Interview with Mark Beltzman on improv and acting

I'm Vic Cohen, and it's a fair question. It's a fair question. I'm Vic Cohen, and it's a fair question. I'm Vic Cohen, and it's a fair question. It's a fair question. Hello, and welcome to Vic Cohen's It's a Fair Question. You are listening to us live from downtown Los Angeles. This is Skid Row Studios. And the reason I call the show It's a Fair Question is because on this show, I might ask our guest anything. Anything is up for grabs. Everything's a fair question. Nothing is off limits. That's right. It's a very magic moment because we have a guest who has a very familiar face. You've seen him on television. You've seen him in films. In fact, there is no way that you have not seen this man. It'd be impossible. You'd have to live like in a mountain somewhere for the last 30 to 40 years. 30 years. He's been doing this at least 30. It'd be funny, I think, if I just kept talking about you. That was the whole show. That's it. And they're like, we're out of time. We're done. Thank you, everybody. Exactly. He's a comedic actor and with a real incredible background in improv Olympics. Improv Olympics. Yeah, I'm an Olympian improv guy. That's right. But actually, he's- I have a gold medal in improv. Well, we'll talk about that because I understand there was a problem with that improv Olympics. I don't know if you know the name, which we'll get into in a little bit. Yes. Welcome to the show. Hey, thanks, Vic. Thanks for having me. And this is great. Mark Beltzman. Yeah, Beltzman. Beltzman. Is that a- E-L-T-Z-M-A-N. And be careful because if you ask a fair question, you might get a fair answer. You might. You're right. Well, that is always a risk and that's funny, but I'm willing to take that gamble. Careful what you ask for. Well, I've got some things in my head that I've been wanting to ask you a long time. That's a weird head. That's a weird head, man. Well, let me tell you something. There's some weird shit going on in that head. I've got a lot, a lot going on in this head. I bet. I do, for you. Okay. Yeah. Now, first of all- Lay it on me. Speaking of heads, it's amazing you've maintained your hair. Wow. You really have? There's a place to start. Well, I'm looking at it and you know- Hey, fuck you. Really? Yeah. Is that a sore spot? No, not at all. I would think it's probably what helps you get work. That receding hairline, the stuff on the top, a little bit on the top. Sometimes I feel like my facial hair works more than I do. I do, but I don't have any right now. I just shaved. I had a beard for a few weeks. Well, to describe, I'm going to describe Mark to you right now. Okay. If you're not looking at him at the moment. Just go on IMDB. Well, I'm looking at him at the moment because this is in the moment. IMDB, we could be looking at pictures from 10 years ago. I want to hear this description. He has salt and pepper hair, kind of, some would call it balding. You would have to call it balding. I think everyone would. I would say, yeah, probably. Yeah, and he's got some hair sprouting on the top. Yeah. And what's interesting is also the sides are fairly long, I've noticed. That's all I got left, man. Come on. Well, look at me. I crop my hair. Do you do it like that because it makes you more the everyday man when you're going out for roles? No, I don't even think about my hair in terms of acting. You know, the hairstylist does that. I just show up and audition. I don't think about, I think your skill as an actor gets you work and your sense of humor as a comedian gets you work. Not whether you look right for the part. Some actors, I guess, go after the look. I just am who I am. What about if I were to say to you, Mark Meltzman, you just happen to have a great look. You don't have to think about that. Well, this is a great day for that, you know, because the Supreme Court has just Do you feel I'm flirting with you? And this is why Vic asked me on the show tonight. Because I have a secret crush. He can announce that we're actually going to get married in 25 days. We've been lovers. Just don't tell my wife. Who's listening. Yeah, who is? Who I just spoke with. Who's listening, yeah. She's devastated. Well, I don't think she's devastated. She may be excited. Maybe. This could be a whole new thing for you two. Yeah. So congratulations to all the gays. Yes. And to anyone who's thought about being gay. And, well, and now you can In any minute. Yeah. Or all the gay people who said they would get married, but they couldn't and now they have to and their relationships are going to end because they won't get married. That's true. I don't, I think, I wish that heterosexual marriage were outlawed. It would make my life so much easier. All right. Well, let's get back to me. So I'm a handsome guy. Yes. I'm balding. I have salt and pepper hair. It's kind of short. And you're wearing glasses to compliment the pepper. Yes, I've gotten a lot of compliments on my glasses. And I'm giving you one right now. Yes. Thanks. Now, Mark has, you have a fascinating history. You know, I'm going to go through your film credits and TV credits, not for you, but for you listening because when I said earlier that you know Mark Beltzman, you're going to say after I go through this list, Vic never lies. I do know Mark Beltzman, the wedding singer, Billy Madison, Home Alone, Mo Money, Speed 2, Employee of the Month, Home Alone. Those are just some of his film credits. Yeah, Home Alone twice. Twice. You were within the original, the first? No, no, no. He just said Home Alone twice. I was only in the first one. Okay. All right. Okay. Got it. TV, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, According to Jim, Roseanne, House, Cold Case, The Young and the Restless. That really fascinated me. Oh, and most importantly, your biggest credit, which I don't understand why you've left it out, would be USA Network's The Big Date. The Big Date, which is where Vic and I met, actually. That is correct. And that was like probably- Which was supposed to be called The Meat Market, but they wouldn't let him call that. Well, and Mark, you played, for those who missed that historic television show, Mark played the Zonk and it was a dating show. I was the Zonk. That's right. So, Mark was the guy who came out from the door who you didn't want to end up with. Okay. Right? That was the Zonk. Well, yeah, the deal was that they could choose to have another date with the man or the woman that they had went out with and if they didn't want to go out with them again, they would pick somebody behind the door and usually there was a real man or woman behind the door depending on the opposite sex or me dressed up as a man or a woman. I just remember you as a woman. I don't know why. Well, that's obvious after the way you described me a few minutes ago. Now, one of the, you know, there's so much to talk to you about. Honestly, like one of the things. We got an hour. Go ahead. I learned, here's something I learned from you. Okay. I learned something from you. Wow. I remember you were