Joy 101: Sebastian Maniscalco

"I told my second grade teacher this is what I wanted to do... And I got laughed at, and people were like snickering, because everybody wanted to be a policeman, a firefighter, a doctor... And I said I wanted to be a stand-up comedian." -Sebastian Maniscalco Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb is Presented by CVS. Shop your local CVS, right around the corner. Experience the full conversation on the "Joy 101 podcast with Hoda Kotb" wherever you listen to podcasts. For more information, please visit us at www.joy101.com/podcast https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.joy101.com%2Fpodcast&data=05%7C02%7CBrianBurton%40iheartmedia.com%7Cead080eeece14daa561b08df2bd2cb6f%7C122a527e5b714eba878d9810b495b9e3%7C0%7C0%7C639277856490716185%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=58GoDsGGmcB52GgbpHaL8avWqFGLybFacthXynk1e%2B4%3D&reserved=0 See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:11Hoda Kotb?

  Okay, so you know when you're in your house and you're watching a comedy special on Netflix or something and you cannot stop laughing, you're all alone, there's nobody there but you and your dog and you can't stop laughing. Okay, the person who does that for me is Sebastian Maniscalco. Sebastian Maniscalco is so incredibly funny to me, even when I'm scrolling on Instagram and he has a little thing, I like stop, I laugh, I send it to my friends. So I was so excited that he was coming here to iHeart to sit down and do an interview with me. So his backstory is one of those that just shows that hard work and a slow burn gets you where you want to go. This is a guy who was working at the Four Seasons as a waiter for many years,

• 0:52Hoda Kotb?

  seven years, and ended up doing comedy and fast forward to selling out Madison Square Garden, having a Netflix series, working with Robert De Niro on a movie that he wrote, all these things. But his journey, his road to getting here is so filled with all of this goodness. And something surprising happened in the conversation. He's kind of at a crossroads in his life. Like, he's got young kids and then what do you do? And how do you navigate? And how much time is for work? And how much time is for joy? And we discuss all of it. So I hope you enjoy our conversation with Sebastian Maniscalco.

• 1:34Speaker 01

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.

• 1:38Hoda Kotb?

  Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb is presented by CVS. I've realized that joy doesn't always come from those big moments. Sometimes you find it on the most ordinary day. I'll pop into a CVS for toothpaste or paper towels and it never seems to be just a quick errant. Maybe I'll grab a delicious Well Market Trail Mix or wander over to the Joy Word Collection. That's part of the fun. So the next time you're checking something off your to-do list, stop by your local CVS pharmacy. You might go in for one thing and leave with a little more joy. Visit your local CVS pharmacy sponsored by CVS. Every purchase is a financial decision. So it's worth asking, what am I getting

• 2:18Hoda Kotb?

  out of this? If you're using the Chase Freedom Flex Card, you can maximize your cash back on things you need. More ways to earn, more ways to get rewarded. Sign up for the Chase Freedom Flex Card. Learn more at chase.com/getflex. This is a paid collaboration with Chase Freedom Flex. Cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank, N A Member FDIC. Subject to credit approval. Offer subject to change. Terms apply.

• 2:45Speaker 02

  Running a business means keeping pace with the latest tech. You put a lot into building your enterprise software stack and scrapping it to integrate AI is out of the question. That's why IBM Technology works with all the apps, data, and models you need. It's another way IBM helps you build on the technology you rely on. Let's create smarter business. IBM. Visit ibm.com to learn more.

• 3:15Speaker 03

  Hello, I'm Chris Richards, General Manager at Safford Volkswagen-Richman. I'm here to announce an exciting new program that I want you to listen to. Here's my friend, Happy.

• 3:24Speaker 04

  Hi, I'm Happy Harry Turner, Special Finance Manager at SaffordCredit.com. If you're in an open Chapter 13 bankruptcy, recently filed a Chapter 7, or you've been turned down because of credit challenges, don't give up. For nearly 30 years, I've helped people get reliable transportation when others said no. Visit SaffordCredit.com. Remember, I'm not happy unless you are.

• 3:44Speaker 05

  I'm Melissa Jelton, host of the What Happened to Her podcast. We're kicking off the season with the Sandra Birchmore story, a case the police wrote off as a suicide in a snowstorm. Her family never bought it and the man they suspected wore a badge.

• 3:59Speaker 06

  You never know who that devil is because he's wearing a disguise. Sometimes it's a police uniform.

• 4:04Speaker 05

  And you can get access to all episodes 100% ad-free with an iHeart True Crime Plus subscription exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Available only to iHeart True Crime Plus subscribers. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for iHeart True Crime Plus, and subscribe today.

• 4:23Hoda Kotb?

  Okay, first of all, your empire's getting bigger. What are you doing?

• 4:27Speaker 03

  Empire?

• 4:28Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, I remember, yeah, it's growing. I remember you came on Today Show many times. You sold out the garden, you did Radio City or something, doing all these big things. I was like, the guy is definitely at the top of the mountain. But your mountain's getting bigger. What is happening right now with you?

• 4:47Speaker 03

  Just another little small mountain we're adding to the range. No, I started this Sirius XM channel. It's called Sebastian Maniscalco Radio. And I have a show on there called the Sebastian Maniscalco Show, which is with my co-host Pete Corielli. And then I started a show within a show called We Got Company, which is one of my bits. I talk about how company comes over. So I thought it'd be cool to kind of have a talk show. Listen, I've been doing podcasting, a guest on these shows. I'm tired of talking about myself. I'd rather hear somebody.

• 5:25Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, okay. So that's what's going on here.

• 5:27Speaker 03

  So that's what's going on. So I'm choosing people that I have an interest in. And I'm really kind of into it. I'm doing the research and finding.

• 5:36Hoda Kotb?

  Fun.

• 5:37Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's fun.

• 5:38Hoda Kotb?

  So what's your interview technique? Like, what do you do?

• 5:40Speaker 03

  I like to have the guest talk. A lot of podcasts, sometimes the host seems to be talking a lot. Which is.

• 5:50Hoda Kotb?

  Too much.

• 5:52Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's like if you're gonna have a guest on your show, let's learn about the guest. So that's kind of the approach that I've been taking. And I said Mario Carbone on yesterday, which I enjoyed. And I'm having Alex Rodriguez on today.

• 6:06Hoda Kotb?

  Fun. Okay, so just you're just picking people you're interested in?

• 6:10Speaker 03

  Yeah. So, and I have a relationship with it. So it's, you know, I mean, when you know the person, it's a lot more organic than just having, so, you know, tell us about your book, you know?

• 6:22Hoda Kotb?

  So tell me about A-Rod. You guys are pals?

• 6:25Speaker 03

  A-Rod and I, he messaged me on Instagram saying he loved my comedy, wanted to come see a show. And then I ended up going over to his house with my wife for dinner. This is while he was with J-Lo.

• 6:40Hoda Kotb?

  Okay.

• 6:41Speaker 03

  So.

• 6:42Hoda Kotb?

  There's a lot going on here.

• 6:43Speaker 03

  Yeah, we had a, which, my wife and I are not, I should say, our close friends are not celebrities. They're just.

• 6:52Hoda Kotb?

  Regular.

• 6:52Speaker 03

  People. So we got there early. And we walked in and they weren't there yet. They were in the home, but we were just like waiting in the lobby.

• 7:09Hoda Kotb?

  Hilarious.

• 7:10Speaker 03

  Which I've told him this, and he gets a kick out of the story. So we went over, we had a nice dinner, but I thought it was progressively, we started outside, we had dinner, and then we moved for drinks, and then there was the front door. So I felt like we were moving our way out of the house.

• 7:31Hoda Kotb?

  What was J-Lo like?

