Interview with Theo Von about Deal With It and stand-up

I'm Vic Cohen and it's a fair question it's a fair question it's a fair question I'm Vic Cohen and it's a fair question it's a fair it's a fair it's a fair it's a fair question I'm Vic Cohen and it's a fair it's a fair it's a fair it's a fair question yes yes it's a fair question it is it's a very fair question welcome to the show I am Vic Cohen broadcasting live from Skid Row Studios from beautiful stunning downtown Los Angeles I have a guest with me who you've seen before. I'm sure of it. You're going to notice his twang and go, I know that guy. Really? Yeah, they are. Okay. I'm hearing it right now. I'm hearing your twang and saying, I know you. I dig it, man. Yeah. They know. Well, you know, the name of our guest is Theo Von. That's me. Kumatowski. No. That is your name. No, Kernatowski. Theo Von Kumatowski. There's no M in it. I'm sorry, sir. You've been saying your name wrong. I hate to correct you. That must be very embarrassing for you. It is, man. It's tough when you don't even know your own name. No. Say it for me, your last name. Von Kernatowski. Okay. Is that German? It's German and Polish. Because it is a Jew. I'm scared. Yeah? When I hear that. Yeah. Von. I can see it. Von Kumatowski. Yeah. For a second, it looked like Jeremy, who runs the place, was kissing his girlfriend. It might have been, and I wouldn't blame him. You know, that name just stirs romance. Yeah. That last name. You can go back. Just keep your clothes on. Yeah, or don't, man. Yeah. Let's turn it into that show. You know, there are cameras here. Guys, people get off on that. We should get a camera in there. We'll be the judges. They're really like two little lovebirds, a little love nest. We'll be the judges, man. Yeah. I mean, this girl, they started dating maybe two months ago. They're just friends. Now she's taken over the studio. She's got her own desk. It's how it works, man. It's how it goes. Clearly. Man. This thing is moving fast. Before we know it, Jeremy will be shipped off. He'll just be the lady running the show. Yeah. That's true, actually. That's how it'll end up. That's how it is. That's how it goes, man. In this world. Well, let's get back to you, though. This is not about them and their little love affair. This is about you. Yeah. Now, for those of you who have not been jarred by the name, Theo Vaughn, that's his stage name, or by the sound of his voice. Yep. You may know him from... A show he does Monday through Thursdays online. Yeah. Yahoo. Yeah. Real time and prime time. Prime time and real time. Prime time and no time. In no time. That's what it's called. You can look it up anytime. It's at Yahoo. It's called Prime Time and No Time. It's the most watched daily show in the history of the internet. By Theo himself. It has almost... I think we have almost a billion views. Come on. Yeah. It's the most watched... How can you click a billion times, Theo? How are you doing that? It's Yahoo.com, man. They got... Look, they got some viewers, bro. That's not you personally. It's not me. Wait, come on. It is not me doing it. Wait, you're saying every day, a billion? In the history of the show. Right. They have almost a billion views for this show. Wow. Pretty cool. Yeah. I feel just, you know, I feel totally blessed to be associated with it. It's a great time. We watch shows every day. Sunday through Thursday, we watch television shows, basically any unscripted programming. We mine like the buzziest moment that we can find and then we create our show based around that. So, Theo, on a given day, how many people are seeing you? Yeah. On Yahoo? I don't know. On a given day, it's hard to tell. I mean, I think we average almost seven million views a month. Wow. Now, you are a standup comic, so this must be amazing for your standup career, right? Yeah. Actually, the two are really totally separate, actually. I mean, I feel like they are. Like that's... Yeah, the standup, I feel like it's totally separate. Okay. Well, I just think getting your name out there. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. People getting excited. Hey, it's that guy. Totally, totally, totally. Yeah. I was in Chicago a few weeks ago for the Just for Laughs Festival and had a bunch of people. Saw you there. Had a bunch of people that recognized me from the show. That was really cool. This was funny, actually. I got to say this, because I don't know. I did go and see you and it was great seeing you and we hung out afterwards. Now, I know Theo. He's become friends. He's become... That's good. I'm speaking well tonight. We've become friends through a show and sometimes you just click with someone and that's how I... I don't want to speak for Theo. It's always awkward when the other person... No, please. But I really like this guy and... I didn't feel that big. Yeah. That's okay. I'm used to that kind of relationship. But Theo's... When you make new friends, it's really kind of fun. It is fun. We're in the honeymoon period. It's interesting. But then again, the show, we finished shooting and I haven't seen him as much, so I don't know. The honeymoon period may be over. I hope not. I don't think it is. Not for me. Not for me either, man. It's just been a bit... I think we've just both been busy and living our regular lives and in LA, it's hard to spend time with people. I think so. I agree. You know? But just so everyone, all of you listening know, I met Theo. I met him. I met Theo from the show that is debuting this coming Thursday. A week from tomorrow. Wednesday. Is it Wednesday? The 17th? Yeah, I believe it's Wednesday. The 17th is... Oh my God. It's definitely not a Thursday. Yep, it's Wednesday. Next Wednesday night at 10.30 Eastern, 9.30 Central, I believe. It's on TBS. It's on TBS. It's called Deal With It. And it's a Howie Mandel production and I am the host and Vic is an actor on it. I am and I also was kind of like a producer on... I was there every shoot day. Yeah, you did a great job. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We did a lot of work. We had a lot of fun. We had a lot of fun. And there was some crazy stuff. We can't really talk about it because we signed these confidentiality agreements, but I will just say this, that Theo saw me completely naked. I did, man. On 11 monitors. I did, actually. And then personally, but we can't talk about that either. I think I saw some photos in my phone that I've Instagrammed them. Yeah, I sext everyone I work with. Do you? No, not true. No, that's horrible. Good. I would never do that. I don't mix business and pleasure. I saw enough, I'll say that. You sure did. It was our last day of taping. It was awesome, man. It was a great day. We let it all hang out, or I did. That was a great time. It was a good time. So how big would you say a moment in your career was doing the show? Because I just want to be really clear, we've got six episodes coming. Theo is in every one of them. I mean, he literally is side by side with some huge stars. And there's no way to cut Theo out of the show. Right. There are sometimes when you're on a show. You're like, well, am I on the show? I don't know. I better watch. Right. Yeah, I guess sometimes you don't know. No, but you are all over it. I'm in. You're in. You made it. I'm in. I got to be in. So I am in. You did a great job. Thanks, Vic. I appreciate that, man. It was fun. How was it working with Howie? Working with Howie is like, I mean, he's like the Wizard of Oz. He's just so intelligent that it's almost like you're almost like, I mean, first of all, I was definitely nervous. Oh, just to be clear for everyone, this is Howie Mandel. Yes. Howie Mandel. Go on. My mother's a huge fan of Howie Mandel. Oh, that's nice. So she loves America's Got Talent. She's always taught and she's always speaking about him or has been in the past. So then I get there and obviously I've known about Howie. I mean, he's a comedian. He's a host. He's an actor. I mean, he's a producer. He's done everything. He's a dancer. Yeah. Is he really a dancer? A lot of people don't know that. Oh, yeah. No way. No. Oh. I was going to be like, if he can dance, dude, I quit. No, he's not a dancer. I quit life. If he can dance too, I quit life. No, you don't have to quit. No, he can't. So yeah, it was just, it was incredible. I was