blah, and then he said will you be ready to work on January 27th or whatever it was? And I was like yeah, and I knew what it was. I wasn't going to say no if he outright asked me, but I didn't say I was available originally, which so yeah, so that's that was you know. I'll let you know on Monday if I can cancel this thing. And that was a week out, basically. Yeah, so I had a week to get back on stage and I went back in Monday night or Tuesday night, the first night, and I only had one set that I could get and I was rusty, very rusty.

Scott: 26:26

And I got real nervous. And then, luckily, I had two sets lined up for the next night and I got in like halfway during the first set I was like, okay, I got it. It's only took a set and a half. Okay, all right. And then it was just, you know. I could just be regular nervous about performing for 18,000 people.

Guest: 26:41

Yeah, 18,000. That's awesome and he's a master.

Scott: 26:44

He's just a master and I know there's all this amazing yeah, but you know he's from my hometown too. We're from, we're both from the same hometown, Newton Mass, and you know people. You know what was the best part? The best part was actually the hour or so of soundcheck we did. It was Adrian Appaluchee, the other opener, and myself and Louie just on the stage because we were in the round and he was kind of like giving us suggestions and pointers on how to do it in the round and you know how to perform for 18,000. And then just getting into whatever. It was like an hour of just listening to a master talk about comedy, yeah, so it was great.

Guest: 27:17

I remember when I was on a show at the comedy studio in Cambridge, he walked in and Stephen Wright walked in and they both bumped me and I had to follow Louie CK and Stephen Wright and then Gary Goldman closed the show and, needless to say, I got lost in the mix.

Scott: 27:34

I always remind Louie of this, because in Boston we started and you would have an opener and you would have a closer, and you knew what your jokes were going to be. And you went up and you said keep it going for the hosts. And blah, blah, blah. And I saw Louie at the studio. I think Rick had him come in to like he must have been in town or something he was headlining and it was like a huge deal, Like I remember, like people were like not a contest, but like you know, everyone was trying to get to open for him or something and it was a big deal. Whoever got to open for him, and we're all watching and he came out, he just walked up and he goes, keep it going for Rick Jenkins, he's a pig fucker. Or he goes, keep it going for Rick Jenkins, he's a pig fucker, Pig fucker. He's a pig fucker, he likes to fuck pigs.

Scott: 28:14

He just did like 30 seconds about I don't know what that was and we were just all done. It just broke everything I thought of that I had watched and kind of learned, and then and he just fucking destroyed, destroyed for 30 minutes, and then he gets done. And you know Rick is maniacal about the time Cause I think it comes from, you know, not owning that space. He was renting that space and they probably charged him extra if he stayed until 10, 10 instead of getting off at 10. Louis finished and he had like five more minutes and Rick got up and was like, do you want to do more? And so Louis did an encore, an unplanned encore, which totally blew my mind because it was like, well, didn't he do his closer, Like how is he going to go? And he just went back up and destroyed for another five minutes and I mean that just blew. It blew my mind. For like weeks I was thinking about that. I was still obviously thinking about it. It was it was amazing.

Guest: 29:12

That was a fun part about Boston, but I'm sure you know we got to see a lot of Boston comics come home and and you randomly pop in. But how's New York, like you're special, hinged? You mentioned that Jerry Seinfeld literally walked in before, right before you filmed.

Scott: 29:25

Well, I knew he was coming but I couldn't say it for a couple reasons. But I had, I think my folks were in town and I remember I was in their hotel room. The owner, chris Mozzilli, called me and he was like hey, man, jerry just called, he wanted to come in on whatever. I think it was a Tuesday night or something. Can he go up before you? I just wanted to check and of course that was like a formality. I can't say no to that. I guess I could. But.

Scott: 29:51

But I had actually the weekend before, like the Friday before that, I had gone up after him at the same club. I remember, because I don't get super excited about, but I remember calling my wife after. I was like, ah, that's that. I was like I wish I recorded that that was one of the best sets I've had in a long time, and so he had just put them in such a good mood, you know. So I was like, yeah, sure, that'll actually be great.