the Zonk and you were dressed in this dress and the scene was pretty much over. You'd come out and you, as you were walking off, you know, and the camera was still on you, you scratched your rear end like you were moving your dress or something and like you had an itch. I thought that was a brilliant choice and I really remember that forever. I know it sounds crazy maybe. All right. Well, you remember my fingers in my ass. That's, but it was a choice. Getting us back to you hitting on me, I guess. No, no, but you, it was a thought, like comedic, it was a comedic choice. Yeah. That I just thought was really brilliant because the scene was pretty much over and you were walking away. Well, yeah. Well, I'm just having fun. I don't, that's all I do. I have fun on camera, off camera. It doesn't matter. Life is a good time. I'm, I'm very fortunate. So, I enjoy everything I do. Well, how did, how did you end up on The Wedding Singer and doing the, the Adam Sandler films? Well, I auditioned for Billy Madison and I, I won the role and then Adam Sandler had promised me a part in Happy Gilmore and that got written out. So, he sort of made up for it by giving me a part in The Wedding Singer and that was, that was the last time we ever worked together, I think. I don't know if there was any reason for that, but he's a great guy and a great time and I have a lot of respect for him and everything he does. He's, he's one of those guys in Hollywood, I mean, people, he can, people can laugh at him and scoff at him all they want, but he really, you know, works with all of his friends and takes care of a lot of people and most of the guys he works with who produce his movies and write his movies like Tim Herlihy and Alan Covert and Jack Carapuja, Udo, he went to NYU with those guys. So, he's known those guys for a long time and you look at grownups, which is just an excuse to get together with your friends and make a home movie that happens to be a, you know, hundred million dollar film and he's laughing all the way to the bank. So, it's, it's, it's just a great environment to be around because he's a really great guy and he has a lot of fun and it shows on camera and off. Well, you didn't go to NYU and how did you become one of his friends? I auditioned for Billy Madison at Universal Studios. Universal Pictures. How does it, how does that happen where you have Adam Sandler promising you a role in another film? You got that tight with him? Yeah, well, we spent months together doing Billy Madison. There was, you know, we were in three months together and the first director got fired eight days into the shoot and then, then we had to sit around for a week and wait for another director to come and Universal. That's fun. Yeah, paid. Yeah, yeah, we got paid the whole time and it was just, it was a really fun experience and, and I think actually I play the part of Jack which is sort of an homage to Jack Garaputo who was one of his friends and I believe, if I'm not mistaken, Alan Covert who is another one of those guys in Sandler's entourage for lack of a better word was supposed to play the role that I did but Sandler didn't quite have enough power at that point to get all of his friends in and of course now he does and so Universal, I think, kind of said, you know, they auditioned people and I, I won that role through an audition and, and, and I got the part. And so now, if I'm Mark Beltzman and I have Adam Sandler, You can be. I don't think it's possible but if I were for just a moment and I had Adam Sandler promising me a role, Yeah. I would be calling Adam Sandler or emailing him or contacting him since then to say, you know, what's going on? Do you do that? Do you stay in touch? And also, like, Oh yeah, I've done, I've done, Ask for a role? Yeah, sure. I've, I've been in touch. I've seen him around. You know, I run into him at a basketball game or something here or there and he takes care of a lot of people and I've tried to get through and, you know, when I have an audition near his office, I'll go in and see if he's around but he's always busy and he's always doing shit and I kind of lost contact with him. I don't have any personal contact information for him and he has so many layers and waves of people to get through to contact him that I've left messages and, and sent stuff to his office but it, it never really gets Mark, I will promise you that anytime you try and get a hold of me, I will call you. Well, thanks. I think 24 hours. Well, hopefully I'll, It'll never happen. The check for this interview will clear and then we can work together some more. Check. You got your bottled water and your Diet Coke. I got paid one Arrowhead bottle of water and a Diet Coke. And your $6 parking. Come on. Well, that's true. Right next to the building. Yes. My car is safe. So, what about Curb Your Enthusiasm? Were you friends with Larry David? Did this come through just in an audition as well? No, I was friends with Jeff Garlin and Jeff Garlin's wife was casting the show but I auditioned for that show as well and, I think I've earned just about everything that I've done and, and I, I auditioned for that show and I got the part. And, and Larry was, was a great guy to work with and he, he thought I was really funny and we had a really good time shooting that scene. Actually, the, the funniest part about shooting Curb Your Enthusiasm was, it was actually, it was actually all done in real time so they, they took, they had a call time at the, at LAX and I went to the airport and, they go, okay, let's get ready to shoot the scene and we started shooting the scene which was a great scene and, and, and the funniest part got cut out. If you haven't seen the pilot episode of Curb, I was a co-worker of Larry's and, of course, it's all improvised and, and my father-in-law died and he didn't come to the funeral or didn't send anything and we have this argument about that in the airport and then I was just like, fuck you, Larry, and he's screaming at me, fuck you, and we're screaming at each other in the airport and that part all got cut out because we were standing in front of American Airlines and they said, if he uses that, they'll sue him so they had to cut that part but after a few takes, they go, okay, come on, Larry, we gotta get on the plane and they literally were getting on the plane to go to New York to shoot the next scene of that pilot episode which took place in New York and so, we only had about maybe, I don't know, 20 minutes to shoot the scene and they go, okay, come on, we gotta go. That's really a great story. That's crazy. It was all like in real time but it was really fun to do. It was improvised so it was great and Jeff Garland's been a friend for years. From Chicago? Yeah. Second City? Second City. And Rob Olympian? Yep, Second City. Okay. Now, I saw the clip with you and Curb. I believe it's part of your reel. Yep. If you were to go to YouTube and you look up Mark, M-A-R-K, Beltzman, B-E-L-T-Z-M-A-N, you can access tons of videos of video from Mark. Yeah, a million things will come