certainly nervous at first because he's the first guest or the first day of shooting, he was a guest on the show. Celebrity guest. Celebrity guest on the show. So it was crazy because it's his show. It's his production company. So it was crazy. It was nerve wracking. It was crazy, but it was also exciting. I mean, it was, I tried to mimic some of the things that he did because I saw just how perfectly he did them and just how smooth and I don't think there'd be anybody better to be around and to learn from. And he was cool. I mean, just to be around, his family was there sometimes and it was cool to kind of get a little bit of a peek inside of his life. That's true how he's a total family guy and I've worked with him for- You've known him for a long time. Forever. And so it's always, the reason I was asking is because I was curious what a new experience is what was for you working with him. I think he's a genius and amazing. Agreed. And he's like a real guy, like with the family, it's incredibly warm. And nice. Yeah. And it was, it always surprised me too, some of the jokes he would pull out of certain things and I don't know, it was cool, man. He's got a, he does have an amazing mind and a quick wit. Yeah. It's like he's got like the first Mac is like in his head kind of. Well yeah. And if you ever see a standup show, a lot of that is on display, you know, as he works with the audience and- Right. Just how much is going on. Oh yeah. And a lot of people may not realize in the ads for the show, they say from the mind of executive producer. Right. And while it's definitely collaborative. Yeah. A lot of it really does come from Howie's mind. Yeah. And it's not like that's just a platitude. Yeah. Or they're trying to jump onto his name. I mean, he was very hands on involved. Yeah. And he loves that whole genre. I mean, we were doing some press the other day and he loves just that whole genre of hidden camera. He always has. And he loves that safe, you know, that safe family fun, you know? Yeah. I mean, not to make it sound boring, cause it was definitely pretty, you know, there were moments where it got pretty edgy. We're at 1030, so. Yeah. So it's the late block, but it was, you know, he likes that type of programming. He likes the type of stuff where you can sit down and, you know, and it's cool enough to watch it with your kids, you know, like not so risque that you can't enjoy it with everyone. You're 40 year old kids. Yeah. No, but I know exactly what you're talking about. Right. Hey, Jeremy, do you have that, some audio before, I'll tell you when to roll it. Not quite yet. Here's one, there are tons of these clips running on YouTube and they're running on TBS, like on a, like a loop. Yes. And they're really promoting it. So for those of you who haven't heard the ad that's been running on television or online, here's the audio from that. Go ahead, Jeremy. If you don't believe money will make people do crazy things. Look over your shoulder at that girl. Wait until you see our brand new hidden camera ambush series. Grab the whole bowl of chips, throw it across the restaurant. You just won $5,000. Deal with it from the comedic mind of Howie Mandel. Series premiere Wednesday, July 17th, only on TBS. Very funny. Yeah. Cool. I mean, I just remember like, you know, one of my jobs was not only the acting, but to pitch ideas, you know, for different scenarios. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I kept saying, not to say this was, I mean, it would've come up about throwing the chips, but I think it became a running gag because I kept dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun Throw the chips. And there's only, you can only do these things once. And again, why don't you tell everyone real quick, just the premise of the show. So the premise of the show basically is like, it could be you, you and your wife, husband, fiance, friend, business partner, boss, cousin, gym workout buddy, go somewhere together. And next thing you know, someone approaches you, a waiter. Usually a restaurant. An assistant, a partner. Yes. Someone that's associated with something approaches you and gets one of you away from the other person for a minute. That's all we need. For some reason that you think is just totally natural. Like a valet, can you come deal with your car? A maitre d' or something. Hey, I need you to, you know, I have a questionnaire. You want to do this? You want to? So next thing you know, we get you in an environment where there I am. Do you want to be on a game show? You can win $5,000 right now. All you have to do is deal with it. If they want to play? Then they, we put an earpiece in their ear. They go back to their table and now they are at the, I don't want to say mercy, but they are. I'll say it. Mercy. Okay. They are at the mercy or under the direction of myself and the celebrity guests that we have there that day. We start giving them different, we start giving them different things to do, different, not obstacles, but. The more, let's say the more difficult or embarrassing or odd the action that they do at the table. Yes. Usually they're at the table, the more money they can earn. The more money that they can earn. But if they're, if they're, whoever they're with realizes that they're on a game show, then the game is going to end. And if they can't deal with it at any time, they don't want to do what we're requesting or asking. They say, I can't deal with it. And that's when it ends as well. So they always have a way out, but there's definitely people want to play. Everybody's like, Oh, I want to do it. I want to go to that next level. So it's great to watch them squirm. It's great to watch them squirm sometimes. Oh yeah. And it's fun to watch you squirm. Yeah. Oh dude. I got, there were times where I couldn't even do it. Like how can they feel this way right now? I can barely even feel this way. Yeah. There are a lot of moments like that. And, uh, I really, your guys are going to love this show. It's really funny and way, it's pretty insane. It's great. And just how it can happen to anybody. I mean, you can go, you, you, you and your friend, anyone, you and whoever you're with can think you're about to get an appetizer. And next thing you know, you're on a game. Like, right. The other person has no idea. You know, that's the thing. One person's playing the game at a dinner table and the person across them has no idea. Suddenly this, their friend is. He's acting weird and doing all kinds of crazy things. And it's, uh, it's fun. We took it to some, we took it to some unique levels. Uh, Heidi Klum was a guest. That was wonderful. Josh Gad, amazing, uh, performer, stage former, an actor. Um. Josh Gad, people would know from, uh, he had a series. That's Freezing Geeks? Is that him? Yeah. Uh, he had that other show, the Pennsylvania Avenue. Oh, 1600 Penn. 1600 Penn. Yeah, right. Yes. He's also done a lot of films. And he's in the new film, um, Steve Jobs movie. Oh, really? Oh, okay. Yeah. He plays, uh, Steve Wozniak. Wozniak. Wozniak. I always get the name wrong. Um, so talented. Uh, Mel B, one of the Spice Girls, who also is on America's Got Talent with Howie. Right. Um. Who else do we have here? How about Joan Rivers? Joan Rivers. Joan Rivers. That was amazing. All, absolutely amazing. Dude, you geeked out that day. We had a great time. You geeked out. Oh, yeah. I wrote for her. Yeah. Period. Oh, nice. I mean, you know, like, yeah, she, um, and she was amazing, but I never met her in person until that day. I would fax her jokes to New York. Really? Yeah. Yeah. That's how she gets, she only gets jokes by fax, I've heard. Yeah, that's right. So, um, that was an amazing experience for all of us working on it. And I'm just curious, uh, how big a deal was it for you when you got the call that you're going to be hosting? I mean, were you, was this a hard process? I was stoked. I was actually up for a different hosting job at the same time. That was, I think it was, you know, we're waiting to hear about that. Um. Did you have to audition for this job? Yes. So I went in and met, uh, yeah. So I went in. It wasn't just like, oh. It wasn't just a cold call, you know, kind of, or just where they reached out. Um, so I went in and met with all the producers, Mike Marks, um, Roy Bank, everyone. And, uh, and then. Did your