122: Son of a Gun with Anthony DeVito | Soder Podcast | EP 120

- Thanks for watching my episode with Anthony DeVito. How great is he? He's very funny and the story is incredible. Buffalo, New York, February 28th. Tickets are almost sold out. Go buy him right now if you're in the Buffalo area. DanSoda.com, it's gonna be a great show. March 6th, I believe, it is. March 6th, Boston, we added a nine o'clock show. So the seven o'clock show sold out at the Schubert, so we added a nine o'clock. DanSoda.com, and then Philadelphia, next night, March 7th, almost sold out. I would buy tickets to that show. The lineup is fantastic. There might be a special guest. I'm just saying, Philly, there's some people I know that are from Philadelphia that might wanna come and do some time on the show. You might wanna buy a ticket to see a great show, some little extras, little extras on the side. DanSoda.com, go get your tickets, and then Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City, Columbus, Ohio, near Cleveland, it's not Cleveland, but it's near Cleveland. All available now, DanSoda.com for the final leg of the Golden Retriever of Comedy Tour, which has been so awesome. Thank you guys for showing up, and we'll see you on these upcoming dates. (upbeat music) What's interesting is, and this is a good way to start the podcast, we had Greg Stone, your best friend since middle school? High school? Yeah. - You and Greg, frickin' frack. I love hanging out with you guys. - Yeah. - Goes back to our time when we would work the, we work comics up in my Heagant Sun. - In Pepper Tour. - The Salt and Pepper Tour. - Dude, I forgot about the Salt and Pepper Tour. All three of us were salt and pepper. It was just like 10 years ago. - Yeah. - We were all starting to get salt, we were all starting to get gray on the temples, gray on top, and we did what we jokingly called the Salt and Pepper Tour. - Yeah. - But, hard art. - One week into comics, that's all it was. - Two weekends, two weekends. We did it twice. - But the annual tour was one stop. - It was one stop. It was comics at Mohegan's Sun. And one time you and I, you, Greg and I, went out and saw the rock in Hercules. - Oh my God, man. - And then we were leaving so upset 'cause of how bad it was, that we were like, he might as well fought Undertaker. He might as well do an wrestling dance what they wanted. All three of us were so mad, leaving the rock starring his Hercules. And we drove through this tiny town in Connecticut where they had a gaming store. And we were like, fuck it, let's walk around. And then we walked in and I think I was, I just gotten billions or I was like, on billions. - It was around that time, yeah. - I started having a little extra money. - Yeah. - And I bought a Nintendo 64, four controllers and WWF, No Mercy, Mario, Tennis, and like perfect dark. And we sat in that hotel the whole weekend. It was like a Wednesday to Saturday, I think. And we played so much Nintendo 64. We made all creator wrestlers on No Mercy. - Oh man, yeah. - You were a, you were a hunk, hunk Finn. - Hunk Finn, that's right. - Instead of Hunk Finn, you were a hunk Finn. And you made a sexy guy in Team Shorts that would be through us. (laughing) Greg made Dr. Danger. - Yeah, man. - You had like a Jason mask, it was Jack. And then I made the Gator. - It's Gator. - Gator, gator, gator, gator. (laughing) And we cut promos on a joke. But dude, we would go in between shows, this is at a casino where the comedy club is, but our rooms were upstairs. We, in between shows, we'd go upstairs and smoke weed and play at 64. - It was the best. It was one of my favorite weekends. - Well, it really was the best, man. - The reason I say all that though, is Greg Stone was on the podcast and told the story about your dad. - Yes. - And then the episode came out. And then I got a call from Greg and he went, I fucked up, anyway, I fucked up. And I told the story I shouldn't have told. A lot of the times when that happens, 'cause we banked these episodes. And so they like come out later. It's usually not a problem at all. We just pop in and edit it. But this one was out. This one was like out in the world. And Greg was like, I fucked up, tell his story. They had to be his dad. And people that are dangerous are upset. And we were like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. So immediately cut it down. But we cut the story out, which we'll talk about, 'cause you said it's cool to talk about. But I think it's interesting that you know people that wouldn't edit it that out. - Yeah, well, I think people don't think twice about it. They don't, they don't, I think someone like yourself or just anyone who, I guess is like has, you know, how many comics do we know that just have an inherent lack of humanity? - A lot. - Yeah, most, right? - I think this business attracts that. - It's mainly that. - Because this business attracts people that can pretend to be human in reality, you know. That was a fake out. That was a total fake out. There's people that have done stuff like years into the business where I go, oh, they're a piece of shit. - Oh man. - That's why there's, I would say like, musicians are the least surprising when they're dickheads, comics. It's like, are you tricked me? - Yes. - 'Cause some guys are immediately like, oh, you're a climber, you don't give a shit. But then you see people where they like, do the entertainment business equivalent of shooting their friend in the leg so the zombie can eat him. That's what that feels like. Where they go, we're both running from these zombies and they go, I'm running from these zombies. - Are you sort of a bitch? Are you sort of me? - And then as they're eating, they're like, oh, yeah. - Yeah. - There are, and I've seen it. You just stop associating with those people. - Yeah, it's weird when they let that out of the box like a decade in something. - That's something that I've always really, really, really admired in Tim Dillon. Is that from the beginning he goes, I don't give a shit about anything he's saying. Where friends, I'll shoot you a zombie's coming. And you go, and I know that. And that's why I like having you on my squad. - Yeah, I know. - But once you get through that with Tim, you realize he's more honest than a lot of people in business. - Right. - Yeah. - That's the best part about Tim. - Yeah. - He comes forward with that honesty and you go, I know what I'm dealing with. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Is the people that go, are you doing okay? (laughing) And then they fucking stab you in the back. Are you okay? - Well then, once they find out the information, they turn around until the dex person, guess who's not doing okay? - You know who I found out who's close to suicide. - I told you that, come on, what the fuck are you doing? - Who were in my wedding? - Yeah. - Yeah. - Why would you do that? - And they go, I know, no, I'm just a podcast. - I had nothing to say at a bar. - I've had it where people who aren't, I've told stories about people and probably tried to hide their names, but people in my personal life that are like, did you can't tell that story? - Yeah. - And you go, shut it. (laughing) - It's a good story. - Yeah. - But Greg felt was, like, it was obvious that Greg was like, dude, I told the story about Anthony DeVito, can you please cut it? And we, I don't even think we batted an eye. We're like, yeah, we'll pull it down and cut it. - No. - The story was, your father was a professional killer for a very large mafia family. - Yeah, well, he was a made guy. - He was a made man. - He was a made man. - Part of, I mean, I think you would know this and like, you know, I guess people that weren't as well-versed might not. But like, to become that means you do have to kill someone in order to obtain that rank. So he wasn't-- - Yeah, you're not a made guy 'cause you're super fun. - Right, they're like, his spreadsheets were incredible. - Yeah, I'm gonna tell you right now. He's punctual, stays light. He's a made man. - He's got the coolest hands. (laughing) - Yeah, there was a book, The Ice Man, by Philip Carlo, about Richard Koklinski. They tell this story about how he got, he wasn't a made man, but how he started working with the families in the '80s. And again, you don't know if these stories are 100% true, got killed a lot of people. So why would he lie about this story? But he said the first time that he got in with the