• 7:33Speaker 03

  She was sweet. She was very nice. She was very pleasant. That's the first time I've ever met her. And we had a nice night. It was, it was a nice night. So that's how kind of our relationship.

• 7:42Hoda Kotb?

  Love it, love it. All right, let's talk, let's talk about you. So if I were to knock on the door of the Maniscalco house back in the 80s, I don't know you, I don't know your family, I don't know anything. I walk in, y'all are about to have dinner. Describe what that scene would be like for me, walking into this house. What's happening?

• 8:00Speaker 03

  So I have a sister, small family, four, four people. We would have dinner every night. My sister generally would escape dinner after she ate, and I would sit there with my parents and talk. So there was a lot, a lot of, God, growing up, there was a lot of talking at the dinner table. We would go then and sit in the garage. Like, we would have like little lawn chairs on the driveway, and we would kind of watch people in the neighborhood. People would stop by. I grew up in the northwest suburbs of, of Chicago. So very kind of middle-class upbringing. It wasn't like, a lot of people thought I

• 8:41Speaker 03

  grew up in New York, I got a stoop, like, like Bronx Tale. That was not my upbringing. It was, you know, 2,400 square foot home in the suburbs.

• 8:52Hoda Kotb?

  Suburbs, yeah.

• 8:54Speaker 03

  And yeah, it was very family oriented growing up. It was very, a lot of talking, a lot of laughing.

• 8:59Hoda Kotb?

  What'd y'all talk about? I mean, most kids want to avoid talking to their parents.

• 9:04Speaker 03

  It's funny, our, our home was the home where everybody came. All my friends came over because my parents were like, almost, I don't want to say one of us, but they were very funny, engaging, and a lot of people loved to hang out at my house because my parents were so, I guess, cool. So yeah, talk about everything. That's kind of where I started telling stories at the kitchen table.

• 9:29Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 9:30Speaker 03

  And making my parents laugh. So that's kind of like where I got the comedy bug.

• 9:36Hoda Kotb?

  Was, who was outside of your parents? Who was the first grown-up to make you feel like you were funny?

• 9:45Speaker 03

  Outside of my parents? I guess, I guess, my group of friends were like another one of my kind of audiences. But grown-ups were, you know, I wasn't, it's funny, I wasn't the same guy I was with other people. I felt like inside the home I had, it's very comfortable. But when I went out to other places, I was very shy. I was very kind of, never the center of attention.

• 10:20Hoda Kotb?

  Really?

• 10:20Speaker 03

  I was never the class clown. I was very kind of reserved and I watched a lot. I didn't, I observed. I didn't speak a lot. I did a lot of observing.

• 10:30Hoda Kotb?

  What, did you have any senior superlatives when you were in high school?

• 10:34Speaker 03

  Best dressed.

• 10:35Hoda Kotb?

  You were best dressed?

• 10:35Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 10:36Hoda Kotb?

  What did you wear to school?

• 10:38Speaker 03

  Slacks.

• 10:43Hoda Kotb?

  Just like the word.

• 10:44Speaker 03

  It was, uh.

• 10:47Speaker 03

  Dress, we were just talking about this yesterday, dress. And I think, I was talking about this with Mario Carbone.

• 10:52Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 10:53Speaker 03

  In an Italian family, you would come down from your bedroom and you would get kind of raided on your, your clothing, like you come down for church.

• 11:02Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 11:03Speaker 03

  My mother would go, go upstairs, you ain't wearing that.

• 11:05Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, not today.

• 11:06Speaker 03

  So that was whatever function, a wedding, uh, we're going over to my uncle's, whatever it was.

• 11:13Hoda Kotb?

  Go back upstairs.

• 11:13Speaker 03

  Go back upstairs and change.

• 11:15Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 11:16Speaker 03

  And I don't know, that stuck with me, you know? I look at people now and dress seems to be so casual and comfortable. Not that you want to wear a tuxedo or a suit.

• 11:25Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 11:26Speaker 03

  But I mean, you, you take a look at your average airport, right? It's like, uh, it's like a slumber party. I mean, I mean, you're still out in public, you know what I'm saying? You don't have to, why are you wearing Ugg slippers to Delta? So, uh, I don't know, I, I, I feel like it's very, everything's very casual.

• 11:47Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah. So the, it sounds like your parents had like some, I mean, they had strict rules and things. I feel like parenting today is so wild. You have a seven and a nine year old?

• 11:57Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 11:58Hoda Kotb?

  So do I, I have a seven and a nine, okay? That age kid and what is permissible now? Or I'm still trying to do what my parents did. And I feel like everywhere around you, it's like, it's okay, Bill. Like everyone, you want blueberries or raspberry? You don't like the raspberries? Like you're constantly doing all this and I'm trying to, I'm trying to remember what my upbringing was like, cause I feel like it worked. So what's, what did you take from your parents upbringing that you now apply to your kids?

• 12:30Speaker 03

  You know, this is something I struggle with.

• 12:32Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 12:32Speaker 03

  This whole like how I grew up.

• 12:34Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 12:35Speaker 03

  And how I'm raising my kids.

• 12:36Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, tell me.

• 12:37Speaker 03

  The problem is other parents, okay? So you're saying, uh, oh, blueberry, so maybe you're not like that, right? With your kids, but you're around parents, especially being an older parent. I'm 53 and I got these kids.

• 12:52Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 12:52Speaker 03

  So I'm, I'm like generations of, like, the parents are scored 38 years old.

• 13:00Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 13:01Speaker 03

  I'm 53, so it's like.

• 13:04Speaker 03

  It's, it's like this ain't how it's done, you know? I'm, I'm a disciplinarian.

• 13:10Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 13:11Speaker 03

  There's rules.

• 13:12Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 13:12Speaker 03

  There's, uh, you know, there's chores, there's make your bed in the morning. There's, uh, thank you, constant.

• 13:18Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 13:18Speaker 03

  I, parenting is 24/7.

• 13:21Hoda Kotb?

  24/7.

• 13:22Speaker 03

  365.

• 13:23Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 13:23Speaker 03

  You can't take a day off or to end up on OnlyFans, you know what I'm saying? So you got, you gotta be on these kids.

• 13:30Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 13:31Speaker 03

  And I'm very, very, I'm not strict, but there is definitely standards.

• 13:36Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 13:36Speaker 03

  And a code of conduct that I'm trying to teach my kids. However, when they go to school and they're around other families, these families have given up. I mean, here's an iPad, go ahead and, and have a ball. That's what they're doing.

• 13:51Hoda Kotb?

  That's what's happening.

• 13:51Speaker 03

  They don't, they don't want to participate in the child rearing. So, yeah, it's, it's extremely difficult, uh, raising kids today when not, this is the problem. This is the problem. And I just figured it out right here on this show. Growing up in the neighborhood, if you went over to somebody else's house and acted up, that, that family would straighten you out.

• 14:10Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, yeah.

• 14:11Speaker 03

  Right? There's no more of that.

• 14:12Hoda Kotb?

  Nobody does that.

• 14:13Speaker 03

  There's no, there's no more like, it was, it was a village that was raising the kid. Now it's you're solo, I'm solo with my wife, you know, like it's, it's like a, it's like we're on an island and I don't like it.

• 14:27Hoda Kotb?

  Um, okay. So what are your kids like, your seven and nine year old?

• 14:31Speaker 03

  They're really, I mean, listen, I'd be the first to tell you, I have a problem right now with my dogs. I'm not into my dogs at all. My kids.

• 14:39Hoda Kotb?

  What's wrong with your dogs?

• 14:40Speaker 03

  I am not a dog guy. I never grew up with dogs and I have two of them. And one of them urinated on the bed last night. And this always happens when I'm not home. So, uh, my wife just told me this, she's like, I have something to tell you. This is right before I came on here. I have something to tell you, but I don't want you to get too upset before you go on the show.

