0:00

Matt: Yes, i did a movie called Into the Storm.

0:03

Matt: It was I think it's the third best tornado movie ever.

0:09

Announcer: Welcome to Story and Craft. Announcer: Now here's your host, Marc Preston.

0:14

Marc: Alright, welcome back. Marc: Another episode of Story and Craft.

0:17

Marc: Glad to have you back If this is your first episode.

0:20

Marc: Thank you so much for checking in. Marc: We'll have some fun chatting with comedic actor Matt Walsh today.

0:27

Marc: You know him, you love him. Marc: You've seen him in plenty of films, like Old School, keeping Up with the Joneses, ted, the Hangover.

0:34

Marc: You may even know him from his Emmy-nominated role as Mike McClintock on the TV show Veep.

0:40

Marc: He's got a new movie. Marc: It is called Flamin' Hot.

0:44

Marc: It's on Hulu. Marc: Checked it out with my daughter the other night.

0:47

Marc: Fun movie to watch, kind of a spicy underdog story.

0:50

Marc: You'll have to check it out. Marc: Matt was a real pleasure.

0:54

Marc: Had a chance to talk about his career. Marc: Also he is one of the founding members of the UCB or the Upright Citizens Brigade, both in New York and Los Angeles, and a great chat.

1:05

Marc: Really enjoyed the opportunity to sit down with Matt.

1:08

Marc: And if you would do me a favor, as always, everything Story and Craft on the Webber Nets Just go to StoryandCraftPod.com.

1:17

Marc: And of course you can check out the show everywhere you listen to podcasts.

1:21

Marc: Most recently we've put the library on YouTube so you can check out the show there as well.

1:27

Marc: And of course, make sure to like rate.

1:30

Marc: Leave a comment. Marc: If you enjoy the show, by all means give it a little love.

1:35

Marc: It is always appreciated And I appreciate you being here right now because it is Matt Walsh Day right here on Story and Craft.

1:45

Marc: So how are you doing today, sir? Marc: Doing great.

1:48

Marc: So what kind of cookie were you eating today? Matt: It was slightly healthier Marcet.

1:52

Matt: It was like a Nature Valley peanut butter biscuit on granola cracker, that's no fun.

2:00

Marc: You know, i limited my friend.

2:02

Marc: His daughter was my dealer for Girl Scout cookies, but she aged out of the Girl Scout things.

2:08

Marc: Now it's like, where do I get my Girl Scout cookies from?

2:11

Marc: It's one time a year, i just and it's. Marc: There's so much shame involved in Girl Scout cookies that nobody talks about, you know, because you finish the whole box.

2:17

Marc: I have to look at my kids and, like you know, yes, dad did that My daughter, emma, and I were watching Life of the Party last night.

2:25

Marc: We were trying to find something to watch. Marc: I was like, well, hey, this gentleman I'm talking to tomorrow is going to be on, he's in this movie with Melissa McCarthy, so we're going to watch this.

2:33

Marc: And she dug it. Marc: She's 17,. Marc: You know, i was kind of going down, kind of doing a little bit of cursory prep for our chat here And I'm like, man, you've, you're one of those guys I love.

2:43

Marc: You've been working nonstop, you're always working.

2:47

Marc: Are you not a guy that likes to take a lot of long vacations and hiatuses?

2:51

Marc: You always seem to be doing something, are you? Marc: are you working pretty consistently from your point of view?

2:57

Matt: Yeah, i guess I. Matt: I guess I do probably enjoy working and staying busy And I love, obviously, comedy.

3:06

Matt: It brings me great joy to make things funny or help create things that are funny, so I guess I do enjoy being busy, yeah, yeah kind of always in a state of creation.

3:16

Marc: You know, seems like is that? Marc: do you write also, or are you focusing mostly just on acting?

3:22

Matt: No, i do write, i write a lot actually.

3:25

Matt: I started in, you know, sketch in Chicago And so I've always been like a writer, performer, and then, you know, we had a show on Comedy Central and we all we were the writers, and then various I do a lot of improv, which is sort of writing but not putting it on paper, it's sort of writing on your feet.

3:45

Matt: So I have always kind of written and then recently, or the last five, 10 years, i feel like I've written several things, some of them gotten made, some of them are waiting to get made.

3:58

Matt: A couple of movies, a few movies. Marc: Yeah, it kind of remind me a little bit of like one of the guys I would love to talk to you one day, nat Faxon.

4:06

Marc: Y'all have y'all kind of run in similar circles.

4:09

Marc: He's very talented. Marc: Yeah, he's written some really just some kind of obscure stuff that I really enjoyed quite a bit, you know, and whenever he shows up it's always kind of as a small little role in it, but he wrote the screenplay, you know.

4:24

Marc: So, yeah, kind of go back, origin story, chicago.

4:28

Marc: Were you coming from a family that was creative?

4:31

Marc: I mean, were these folks, were your folks, doing something theatrical at all, or were you kind of the oddball out?

4:38

Matt: Yeah, i don't think traditionally nobody was in theater.

4:42

Matt: My dad was like a salesman, my mom kind of.

4:45

Matt: We had seven kids so my mom kept the house running and everything organized, so but my dad was very performative, he was in and everybody had a sense of humor.

4:57

Matt: So I guess in that way I probably learned that you know storytelling, joke telling, that kind of thing, attention getting.

5:05

Matt: I learned all that inside my own family. Matt: But I didn't really do anything professional or professional.

5:13

Matt: Until like my last year of high school I did like a variety show.

5:17

Matt: That was kind of my first taste of like stage performance.

5:22

Marc: Are you seeing seven, seven kids?

5:24

Marc: Where did you fall in the birth order in your family?

5:26

Marc: I was the fourth, i was right in the middle. Marc: Yeah, see, i grew up as an only child.

5:30

Marc: So I get lived vicariously through people when they say you know, they came from a big family and I've got three kids.

5:36

Marc: So I'm kind of like watching what it's like to have siblings through them.

5:38

Marc: But was that? Marc: were you the only one out of the out of the troop who ended up going into entertainment, or do you have any brothers or sisters that followed you in?

5:49

Matt: I have an older brother who acted and still does some acting, but he's has a real job.

5:55

Matt: He's like in the construction game and things like that, but he's also funny or he also performs and does bit parts occasionally.

6:04

Matt: So I would say the two of us are probably the most interested in it.

6:11

Marc: Yeah, well, in Chicago that was sort of the epicenter with Second City and all that You had that in your backyard.

6:17

Marc: Did you have any of that kind of influence when you were growing up?

6:20

Marc: Did you go see their comedy shows or improv shows or what have you, when you were a kid?

6:24

Matt: No, not when I was a kid, but I think I saw Second City when I was in college.

6:30

Matt: They came through and did one of their touring company shows and it was really captivating and fun And I'm like it was almost magical, Like I'd never seen anything like that.

6:39

Matt: I of course watched kids in the hall perhaps, or Second City TV by that point, and certainly a center at life, but the live stuff I'd never seen.

6:49

Matt: And then I got involved doing improv.

6:52

Matt: My last year of college I was going into Chicago to study improv and then driving back to my college, which was like an hour and a half outside of the city.