agent set up the, uh, audition? Yes, set up through my agent. Um. So what did your agent say to you? They said. Before the, uh, the audition. Well, they said, you know, they told me a little bit about the, I don't know if they told me about the project. No, they didn't. They didn't. And I actually had a, uh, meeting earlier that day with, uh, the producer. I had a meeting with the production company as well for a different project that Roy Bank's, uh, production company who, uh, did it in joint production with Howie Mandel's production company. Right. Um, was meeting about. So it was, it was interesting. I had the meeting first for the one show and then basically. Same day. Yes. Waited in the lobby for five minutes and met with, uh, Mike Marks and everyone and Mike Harney for the different show. Do you think that you were in their head from the first show and they said, hey, why don't, and maybe someone from the first meeting said, let's talk to this guy. I want you to meet him about the second show. Or was it all planned ahead of time? No, it was already planned ahead. And it was just totally ironic that I had these two meetings in the same spot. Where was the meeting? The meetings were, it was over in Lancashire somewhere over in Burbank basically, I guess. Okay. Right. Uh, and yeah, it was great. I, and the first meeting went cool. Did you have a, sorry, I just, I'm curious, did you have sides? Did you, you know, sides meaning like lines or. No, we didn't go over that. They wanted to talk about my crank. We talked about my crank text cause I text, you know, I've texted, you know, 30,000 random numbers and created a lot of like that pranking environment of just, you know, being in that environment of, of, of. Prank texting people. Okay. And we'll get to that in a little bit. But the headline is of that is that Theo has, uh, kind of created a little bit of a, a niche for himself of, uh, instead of prank phone calls, he'll take a, come up with a random number and then start in his own comedic way. This is long before catfishing. I mean, yeah, people say catfish and this and that. I mean, I've been doing this for almost four years now. So they, they knew about that. Said, you're a bit of a prankster. Yeah. You're a bit of a prankster. This is a prank show we have. And I, when they showed me the reel, I just got really geeked. I mean, um, I was super excited. Like I love the concept. I just felt naturally, totally comfortable with these guys. And then they called a few days later and they said, uh, you know, I think this is going to work. Let's, you know, let's do it. So you never had to actually pretend as if you were doing the show, act like a host. No, I don't think we ever, we know we never did anything like that. I mean. How nice. Cause you know, the audition you've had, I mean, you know, auditions can be strange and you don't really know, you know? Yeah. So that's a nice compliment. Yeah. So that was great. It was great. Uh. Did you have other comic friends who were going out for it? Like, you know, people talk. I didn't. Okay. I didn't. I don't think they casted a huge net for it, you know, but I, but I have no clue, you know, I have no clue. I was just thankful that they gave me the opportunity. You know, I was definitely stoked. Um, and I had the Yahoo show that I still do. So I think, you know, they had a lot of footage from that, um, that they could check out day, you know, like we just kind of had some, some things that were going on that were going well. And then, you know, and then this happened. So. Work always seems to get work, right? Yeah. When you're working, it helps. When you're working. Yeah. It's taken, you know, 10 years to get some work, I feel like in this side of the business, but. I don't know. I mean, I've looked at your credits and you know, you, with that, you broke into TV with your reality show in 2000, correct? I guess that's true actually. And kind of going full circle here, you were talking about how you were at the TBS, uh, just for laughs, uh, show. Right. In Chicago, about a month and a half or so ago. And when I was there, I remember a guy pulled you over after the show and he said something like, I used to think you were kind of. Kind of a whatever from that road rules. Oh, he didn't think I was going to be funny, I guess. He thought you were like obnoxious or something from the show. What was your character in this reality show that kind of got you your launch? It wasn't a character, I don't think. It was just you being you? Yeah. I think it was just me being me. I mean, I don't know. I was 19 years old. I was walking across the college campus and then this opportunity kind of happened. What happened? Someone approached you? I know they just had auditions. I was feeling really bummed out. Um, and I just went into this audition. I was looking for some kind of a job. I was looking for some kind of a job. I was looking for some kind of a job. I was looking for some kind of a change in my life, really. And I went into this. What campus? Uh, this was first at University of Arizona, actually. Were you a student there? I was a student. Uh, my freshman year of college. And I didn't make it. I made it to like the second round of this casting for, at that time it was casting for Real World and Road Rules, Bonham Ray Productions were holding castings around the country. And I didn't make it. I made it to the second round of auditions. And they have seven rounds that they do. Oh my God. And the next year I was going to Louisiana State University. And they usually do auditions at about, I think, eight university campuses around the country. Uh, each time they, they, they draw for, for, for students or, you know, for people for the shows. And the second year they were doing it at LSU and I transferred to LSU to Louisiana State, back to my home state. And they were doing it there. And I went and I was, and I, um, they had it in town and I went down there. And then this time, you know, I got, I got lucky, you know? So what was going on? You said you wanted a change in your life. Cause, is this the Louisiana audition or the first one? That was the first one. The second one, I was having a better time. What was going on in your life that you said you needed to change? I don't know. I think I just didn't like being too far away from home. You're homesick? Yeah. I think I was kind of homesick and it was just, I mean, Arizona is a total, it's totally different, you know? And Louisiana felt like more close knit and small towns. I think it was nerve wracking. You know, it was just, you know, probably homesick. Well, what about now? We're 10 years down the road. Are you still homesick for Louisiana? I think, I think if you're from Louisiana, I don't think you can never not be. It's the most native state where people that are born there die there. Um, are there any statistics behind that? There are, there are. I think if you, I think you can actually figure that out. The most native state. Our people never leave there. Randy Jackson left. That's one person. We could probably make a list. Me, Randy Jackson, Harry Connick Jr. Like you probably make a list of the people that ventured out of there. Well, Randy Jackson is so enamored by Louisiana that anytime someone would be on American Idol, he would just, you know. Flip out. Yo, completely. Yeah. They had a, uh, they had a guy on there from Shreveport, uh, last year. What was that kid's name? Escapes me right now. But anyway, so yeah. So anyway, I got it. That's how I got into the, uh, working with Bonamari, uh, doing the road rules. And that was great. I mean, I remember the day that they called after three months of auditioning and said, you know, do you want to go? And I was like, man, this is crazy. Like this crazy. This is for road rules. Yeah. And it was crazy. And at that time in 99, I think it was, or 2000, one of the, like there was a lot of people watching. It was like right. The Hawaii season of real world had just aired and MTV was hot. I mean, it was hot at that time. You know, I was going through like a really hot phase. And so it was pretty wild. We had a good time. And how many episodes was that series? I don't know. I don't remember. I think it might've been 12 or 14. So you just kind of kept going though with the reality thing, right? Well, yes. I