up. A lot of stuff and there's also an acting reel which we all have, actors have because it's just, you know, it's a highlight of what we've done. It's a business card. Yeah, and you've got tons of stuff on there and was that the entire scene from the show that you have on your reel? it was edited down for somewhat because my whole reel is only like three minutes and 14 seconds or something like that. You keep it short because after about 15 seconds nobody looks at it anymore anyways. And what about Signed For? How did that come about? You were on Seinfeld. I auditioned, yeah. No, all this stuff I earned. Seinfeld, the casting people, it was Lieberman McKenzie and Mark Lieberman was a great guy. He was casting director. I think he's like head of NBC or something now. But they, Seinfeld folks really wanted me on that show and they brought me back maybe five or six times for different roles until they found something that was right and, you know, so they really wanted to be on the show and they kept bringing me back until they found that role and then I got cast in that part which was actually called, in the script it was just called Fat Guy. Nice. And I said, I was having a talk with Jerry Seinfeld on the set and I'm like, can't you call it something else? Does it have to be Fat Guy? And he goes, well, what do you want it to be? And I go, how about Bob? And he goes, all right. And that's to this day the credit says Bob played by Mark Belsman. Short bald guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You didn't want that. No, no. You said to change it. I was like, come on, do we have to go with the Fat Guy thing? It's like, what do you want it to be, Bob? Well, you were heavier back then. Yeah, I was a lot. Like significantly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was a lot fatter back then. So, and that's why probably they went with that but obviously, you know, Bob sounds a lot more civilized. Dignified, I think. Yes, absolutely. Now, you said something that really piqued my interest. You said, Seinfeld, the Seinfeld people really liked me. So, when you say that, how did they learn to like you? Because you keep coming in for auditions and they discover you through the audition process or because this is Mark who we know from ImprovOlympics, Second City and these films? Well, it's the casting people bring you in and then the producers and the writers, you know, get to see you. Usually, they used to call it a producer session. Now, the business has changed so much but it used to be casting directors really like you and they would use you a lot and bring you in for stuff and, you know, you were sort of on the top of their call list for certain stuff. Your name would come to mind and they would bring you in for a lot of things and, I don't know, it seems, the business has changed so much with the internet and YouTube and reality television and now with the contracts, you know, sagging after merging, it's just gotten more and more difficult to even make a living doing this stuff because they just, they pay you less and less money and the producers get to keep more and more of the money and, you know, it's just, it's changed a lot. It is fascinating. You gotta create your own work which is what I do. I create everything I do and, you know, I teach a lot of improv which I'd like to talk about in a minute and you do these other, you know, short films and get work where as catch can and I play the tuba and I create my own show with tuba and I do a lot of improv and you create your own work and then the other stuff just kind of happens, you know, the film and the television is great and I love doing it more than anything but, it's few and far between so, go ahead. with your class, you have, you do this improv acting workshop. How often do you do them? I know you just started this week. Yeah, well, I've been teaching all over the world actually. I just, I was doing this musical with George Wendt called Re-Animator, the musical which was H.P. Lovecraft's story in 1922 and they turned it into a horror movie in 1985 and it won the Critics' Pick Award for the Cannes Film Festival in 1985 and, Stuart Gordon, who was the director and co-writer of the movie, directed and co-wrote this musical and I was doing it in L.A. for about two and a half years and then we went to the New York Music Festival last year in July and then we, the whole cast flew from New York to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland and we did 25 shows in 28 days in Scotland which was so exciting and so much fun and then my wife, Beverly Lubin, met me over in Scotland after the show. We traveled around Scotland, for a month and went to Amsterdam and then I taught acting in London and all over England for five months and then came back to the United States through New York and taught there for a couple months and I've been teaching but the class is here on Tuesdays at Oh My Ribs. You just go to www.ohmyribs.com for more information and I'll be starting some drop-in classes and some specialty workshops and some eight-week series of where I'm going to be and I'll be doing some workshops so whatever you're interested in we pretty much got covered and check it out if you're interested in improv acting. It's been a lot of fun. Now, a lot of people don't, we've been talking about your credits and that's always impressive but the credits are really the result of the work. Yes. And the work for you started very young. I remember reading your first commercial you were a teenager with the tuba. There's no tuba, there'd be no commercial, there'd be no acting career. Yeah. Well, it sort of starts on, just being a class clown I think. But yeah, I play tuba. I still play tuba. I have a 101-year-old tuba and I have my own show called Tubazar which will be at Fanatic Salon which is at 3815 Sawtail Boulevard on Saturday, July 27th. And I invite other artists to come play their music. They just have to write me a tuba part and I get the most amazing people to come play. Fred Kaz who was a piano player at Second City for years from 1960 to 1970. 