7:01

Matt: I was doing that like once a week and then when I graduated I was doing psychology.

7:06

Matt: I was going to be a psychologist, i studied psychology in college and then at night I was doing sketch and exploring theater and comedy.

7:15

Marc: When was the decision and how did you make that a decision to diverge off the psychotherapy path on to working on stage?

7:23

Marc: Was there a conscious decision or did just kind of just find yourself more and more spending time doing stuff on stage?

7:28

Matt: I think I liked them both equally.

7:31

Matt: at some point I really did appreciate like the potential of like guiding people through pathology or, you know, depression etc.

7:39

Matt: But working on an adolescent psych ward in Chicago at Northwestern, it was very taxing and those people who can do it well are saints and I realized that I don't think I could handle the pressure.

7:51

Matt: So at some point I took a little walkabout.

7:56

Matt: I went to Europe for like three or four months in the middle of my psychology career and then I came back and I just committed to being poor, willing to be poor, and just started hustling.

8:09

Matt: Yeah, i just knew I couldn't do psychology, so I guess I'd better figure out this comedy thing or performing thing.

8:14

Marc: Yeah, that's kind of what I did. Marc: I went to the. Marc: My first school was University of North Texas, which was known as a big psychology school.

8:20

Marc: You know all different kinds of paths. Marc: You know some people do Industrial psychology and things like that, and I was just kind of interested in it and I think I was doing well, until I hit one class that actually involved some aspect of math and I was like, oh no, no, no, it's some kind of my daughter who's at too.

8:36

Marc: I'm sorry, i don't want to do it. Marc: Loyola, which is right next door to Tulane in New Orleans.

8:43

Marc: She took that same class and got an A in it and I'm like, okay, well, my kids are clearly smarter than me, but that may be a direction she goes.

8:50

Matt: Yeah, i similarly would never have become a psychiatrist because the science and the math of it all would have defeated me, but I felt like a psychologist.

8:59

Matt: I could maybe have figured out. Marc: Where'd you go?

9:01

Matt: school like Northwestern or No, i went to Northern Illinois, which is just outside of it's, in DeKalb, which is like an hour and a half west of Chicago.

9:10

Marc: Now this is jumping a little bit ahead, but you're one of the founding members of UCB right, which I don't know how.

9:16

Marc: I didn't know that, but that's.

9:19

Marc: I've had a few guests on that have been there.

9:22

Marc: That seems to have been almost like the California second city.

9:27

Marc: You know, you have a lot of people, don't? Marc: you have like Lorne Michaels and his crew come there to scout for a Saturday night live.

9:33

Marc: I mean, that's a pretty profound thing.

9:35

Marc: Now, who are the co-founders with you of UCB?

9:39

Matt: I started that we came out of Chicago and it was me, amy Poehler, ian Roberts and Matt Besser and we opened one in New York in like 98 and then we opened one out here in California in like 2005 I think, and yeah, What was the motivation for starting that?

10:00

Marc: Were you just looking for additional creative outlets, or were you just, was there something that wasn't there, like there's a need for this?

10:08

Marc: you know, there's a need for kind of an improv, a place where people can come check it out and also to learn, or kind of.

10:15

Marc: What was the impetus for that? Matt: We didn't have that much foresight or vision.

10:20

Matt: We went to New York with a suitcase full of props and dreams and hopes to get a sketch show on TV, which we were lucky enough to do, and while we were doing that, we had created a free improv show on Sunday nights which attracted this huge, hungry audience of young people who had never seen long-form improv, which is what we learned in Chicago through a guy named Del Close, who's sort of like the legend from Chicago.

10:48

Matt: And so we started teaching classes to fund our sketch dream and make short films, and then We had a decent amount of people.

10:55

Matt: We were teaching and doing shows in New York.

10:59

Matt: You always had to move your props out every night and you had to pay to rent the theater 300 bucks and you had to pay a tech guy.

11:05

Matt: So it's a financially oppressive city to do theater.

11:09

Matt: And at some point we had enough students that we thought why don't we get our own clubhouse?

11:14

Matt: So there was an old strip club that had been shut down, that was cheap and dirty, and we figured we could probably make rent if we just took a lease on it.

11:25

Marc: So you've got. Marc: How many locations do you have a UCB right now besides New York and LA?

11:31

Matt: There's nothing in New York anymore. Matt: I'm currently no longer involved.

11:33

Matt: We all stepped away from it. Matt: We all sold it over a year ago.

11:37

Matt: So really Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

11:40

Marc: But what a great legacy though. Marc: I mean, how cool is that that you created something that is talked about as sort of because you say UCB to a civilian and like what do you mean?

11:49

Marc: but you say it to somebody who's an upcoming actor, they're like, oh cool, yeah, i got to go check that out.

11:54

Marc: I want to be part of that. Marc: You know, i don't know how you can maintain a career but also be running this thing.

11:59

Marc: That kind of seemed to get really big and popular.

12:02

Marc: I mean, it was just did you just not have the time to kind of do everything all at once, or?

12:07

Matt: Yeah, It was hard after a while. Matt: We, you know, I think we'd done it for 20, 20 years plus and it was.

12:14

Matt: it was a lot of work and it was a lot of managing and it was, you know, at some point we were all like done doing that.

12:19

Matt: So it is hard. Matt: Yeah, A lot of emails, a lot of meetings, a lot of personnel issues.

12:26

Matt: you know it was difficult. Marc: So, And part of it's like I got into acting to not have to do homework for a living you know.

12:33

Matt: Yeah, And it was. Matt: In some ways it was easier when we were poor and nobody was coming to it.

12:37

Matt: You know, it was just like a little clubhouse and we could do our shows and we could practice our sketches and do our free improv show and teach a few classes, And then when it got bigger, it was, it was.

12:48

Matt: It was more, you know, more challenge, more headaches.

12:51

Marc: When did the moved LA happen for you? Matt: I did a sketch show on Comedy Central and then I worked on the Daily Show for almost two years And then after that I knocked around New York just doing commercials for I don't know a couple years And then I got a pilot for a show and I figured that was the time to jump into LA, because I don't think I was going to do much else in New York at that point.

13:19

Marc: As far as building your career. Marc: Was that the original plan, though, to be in New York, or was it all?

13:24

Marc: were you knowing the road was going to take you to LA eventually?

13:27

Matt: Again, i never really can give myself credit for having a plan.

13:31

Matt: I think going to New York was we're going to stay as a group.

13:37

Matt: We're going to stay here for six months and see if we can get lucky and then figure it out the next six months.

13:42

Matt: If we got any kind of luck, we'd commit to another six months And then at some point years later I'd been in New York for eight years and I was fortunate enough to have a job in LA to, you know, start over, i guess.

13:56

Matt: So I and I'd already had a lot of time in LA.

13:59

Matt: I'd gone out there for, you know, pilot season and various small parts or whatever.

14:04

Matt: So I had experience in LA and friends.

14:08

Marc: So it seemed like a simpler jump you know What era of the Daily Show were you working?

14:13

Marc: Was it back in Colbert? Matt: Yeah, 2000, 2001,.

