Charlie: Hey y'all, and welcome back to Southern Fried, a soul-grown podcast, the show that explores the South through its people. This week we are joined by Ellen Scrimetti. She's a comedian, she's an author, and she's an all-around good time. I had literally a blast sitting down with Ellen. before we even started, we made all the connections we could of people that we knew, mutual friends and acquaintances that we had. And then when you jump on the podcast and you you're already talking about all these people you know, we just had a great time talking about her career as a comedian her journey from not being in comedy to jumping into comedy and and talking about all that this is the second person that we've had on the show that has done comedy as a second career in life and I just think it's so fascinating getting to hear about those journeys and how they get there and of course how the South has influenced that how the South has influenced her comedy how it's influenced everything she talks about Her life experiences, where she's lived. It was just so cool to sit down and talk to her about all of it. So I hope you guys enjoy this episode with Ellen. Please go and leave us a review. Subscribe on YouTube, like this episode. It just helps the channel to grow. I know most of our listeners come from streaming platforms and honestly, guys, that's how I listen to podcasts too. But if you could just go over to YouTube, hit subscribe, and then you can just leave forever. No big deal. or you can share this with somebody. That's a huge help to help Southern Fried grow. Thank you guys for listening, and now let's get to this episode with Ellen. Hey y'all, welcome back to Southern Fried. we are joined. okay. This is embarrassing, guys. Before every episode, I always like to double check with my guests about how to say their name, just because it's helpful, even if it's like Joe Black. I want to just double check with Joe that that's how you say his name. But I'm gonna go. I'm just gonna do it. We're joined by El with Ellen Scrimetti. Yeah,
Ellen Skrmetti: That's it.
Charlie: and it's not even that hard. It's very phonetical. Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: It is. It is. And once once you get it, you got it.
Charlie: Yeah, one scrometti. What
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes.
Charlie: ha what w do you have any like pronunciations of people that have just really like screwed the pooch on it?
Ellen Skrmetti: People either just don't try or they get it right. I mean, four consonants
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: four consonants in a row
Charlie: Crazy.
Ellen Skrmetti: is crazy. But I applaud I applaud my husband's Croatian family for
Charlie: Yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: never Americanizing the name.
Charlie: What what's your maiden name?
Ellen Skrmetti: Gouldsby. So it's not
Charlie: Okay. Well
Ellen Skrmetti: like I've gone from Smith to Scrometti. I've been spelling my last name my whole life. Yeah.
Charlie: Yeah. Yeah, you have. Yeah. okay, I'm excited to talk. Full disclosure to whoever's listening to this. we've really covered a lot of bases before we even hit record today, but that's like kind of the best kind of podcast. Ellen, I I told you before I've had Sophie Hudson on, and now
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes.
Charlie: I'm having you on. The my favorite episodes I've learned. Not usually my favorite episodes are when I tell my mom or my mother-in-law who's coming on the show, they get excited. So that I'm really I'm really pumped for you to come on because my mom and my mother in law were both like, you got Ellen Scrometti.
Ellen Skrmetti: Tell them I love them right back.
Charlie: Okay. I will, I will do. You know
Ellen Skrmetti: And I think, and I think that they're great. And I love them. And I feel like I know, I think I have probably met your mother-in-law. I know that
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: I have met your aunt-in-law.
Charlie: Sure, sure. Yeah. All the in laws. Yeah, and again, we yeah, we covered as you as you listeners know, I'm an Alabama boy, but my f my wife's Mississippi roots, and so I've got so much Mississippi in me now that it's just one big happy family, you know, and so
Ellen Skrmetti: It's just a big it's just and Mississippi is a club, it's not a state. It is a club, it's not a state. I went on your
Charlie: I love it. that's a that's a good
Ellen Skrmetti: regular page. We have been raking up Ken. We could probably continue to talk until we're third cousins.
Charlie: Yeah, we could. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes. Yes, we have found so many friends that we have in common that we know. So yes.
Charlie: All right, so then let's get into it. I like to start Southern Fride by asking my guests, you know, when you get when you go to a a place in the South, people want to know who are your people? You know, who are your
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes.
Charlie: kin? Who are you related to? And I think the best way to start that is you tell us a little bit about where you're from. So let's just hit let yeah, where are you from?
Ellen Skrmetti: Okay, so I was born and raised in Ripley, Mississippi, which is on the northernmost part of the state,
Charlie: Cam.
Ellen Skrmetti: and grew up First Baptist Church Ripley, Ripley High School. I went to Northeast Community College and then went to Southern Miss, even though
Charlie: Till the top.
Ellen Skrmetti: I was even though I was born and raised a bulldog, but it was as far away from home as I could get without
Charlie: Sure.
Ellen Skrmetti: paying out of state tuition. And my parents refused to pay for MILSAPs.
Charlie: Okay, okay, sure.
Ellen Skrmetti: You like they're like, We're not paying and I like, okay, well I would like to go to MILSAPs and they're like, We're not paying for a private school. So you're
Charlie: Well and
Ellen Skrmetti: gonna go
Charlie: yeah, and it and it's it's Methodist, so as a as a first Baptist Ripley, that probably wasn't helping you either.
Ellen Skrmetti: Right, right. Although if you do ask people from people that go to Mill SAPs, they're like, We're religious. Like they don't know. Like they're not, you know, it's not like Stamford where everybody knows it's Baptist. Okay. Like
Charlie: my gosh, and do they and do they Ugh
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes. so but my husband is from South Mississippi. He's from Hattensburg, Mississippi. He went to Mississippi State.
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: And so I like to say that I was working at the purple parrot and in a sea of golden eagles in walked a bulldog.
Charlie: You knew.
Ellen Skrmetti: And there we were, and we have been together for 25 years.
Charlie: That's pretty beautiful.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes. And I tried to say that we were a house divided. And I said, well, I need to get some Southern Mist pottery to go with the Mississippi State pottery. I think the man pulled over the car and he said, Listen, we have to get something straight right now. The day you went to Southern Mist was the day you broke your father's heart. He said, You were you were born a bulldog, you were raised a bulldog. You spent two years there. It is, you are a bulldog.
Charlie: Ha ha ha
Ellen Skrmetti: You broke your family's heart. And I also remember, I don't know who was winning. It might have been during the Dan Mullen era, but my husband looked at me and he goes, I don't care if you gotta take an underwater basket weaving class. You've got to take a class at Mississippi State so you could actually be an alumna.
Charlie: I love it. Yeah. Well and we look
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah.
Charlie: we just took your cowbell before this w you know, we looked at your cowbells. You got plenty. It's you're accepted. Nobody's telling you that you can't have that, you know?
Ellen Skrmetti: Thank you. And I actually I had a good friend who in Alabama who was like, Hey, could you help me get tickets to the Mississippi State Alabama game? And
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: I said, Everyone will have to wear maroon. He was like, yeah, I'll put my daughter in maroon. I went, No. Everyone receiving a ticket must
Charlie: Is wearing it.
Ellen Skrmetti: be in maroon. And he was like, even my wife. And I was like, head to toe. I'm not asking
Charlie: Especially. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: you to not ask you to paint your face.
Charlie: And w okay, well what did he did he accept?
Ellen Skrmetti: He said, We'll try another game.
Charlie: I love it. I love it. Well, respect, dude. Yeah, if you're not gonna commit, yeah, that's fine.