1963 to 1990. He comes and plays. Harry Dean Stanton came to the last one and played harmonica. I'm trying to get him again. Emo Phillips has come and played. What does Emo play? He plays the clarinet. I did not know that. Yeah. And Cynthia Carl and my friend Gordon Bash and Alex Burke and Mella Lee on Magnolia Memoir. They have a band and they come and play. So, yeah, that's, I still play the tuba but get back to the story. Hold on one sec. Before we, I want to just for you guys who might want to see him mark with this tuba. Again, it's called Tuba Zar, C-Z-A-R. You can find it online. Fanatic Salon is on the west side of L.A. Yeah. It's a great small venue. Now, when you do that show, do you guys get all serious or is it playful fun and big laughs? it's like doing a, you know, show in your grandma's basement. It's very interactive with the audience. Okay, maybe there's some laughs. It's just me. Yeah, it's a musical comedy review is what I like to call it. Okay, good. I like hearing the word comedy because I saw when Woody Allen came in town a few years ago at UCLA at Royce Hall. Right. You know, he made one little joke about, I mean, it was nothing and it's like, come on, it's Woody Allen. Do something. Give us like little something. Well, Steve Martin's the same way. He's really serious about playing banjo. But no, this is all really casual and it's interactive with the audience and they can talk and I just sit and introduce people and tell them how we know each other and what we're going to play and then we play and then we kind of just bullshit for a while and play more music and it's, it's really just a lot of fun. Emo even did a little bit of stand up in between some of the songs and stuff like that. That sounds great. I'll definitely have to check that out. I did see the reanimator that you did with George. Reanimator the musical. Reanimator the musical. Yeah, we're hoping that they're raising the money to take it to New York very soon. I'm looking forward to doing it again. I hope it happens. Yeah, it was, it was really fun and if any of you have a chance to check it out when it's back. It's really crazy. Yeah, it's wild play. It's like, we've been written up and reviewed as kind of being like the new Rocky horror and I don't know about that but it's really a lot of fun. It's a zombie musical. The music's written by Mark Nutter who's a genius and the first four rows of the splash zone and every time somebody dies we spray the audience with blood and it gets really crazy. The fans do get crazy. And there's a lot of, well, there's so many levels of fans. There's H.P. Lovecraft fans and there's reanimator the movie fans. There's Stuart Gordon who directed it fans. There's George Wendt fans. So people line up for hours but it's really, before the show starts to make sure they get in the front row all dressed in white so they can get sprayed with blood and it's really kind of crazy. Now, someone takes your class and what they're getting is someone, you, who trained at Second City. Now, you first, I believe, did, was it Improv Olympic? I.O.? You did first and then it took you to Second City? I was in Barron's Barracudas which was the very first group at I.O. So I was one of the founding members of I.O. and then, In Chicago. In Chicago. And then a bunch of us together, Joel Murray, Dave Pasquese, Chris Barnes, J.J. Jones, and myself all got hired out of Barron's Barracudas to be a touring company at Second City. Wow, that's great. And then I spent two and a half years touring around at Second City and then I was in three resident companies, Second City Northwest and Second City ETC and then the main stage at Second City in Chicago. What was Northwest? It was one on Second City had opened up a place in the suburbs in Sterling Meadows which is just outside of Chicago and it was just another Second City theater that they opened and since closed and it was a great opportunity to just be up on stage and you get to write and perform your own material when you're in a resident company at Second City and it was a great experience. Now, I have an experience with Second City. I, at one point, took a couple classes and I was like, and I had a teacher that you probably know and I have to say, I know you, because you're a teacher, when a young person is just starting like I was, I was very sensitive. Most artists are. Well, you're still sensitive. I really am actually. How can you tell? I know you. Yeah, I get very sensitive. I'm a sensitive, I know, it's just part of me. So, I know you knew me that well. Well. Well enough to know that. And so, I was, this guy, you know, in improv, you make choices when you're on stage. Not that I'm telling you this, you know this, but for those listening, you all listening. I'm willing to learn. Okay. So, obviously, it's a class, so you're gonna make choices that, that's how we learn what choices are gonna lead to something funny or not. Correct. So, I made the choice in this scene, I don't remember the context, of being a, I was playing a dentist. Mm-hmm. And again, this is in an improvisational class, Second City in Chicago. It was the, it was not Second City proper, it was the, they made it. The training center. They made sure we always, we had to say training center. Yeah. It wasn't nothing to do with us, officially. So, I chose to be a, it was a dentist and I chose to laugh, constantly. Okay. This guy tore me to shreds in front of the whole class and how that was not funny. It was a horrible choice. Mm-hmm. And a friend of mine, who I have a witness, couldn't believe how this guy tore into me. Mm-hmm. And, I still get, upset about it. And this guy, I see, your little tears trying to form right now. not really, but in my chest, I feel it. Uh-huh. And his name was Corey. Mm-hmm. A mime. I don't know if you know Corey the Mime. Nope. Never heard of him. Yeah, but he was there then. And I was just like, it was so, you know, I took it personally and it felt bad. I felt embarrassed. Right. I understand. I mean, what's your style? Well, first of all, if any teacher tells you that you're doing something wrong, they're teaching from a place of ego. And it's usually from a place of people who are frustrated because they're not successful. And, it gets kind of really messy. But I, my style is more about teaching you what you're doing right and to do more of it and don't worry about what you're doing wrong and trying to change and fix it. Sometimes you have to identify what you're doing wrong in order to figure out what you're doing right. But I encourage people to figure out what they're doing right and do more of it and to replace thinking with listening and to make your partner look good and you look twice as good and to talk to each other about each other. And really, it's just life lessons. It's just all those things. Like, if you do that stuff in life, if you make your partner look good, if you make anything, everybody else and everything else more important than yours and replace all your needs, wants, and desires with somebody else's needs, wants, and desires, that's how life is supposed to be lived. And that's when we're really having a good time. And that's another thing that I teach is you have to play a children's game. That's what acting is. But you have to play a children's game by children's rules. You can't play a children's game by adult rules because it's not fun. So if you play a children's game by children's rules, all they do is have fun because it comes from a place of innocence and vulnerability. So I just strip away people's ability to play children's games by adult rules and teach them that they are not only capable and able to be innocent and vulnerable like a child, but that you need to be childlike in order to improvise, to act, and to make your way through life. What if an actor, and I love what you just said. Yeah. It's great. Yeah. And it really resonates. What if an adult or young person, young adult, let's say, not that they're not adults, but you know what I