rode the, I rode the challenges. I did a couple of the challenge shows that I think I did three of the challenges with Bonamari productions. What are the celebrity reality celebrity challenge? It's basically like you just compete against the real world, like in different countries around the world. It's like, it's basically like summer camp, but with games and booze. Now I, what I'm going to ask you, uh, is what everyone's thinking. I have to ask. What was the, what was the, what was the, what was the, what was the, what was the, what was the sex life? Like sex life. The sex life after the show. Weren't you getting laid a lot during the show? Uh, during the show? No, actually during the taping of the show, I had a girlfriend. Oh, so yeah, it was, I mean, it was cool. It was cool at the time. She was an awesome girlfriend. So did that work for the storylines in the show? I think so. Our road rules didn't have much storylines really. It was more just about like the competitions and stuff. It wasn't about like, yeah, it didn't get guys trying to get laid. No real world got more into that, you know? Okay. And, uh, getting laid in the camper is not cool. Like you can't bring a chick back to your fricking camp. Like, you know, like, Hey, I'm staying out at the KOA campgrounds. Yeah. But it's the, like, no chick is like, yeah, I'm going to roll out to the side of the interstate with some random dude who already owes your camper. No, there's five other people in a production crew sleeping in it. Don't worry. This is totally safe. When there are cameras, it's a whole different game. You know, there's your birth control right there, man. Five other people in a small camper. Really? No one was biting on that? Well, you had a girlfriend, so you could even test. So how many, uh, you did, haven't you done like a decade of reality? Uh, well then after that I got into last comic standing. That was in 2003, right? Yep. That was in 2000. You were the most downloaded comic of the internet comics, correct? I won the internet. I basically won the internet. I got, I made it to the final 40. Didn't make it into the show, actually, into the house or whatever they called it at the time. And then, yeah, I got most downloaded. How long had you been doing standup when that happened? Two years. That's it? Yeah. So I was really fresh into it. No, I think that happened in 2005. Were you ready? Okay. Were you ready? To have been on the show if they called you and said, come on out? No, I don't think I had enough material. Would you have just like freaked out? I surely didn't have enough material. I mean, I would have tried to think up some material really fast. Right. So, but I wasn't at the time. Were you doing that stuff? Like, I can't remember the video. Were you just standing in front of a camera somewhere or were you actually at a club sending in that video? No, that video, they had auditions at the Improv. I was living out of here. Oh, okay. It was 2005. I moved out of here, I think, in 2003. So they, it's odd, like usually those internet things, it's like people are, it's uploading from their home. Oh, no, no, no. This one was, they had, they took the people, they found 40 finalists for the season. Then they picked 12 for the house, I think, or whatever. And then the other 28, they put into an online competition. I see. Okay. And put their audition videos or their, yeah, their final audition videos up against each other and let the internet vote. And that was in 2005? That was in 2005. So when you went into starting with your first reality television show, you were 19. Mm-hmm. Then five, six years later. Whatever you've got this last comic standing. Right. And then I did a show called A Battle of the Network Reality Stars, which is Andy Cohen's first show at Bravo. Okay. First show he ever did. And it was just against other people who'd been on reality television. That was kind of interesting. And for those of you who are not familiar with Andy Cohen, he's the guy who does all these recap shows with the housewives of, you know, whatever. Yes. I mean, they have so many amazing shows on Bravo and he's a super cool guy. He's a super cool dude. And it was, that was a fun show. I met some other friends on there. What about all the... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We've got here in LA, a lot of people who look at reality TV as a second rate and, you know, I believe a lot of actors out here and actresses are micromanaging their careers too much and missing out on some opportunities by turning down reality. What's your experience and what's your thought on that? I think there could be, I mean, I think it's changed a lot. You know, I think, I mean, I'll be honest with you. I would love to go on The Bachelorette. I mean, I was like... If I wasn't working, I wasn't going to submit a tape this year. Like, if I had enough free time, like, I would love to, like, you know, smoking hot chick. You go up against other dudes, try to win her. I mean, I just think it would be fun. You know, I think it'd be really cool. I agree. Yeah. It'd be a blast, right? It'd be a blast. Well, someone says, you know, they go, well, I don't know. I mean, don't you want to be an actor? Don't you want a film career, Theo? Or maybe your own sitcom? I mean, really? You want to be on The Bachelorette? That could kill everything. You know, that's how people think sometimes. Right. And I mean, in some senses, they're right, because here's the problem is audiences often can't believe you as an actor if they know you too well, which makes sense, I think. And so that's some of the issues with reality television. And it makes sense. It's like, if I know someone to a certain extent, then I can't believe something else about them at all. But my argument against that would be then one actor should do only one film their whole life. Tom Cruise, do Top Gun, and we're done. I mean, part of our roles live with us forever. Right. And we're able to suspend. This belief. And I hear what you're saying, but a great actor. Maybe you're right. I think what you're- Actor. Right. But are you an actor? I mean, I've auditioned a lot. I have, have I booked a lot of stuff? No. Do I think that I will in the future? Yes. I think I'll have an acting career. Now with your, you did a half hour special on Comedy Central. Yes. This was just last June, correct? This was last June, yeah. That would be June 2012. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. How nervous were you for that? When I watched a lot of it, you know, I mean, online as much as I could. How nervous were you when you're doing that show? How nervous did it seem like I was? You seemed very casual. It looked the same as when I saw you in Chicago. That's how I felt. The audience was, it was, the audience was not good for the show. It was actually one of the worst shows I had been around. And I think, but I hear tapings are like that. You didn't feel they were on your side? I just felt like, I mean, you're waiting there to go on. I was on stage and like people have been in line for three hours. They're miserable. They're not serving alcohol to them. They get in there. They think that they're going to be able to kind of relax. And then it's just like, there's this, just this lady was wheeling around. I think this one-eyed lady was wheeling around like just. In the audience? Oh, just seat. Yeah, she was like the seat lady. And she was just like a, oh, it was just, I felt bad for them. I was down there. I was supposed to be backstage getting ready. I was down there making sure that my friends got a decent seat instead of just trusting this seat. She was just like the seat freak that they had down there. I mean, she was, oh. So now. She was bad. How much, they call it a half hour, but did you do a half hour? Did you do like an hour and they take the best of that? No, you do a half hour and they take 22 minutes of it. All right. And did you have to get all of that 22 minutes approved ahead of time? Yes, you have to go over it. And that's actually one of the funniest conversations is going over your material with standards and practices. Cause you're like, what do you mean you can't say dick raffle? You know? You tell me why I can't say dick raffle. You know? Like you were having these, these strangest conversations and