Ellen Skrmetti: I mean, like
Charlie: But I and I I respect you saying that we've had a real problem recently of opposing fans coming to Davis Wade.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes. Yes.
Charlie: and so I respect it.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes. And it's just I'd I'd feel like it's okay, especially here in Alabama, because it my husband is a Jets fan. Going to see a I know it's hard. He I don't made it
Charlie: Poor him. He's a Jets fan and a Mississippi State football fan. He needs therapy. He needs something stronger than therapy. This that's not okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: He made the decision when he was a little kid and his dad told him, he said, son, you have to pick a team and you're gonna stick with it for the rest of your life. And it was during the like Jets gang green, huge defense era, is when he picked it. And so, but he has he did exactly what his dad said and stuck with it. But the easiest way for us to see a Jets game is to go watch them play the Titans.
Charlie: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: And you know, and God loved the Tennessee Titans. Like that's the easiest way for you to go. for you to go see your favorite team is to get tickets to a Titans game. So
Charlie: Yeah, they'll play in Nashville. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: if you're an Alabama fan and Alabama is doing very well, to
Charlie: Mm
Ellen Skrmetti: go watch them in an SEC matchup, it's probably easier just to try to get some tickets off somebody at Mississippi
Charlie: Go somewhere else.
Ellen Skrmetti: State. So yeah, you just have to really everyone please mind your P's and Q's, if you're giving away your tickets, make sure they know that they must wear maroon.
Charlie: Yeah, yeah. I love it. especially look, it and this Saturday, huge game for Mississippi State. we finally have hope. So if please if you give your tickets away, don't let those people be in yellow and gold. Okay?
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes, like in the like don't have yellow and gold in the student section or yep it there's a visitor
Charlie: Amen.
Ellen Skrmetti: section. That's the other thing is that there's
Charlie: I if you
Ellen Skrmetti: a
Charlie: go to this, if you're a student, don't give your buddy, well I guess I did this 1.2, but it was a mistake. Don't give your friend who's gonna wear the opposing colors a ticket. That's just you're doing it wrong.
Ellen Skrmetti: Right. And you're gonna have like this sea of maroon and then you're gonna have like black and gold for Mizzo. And then also they're gonna be miserable because you know what? We're the only people that could go to sleep to the sound of cowbells.
Charlie: You're right. You're right.
Ellen Skrmetti: If give me a Mac mac and alley. national anthem, a flyover with some cowbells and you're going tears. I'm just gonna cry.
Charlie: Will you be there this weekend?
Ellen Skrmetti: No, because I'm doing a I'm doing the Stamford Parents Breakfast. Yes.
Charlie: Let's go. A different a different kind of bulldog.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, and they called they sent me a message and they said, now Ellen, we're a dry campus. And that is with our comedy too.
Charlie: Ha ha ha ha. You know, I've always thought like performers, like music artists or comedians, I always think like, gosh, like if you're a football fan, a college football fan, like you're doing a lot of shows on Saturday nights, I feel like, and that
Ellen Skrmetti: You are.
Charlie: must be a bummer.
Ellen Skrmetti: It okay, last week was hard because I made it into the don't tell comedy competition. Amazing.
Charlie: Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: I get the call, I get the email, congratulations, and I look and it's like, well, we're playing South Carolina and
Charlie: Mm.
Ellen Skrmetti: OS is playing LSU and I'm going.
Charlie: Do I wanna do this now?
Ellen Skrmetti: But I l so I started to listen to the South Carolina game. Heads up. Do not listen
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: to the opposing teams broadcast. Like that's what was on serious. And
Charlie: Yeah. Brutal.
Ellen Skrmetti: so if you ever thought Vern Luntwist was partial, listen.
Charlie: Title.
Ellen Skrmetti: And you'll be like, Vern Lun Lundquist calls it right down the middle.
Charlie: Bring him back.
Ellen Skrmetti: I'm so sorry for hating him on Stevie.
Charlie: For all those years.
Ellen Skrmetti: Cause listening to the Mississippi State South Carolina broadcast from the South Carolina booths, you know,
Charlie: Brutal.
Ellen Skrmetti: it's like listening to Jack Crystal call a game, you know, like
Charlie: Yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: so I had to stop. Plus, we were losing. And I went, You cannot be funny if you know that your bulldogs are just laying a goose egg.
Charlie: You're sad. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: so I turned it off. I get back in the car and my husband goes, Honey, we're winning this game. And Ole Miss is up seventeen to nothing. And I'm like, So I listened to the Ole Miss LSU game on the way
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: home from Atlanta.
Charlie: Who this is okay, I I I I for some reason I've I've found a lot of controversy in the Bulldog space. Who are you rooting for in the LSU all miss game?
Ellen Skrmetti: Okay, if I must be so honest.
Charlie: Plea and please do.
Ellen Skrmetti: I wanted them both to lose.
Charlie: Amen. Amen. Amen.
Ellen Skrmetti: I did. And I respect here's I I respect people who are like, it's our state and I want our state to win. But also I have a great deal of respect for my old Miss friends that hate Mississippi State.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: I I respect it. I I am okay with it. I I I actually want it. I feel like
Charlie: I I agree.
Ellen Skrmetti: And I feel like Ole Miss feels the same way. Now, in my comedy, when I'm doing reels, people are like, I think you're doing a Ole Miss Tailgate. Number one rule of comedy, you cannot have people asking questions.
Charlie: That's not yeah, it's not part of it.
Ellen Skrmetti: So I'm not gonna do a comedy sketch and try to act like Mississippi State does a better tailgate than Ole Miss. I can't
Charlie: Sure. Yeah. Authenticity, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: yeah, I need you just to laugh with me and I need you just to be like that's us.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: Will never put a Mississippi State tailgate up against the grove. I mean, the
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: things, the things that they do, it should be celebrated and it deserves to be celebrated. And just
Charlie: That's kind.
Ellen Skrmetti: when, you know, my friend Jane did the zebra tent and they're not able to really do it anymore. Her husband's gotten older, and it's just not something they can do. And you know what? New tents have taken over. You know,
Charlie: Yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: when one queen dies, a new one emerges.
Charlie: It rises.
Ellen Skrmetti: It and and nothing in this era of of NIL has made them think, well, maybe we shouldn't do tail detects anymore.
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: You know, like they're still doing it and I love it. But I'm okay. I but then my brother, when I talked to him who graduated from Mississippi State, he goes, cannot believe that Lane Kiffin had me waking up on Sunday morning happy that Mississippi State, that old miss won.
Charlie: Yeah, people have been saying that for sure.
Ellen Skrmetti: Well, but I think it's because I found myself cheering for Ole Miss years ago when our very own pirate, when he was at Texas Tech,
Charlie: Mm.
Ellen Skrmetti: he said something ugly about Ole Miss. And so he said something ugly about
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: Ole Miss, and I was like, Well now I hope Ole Miss wins.
Charlie: You feel you feel like, you know, one time there's this old Oregon player who talked bad about the University of Alabama.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah.
Charlie: I I can't remember his name. He's like on the Giants now or something. But to me he was talking about all of us, you know, and it pissed me off.
Ellen Skrmetti: Was he talking about how like Alabama wasn't that great of a school? Yes.
