Joe Rogan Experience #1985 — Steven Wright Transcript

Transcript

0:00 Joe Rogan Podcast, check it out! It's the same vibe, it's the same. Yeah. It's the same vibe. it's in between the two rooms. Yeah, it's very nice. into a green room. It's a fun vibe, right? You got it? well it was the comedy connection the little one downstairs no still no it was it was uh You got straight in. comedy from watching The Tonight Show that's when I really got like all these

4:17 It was like that was too much for me. And that's how you started? during that two weeks, I wrote things, I was influenced by Carlin, talking about everyday little things. But in Boston at that time, there was a lot of guys like Lenny Clark and Steve Sweeney and Don Gavin. those are some of the best comics that have ever lived. And there was so much stuff about Boston.

7:13 Lenny. It was really just being a headliner, just killing. so everyone started maybe one year before one year. and there wasn't actually a comedy club before this comedy connection. Yeah. know there was all the evening at the improvs then and stand-up uh specials on like mtv at the So I started when the wave of like television comedy was just starting to sort of subside I kind of

10:31 Why did it go into your head? played this Jenny bit and I was laughing so hard driving home and I while I was driving, I downloaded the whole album. and you can think that's really funny but you're not really laughing out loud you're not right Kill myself not So she's acting this out to Sam Kinison I really do think about her all the time because she was a girl I worked with at the Boston Athletic Club in South Boston.

13:53 She wouldn't give a fuck, though. one of the first times i thought i could do comedy i was like me maybe i'm like I got this wrong I thought it I thought On my open mic night, the first time I went, when I did my show, Friends talking me into doing it. I'd make my friends laugh when we'd go fight in tournaments, goes by someone drops something someone says something about that something's on the tv

17:12 Yeah, that's where it's tricky and to me the most interesting thing about the art form is that no one can tell you how to do It you do it very different than I do it and we both do it very different than Seinfeld does it and Seinfeld does it different People love to go see it. You can't really teach stand-up. You're standing on the stage. so fast it's like a car accident the next thing you know the thing is oh what what and then you

19:43 And I would try to find jokes on purpose in the first six months. And then after that, like I had this thing once, because your subconscious is like a factory. pets and I had a pony I had a Shetland pony named Nikki and he he was once involved in a bizarre is based on noticing what's around you. That's also a shape, which helps you get it accurate.

22:03 Like I'm not going out. And then, oh, and then like write it down. thinking about that subject like if there's a new bit it's like it's just bouncing around in my head spot like there's something in there like what it where is it you know i have like little eyes on you look there's something in there I know it's in there let me Like, you figured out this and that.

25:05 when I get home I'm just trying to think maybe the beginning should be the ending And it's so intense, too. Oh, you had a thing. It's amazing. It literally doesn't even make sense. I've never even heard of it. Look at the size of it. A chain of Buc-ee's. Yeah, some guys have got high on cocaine and built the ultimate gas station. So it's an interesting balance.

28:34 It's a true fact. He wanted more tigers than the other guy? Yes, that's it. A big oil guy, right? He wanted more tigers than the other guy? And it's true. friends and some family members you could get licensed to hunt on that property. So like zebras, lions, tigers, there's fucking stray kangaroos. I think it's probably born in Texas. It's so crazy.

31:10 So they were in Texas, and then in the 1800s, they wiped them out. You can do that with some animals you and eat it and kill it. That's what they like to do. I own these worms because they're from Spain. Do you have any animals that you own that you've brought in from other countries? I cannot confirm nor deny, which is interesting too like you know california has a lot of public land and there's public land

34:02 There was a lot of riots. do shows in the parking lot. I was like, I've got to get out of here. I love it here. Like, I don't want to be in cities anymore. I don't think it's healthy for you. open yeah the food here is incredible but so that was uh it was. But the big thing was freedom. And my young daughters were like, oh, my God, we want to young daughters were like oh my god we want to live here

37:02 and and i again like i really loved love Montana and I really love Colorado. I realized like how valuable freedom is and to not be suppressed by these people You own, you decided you own this piece of the earth and you're going to charge me? You paid for this bridge a thousand times over, you cunts. So everybody's angry at you and they still just keep paying it every day because there's

39:06 The whole idea behind it has already been passed. To the ticket. gone on after I was gone yeah he went No, I never talked to him about it. creepy way that the city makes money off you it really is you're dead right it's and you know you're going on time and space. But you can hit me When was the first parking meter? It was with my car. In 1913, the city had only 3,000 drivers,

43:19 That's insane. but that was time intensive and took policemen off their regular beats. Thank you, sir. I wouldn't do that. something about when something's not going in yeah you really think more for sure for a long time i thought mornings and deliver my newspapers um and i do it no radio on a lot of the time and some of the best which is almost like the gears in your head,

47:16 it's always been a very playful thing to me. but you can't stop, right? It's chaos. And then you can comment about the stuff that's spilling over. hard work and work ethic more than any place I've ever lived. And there's something about like, Go to work. That wasn't growing up no no no I don't know There is that. and not thinking of anything. I think it's only people who do creative stuff kind of appreciate that you really do have to have that time just thinking.