you're like, what if I say dick raffle? Is that, can we get that by? Like you're having these insane conversations that make no sense. And now suddenly you have people collaborating on your writing that you don't want collaborating with. Yes. I mean, yes. I mean, I got away with a blunt. I mean, I felt like I just let it rip. I mean, I didn't really, I actually threw in extra curse words I wasn't even planning on saying. Right. Was that just to say, screw you everyone? Or just you were in the moment? I was just kind of in the moment. And the crowd was, there were people sleeping in the audience. I mean, homeless people. I mean, they give the key, they give the tickets out to anybody. Were you like part of a lineup? Yes. There was a lineup in the show. The guy before there was, I was, there was three of the night I think. And I was the fourth. And so they were running a couple hours. You were the last guy? Yeah. They were running a couple hours. Some of these are paid audiences. They're not even really even wanting to be there. Yes. I mean, there were people in the audience and like, this is your crowd. And I'm like, there's like a bus full of all blind kids sitting there. And I'm like, come on. Like, I know I don't have this. Not my crowd. Not my crowd. You know, there's, there's women. There's somebody that I shirt on that said, I hate you. No. And I was like, yeah. And I'm like, that's my crowd. You gotta be kidding. Come on. You're making that up. I'm not making, there were people. There was a guy in the audience wearing an I hate you shirt. And I'm like, this is my audience. This is not my audience. I love that. That is hilarious. Well, I went through as much as I could. Not meaning I, like I couldn't tolerate, but I couldn't find the whole set on, on line. Yeah. I don't think it's out there except they might be on a, on demand. Hold on though. Okay. I did find part of you. I found part of your set. You did. And I did. And I, um, in a moment, Jeremy, do you have it queued up? Okay. Um, we're going to, is it okay if we just surprise you? Yeah. Because you didn't even know I pulled a clip. Yeah, dude. I'm ready. Yeah. And I really like this bit. Okay. Um, and I'll tell you, it's not the bit, not that I didn't like it. It's not the bit about the car, uh, the, um, whatever you call it. You, it came right after that. Oh, the cruiser? Yeah. It's right after that. Okay. Okay. All right. You ready, Jeremy? Let's let it roll. Here we go. This is Theo Vaughn, uh, part of his Comedy Central special. I stayed up the other night watching something on television. It was like a public. And that was Theo Vaughn. And, you know, it's amazing. They cut me off all the time, man. Most people need, uh. Service announcement, you know. You know what it, here we go. You gotta help these kids, you know. Wait, can we start it from the beginning? And something's wrong with it. Jeremy, sorry. You know what happens, uh, cause it's live. Right. And we pull it from a, we, it's streaming usually. And sometimes we have a problem with the internet. There we go. Stayed up the other night watching something on television. It was like a public service announcement, you know. And it's like, you gotta help these kids, you know. And they show these kids. And something's wrong with them. And. Mmm. And. Did I do it? You know what? It was a great bit. It's like, they're sewing pants for a penny a day in sweatshops. And I'm like, well, if they're sewing pants and they need help, like, why doesn't one of them sew a message for help into some pants? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Especially if they got all day. But knowing us in America, that would just be like a new fashion statement. Like, oh, do you like these new, um, thirsty jeans? What are these? Oh, a lion ate my brother? Ed Hardy? No. Fed hardly. They're real nice. It's a good, that's great. Thank you, Jeremy. They're real nice. Thank you, Jeremy. So, where did that come from, that bit? That joke? That joke? Do you sit and write? Do you, like, sit down at a desk? Do you wake up every morning? Now I do that a lot more. Now I do that a lot more now. How many hours a day? I probably write for, I would say, I would say now I'm writing about an hour and a half a day. Deliberately, pen to paper? Yeah, because there's just other stuff going on. It's like you'll have an audition. You know, in L.A., an audition takes two and a half hours. You got to get over there. You got to do it. You got to get back home. You know, I work at Yahoo, so that's four hours in the evening. I'll go out and do comedy after that. I usually five nights a week. So, that's, you know, that takes a couple of hours. So, that bit that you did that we just listened to, and sorry about the, you know, there was a break there because timing is everything. Where did that premise come from? The premise came from the, just, I guess, just fancy pants, you know, and just all the things that people have in them. I've never been a fan of Nancy Grace. I think they sensationalized missing and molested kids. You know, I just- Which is the part after that. Right. Which is the part after that that they cut out, actually. They did? No, I heard something about Nancy Grace. Yeah, yeah. But they cut out, like, actually the big, huge punchline at the end. Oh, okay. Which I thought was kind of a bummer, but it's cool because then I can just save it and use it for something in the future. Right. Because now no one could say you stole from yourself. Right. They probably will. People probably will start saying that. How do you deal with that? People stealing. People stealing. People stealing. People stealing. People stealing. People stealing. People stealing. People stealing. People stealing. People stealing. It really is something- I mean- Well, we had Carlos Mencia on Deal With It. Right. And he's been under accusation for stealing jokes, hasn't he? From years ago. I don't know if it's still going on. From years ago. Yeah, I don't know if it's still going on. And I didn't- I mean, people say Robin Williams steals jokes, you know? Well, I'll tell you this. First of all, Carlos Mencia, he certainly didn't seem like a thief to me or a thieving type of person or conniving. Well, but regarding like when- You know, I also do stand up. Right. And I do- I feel like there has to be- Right. Right. There has to be a trust in the universe. And the only way you can find out what's working and think on your feet is you got to do it. Right. You know, you can't go anywhere just doing it for yourself in front of a mirror. Right. Right. Yeah, you got to get out there and do it. I mean, it's- I hear bits all the time that I know that I've thought up and written down. Some that I've even tried. I'm not working them all the time. Right. You know, if it were something that were exact, I might- I would have a discussion. But if it's something that's just like, you know, thoughts are carte blanche, you know, they're for everyone. I mean, premises, you know, they're our own. We use so many premises. I have a thing where people say, you know, how old are you? And I say, you know, I would never say- I say I play, you know, 25 to 40. I play 5'2 to 5'8. I play 1'30 to, you know. And I heard some girl say, oh, I was at some place and she's on stage saying, oh, I just had a birthday. I'm whatever, 30. You know, she goes, I just had a birthday and now I play 25 to 40. You know, it's like, I'm still going to do my jokes. Right. If it comes up in the moment. Right. You know, because- I legitimately thought of it years ago. I've been saying it for years. Yeah. I mean, you have to honor what you've spent time doing too, you know. Some people say, well, it's the first person to get it to television, you know. Yeah. I mean, that, now that's when it gets a little bit interesting because once it gets to television, it's like, that's when people can say, oh, or once it's on tape somewhere, then people can say, oh, you took it or, you know, this person did it first, you know. I don't know. It's interesting, man. That's why I just try to be myself. And that way they can't really take from you, I don't feel like. And you can't be accused of taking from someone else, really. Right. No, that's true. And especially if you tell personal stories, but you know, if someone really wanted to take