Charlie: Yeah, and can we get into this? Oregon has a higher acceptance rate than Mississippi State. It's it's harder to get into MSU than Oregon. And he was talking bad about Alabama, like it was just like this school that anybody gets into. Ugh.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, I remember that because Greg Greg McElroy was like, I'm sorry, have you tried to get into the school of business at the university? It is. It
Charlie: It's hard. It's hard. Yeah. Thanks, Greg.
Ellen Skrmetti: is. And so because I mean he was like, I I toured every school and he was from Texas. And he was like, I also wanted a great education.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: And so that is part of the reason why I chose Alabama what
Charlie: Alabama.
Ellen Skrmetti: was because I could get a great education and play really great football. And there's also just the whole like big brother, little sister thing, not from a standpoint that we're theirs, but from the standpoint of like my brother could beat me up.
Charlie: Yeah, okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: And my my brother could call me names and do whatever he wanted to. But the second you do it, uh-uh, that's my sister. So
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: we we can hate each other and that's fine. But you
Charlie: Sure. I g I
Ellen Skrmetti: You don't say we've got saying bad stuff about on this covered. You don't have to do that. You respect your opponent.
Charlie: It for sure. I can guarantee you. I can guarantee you I've said some bad things about Ole Miss. And I will continue. And I like you said
Ellen Skrmetti: And I would just like to make it clear that they've said bad stuff about us and
Charlie: Yeah. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: we're okay with it.
Charlie: Well, and that's you said, look, I was thinking about this the other day. A rivalry? I never want the other school to like me. I'm never doing anything
Ellen Skrmetti: Money.
Charlie: to impress the University of Mississippi. I I hate them and I want them to hate me. That's part of it.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes. And like it's fine. And if when we were like doing well and people would be like, hey, I just want you to know that I'm an old Miss fan and I'm cheering for you. And I'm like, quit it.
Charlie: Don't it's not your role.
Ellen Skrmetti: Your your bad grigree that you're putting into the world is what's fueling our win.
Charlie: Yes. Yes. You have to have haters. You have to have them.
Ellen Skrmetti: If you don't have them, you're not doing it right.
Charlie: You're not doing it right. Amen. I couldn't agree more. I couldn't agree
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah.
Charlie: more. You you also said something earlier that we kind of glossed over, but I made a note of it, because we I we can't let this we can't move past this. It's it was maybe the most southern thing I've ever heard. I wanted to be a house divided. We I had Mississippi State pottery. I wanted some Southern Miss pottery. I mean, if that's not the most like southern thing you've ever heard.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes, like I went to Southern Miss and so I was like, well, we need some black and gold pottery. And but my husband stopped the car and was like, listen,
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: we're not a house divided. We're a house united. You
Charlie: Mm.
Ellen Skrmetti: you went to Southern Miss. And when you went to Southern Miss, you broke your father's heart. You broke your
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: family's heart. And that is where your degree is from. But you were born a bulldog. You were raised a bulldog. You just forgot who you were for two years. And you're a bulldog. And I was like,
Charlie: And and we're yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: you know what? You're right.
Charlie: And we're gonna get some marinant white pottery to go next to the McCarty.
Ellen Skrmetti: Every yeah, it and so it really I kind of needed that. I kind of needed him to just declare, you are a bulldog.
Charlie: Yeah. Well and and it f he went there, so th y he's given you that, you know?
Ellen Skrmetti: He went there, he had he was like, I have two degrees, one is yours.
Charlie: that's marriage right there, right, Ellen? That's marriage.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, yeah. He said, I got a double major. Which one do you want? Do you want the marketing or the management?
Charlie: Well, what an overachiever. But you you before comedy, before all this, you also were
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah.
Charlie: in marketing, right?
Ellen Skrmetti: yeah. I was in sales forever. I started, if you're in Mississippi, I helped start VIP Jackson magazine. And I was there,
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: I was the advertising sales manager, and then that got shut down. I was the community outreach something at the CBS station in Jackson. And
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: then when all the do not competes were up with VIP because Clary and Ledger bought it out.
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: Lee, who started it, who she now owns Mississippi magazine, she started Social South. And so I came back and we did Social South. And I worked there forever. And then my husband got a job offer to transfer to Nashville. And we lived in Nashville for a year, where I got to
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: work at In Focus, which was like the mothership of social magazines and
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: the Nash and the Nashville scene, which is like they're alt weekly. And so I got to work there for a year. I actually got to sell advertising space into the Titans Game Day guide, which was so fun.
Charlie: That is so cool.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah. So I got to sell all kinds of like really cool stuff in Nashville, got to meet all kinds of people. And so I feel like I only lived there a year, but it
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: really felt like home because I was just getting to meet all these business owners and just everybody that I worked with were all still friends. And then after a year, we joked that Jackson was too little. Nashville was too big, but Birmingham's just right. So
Charlie: Boom.
Ellen Skrmetti: we moved to Birmingham like ten years ago. Yeah. Been there been here since. Yeah.
Charlie: Okay, and and been there since. Are you at a point where Birmingham like you you know, we start with where are you from? 'Cause I like to see what people
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah.
Charlie: say. Like, do you ever say Birmingham now? Like are you like that's my home, Birmingham's home?
Ellen Skrmetti: yeah, like when we travel and people say, like, where are you from? I say Birmingham.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, because I'm like, that's where we're settled. And truly, post-COVID, when everybody went remote, Tim and I realized, like, wait a minute, we could actually live anywhere because his he has a remote job. I'm obviously remote. And
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: we were like, wait, we can live anywhere. We really like Birmingham and we So we live here on purpose. Like we moved here on purpose. We just were like, hey, let's just kind of see what happens if we can get jobs here. And we did.
Charlie: Yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: And we've just we've just really brick by brick have built a life here in Birmingham and we love it.
Charlie: As you're doing like sales and marketing and you know, Jackson and Nashville down to Birmingham, did you know you were funny then?
Ellen Skrmetti: I did. I did. I was making I was making my customers laugh. I was in Jackson. A lot of my customers, like I would leave funny voicemails to remind them that they need to turn in their advertising. Like
Charlie: Okay. I love it.
Ellen Skrmetti: Real Housewives of New York was really big. So I would call as Jill Zaren.
Charlie: Okay, okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: And I would call and do my Jill Zaren impression and offer them a discount at Zaren Fabrics if they got their discount, if they got their ad materials in on time.
Charlie: I love it.
Ellen Skrmetti: And even like one of my customers, Dana at Village Boutique, had me call her rep at Northside Sun and leave her a message.
Charlie: That's awesome. that's awesome. do you think there should be a real Housewives of Jackson? You don't want people to enter that world.
Ellen Skrmetti: It just We already we we know, because we already like try to do mistletoe and there's always a fight.
Charlie: Okay. That's enough. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: I can't tell you how many times I am sitting here minding my own business in Jefferson County, Alabama, and I get sent a reel of two women fighting at mistletoe.
Charlie: Yeah. Yeah. And you can laugh at it, but people from anywhere else they can't, right? You know what mean? Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah. And it'll just it'll tear the city apart because it's truly it's not big enough. So whoever they pick won't be the right people. To whoever gets picked.
Charlie: Sure, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: And so whoever gets picked, the people who didn't get picked are
Charlie: Like
Ellen Skrmetti: just gonna be like, Well, everybody knows her husband's doing these. Like
Charlie: Yeah, I get it. I get it.