mob, which was the '70s, early '70s, and they're driving around the West Village and the guy was walking his dog and they parked and the guy goes kill him. And they hand him the gun and they said the reason they worked with him is Koklinski didn't even bat an eye. He just went out, shot the dude, got back in the car and was like, what else? And they're like, oh, okay. I mean, it turned out Richard Koklinski was a straight up serial killer. But that is the kind of shit you have to do. But they're like, hey, if we need you in this tough situation, how old were you when your dad died? - I was seven months old. - So, okay, so it was. - Yeah, so this all happens well before I'm born. But there is, and it's not that book, so I'm not even trying to elude what it is, but there is a book that is written about my father's family, which in that book, that's when things got, and this only happened like a couple of summers ago 'cause I started doing the show about him some years ago. - Yeah, my dad is not Danny DeVito. - Yeah. - Danny DeVito and the show, my dad is not Danny DeVito. - I apparently was, 'cause Sam's now producing it, so I love that. - Yeah, which is awesome. - I love that. - But yeah, I think that was such a light-hearted title for what the show was going on. - I mean, they don't know. (laughter) - He moves you dad and they go, holy shit. - Your father was involved with a whole lot of people. - So we had to change the name to Jersey boy. Just to give, like, just to, it's subtle, but still gives, like, okay, there's something going on here, other than the fact that, like, oh, we're just gonna see a light-hearted show about a guy who shares the same last name as a famous actor. - Yeah, as Frank, from all his time, as Frank Reynolds. My dad's much different than Frank. instead of drinking. King, it was murder. (laughing) Well, that's, I mean, is someone, you know, one of the notes I always get is that I always talk about my dead dad, I always talk about sobriety, but then I also get a lot of people that go like, I have a dead dad and it's fun to hear people talk about it because it's a way to, and finance and I get a whole episode that I really didn't think much of. And then people were like, through the way you talked about that shit, it made me feel really good. 'Cause they were like, I didn't realize I had the same feeling. Kind of that feeling of when you grow up, you learn who your dad is as a human being, and you go, not the best. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Whether he's a deadbeat, whether he's an organized crime, whether he's that, I think a lot of it is like, if you're abandoned or your dad dies, you kind of do a thing. You get a situation that I wished for when I was young, which is, oh, he had a secret badass light. Sure. My dad just was a drunk, right? He was just a self-restrauc, but the movie wanted with Angelina Jolie, which is based on a comic book, is about this kid who's, he's like in high school and he's strange people come to him and they're like, your dad is like the world's best assassin. And he's like, I don't know if I want to be, it's about him, I don't know if I want to be that. Yes. Obviously it's a comic book, so it gets like crazy. Right. That's the curvy bullet movie, right? Yeah. Curvy bullet. Crazy. Yeah. It's the strange. Angelina Jolie coming out of the bath. Yeah. Back. And then her, the bending the bullet. Yeah. Did you have that moment? What was the moment where you find out? Oh, shit, my dad was like, 'cause what were you told? So I was told, and I think this was kind of like the luxury that I had where it's like you, you had, you, I didn't know who my dad, like my mom had good reason to keep exactly who he was from me. Sure. So she had this luxury of like, he could be whoever, she wanted him to be to sort of suit my wants. Who did, who was he originally? Who was he originally was like, all I knew when I was a kid that he died in a car accident at seven months old. That's what I was told. Okay. And any sort of, any question, I think the only thing she ever told me real about him was whenever she felt like maybe she needed to. Like, I hadn't grown since first grade. So by the time I hit third grade, this, the slux kid, Kenny, was picking on me. Sure. And she was like, she made it a point to be like, your dad didn't take shit from anyone. So. What a crazy. Yeah, I know. Preview to find out who your dad is. The crazy thing to say to your kid, to find out, let know what you found out. Here you go. Let's just put it this way. Your father wouldn't have put up with that. And you go, okay. I don't understand your reference. I just want you to know. Let's just say that kid would have a lot of hard time reading numbers and letters. Yeah. Your dad could beat up his dad. Yeah. So she would say that. She would be like, your dad wouldn't. Yes. And so what happened to Kenny? So what happened to Kenny? Let's just say you didn't come back to school. What did you go for? And a couple of moving parts of the story. So he, for one day he decides to, we had a classroom suggestion box. So he drops a note in the box. So he wrote down Missing Gianni as a bitch. And then he signed my name. But I knew it was him. His learning disability. He did call her a batch. Great. Great. God, if you're going to get picked on, get picked on by a dumb person. It is awesome. Because it's just the rebuttal, sir. I love it. I love it. So she doesn't, she's like, doesn't realize. So to make an example out of me, she makes me spell the word in front of the whole class. Bitch. Yes. So I do it in the spelling bee, Kate, inside bitch, B-A-T-C-H. Bitch. You know, she sends me to the principal's office. He sends me back to class. Kenny comes up to me and he goes, I'm going to fight you today. And what he like didn't realize, like when you're tiny and you make up for stature with psychosis. It is the reason Napoleon dominated Western Europe. Yes. They're not saying that because it's like a cool thing to go, Napoleonic complex. It's straight up, that's a tiny container filled with pure diesel fuel. Yeah. And you have to make up for just reach with just intensity, just I will, I'll go, I'll die before you would. I had a friend. I won't, just last name. My buddy, Kerry, already a dude with a lady name gets picked on. Yeah, sure. Tough as hell. Short King. There was a older scary motherfucker. And like a senior when we were sophomores. And he was like threatening Kerry. And Kerry was, and he hit this level where everyone in our group was like, I don't fuck with Kerry. Yeah. Because he was like, if he said this in the weight room in front of like, we're sophomores, or a freshman or sophomores, this guy's older. And he goes, if you hit me, you better fucking knock me out. Right. Because I'll keep coming after you. And everyone was like, yeah. Everyone said that. And they were like, and the guy you're talking to was legitimately terrifying. Yeah. So you were like, oh, fuck, don't, he'll fucking kick the shit out of you. Yeah. Because it's all you have. Yeah. Yeah. It's the reason that giant guys have to be gentle, giant. Right. You just have to adjust for it. It's like when you meet a guy who's six, eight, five hundred pounds and he's just like, hello. And like, pets you. And you go, this is great. Short guys will fuck your shit up. Yeah. So, yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. This is like a cyber survival techniques. And what grade is this? Third grade. Oh, buddy. So that's biting territory. Oh, biting. It's biting and scratching. Bite and scratch and claw and kicking. I'm all wet. It had rained. Stuff like that. So he says he's going to fight you. So he says he's going to fight me. I turn around to him based on, you know, size and then empowered by what my mom said. And I said, I'm not going to fight you today. I'm going to fight you for a full calendar year. It gave him a year. A full year. I go, I'll fight you every day for a year. Yep. That's what it was. If you're like me, you probably regret the fact that you're a one language idiot. You only know one language and man. I don't even speak it that well. But guess what? You got Babel. Babel is going to be the thing that helps you learn another language. Babel's built. So it's really easy to get started. 