• 15:06Hoda Kotb?

  Okay.

• 15:06Speaker 03

  I go, you can't tell me you got something to tell me? And they just leave it there. I gotta know. So I go, what happened? The dog pissed on the bed last night. So I, I had to cut it short or I was gonna get hot. So, um, yeah, I'm, I'm not into, uh.

• 15:24Hoda Kotb?

  You're not into the dogs?

• 15:25Speaker 03

  No.

• 15:26Hoda Kotb?

  Okay, all right. But you, they get, your mom, your wife convinced you that that was happening, that, that they were, you're gonna get the dogs?

• 15:31Speaker 03

  Kids wanted the dogs.

• 15:32Hoda Kotb?

  Kids wanted the dogs, okay.

• 15:33Speaker 03

  Wife wanted a dog, wife grew up with a dog.

• 15:35Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 15:35Speaker 03

  I was against it.

• 15:36Hoda Kotb?

  You were against it.

• 15:37Speaker 03

  And, um, you know, it's, it's the same old story. Everybody who wanted the dog, don't take care of the dog. And now I'm outside throwing the ball, you know? It's like, and they're puppies, you know? I mean, and, and I'm just, I, I don't understand how everybody's so into their animal just because it's their animal. You don't have to, just because you own the dog doesn't mean it's fantastic, you know what I'm saying? So got no problem with the kids, it's just the dogs.

• 16:08Hoda Kotb?

  I think we spend so much of our lives waiting for the big moments, the birthdays, the vacations, the milestones, but the truth is some of the happiest moments show up on the most ordinary days. So like this, I'll stop into a CVS because I need one thing. Somehow the best part of the trip is never the thing I came for. So maybe I'll grab a delicious well-marked snack or maybe I'll wander over to the Joyward Collection. It's really full of fun, cool, seasonal decor, thoughtful little gifts and those little discoveries that make you so glad you stopped in. I have to tell you, if you're an extra care member, you're gonna save on things you're already buying and those extra bucks really do add up.

• 16:51Hoda Kotb?

  Just watching that total go down at the checkout never, ever gets old. I know life's busy, we're all juggling a lot and that's why I think those little unexpected moments of joy matter so much. So the next time you're running errands, stop by your local CVS pharmacy. You may go in for something you need, but don't be surprised if you leave with something that simply makes your day a little brighter. Visit your local CVS pharmacy, sponsored by CVS. Halloween has a funny way of making you buy things you'd never normally buy. A 10-foot skeleton? Sure. A full-size fog machine? Why not? Three bags of candy that somehow become six bags of candy? It happens.

• 17:34Hoda Kotb?

  Which brings me to the Chase Freedom Flex Card, the savvy decision that will earn you more cash back on the everyday purchases, plus the extraordinary Halloween tricks and treats. With Freedom Flex, you earn even more treats on your Halloween and everyday needs. You get 5% cash back on popular rotating quarterly categories, 3% on dining and drugstores, and 1% on all other purchases. More ways to earn, more ways to get rewarded. That's no tricks, all treats. More ways to earn, more ways to get rewarded. So sign up for the Chase Freedom Flex Card. Learn more at chase.com/getflex. This is a paid collaboration with Chase Freedom Flex.

• 18:15Hoda Kotb?

  Cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA Member FDIC. Subject to credit approval, offer subject to change. Terms apply.

• 18:25Speaker 02

  Running a business means keeping pace with the latest tech. You've put a lot into building your enterprise software stack and scrapping it to integrate AI is out of the question.

• 18:36Speaker 02

  That's why IBM Technology works with all the apps, data, and models you need. It's another way IBM helps you build on the technology you rely on. Let's create smarter business. IBM. Visit ibm.com to learn more.

• 18:54Speaker 05

  I'm Melissa Jelton and in my new podcast, What Happened to Her? I'm bringing you new stories and conversations every week. Stories about women whose deaths were too quickly ruled a suicide. She was starting to get worried and get scared for her safety. Stories of survival. The only difference between me and her, a friend. Luckily, it was a little bit of luck because by all rights, I should be dead. Cases that everyone else called closed. They can't convict her, right? Like, she has so much evidence. These stories all start in the same place, with a woman failed by a system that didn't believe her, that didn't protect her, that didn't see her. No child should ever experience that. And we were babies.

• 19:39Speaker 01

  She did all of these brave things and came out and spoke about it, and he got a year.

• 19:46Speaker 06

  You never know who that devil is because he's wearing a disguise. Sometimes it's a police uniform.

• 19:52Speaker 05

  Listen to What Happened to Her on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 19:58Hoda Kotb?

  Let's go back to you in comedy, only because I'm so fascinated by your whole trajectory. Because the world is full of gazillions of people. There are gazillions of funny people. There are gazillions of people who are dynamic and who are amazing. But yet, there are only some that make it for some reason. And I'm just so curious about that. So I just want to go back a little bit. You said you were funny in your house and blah, blah. Great. So you want to be a comedian. So how do you go about telling your parents you like that? Like, where does that begin?

• 20:36Speaker 03

  So I wanted to be a comedian at a young age. I told my second grade teacher this is what I wanted to do.

• 20:40Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, you did?

• 20:40Speaker 03

  When it was career day. And I got laughed at, and people are like snickering because everybody wanted to be a policeman, a firefighter, a doctor, what have you. And I said, I want to be a stand-up comedian because I got introduced to comedy at a young age, watching The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. And I thought it was fascinating. I was, right from the get-go, I was like, how do these, how do they memorize this? How does it sound like they're telling these stories for the first time? And I had immersed myself in HBO, and Dangerfield had a special, Night at the Improv.

• 21:11Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 21:12Speaker 03

  Anything. I consumed it all. So I knew I was going to get into this. I just didn't know how, when, and where. Because growing up where I grew up, Hollywood was a, like, where is that?

• 21:24Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 21:24Speaker 03

  It's a different world. Where do these people live? You know, I felt like it was just unattainable. Now, everybody's a star, you know? It's like, everybody's got a camera, and they're eating sandwiches and making videos.

• 21:40Speaker 03

  Which I don't understand either. It's like, you know, entertainment now, it's not going to the movies or doing a TV show. It's like you're in bed, and you're watching a guy eat a pastrami sandwich and give it a rating. And all of a sudden, that's like...

• 21:55Hoda Kotb?

  Material.

• 21:56Speaker 03

  I don't know. I mean, I don't want to sound like one of these, like, oh, in my day. It's not, it's not that. It's just entertainment now is shifting to, we'd rather watch, you know, 20 to 30 seconds of a video of somebody doing whatever, than actually put the time in to maybe watch a movie or a TV show.

• 22:17Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right.

• 22:18Speaker 03

  It's just a way of the world. I get it. I get it. But I think it's diluted now, that everybody is kind of like, like, entertainment or going into this business was like almost taboo for, from a parent perspective.

• 22:35Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 22:36Speaker 03

  And my parents weren't like that. They were like, go ahead, follow your dream.

• 22:39Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, they were. Wow, that's cool.

• 22:41Speaker 03

  My father's an immigrant, from an Italian family. It's like, you didn't leave the house in an Italian family unless you were going to move next door, you know? Let alone move from Chicago to Los Angeles.

• 22:56Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, crazy.

• 22:57Speaker 03

  So they were very supportive. But, you know, getting into this business,

• 23:04Speaker 03

  when I got into this business, there was like, when I moved out to LA in 90, 98, my mother's like, what are you gonna do for health insurance? You know? Health insurance was a big, a big deal back then. I don't know, it was like rent and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

• 23:25Speaker 03

  What if something, what if your arm falls off? You know, like, it was like very, you know?

• 23:29Hoda Kotb?

  So what did you, what was the plan?