Scott: 30:14

And it worked out twofold One because he did exactly that. He put them in such a fantastic mood. It was like a bonus. It took a lot of pressure off me. It was like, well, even if I don't do well, they saw a sign, felt tonight I brought them that the other is. I also felt like I could. A comedian or a self-hating Jew, whatever it is, you know, you never think you're worthy enough, you know. So it's hard for me to invite people to this thing, but it was like, well, now I know you can come. Come, it's going to be a great night, yeah you've already done that.

Scott: 30:43

Yes. So I had invited my friend Mike. You know I'm not going to invite comedians. Some comedians came on their own, which I really appreciate, and even sat in the audience. I wasn't going to invite one but my friend Sam Rubenoff, him and his girlfriend. I said, come to this show and bring your girlfriend, will be a nice night. And he's like why? I'm like just someone's coming, maybe Just I can't you know. And he knew he's actually the only. He guessed.

Scott: 31:09

One night we sat down in a coffee shop around the corner down in the village. I was talking and I go, he goes, are you guys pregnant? Like he had guessed it. I don't know, he knows things, he just he senses things. He guessed we were pregnant, cut to that night. I get off stage and I had actually brought him with me to do a couple of shows when I was getting ready to do the albums. We had seen the set already and then he watched the finished product that night and I get off stage and I go over to him. You know, I say to his girlfriend are you glad you came because she saw Seinfeld? Blah, blah, blah and he goes. You got to call the album hinged. Really, he named it, he named it right there, that's awesome, so it was very helpful.

Guest: 31:42

Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. When I was doing my podcast information sessions cut up stuff on you. I started listening to some of your old podcasts and Sam was on your spiraling up podcast, right.

Scott: 31:51

Yes, yes, we became really good friends. We went to we both went to UVM for like 10 years or more art but he's a younger dude and he's just a really good guy and I remember, like he had seen that I was at the Vermont Comedy Club and when I got back he was like you know, if you go back up there, I went to UVM to you know, see if you can take me. Yeah, the next time I went up, we went up and we just we hit it off and we became good friends and we started trying to do a couple of different projects together. And then during quarantine, we were trying to like, inspire each other to keep writing and stuff like that. So we started doing some of the podcasts together with, like, the caveat of, like we write jokes each week for that. So that was helpful during. You know, it's hard to stay creative during the quarantine.

Guest: 32:31

I can't even imagine what you guys all went through. Yeah, I was listening to spiraling up and I wanted to make sure that I pointed out to you that I hate you for it, because I can't get the damn song out of my head.

Scott: 32:42

That was another read. Like Grant Gordon. I remember just putting up like a story like could someone write me a jingle? And he wrote the jingle. It was like that's pretty good, that's pretty good, it's the catchiest song in the world.

Guest: 32:52

Like I was. Like I sing it in my car. I'm like that's spiraling up.

Scott: 32:56

Well, listen to my first podcast in the tank. Yes, people still will do that jingle to me. Mark Douglas, who was like a hilarious musician comedian, he wrote that one and people still will come up to me and do that one too.

Guest: 33:10

Yeah, you were like kind of a groundbreaker out there for standup podcasts.

Scott: 33:14

Yeah, we were on the forefront back in the day. We really should have kept that going, man, yeah, I'd be in a house right now in the 7th department. That was 2009. In the tank yeah, in the tank started in 2009. Yeah, I remember it was Robert Kelly who was at like the beginning fitting beginning of all the podcasts. He really talked me through that and I think he was the one that told Bill Bertha to do a podcast. Oh really, they used to just literally just do it on their phones.

Guest: 33:39

Yeah, I was listening to. It was on Apple. There was only a few episodes still on Apple that I could find.

Scott: 33:44

Yeah, I threw up some in the spiraling up fee. Okay, I'll check it out. And then I was talking to the guys who did my album, laugh Button, and we were going to clean them up and put them up on their thing and then they sold their company, oh, okay. Yeah.

Guest: 33:59

I was listening to the San Maril one. That was, I think, one of the last ones. That was like 2011 or something.

Scott: 34:04

That was before he exploded. He's he is exploded.

Guest: 34:07

Huge. I remember I just he showed up in my Instagram feed, maybe about a year, year and a half ago, and I started following him.

Scott: 34:13

I knew right away. That's the thing people you know, because I've seen people explode and you know. Sometimes you see him and you're like, ah, I never saw it, Sam, I saw it right away. I did a show, like a random little show, with him once and everyone was tanking and he just got up with the best jokes and I knew, I knew right there. Let's see, who else did I see? You saw, I saw Schumer, I saw Aziz, I saw Kristen Schall, like all those people when you know, before they exploded and I was like, oh, these people are.