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Yeah, of course. Just built little fight closets. So how long did it last with you fighting them? We didn't make the year, obviously. What was your record? I mean, I think I was pretty much. I don't know that he got one on me, man. - Was there a moment where he broke? - No, I think it just kind of naturally drifted apart. But I think, I mean, like, there wasn't a lot, the rounds weren't long. - Sure, 'cause it wasn't. - Well, the teacher's gonna come in to get in trouble. - Yeah, there was a lot of time. But, and this is further like what you're saying about like Jersey public schools is like, I never got in trouble, because the principal, 'cause I was so much smaller than him, and the principal was like, hey, this isn't good, but he is twice your size and you didn't back down. And that, he literally said to me, I bet your dad is proud. - Here you go. Well, he's funny thinking about my dad. I think I'm finding out. I think he would have been proud. - I think it might have been disappointed. - Yeah, it was, he was a weapon. - Yeah, he was a kid of mine. You break off the coke rack and now you got a fucking whoopin' stuff. - You firebomb his lunch box. - I don't want you to attack him. I want his whole family fucking go. (laughing) Does your mom find out that you're fighting at school? - She was, and she was proud, because same thing, like it's this Jersey sort of mindset. - Sure. - Like, she, and I think one of her worries is that, and I am a soft guy, but one of her worries was along the way without a father. It was all women in my household. So it's like, my mom, my grandma, my great grandma, my aunt. So she was worried that I would be kind of like, a little bit like a blower. - Yeah, pussy. So she was happy in that moment that I wasn't, and I stuck up for myself. - These child, people don't realize when you don't have a dad, you need childhood trauma in order for you to be tough. - Yeah. - Because you see guys that don't have it, and you go, you probably could have been picked on a little bit when you were a kid. And I think with me, it was one of those things where she was like, my mom, way different, but was like, stand up for yourself. - Yeah. - That happened because when you're around women, you have like a emotional response. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Kid goes like, I'm gonna bully you and you go. - With those shoes? - I don't understand. (laughing) - Sorry, I said. - And no, but you're right, you're just like, but you also go like, why are you being like this? You like want to emotionally rationalize? And you can't do that with a bully. A bully you got to just go punch him in the mouth. Did Kenny, as you got older, change it all? Was like out of your life, or was he like, "Hey, sorry, I fucked with you?" Well, we actually, yeah, we ended up like, middle school, we would rollerblade together. And then, you know, high school, we drifted ways. And he, as an adult, went to jail for stabbing somewhat. So I know, it's like, pretty good. I got on with him. - You got that in at the right time before you learned about your weapon. (laughing) - Turns out Kenny might have been a problem if he got a weapon. - And there's a folder of my phone called Sunset. So, really to go a bit different ways. (laughing) So, you, so when you find that out, when does your mom start feeling in the information about like, hey, listen, your dad was in, like, when does your mom reveal that your dad was a criminal? - That, she, I'm sort of a moment, forced her hand. 'Cause I, and like you're saying about being raised by all women or without that, you do develop an emotional intelligence and a sensitivity. - Yeah, I think you become very empathetic. - Yeah, so with my mom, it felt like, and she was always very cheerful as a person, but whenever my dad would come up, there seemed to be a sadness that would come over her. So, and she was a great mom. So, I never asked about him. I just didn't want her to be sad. It was very simple kids sort of logic. - Yeah, well, you just saw your mom being sad and you're like, were you an only child? - Yeah. - Okay, so that's even something that Katie is always, like, I don't think impressed, but like, curious by. She's like, that relationship. I go, it's one to one. So, everything she says is just to you and everything you say is just to her, you don't have a third person to go. - Exactly. - The fuck is, like, you don't have a sibling to go, is mom seems sad when you write about that? - Yeah, yeah. - You just have to bring it up to her. - Exactly. - And so is that what you did? - So, I, no, I was playing 18 and it was a long stretch of time that goes by, but like, I had a good childhood. I had a lot of friends. I was a busy kid. So, it just didn't seem like something that I, like, it seemed like something she became sad about and something that like, I was fine without. Also, too, you gotta keep in mind this is like, North Jersey in the 90s. All the dads I'm seeing, they're not soft that. Like, these are hostile, repressed Italian-American guys. - Yeah, these are the giants lose. I'm gonna hit you. - Exactly. - This is like Derek Jeter, you know, is the only man that can save you from a beating. - Yeah. - If he comes in. So, you're around all these dads. Was there ever anyone else in your world that maybe gave a clue or a tip off that your dad was involved with some nefarious shit? - Not really. I think my family was all in on it just for the sake of keeping me protected from it, just because like, I think they knew given how I was as a kid too, like, you know, I was a soft kid. I played sports, but I also, like, I love to draw. I was like a little bit of, like, they could tell, like, I was a little bit of a weirdo. You know what I mean? I think they knew, like, the road ahead might be a little difficult as it is. - Sure. - So, why not, let's not burden him with this as well? Man, it's so funny how organized crime and alcoholics have the same, everyone goes, we don't let him know about this. - Right. - Because, you know what I mean? Like, never we don't let him know. His dad's a fall down drunk. Maybe we just say he likes his juice. (laughing) But you're like, yeah, your dad was in the money business. So, when you're 18, what makes her? - So, I'm 18, I'm playing pickup in the park. And there was a guy there who I had never seen before. And this wasn't this completely coincidental. After the game, everyone's calling my last name. After the game, he comes up to me. He's like, your last name is Davido. I was like, yeah, he goes, I'm your cousin from your father's side. So, I, I was excited. - Did you know any of your dad's family? - When I was really little, my grandmother on my dad's side, which, you know-- - His mom. - Yeah, his mom. And I think, like, a what would be a cousin, I guess? Like, one of my uncle's kids we would meet for breakfast like every couple months, but it was nothing more than that. There was no time for-- - You know, how you do it? - Yeah. - Kid shit. - Kid shit. - How excited are you for Christmas? - Exactly. - That kind of stuff. - Yeah. - Never like, hey, you're not being disrespected, are you? - Yeah. - Dude, the way I think everyone thinks of meeting with a woman. - The way you ordered your milk at Friendly's was a bit disrespectful. - I'm gonna tell you right now, we don't do chocolate milk, we don't do chocolate anything. And you go, all right, so that racism is, that racism is, it's talk, not learned. - Okay, it's not here. First thing, first, don't ever fucking order chocolate milk around me again, 'cause those fucking people, you're like, whoa, ceasus. So you're at this basketball game, and this guy just goes, I'm your cousin. - Yeah, 'cause I'm your cousin. I go home and tell my mom, kind of excited, just because it is all women in my household. This is like a guy, and I'm an only child, like you said. - What did he look like? - He looked like me, but he was so much, he had all the features that I have, but all more handsome. - Oh, wow. - He was like six inches taller. His hair was like perfectly quaff, like his eyebrows were blocked. - You go, mom, what did you do to me? You gave me ass jeans. Look at this fan, that damn dad came from a bunch of hunks. - He was like a decent player. As someone obsessed with basketball, the time he was like a decent player. - Oh, you played with him. - Yeah. - Oh, I didn't know you guys were playing basketball at the park. - We were playing basketball at the park, he was like a good rebounder, good fade away, solid chocolate, like all