14:17

Matt: John Stewart Colbert Mo Rocco was doing.

14:21

Marc: Steve Carell was on it. Marc: They came out of Chicago as well right, yeah, i knew I.

14:26

Matt: yeah, yeah, they were second city guys, Carell and Colbert, and I knew Colbert in Chicago.

14:32

Matt: I didn't know Steven until I got to New York but Colbert and I were kind of friends in Chicago.

14:48

Marc: Is it cool or is it odd, or what's that feeling when you look back and you remember when everybody was poor and you're just kind of floating around there, there's, but nobody had really hit yet?

14:58

Marc: Is it ever kind of surreal to look at your contemporaries and go, okay, i remember when we were poor and eating ramen noodles and trying to make people laugh, you know, and now here's where we are.

15:06

Marc: Is that ever surreal for you, or is it kind of?

15:09

Marc: how does that hit? Matt: I don't know that I like have looked at it clearly, or I tend to not look at that stuff too long, i don't know.

15:24

Matt: I can only speak to my wife, who's very sweet has hung up some of the things you know.

15:30

Matt: When you do a show or a movie, you collect a poster here and there and she's hung up a bit of an area of our house to sort of celebrate some accomplishments And I can't even enjoy looking at that.

15:42

Matt: So I don't know if that's unhealthy or healthy, but that's kind of how I operate.

15:46

Matt: I don't tend to look back, like I hopefully keep relationships, like I enjoy a lot of the people I've worked with.

15:54

Matt: But as far as like taking stock and you know understanding it, it doesn't appeal to me yet but I'm sure I will.

16:02

Matt: I'm older than you so I probably should. Matt: But yeah, Yeah.

16:06

Marc: It's funny I look back at the very bad. Marc: when I was 17, i started working in radio in Dallas, texas, 90, and the path is syndicated, shown, and my ex-wife would be like why are you carting all these boxes around all my old?

16:17

Marc: well, when you had to record on tape I was like that's all my stuff.

16:20

Marc: And then I made the mistake of going and listening to some of it some few years ago and like oh good God, you know.

16:25

Marc: so I'm like that needs to stay in the past.

16:27

Marc: I mean I can appreciate the experiences, but I don't really I don't need to remind myself of, creatively, where I was back then.

16:35

Marc: No, i was just going to share. Matt: Like, i think a lot of that sort of scrapbooking of the things we do is to sort of prove our identity, that we're, that we're getting somewhere.

16:45

Matt: And sometimes you have to do it to make a reel.

16:47

Matt: So you collect things, so you have samples to maybe advance your career.

16:53

Matt: But yeah, i don't look at the boxes, i don't open them up, i just try to like keep moving, you know but I do like when friends will send me a picture, i'll send it.

17:06

Matt: All right, go, go go. Matt: I had to let the release the hounds, but I do love it when friends send me a picture from like 25 years ago, backstage or something.

17:21

Matt: That warms me And that's like, wow, we all look so young, so but you don't really feel any older.

17:26

Marc: I feel like I'm perpetually this kind of hanging at 25, you know, kind of my no, my back will remind me I'm not 25 anymore, but you know yeah no, what kind of pooch you got.

17:36

Matt: We have two moths that were just in here.

17:38

Matt: One is probably I forget what it is My wife did that DNA thing and the DNA thing said Chihuahua and something else And it doesn't look like a Chihuahua.

17:50

Marc: They're doing DNA on dogs now also. Matt: Yeah, you can do that, you can like send it in from saliva, i think.

17:57

Matt: And then I talked to the vet when I took her in and he thinks she's more of a spaniel, but she's like a mutt, like a mutt rescue.

18:05

Matt: And then the little guy that's Penny, and then the little guy JJ is like I don't know what, you.

18:10

Matt: He's got a fat kind of corgi body, but he's also white spaniel.

18:14

Matt: This could be going on for a while. Matt: I apologize, it's okay, come on in, chill out, come on, come on.

18:22

Marc: This is bad radio, as they say but Oh, no, no, no, yes, it's all good.

18:28

Marc: I'm a big dog lover. Marc: In fact we had a golden retriever and Marlowe guy passed a few weeks back and we're missing him And so he was and so I'm moving down to an island down in South Texas here, probably in October.

18:42

Marc: So I told my daughter I said when we go down she's going to take her gap year and she's going to come down with me And I said we got to get another golden retriever puppy And I'm like going, i forgot about those puppy years, you know, and how much attention you got to give them.

18:54

Marc: But you know I'm missing having a pooch around here.

18:56

Marc: I always love them And I see some talking with someone and they've got a dog.

18:59

Marc: So it's a big dog. Matt: Well, that's hard, Is it?

19:02

Matt: are you taking time off Because it's hard to lose a dog?

19:05

Matt: I mean, I'm sorry to hear that It's really hard. Marc: It went on hot.

19:09

Marc: I'm looking over here. Marc: He's got a little urn over here, you know, on my shelf.

19:12

Marc: But no, he he was. Marc: We got him when he was a puppy and my kids grew up with him.

19:15

Marc: He was 10. Marc: And the hard part was I thought, you know, my other dogs had lived.

19:20

Marc: My other golden, my previous dog, 13, 14 years old.

19:23

Marc: So you know that phrase man plans, god laughs.

19:26

Marc: You know something. Marc: We've got a few more years with him And then he, he was sick, sick, and about two, three weeks later he passed.

19:32

Marc: And yeah, i actually took a little bit of a hiatus. Marc: I was like I don't think I'm going to be very good sitting down talking with people and stuff, but it's been a little while.

19:40

Marc: So you know it's, it's, you get a little bit older.

19:42

Marc: It doesn't get easier, but you can, you, you navigate it better.

19:46

Marc: That's one of those things I think age kind of gives you is harder for me to talk to, to address it with my kids.

19:52

Marc: That's the hard part. Marc: I was like, wait a minute, i got to be the adult here and actually help them out and make sure that they're handling it so much better than I did, though, which is so funny.

20:02

Marc: Um, do you have? Marc: uh, you got kids as well.

20:05

Matt: Yeah, we have, uh, three kids and they're not in college at.

20:10

Matt: My son just turned 16 yesterday.

20:12

Matt: And, speaking of gap year, how did that come?

20:15

Matt: because I told my son, you know, because he's starting to think about colleges and I, I introduced the idea and like, well, there's also this thing where, like, cause he wanted to learn Portuguese, I'm like you could spend three months in, you know, Brazil and work for a company or live with a family and come back with a language before you go to college.

20:32

Matt: You know things like that. Marc: That's funny.

20:35

Marc: You say that that's what it my daughter Emma's doing. Marc: She graduated, she, she's one of the same thing with your son, uh, covid.

20:41

Marc: Yeah, probably threw off what school was like for him And she uh, went back to a nice school and she's like she just got so used to online learning.

20:52

Marc: She's a self starter, she gets A's and she just that's.

20:56

Marc: She said I just want to finish school like that. Marc: So she finished her junior and senior year This last year.

21:00

Marc: She did both years together and she got A's and did just great.

21:04

Marc: So she's taken the gap year. Marc: She's still just 17 and she's got a program.