Guest: 34:42

Malaney.

Guest: 34:43

You could tell Malaney was a prodigy you know, when I started the podcast, I was like one of the things I started realizing because I had kind of lost contact with all of you guys and everybody and I didn't do any social media. And then when I moved to North Carolina, I wanted to get in touch with everybody and that's when I started rediscovering, you know, all my Boston standup buddies, yeah. So I was like you guys are killing it. You and Joe List and Dan Levy, obviously, gary Dwayne Perkins yeah, dwayne, yeah, it makes sense, because none of these guys yourself included where anybody wasn't going to make it, there was a group of us that weren't going to make it and there was a group of you that were. So it's awesome to see that. Who are some of your favorite comics working? Now? You mentioned Sam. Who else around you know that? You see in New York that you're loving?

Scott: 35:29

Let's. I mean sort of came up with them, but I'll always watch Mike Beckie-Om. I don't know if you know Mike Beckie-Om, he's just a machine. Who else do I love to watch? There's this kid I wouldn't say coming up because he's established, but he's just gets me all the time is Daniel Simonson Just so funny. I'll always watch Adrian Appalucci. I used to get to see her more so funny because, like once you kind of get Pingenhold into your time slots and stuff, like she's more of a late night comic. I'm more of like a 730 PM comic. So I don't get to see her as much as I like, which was fun. For us to be able to be together when we were opening for Louis Joe List is like next level. Awesome, it's great, it's. Yeah, he's really, you know, and I've known him since he was like what it's crazy 19 years old, you know, and I'll still watch him all the time. Dina Hashem Okay, yep.

Scott: 36:57

Just really funny. And then some like people that you know that are like a little more with specials and stuff, like I love watching Nate Bargazzi, I love watching Jessica Kerson. Judy Gold is an all time favorite Her, you know. Obviously, robert Kelly, like it's gold how he said he doesn't do a lot of sets that much anymore in the city. This is the last couple of years I think he's. You know, obviously he's hosting on fire and stuff, but like I always used to say, like the comedy seller room was like built for Robert Kelly, like nobody crushes harder than Robert Kelly down in that comedy seller room. I mean it's yeah, like walls shaking. And, of course, like you know, colin Quinn, david Tell always a joy to get to see those guys. Tom Cotter, rhode Island's own Tom Cotter, another Rhode Island Hall of Famer Yep, and his wife, oh sorry. Yeah, tolemas, amazing. Yeah, of course, samarill I'm trying to think of like some comics that people might not know of.

Scott: 37:57

That I love there's such an explosion of really great talent. It's fun to watch. There's this kid, pat Bercher, b-u-r-t-s-c-h-e-r. He's got this bit that hits so funny about like time travel. It's unbelievable. So, yeah, these people, like every week I'll see somebody new these days coming up. That just kind of blows me away. It's fun.

Guest: 38:19

At what point, when you were in New York and all of these gods of stand-up comedy would come in, at what point did you feel comfortable and be like, all right, I'm here, as opposed to like, holy shit, that's Chris Rock, it just walked in.

Scott: 38:32

Yeah, I guess you never do Really. I mean, I've probably you mentioned Chris Rock. Like I've probably introduced Chris Rock dozens of times on stage and never, you know, really feel comfortable talking to him. But I remember he was one of the first people I saw when I got off stage, when I walked into, like the VIP hang after opening for Louie and like we actually had a moment of like hello, how are you?

Scott: 38:54

You know, wow, yeah, so it was funny that you say that. But I guess I mean there's been a few moments. I mean, I guess I remember one night when they would do these auditions for like a festival at Montreal or something you know. You'd have a lineup and you'd have an opener and a closer that weren't auditioning. And I remember closing one night where the last two comics were Keith Robinson and Robert Kelly.

Guest: 39:16

Wow.

Scott: 39:17

I forget which one was last last or which one was second to last, but I had to go up after both of them and I was like this is not going to go well. And it was fine and I was like, all right, I'm in New York City now. Yeah, I can follow those two absolute beasts, you know. Yeah, stuff like that. I remember when I first started working at the cellar back in the day. I remember like I don't know if it was like a designed thing or deliberate, but I remember like going up Friday night late show after a tell and I remember the manager at the time, kim, was like oh, this is like if you can do this.