mean, is shut down? It's like, in other words, the child's been killed in them. Like, you know, life has got them down. Oh, I have an outreach program called New Choice where we go into the inner city and teach kids how to act through improv games and I bring in filmmakers and they teach the kids how to run the cameras and the kids shoot a documentary on themselves learning how to act. And so I get kids who are shut down all the time and it's usually the kids who are shut down the most that actually respond the biggest throughout the process of the course and the class because nobody's ever told them that they can just be children and everybody's always telling them to behave, that they, to not misbehave, to sit in their seat or like you said, this teacher taught you what you're doing wrong instead of just allowing you to do things right. And, you know, I taught a class in Trowbridge in London. I mean, in England. It was just outside of Bristol, England. And it was a whole class of kids teaching disabled. What are they, what was the proper term that the, everything's so politically correct these days. Right. Mentally challenged is not the right word. They were learning challenged. They were learning challenged or they are gifted. They really are. They really are gifted. Everyone's gifted, I think. Well, yeah, yeah. But it was the kids who didn't want to be there who responded the most within an hour of being in the workshop and the kids who are sort of the leaders and get most of the focus, they kind of fade to the background because they're used to, you know, leading and getting attention. Well, like, you know, those are the extreme examples. But what about like, like, you know, a guy who had a normal or a woman had a normal life and they're just, they're, they're so. What's your point, Vic? You're saying anyone can be, can be brought back to that childlike state? Yeah. Resurrected back to the. Sure. Is that okay? Yeah. Anybody can. It's called just being a child and playing children's game by children's rules. One makes you smile and one doesn't. And, and that's really what it's all about is really enjoying yourself and, and, and appreciate, acknowledging yourself for things that you do right and not beat yourself up for things that you're doing wrong. And that's what I teach. Well, I think, I mean, I love what you're saying and this isn't the stuff I heard. Well, come take my class. I think you saw. You almost did last night and then you blew it off. I thought it was a show. I thought it was a show. Well, it was a show. Well, I thought it was a show. I told Mark, I'm coming in, I'm coming, you know, but I thought, but I didn't realize it was an eight week class. you know, it's a big commitment. It'll be a drop in. Now I'm hearing more. It sounds great. But yeah, this guy really, you know, now when I do TV stuff, I always love thinking of him. I mean, not in a negative, don't give your power away to people. Yeah, I know. He doesn't matter, man. He's, how, how, how, how, how, how, how much time do you think he's been thinking about you? Nothing. Well, then fuck him. I know, but it really, you know, I, I agree. It's like, cause what's the point? Get over it. Move on. Yeah, I agree. That's a good, acknowledge yourself for something you did great in that class. And don't worry about him. Right. Instead of focusing. And do you think that's, you're an actor, you're doing, you're in Hollywood, you're doing your thing. You've got a podcast. We're, we're talking to each other. What the fuck? You spent a time talking about this dick. Okay, exactly. Yeah. Now you said you've, you've, uh, I'm researching you a bit, kind of studying what you've said and, and, and the past. I, I would share the quote you have, um, uh, from Aristotle about the poet. You remember? Uh, yeah, yeah. Aristotle says the poet cannot impact on others who he himself has not impacted on. And the more you see it, the more you believe it, the more you believe it, the more real it becomes, the more real it becomes, the more you are impacted on. And only then can you impact on others. That's all from Aristotle? Well, it's, or is it kind of a combination? That's the essence. I sort of picked it up from an acting teacher I studied with for many years. His name's Harry Mastrogeorge out here in LA. And he used to use that, quote, and I guess I just researched it more. And, you know, you pick up these little bits and pieces from, uh, all kinds of experiences that you have throughout your life. And that's what teaching is about. That's what acting is about. And that's what living life is. Life is about is, you know, putting together the pieces of the puzzle, the way you want the puzzle to look. And so you take these golden nuggets, uh, or these diamonds in the rough and, and you shine them up and, you know, you put them in your own words. And then, use them to teach because we were all taught. We all learn from somewhere, somebody at some point we learned stuff. So I want to just repeat what you said. Roughly. It's not exactly, but it's roughly what you said. You can paraphrase and fuck up what I said. Go ahead. No, I think you fucked up what you said. All right. I took it verbatim from another thing that I found. All right. And what I took down verbatim that you said, but yeah, go ahead. It said, letting it happen. Okay. The poet cannot impact on others who is not impacted on himself. Yeah. So when the material impacts on you, you can then impact on others. Yes. And I love that idea. And it's so true because it's called being honest. That's right. And having an experience, an honest experience. That's right. And then the audience will have one because they see, they see you having one. That's correct. And then you said, letting it happen to you rather than you trying to make it happen. Correct. If you see it and believe that it's real to you, we see it. We believe it. And, and it's real to us. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it just, that's you kind of expanding on the, the earlier idea, but. Yeah. I think that's all really accurate stuff. And I talk about that. I mean, I may not put it exactly the same way every time, but. No, I just wanted to make sure that everyone understood the intent. I appreciate that. That's great. Cause it's a great idea. And it's true. You know, it's interesting also to me, it's also what makes a great salesman. No one will buy anything unless they have sold themselves. Yeah. And how do they sell themselves? Well, if the salesman's selling himself, don't you agree? Absolutely. Where did you find that quote? Where did you get that? I'll tell you later. I don't see, I don't want to share my, see you did an interview online and I studied your interviews. Great. And, and I, and I liked it so much. I love it. Not only did I want to bring it in to discuss with you, but I wanted to keep it for myself. Good. And I think it's a great thing for all of you, whether you're an actor, a salesperson or whatever you do, we all engage in life with other people and we're