Ellen Skrmetti: it just I mean, Dallas was very barely big enough, you know?
Charlie: Sure, sure.
Ellen Skrmetti: So no, no. It just need
Charlie: No Jackson, no.
Ellen Skrmetti: to continue to just just can and here's the thing too. I'll I'll tell you this. Mistletoe Marketplace is famous in every market I go to.
Charlie: really?
Ellen Skrmetti: And so I left the junior league with one year left. I had done my provisional year and all my years I had one year left before I could go to Stainer. I didn't want to join in Nashville because I just wanted to get my feet wet. And just and then was like, okay, well, maybe next year I'll do it.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: We moved to Birmingham. Birmingham is a 10-year commitment as opposed to Jackson's three-year commitment. But I met some ladies who were doing market Noel or whatever they
Charlie: Mm.
Ellen Skrmetti: do in Birmingham. And they're like, my gosh, you did junior league of Jackson. What do you know mistletoe? I like, I was science chair. and they were like, Well, you tell us everything. And I was like, Yeah, if I can, if you can shorten it to one year from three. And they were like, no. They're like, you have to do basically another provisional year, then your three years, and then you can be sustainer. And I was like, well, then I'll just keep all my information in my head.
Charlie: And it's still there.
Ellen Skrmetti: It's still here.
Charlie: It's that's awesome.
Ellen Skrmetti: And my girlfriend Lauren said, You would never this is so ugly. So I'm gonna whisper it. My girlfriend Lauren, who also moved to Birmingham and she was in Junior League of Jackson with me, she moved to Birmingham and she said, Ellen, their food at their meetings is from the grocery store and they serve it on plastic. And I was like, Kill me now.
Charlie: Gotta I gotta say that's the most Jackson thing I've ever heard.
Ellen Skrmetti: Well, because we had a committee and all we did was we got the food together for the meetings. And that was one
Charlie: For lunch. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: of my placements. And everything came from Southern sideboards or come on in recipe books.
Charlie: Okay. I love that. And sir served
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah. So like
Charlie: on China.
Ellen Skrmetti: Or Peter's pottery or McCarty pottery. I mean, like you were like,
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: there's a there's a cat, there's a closet at the junior league house that
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: has the serving pieces. And so the serving pieces would be set out and it all matched.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: I mean, these are old Miss Tailgators who have grown up, moved to Jackson and are run in the junior league. And the best
Charlie: Sure. So it's work
Ellen Skrmetti: and the brightest from Mississippi State.
Charlie: Amen.
Ellen Skrmetti: And Mill Saps and all the other places. The my
Charlie: With.
Ellen Skrmetti: Greatest memory of a junior league meeting was when I looked around and we all had our sunglasses on the top of our head. It's like it was the ja it was the headband. I mean, I did it too. I'm not I'm not making fun.
Charlie: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: But like I did I looked around and I was like, We could solve hunger if we all sold our sunglasses.
Charlie: Ha ha ha. I love that. That's just
Ellen Skrmetti: If we
Charlie: it's so perfect, you know?
Ellen Skrmetti: And yeah, and one time I was I needed to be on the end because I was just there with my girlfriend who I'd gotten her group together and I had to go to this meeting where it was like to learn if you wanted to be in the junior league.
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: But it was also the season premiere of Real Housewives of Orange County. I told this girl to scooch. I said, I'm gonna need you to scooch down because I need to be on the end. And my friend is laughing and she goes, Do you know do you know who that is? And I was like, Does she know who I am? We're all at the same stupid meeting.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: You know, and she was like, that's so-and-so, and her daddy's so-and-so. And I was like, well, I'm so-and-so, and I gotta get to Real Housewives of Orange Valley.
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: And I'm gonna need you to scooch.
Charlie: Did she scooch?
Ellen Skrmetti: She scooched. Yeah.
Charlie: Come on, come on.
Ellen Skrmetti: But I just thought it was funny that she thought that it was crazy that I would ask so and so's daughter to scooch.
Charlie: I love it. Hey Southern Fried listeners, just want to jump in real quick and say thank y'all so much for listening to this episode. Sitting down with Ellen was, like I've said a billion times already, a blast, and I hope y'all are enjoying the conversation as well. Getting to learn about her life and how she got into comedy and how it was kind of a leap of faith for her was such an interesting story to tell. I hope you guys will consider liking and subscribing and sharing this with somebody. It helps us grow. I know I say it every episode. But it really does. It's such a huge help when y'all do that and y'all share it with somebody. It just helps Southern Fried continue to build an audience. But thank you guys so much for listening. It's a huge help. I can't wait For Southern Fry to continue to grow. Y'all know we are in over a year of putting out Southern Fried. And so that's just so incredible to think about. The journey that we've been on, the guests that we've had. And I hope that it just continues to grow. All right. Now let's get back to this episode with Ellen. alright, so clearly comedy has been a part of you for a while.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes.
Charlie: I mean, we're laughing right now. She needed to scooch. I'm sure that was a good time too. But you you like getting into the comedy world was kind of was later in life, like really pursuing it as a career. Did it start with Second City, was that when you were like you like committed to Second City or did you do some some funny stuff before that?
Ellen Skrmetti: So I had taken a comedy class pre-COVID. I was like 41 years old. I'm 49 now. I took a comedy class in Birmingham. And I
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: got my first five minutes on stage the Thursday before Alabama shut down for COVID. And I was was like, okay, my career's over. But what happened is Second City had to keep their doors open. They had only been, you had to go to Chicago to take classes. There were no online classes.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: But during COVID, they had to keep their doors open. So I started taking comedy classes online,
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: as many as I could during the shutdown. And they they gave me the confidence and they were like, Your stories are good. Let's just figure out how to shape them to tell the story. And like
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: let's just put in some like common comedy terms of like A B3 and let's do some different, let's just do some things here. And like they really helped me figure out how to shape the stories and tell the stories so that they could be funny. And then one day my comedy teachers and I are all still friends, and I'm still friends with people in my comedy classes.
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: But one day I logged on early. And my comedy teacher said, listen, we're getting so many new students who they have built up an audience during comp during COVID. And now things are starting to open and they don't have an act. So now they're taking comedy classes and working it backwards and getting an act for the comedy classes.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: So she was like, guys, when you get your shot at a comedy club, you're gonna be so ready. And I was like, no one is gonna give a 40-year-old mom a shot. And like one of the rules of comedy too is you gotta have people have to like to be wanting to laugh and ready to laugh. And I'm like, these sweet 20-year-olds coming into a comedy club for like open mic night are not
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: wanting to hear about stuff with my kids. And
Charlie: Sure.
Ellen Skrmetti: so I was like, okay, this is the only way to do it. I'm gonna have to start doing reels to like find my crazy people and then
Charlie: Sure.
Ellen Skrmetti: I can start doing shows. So I started doing the reels to build my audience. So that way I was like, okay, they can come and see me in clubs. So
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: I that's that's how we did it.
Charlie: I love it. And and now I mean now you're in clubs. Now you've you know now you're an author. I mean you really is it crazy?
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, hold on.
Charlie: You got it? What a Cadywampus.