Scott: 39:49

This is how you know you're. You're for real, you know, going up after the King Dave a tellably, and so that was probably another moment. You know, you know what was enough. Yeah, like to feel really confident. After there used to be Broadway and New York comedy club were booked by the same people. It was the Al Martens clubs and it was set up for this like I don't know two or three year period where basically, you would do the nine o'clock show at Broadway, go over to New York comedy club, do a show, come back for the 11 o'clock show at Broadway.

Scott: 40:21

It would pretty much be the same comics and nobody would want to go last because you'd have to eat the checks. So the newest comic would go last and have to, like, go up while they're figuring out the checks and then be last.

Guest: 40:32

It's interrupt, which, by the way, for folks listening, is the absolute worst thing possible. Yeah.

Scott: 40:38

It's the hardest thing is to go up while they're doing the checks at the end of a showcase show.

Guest: 40:43

Server's ass is in your face as they're bending over.

Scott: 40:45

It can be mayhem.

Guest: 40:46

Yeah.

Scott: 40:47

Yeah, it's distracting. So you have to keep your composure, wait till people are refocused, get them refocused and still be doing material at that time and then have enough in the tank to bring it on because you're last. And I don't remember what order it was, although I think it was Roguel, greg Roguel, absolute legend, new York legend, mitch Faitel, taylor and then Gaffigan Wow, yeah, and I remember it was. You would do three shows, friday and Saturday and I came out of that unscathed.

Guest: 41:20

You're like I'm here.

Scott: 41:21

Yeah. So I was like, okay, yeah, that was probably one of those moments. Yeah, that's pretty sure.

Guest: 41:27

That's amazing. I'm so happy for you and all the stuff that you've got going on. What do you guys think?

Scott: 41:33

is next Probably a nap Well deserved. No, no, we're going to soccer. I'm working right now on figuring out which direction I would put more efforts into, as well as stand up put together now at the point where I can get back to writing every day and put together my next hour and do another album in special. Yeah, maybe I might resurrect a podcaster or something too.

Guest: 42:01

I loved Spiral Lone Up. It was a great concept. Great concept and you used your mental health, knowledge and background that you went to school for. Yeah, I mean, you used that really well. It was fun. Thanks, it's just so folks also know you worked in a psychiatric ward.

Scott: 42:19

I worked at well for Massachusetts people Westwood Lodge, which was in Westwood Mass, and then Children's Hospital in Boston. Yeah, I worked both those on the psych wards with the kids. Yeah, that's when I started. Yeah, no, I feel like you know I did that because that's what I went to school for. Yeah, and then it just happened to coincide with me figuring out that I wanted to do this and figured out a way to do this during that time. That's awesome.

Guest: 42:45

You've got two kids, a girl and a boy. I have a girl. She's seven. She's out of control. Yeah, how is your three-year-old daughter?

Scott: 42:54

Well, it's fun. I was listening to one of your podcasts and you said how she's just so into just being a girl and that is the way it is here. Our current upcoming dilemma will be when the weather shifts and she cannot wear summer dresses. No, we are very nervous. She only will wear like three or four of them. She likes her hair a certain way. Yeah, she's wants to be a princess. She likes dresses. The other day we said do you think you can wear some sweaters and stuff for the winter? She goes I only like gowns, gowns, gowns. But yeah, it's great.

Scott: 43:36

We thought she was easy until we had him. I think she is needier because of him. She still is having a very hard time with him being here. But my favorite thing is when I go to Lula, I can only and she goes do one thing at a time because I say it so much. She has to finish it for me because she just wants so much. He's just sitting there like whenever you need me, I'll be here. I'm just happy to be here. He's like totally chill. He's got like this inflamed, like eczema, and he's just like it's a little itchy. We're like that needs medical attention. He's like don't worry about me. I'm fine, I'm just so chill. Hey, look, here's my toes. He just wants her attention so badly. We're just like can you say hi to him? She's like hi, it just goes on with it. Once in a while she'll do something for him, and we're over the moon about it because it's like we had him for you. Yeah right.