21:09

Marc: She's and I can find out about it. Marc: It's actually a really neat program in Barcelona, uh, where she goes for, i think, four weeks, but if she does a six week program she gets college credit for it.

21:19

Marc: Uh, but she's going to go there and it's a immersive language thing and they have these really beautiful dorms.

21:25

Marc: Before we go, i'll get the name of the organization that does it.

21:28

Marc: Um and uh. Marc: But but she's going to uh, uh, we're Jewish and there are some kind of a Jewish thing that she's doing where she's going to Europe, uh, going to, uh, amsterdam and four countries and then Israel on the back end, and then she's doing that this summer and then in the fall, uh, she's going to do and I think she said there's a date where most of the kids are there and it's going to be sometime early fall when they get the biggest group of kids.

21:54

Marc: It sounds like a really wonderful program in Barcelona.

21:56

Marc: But these, this language thing, uh, she did, um, she did, uh, uh.

22:01

Marc: Her elementary was, uh, what they call it immersion.

22:03

Marc: Is that what they call it? Marc: What I think? Marc: immersion, where they are learning in both languages, you know so my kids are so much smarter than me, so, like looking at him going, you know they're like dad.

22:13

Marc: are you not saying that right when I speak Spanish? Marc: Yes, honey, but I'm, i'm speaking Texas Spanish you know, I ever seen George Bush Jr.

22:20

Marc: Um, but uh, but anyway. Marc: but yeah, i'll find out about that, but I think it's a great thing.

22:24

Marc: You know, it's not like when we were younger, it's like graduate high school, go to college, you know, and I think, especially with, i think it helped.

22:32

Marc: I'm a big fan of letting kids calibrate to what where their passions are and adjust as they go, not have to be like, well, i'm on this path, i'm going to, i got to do it.

22:42

Marc: You know, i always thought it was odd that they have to do uh.

22:44

Marc: they did their uh internship their last year and then discover, oh, this isn't really what I want to do, but they're already in their senior years.

22:51

Matt: So yeah, no, I, I, I completely agree.

22:54

Matt: And it's also like, yeah, who knows what?

22:59

Matt: I think it's great experience, Like you can take a year, like you said, instead of doing the internship on the back end, go experiment or like learn a language, like live in a country, and then, uh, it's creative.

23:13

Matt: And it's also like there's no plan, Like you said.

23:16

Matt: You know you, man makes plan.

23:18

Matt: And God laughs because I similarly thought, oh, I'm going to be a psychologist and everybody does it.

23:23

Matt: They go to college for accounting or bookkeeping or teaching, and then they do it for a year and they're like, Oh my God, what was I thinking?

23:31

Matt: So any kind of rounding out of, or obviously travel is the best education there is.

23:37

Marc: It's really beneficial Yeah. Matt: Meeting people and seeing lives and uh, yeah, it's, it's just eye opening in every way.

23:46

Marc: How old are your other kids? Marc: Are they 18? Matt: Uh 13, going to be 14 in a week, and then uh, 11.

23:53

Marc: You're still doing that, that phase of life where you're kind of the Uber driver also.

23:58

Marc: Oh my god you. Matt: So we have a lot in common.

24:01

Matt: Yeah, we have a lot. Matt: I was. Matt: I got excited because next year two of them are going to be at the same school, so that goes from three drop offs to two drop offs.

24:10

Marc: One point in time. Marc: All three in mind were three separate schools.

24:14

Marc: I had to. Marc: I don't know, like I'm trying to be a responsible driver, but I'm like I don't know how we do this.

24:20

Marc: I don't know, you know, then they're all start times, so, yeah, so it was the single dad.

24:23

Marc: Life was interesting for a while. Marc: But when they see you, do they have, do they register you as like, oh, that's dad doing the work thing, or do they?

24:31

Marc: we did Melissa McCarthy. Marc: Did they watch that And do they get into it, or do they just see dad?

24:35

Marc: Or you know what's the feedback you get from your kids.

24:38

Matt: I think they they like to see me in things, but I think it's just dad.

24:43

Matt: But I think what tickles them or makes it more magical is when their friends go oh my God, like I'll pick up a kid and then the kid has just watched Life of the Party.

24:55

Matt: So when other people see like oh my God, your dad's in that thing, i think that's cool for them somehow.

25:02

Matt: You know what I mean. Matt: Like it's like.

25:04

Matt: But if we're in the living room like they never I don't ask them to watch anything I'm in.

25:09

Matt: They're never interested in watching anything I'm in And I occasionally, you know, because I write and produce I've plugged them into things because it's all you know, low budget often.

25:18

Matt: So why don't you go be a kid in this movie I'm making or whatever?

25:23

Announcer: But they're not. Announcer: That's fun. Announcer: It is fun, i agree.

25:26

Matt: Yeah. Marc: You get to that point where with your kid, with my kids it's not that they don't think it's cool.

25:32

Marc: I think that they grew up having me having a recording studio here and they know, they know my deal.

25:36

Matt: Yeah. Marc: But when their friends say, oh, i heard your dad or my, my, my couple of my son's friends like, yeah, i'm listening to dad's podcast, i swear to God, my, my daughter, who is my youngest, actually is she does the voice of the podcast the opening and closing.

25:49

Marc: She's never heard an episode. Marc: I had Neil deGrasse Tyson on in here and she was like, do you want to come say hi to him?

25:54

Marc: She's like nah, so it's kind of hard to get her.

25:57

Marc: I was like you like his show? Marc: She's like you want to come meet him, are you sure?

26:01

Marc: Nah, you know, so it's nothing impresses my kids.

26:04

Marc: She's, but she's, you know she is pretty hip to what's going on.

26:09

Marc: I need to hire her as a producer and do research for me, because she's way sharper at picking up on stuff quickly.

26:14

Matt: But I bet it was slightly more interesting when her friend said oh, I heard your dad's podcast.

26:21

Matt: It sort of validates you in a way that she doesn't see you, Right?

26:25

Marc: Yeah, well, i told him. Marc: I said dad used to be cool at one point in time.

26:28

Marc: I mean I was one. Marc: I used to be used to have a syndicated show.

26:31

Marc: And the only thing they remember when I worked at ABC radio network is the security guard when they were very little.

26:36

Marc: He would always bring them really cool colored coloring books And they remember the lobby because we had like a little creek in the lobby or something.

26:42

Marc: And but they don't remember, like you know, when, like you or I grew up being on the radio, like the loop in Chicago.

26:49

Announcer: Yeah. Matt: Sister stations Yeah. Marc: And I was working in a station in Dallas, at top 40 station, And our sister was stationed as a loop It's like you hear about.

27:00

Marc: it is almost this mystical, like, ooh, the loop in Chicago, you know, and what radio was.

27:05

Marc: now it's not like that anymore And I think that, well, podcasts can have that DNA of what radio was.

27:10

Marc: but you got a podcast too as well, don't you?

27:13

Marc: Oh, nice transition. Matt: Uh, I have totally unintentional, by the way, I just got just my memory the way it works Um the uh podcast is called second in command and me and Tim Simons, uh, both of us were in a show called Veep and we're going through, we've committed to going through every episode of the seven seasons, uh, and bringing on people you know Julia, sam Richardson, all the actors, uh to talk about each episode.