Ellen Skrmetti: Patty Wampus, a Southern Woman's God to Laughing When Life Goes Sideways, comes out in November. I feel like Catty Wampus is the most southern word, and it just really describes this time of life because I mean, I have a girlfriend with a newborn. I just got a baby shower gift from my other girlfriend that's about to be a grandmother, and I'm still doing carpool.
Charlie: Yeah, yeah. Ever yeah, that's so true.
Ellen Skrmetti: It's I I'm nowhere near. I mean, my daughter is a junior in high school. So, you know, Lord willing, I'm nowhere near being a grandmother. I'm nowhere near planning a wedding.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: And then, you know, now I'm at the age two, we're like we're starting to go to our grand our our parents' doctors' appointments. It's just a really weird time of life.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: So I just felt like Caddy Wampus was the perfect, was the perfect name. So it is weird to have all this going on.
Charlie: But I mean, the but you're like a full fledged like you're you you know, you open you headline clubs and you're going places. Does that
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah.
Charlie: like at forty years old, you know, you decided to do it at forty. Like were you like, God, I can't do this? Or were you like, I'm hitting this full steam ahead, let's like let's see what happens.
Ellen Skrmetti: I mean, Charlie, I'll be honest with you. Everything that is happening, it's everything I've prayed for. So
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: if it is unbelievable if you take out the God factor. Okay. If you're doing it yourself, if you're trying to do it all on your own, then yeah, it's pretty unbelievable. When you factor in God and you factor in praying for it, and that go that comes into play, then you're like, yeah, seems pretty reasonable.
Charlie: that's awesome.
Ellen Skrmetti: You know because when I started my reels, I would pray that the Lord would just send the right people. because as we know from our dear Justin Bieber, who was discovered on YouTube by Usher. Mm-hmm.
Charlie: I never would have expected a a Jesus analogy to bring in Justin Bieber, but I'm
Ellen Skrmetti: Well, here we are. Here we are.
Charlie: Never say never.
Ellen Skrmetti: I was like, dear Lord, send me my Justin Bieber. Send
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: me send me my just send me my usher.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: Make me your Justin Bieber and send me your usher. And so one day I did one of my Hey Jesus reels. It
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: made a lady laugh in Texas who sent it to her sister. Her sister is the book agent for T D Jakes, Joel Olstein, Maria Schriver. Ann Nielsen, Ann Nielsen's Angels, all Dr. Phil. I can't tell you how many times my meetings get pushed back for Dr. Phil.
Charlie: Yeah, d he gets priority, you know.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, especially when he was doing his network. I mean it'll be like Ellen, we're gonna have to push this back fifteen minutes. She's on with And I'm like, who it and they're and I'm like, that's fine. so so you know, that's the Lord. And so we get the first book deal. Who without her, I mean, I got to go pitch my book to all the big four publishers. And then my publisher at Hashette National went to old miss.
Charlie: that yeah, how about that? And I'm
Ellen Skrmetti: Ki.
Charlie: sure y'all knew people.
Ellen Skrmetti: raked up Ken in the meeting because she grew
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: up on the coast and so she grew up with the Luke family. And so she was like, Do you know Gretchen Luke? And I'm like, Yeah, we were in the junior league together. I love Gretchen. And
Charlie: It's awesome.
Ellen Skrmetti: 'cause Gretchen is Matt Coach Matt Luke's sister.
Charlie: Okay, that Luke family.
Ellen Skrmetti: That Luke family. And so you know, we're just raking up Ken. And so she's watching my stuff and she read my book proposal and she goes, This is it. Like this is how you're not, you're not peppering it. Like this is just this is how we talk and this is how we act. And so she really got it. Whereas
Charlie: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: you like book book editors in New York were like, Is this funny? Yeah. Yeah.
Charlie: Said why?
Ellen Skrmetti: And so then after I wrote the book. My agent was like, Hey, you gotta get on the road now. We gotta, you gotta go do your stand up. And so then I called Bruce at the stardome.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: And I was like, Hey, I know you don't know me and I know this sounds crazy, but can I come do a show? And he was like, Yeah,
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: you can. He goes, I have a small room and you can rent it for $500. And I paid him $250. And he goes, And if you sell it, you know, at the end, we'll settle up. Either you'll owe me $250 more dollars if you don't sell any tickets. Or I'll give you what's left over. And we sold tickets for $10. And
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: I sold out four shows. It was an 80-seat room. I saw it, but I had never, I didn't know, I didn't know how a show worked. I did 90 minutes. I didn't I was supposed to have an opener. So I did four 90-minute shows.
Charlie: Nine give me shows.
Ellen Skrmetti: I couldn't walk for a week.
Charlie: Yeah, you're I mean that's impressive
Ellen Skrmetti: But then Bruce calls the
Charlie: though.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah. And Bruce calls the people at Zany's and was like, hey, y'all should book her. And so then they booked me into the room in Huntsville. And then they booked me into a room. They booked me at Zany's. And then he called people in Atlanta and they're like, you need a booker. And then he was having dinner with this guy who goes, Who's this Ellen Scrimety like selling tickets on a weekday? And he was like, she needs a manager. So that's how I got my first manager. And so
Charlie: Wow. You did all of that, the book publishing, the the setting of the start of that was all on your own.
Ellen Skrmetti: Jesus Jesus
Charlie: That is so awesome. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: It's me and the Lord. It's it's me and the Lord just light in the steps, you know?
Charlie: Ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: And so then one day I have loved Zarna Garg forever. She is an Indian mom. She has like two million followers. She's the lady on the JCPenney commercials.
Charlie: Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: She sends me a DM. Ellen, you're so funny. You've got to keep doing it. So we talk. And so we're just very much love each other. She had me, I went and opened for her last Christmas. She had a show in Chicago
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: and her regular opener just like needed a break. and so I opened for her and then I messaged her because I got an offer to do content from Zaxby's, which they passed. But anyway, I messaged her sister and I was like, I messaged her daughter. I was like, Zoya, how much should I charge? And she was like, look, if you want to work with Zoya, you can, but you need her, you need a manager. And I was like, well, I have one. And she was like, okay. So she called her manager in New York and was like, Adam, you need to sign my friend. And so now I have my management. I'm with Three Arts in New York. And and I called Chris and I said, Chris, Three Arts wants to sign me. And he goes, Is it, has this name come up? And I said, Yeah, he works with him. And he was his assistant and his whatever. And it's part of that group. And he goes, I can't hold you back.
Charlie: that's so cool.
Ellen Skrmetti: You know, and I was like, okay, well, I wasn't, I said, you know, I wasn't calling to tell you I'm leaving you. I'm I was calling you to say, what do I do? And he goes,
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: if those, he goes, Ellen, if those guys want you, you have to go.
Charlie: Wow. That is really cool.
Ellen Skrmetti: Which was really great. And so everything has just been like, but I have been praying for the past year. Heather Thompson Day said, pray for it once and then start thanking the Lord for it. You know. And so I would just wake up every day and I say, Dear Lord, thank you for whatever it is that you're doing behind the scenes that are gonna just gonna move my career forward.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: Like, and so I just wake up every day and I just thank the Lord for whatever it is that's happening that I don't see that's like moving it forward. So, yeah.