• 23:31Speaker 03

  I bought health insurance. Yeah, I was, I used to work for United Airlines Employees Credit Union, right? In Chicago. I moved to LA. I was on a Cobra plan.

• 23:41Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, you got a Cobra. Okay, okay.

• 23:44Speaker 03

  Which was ridiculous. The cost of Cobra was like outrageous.

• 23:47Hoda Kotb?

  Insane, okay.

• 23:48Speaker 03

  So I had, I had, I had priorities, and one of the priorities was, was health insurance. So...

• 23:56Hoda Kotb?

  And then what was the job? You, you're out there wandering around LA. What were you doing?

• 24:00Speaker 03

  I worked at the Four Seasons Hotel as a server. It was very difficult to get a job when I first moved out there, but I was prepared. I'm like responsible. I'm not one of these starving artists that was couch surfing.

• 24:14Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, no.

• 24:15Speaker 03

  I wanted to have, I had 10 grand on me, and I wanted to get myself a place, have enough money as a cushion, and then get a job waiting tables. And it was extremely difficult. But I landed at the Four Seasons in the bar, and I worked there for, for seven years.

• 24:32Hoda Kotb?

  Seven?

• 24:32Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 24:32Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, geez, so Pete's.

• 24:33Speaker 03

  98 to 05.

• 24:35Hoda Kotb?

  So what hap, where's the comedy piece of this?

• 24:37Speaker 03

  So the comedy piece was, here's, here's another thing that's changed.

• 24:43Speaker 03

  So I was working at the Four Seasons to supplement my income while I pursued stand-up comedy.

• 24:49Hoda Kotb?

  Got it.

• 24:49Speaker 03

  So I would work the early shift at the Four Seasons, and at night, I would do two or three different shows.

• 24:56Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 24:57Speaker 03

  I didn't, I didn't start a GoFundMe page. It's another thing. It's like, I'm starting a GoFundMe page so I could pursue my comedy.

• 25:09Speaker 03

  I'm gonna finance your, I'm gonna bake roll your, you know? I don't know. It's just like, the hustle and the grit is part of like, kind of what makes you who you are. And, yeah, I worked like a, like a mule.

• 25:27Hoda Kotb?

  Did you?

• 25:28Speaker 03

  It was, it was ingrained in me.

• 25:30Hoda Kotb?

  Yes.

• 25:31Speaker 03

  At a young age. You gotta work.

• 25:33Hoda Kotb?

  Gotta work, yeah.

• 25:34Speaker 03

  So I got a work permit at 14 years old, and I worked at Fuddruckers. I was doing...

• 25:42Speaker 03

  Anybody still know what Fuddruckers is? Gee, go get a burger over there. You'll, you'll thank me.

• 25:49Speaker 03

  But even before that, I was caught, I had a lawn business with my, with my buddy across the street. At 11 years old, I was cutting four or five lawns in the neighborhood, and I was allergic to grass and ragweed. So I was wearing a medical mask to cut lawns. So you...

• 26:11Hoda Kotb?

  Yes, this is all, this just defines you right here. That defines you.

• 26:14Speaker 03

  That's kind of my life.

• 26:16Hoda Kotb?

  First time you stepped on a stage that was not, well, in California. That's gotta be weird, very first time.

• 26:23Speaker 03

  Very first time I stepped on a stage was at Northern Illinois University, where I went to college.

• 26:27Hoda Kotb?

  Okay.

• 26:27Speaker 03

  I won a contest to open up for the national headliner that was coming to the school.

• 26:31Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, that's cool.

• 26:32Speaker 03

  So I go out there, and they were not having me. They want nothing to do with me. They were screaming, "Sandman", which I didn't know what it was at the time. But I found out later that Sandman is what they call, at Showtime at the Apollo, if you suck, they call for the Sandman. And a guy comes onstage with a hook, it takes you off. That's what they were, they were shouting. I go, "Sandman"? What the... So it was an awful experience for me, my first time on stage. It was humbling to begin with, and you need those humbling moments. You still do.

• 27:15Speaker 03

  I mean, I did a gig last week. It was top three worst gigs I've ever done in my life.

• 27:21Hoda Kotb?

  What happened?

• 27:22Speaker 03

  It was just, it was a corporate, it was a corporate gig.

• 27:25Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 27:25Speaker 03

  And they, it wasn't a corporate gig. It was a private party, and they were not, they didn't want anything to do with me.

• 27:31Hoda Kotb?

  Isn't that so, so what do you do? Because you're, you're doing your material. Your material's good. It works in so many rooms. What do you, what do you do when that happens?

• 27:41Speaker 03

  There's a heat.

• 27:45Speaker 03

  There's a sweat that is, is you only feel when you're bombing. I mean, you could sweat working out. You could sweat, have a little anxiety. When you are saying stuff, and the, and the response is supposed to be laughter, but it is silence.

• 28:03Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, God.

• 28:04Speaker 03

  It is, is one of the worst feelings you could feel. Subsequently, the opposite of that, when you make a room full of strangers laugh, is the best feeling. So you got the worst and the best, all in, all in one.

• 28:22Hoda Kotb?

  So for the guy who sold out all the garden in Radio City, so you do a corporate, corporate or whatever kind of gig, and it doesn't land, does it still feel like that? Because you know it's, you know you're good. So...

• 28:35Speaker 03

  The difference is, in the beginning, you don't, you don't know how to handle it.

• 28:41Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 28:42Speaker 03

  Years of experience, you still feel the same feeling, but you'd never let the audience know that you're dying.

• 28:52Speaker 03

  It's the confidence that you have to, you have, because if you do not say things with confidence on stage, the audience could smell it, you know? They could smell your fear. It's just this internal heat that I feel that is so overwhelming. And if the audience knew how I was feeling inside, they would, they...

• 29:12Hoda Kotb?

  So you're kicking it around Los Angeles. You're doing well. Did you meet your wife there or some...

• 29:17Speaker 03

  Not my wife there, yeah. My wife in LA.

• 29:20Hoda Kotb?

  You met your wife in LA?

• 29:21Speaker 03

  And, so I, I was with a personal trainer at the time, and he's one of my dear friends. I said, "You got any good-looking girls you train?"

• 29:33Speaker 03

  He goes, "Yeah, there's one at 6:00 AM." I go, "That's early."

• 29:38Speaker 03

  I said, put me at seven. I want to catch her on the way out. So I caught her, like, wow, she's attractive. And I started like showing up to the sessions, fully showered.

• 29:52Hoda Kotb?

  Hair.

• 29:53Speaker 03

  Yeah, haired, cologne. I mean, the whole thing. Like, I was going to a nightclub. And I, you know, I went up to her and, you know, hey, what's going on? And she was kind of shy and, but I was like laying it on thick. And I actually asked her out on a treadmill. I slid up to her on the treadmill and, you know, what are you doing on Saturday night? And I went to go pick her up.

• 30:15Hoda Kotb?

  Oh.

• 30:15Speaker 03

  It was a slow burn, though.

• 30:16Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, it was a slow burn.

• 30:17Speaker 03

  Slow burn.

• 30:18Hoda Kotb?

  So she knew you from the beginning before you had landed anywhere?

• 30:22Speaker 03

  I was, I didn't have a day job at the time. I was just coming, I quit the oh five, I met her oh eight. So I was making a living doing stand up.

• 30:31Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 30:31Speaker 03

  I wasn't like, I didn't have like an abundance of money. I was making, let's say, twenty five hundred dollars a week at a comedy club.

• 30:39Hoda Kotb?

  Did you have a mini plan for yourself? Or were you just going to keep playing gigs and wanted to see what happened?

• 30:46Speaker 03

  Yeah, there was no backup. There was no, um, some people go out to LA or whatever, New York or wherever they're going now. I'm going to give myself five years.

• 30:54Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 30:54Speaker 03

  I felt like if I said that, I was going to kind of already fail.