27:40

Matt: So it's called second in command, yeah. Marc: I will admittedly say that that is one series I haven't yet seen, but there's so much stuff I haven't seen.

27:48

Marc: Um, there's a few things I haven't seen.

27:50

Marc: I'm kind of glad because I'm going to sit down and, just, like power, watch it, just with just the ebb and flow of how much content's out there and what I.

27:57

Marc: you know what I'm watching for this show And I was like but I want to watch Veep and I have never seen Game of Thrones.

28:03

Matt: Oh, my God. Matt: So there's a whole thing. Marc: I know I'm one of those people I haven't said I watched lost literally the last season.

28:09

Marc: It was on the air. Marc: I started watching and catching up and I'm like why did I miss this?

28:13

Marc: You know. Matt: Yeah, well, you have two good shows.

28:17

Matt: Uh, i'm envious, and not just cause I'm on it. Matt: Veep is a wonderful show and Game of Thrones is one of the best shows ever.

28:24

Marc: It's it's epic, so I think you're going to like them There's so many things that I just there's so much stuff out there and equality stuff And, like I, just the other day I was watching um Tulsa King on on Paramount and uh, with Stallone and he's got a reality show.

28:39

Marc: I'm going, you know Stallone doesn't need to do a reality or unscripted show, but I have to watch this now.

28:43

Matt: He has a reality. Marc: Really He and his three daughters and his wife and it's it's uh, it's all in Paramount plus.

28:50

Marc: Really I was like I had to watch it. Marc: He had one of the best pieces of advice I he was talking with his daughter doing a long distance relationship, and it's something I teach voiceover also, and I teach my students the value of investing their time properly.

29:03

Marc: You may not have a lot of money, but you can be careful about how you invest your time And he talked about your time bank and the way you invest from your time bank And like I am stealing that from Stallone.

29:13

Announcer: You know, he's one of those guys. Marc: That's just. Marc: He cracked the code on just having a great attitude, and you know.

29:18

Marc: But anyway, he doesn't need to do it, but it was kind of fun to watch, you know.

29:21

Marc: And uh, and you mentioned Sam Richardson.

29:23

Marc: He's one of those guys that you know when you see him shop, you're very much the same way.

29:26

Marc: You see him shop. Marc: Okay, this is going to be a funny scene like Ted, just you and your.

29:30

Marc: You know you and that relationship to Tom Scare. Marc: It just the most random thing.

29:33

Marc: It was just your, your fun to watch. Marc: You know Sam Richardson the same way.

29:38

Marc: Uh, yeah, a lot of talent there. Marc: And, and I don't know how I missed VEEP, but it's one of those things.

29:43

Marc: I've got it. Marc: I've got a lot of stuff queued up And then, whenever the kids aren't here though, i'm just sitting on my laptop, working power, watching all these shows.

29:50

Marc: I can't. Marc: I mean, it's almost embarrassing how many things I haven't seen yet.

29:53

Matt: So yeah, i tend to catch up. Matt: Well, yeah, i tend to catch up on uh TV, like yourself.

30:00

Matt: Uh, i have huge gaps or I'm culturally irrelevant on shows Like I haven't seen Tulsa King It's.

30:06

Matt: I'm never on top of what's uh important to watch, let's say Um, but when I'm out of town working on a show or a project, that's when I get to like finish shows that have been meaning to watch And cause, if I'm home, i'm driving children around, seemingly.

30:23

Marc: When you were growing up, what was it that you were consuming?

30:26

Marc: either comedy wise or I loved with my parents, went out Saturday night.

30:29

Marc: I had a babysitter who would let me watch Saturday night live.

30:32

Marc: You know, that's awesome, um, but that was when I was a kid.

30:35

Marc: It was the you know Billy Crystal.

30:38

Marc: Uh, eddie Murphy, you know, in that kind of I'm a little younger than you.

30:41

Marc: So that was kind of my thing. Marc: But I remember the old school Like what was your entertainment?

30:45

Marc: uh, diet, like back then. Matt: Yeah, i think the things that excited me, you know, obviously network TV, i, i, i watched probably everything that you did on network TV but like SNL was a big thing, uh, sec, uh, second city TV Python Uh, i was a big fan.

31:02

Marc: Do you remember something that just popped into my head? Marc: Do you remember something called not necessarily the news, do you?

31:07

Matt: remember that. Matt: Yeah, that was a brief. Matt: Yeah, i do remember that.

31:10

Matt: Yeah, that was on. Marc: I do remember that one And the Canadian stuff come out.

31:15

Marc: You know kids in the hall it was like what is this?

31:18

Marc: I don't get this kind of sense of humor thing.

31:20

Marc: You know the uh, but it was. Marc: It was magnetic for me because it was so different.

31:25

Matt: And then I got into Carlin uh, because you know, I just kind of start following him and Robin Williams, so who were, like how the let's say, you're, you're Mount Rushmore comedians, uh, or comedic actors, when you, when you were coming up, that you followed, and I'm not saying to emulate, but this kind of turned yawn Well, as far as sketch, like kids in the hall were doing exactly what I wanted to be doing, like they had a group of friends and they had a signature voice and they were doing it their own way and they had an identity, so they really uh captured me as a young man.

31:57

Matt: Uh, i thought they were the ideal in many ways.

31:59

Matt: And then, like you know, people who were hilarious, you know I love Robin Williams, uh, i think I was saying earlier, i as a younger person, probably cause my dad liked him too.

32:10

Matt: Peter Sellers was somebody I was like so impressed with And you know, i think I had like a a Woody Allen phase where I was like sort of you know, uh, obviously just deep into Woody Allen or trying to see everything he'd ever made, and then, uh, yeah, those are the, those are the ones that come out and they like standups.

32:33

Matt: There was a lot of standup when I got out of college.

32:36

Matt: A lot of the standups I liked were the guys in the clubs that were just, you know, getting going themselves.

32:42

Matt: It was like this boom of standup happening everywhere.

32:46

Matt: So I, a lot of the people I liked I was seeing live that hadn't broke yet.

32:50

Marc: Now, was this, uh, was this in Chicago?

32:52

Marc: Are you talking about where, like when you were in New York, chicago? Matt: No, this is in Chicago.

32:55

Matt: There were guys like, uh, you know this guy, jimmy Pardo?

33:00

Matt: uh, some of these people don't do it anymore, but there was like, uh, brian McCann, who became a writer for Conan and various things.

33:09

Matt: He was a great, funny guy. Matt: Uh, what's the other guys?

33:14

Matt: I'll think of his name, but he's really fine, he's still in Chicago.

33:18

Marc: Anyways, Now you're talking about SNL. Marc: Uh, did you by chance do any work with SNL?

33:22

Marc: or did you do any writing ever, Or did you I?

33:25

Matt: did some short films.

33:27

Matt: They do those like commercials or weird short films, Yeah.

33:30

Matt: So when I landed in New York, uh, a couple of my buddies were writers on that show so they were often suggesting me for like weird films that they had written.