like the bit we just heard, I mean- They could take it. Right. Now, because it's not like Theo's story about how he lost his virginity or his employer at the bakery or whatever. And I think as you get older, you get more of where you're telling actual stories, I think. And so then- More comfortable on stage. Yes. And when you get more comfortable, you're telling more stories, I think. And so then people can't take that, you know. So I think that's one thing that defeats it. But Rob, say you take a mind like Robin Williams, people have said, and I'm not saying that, I haven't, you know, people have said, oh, Robin Williams takes jokes. But Robin Williams' mind, it seems like it thinks of 2,000 jokes a day. Right. You know, at that speed, he's going to take everybody's jokes in a week, you know, or at least have thought through them. Also, Robin Williams is unique in Robin Williams' personality. Some may say that he stole Jonathan Wynne. Or parts of it. I think that's probably a big exaggeration. Yeah. But you do notice, I was doing something at home yesterday and I was like, man, this feels just like I'm watching so-and-so. I had a certain just motion with my hand or something and it reminded me of another comedian. I was like, I have to be careful of that. Now, watching you do your stuff, I notice you do kind of talk about dating stories and things like that. Do you practice? Do you have every word written out as if it's a monologue? No. No, I think that they can change a lot. Like, I'm working on a bit now. Like, I met Brad Pitt. I ran into Brad Pitt the other day, basically. With three Ts? It wasn't the Brad Pitt. It was the Brad Pitt. I've seen that guy, too. Yeah. Oh, no, the Brad Pitt. The Brad Pitt. And so, it was- I heard he's gained weight, by the way. It was, look, dude, I stared at him and could not see him, okay? That's how amazing it was to see Brad Pitt. Yeah. Like, I have- Like, he was- It was amazing. It was absolutely amazing. And I'm telling a story- I'm writing a story about that right now, and I've been telling it, and I'm practicing it on stage, and- Now, when you say you've been telling it on stage, do you go in with how you're going to tell it on stage? Like, or do you kind of let it roll on stage and see how it's going? Not how, but definitely I have the punchlines that I want to hit. I have the moments that I want to hit. But sometimes some will come up new, and I'm learning that if I stay active while I'm on stage and stay, like, and be a little bit more mobile, then I'll create new stuff. You're talking about physical? Yes. Whereas if I'm just standing there stagnant, I'm not going to- My mind isn't probably going to create as much for me anyway. Kind of like Richard Pryor would pace and move. But then there is also, if you move too much, it's hard to watch. Right. It can get confusing. Yeah. And I think you just have to monitor that. I mean, stand-up is- Every time you learn something, you might learn you didn't try hard. You might learn you- You might find a new thought that just changes your whole way you look at a bit. Well, I'm doing- I'm going to plug myself right now. Yeah. I'm doing a show tomorrow night at the John Lovitz Club. Oh, nice. And it's going to be a great show. Rick Overton is there. Oh, yeah. Funny guy. I'm drawing a blank now. We've got a ton of guests. Felicia Michaels, Marie- How do I say her last name wrong? Oh, boy. Marie. Della Pre- Del Prete. I think that's right. That's fair. If she's listening, she's not happy. But- And a bunch of other guys. Oh, and David. Oh, gosh. Boy, it's really bad. Like, you know, if I were- And I haven't won an Oscar. I haven't won an Oscar. It's hard, man. It's hard. But anyways, it's going to be at the John Lovitz Club at 8 o'clock tomorrow night. That's Thursday night. And I'm really excited about it. Yeah. You know? And it's like my set, the way I do it is I've got- I know certain jokes are going to work. I mean, I have a pretty good sense. Right. So I just do like- I do headings, you know, like in my head. Right. And then I'm doing one particular bit. I like to be very physical and improvisational. I've got to come watch this. You know? I'd love for you to come. I really, really need to. I was thinking about that earlier. I've got this bit that, you know, it's kind of like walking without a net. Right. You know, tightropeing without a net. And that excites me. And, you know, the challenge though is you go late night, they're going to say, well, you can't talk with the audience. Right. Until you've made it to such a point where you had your own special. Like at Comedy Central, if I were to do my Comedy Central special, you know, I would have to be known already as that guy- Right. Who does this and that's his signature. I see. I see what you're saying. You know? Because I get kind of sometimes bored. Right. With myself. And my mind just, it's also just how my mind works. Like you don't have to honor or think how your mind works. Yeah. I think you do sometimes. I'm just like Maria Bamford, I think is really a great example of that. Like she just is like surfing the waves of her mind, you know? And it's really, it's cool to see that. I think you have to honor that. You know? I hope you do. I don't know. I mean, I'm learning. I mean, I'm just constantly learning. So it's hard to say definite. You go five nights a week. Now, you're only doing book shows. Yeah. I mean, so I mean, the comedy store is kind of my home club in the improv. I do, you know, semi regularly. So, but I'll do other shows. Like I was at Westside Comedy Theater last night. That place is great. Oh, that's funny. Tuesday night. Yeah. You did the book show after? Because I was almost there to do, I was going to do something earlier. It was packed. It was sold out at a show. That's great. It was great. We had a great time. That's in Third Street Promenade, right? Yep. It's like behind Third Street Promenade. I love that. Actually, I'm really impressed with that theater. Me too. Me too. I did. I did try just to go try some stuff. I did try to go check it out last week. And I was like shocked. I mean, it's like a real club. It's a great time. And there's a great energy in that room. So good, man. They've been working so hard for like five, six years to get it really popping and it's really starting to take off. Yeah. That's really fun. Now, there are going to be people listening, you people, who will want to see you perform, Theo. So they can go to your website, TheoVon. Yep. TheoVon, T-H-E-O-V-O-N.com. And I have some upcoming shows. I'm going to be in Dayton, Ohio. The first weekend of August. I'm at Ontario and Brea Improv a couple of nights in the next week or two. I've got Minnesota coming up, Chicago. I don't even know. A couple of different places. Well, I went on your website and I was blown away with the dates. Now, who's, you have a manager? I work with a management company, Levity Management and APA is my agency. And they've done a great job of, you know, helping us move forward. Do you ever feel like you're not realizing? Are you really a working actor, comic in LA that you're, I mean, not to say you aren't because you, I believe you are. Right. But I think that creative people often minimize what they're doing. Like they feel like, well, it's not real or. Yes. I could be further along. I'm just not real. This isn't really real. This, I should be doing something different, bigger. And I don't know if I feel like I should be doing something bigger. I think I'm still feeling out exactly what makes me feel happiest and figuring out my calling kind of. Uh-huh. Um, and I'm not saying I don't have moments that are great and stuff like that. Uh, I'm still trying to focus more on like, uh, like writing. Um, and that's something I'd like to get into more. So, you know, there's always something fun you can do. And just to try and remember that, how thankful I should be to just be able to be creative, you know, like to get to be creative for a job is pretty sweet. Now as a, I find that comics and myself included, um, I get definitely, I feel a lot and I can be very sensitive. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. How do you deal with the life? There's a lot of alone time. Yeah. It's a lonely job. Um, and the wackest part is like whenever you go back home and like all your friends and family are getting married and stuff like that. And you're like, uh, and then you're the dude who always like, like having had a girlfriend for like five years. So, um. Several boyfriends. Yeah. Yeah. I do need to point that out. Six or eight boyfriends. Um, dated a bunch of gals here, uh, gals here and there, but nothing, nothing heavy. Uh. Uh. Is that on purpose? I think maybe it is. I mean, I don't know, but also you, you know, you want to figure out what's, what works perfect. And I think that's why everybody's like, oh, when you see it, you know it, you know, but it's weird going home and everybody else is settling down and having families and you're like, oh, you start to feel a little bit, you know, that bug starts to hit you. But they all look at you as the guy who went after his dreams. Yeah. Maybe they do. I don't know. But it's like, that's like, as you say about comedians, you know, and just that you always want to kind of, you're always thinking of something else that might, that might make you, it might make you happy, you know? Yeah. I agree. Do you do therapy? Yeah. I go to some, I just started going to a therapist, man. She's great. Uh, cool chick. Yeah. Cause I find that comics in particular are the most self-destructive creative people I, I, I, I've seen. I think so. I think I've seen addiction take out more guys than, I don't know, maybe it's just cause it's more, you know, they're more visible, but like, like Greg Giraldo. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, that Mitch, uh, I didn't know him. Oh yeah. Mitch Heberg. Yeah. I mean. Addiction takes out a lot of guys. Well, you're out there a lot when you're on the road, it's lonely and you're by yourself and you come off of a high of being on stage and if it's going good, then it's, it's a good high. Um, but then the letdown from that is you being back at your hotel and just lonely or you being by at a bar and just, you know, by yourself. So, you know, you order a drink, you know, if you don't have a friend to talk to, then you'll, you'll talk to your drink usually. Have you ever found yourself slipping into something and you're like, whoa, this kind of seems addictive. I need to pull back. Nope. I'm not. I have not. But man, I've been pretty fortunate. I had a brother that suffered from addiction for a while. Uh, so I think I kind of like got to watch that a little. What was his issue? It was just drugs and alcohol. I guess when he was, when he was young. Is he alive? Yeah. He's like 11 years sober, 12, 13. I thought you were going to say he's 11 years old. No. Yeah. I'd be crazy. Man, hard life. Yeah, dude. He was on, uh, he was on, uh, Pop Rocks. That dude was fucking off from Pop Rocks. Um, so yeah, I mean, you know. So that was a cautionary tale. Yeah. That kind of, I got to watch some of that a little bit. So I think that, you know, he kind of took the bullet for me. That's what I always tell him. Like, dude, you took the bullet for us on that one, you know? Right. Um, but yeah, I mean, it's, it's tough. You know, it gets, you definitely get a little lonely. Do you have a spiritual life? Uh, I'm a Christian. I believe in Christ. You know, I believe in Jesus Christ. So, I mean, I'm open to other ideas. But I'm, I'm definitely going to believe in something because I'm not going to believe the dude who doesn't believe in an afterlife and doesn't believe in reincarnation. Bro, that sounds miserable. You know, to me, that sounds miserable. Right. Do you, do you, uh, use like God or Jesus? Do you lean into those things when you're like perhaps feeling nervous about a show or you've got something big coming up in life? No, I try to give thanks. I try to pray for other people, I think. Um, because that helps me not think about myself a little bit. Um, and I, I mean, my biggest thing is I just feel like Jesus Christ is a good role, Jesus Christ is a good role model. You know, it's like, he's a great, I feel like it's a great role model. Uh, Were you raised religious? No, not really. We used to go to the Presbyterian church down the street once in a while. My dad was kind of religious. So I guess maybe I got a little bit of that from him. Well, you said you're open. Are you, would you ever think of being Jewish? I mean, you know, a bar mitzvah is a quite a gig. Yeah. It pays well. Yeah. I could, I mean. There's a party. The horror is fun. Is it? Yeah. I could do it. The Jesus thing is kind of rough though. I mean, we love him. We think, you know, I'm, I'm, as you know, I am Jewish and, uh, I, I think Jesus, I'm like, Hey, great guy. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, and why not? I mean, first of all, I might be the biggest wimp of a Jew. Cause I'm like, you know, we don't know anything. Yeah. That's how I am. I'm like, I'm going to hedge my bets a little bit. Like if, let's just say, you know, and you play back the real of my life, I was all good. I'm like, Hey, it's all good. It's crazy. Like Joe Rogan said one time in a comedy special that I'm doing a show that it's crazy how like the fact that we're floating on a ball of dirt and water, isn't the biggest news story. Every single day. Every single day. Like, and we continue to float in the middle of no way, you know, like, it's like, it's just crazy that we even exist. And I know that science can say, you know, and there's proof in this, but in the end, it still comes down to what the heck are we doing here? And who are we? You said that you've learned a lot and you're continuing to learn as a comic. So what have you learned? Would you say over the years, that's kind of, you look at today and go, wow, that's a big, uh, revelation. Or surprise or like, what are some of your comedic discoveries as a standup? Um, some of my comedic discoveries are that there's always going to be someone who does something better than you. You know, it might be a certain moment or a certain action. Um, I've learned that even though it's really hard, you can't compare yourself to other comedians. You know, everybody's path is different in this business. Um, I believe that if you work really hard, then, then, then you will. You'll reap some rewards. And I've learned that from times where I didn't work hard. You know, like that's when you're learning, like, oh, well, things aren't, this isn't happening or this is like, oh, well you haven't put in the work. What does that look like when you're not working hard, not going up and doing standup? Yeah, it just looks like, or, you know, doing a lot of the same bits over and over again, but I'm also a slow learner. Like it's really hard for me to learn things sometimes. So I have to, repetition is really what helps me the most. You ever get paranoid? Like, uh, the guys in the club, your friends are like, geez, come on. You've been doing the same material for six months. Yeah, I think everybody does. But then I'll see other guys doing the same material and I'm like, okay, we're all kind of. Well, the great comics. Here sometimes. Well, also the great comics, like, uh, let me say like Rodney Dangerfield or whatever, they got known for their classic bits. Right. People paid to hear the same bit. That's a good point. And I feel like if you can, and I'll see comics that continue to kill it with some of the same and just kill it. And I feel like if you can kill it with the crowd and make them feel good, that's really the ultimate goal. You know, yeah, you probably want to have different stuff. You know, you probably want to have different stuff over a while, but I don't know if I want to be the comedian at the end. I don't know if I'm the guy at the end of the road that has five hours of material. You know, I might be the guy at the end of the road that has three hours of material. Well, one thing that definitely popped up when you're talking about comparing, it's very hard, I find, not to compare. Yeah. And it's painful to compare. It is painful. And I thought that was a great insight that someone is always going to do something better. You know, I think the key for me in having some healthy, like, mental health, around this is also just to focus on myself. Right. Because it's really not a competition. It even though it might feel like it for some reason, you know. It does feel like it because LA feels like a competition. That's why, you know, because there's always some dude driving by. He's got seven chicks hanging out of his window and you feel like he's winning, you know, or something. Or there's always somebody who's, you know, or a happy couple that's walking by and you feel like they're winning. Like, you know, there's always something that feels like it's doing better. So there's always a competitive feeling out here for some reason. Why? I think that that isn't unique just to Los Angeles, but I do think that it gets more personal here because as a creative artist, not to sound pretentious, but it is an art and it is a personal creation that I think the comparison gets, it becomes especially painful. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I agree. It does. It becomes especially painful sometimes. And if we just focus, if I just focus on, you know, the best Vic can be today, you know, but it's like, I don't know about you, but I always want, I always want everyone to laugh. Right. Like, even though that's pretty much impossible. Right. You know, there's someone in the audience who just lost someone. Oh yeah. Or is just in a bad mood or got fired. Oh, and the worst is when you can see them. Yes, the worst is when you can see their faces and you're like, okay, got him, got him, got her, got her, got him. And you're like, oh, do not have her. Yeah, she. Arms crossed. Is just furious. He's not into this. Some, it's funny when you see a couple and you can tell that one of them's upset that the other one's laughing. Kind of too. Well, I like to point that out. Oh, that's a great idea. You know, I like to use that. I like to use tension in the audience as funny, cause it's honest. That's a great idea. But what I don't want to do, which I sometimes still do, cause I can't help it, is if someone isn't responding, I'll start talking to them. And I did that once and made that, I did that once. Yeah, it can be dangerous. Yeah, because as much as I like to walk a tightrope, you know, if someone's just pissed off and you go, what's going on? They're like, well, I don't know. I, you know, I just found out I'm dying. You know, it takes the air out of the room. You don't know what they're going to say. Yeah, then you're in a bad, yeah, then the show's in a bad spot. If you open it up to the audience, then you are opening it up. Which I do, but I don't have to make it extra hard for myself. Well, that's a funny thing too. Like, you know, and it's about being good at certain things. Like that to me feels the most comfortable, yet for many others, it's the most uncomfortable and they don't want anything to do with it, which is fine. Yeah, like what you do, like on Deal With It, the act, some of the acting and the improv moments that you do, I just do and I'm like, oh, I do not know if that would be for me. Yeah. I'm like, how does Vic do that? So I guess it's interesting that, you know, somebody's always going to do something better than us. Right, and also, and that also, there's a flip side to that, that we also bring something unique in our own way that someone else doesn't. Right. The, I don't know about you, but like, if I'm in a bad mindset, I hate to say this because it makes, I think it kind of makes me look bad, but I'm going to be totally honest. And I'm curious if you ever do this. I'll watch someone and be like, I totally minimize myself. I'll be like, wow, that's a great show. Now that was a great, you know, watching another comic and they're, oh, I'm nothing like that. But, oh, I think we do that sometimes. Of course I'm not like that. That's not, I'm not an African American. Right. Yes, I'm not seven feet tall, right? Or I'm not four feet tall. I don't have the Hispanic experience. I have my experience. Right. And that person could watch me and go, oh, I don't have that experience. I don't have that experience. Yeah, it's, I mean. It's very self-defeating. It's tough to focus on yourself. In a positive way. That's the tough thing sometimes, you know? Well, yeah, because also being too much of a perfectionist and wanting to be too good can be very limiting because really we're ultimate risk takers. You know, when we go out there and try new stuff. I mean, there's still nothing harder to me than trying new stuff. Do you, what's your thought about bringing notes on stage? I think it's fine. Did you have them in your Comedy Central special? No, I did not. But I, I didn't feel like I needed them, but I think it's okay. Yeah, I, I think it just depends. I find that it slows me down a little. What if somebody can't remember something, but they're a great comedian? They, that dude's not allowed. Are we ever going to know what's going on? No, I, and I've seen, there have been great comics who, who. Yeah. Now I've also find that a lot of my joke writing comes through just conversation. It's like having that person there provides an audience already. Now sometimes during meal breaks, deal with it, it felt like you might've been mining some material at times. Yeah, sometimes. Which is interesting. Well, I'm just happy to be around other people, first of all. So that's like a rare thing in LA. And so to be able to be around people is nice. And so I think I was just excited about talking to them. So sometimes maybe I would, that's when I come up with new material actually. Like when I go back home and I'm around my old friends, like it's just, that's when I feel like the new material really starts to pop. Yeah. I, I, and for me, that's why I was curious about, you said you sit down and deliberately write. And while I definitely can write jokes, you know, sitting at a desk, it seems like the stuff that's coming. It's like in the moment that you say with someone to get that laugh out of them. It's like, do you find yourself- You're great at that though. I mean, I'm more of a rehearsed guy. I mean, I feel like you were very, you're very good at being, you know, awkward in the moment. I mean, I saw that, how we do it. I think I saw clips from the, how we do it show you did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And some of that stuff, dude, that man on the street stuff, I'm like, dang, how does he do that? It just made me just, made my guts curl, man. That's good. See now that's positive feedback for me. There you go. And that's positive feedback. Yeah. You're almost out of time. Is there anything you wanted to share with me that, besides your love? That's it, man. Which you've been sharing for the whole hour. I love you, bro. And if I, you know, if I find myself headed down the hallway of Judaism, man, I'm going to holler at you. Just the way you said that, very Jewish. Yeah. Oh, it sounded like you walked right out of the Old Testament. New York, New York Jew, you've got it written. My best friend out here is Jewish. And so I spent a lot of time with him and his family. So I've been kind of fortunate enough to see some of that culture, you know? Yeah. You never met a Jew before you came out here. No. We had, the first Jewish guy I ever met was black in Louisiana. I love that. And you know what? We'll have to have you come back. It's been really hard. I want to thank you. I know it's a busy time for you. Thank you for coming in. Thank you, dude. I'm so stoked. I'm excited for our new show. Deal with it. I am too. Wednesday, this coming Wednesday, a week from today. Yep, July 17th. 1030. It's going to be exciting. It's going to be during my podcast. It is, dude. I'm competing against us. I know. Oh, that's so painful. All right. I want to thank you again. I'm going to go to one N. Yes. One N. One N. .com. And it's Vic Cohen, V-I-C-C-O-H-E-N. You can find me at Vic Cohen on Twitter. And you can find me at Theo Vaughn. And thank you so much for having me on here. Yeah. Thanks for coming down. Fair question. Great to see you. It is a fair question. And thank you, Jeremy, as well. Guy who runs a place. Thank you. Jeremy's girl too. And his girl. I don't see her face. Is she under that desk? I don't know. She sounds pretty though. Stand up. From the look on his face, I bet she's pretty. Oh, she, yeah. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it. She loved it loved loved loved loved loved loved loved loved loved loved loved loved fair question. I'm Vic Cohen, and it's a fair, it's a fair, it's a fair, it's a fair quest, quest, question.