Guest: 44:37

Daughter. She's an only child. There's no way we're having it anymore. We're done. We're shut off. We're done with that stuff. She's like I really would. I'd love a little brother or sister. And they say they do, but they really don't Like the first couple of years, right.

Scott: 44:52

She just moved up in daycare to a new class and so, with COVID and everything like, we've barely been in this place.

Scott: 44:59

They let me go in with her to drop her off to her new class, and I had him with me. Her classmates gave him more attention in eight minutes than she has given him in nine months. Did that set her off? They're all over a minute. It didn't phase her, no, she just sat in the court. I don't know what's going on over there. She has a best bud, she has a couple of best buds and they'll have a play date and they'll play more with a little Ollie than she will. But this is my favorite little thing to do with her now, because she gave him a nickname just out of nowhere. But what's Oliver's nickname? She goes apple juice. So now we all have them. I go. What's your nickname? She goes orange juice. What's daddy's nickname? Almond milk. What's mommy's nickname? Wine.

Guest: 45:41

That's what all mommy's names are.

Scott: 45:46

But yeah, no, I absolutely love it. She's just she's, she's personality and a half. She's really just funny.

Guest: 45:51

And then he's just this have you gotten any bad reports yet from daycare?

Scott: 45:55

No, she's, so she's one. I guess there's the daycare owner told us. You know, there's like two kinds of kids the ones that like act up at daycare or the ones that act up at home. She acts up at home.

Guest: 46:06

She waits for us.

Scott: 46:07

Yeah, she saves it all for mom and dad. Yeah, she's, you know, the only like she got bit by someone. That was the worst thing we heard, you know. You know, the only thing is she was emotional when he arrived. They said she could tell. They could tell she was having a hard time because she was more emotional, she was crying and stuff and she never had.

Guest: 46:25

My daughter went through a phase. We got a little note. We picked her up from school and we got a note and it was, like you know, finley did not use her hands kindly today. Oh God, all right, what happened? Apparently, she struck a boy on the top of the head with a plastic hammer because he closed her hands in the cash register.

Scott: 46:44

Yeah, and it was like a cool phrase to keep if she ever becomes like a professional fighter or anything you know. Just like, get in there, honey, and do not use your hands, kindly, remember. That's why we're here.

Guest: 46:56

I'm a big mixed martial arts fan and I wanted to get her into some sort of martial art, just first of all it's cute as hell to see little kids and like the little geese and stuff like that yeah, but also also just to get her some confidence and to make sure that she can always defend herself and she wants nothing to do with it. Nothing, nothing. She's pretty sure she's going to be the next Taylor Swift.

Scott: 47:15

Yeah, we literally had that conversation yesterday. We had passed a. Obviously they keep those windows open for those martial arts places so you can see the cuteness. And we were driving right by a storefront with some kids practicing and I had thought about that just recently. I go to the library to write during the day and it's right across from a school, and a school got out and I saw some older kids and I was like, ah, it just made me feel like, oh yes, there's going to be a time where I'm not going to have her with me all the time, I'm not going to be able to watch over her. I want her to take some self-defense or something, and so we literally had that conversation yesterday about hoping to do that, which is interesting because she's in two things right now soccer and ballet.

Scott: 48:00

Oh nice, ballet, which she wants to, soccer, which she doesn't. But she does a great job there, she participates, she does, and I swear there's it's. You know it's two and three year olds. So the practice starts with five kids and it just ends with her and this other kid every time. Wow, she's the only one that stays. And her favorite time is like after she scores I'll twirl her around or water break, but she does the whole 50 minutes and she has fun, even though she's like not necessarily into it. You know the soccer part. She likes the other things.

Guest: 48:30

We took Fintu to soccer and her ultimate goal was to see if she could get her fingers caught in the other goal net. She would just run to the other one and stick her fingers in and like, yeah, and we're like that's not where the action is, sweetie.

Scott: 48:43

It's fun, yeah, cause last night we tried a new playground and there was a high school soccer game going on and she just didn't even look at it. But at her regular playground there's cheerleading practice once a week or something which she does focus in on. Yeah, so it's very interesting, you know. She's like I want to do that, you know, and she's like barely noticed the soccer.

Guest: 49:02

My daughter's in gymnastics. She does it, it's a great cartwheel, and she also listens to these podcasts. Yes, sweetie, you do an excellent cartwheel.