33:41

Matt: So I appeared in SNL probably a couple of times in like weird commercials or weird short films.

33:55

Marc: As you came out to LA. Marc: that's really the genesis in kind, of when you started kicking off doing stuff on camera, I mean, what was, what were some of the first things you were working on?

34:04

Marc: How do you feel like what was the momentum builder?

34:07

Marc: What really kind of kicked things off for you? Matt: I think for me, like New York, getting my feet on the ground and starting UCB we were kind of known in New York in the comedy scene And then being on the Daily Show was really for me a moment of feeling like I'd been launched or people knew me because they knew your name now and I wasn't just in a sketch group.

34:32

Matt: And then I think landing in LA was I was on a show called Dogbite's Man and then I started popping up in movies like Road Trip or Old School.

34:45

Matt: So those were kind of like moments that I felt like propelled me perhaps.

34:52

Marc: You had Comedy Central was sort of like I mean, considering the talent you were working with, yeah, that's good springboard, but were you, were you really kind of getting invigorated?

35:00

Marc: I mean you had a lot of energy for it, like, was that like, okay, this is my thing, i'm going to be doing comedy movies.

35:07

Matt: I think I always felt like maybe similar to you, Like I was happy if I was creating and performing comedy and I didn't know necessarily like what's the steps to like you know, like getting another movie, I would just keep working at it, keep doing things.

35:29

Matt: That's probably not a good interview, Marc. Matt: I don't have a good answer.

35:33

Marc: No, no, no. Marc: I see the thing is it's everybody has different path, and that's what fascinates me is how somebody finds their way in and then they make some friends and that you start like just finding yourself in different situations, like, yeah, i'm an improviser, like truly, one of the biggest skills I learned was improv.

35:50

Matt: I studied improv in Chicago. Matt: I studied, you know.

35:54

Matt: I taught it in New York, i taught it in LA.

35:56

Matt: I have my 10,000 hours on stage doing improv, you know.

36:01

Matt: so that's probably one of my skills And I probably approach life that way too much where I don't have a plan, but that's the truth of it.

36:09

Matt: So, inside comedy and inside acting, that's a great skill to have because you teach.

36:15

Marc: Well being. Marc: The ability to adapt keeps you, gives you a career with longevity, and you've gotten that.

36:20

Marc: Most certainly, you know, you've, you know.

36:22

Marc: Is there something you haven't done though that you know, i think?

36:25

Marc: oh, it's drawn. Marc: I'm drawing a blank on what it was. Marc: It was a movie.

36:29

Marc: You were a storm chaser. Matt: Yes, i did a movie called Into the Storm.

36:33

Matt: It was. Matt: I think it's the third best tornado movie ever, but but yeah, it was a blast Action.

36:42

Matt: I would love to do another action movie. Matt: That was action.

36:45

Matt: That was like driving crazy vehicles, running through fire, getting soaked in rain, you know, explosions, all of that It was.

36:54

Matt: it was really fun and really challenging. Matt: So I would love to do another action movie.

36:59

Marc: Is there something you're wanting to do that just hasn't shown up?

37:01

Marc: as far as your agent hasn't handed you the script just yet, you know that you would like to do something you would like to do.

37:07

Matt: Well, I think, like you talk about action, I think like an action comedy I think would be really fun.

37:16

Matt: I think also like kind of like these are things I haven't done, but kind of like either an unraveling mystery or an unraveling sort of dramatic show, that sort of unfolds, if you will like that.

37:33

Matt: That's very interesting to me. Matt: I haven't done those, those sort of things.

37:37

Marc: Well, we see a lot of guys with comedy background that are stepping into doing those kind of things.

37:43

Marc: You know it's pretty common, but you are, i mean, without a doubt you're one of those guys that's busy, you know, and that's in Hollywood.

37:50

Marc: I guess that's a blessing, you know, because you're always Yeah, i did.

37:53

Matt: I did something like I'm grateful for all you know, all the things I've been able to get into.

37:58

Matt: I did an Apple limited series about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the capturing of John Wilkes Booth last year down in Georgia And I played Dr Mudd who fixed John Wilkes Booth's ankle And it was completely a drama and it was a complete period piece And it was like heavy beers and sweaty clothing and Georgia in the summer and dim lighting And it was really challenging and good It was.

38:24

Matt: It was a really neat experience. Marc: So as far as the summer goes, kids out of school, you planning any kind of family vacation and they kind of get away a little break from work, or you got stuff lined up in the next couple of months here.

38:38

Matt: Yeah, we have a plan to was just discussing it with my wife.

38:43

Matt: We're going to get up to the Northwest. Matt: She's from the Northwest, i'm from Chicago, so we've gone to Chicago a fair amount.

38:48

Matt: She's always like we don't get to Northwest enough. Matt: So we're going to go up to like her her mom is in Eugene and then we're going to go to the coast, see the Oregon coast, and we're going to try to get up to like Big Sur, which we've never done, and maybe Northern California coast.

39:03

Matt: So that's the plan and that's exciting.

39:05

Matt: We're probably going to rent a little mini camper and just maybe park on a couple beaches and get into nature.

39:15

Marc: That's exciting. Marc: I would love that. Marc: When I was younger I was really younger, my kids were young I always thought getting a like a big motor home doing like the go full grisly.

39:23

Matt: Yeah, yeah. Marc: I thought that would be a blast.

39:27

Marc: Yeah, now, as far as flame and hot, the new project.

39:30

Marc: Now, how did that come across, eva?

39:33

Matt: so Eva Longoria. Matt: I wrote a movie with a friend of mine called Unplugging and Eva signed on to do it And so me and her were co-stars in this story about a couple who agrees to no Wi-Fi, no phones, no cell service for a weekend to kind of rescue the marriage because they're having some problems And then the minute they put their screens down they start getting paranoid that the world's ending.

40:00

Matt: So that was the story that I wrote with a buddy and she was great She's the best And we became friends making that movie playing a couple together.

40:08

Matt: And she was directing a movie the next year and she asked me to come in and she said would you come into my movie and play an old white racist?

40:18

Matt: And I said I'll play a. Matt: I said no, but I'll play a middle-aged racist.

40:23

Marc: Very nice Now if I was just watching her on her CNN her new, i think it's called Searching for Mexico.

40:29

Matt: Yeah, it's awesome. Marc: She's a wonderful fellow Texan.

40:34

Matt: Yeah. Marc: From what I gather from the trailer, it's addressing Marcets that hadn't previously been tapped into by the fast food folks.

40:41

Marc: Is that kind of the gist of it, more or less?

40:44

Matt: Yeah, i think it's really about a Mexican American tale.

40:49

Matt: Like a guy who's a janitor grew up in America, his parents were picking fruit and vineyards and then he got a job and learned everything and then they were threatening to close the factory down and he had the idea to basically create food for Latinos.

41:11

Matt: There was no Marcet yet, nobody had like, and he was living and looking around America and he's like there's tons of people who will buy this.

41:19

Matt: So he came up with the idea and called the head of the company and he's like all right, they'll come down.

41:24

Matt: Lo and behold, the guy came down and they worked it, he pitched it and they kind of made it happen and that guy helped launch this billion dollar industry.