these things. - He keeps a secret. - He keeps it. - God, that was a lock box from Secrets. So you go home, you tell your mom I met this cousin. - Yeah. - Do you see that sadness? - Yeah, you could see, 'cause this is the moment she had been running from ever since I was born. So you could see it all come to the surface on her face and she got like stark white. And I had never seen that face before. - I like scared. - Yes. And when you're an only child, like you see, like there's no other run. - Well, you're in the fox hole with that person. So every reaction. - You've seen all of them. - Yeah, man. Like I remember when my mom would like have money troubles, I immediately knew we even without her sight. She'd be like super stressed out. And I'd be like, yeah, when you're just little, you're kind of like a yeah, right? You don't go like lean in and go, what's going on, mom? But you do a little, you're the kid and you go like, is everything okay? And sometimes they tell you the truth. And sometimes they know the truth is probably a little too heavy for you to handle. So she probably knew this is too heavy to handle, but now you're 18. - Now I'm 18 exactly. And now it's becomes like a bit of a safety issue. Because now it's like she goes, they're in communication with whatever that communication is. They're in communication with you. - They got you. - They got to me. So this has to be said in case they want to befriend you, you should know exactly who he is. So it's really that. Everything she ever did was out of protection of me. In that moment, what does it feel like where she starts peeling back the layers? Are you like excited and scared? - I think I'm more confused just because also too, I was purposely, like I wasn't allowed to watch the Godfather as a kid. Like I was, yeah, I was kept. - That's so like good fellas? - Yeah, no man, I couldn't watch Annie Scorsese. - Really? - Yeah, she was like, you can see silence. - Yeah, that's so fucking funny. Maybe the one where Leo's crazy. I don't know, yeah. - The aviator's fine, she vets them all. - Yeah, she was Howard Hughes. Ah, worst case you were in cleanets boxes on your feet. But none of that gins of shit, then he's crazy. - Yeah, man. - That you're like, damn, my mom should have stopped me from watching Road House Cocktail. (laughing) I'm playing You Trish. Why didn't you ban these alcoholic movies? - Why didn't you keep the program from me? - Yeah, why was I allowed to watch bar movies? "I shouldn't have been allowed to watch any part of me." Did you ever ask were you ever like, "Why can't I watch the godfather?" - Well this was, I mean, it is a joke in the show, but it is, she told me, and this is true. She said, you just tell people that movie maintains harmful stereotypes about Italian Americans. I know, Mrs. DeVito, beautiful job using something for a different purpose. (laughing) Because if I had a kid whose dad was in the morphing, I would, that's a perfect excuse. - Right, you go, it's an unfair stereotype to Italians. You're an Italian-American. I want you to be proud of being an Italian-American and it's not all this mob shit. What a cool thing to find out that your mom's not a nerd that she's just protecting you? 'Cause there's a lot of Italian kids that would wish that they would find out their dad was in the mob, and not that their mom's just a thork. (laughing) Yeah. - Just that their mom doesn't know good movies. - Yeah, shut up. - So when this conversation happens, is it all at once, 'cause she ripped the bandaid after your cousin. - No, no, no, no, she withheld a lot of stuff. She basically told me what I needed to hear in her head at the time. So that's when she told me, she didn't tell me how he died, but she said he wasn't a regular guy. He was a made man in crime family. - Yeah. - But I kept from that. I really didn't know what that meant, but I also only knew how heavy that was for my mom to say-- - Did she seem relieved? - She seemed relieved, but then she also seemed very panicked because like, before that, there was no chance of me letting out the secret, 'cause I didn't know about it. And now there was, so she was very adamant that I never tell anyone. Like that was her big thing, and it seemed so serious. - I never had. (laughing) - Hey, you guy, I'm okay with it, but don't tell other people. Your dad's gay as hell. Dad, that's what I would do. If I was your mom, I would have been like, your dad was such a queen. I don't know why he's out there getting boosted somewhere. He didn't die in a car accident. He's on Fire Island, suckin' and fuckin'. - Yeah, I'm my movie searching for the boofing. - Yeah, the boofing, dude. That's what my mom said, it's all my dad. He's in the tenderloin right now, just covered and come. And you go, oh no, I need to go to the Castro district and pull my dad out of a bathhouse. - That's so fun. - There's so much glitter on his eyelashes. - Oh my God, the amount of hassless chaps. That's where all your child's port went. (laughing) It was booty glitter and hassless chaps. (laughing) But it's like, also when you're finding that out, did it feel cool to know your dad was in one of the big families? - It kind of did. - Yeah, it kind of did. - 'Cause you don't want your dad being in the double AAA, your dad was in the fuckin' mages. - Yeah, she never told me the exact family. - I would've fired this out later, but like, 'cause and they weren't, they were an affiliate of one of the things. - Sure, sure, sure, and listen, I understand all that. I ain't fuckin' thinkin' it right now. - Yeah, we're not, we're not gonna sleep in fuckin' bed. - That's what we get. - I'm just sayin' where your placement is? - Got a nice, got a nice, you ain't in a fuckin' one that can give you a way not to over. I'm just sayin' if they went after your dad's family, there would be a war. - They're the innkeys. - Yeah, let's just say they'd do it pretty good. - People are checkin' in to them. Does that, once that moment happens? Were you watching God, were you secretly watching it? - No, I never, it was because of the amount of fear that was in her voice about never tell this to anyone. I didn't wanna pry for, I didn't wanna become more interested in it, and then on the off chance I would tell somebody this, just because it seems so serious. - It is. - Yeah, and it is. Like, I think we're in the era now where crime is, our politicians do crime. It's not really, it's not fuckin' mafia, but when the mob was big, especially on the East Coast, people were fuckin' very real about it. It wasn't like, oh my God, what are you living good for? It was like, these people can do something to you. They can reach out and touch you. My dad worked at a liquor store or whatever, but the mob in San Francisco used to control the trash. It was like very well known. He had this friend that worked for the trash company that would get us 49ers tickets, that were so good that you were like, even at eight years old and like, this is crazy. We're 20 up at the 40 yard line for Steve Young's first start against the Rams, like after Montana gets traded. My dad lives with his mom on a pullout couch. There's no way he's like saving money. You must've run a radio contest or something. It's crazy, when we got tickets to WWF, it was like at Cal Palace, really good seats. And it was his friend Ted, Teddy, who God knows if that was his name, which is good look Italian dude that did the trash pickup in the neighborhood for the liquor store. And I remember not even thinking about it, but then when my mom's boyfriend started a vendor business, like a vending machine business, it was my dad's old friend, who's my mom's boyfriend, and he went, he's getting into that. And I go, yeah, he goes, that's the fucking mob dude. And I remember him saying that to me on the phone when I was like 12 and I was like, I don't think the mob's in Colorado. And my dad was like, it's just weird, the vending machine business is fucked up. I'd watch out, and then I found out in San Francisco, it was like, that was one of their things too. So I think the mob was very real in the 80s and 90s in a way where it could like reach out and touch you in a terrifying way. - Yeah, I mean, they ran the country, you know, it wasn't until, I mean, at least for the five families. And I'm saying this is anecdotal, obviously, but like, you know, Giuliani and like, the Reese case. But before that, I mean, like, they controlled all the labor unions. So if you did that at the time, they controlled the country. - They controlled the, yeah, like everything. That's why Hoffa disappeared. 