• 30:58Hoda Kotb?

  Fail, yeah.

• 30:59Speaker 03

  So it's like, it was either comedy or bust. The whole goal in the beginning was, I just want to do this and make a living doing it.

• 31:06Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 31:07Speaker 03

  Because, again, I've had so many jobs. I just never felt like I was cut out to go to work.

• 31:15Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 31:15Speaker 03

  And nine to five, punch in, punch out. And I've had all the, I've had all the jobs. I mean, I, like I said, I worked at United Airlines, I worked at Honey Baked Ham. I was glazing ham during the holidays. I mean, people, people got off for Christmas break, they're like, where are you guys going? Oh, we're going to Mexico. Like, where are you going? Honey baked ham. I'm torching hams for the holidays. So, again, I've had all these jobs. I've been through the wringer with

• 31:44Hoda Kotb?

  That's the difference.

• 31:45Speaker 03

  all of those things. And I think it's helped me, uh, it's helped me.

• 31:50Hoda Kotb?

  What was the first, what was the big gig that everybody said, oh, my God, who's this guy? We never, you know, people who weren't in LA who finally saw you on a national stage. What was the first, first big gig?

• 32:02Speaker 03

  I didn't, you know, I didn't have this, this moment where it's like, oh, I made an appearance on Saturday Night Live and people are, who's this guy?

• 32:10Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 32:10Speaker 03

  My story is more of like a, again, everything I, it's slow.

• 32:15Hoda Kotb?

  Slow.

• 32:16Speaker 03

  You know, everything's slow, nothing's quick. But it happens that way for, for a reason, I think. Mine was more like going to comedy clubs, going back to the comedy club, more people at the comedy club.

• 32:27Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 32:27Speaker 03

  Okay, we're going to go to the theaters now, more people at the theaters. We're going to go to the arenas, more people at the arena. So I didn't really have like a TV show or a movie that really kind of put me on the map. It was all kind of through, uh, stand up comedy and then through the success of stand up. And that's where you started seeing me pop up in movies or TV show and, and, and, yeah. But there wasn't really one thing I could pinpoint where, oh, this was the, this was it. This is what put me on the map. It wasn't like that.

• 32:54Hoda Kotb?

  The physical comedy part of you, I mean, there's, it's all brilliant, but your physical comedy is, is like next level. Wow.

• 33:00Speaker 03

  That's, that's what seemed to, people seem to gravitate to.

• 33:03Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 33:03Speaker 03

  Especially nowadays. I mean, yeah, there's comedians that go up and they stand behind a microphone and they tell jokes. Got no problem with that. I just thought, listen, number one, people are so distracted now, right? You basically got to light yourself on fire in order for people not to like look at their Instagram feed while you're up there. So I felt like, um, my style kind of, um, and I wasn't doing this in the beginning. I wasn't, you know, doing a lot of movement. I was, I was, I was animated, but I wasn't like anything to where I am now.

• 33:40Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 33:41Speaker 03

  And I just felt, oh, wow, people kind of gravitate towards when I do a physical movement or an act out or a facial expression.

• 33:48Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 33:49Speaker 03

  And I'm like, okay, maybe.

• 33:50Hoda Kotb?

  Let me do more of that.

• 33:51Speaker 03

  Let me do more of that. Not, not so much where it's like cartoony, but, you know, give them a little taste here and there. So that's what.

• 33:57Hoda Kotb?

  I think we spend so much of our lives waiting for the big moments. The birthdays, the vacations, the milestones. But the truth is, some of the happiest moments show up on the most ordinary days. So like this, I'll stop into a CVS because I need one thing. Somehow, the best part of the trip is never the thing I came for. So maybe I'll grab a delicious well-marked snack or maybe I'll wander over to the Joyward Collection. It's really full of fun, cool, seasonal decor, thoughtful little gifts and those little discoveries that make you so glad you stopped in. I have to tell you, if you're an Extra Care member, you're going to save on things you're already buying. And those extra bucks really do add up.

• 34:41Hoda Kotb?

  Just watching that total go down at the checkout never, ever gets old. I know life's busy. We're all juggling a lot. And that's why I think those little unexpected moments of joy matter so much. So the next time you're running errands, stop by your local CVS pharmacy. You may go in for something you need, but don't be surprised if you leave with something that simply makes your day a little brighter. Visit your local CVS pharmacy, sponsored by CVS. Halloween has a funny way of making you buy things you'd never normally buy. A ten foot skeleton? Sure. A full size fog machine? Why not? Three bags of candy that somehow become six bags of candy? It happens. Which brings me to the Chase Freedom Flex Card.

• 35:26Hoda Kotb?

  The savvy decision that will earn you more cash back on the everyday purchases plus the extraordinary Halloween tricks and treats. With Freedom Flex, you earn even more treats on your Halloween and everyday needs. You get 5% cash back on popular rotating quarterly categories, 3% on dining and drugstores, and 1% on all other purchases. More ways to earn, more ways to get rewarded. That's no tricks, all treats. More ways to earn, more ways to get rewarded. So sign up for the Chase Freedom Flex Card. Learn more at chase.com/getflex. This is a paid collaboration with Chase Freedom Flex. Cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA member FDIC.

• 36:09Hoda Kotb?

  Subject to credit approval. Offer subject to change. Terms apply.

• 36:13Speaker 02

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• 36:43Speaker 05

  I'm Melissa Jelton, and in my new podcast, What Happened to Her? I'm bringing you new stories and conversations every week. Stories about women whose deaths were too quickly ruled a suicide. She was starting to get worried and get scared for her safety. Stories of survival. The only difference between me and her, frankly, was a little bit of luck because by all rights, I should be dead. Cases that everyone else called closed. They can't convict her, right? Like, she has so much evidence. These stories all start in the same place. With a woman failed by a system that didn't believe her, that didn't protect her, that didn't see her. No child should ever experience that. And we were babies.

• 37:29Speaker 06

  She did all of these brave things and came out and spoke about it and he got a year. You never know who that devil is because he's wearing a disguise. Sometimes it's a police uniform.

• 37:41Speaker 05

  Listen to What Happened to Her on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 37:48Hoda Kotb?

  What about the Garden? Selling out the Garden five ti, the Garden? The Garden, Madison Square Garden.

• 37:55Speaker 03

  It was never on the.

• 37:56Hoda Kotb?

  Wow, on the list.

• 37:58Speaker 03

  It was never, I don't have, uh, like, I know some people write out their goals.

• 38:02Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 38:03Speaker 03

  And they have a vision board at home. Uh, I, I wasn't, I just like, it just happened.

• 38:11Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 38:11Speaker 03

  You know, it just kind of happened out of just, just putting the energy into stand up. Uh, it was not something that, oh, I want to play the Garden, I want to host the Oscars. I want, which I've never done, but I, I've never like.

• 38:23Hoda Kotb?

  You've never written it out?

• 38:24Speaker 03

  No.

• 38:24Hoda Kotb?

  But stepping onto the, onto the stage at the Garden, I mean, that's iconic. What was, what was that like for you? Do you just say, oh, well, this is just like I did at the other thing, but this is just bigger? Or is it different?

• 38:37Speaker 03

  While I was doing these Garden, like, this is, this is the mistake I made.

• 38:44Speaker 03

  Do the garden. What's next? You know, like, not relishing in these moments.

• 38:49Hoda Kotb?

  That's big, yeah.

• 38:49Speaker 03

  Really like, taking these things in because it may never happen again.

• 38:54Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 38:55Speaker 03

  This, this, this could be the last time I do the garden, who knows? So, I've made it a point over the last four years to kinda like stop, really kinda take these moments in. The last time I did the garden, I had my kids with me and we went up to the third floor and they're running around Madison Square Garden and, and, and I'm like, what a different childhood these kids are living, you know? I'm running around my backyard in Arlington Heights, Illinois. And now my kids are running around Madison Square Garden, which, you know, again, I'm very cautious of how they are being brought up.