51:25 like, I have to go here, I got to buy this do this i gotta call this guy i gotta do this email i gotta If you didn't do any of it, it would just pile up words and then they go for a walk and And then you think about what you wrote, seeing Einstein walk what the hell get back in the office and that you know and he figures out Go hang out with friends in other states.

53:50 By accident, yeah. that are in all the other museums. A museum where they have all the heads and arms from the statues that are in all the other museums a but I like how it affects my mind also. Big smile on my face. It just leaves you free. And you procrastinate or you dread it. So they have an association in their head. one time i went down and i must have gone longer than before. And I got that rush thing, that endorphin thing,

57:05 get it again and then it's now it's been like since 32 years it's like a drug look like I'm walking around of the theater and going all around people might see me they're going into the show they must be so They don't want you to suck. lot of fun it's a lot of fun I've's a lot of fucking fun. I've done a lot of different things. We're all sitting around after the show.

59:54 It's just too much fun. Well, the audience is a weird thing. Yeah. Ah, I remember when you first talked about that Wow. The podfather. Just having fun. to New York I couldn't wait to do the morning radio And we would leave and we'd just be laughing like, Just have a webcam show. Yeah, my friend Brian. How did that happen? Like, what are you doing? Oh, yeah.

1:04:37 But there's a large layer of it and micro diamonds, which indicate impacts from the that to this day we still don't understand when I would do radio shows and stuff. There's a lot of indications that there was, like, like you know my berlington massachusetts mind okay okay and then all right no no no more room no no but i'll watch i'll hear the words yeah i'll

1:07:05 he's telling me this I'm like what did you just say the fuck does that even But that's like... He was like that as a kid. Oh, that's right. talking to these people. And they're all like mixed in together in this world. Then you cut to Neil deGrasse sitting here with the guy with the, what was the other guy? Intense, I mean his brain is like you can tell when you're talking to him.

1:10:07 It went back up. we was, where we were, what are you doing over there? three hours he scares the shit out of me he scares the There's one, a bad state getting control of AI before a good state. It'll be able to, you know, you can do things with artificial intelligence resin they're resin sculptures i just i always love these day of the dead skulls are pretty

1:13:17 I like to have a bunch of shit laying around. because there's a very very fertile area because of all the lakes and all the rivers and all the wildlife. control of the plains in control of Texas and they were the most fierce young. She was nine years old. Her family was murdered in front of her and they took her in breastfeed so she would do that and they took a photo of her doing that because they thought it

1:16:19 It's just amazing. Yeah. That was the real version well that's you know they just followed the buffalo and lived off of them that's all they Where is he? away the layers of ego and distortion because if you can make fun of things so the the Heyoka was I say the Indians in my show. I say the word Indian in my show. little boys are playing cowboys and guardians what are they playing now right you can't play

1:19:51 The Commanders. That's why they have all the casinos down there and the hard rock. No. we're so lucky oh my god you just go Starbucks, get a cup of coffee. Go get a sandwich. You had no idea a hurricane was on the way you had no idea it was just like but the weather guys the guy the didn't come, and they put him in jail. So they were tried. And it was real bad for science.

1:23:13 predict earthquakes jackasses six scientists convicted of manslaughter in Well, the judges definitely didn't understand it because they thought that these people Out he's constantly doing it. It's like his main life's work. You brought them in here? Yeah, yeah. well a couple different guys and it's amazing is and he didn't want to look at any other evidence and he suppressed evidence he suppressed he didn't

1:26:22 I would never want you to go through this experience. But because you did, you're this amazing, fascinating person with this like very introspective, very open minded view of things. Was the guy they got, was he one of the people there? have a connection previous to this with murder and you know he said he didn't do wasn't like it's not like a normal thing that women do it was it was like a male thing like a

1:28:34 most people just read headlines. You just read the propaganda. You just read like, and their whole family's filled with crime and chaos. Oh, yeah. Fate's a beautiful thing to believe in, right? It does happen. that like how much of it do you actually manifest out of your own mind how much of your choices You try and figure out answers. Now all of a sudden you're in a new reality.

1:32:09 Wow. if it doesn't happen maybe i can be a guy on the radio maybe i can be funny on the radio and then of the school was the people more than what I learned in the actual school some because the united states is like united states but it's like five countries, environment looking. There's New England, then there's Florida. When you were in Santa Monica, were you here because you were doing Hollywood stuff?

1:35:19 waiting room like you're waiting for something to happen, waiting for this other thing to happen. like nature. I would go to Rhode Island in the summer and I really became more and more into You know, and then I could go into the mad. I'd go to Boston or whatever. I remember when you did it. But it was always this thing that you kind of had to leave Boston because unfortunately,

1:37:12 if you really want to do stuff, So we all, so when you went back i was jealous i was like really so i didn't even know people were aware that i was so free just went back i was like it's such a gangster move my life is going, and it's like, was like for me Wow going congratulations thank you so for me starting So it was like going back And so you're dealing with this incredible high level of comedy, but it's all local.