'Cause they would control all this shit. If you didn't do it, they would just, they had ways of getting you either hurt or eliminated. - Exactly. - Uh, listen, sometimes wireless stuff, like I'll get, I used to get a bill from my old provider and be like, how is this like three times the cost? I thought we had a deal. Because they know you're gonna pay way too much. So stop paying way too much for wireless just because that's how it's always been. Mint mobile exists to purely fix that. Same coverage, same speed, just without the inflated price tag. And for a limited time, get 50% off three, six, or 12 months plans of unlimited premium wireless. 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She don't ever talk to him again? - She was just kind of like, you know, if you see him again, you can be friendly, but like that's it. Be very aware that if they want to take this further, like no second locations, you know what I mean? That kind of thing. - Don't ever go to a second location with an Italian cousin. I've always heard that. Not hippies, that's the third-year-ocke. Everyone knows that, never go to a second location if they hit me. But you, did you see him again? - Maybe once or twice, and then it was just, it was cordial, but I felt a little strange. And he never, I think on their end, and it was like his family also, they were like, getting out from under it, you know what I mean? - So they're trying to clean up. - So they're trying to clean up as well, but they've always been very respectful of like each, you know, my own privacy and whatever that is, and I think the same went on their ends. So it never really went further than that. - At what point in your life do you go, I need to learn more, I want to learn more. - When does the where, where does the understanding of your mom's fear and not wanting to push fade? - I think in my thirties, I think there's just been it enough time where I'm, where I mean, you know, like you're 18, you're technically an adult, but like, I don't, you're a teenager. - Exactly, but I think when you hit, and even in your 20s, I would say so, but I think when you hit, you're like early 30s, mid 30s, and when your friends start having kids, like you're really starting to do adult things outside of just like your one-on-paper, I think and yourself actualized in a way that you haven't been, that you go, okay, I'm ready to take this on now. I think that's really what it was, where I was like, I think I'm emotionally mature to handle whatever is on the other side of the door that comes with this. And I think doing stand-up too, where it's like, and especially the way you do stand-up as well, or it's super personal, you're super purging everything inside of you, not just as a means of just being vulnerable to an audience, but also as a means to like, process these difficult feelings. - I think that's what, like for people that do personal comedy, I think a lot of people would agree that it's like, the most fun thing is taking someone that really, something that really hurt you and making fun of it. There's like this feeling of power over it. Where you go, like, I used to be so fucking scared, about talking about this, that I can make fun of it. And that's why I felt bad for people that liked my standup, 'cause you're like, "I trust me, I'm getting "the dead dad stuff out, I'm working through it, "I know I do a lot of jokes about it, I'm almost like-- - Yes. - 'Cause I'm at the point now in my career where I don't wanna talk about it anymore on stage. I've done enough dad stuff, I've done enough dead jokes, so you go, "I'm kinda cool with it now, "and I'm also, personally, in my life, "done a lot of work where I'm at peace with it." And I think that is part of the creative process of trying to find peace, but when you're finding peace, what I found out was just that my dad didn't want to be my dad, that sucks. When do you find out like, "Oh shit, my dad was legit." 'Cause your mom's saying he's a made man. To me in my mind, and I don't know if you reacted like this, I would react the way when they would go, your dad was a fighter pilot and he got shot that. - Yes. - Where you go, is that just the story you're telling me to make him seem cooler? - Yeah, a bit of me was that, and my mom is a liar in so many ways. So there was a part of me that was like, what is real, what isn't real here? I think there was always a part, maybe a little part of me that was afraid to look, because it was kind of fun to have this unique secret, you know? And, you know, so I, I think there was a part of me that was like, "Oh, am I going to be crestfallen "when I find out it's not exactly how it seemed?" So at around 30, I googled him. It, you know, for, and the first thing that popped up was a daily news headline. And it was like, listed, he was in prison for however many years, the charges that he was in on, and then how he died. - Yeah. - And that was the one, I think that combo. So my mom said it was a car accident. - Sure. - He was found in a trunk. - Got it. - So, and I don't know, if you know this, when you're dying, you don't put yourself in a trunk. - Yeah. - 'Cause those of you who are at home, where do you go? Have it a heart attack. Click open your trunk, here you go. - Yeah, this is where I'm at LA. A nice little sarcophagus. (laughing) - I believe it's a car on purpose. (laughing) - Yeah, he's not an accident. It's a very on purpose. So when you read that, do you remember, like was that a traumatic moment for you? - Yeah, it was. It was because it's still, I could still find good in him because, and I didn't know anything about it. All in my mom and my family were always telling me the good things about him, which did exist. And it continues to, you know? - Well, that's the complicated thing about humans. People aren't all good and all bad. And it's very, like, especially with your father or with a family member, you need the good. You need the sweetness in order to take the sour. - Yes. - Of like what it is. Like, you know, I did a very unhealthy thing, 'cause my dad died when I was 14, so I still thought he was like this cool dude, 'cause he was. He's very funny, very charming. We'd get a lot of pussy, that's what killed him. But it's like, he was a charming, fun guy. And the hard part was going, he's a piece of shit. - Right. - Like, he didn't give a shit about me. And that's really hard when you're, I think by the way, this is for people with living parents, too. - Yeah. - You're seeing, as they get older, like, it's easier to do. But when they die when you're young, they're kind of stuck in this place. - Yeah, they're fixed, yeah. - They're fixed. - Exactly, where you go. No, I want him to be these cool things. So when you read those headlines, is it immediately like a drop? Or are you like, kind of holding on to some of the good stuff, too, going, yeah, this is bad, but also maybe, like, I don't know. I guess what I'm asking is, were you immediately firing out excuses for him in your head as you're reading this article? - No, I think there was, I mean, there's really no room to finesse his character in print. It's just kind of is what it is. - Right. - So I think, for me, it was more like, okay, now you have to reconcile. You know all these things, you know, my aunt's, my uncle being like, he was a great guy. He did, you know, these things, read bedtime stories to your aunt. Like, all of those things are in this box. But now what's also in this box is that, like, he did take people off of this earth. And as someone who-- - What a cool way of saying it, I was an assassin. My father, let's just say, plucked people from this realm. And you go, yeah, I'm so fucking lulley. Well, I love that. (laughing) - So, so that now exists there too. And then-- - Did it change, did that change the way, I don't wanna say that it's like-- - It's fun. - Cool to be like, I don't do much, that was a fucking bat. - Yeah. - What it is. - No, it is, man, it is. - Like, listen, I'm sorry. There is something about it where you're like, fucking bad ass. - No, man, of course. Like that, I think that sort of, like, the yinniang of that has always been like, the conflict within me of being like, I do think it is cool. And but then-- - But you can also say it's bad. - Exactly. So it's