Charlie: Yeah. You know, like talking to you and knowing like obviously, like do you think Hey Jesus is probably your biggest, like that's how a lot of people know from your reality you are. But I I think what's cool is like talking to you about your journey is like obviously all that's satirical. Like a lot of it's y it's a joke, it's comedy, but it's not it's all authentic. Like you still Like it's who you are. It wasn't like you were like, people in the South you know, we say Jesus, so I'll use it. It's like that really is who you are. And so that authenticity I think really like bleeds into your comedy. I think that's it's so cool listening you talk about how really like your faith does it is important to your life. You know, I think that's so
Ellen Skrmetti: It's
Charlie: fa awesome.
Ellen Skrmetti: it's so important and it hurts my feelings so much. The algorithm, and I've just been trying to figure out like the algorithm, you have to hook people in three seconds. And so when I start a reel with, hey Jesus, it's me, people are like, I know what this is going to be. And then they click, and then so then they stop putting it out.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: You know? And so now the trick is I'm trying to figure out. How do I keep Hey Jesus? It's me going, but like, what do I need to do different? Because what I love about Hey Jesus, and the whole thing behind Hey Jesus, was that you talk to Jesus about everything. You don't just take him the big stuff. You take him everything. You take him, you know, he does want to laugh with you. He wants to cry with you and he wants to laugh with you and he wants to do everything. And so that was the whole message behind Hey Jesus, it's me. Like it was not ever to be sacrilegious and make fun of talking to Jesus. It was
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: about that he wants to laugh with you and he wants the big stuff and the small stuff. and so and it came that my first Hey Jesus was so authentic because I really did just say the very first one was I had this fictional co-worker, Kevin, and I just said, Hey Jesus, it's me. Is praying for Kevin to get a tapeworm, is that too big or not enough? Is that should I pay pray a bolder prayer than for him to get a tapeworm? And then I call him back and I'm like, well, if I can't pray for him to get a tapeworm, can I pray for me to get a tapeworm so I can lose some weight?
Charlie: Love that.
Ellen Skrmetti: I I don't wanna I don't wanna I don't wanna swallow the tapeworm. I just would maybe want it to just be hidden in my taco.
Charlie: Just a little losing wake.
Ellen Skrmetti: So, you know, that's how it came. And so my hope is that, you know, my my shows there's not an altar call. I mean, I I joke about how I had to dress as Ruth one year for Christmas because we did a fall festival for Jesus, because it was like the first year the Baptist had to come to terms because it fell on a Wednesday.
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: And for all these years, the Baptists had just ignored Halloween and then all of a sudden it
Charlie: Uh-huh.
Ellen Skrmetti: fell on a Wednesday. And it was like, what do we do? And they're like, we're gonna have a fall festival for Jesus. So long
Charlie: Fall festival. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: before there was a trunk or treat, okay,
Charlie: Mm-hmm.
Ellen Skrmetti: the Gen Xers and the and the elder millennials, okay, we were going dressed like Mary in Bathsheba.
Charlie: wow, that's risque.
Ellen Skrmetti: Okay, we were we were and our and our brothers were going dressed like in sh bed sheets with a stuffed lion, you know? And
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: no papa had a cane. Cause we c took everybody we took every papa's wooden cane to be our whatever. And
Charlie: huh. Yep.
Ellen Skrmetti: so, you know, I get up and I joke about that and I joke about how I had to be Ruth and my mom took a broom and that was my wheat.
Charlie: It's great. I I just I love that like, yeah, all of that that you talk about, it really feels so authentic. You know, it's like you're not forcing anything.
Ellen Skrmetti: N thank you. Thank you. Because I want people when they say I feel like I know you, I'm like, Well, you really, you know, you do. I mean, I may like frank
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: up the accent a little bit, but like these are all real. Like I can't help like my my agent, book agent said, Well, you know, nonfiction's in the tank. And I'm like, I can't help it's real. I can't
Charlie: Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome.
Ellen Skrmetti: Can't that's not my problem. I can't help that all these stories happened to me. Like my mother really did throw a Christmas tree out the back door 'cause the Christmas tree kept falling down.
Charlie: She was just tired of it. Well,
Ellen Skrmetti: It did. Yeah.
Charlie: Ellen, I've I've loved talking. like
Ellen Skrmetti: Thank you.
Charlie: I've just had a blast and I I like to end Southern fried conversations with just a quick survey I call the Southern Fried survey to really see how Southern fried you are. Is that all right?
Ellen Skrmetti: Okay. Okay. Let's do it.
Charlie: Okay, so first one I th I already know the answer, but I'm gonna ask because it's it's a question I like. Favorite Southern word or phrase?
Ellen Skrmetti: Fix into.
Charlie: Ooh, over caddy wampus.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes, I mean I love Cadywampus. But I mean that's it's a great one. But I mean
Charlie: Love fixing too.
Ellen Skrmetti: six and two, about two. Go get round to it.
Charlie: The anything anything to or it is just we're we're knocking it out of the park.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, I mean I was fixing too you were not, you know.
Charlie: Yeah, man, I've said that once or twice.
Ellen Skrmetti: Nothing nobody was less bout to than somebody that says they're fixing to.
Charlie: Fix it too. for you, how sweet is too sweet? And we're talking tea.
Ellen Skrmetti: See, I mean, if the spoon can stand up in the middle
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: of the thing, in
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: the middle of the glass, it might be too sweet. Yeah.
Charlie: That's we we've crossed the line, but if there's any lean, you you should drink it.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah. Yeah.
Charlie: do you have a favorite fellow southerner?
Ellen Skrmetti: my favorite southerner, okay, Suzanne Schulerbaker.
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: I'm just gonna have to name somebody not real.
Charlie: Suzanne Sugar Baker, she is you know, she owns the bakery down the street.
Ellen Skrmetti: Well, she's from Design and Women. How southern are you?
Charlie: Wait, I thought you just said you were naming somebody not real.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, Suzanne Sugarbaker from Southern Women. I mean from Design and Women.
Charlie: What is d I I'm not I'm not a w a woman though.
Ellen Skrmetti: Charlie.
Charlie: Are you about to take my card my southern card? you you're throwing up.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah. Charlie Designing
Charlie: So we're
Ellen Skrmetti: women? Suzanne and Julia Silverbaker. And that
Charlie: Feel like
Ellen Skrmetti: is the night that the lights went out in Georgia. They had a pig, she had a pig, no ale.
Charlie: I don't know what we're talking about anymore. I feel like I'm having a f I
Ellen Skrmetti: What is nylon? What is n alone?
Charlie: feel like I'm having a fever dream with whatever's happening right now.
Ellen Skrmetti: Charlie, I'm gonna get on the phone with your mother. You don't know about the show Designing Women.
Charlie: Don't
Ellen Skrmetti: It took place in Atlanta.
Charlie: I'm like Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: Julia Sugar Baker is a decorator. Her sister, Suzanne, was played by Delta Burke.
Charlie: Okay. It's a
Ellen Skrmetti: The wife of Gerald McRaey, Ole Miss graduate. I can still remember being at Ole Miss at cheerleading camp at Ole Miss, and he was major dad. And he is sitting there and God love him. He is just at his alma mater, living his dream, living his best life. And
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: he did not know that he was sitting in the union or the cafeteria or whatever. Just sitting there and all of a sudden every little cheerleader sees Major Dad and we swarm that poor man. And he
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: just took pictures. He took pictures with every single one of us.