selling. Absolutely. Something. Yeah. Especially if you're raising kids or if you're in a marriage or any kind of a relationship, that's, that's what life's all about. So this is, this is always interesting to me when it comes to comedy. Now, some com, I don't, I'm going to guess that Jerry Seinfeld is a terrible improviser. I'm just going to guess that. In my mind, Jerry Seinfeld is an accomplished and obviously critically acclaimed standup comic, a clinician when it comes to writing a joke. And seeing, that through a concept into a joke. But if you were to set, say, send Jerry on stage and say, I'm going to give you a who, where and a what, you know, these play an improv game. I have a feeling he would probably not succeed very well. Yeah. I wouldn't put anything past anybody or their capabilities, but I understand what you're saying. Go ahead. What I'm wondering is, cause I tend to do this. So I want you to help me with this. All right. I tend to put people, I, I tend to think like if a comic can't do this, Mm-hmm. they should be able to do everything. If they're a great comic, like they should be able to do the improv, the standup, they should be able to, um, maybe do physical comedy too. I disagree. And I agree. I want to convince myself that's wrong. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's, let's say it's incorrect. Right. Or wrong, whatever. Tell me, why am I wrong? I think I know why, but you tell me. Well, there's, um, things that you know, things that you know, you don't know, and things that you don't know, you don't know. So the things that you know you can do, you, you know, you can do standup. Yeah. You've done it before. Yeah. And also my improvisational stuff with my hidden camera, you know, I've got tons. Right. And there's stuff, you know, you can't do like, you know, you can't be a heart surgeon or a brain surgeon. You can't take a knife. That's a hundred percent true. Cut somebody open and actually fix their internal organs and sew them back up and cure them. Right. So, you know, you can't do that. And then there's stuff you don't know, you don't know, which is, which is what improv is all about, which is what living life is all about. Um, and, and if you don't know, you don't know it, then you just have to be really comfortable with accepting. Like what we talked about. My quote was, is letting it happen to you rather than you trying to make it happen. And this is another thing that I teach is you don't have to be the generator of energy. You don't have to be the generator of an experience or the generator of fun. You just have to be a receiver, like tuning the, uh, receiver into the right station, like a skid row studios.com to listen to this podcast and make sure that it's on the right, uh, frequency in order for you to receive it and then flow through you. And that's what life's all about too, is you have to allow it to happen to you. So you have to be open to receiving it and then allow it to flow through you and come out however you want to perceive it or however you want to create it because you're each creative source energy. So you get to create it. You get to create your experience every moment of every day as an improviser, as a doctor, as a human being, you get to create your own experience. Okay. Now here's where I'm going to challenge you. Go for it. Bring it on. I love, I love the idea of what you're saying. Yes. And I want to buy into it, but, but I've been in some improv classes and I've seen what can sometimes I'll say in every class and it probably, and I don't know, hope it doesn't happen to yours, but what happens is the teacher says what you said, uh, that it's not about being the star of the scene or, right. And then there's a loud mouth guy usually who takes all the focus and does everything, gets all the laughs and becomes the teacher's pet. That's not my experience. Because they, okay, it's been mine. Maybe I've just had some bad experiences. Yeah. Well, it's because you're too sensitive. Don't blame this on me. Why? You're the one who brought it up. Well, I am, but I don't believe it's because I'm too sensitive. I think it's because I, I observed. Well, I think your observations are a little skewed and they're judgmental. you have not been to those classes. No. And come to my class. You won't experience that. Yeah. So you don't, you don't believe that it's whoever's the loudest and gets the biggest laughs is the winner in the class. Absolutely not. I don't think it really, that's the spirit of improv. It's about making other people look good. It's about making somebody else's wants, needs and desires more important than yours. It's about ensemble work. That's what Second City, uh, and sets Second City apart from a lot of other places. And the same thing with IO and, uh, they're, they're based on making the other person look good, which is fun for everybody instead of other schools of thought or organizations or teaching institutions where they teach you how to be funny at somebody else's expense, which is making fun of somebody else to get laughs. Like, I don't like these guys like, uh, on Venice beach who walk behind, somebody and mimic them and they draw crowds of people because everybody's walking by and they're making fun of people because it's always at somebody else's expense. Half the time they're doing it blindly, meaning the person passing by doesn't know that they're making fun of them and other people are watching that. And I just don't like that kind of comedy because I'm trained in something completely different, which is to look you in the eye, to be completely honest with you and be innocent and vulnerable and be impacted on and let it happen. And I think that's the thing that's so important to me rather than trying to make it happen. So those are guys who try and make it happen. And I just personally don't enjoy that style of comedy. What about, um, the choice? If I say to you, let's say we were doing an improvisational scene and maybe this is just too general. And I say to you, Mark, I love those three horns coming out of your head. Aren't they beautiful? Now they're just magical. My mom had horns like that. I remember your mother. Yes. And as your brother, I would remember that of course. Well, he is just a special guy. He's a special guy. Right. So, uh, it's a, it's a, is it really as simple as yes and? Absolutely. That's the number. Is that you do that? You're more than halfway there. Yes. And. And. Just add something to it. And for those, if you don't know what we're talking about, I said to Mark, I love the horns in your head. And he, his response was yes. And I got them from my mother. Something to that effect. So that's what the yes and is. And how does this help you in your audition? I mean, I'm a big fan of auditioning for sitcoms and films. You've got a script. Yeah. So how are you improvising? Listening? Is it the listening part? Well, you're just really comfortable with the unknown and you're comfortable, um, you know, uh, without a script in your hand. So when you have a script in