like, you know, I mean, I think it's like, the way, like, the reason why Scorsese wanted to make good fellas in Mean Streets is like, he did wanna show the glamour of what that is, but then he also wanted to show here's the end game of what that is, so-- - To, on a much lesser extent, it's like, finding old pictures of your parents smoking inside. Where you go. That's cool, that's cool as fuck. And then you go, you're a baby. That was a baby in the room. You selfish bitch. - I didn't go outside and smoke your cigarette. - I didn't know you were a Russian teenager. - Yeah. Like, what the fuck is wrong with you? Like, I find pictures from my mom in the '70s and she's got a cigarette in her hand. And I'm like, that's so cool. And then there was one where me and my dad, he's like holding me, but there's a pack of Marble Reds in an assort right there. Like, you fucking dickheads. Smoking inside when I was a baby. - It's really funny, but yeah. I mean, there is like a thing where you want to go, like, it is fucking cool. - It is, it is. So it was a weird thing because now that I knew more and I had like concrete, like, oh, this was real. And I do think it is cool. But then-- - Did you bring that to your mom? - Yeah. - How did you tell her that you googled him? - I think I just called her immediately. I think it was so, it was so jarring that I called her immediately-- - What was her reaction? - She cried. - Immediately. - Yeah, she cried because it's like-- - Like, I let you down. - Yeah. - Like, I lied to you. - And for me, honestly, I was like, very grateful that she didn't, you know? I never, I was never in the, this is what I mean. Like, we were talking earlier about some people's reactions being different. I'm gonna do a podcast one. Like, somebody was like, did you, were you mad that your mom lied to you? And it's like, it's such a crazy, like, of course not. Like, this was all done out of protection of me. I never counted them as lies as much as it was like, man, she did the right things with sort of letting this out the way she let it out. - There's a difference between lying and there's a difference between lying to shield you from exactly. - Exactly. - And she was shielding you from the fact that as a little boy, it's good you found out in your 30s. - Yeah. - 'Cause this is a little boy, if you find out your father is a real people, it might change your. - 100%. - Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. It might change the way you look at view the world. - You view the world, it also changes like, you're malleable enough as a little boy to go like, that's who I am too. - 'Cause you wanna be like that. So it was like, so that was kept, you know, that kept me from that. And then she cried in the way of like you said, like, I let you down. And then it was me crying too being like, you didn't, I now understand all of the things, you know? Did that bring you too closer together? - It did, yes, it did. - Like her finally being able to share everything? - Yeah. - And did she? - No, she still didn't, but some of it is just due to like, it's, you know, she'll say things like, to this day she'll say things like very offhandedly that like, 'cause the memory's sort of just like, spark and go away kind of stuff. But like, no, I remember we were driving once and offhandedly she was like, you know, John Gotti wasn't your chrysiting. And I was like, what? (laughing) The Tesla on the offhand, is watching you get water splashed on your head? That's fucking crazy. Which I would guess, and I don't know, but that would mean Sammy the bowl might have been in tow. Like, there's guys hanging out together. So if you know one, you know a couple of the other players. - Very possible, man. Like, I thought-- - That's a cool ass Naples fact. - That was the one, that was the first thing she, 'cause I never, the deal we made when I found out about it, 'cause I had been doing standup for a couple of years. The deal we made is she was like, you know, you now know these things. You do, you cannot talk about this on stage. She was like, that was her big thing. And that, when she told me that I tried it at a creek open mic, under the guise of like, you know what I mean, like, that's kind of weird. - Oh man, that was probably drunk in the audience. That was like, what's the video, fucking talking about? - And this is so sad. I tried it because I thought I had a premise that merited, I was too excited. I just thought it was so funny that the other side of the coin of that would be like, well, maybe in my head, like, what if all Italian, like, what if all crime bosses went to all christenings? - It's really funny. - College scouts show up to high school. - That's really funny. - So yeah, I was like, hi, I gotta try that. - What do you got today, Johnny? 'Cause I'm gonna go to seven christenings. I gotta drive spotted orange, daddy. I fucking, there's so much water getting poured on these fucking kids. But hey, we gotta build our ranks. - The percentile of pins are gripping. - This baby. - I'm telling you right now, if I see one more baby penis, I'm gonna fucking vomit. - That is so, but like, that's cool. - Yeah. - 'Cause sometimes your mom tells a story where you go, that made you a lot cooler. - Yeah. - One time my mom, when I was in high school, she was like, we were talking about something, and they were talking about living in San Francisco in the 70s, and she just off-handedly, one of those, she goes, "Fff, man, what time?" Me and your dad did Coke that was so clean, he wanted to go dancing, and I went, "What a cool lesson!" - Oh my God, that's like a lyric. - Yeah, I was like, "Oh, what do you mean, clean Coke, because it was 70." So this shit was like, cleaning you, and you're like, "Damn, trash." - That's unbelievable. - Y'all are doing the rails, and my dad's like, "Let's go down to Broadway, there's some clubs "I own my dead end out." (laughing) I think it's fucking wild. So with the cool stuff kind of filtering in, does that helper hurt the like you trying to figure out your dad, because sometimes the cool stuff can take away from you realizing who he was, is the complicated bits of humanity. - I think it kind of just rounds them out the way most people feel like you were saying about your own father. I think there's not a person I've ever met, especially in comedy, who doesn't have a complicated relationship with their father. - Yeah, 'cause if they didn't, they would just be at an office being funny. - Exactly. - They wouldn't find this fucking need to fill this hole that we all fucking need to fill. - Yeah. - All of us. - Yes. - So there isn't one comic that I know that's worth their salt. - Who would risk, who would risk being this vulnerable in front of a stranger? - You're getting embarrassed. When it goes bad, it's embarrassing. - Especially when you know when it's bad. You've seen some true psychos get off and go, "That was great," and you go, "You fucking bomb." - Dude, especially the way that, you know, for the most part, we're doing it too. - Yeah. - It's confessional. So when they don't laugh, you've just told a sad thing for no reason. - I've told that story on this podcast about bombing on "Nick-at-Nights," "Moms Night Outs," where I called my mom a slut and it just went so bad. And I didn't call her a slut. I just said she dated. - Right. - But they took it as that and these moms didn't like it. And it was so bad that I went to a bar and got drunk and called my mom. Still a stage makeup on. And I went, "Am I wrong for doing these jokes?" And my mom went, "No, if I put you through them and you can make it funny, then it's green light." Which is some real shit, Trish. I know she listens. That's some real shit. And it was like, for real, like, helped me. - Yeah. - 'Cause you go, "Okay, then." - 'Cause it's embarrassing. - Yeah. - And you're talking about your life and it bombs. - You're so alone. - So when you start, after you Google, after you talk to your mom about it, at what point in your life are you go, I'm gonna dig in further and I really want to find out. - Well, I think it was late '30s. When I didn't like that. I just didn't like that I had this part of me that I had to withhold from like, you know, with, especially- - Is this after you're engaged or before you're engaged? - This is before I'm engaged. - Okay. - But especially in comedy where it's like, man, everybody is just being so open and vulnerable like about