Scott: 49:08

You do a great one. I've heard, see, she's not one of those kids like we'll go in and it's like you can get one present or something at a store. She's like I want that and like we're out. There's no, no, dilly-dally. Yeah, that's amazing. We went to the Disney store which we told her it was Disney World. We're like you can get one dress, and she just picked her dress right away and that was it and we're like but do you like you want to look at it or the other? She's like no, I want that one. So it's kind of helpful for Halloween and stuff like that. It's amazing. Yeah, she's just like that's what I want. Yeah, yeah, that's amazing.

Guest: 49:42

I mean the only store we have at Wilmington. We're still a little backwards down here, but the only store we literally have is Walmart. So every kid has every toy in the three aisles that Walmart has. We have to go down every single aisle every single time we go there. It's the same damn toys she knows.

Scott: 49:54

Wow, that's amazing, cherish, that that's good, because, yeah, her treat of coming with me to, like you know, one place has Princess Pezzas, she just gets the one she wants. There's no Dilly Delling a book at Target. She gets the book, oh oh, cherish that, that's amazing. That's absolutely amazing. Yes, but she'll fight us on every other thing.

Guest: 50:15

Every single thing. My daughter is into Taylor Swift to the extreme. We have to go to see the movie when it comes out. She wants to be Taylor Swift for Halloween and you have to be.

Scott: 50:26

Travis Kelsey.

Guest: 50:27

Which is super creepy. But I thought about it. Is it creepy? I don't know. Like I could be Travis Kelsey, like I could be Ted. Darken up the hair. And yeah is it weird, like going against your daughter's boyfriend, probably but yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe I'll go with Jason Kelsey. That won't be so creepy.

Scott: 50:44

Yeah the brother. Yeah, go as the dad. That'd actually be really funny if you could find a picture of him and dress up as the dad. Mr Kelsey, yeah, yeah.

Guest: 50:54

But we also get up play dates. Now we get, we'll walk into the room and there's pillows under the shirt and you know, I have a baby in my belly. And you know, oh my gosh, I walked into a room to see if the girls wanted to drink. There have it a play date. And one girl was laying down and my daughter was rubbing something across her belly and she said I'm giving her an ultrasound. Daddy, oh my gosh, what the hell are you watching? How do you know about that? Like, you get out of my house, you go, stand in the corner.

Scott: 51:20

Right now we're in sleepover land. All her animals are tucked under a blanket, all her stuffies. They're all minis, by the way. It's very creepy. There's about 800 mini. There's honestly 25 minis in that room and like little figurines are also under little washcloths having sleepover. Yeah, mini, mini, mini, mini mini Loves mini huh. Yeah, yeah, it's on a lot of clothes. There were three minis in the Halloween period at her daycare out of like 11 kids.

Guest: 51:47

Really.

Scott: 51:48

Yeah, of her class yeah.

Guest: 51:52

One year she went as for Halloween, she went to go as a cowgirl riding a unicorn. We're like what?

Scott: 51:55

Yeah, unicorns are huge. She wants to be a unicorn princess this year.

Guest: 51:58

I don't want to burst your bubble, but I'm like they're not real. John, thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with me and go through and catch up on our old Boston comedy days.

Scott: 52:10

Yeah this was fun.

Guest: 52:11

And all the cool stuff you got going on. Thanks, man, this has been great. Everybody go out and check Hinged John Fish on YouTube is fantastic, and if you're in New York City area, check him out. What's all your socials? My handle, the handles, that's what the kids call them. What's all the handles?

Scott: 52:27

The handles. There's JD Fish JD FISCH, as my grandfather says, you can't have the fish without the seed and then Johnny Fish. Pretty much everything else Johnny Fish, All right.

Guest: 52:42

Well, thanks again, john. I really appreciate it. This has been awesome. Everybody go check out his stuff. Thank you. Follow John. He's hilarious and you're going to absolutely love him. Thanks again, man. Thank you, and I am eating it. These people hate me, they want nothing to do with me, so I'm bombing up. And this woman said something and I was like that's it. And I just went into the crowd work and I said something and the place erupted and I was like yeah, and I was like, oh, mom, mom, you've got to go, you've got to go now. Oh, jesus Christ.

Scott: 53:12

Oh my God, start the car.