41:33

Marc: You're playing like a supervisor. Matt: Yeah, Another middle-aged short sleeve wearing office jerk.

41:42

Marc: You know, if you own it, own it. Matt: No, no, it's great, It was so I mean, honestly, it was amazing because it's really a story about what it is to be Mexican in America.

41:51

Matt: I think It's about this Latin culture and like working your way up into the American dream And, against all odds, this guy, like his wife, is a big part of it.

42:01

Matt: He reconciles some stuff with his father.

42:04

Matt: It's a beautiful story, it's really. Matt: It's one of those movies I always watch, like somebody with a dream making a car like Tucker, or like getting five minutes to play on the Notre Dame kicking team like Rudy.

42:18

Matt: Yeah, like it's one of those stories and it's beautiful and it was fun to be, you know, around all these people And my Spanish got sharper too because they were often speaking Spanish to each other.

42:30

Marc: Well, no, that's what I was saying. Marc: I'm going down to this.

42:33

Marc: I just figure I can work from anywhere and I've always wanted to live on an island.

42:36

Marc: I don't you know. Marc: I've done my Southern California thing.

42:38

Marc: But going down to South Padre Island in Texas and to get a place set up, nice, and I told my daughter, it's like baby.

42:43

Marc: I said, you know you're Spanish, you're going to have to help me out here.

42:46

Marc: I mean, am I? Marc: it's okay, i can get by, yeah, but it's like here's the thing you give me a corona, you let me sit, post up somewhere near the beach.

42:53

Marc: It will just come back to me, yeah, or at least I feel.

42:55

Marc: The more coronas I'll feel like more of it's come back to me than actually has.

42:59

Marc: It just gets embarrassing after a while. Matt: Got the boat.

43:01

Matt: Do you have the boat dialed in or you can have yourself a boat?

43:04

Marc: No, no no, no, no, I actually that's the.

43:07

Marc: you know I would love to do that It's.

43:11

Marc: it's a really neat place because right across the bay is where SpaceX has their launch facility, oh, wow, But.

43:17

Marc: but yeah, that's. Marc: that's going to be my the second half of my daughter's gap year.

43:21

Marc: The first part shall be in Barcelona, learning Spanish, spanish, spain Spanish, and then she'll be coming down there and kind of helping me out a little bit.

43:31

Marc: But tell you what, before we get running, i got my what I call my seven questions that I like to ask.

43:36

Marc: It's kind of an additional little get to know you, a little fun.

43:41

Marc: One of the things is I'm always curious about because I'm a food guy.

43:43

Marc: I can talk food day in, day in, day out. Marc: But what is your favorite comfort food?

43:48

Marc: Something that it's like craft service tables like this is nothing.

43:52

Marc: I just want this thing. Marc: This is going to be comforting.

43:56

Matt: You know what would that be? Matt: Um, i guess snack.

43:59

Matt: my mind goes to snack food. Matt: Like I'm a sucker for caramel corn, like that's kind of an Achilles heel, like I try not to eat it, but it's very comforting to see a good.

44:12

Matt: oh my God, if it's warm like freshly made caramel corn, forget it.

44:16

Marc: We one time I you know, during COVID, we're getting deliveries from Costco and they messed up something in my order and accidentally brought me this big bag of things called creeders, caramel, corn and cheese cheese Chicago.

44:28

Matt: Yeah, that's the Chicago mix, come on. Marc: I know that's what they call it, that's what Chicago.

44:31

Marc: Yeah, that's what's dangerous, oh yeah. Matt: Exactly 100%, 100%.

44:39

Marc: When you look at it, this big bag and half of it's gone is like I can't not be doing this Well it's made of corn.

44:42

Matt: It's not that bad for me. Marc: I mean, it's just pop See that's the way I think about it.

44:46

Marc: See, you're on the same page as me, though, It's like, although my cholesterol level says otherwise.

44:51

Marc: Now, the second question I got for you is if you were to take three people sit down, you're going to have a cup of coffee with them and you're going to have, you know, talk for a few hours, have conversation.

44:59

Marc: Who would those three people be? Marc: I mean living or not, who would you enjoy talking story with?

45:04

Matt: Oh my gosh, living or dead.

45:07

Matt: You said right. Marc: Yeah, just you know somebody, anybody that you feel like would kind of elevate your experience of life.

45:14

Matt: I'm going to go. Matt: I'm going to go, harry Truman, because I remember really liking him as a young kid studying presidents.

45:26

Matt: I'm going to go. Matt: I mean, you might as well go dead, right.

45:32

Matt: Who else would I go? Matt: I'd probably go with, like Da Vinci.

45:38

Matt: Leonardo Da Vinci, and then because he's a brilliant genius of a mind, and then maybe Michael Jordan, because I never met him.

45:48

Marc: Yeah, he did. Marc: He did a couple of things in Chicago, i think, didn't he Like, yeah, i think he did?

45:53

Matt: What was the sport? Matt: again, i forget Basketball.

45:57

Marc: I think curling, no, no, no, something else, but he was.

46:00

Marc: Yeah, that being Chicago back then must have been just insane.

46:05

Marc: In fact, that's another that I think air.

46:08

Marc: I think that's the movie about the air Jordan. Marc: Yeah, yeah, i need to watch it.

46:12

Marc: That's on the list Now going.

46:14

Marc: Third question who was your first celebrity crush when you were young?

46:19

Matt: Crush like oh she's beautiful, like for me.

46:23

Matt: or crush like oh, that guy is amazing, that person's amazing.

46:27

Marc: No, you know it could be either one. Marc: You know it could be.

46:30

Marc: Just like you see a lady in a movie going oh my gosh, like for me, like Olivia Newton-John.

46:33

Matt: I was like oh okay, i think it was maybe Jessica Lange.

46:40

Matt: Like that's a star Like she's so beautiful, sure?

46:44

Marc: Or you know, the second half of kind of what you brought up, who was the person you saw is like they just killed me.

46:50

Marc: Magnetic or mesmerizing assembly. Matt: I think like for me someone from Chicago.

46:56

Matt: I think there were people like John Belushi or Bill Murray who were like, because they were from Chicago, it was like they were amazing and they had it seemed connected to my life.

47:09

Matt: You know, they were from my hometown. Marc: You see, as a kid growing up in Texas I thought everybody in Chicago lived in a big suburban house.

47:15

Marc: Their father worked in advertising you know, there's things that were set up.

47:18

Marc: They did the whole John Hughes thing. Marc: You know, it's like I thought everybody did.

47:24

Marc: You know and like, but I was influenced, i guess, as a kid, by John Hughes.

47:30

Marc: Now, if you're going to be going, next question if you're going to be going down to an island, it could be an exotic island, somewhere that you're going to enjoy being.

47:35

Marc: It's not like you're, it's like deserted island, but you don't have streaming and you can only if you want to consume any kind of entertainment.

47:43

Marc: It's going to be in the form of a book, an album, if you want to.

47:48

Marc: You want to watch a movie. Marc: It's going to be on DVD. Marc: So what would the DVD be?