who they are off stage and on stage. And I felt, I didn't like having this one part of me that I couldn't share. And I think I just, I think in my head, I was like, there's enough history in the rear view here. And I think too, I was like, I think I'll be able to talk about it from a place of respect and ability. I think earlier on in comedy, I was very aware that it was like, this is probably the most unique thing about me. And you wanna talk about those things because that's gonna garner the most interest and be the most compelling. But I think I knew I wouldn't know how to. And I think- - Yeah, that's a very important tool. I think for, I'm always speaking about comedy, is like when you see guys, especially like open mic level or lower level where you go, that premises, that's out of your pay grade. You can't handle that. You know, I came up at the time where Stan Hope was real big. He's one of the greatest of all time. And you'd go to open mics and you'd see a lot of guys trying to be Stan Hope and it's like, brother, I don't think you can break down the Iraq War in three minutes. I don't think your blood for oil bits gonna go over well in three minutes. Stan Hope is a 25 year vet at this time. - Exactly. - So he's hand, and he's also one of the best that ever did it. You kinda see that. You'd see people try to be Bill Hicks or Doug St. Hope and you go, you can't do it. So that's smart that you were like, "Let me find out more about this before I." - Yeah, I think that was it. Let me find out more so I can round out everything. - Sure. - 'Cause then I tried to do it as just like a chunk and it was just too, I could feel audiences being like, this is too complicated to just unpack. It's just like a chunk. So then that's when I developed it as a one-man show. - When you do the one-man show, at the time titled, "My Dad Is Not Daily Vito," was there, did the people from that world find out about? - Yeah, so they did. - So yeah, and I was saying this to sort of be like, that's when the Diggin Deeper, it was for the sake of myself, but a coincided with doing the show, and that's when the Diggin Deeper came, and that's when I read the book that is about my family. So a couple of years into it, I was gonna show St. Mark's, I don't know, a couple of years ago, did the show's fine? I think it was in your comedy festival show. A couple of weeks later, I'm driving with my mom, and she was like, "Oh, they sent a guy to check out the show." And that was terrifying. - What did that feel like, when you sent that? - I mean, I was freaked, man, and she always, she always, and it was like a sentence of phrase, and then I was kind of stuck with me, where she was like, you know, it's this life of glamour, it is all these things, we sat at the best table. It is like, very much like she would describe their first date. It was just like the scene in Goodfell's, with every hill. - The table. - Exactly, man. It's exactly that. - It's, I mean, it's not funny, but it kind of is that, like, you go from that, and then it's just like, you're just in the burbs of New Jersey, but you have like, Ray Leota, Goodfell of Voice, Rigo, and that's us roller-blading. There were guys that were afraid to grind. I was never really afraid to go goofy foot on a pole, like 90s shit, and this is when the X Games are going, which you have to understand about the X Games this. Nothing's more extreme than an assassin for a family. (laughing) Like doing that, or like, it's like Ray Leota with suburbs, because you're the end of Goodfell's, where he goes. They call ketchup pasta sauce out here, and everything's fucked. That's like your mom's life when your dad's killed. - Yeah, it's the Karen monologue. - Yeah, yeah, exactly, or the voice over us. - Yeah. - So, yeah, they sent someone. - That's so scary. - It was super scary. - But you also wonder, you go, what parts do you laugh at? - Well, that's, yeah, so the whole week after, 'cause I was looking over my shoulder, I was doing all the things that she would talk about, he did, 'cause when you're, you know what I mean, when you're worried about your own well-being. - Did you catch yourself doing that? - Yeah, man, I mean, holy shit, it is. - I was petrified, and it got a glimpse of like, it takes a certain amount of constitution to live like that, and I was like, I can't live like that. I live six days of this. - Calling in your spot for covering your mouth, you go, I ain't doing STM available. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, smoking and cigarette. You go, what's up, what's going on? You guys got to show it to Chris. - Scanning the crowd for gold chains. - Yeah. - Man, it was, did they ever introduce themselves? - I've seen the show. - They never introduced themselves, but-- - So, they only had contact with your mom? - They had contact with my mom, and then, that's why I asked, I was like, well, what did they think? And she goes, oh, not bad. Oh, which, yeah, I was kind of, yeah. - He's like a New York Times critic. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - That's like when I find out Jason Zimmerman watched one of my sets, and I go, eight and eight? - Yeah. - My, right, okay. - That is how it felt, 'cause the stakes-- - I could kill me. - Yeah, the stakes of doing this are so drastically different. - Yeah. - That I was like, that'll it will take. - Yeah, you know, my bad reviews. - Awesome. - You go, yeah. - I got a guy that gave me a good review that'll break your fucking thoughts. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't mind three stars in the Guardian. - Yeah. - Yeah. - It needs a lot. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - The British have no idea what their fucking rating system is. You go to Fringe and you go, "Fuck you." - So, I think on their end, and obviously, I think there was concern that I would be angry, that it would be like-- - You would besmurch them. - I would besmurch them, I would be naming names, I would be handling this differently. I think they, you know, they were happy with this, the lens through which this was being told. - So the way I made it be, but like at least like-- - It wasn't disrespect. - It wasn't disrespect. - If I've learned anything from mob movies, it's the disrespect that gets you in trouble. So they felt it was respectful. - Yes, but that was also my mom's doing, 'cause that was my feelings was, it was never the intention was never, the intention of this was to like process these difficult feelings and honestly tell my mom's story just because like, the story of me finding out is in there as well, but like more so, it's my mom's story and what that looks like from the perspective of a wife of one. Like, what if the sopranos was just Carmella's sopranos. - After the scene in the restaurant goes black. - Exactly. - If it picks up with Carmelo and Tony was killed. - Exactly. - Then you're going from the thing of like how does, how does, you know, how do these people all react? - Yeah, what's the aftermath of that? - Yeah. - So that's what I thought was interesting, has like a movie, you know what I mean was like, hey, we don't ever see when that camera fades to black. These people's lives carry on and what that looks like. - Yeah. - So that was the idea of it. - I love that. - Yeah. - 'Cause I always feel like they should especially do that with romcoms. I don't give a fuck that they kiss at the airport. What happens eight months in when she doesn't like the fact that it's so into the packers, you know, like show real relationship shit. I don't want to see them kiss 'cause they realize they're both cute. - He's wearing a Jordan love jersey. my parents. Yeah, I can't take it. I can't take it. We're aligned. Yeah. Um, yeah. So that was the intention of the show was always that. Sure. So I think and, but I knew how serious it was and is. So it was all written with my mom. So like anything like she checked it. She's checked. She's looked over the Google dot, you know what I mean? Like she's had her hands and it just even to be like, don't use that word use this word. Really? Don't say that. Like that hands on that hands on. Yeah. And like her being like, Hey, I know you need a detail here, but like use a different year. Like there are things in the show to take you off the trail. Um, so yeah, I bet they like they go, it's just like his dad guy ain't going to fucking rat on your body. I give it three meat bowls that I have a bottle