• 39:36Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 39:36Speaker 03

  You know, um, they're obviously being brought up in a different lifestyle, economically and, and what have you, you know, it's like, this is what they know, you know, like, oh, we're gonna go to the, uh, oh, here's, here's one. We're gonna go to Disneyland, right? But, it's not gonna be the way I went to Disneyland growing up. Sweating in lines.

• 40:03Speaker 03

  Yelling, you know, it was, it was, you know, get on, we're going to Epcot. It was, it was, this is weird 'cause I have a relationship with the, whatever Hulu or Disney or whatever. We get a, a, a guide, right? Now, I gotta tell my kids, right? This ain't normal. Right? And I make it a point going, this, you know, if you ever go out to Disneyland with another family and they don't have, you know, Cinderella taking you around, it, it's okay, you know? So, don't think that this is like, you deserve this, or, this is because daddy wants to get home. I don't wanna spend all,

• 40:46Speaker 03

  I don't wanna spend the whole day here, sitting in line. So, we're gonna walk in with, uh, the minions or whatever the hell, you know, like,

• 40:57Speaker 03

  but I'm conscious of telling them that.

• 40:59Hoda Kotb?

  Letting them know, yes, yes.

• 41:00Speaker 03

  This ain't, this is, you know.

• 41:01Hoda Kotb?

  This is not the way it is.

• 41:02Speaker 03

  Not the way it is.

• 41:03Hoda Kotb?

  How do you, that's a good question though, because you're a hard worker, 'cause you grew up in that, you make your kids make their bed, so they're gonna, they, they know discipline, but hard work and hardship is something that you can't, like hardship you can't throw on your kid. The, the kids who make it struggle through things. And I've thought about this too, I mean, you can't manufacture, here's something you're gonna have to overcome so that they feel better. But, it's tricky because you want resilient kids, you want kids who can get out there and can take it. And I, I mean, I'm concerned about that same exact thing.

• 41:35Speaker 03

  You're exactly right. You can't, you know, you can't fake the environment, you know what I'm saying? Uh, I wish I could, I wish I could, but, but again, you have to like, I believe if you tell the kids, uh, what's going on, what's happening, if they see you go to work.

• 41:51Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 41:52Speaker 03

  They see the, the hard work.

• 41:53Hoda Kotb?

  That's it.

• 41:53Speaker 03

  You know, if you tell them, hey, daddy's gotta go to work.

• 41:56Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 41:57Speaker 03

  Because, you know, the couch we just bought? That costs money, you know, like, if you tell them, I think, hopefully, I don't know, I mean, hopefully.

• 42:06Hoda Kotb?

  It sinks in.

• 42:06Speaker 03

  They will, it sinks in.

• 42:08Hoda Kotb?

  The thing you said that just caught me was the whole thing of like pausing in a moment and like taking it in. Because life's a drive-by. I was at a wedding, this is weird, Bethenny Frankel, who's a reality person, she got married a long time ago to this other guy, Jason. Anyway, she's pregnant, she had just, it was like some crazy wedding, and in the middle of it, she stopped the priest, the priest and said, wait, wait, wait. 'Cause he's about to do the, I just need to look around for a second. And I thought about that moment, like, I just wanna see what this is like, while I'm in it. And I feel like I sprint through so many things. But that, I, so when you say sometimes I just gotta stop down, like, what do you do to make sure you're taking in whatever moment you have?

• 42:53Speaker 03

  Yeah, I, I, I think it's, I think, kinda echoing, echoing what you just said, is like, slow down.

• 42:58Hoda Kotb?

  Slow down.

• 42:59Speaker 03

  Take it easy, take a step back. Let's not be worried about what's happening tomorrow. Let's do, how many people are coming, what's the tickets tomorrow?

• 43:07Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 43:08Speaker 03

  Let's just like, be here and let's just enjoy this and let's take the people, like, even the people around you, the, the, the, the garden security, uh, this, or the guy in the back.

• 43:20Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 43:21Speaker 03

  Let's just like,

• 43:21Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 43:22Speaker 03

  talk and, and really enjoy it rather than be so worried about the future.

• 43:27Hoda Kotb?

  Right, what's next? What about tomorrow?

• 43:29Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 43:30Hoda Kotb?

  Are your parents both still alive?

• 43:32Speaker 03

  They're still alive, yeah.

• 43:33Hoda Kotb?

  What do they think about their little boy? I mean, what he did?

• 43:40Speaker 03

  So, so you can't get a big head in my family?

• 43:45Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 43:46Speaker 03

  So, my mom, for example, I love her to death. She called me yesterday, I posted some, some photos from Atlantic City last week, online. She calls up, she goes, she, you look terrible. Now,

• 44:08Speaker 03

  I was, I was battling, I was under the weather and, uh, you know, I said, ma, you know, sick, yeah, yeah, but gee, you look like, you look white. So, I'm like,

• 44:21Speaker 03

  there's no like, um, don't get me wrong, they're proud, but we tend to, um, live in the negative in my family.

• 44:33Hoda Kotb?

  Describe that, what do you?

• 44:35Speaker 03

  It's, it's like, um, it's,

• 44:40Speaker 03

  there's compliments, but I think they're in fear, like, if they give me too many compliments, that it, that I won't have like, there needs to be like a, a leveling of the playing field with my, with my family. And, uh, over the years, I think they have become less critical. Because in the beginning, they were really, I even asked this to Mario Carbone yesterday, I go, when you feed your family food, do they eat and go, gee, what the?

• 45:06Speaker 03

  More salt, Mark. You know? Or do they like, love it? They're like, oh, they love it, they, you know, they come to my restaurants three times a week. Uh, but my, my, my father will, let's say I'm on Jimmy Fallon. This is back in the day. I'm on Jimmy Fallon. If I don't get a call from him the next day, it means he don't like it, didn't like it. So, if I knew, I didn't hear from my father, that, that the appearance sucked. So, they're, they're, they're critiquing like this. My mom will see this. You were so good. You were so natural, or whatever, whatever the, the comment is gonna be. Uh, I get like a, a daily critique from the things I'm doing from my family. Like, my father, you would've thought he was a comedian, the way he's giving me notes.

• 45:51Speaker 03

  He does, does hair. He's a hairstylist. And he's sitting there like, uh, you know, you should do the joke you did, like, I think I had a, he had a notepad, he was writing. After the show, he would come like, like a, like a scout. He would come, he goes, you know, you, you left out the bit about Subway, which the people really laugh about, I don't know why you don't do that, you know? Like, I did, I go, like, you do the same haircut every time you do a haircut? So, very, uh, very critical family, but, in their defense, I just think they're, you know, now that I'm, I'm a parent.

• 46:23Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 46:25Speaker 03

  My kid plays soccer, my daughter plays soccer. It's very easy to go, you know, why didn't you do this? You have to do this.

• 46:32Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 46:34Speaker 03

  I am taking the approach, and it's difficult. Hey, uh, did you have fun? It's all that, it's all that matters. It's all that matters, you had fun, right? Yet, you know, you got mehged four times, you know, saying, so, I'm trying to give constructive criticism in a way where they don't feel, you know? Although, I don't know, I don't know, is that the right approach? Because everybody's like, so like, um, with these kids, like, oh, you don't wanna hurt their feelings, I mean, there's, there's a, a balance there, I think, that you have to give them. I, I don't, I, I don't know.

• 47:12Hoda Kotb?

  Did you have fun? By the way, that's hilarious. I know, both of my girls play soccer too. How are you as a parent, by the way, on the sidelines? What do you do?