1:40:31 I got a eight o'clock at Nick's and you go down the Knicks and you see your friends and everyone's doing shows and Love Tony V. It's a very cool thing. Yeah. Because when you think of all the people, isolated yeah like an island like yeah that's how I saw it like thinking back Absolutely. Yeah. He was amazing. You didn't want Barry. Yes. Please don't let this guy see my set

1:45:30 I knew him so well and I didn't even know a lot of that stuff. did you see you know that part of the movie where he's in the show him in there in Congress arguing Funny hanging out too. one of the things that nicks used to do that was absolutely brutal and uh this was when i and Lenny Clark. in front of Longshoremen 100,000% I didn't know that into town they set them up did they do it on purpose a hundred percent one hundred thousand

1:49:11 They just threw him to the wolves. Look at him. I became friends with him later in life, but i actually paid to see him before i was Did you tell him later what they were doing? all those guys I love him though Absolutely, because they're all like Indy 500 cars, I mean it's hard now, time in those days those guys were the cream of the crop Yeah. It was like I told you, that's how I wrote it,

1:53:03 And they didn't because right from the first three minutes, Take that set and take out the stuff that didn't work and put other stuff in that works. I mean, to try out. like i was saying a fingerprint before it was just just how i just what it was it didn't even It was like a factory that only made one car, and then they made a different car. And so then there was in the documentary, at least there was this attitude where a lot of guys had like, hey, what about me?

1:55:44 But I mean, we all wanted to go on the TV. And then he read it, and then he went back east looking at colleges I know. So it's a precious gift that Fran made the movie to see, to see this thing. and now there's a movie about the scene. And I think something like that can happen in a lot of places. to work on new stuff, put this stuff in. Put the new put the new stuff yeah just mix it in

1:59:50 otherwise i wouldn't write it down but they don't agree with me they're in charge they're the Nothing. do it no there's some come up with the ideas in a vacuum but the way it becomes an actual bit that you could do multiple times, it has to sort of alive. because you started writing a book on Twitter. So then one of the last times I read it, I should write another story.

2:02:24 And then people were leaving. writing it for a while and then I thought I should just keep writing this because like we were saying before the uh the jokes from noticing you know like the sweep of but it just kept going and going, and I was creating this weird world. just life things would come back to me and go, It wasn't going to be good for stand-up.

2:05:42 I mean, he can't really be a 7 seven-year-old couldn't be thinking this. I had no thing. and your thoughts and you're reacting your thought and you can almost be a little bit different. So you, oh, oh, oh, I like what you just did there. I feel like that about me. I've done it like that the whole time, and you're just sandwiching these new bits I would be in it like, I don't really.

2:09:25 Open mic really should be in a nice theater in front of a full audience. Anyway. hecklers i uh i ignore them yeah because it's the hardest thing to do really like if i took a It's like if someone interrupts a bit when you're in the middle of it, that sucks. L.A. more than anywhere I've ever been. wouldn't say what the hell are you putting the glass on that table for imagine at a play yelling out?

2:12:36 not good at being audience members and so some people are just very self-centered they don't One time I was doing that, and I strutted into this joke. And you can feel him getting uncomfortable just checking. I need that. own energy their own mood almost their own and you can sense what they are in about a minute then there's another break. Yeah, that's a way to do it.

2:16:15 Yeah, because it's like running with weights on. Yeah Put yourself in a state where you have to be on point. No. that that energy and bring it to a fresh audience it's like it really is like running with weights specifically like you said comedy louis ck who i think is brilliant giving you some points on how That's the idea. Congratulations on Yeah. That's the idea.

2:18:53 Yeah, it's like, The monitors in the green room And now because of that and because of the pandemic Christina Pazitsky. All dropping in. It's very exciting. God damn, that's the best feeling in the world. I do. And I could tell seeing you last night that you loved being in here. Yeah. i'm so happy we could do it and this is the perfect place to do it too because there wasn't really a

2:22:32 And so it was part of the fun of it. Yeah, it's like Boston in the 70s. hey, let's move there cave opened and so that was nice it's a nice little club and we do sets there so we we did and they would do these shows with us. like the music scene in los angeles in the 60s all the people music from all over the They're all comics. just the last two months these people learn and grow and this is like this pressure cooker thing

2:26:13 It feels like The Shining, like the fucking Overlook Hotel, they're kind of burned into the framework of the building you feel it in there i know that sounds without it seeping I always felt that Like, whew. It's like, you're walking around like, this is what you can do. But that's literally what it feels like Yes. No, but it doesn't matter. You gotta pee?

2:29:11 Okay, so real close, real close. That would be awesome. Next time I go there, I'm going to hang out longer because, you know, I was trying to save my stories. I was like, don't worry about it. Listen, man, I've always been a Giant fan, I absolutely feel the same way about you.