of wine. I give it, I give it two tables of rails. Whoa, you know, I got three guys in the Hudson River could use more like that. Uh, that's fucking insane. Do you ever worry about them contacting you? No, and I've had con. If anything, like I think, because like I said, I don't know. And I don't want to speak at a turn in terms of like these are people that have tried to come out from under this, you know, so like I've had contact with them, but just from the sense of like them being like, I think maybe years ago, they matter, heard me talk about an Ari's podcast years ago. So I, I think they were like, no, we've seen baby pictures of you. We know about you. Like this was, we also had to deal with this. Well, they lost the guy that they love. Does their uncle, you know what I mean? That they love that they knew and that they, they's dead. Yeah. So the contact I've had with them has been like super like, hey, we're cousins who don't know each other. And maybe this is a way in the future that will be able to connect. And like everyone's older now, you know, I mean, everyone's older now, they have their own lives. I have my own life. No one's trying to, you know, infiltrate each other's business in that way. And then if there are people involved, it's like, I think I've been pretty candid about like, this isn't going nowhere near you. And there have been opportunities that have arisen, which could have. And I've reached out to them to be like, hey, so and so, this could be happening. What's your say on this? Oh, that's yeah. So you've done that. I've done that. You've reached out and gone, so and so is interested in this. Yes. Is that okay? Yes. Have they gone? No? Yes, they have. They've said, absolutely not. They said, absolutely not. No one what a way to turn down something. Where you go? You know that idea we had? Ain't gonna have. Yeah. And then go to say soon, you know, people that'll make you, how can I put this politely take you off the first? I think the best way I could say this is you will be around. Because that's what's funny about the the world that you're describing is filled with respect and danger in a very real way. Respect isn't tossed around. It's not this idea of, and then you're going with the fakest fucking business on the planet. Yeah, where you have people that are just trying to prove that they're valuable in any way, shape, or form. In some ways, a lot more cutthroat than that business. Yeah. Where they just go like, I need this, I'll kick you under the bus. Right. To have those people to go, because when I don't want to do something, they go, why don't you want to do something? And you go, because I just don't think it's gay. I don't like it. I don't think it's this, but they go, well, because I don't, I'll get killed. Okay. It's like having kids and canceling plans. Yeah. Like, you have this like built in thing that just trumps everything that there's no argument. So, yeah, so that, yeah, I just, yeah, I it's always like they have to be informed. You check in. I check in. If it's fucking cool. I know it's scary and dangerous, but can I just say is someone that doesn't have to live through it? Yeah. Very cool. Yeah. Very cool that that's who you check in with. Yeah. Yeah. I had to check in with the family of alcoholics that all got wiped off the plate. My mom's family's fine. My dad's family's all dead. There's two of us. And I go, Hey, Lisa, can I talk about this? And she goes, I don't give a shit. And he go, yeah, they're all dead. I guess one of my last questions is, is did it how much did it change the way you look at your mom? Like as far as like, damn mom, just a hot lady dating a mobster, fucking cool ass mom. Yeah, certain things that mean, like it reinforced certain things, like because, you know, much like, you know, Henry, like where it's like, yeah, he gave her gifts, coats, looked the other way, you know, and she looked the other way. So it's like, it gave me a real like deep sense of her vanity. In that way, you know what I mean? Where it's like, did it make you think she was a hot girl? Or you go, oh, you're like, kind of like a hot girl. No, like a Jersey hot. No, I was some of the hot. Yeah. That's crazy. That's destroy your life. Destroy your life. What wouldn't send a chance? Oh, just wake up with a gun in your face, just like gun, good fellows, get out of here. Growing up as a kid and just surrounded by them, knowing they will have nothing to do with you, but knowing wanting them, it was the worst. So it's crazy is knowing that you have the pedigree. Most of those women, if they would have known that at the time, they would have kicked their lug head boyfriends. That is right. And they would have been like, what's it like to date one of those guys, you'd be like, we watch a lot of Frazier. He says the writing. I don't get it. Now, if your mom's watching this, please turn this off, because I have a question that probably heard of you, like, did you ever find out about a Guma or like a fucking? Yeah, I mean, she said, like, she said, you know, she said it without saying that that existed. She was just like, yeah, his life and his life, she respect. She knew the score. She knew the score in that way. But it has like, in another way, it makes everything like all the faults that my mom had, like, it gives me so much more patience with them, any of her paranoia, any of her fear, like, whenever I was out with friends, like, she, you know, you know, just, I mean, during this pocket, my phone's buzzed like four times. Like, did you think of her? Undoubtedly as her. It's her, Greg, every time I Greg's the man. Oh, and also Greg Tesla. Like a mom that's worried about you. Yeah. Greg is one of my favorite human beings on planet. What I like about it is, and I've just known you for years, we've came up together at the creek. I've just known, you know, this isn't your personality. And I mean that in a compliment. It's like a lot of people would have taken something like this and made it their entire personality. Everything they talk about. In fact, we've done a whole podcast episode and I feel bad that people don't see another flavor because you're such a fantastic comic, you're special still balling out on YouTube right now. Go watch it. Straight hoop and straight hoop and you're good. But go watch it. We're going to put the link in the YouTube video if you're watching it. Anthony is a phenomenal standup comic. So what I think about this situation is you're so funny. And then you have this added thing where I go, well, now I want to see how he breaks down this thing being funny. Yeah. And I'm excited to see Jersey boy with Samuel, producing it inside. I think fucking fantastic. Yeah. Are you going to be doing a live run of it? So I've been doing because it's just hard to do a one man show all the time. Sure. Like, I'm trying to get it ready to tape by the end of the year. So I've taken all the jokes out. I mean, it's less compelling. But like, the jokes are like a 25 minute chunk. Basically. So I've been doing those is just like a chunk on the road. So there is at least like surface level I am talking about it just to get the jokes tight. But there's no, I don't have any dates in the works of like doing the show as a whole, but I will hopefully be taping it by the end of the year. Very excited. When you tape it, let me know, we'll come back on and we will talk everything that isn't about the mob. We'll have you on to promote that. And we won't talk any organized crime. We'll talk straight up Nick's love basketball, taco shout out taco. Hope you're still good. Is he still around? Taco's good. Taco's the man. Scientist. Yeah, I love the scientist named Taco. Nick gave the taco. Anthony DeVito, Anthony DeVito follow him on Instagram, whatever you do, he's show fucking funny and also just like a great dude. And I appreciate you coming right. Cause I had all these questions. And after Greg was like headed at that. And then you went, dude, I'll come on and talk about it. Yeah. Oh, that's fantastic. Cause I would have just edited it, never brought it up. And I want to. So for those people watching, they know, I would have been respect. I'm always about respect. Pim's going to call me and go, I got to call from a guy. We got to pull that whole episode and I'm going to go, don't do it. It's burning up that shout. Anthony DeVito, he's the fucking man. Thanks for coming by, dude. Or is he wrong? Thank you.