Charlie: How about that?
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, but so Suzanne Sugar Baker is my favorite.
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: Charlene, I mean, Gene Smart played the secretary, Annie Potts.
Charlie: I Jean Smart.
Ellen Skrmetti: Not like I do.
Charlie: I'll okay. I'll I'll I will look it up the moment we end this call.
Ellen Skrmetti: I mean, do you know about Steel Magnolius? Have you seen that movie?
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: Adult Yeah, like when you did not know.
Charlie: I've never heard of designing women.
Ellen Skrmetti: Sophie Hudson and I are gonna have we're gonna rescue you, we're gonna kidnap you, and Sophie Hudson
Charlie: Yeah, I need a watch party or something.
Ellen Skrmetti: and I are gonna make you watch Designing Women and
Charlie: Okay, I'm s and I've I do feel like I've let y'all down. And it's hard to admit. What if we and
Ellen Skrmetti: be like you not it would be like me not knowing Magnum PI.
Charlie: It's on the same level as that.
Ellen Skrmetti: Southern women quote it all the time. Your mother is going to be so mad at you. And so is your mother in law.
Charlie: I'll go you know, I actually r I record I record in my mom's guest house, so I will go ask her after this.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes, and she's gonna be like, and that is the night that the lights went out in Georgia. Because a a girl was talking
Charlie: I love I do love this
Ellen Skrmetti: about Suzanne being overweight, was talking about Suzanne like she's gain weight or whatever, and she was like, Let me tell you about the time my sister took her baton at the Miss Georgia pageant. And
Charlie: I can't.
Ellen Skrmetti: she just and then it took the lights, and then she goes, and that is the night that the lights went out in Georgia. And then they were having dinner and this guy, Ray Don, came over and Julia is like, Ray Don, let me tell you, Ray Dawn, thank you. But women can have dinner alone, Ray Don. And then he ended up like trying to like book them. And they're like, that is who you cussed out in spirit.
Charlie: I'll I'll have to I'll I'll I'll do my research and I I do wanna say I'm sorry.
Ellen Skrmetti: It's okay. You're gonna have to cut all this out of the
Charlie: I th I think most of this will stay. All right. Let me let me ask you two more and then I'll let you go 'cause 'cause we have been chit chatting for I mean, I've taken so much of your time today. As a southern comedian, do you have a favorite comedy club in the South?
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes.
Charlie: Are you at are you willing to say? And it's okay if not.
Ellen Skrmetti: No, I do love the punchline in Atlanta, is really special because Jamie, who opens for me, co-owns it with my very first manager. And I still go there, even though he's not my manager. And,
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: you know, Marcy, who is the general manager, I just I love them. It seats, you know, it seats 200 people the way it's set up. It's so great.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: so the punchline in Atlanta is very, is very special. And I also Love hyenas in Dallas.
Charlie: Okay. Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: Because it's just right there at the rich part. It's like across from SMU's campus. And they put
Charlie: I bet that
Ellen Skrmetti: you in just such a nice hotel.
Charlie: That's not yeah, that rolls.
Ellen Skrmetti: And you're just, you know, and all of those ladies are just there. And I'd like I did two years ago, I did a show there and it was the final cold snap. And I was like, y'all are welcome for giving y'all like one last chance to wear your furs.
Charlie: That's good. yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: You know, and it's just I love And and like one year some ladies they wouldn't let bring it in, but they had ordered a sugarese caramel cake from New Albany, Mississippi. And I know this because I had to go to the restroom while my opener was on. I had to go to the restroom and they're at the bar with their forks.
Charlie: In it
Ellen Skrmetti: And I'm like, what are y'all doing? They're like, we brought this cake and they wouldn't let us bring this bring it in. They're like, but we brought this caramel cake to share with everybody around us during your show. Is that not the best?
Charlie: that's awesome. That's awesome. all right, then all right, great answers. And then last question I'll ask you. I ask every guest who's been on Southern Friday if we switch roles and you were hosting Southern Friday and you had to get somebody, who do you think should be on Southern Friday?
Ellen Skrmetti: Hugh Hauser. Hugh
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: Hauser, he is a comedian in Nashville, but also he is a wedding planner. If you saw the wedding where the owners of the Titans got married at Titan Stadium, the owner's
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: daughter, Hugh did that wedding. Hugh did
Charlie: Okay. I bet he's got some good stories.
Ellen Skrmetti: Lainey Wilson, her wedding was just in vogue. Hugh did it. He is he is best friends with Leanne Morgan. They have been best friends for like 20 years.
Charlie: Flex.
Ellen Skrmetti: And so, but he is the most genuine, amazing. He is just the funnest human on the entire in the entire world. And I I take it as a huge compliment that he did a show with my friend Jen Fulweiler in Austin. And she goes, He's like the male version of you. And I went, Well, kill me now. That's the greatest compliment ever.
Charlie: Thank you.
Ellen Skrmetti: And I was like, Yeah. I was like, if I were, if God had made me a boy, that's what I'd be.
Charlie: Love it.
Ellen Skrmetti: But he but he's he he was born and raised in Nashville. And I'm also so Mississippi that his sister, I was doing a show with him and his sister came in and goes, This is sister. Well, I mean, it's very Mississippi to just call someone sister.
Charlie: Uh-huh.
Ellen Skrmetti: And so I said, a sister, is that your Christian name? Is that is that what I call you? And she was like, No, he just meant that I'm a sister.
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: And she looked, he was like, You were so Mississippi that you would think that my sister's name was sister. Cause
Charlie: Yeah, we're just related.
Ellen Skrmetti: I was like, Do I call you sister? And she's like, No, I'm just the sister. I was like,
Charlie: Ha ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: Well, we had a sister that would sing in Jackson. I can still picture her. We were at a some luncheon at the country club, and sister is singing, You're a grand old flag. You're a
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: grand old flag. And I'm like, and
Charlie: And now it's just yeah, it's just her name.
Ellen Skrmetti: We just call pe we just call people's sister in Mississippi. So anyway, you would love him. He is precious. He is
Charlie: Great answer. Ellen, thank you for joining me. This was so fun. Like I told you, if my mom or my mother in law thinks the guest is gonna be good, I usually feel really great. And so far they're bad in a thousand.
Ellen Skrmetti: Thank you. Thank you. I had the best time with you. Little worried about you and designing women. Go watch it and
Charlie: Yeah, I'll look it up and my mom will be mad with me.
Ellen Skrmetti: you're gonna love it. You're gonna love it. Anthony, there's a pig. I mean, it's got everything.
Charlie: All right. Well thank you, Ellen.
Ellen Skrmetti: Thank you.
Charlie: Well, that concludes this episode of Southern Friday. I want to tell you guys, I got finished with this episode. I went to my mother and I said, Tell me about designing women. And she, of course, said, and that was a night the lights went out in Georgia. So I blame her a little bit if she's listening to this for not showing it to me before that. But also that's on me. Okay? I gotta take accountability. My bad, Ellen. for not knowing designing women, I I failed. You know, I failed there as a southerner. But I will watch it and I I saw clips already. anyways, thank y'all for listening. Go subscribe, like, share this with somebody. go buy a ticket to one of Ellen's shows coming up, support her. she is so funny. Go follow her if you don't already. I'm sure you do, because it's Ellen Scribetti and she rocks. but if you don't already, go follow her, go show her some support. Thank you all for listening to Southern Fried, a soul grown podcast as we continue to explore the South through its people. And as always, y'all come on back.