your hand, it's just, um, something that you can use to guide you, you know, um, so that you have access to the story before it's written. When you're improvising, you don't know the story until after it's done. When you get a script, you basically, you basically know the story before you start. So it just helps you as a guide, you know, like a map, you know, to follow something and get from point A to point B by using the scripted story or the lines in the script or the sides as we call them in auditioning. Would you say that it's, uh, easier for you personally to improvise a scene or to take a script and work with that? I like both. Yeah. I like, I like doing it all. I mean, I'm really fortunate. I get to teach, I get to play tuba, I get to improvise, I get to do movies, I get to do television, I get to travel the world. I get to just do everything I love and I love everything I do. I go from one thing to another and I might be busy all day or I might not have a lot to do, but either way, it's just an enjoyable experience for me, whether I'm swamped with activities or whether I'm just kind of free to flow wherever I want to go. Now, first of all, you know, you have such an incredibly positive outlook and energy. Now, when I knew you in the 90s, this wasn't you. No. I mean, you know, when I saw you in the lobby of the Reanimator, I mean, it was like, like someone had repossessed, I don't know, like you. Yeah. No, it's true. What happened? Well, you gotta do the work. You gotta do. You gotta be like a guru. You gotta be like a spiritual guru. It's not just saying yes and. You were doing that before. There's a lot to be learned in life and you learn a lot through maturity. You learn a lot through your experiences. I've taken a lot of, I've taken some seminars. I've read some books. You know, I did seminars with Landmark Education, you know, the forum and, and their, their curriculum. And then I've read some great books I can recommend to you like, Jack Canfield, Success, Success, Success Principles. I can't say it, but I can read it. The Success Principles by Jack Canfield. There's some great stuff by Esther and Jerry Hicks who. I love them. Have a book called Asking It Is Given and they have tons of seminars and tapes. I've been to seminar to see Abraham speak and, and just, you do a lot of work on yourself. I have a mastermind group with some, some great folks who, you know, can become 진짜 mentores. And I can see the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the or as an actor you give away your power to agents or producers or directors or you get fired or hired or you don't make as much money or whatever the situation or circumstances are, you can't give your power away to anything or anybody. You have to take 100% responsibility for yourself and your life. And then and only then are you able to redirect, if you want to call it spirituality or your happiness or how you perceive and walk through life. And there's only two really important things that I've learned in life. One is going to bed content with what you accomplished that day and the other is waking up the next day excited about what you're going to do. And it doesn't matter whether you're homeless or whether you have billions of dollars. Those are the only two real important things in life. And then if you're happy and you maintain some sense of happiness, and like I said, you don't have to be the generator of energy. You just become the receiver. You allow things to flow through you. You allow things to happen to you. And those are some of the experiences that helped me get to this place of just really enjoying every moment of every day and not worrying about what you have, what you don't have. You know, my wife and I sold everything we owned. When we went traveling around the world a year ago. And now we're kind of just looking for a place. I saw it on Facebook. You said, did anyone know if anyone got a car or two cars? Yeah, we got to buy a couple of cars and find a place to live. And it'll happen. You know, it'll happen. I'm not worried about it at all. It's just something else I'm excited about doing. Well, you had a health scare. Does this have anything to do with that? No. Well, I'm sure my immediate response was no. But yeah, that was a piece of the puzzle too. Absolutely. And like looking at potential life, death, that kind of thing pushed you to reevaluate your whole life? Yeah. I mean, there's no one thing, Vic. There's just, you know, a series of life events and circumstances and education that you receive. And, you know, I had angioplasty when I was 35, which is what Vic's talking about was a health scare. My wife had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma six years ago now. Wow, I didn't know that. Yeah. But those things are all gifts. They're not scares. You call it a scare. I call it a gift. Well, I like where you're going. It's like a great opportunity to go, hey, you got to make some changes here. And if you don't pay attention to those gifts and the messages that you're receiving through that gift, then you're blaming and you're angry and you want to rebel. Because you were a little angry, I remember. Yeah, you bet. Sure. I used to be a pretty, pretty... Pissed off guy. Pissed off guy. And it's like you're not... I mean, like, that's why I'm like, you know, it's so exciting to see you enjoying your life because life is a gift. Yeah, life is a gift and everything you receive in life is a gift. And when I saw you in Re-Animator, you know, you play the tuba. It's a supporting role. I wouldn't say it's necessarily a starring role. It's a big role, but it's... Right. And you were content. Oh, yeah. You know, it wasn't like you had to be George Wendt in that. No, well, I was his understudy, but I play like six, seven different roles in that. Yeah, you're all over the place. Eight roles total if you count all the backstage tech work that I do. But yeah, I just, I love doing it. I love, you know, being... It's a great ensemble. It's a great group of people. It's a great show. I get to sing. I get to dance. I get to squirt blood all over the audience. I scream and die and what's not fun? Well, the child... Because, you know, you're not... What I'm hearing... You know, what I saw was you being the kid and having just fun. Thanks. And being playful. Thank you. And it's very hard, you know, yeah, because, you know, a lot of the people that you worked with are probably like major stars. I mean, a lot of the guys like are, you know, and has that been a source of like... Because you did Second City at its era where you had, you know, guys going to Saturday Night Live left and right, I'm guessing. And then, you know, has that been a challenge? Has that been a challenge for you in any way? No. No challenge. Good. I mean, you know, it's like some people are... I hear a lot of people get very jealous in this business, you know, and envious about, oh, that should have been me or that, you know. And I hear you, I just hear a lot of gratitude. Yeah. And I... That's all there is in life. Yeah. And I saw it on stage. Cool. You know, so it's not like you're just, you know, I'm just... You're not just talking here. You know, it's good to have actually experienced it. What role... Has your wife played in your life? Great question. Well, she's been, you know, on this spiritual journey with me from over 30 years. We met at a comedy group 31 years ago. It's called the Detroit Times Theater Company with Mike Maddox and Dave Floyd and Tim Meadows. And then she quit acting and she moved to Chicago with me and spent all the years I was at Second City. And I was on the road for two and a half... 