• 47:23Speaker 03

  I'm like, I just, I'm like, screaming at other kids on his team. So, I'll be like, come on, five! What was that? And, and you could tell the other parents, I go, did he just? Did he just yell at my kid? You know, like,

• 47:41Hoda Kotb?

  One, five.

• 47:42Speaker 03

  Well, I don't even know the kid's name. Um.

• 47:48Speaker 03

  Yeah, so I don't know, I, I, I, um, I tend to watch the games kind of alone. My father used to come to my soccer games. But he, and my practices, and my father, growing up, used to dress, because he was a hairstylist, he used to wear a, um, a fedora,

• 48:10Speaker 03

  a three-quarter length trench coat. And he was in all black and sunglasses. And he would come watch these, my practices, but he wouldn't come near the field. He would just be a figure in the background. And kids were like, what, who is that, who's that, who's that guy? And I go, oh, that's, he looked like he was there to collect money from the team. I go, that's my father, that's my father, he just got off doing a perm. Uh, and he wants to see me play soccer, so, um, and he was very critical of me playing soccer.

• 48:48Hoda Kotb?

  Like what?

• 48:48Speaker 03

  Very critical, like, you know, I would run down the field and I, I'd be winded, so I would rest my, my hands on my knees and bend over. And he'd be like, what, what are you doing, tired? You know, like, I was 16, you tired, you want to know what tired is? You know, like, and then he would go into his, try going 16 hours on your, you know, like, okay. Can we just, could you just be?

• 49:15Hoda Kotb?

  I can't believe he went to your practices, that's unusual for a parent, right?

• 49:19Speaker 03

  He took soccer so seriously, he hired

• 49:24Speaker 03

  a prof- a professional soccer player to teach me how to play soccer, this is in high school, right? Failing math, no tutor.

• 49:38Speaker 03

  Soccer, private coach.

• 49:41Hoda Kotb?

  Well, he, so he, soccer was his deal, did you think you wanted to play that at some point? Did you?

• 49:46Speaker 03

  Uh, I mean, I, I, no, no, no, I don't, I don't think there was a future, I mean, listen, I, I, I was all-conference.

• 50:00Speaker 03

  But, uh, no, I, I wasn't, uh, like, scholarship material.

• 50:04Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, wow, though, all-conference is pretty, uh,

• 50:06Speaker 03

  I mean, you gotta be like, oh, I, I knew where I fell in the hierarchy of, I knew what was really good and what I was doing, and I'm like, I ain't that guy.

• 50:16Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, but you had, you had something going.

• 50:18Speaker 03

  I had, I had a beautiful, beautiful head of hair.

• 50:24Speaker 03

  It was long, and then when I did a header, the hair would just whip around, it was like, ew, ew, there was a, there's a photo of me going up for a header, and there's the hair.

• 50:38Hoda Kotb?

  Did your dad cut your hair?

• 50:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, I had hair until I left. Nobody ever cut my hair for 24 years, except for my father.

• 50:45Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, my god.

• 50:46Speaker 03

  And, uh, he recently cut my hair, and he's still doing hair, he's 80 years old.

• 50:52Hoda Kotb?

  Whoa, still doing hair, so he cut your hair, how was it?

• 50:56Speaker 03

  Uh, we haven't had that happen again, it was, uh, my dad's body has been through the wringer, I mean, he's, he's been standing on his feet for 60 years.

• 51:09Hoda Kotb?

  That's insane.

• 51:10Speaker 03

  Behind a chair.

• 51:11Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 51:11Speaker 03

  And I gotta give it up to him, because, you know, he has no hobbies, he doesn't golf, he doesn't do, you know, he doesn't make, he doesn't have a train set in his basement or anything like that, he works.

• 51:21Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 51:21Speaker 03

  And if he stops working, he's gonna die.

• 51:27Hoda Kotb?

  I feel like you're that way about work, you love, I mean, you come alive, obviously, do you see yourself, like, doing this for, just like your dad, for just as long as you can?

• 51:38Speaker 03

  This is another thing I'm wrestling with. What am I, what am I doing? Right, I'm here with you, right? My kid's got a soccer game tonight, I'm gonna miss that. And it ain't coming back, you know what I'm saying?

• 51:53Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 51:54Speaker 03

  So, you know, I'm wrestling with

• 51:58Hoda Kotb?

  Yes.

• 51:59Speaker 03

  how much time is good with the family? Because, listen, 24/7 with the family, I'm not gonna lie, it's nice to get out, right? But how much, how much are you gonna get out, how much are you gonna do?

• 52:13Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 52:13Speaker 03

  What am I doing? I'm doing all that, I'm doing Atlantic City for four shows this week, and then I come home, I go to Vegas.

• 52:20Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 52:21Speaker 03

  Oh, what?

• 52:22Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 52:25Speaker 03

  Because, because why, if I, if I take, I think Garth Brooks took like 14 years off to go raise his family.

• 52:32Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 52:32Speaker 03

  And then he came back, and they were still there.

• 52:34Hoda Kotb?

  They're like, great, yeah, we've been looking for you.

• 52:36Speaker 03

  Yeah, uh, so, I don't know, you know, Chris Rock always told me, um, it's hard to make an entrance when you don't leave the room, you know what I'm saying?

• 52:44Hoda Kotb?

  That's good.

• 52:45Speaker 03

  So,

• 52:46Hoda Kotb?

  That's interesting.

• 52:46Speaker 03

  It's nice to kind of maybe go away a little bit. But, but nowadays, you feel like, if you don't post one day on Instagram, the algorithm's gonna lose you, done, so.

• 52:58Hoda Kotb?

  I think you're one of those people who's here to stay, I mean, I think some people you, you might forget about, but you're so completely unforgettable.

• 53:05Speaker 03

  Maybe that's what I needed to hear, to take some time off.

• 53:08Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, yeah, by the way, you might need it, all right, so joy, let's talk, this, this podcast is called Joy 101, so, um, what is, what's bringing you joy these days? Like, what is it that lights you up?

• 53:22Speaker 03

  It's another thing we were talking about at the house, what brings us as a family joy?

• 53:28Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 53:28Speaker 03

  Because, again, you could get swept up, I had a lot of joy when I was trying to make it. And now that I'm here, I don't know what to do, like, I, I got to where I wanted to go, there's a book called The Second Mountain, okay? What, what's the next mountain to climb?

• 53:49Hoda Kotb?

  The next mountain.

• 53:50Speaker 03

  Is it, is it a personal mountain, is it, is it a professional mountain? Uh, so, what brings me the most joy is, I'm a homebody. I love having people at my home, I love making people feel good when I'm not on stage, and how I do that is cooking and entertaining, so, we have a little thing at the house called the Crust Club, and it's a small group of people that we enjoy hanging out with, and they come over, and we could do a dinner, we could do a pool day or whatnot, and that's where I find real joy is just hanging out with the people that I, that I like

• 54:30Speaker 03

  to hang out with, and, uh, outside of that, I, I'm in this, like, transitional period in my life, trying to figure out, you know, what's, what's enough work, what's enough family time, because I'm like, you know, I'm, I'm a, I'm a husband, I'm a father, I'm a son, I'm a friend, I'm a, I'm, I'm all these things, and, uh, I'm just trying to be the best at each one of them.

• 54:57Hoda Kotb?