47:52

Marc: What would a CD be that you would bring down there, an album and a movie?

47:56

Matt: So, to be clear, it's either a book, cd album or DVD.

48:01

Marc: Yeah, you know some people, some people say, well, i don't really, wouldn't really want to bring a movie, i'd want to bring a book.

48:07

Marc: So I've now opened it up to the idea of a book also.

48:09

Marc: but you know something to listen to music wise, a movie to watch, maybe a book as well, if you'd like.

48:15

Matt: Well, just because I'm trying to make my way through it, i would try to either finally finish Moby Dick, because I've started that book like four times and I've lost it on airplanes or just quit on it, and or because it seems like I'm going to have a ton of time on my hands, So it's a good project, or I just started reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and it's like bite-size things about what it is to be a good person or a good man.

48:49

Matt: It's 2000. Marc: I've been seeing a lot of his quotes. Matt: Yeah, it's a 2000 year old collection.

48:53

Matt: He wrote it to himself, it was just his diary.

48:56

Matt: Basically He was like a Roman Yeah, he was a Roman emperor off in some land you know, defending the Roman empire, and he basically kept a journal and somebody found it and published it And it's really, it's one of those things.

49:11

Matt: You just you read a page and then you put it down for a couple of days because it seems built for the island life, because you could like you're never going to comprehend those dense nuggets, so you could read a page and then walk around the island and catch fish, have a barbecue.

49:25

Matt: Two days later you come back to page two. Marc: You know It's kind of groove on life a little bit and to kind of let it sink in.

49:31

Marc: Yeah exactly. Matt: Let it sink in.

49:33

Matt: Yeah, yeah You get it. Marc: It's almost kind of meditative in that regard.

49:37

Marc: you know, to some degree Yeah.

49:40

Matt: I would also have a secret. Matt: You know, hideout like a James Bond villain on my island, just so you know.

49:46

Marc: See, you got to and it's got to have some swing mid-century furniture kind of, like you know the what was it?

49:50

Announcer: Incredibles? Announcer: Yeah, exactly. Marc: Now, if you were to define, from time to get up to time, to get a bed the component parts of a perfect day for you, where something's kind of laid out, everything just kind of hit.

50:02

Marc: you know it could be going to the coffee shop getting the perfect cup of coffee, i don't know.

50:06

Marc: whatever it happens to be all the way through the day, what are those things that would be, for you, component parts of a perfect day?

50:13

Matt: Coffee, bit of meditation, family, creative work, laughter, dynamite, dinner, nature, something immersing myself in nature, more laughter, consume some media and more family, i would live a very, a very similar life, That's very yeah.

50:40

Marc: That's, that's to me. Marc: That's the thing is like I'm, i'm, i'm busying myself more because I know my kids being in college and my youngest one, i'm like feel like all right, well, make myself super busy, then I'm not going to notice the fact the house is a lot emptier, you know.

50:54

Marc: So I'm enjoying the family stuff as much as I possibly can And they still like spending time with me.

50:58

Marc: So I consider myself to be very fortunate in that regard when it comes to family.

51:04

Marc: But now the last question for you. Marc: I got, let's say you got a DeLorean.

51:07

Marc: You can pop back and travel to see 16 year old Matt back in Chicago.

51:12

Marc: You got a piece of advice, either to make your life better in that moment or to kind of get yourself on a track.

51:19

Marc: You know a better track. Marc: What would that piece of advice be for a 16 year old?

51:23

Matt: you Don't make your friends in class laugh.

51:27

Marc: pay attention, But see if you didn't make your friends in class laugh.

51:31

Matt: Yeah, but you, just you can still be funny outside of class, like you're missing out on learning and the discipline of learning.

51:40

Announcer: I probably had 80 D. Matt: So there was that going on too, but that's what I would say, and I would I would have more to say around that, because 16 years, like what are you talking about?

51:50

Matt: All right, sit down. Matt: Let me tell you why learning is important.

51:53

Matt: These are fundamental skills. Matt: This is a discipline.

51:56

Matt: There's cool stuff happening here That methodical thought that patients you're developing sitting in a chair in high school.

52:03

Matt: You can start to grow. Matt: Other disciplines like that will help you in life.

52:07

Matt: Focus and build a plan or not, or continue to make your friends laugh.

52:15

Matt: Matt, i got to go back to the future. Marc: Yeah, i was always.

52:18

Marc: I was very much the same way in school. Marc: I just if something grabbed my attention, i was full in.

52:23

Marc: If something didn't grab my attention, i was just struggling to stay focused.

52:27

Marc: My grades weren't bad. Matt: That's true, you're right.

52:30

Matt: There are classes that even if you paid attention, it wouldn't have permeated me.

52:33

Matt: So I don't know, maybe I'll have to go back in time again off to rewrite that one.

52:38

Marc: Yeah, i think psychology for me was interesting because a psychology teacher was kind of an odd ball and he'd walk around the hallways with a book balanced on his head and it was just like he was in his own world.

52:47

Marc: I was like, if I can be like that man, psychology is my jam.

52:50

Announcer: I love that. Marc: Well, my friend, i certainly appreciate your time.

52:54

Marc: Really I do. Marc: I know you probably want to enjoy just kicking back with a fam, but, my friend, have yourself a wonderful rest of your weekend.

53:01

Marc: We're close enough to a weekend. Marc: Have a great weekend. Marc: Thank you, Marc, this was fun.

53:05

Marc: Thank you very much. Marc: Well, there you go, mr Matt Walsh.

53:09

Marc: Enjoy the chat quite a bit. Marc: Such a talented guy, funny Everything he's in, always a good laugh.

53:15

Marc: Great to see him show up in any project, both on TV and film.

53:20

Marc: The new movie Don't Forget on Hulu is called Flamin' Hot.

53:25

Marc: Checked it out the other night with my daughter, really enjoyed the movie and I'm sure you will as well.

53:28

Marc: I mean, it's an underdog story that features snack food.

53:31

Marc: I mean, come on, sit down and get something crunchy and enjoy the show.

53:36

Marc: As always, storyandcraftpod.com, everything about the show.

53:40

Marc: Pop on by, you can follow the show.

53:43

Marc: You can, of course, check it out on your favorite podcast service platform, whatever have you?

53:50

Marc: Just remember if you would, if you don't mind, just a little, subscribe a little like a little comment five stars, if you will, or have very many stars, that'll let you give us.

53:59

Marc: That would be great. Marc: Okay, i'm going to get on out of here.

54:01

Marc: Have a great rest of your week or weekend or whatever you're up to.

54:05

Marc: I really do appreciate you stopping by and I look forward to catching you next time right here on StoryandCraft.

54:12

Announcer: That's it for this episode of StoryandCraft.

54:14

Announcer: Join Marc next week for more conversation right here on StoryandCraft.

54:19

Announcer: Storyandcraft is a presentation of Marc Preston Productions LLC.

54:24

Announcer: Executive producer is Marc Preston. Announcer: Associate producer is Zachary Holden.

54:30

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54:33

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54:40

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54:43

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54:48

Announcer: I'm Emma Dylan. Announcer: See you next time And remember, keep telling your story.