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. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She's been on her own journey as well. And we've grown together. So, you know, we've kind of helped each other learn about a lot of the stuff that we were talking about. So, like the forum, do you guys do that together? She did. Well, I did it first. And then I asked her, would she do it? And she said, sure. And she did it. And then we did some of the stuff there together. And then we formed this mastermind group out of there because we didn't want to stay in the seminars, but we wanted to continue the conversation and doing the work. And because that just really excites me. That kind of that education that I received from that seminar was really impactful for me. And it's just about human behavior and how everything we perceive in our brains is really just a story we tell ourselves. And it may be true and it may not be true, but it doesn't matter. It's just fucking meaningless. It doesn't mean a goddamn thing. And once you realize that, then you can give yourself the permission to move on when you realize those things that you think are important aren't really important. And all that is important is your frame of mind and your happiness and a relationship. You know, I have a great relationship with my wife and we have a lot of fun together. We've traveled the world together. We've traveled through the Himalayas, which is one of her dreams to see Mount Everest. And she had cancer at the time. We didn't even know it. We got home. She was diagnosed after we got home. And that was a life-changing experience. We spent. We went. We spent some time in Tibet and Nepal and spent a week in Bhutan, which was an amazing life-changing experience. I heard the improv community there is amazing. Well, I certainly did some improv there. Now, this is before she had the kids. This is a few years ago then. Yeah. Yeah. And then and then she met me over in Scotland and we've been traveling around for the last year and we just got back to L.A. I think you contacted me like the week before I got back to do this podcast and I haven't been able to do it until tonight. Yeah. And I'm really appreciative. You have. Yeah, you should be. I know I am. Okay. So is your wife a good audience for you? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Does she worship and adore you? She hasn't always, but she does now. As we speak. Yeah. As far as you know. Yeah. No, she was always my worst critic. And there was time in my life when I was that other angry, bitter guy who bitched about everything that I really wasn't expressing myself. Well, can I take this to the end of the show by saying to anybody who can see me, can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now can anybody see me now You're blank on stage. It cannot go bad. It's called improvisation for a reason. Well, I've seen some improv scenes that didn't work out. Well, then you saw something that you didn't like. But you never saw me in a scene that didn't work. Really? Hey, listen, I'm sorry to challenge you this hard. Yeah. But I did go to some tapings of Whose Line. Yeah. And they taped all night because a lot of those scenes didn't work. Well, I wasn't in it. Really? But these are great. These are supposedly some of the best improvisers in the world. I worked with most of them, but I wasn't in Whose Line. So I couldn't tell you what that is. You believe that every scene you will do will be a winner, even though you're not in control. Well, I think. Or is it a matter of defining what a winner is? Well, I think your job is to make the other person look good. And if you make them look good, you look twice as good. And nobody can really sabotage you. That you, your job is to. To find that diamond in the rough or that gold nugget or the needle in the haystack from the way you're describing it. And you put me up there, you know, and I'll find the needle in the haystack. So what's the future for you? What are you looking? We're almost out of time here, but I just. No. You know, the headlines. Where do you see yourself? Well, I'm back in L.A. and pursuing movies. I have a movie called The Company that was just at the. What was it called? The Dances with Films Film Festival at the Man's Chinese a couple weeks ago. And that's going around to a bunch of festivals. It's called The Company. And it's directed by Kevin McDermott and stars a couple other great folks. How will people know Kevin McDermott? I don't know. You have to look him up on. I think this is his first directorial debut. Okay. And. And I'm also doing Two Bazaars on July 27th. I'm teaching classes. I'm performing. I play in an orchestra for a show called Mortified. And I'll be teaching for the next few weeks. And hopefully we'll land one of these auditions that I've been going out on. So we'll get some more TV and film work very soon. Well, thank you so much. I mean, it's great seeing you. Yeah. Thanks for asking me. Thank you for coming. And I'm really happy I had the opportunity to ask you some of these questions because I wanted to hear like, what has changed? How you've, you know. Did you get your answers? I did. I did. And it was great to hear. And also like that your, your, the way your take on acting seems to be your take on life. It's all the same for me. And so it sounds like taking a class with you is not only about learning how to improvise a comedic scene, but it's perhaps. Yeah. It's all the same for me. It's all the same for me. It's all the same for me. It's all the same for me. It's all the same for me. It's all the same for me. It's all the same for me. How do you handle life and what life hands you? www.omyribs.com. Find out. Great. Come see. Great. And anything else you'd like to share with us? No, I'm really happy that you asked me to do this and it's really fun. Good. Good to see you. Yeah. Great to see you too. And thank you all for listening. Look forward to hearing, seeing you. Well, let's see. You see me, you know, we're on camera. I did not know that. Yes. Even though I described you. Wow. Not everyone will probably be able to download the video. But thank you all for listening. And I look forward to being with you again, hopefully very soon on Vic Cohen's. It's a fair question. It's a fair question. It's a fair question. It's a fair question. 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. It's a fair question. It's a fair question.