  You know, it's so funny, like, a couple of years ago, I was feeling that vibe too, and I had this vision of like a time pie, and we all get one, and you carve it up the way you want, and that's it. And when I looked at mine, my time pie, because I have young kids, I, mine was so whacked, and I said, well, wait, I don't like my time pie, because I chunked it out into how I spent my life, you know, the pieces of my life, and I, a friend of mine said, "Take a piece of paper, cut it up, and write down all the things in your life that require your time and energy and effort, okay, but the piece of paper, the, the chunk should coincide with how much time," so I was like, "Family, work, whatever, travel, visiting

• 55:41Hoda Kotb?

  my mom, exercise, you know, the dog, whatever, whatever." And so, she said, "Oh, so family's bigger than work?" I said, "Well, not really, I mean, not technically, if you're adding," okay, well, let's switch those two, good, "and what about this, is that this?" And then all of a sudden, I looked at my puzzle, and I didn't like it, I was like, "Oh, that doesn't, that doesn't look like what I want." But I was on the train going, so, and the opportunities are now, and don't miss, and all the things, but I think it's interesting what happens when you pause for a minute, because I'm in that, I'm in that pause where I started a business, but I'm doing stuff for The Today Show, but I'm with my, I just got to send my kids off to school, I'm gonna

• 56:25Hoda Kotb?

  pick them up, like, I, I'm restructuring it, but life is so short, and I think it was Steve Harvey who said, he was saying like the difference between happiness and joy, he said, "Happiness is going to the club, you know, happiness is like, it's my birthday, it's like, that's happiness." He said, "Joy is when you open your eyes in the morning, and you look around, and you're just full and overflowing, just for what you have, you don't need something else to be put on the plate to feel it." And it sounds like, I mean, just, just listening to you, it sounds like this path that you're on, and even if you took a little break, I don't know what you will do, because you're busy as can be, um,

• 57:07Speaker 03

  I'm not that busy, though, I mean, I just, I just heard, uh, someone else tell me that, "Oh, you're busy."

• 57:12Hoda Kotb?

  Well, Vegas and this and,

• 57:13Speaker 03

  I mean, it,

• 57:15Hoda Kotb?

  Maybe for you, you're not, maybe for your pace.

• 57:17Speaker 03

  I mean, today's, today's a busy day for me.

• 57:19Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 57:20Speaker 03

  Um, but, you know, the Sirius XM thing, it's, it's nice, it's in town, it's in LA, I go to, uh, an office, I like it, it's like I go to work.

• 57:29Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 57:29Speaker 03

  Um, but, yeah, I mean, it's not where I'm like overwhelmed with a lot of work.

• 57:35Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 57:35Speaker 03

  It's just, um, you know, I guess, it's, for, for me right now, it's more like life decisions.

• 57:41Hoda Kotb?

  Yes, yeah.

• 57:43Speaker 03

  Are we in the right city?

• 57:45Hoda Kotb?

  Yes.

• 57:46Speaker 03

  Should we move?

• 57:47Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, yeah, they're all important.

• 57:50Speaker 03

  Yeah, parents are getting older.

• 57:52Hoda Kotb?

  Yes, should we get closer?

• 57:54Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 57:54Hoda Kotb?

  Kids in school, what's going on?

• 57:57Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 57:57Hoda Kotb?

  We got all these, well, by the way, I love the way you live your life, I know you're at all kinds of crossroads, but you're, I love you, Sebastian, thank you.

• 58:05Speaker 03

  This was like, a little bit of a therapy session for me, and I appreciate you guys all being here to witness it.

• 58:12Hoda Kotb?

  By the way, we have the best audience, thank you, Sebastian, I love you, thank you so much.

• 58:17Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 58:19Hoda Kotb?

  Okay, one of the things that Sebastian talked about was slowing down, taking a minute, pausing, figuring out where you are, slowing down is the key, I think, to a more joyful life, so, we have someone on our app named Anna Katsis, and she lives in Greece, and she is with her nana, her grandmother, who's 91 years old, I think, and she is going to take us through a way that we can slow everything down by doing something very, very simple, take a look.

• 58:53Speaker 05

  Hi, everyone, I'm here with my yaya, Anna, and today we're harvesting Cefkula.

• 58:59Hoda Kotb?

  Cefkula.

• 58:59Speaker 05

  Cefkula, it's Swiss chard in English, and so, we just picked it from

• 59:04Speaker 06

  The garden and we're gonna take it inside and we're gonna boil it and make a really nice dinner. Follow along to see how we cook it. See you soon.

• 59:45Speaker 05

  The jorta is a post to keep on us. Get to lemon. Yeah, still a little. Yeah. This is the last of us.

• 59:59Speaker 05

  You know, yeah.

• 1:00:00Speaker 06

  That's good. Okay, Yaya, you're trying to try now.

• 1:00:07Speaker 05

  We're here. Tell me some lemon.

• 1:00:13Speaker 05

  I'm good.

• 1:00:17Speaker 06

  And now Yaya is cutting some bread that she made herself.

• 1:00:21Speaker 05

  Yes, yes. I'm gonna leave him. So we're gonna do a lot of it.

• 1:00:37Speaker 06

  Cheers.

• 1:00:41Speaker 06

  My Yaya is 91 years old and we just made a meal from garden to table from our Swiss chard, our lemons and the bread she made herself. It just goes to show that the more food that we can make ourselves or that we know where it grows, the longer it's going to help us live. Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time. Bye.

• 1:01:05Hoda Kotb?

  Okay, I feel slow. I feel easy. I feel like I want to take the time and do some simple things. I love that whole farm to table. Beautiful. All right, guys, thank you again for listening to the show here on iHeart and we'll see you again next time.

• 1:01:26Hoda Kotb?

  I've realized that joy doesn't always come from those big moments. Sometimes you find it on the most ordinary day while popping into a CVS for toothpaste or paper towels and it never seems to be just a quick errand. Maybe I'll grab a delicious Well Market Trail Mix or wander over to the Joyward Collection. That's part of the fun. So the next time you're checking something off your to do list, stop by your local CVS pharmacy. You might go in for one thing and leave with a little more joy. Visit your local CVS pharmacy, sponsored by CVS.

• 1:01:57Speaker 05

  I'm Melissa Jelton, host of the What Happened to Her podcast. We're kicking off the season with the Sandra Birchmore story, a case the police wrote off as a suicide in a snowstorm. Her family never bought it and the man they suspected wore a badge.

• 1:02:12Speaker 06

  You never know who that devil is because he's wearing a disguise. Sometimes it's a police uniform.

• 1:02:17Speaker 05

  And you can get access to all episodes 100% ad free with an iHeart True Crime Plus subscription exclusively on Apple Podcasts, available only to iHeart True Crime Plus subscribers. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for iHeart True Crime Plus and subscribe today. What happens when romance gets a little monstrous? On Radio 831, a romance podcast, join us, Sanjana Baskar and Tyler McCall as we host our own monster romance extravaganza. We're joined by the villain edit author, Rosie Dannon, and sentient object romance expert

• 1:02:51Speaker 03

  Gracie Delgado to explore what these unexpected love stories can reveal about desire, fantasy, and what we actually want. Listen to Radio 831, a romance podcast, on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Michael Lewis here to tell you about my new book, Blockers, which gives you an inside look at the Trump administration and the public servants who stood in its way. These were people who were securing our most sensitive data, keeping the public safe from all sorts of threats and engaged in life-saving scientific research until they were told they no longer belonged. And the question to me is, if they can't survive in our government, then what does it say about us? Get Blockers now only at blockers.fm.

• 1:03:39Speaker 03

  This is your girl, TS Madison, coming to you loud, live and always and forever in color from the Outlaws Podcast. National Coming Out Day is in October and we've got stories from all your favorite LGBTQ celebrities to celebrate. Check out our episode with comedy legend Wayne Brady. My daughter was actually the one, she said, Dad, you may be pansexual. The iconic Billy Porter. And Terrell Grace and I talk about family and Charles and Emily posts coming out. I don't like statements like that. That's Dad or that's Grandma. No, no, no, no, no, no. It should never come at the cost and expense of your own sanity and your own mental health. Download the free iHeart Radio app, search Outlaws with TS Madison and listen now.

• 1:04:17Speaker 01

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.