Ellen Skrmetti: That's it.
Charlie: and it's not even that hard. It's very phonetical. Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: It is. It is. And once once you get it, you got it.
Charlie: Yeah, one scrometti. What
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes.
Charlie: ha what w do you have any like pronunciations of people that have just really like screwed the pooch on it?
Ellen Skrmetti: People either just don't try or they get it right. I mean, four consonants
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: four consonants in a row
Charlie: Crazy.
Ellen Skrmetti: is crazy. But I applaud I applaud my husband's Croatian family for
Charlie: Yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: never Americanizing the name.
Charlie: What what's your maiden name?
Ellen Skrmetti: Gouldsby. So it's not
Charlie: Okay. Well
Ellen Skrmetti: like I've gone from Smith to Scrometti. I've been spelling my last name my whole life. Yeah.
Charlie: Yeah. Yeah, you have. Yeah. okay, I'm excited to talk. Full disclosure to whoever's listening to this. we've really covered a lot of bases before we even hit record today, but that's like kind of the best kind of podcast. Ellen, I I told you before I've had Sophie Hudson on, and now
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes.
Charlie: I'm having you on. The my favorite episodes I've learned. Not usually my favorite episodes are when I tell my mom or my mother-in-law who's coming on the show, they get excited. So that I'm really I'm really pumped for you to come on because my mom and my mother in law were both like, you got Ellen Scrometti.
Ellen Skrmetti: Tell them I love them right back.
Charlie: Okay. I will, I will do. You know
Ellen Skrmetti: And I think, and I think that they're great. And I love them. And I feel like I know, I think I have probably met your mother-in-law. I know that
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: I have met your aunt-in-law.
Charlie: Sure, sure. Yeah. All the in laws. Yeah, and again, we yeah, we covered as you as you listeners know, I'm an Alabama boy, but my f my wife's Mississippi roots, and so I've got so much Mississippi in me now that it's just one big happy family, you know, and so
Ellen Skrmetti: It's just a big it's just and Mississippi is a club, it's not a state. It is a club, it's not a state. I went on your
Charlie: I love it. that's a that's a good
Ellen Skrmetti: regular page. We have been raking up Ken. We could probably continue to talk until we're third cousins.
Charlie: Yeah, we could. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes. Yes, we have found so many friends that we have in common that we know. So yes.
Charlie: All right, so then let's get into it. I like to start Southern Fride by asking my guests, you know, when you get when you go to a a place in the South, people want to know who are your people? You know, who are your
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes.
Charlie: kin? Who are you related to? And I think the best way to start that is you tell us a little bit about where you're from. So let's just hit let yeah, where are you from?
Ellen Skrmetti: Okay, so I was born and raised in Ripley, Mississippi, which is on the northernmost part of the state,
Charlie: Cam.
Ellen Skrmetti: and grew up First Baptist Church Ripley, Ripley High School. I went to Northeast Community College and then went to Southern Miss, even though
Charlie: Till the top.
Ellen Skrmetti: I was even though I was born and raised a bulldog, but it was as far away from home as I could get without
Charlie: Sure.
Ellen Skrmetti: paying out of state tuition. And my parents refused to pay for MILSAPs.
Charlie: Okay, okay, sure.
Ellen Skrmetti: You like they're like, We're not paying and I like, okay, well I would like to go to MILSAPs and they're like, We're not paying for a private school. So you're
Charlie: Well and
Ellen Skrmetti: gonna go
Charlie: yeah, and it and it's it's Methodist, so as a as a first Baptist Ripley, that probably wasn't helping you either.
Ellen Skrmetti: Right, right. Although if you do ask people from people that go to Mill SAPs, they're like, We're religious. Like they don't know. Like they're not, you know, it's not like Stamford where everybody knows it's Baptist. Okay. Like
Charlie: my gosh, and do they and do they Ugh
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes. so but my husband is from South Mississippi. He's from Hattensburg, Mississippi. He went to Mississippi State.
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: And so I like to say that I was working at the purple parrot and in a sea of golden eagles in walked a bulldog.
Charlie: You knew.
Ellen Skrmetti: And there we were, and we have been together for 25 years.
Charlie: That's pretty beautiful.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes. And I tried to say that we were a house divided. And I said, well, I need to get some Southern Mist pottery to go with the Mississippi State pottery. I think the man pulled over the car and he said, Listen, we have to get something straight right now. The day you went to Southern Mist was the day you broke your father's heart. He said, You were you were born a bulldog, you were raised a bulldog. You spent two years there. It is, you are a bulldog.
Charlie: Ha ha ha
Ellen Skrmetti: You broke your family's heart. And I also remember, I don't know who was winning. It might have been during the Dan Mullen era, but my husband looked at me and he goes, I don't care if you gotta take an underwater basket weaving class. You've got to take a class at Mississippi State so you could actually be an alumna.
Charlie: I love it. Yeah. Well and we look
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah.
Charlie: we just took your cowbell before this w you know, we looked at your cowbells. You got plenty. It's you're accepted. Nobody's telling you that you can't have that, you know?
Ellen Skrmetti: Thank you. And I actually I had a good friend who in Alabama who was like, Hey, could you help me get tickets to the Mississippi State Alabama game? And
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: I said, Everyone will have to wear maroon. He was like, yeah, I'll put my daughter in maroon. I went, No. Everyone receiving a ticket must
Charlie: Is wearing it.
Ellen Skrmetti: be in maroon. And he was like, even my wife. And I was like, head to toe. I'm not asking
Charlie: Especially. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: you to not ask you to paint your face.
Charlie: And w okay, well what did he did he accept?
Ellen Skrmetti: He said, We'll try another game.
Charlie: I love it. I love it. Well, respect, dude. Yeah, if you're not gonna commit, yeah, that's fine.
Ellen Skrmetti: I mean, like
Charlie: But I and I I respect you saying that we've had a real problem recently of opposing fans coming to Davis Wade.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes. Yes.
Charlie: and so I respect it.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes. And it's just I'd I'd feel like it's okay, especially here in Alabama, because it my husband is a Jets fan. Going to see a I know it's hard. He I don't made it
Charlie: Poor him. He's a Jets fan and a Mississippi State football fan. He needs therapy. He needs something stronger than therapy. This that's not okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: He made the decision when he was a little kid and his dad told him, he said, son, you have to pick a team and you're gonna stick with it for the rest of your life. And it was during the like Jets gang green, huge defense era, is when he picked it. And so, but he has he did exactly what his dad said and stuck with it. But the easiest way for us to see a Jets game is to go watch them play the Titans.
Charlie: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: And you know, and God loved the Tennessee Titans. Like that's the easiest way for you to go. for you to go see your favorite team is to get tickets to a Titans game. So
Charlie: Yeah, they'll play in Nashville. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: if you're an Alabama fan and Alabama is doing very well, to
Charlie: Mm
Ellen Skrmetti: go watch them in an SEC matchup, it's probably easier just to try to get some tickets off somebody at Mississippi
Charlie: Go somewhere else.
Ellen Skrmetti: State. So yeah, you just have to really everyone please mind your P's and Q's, if you're giving away your tickets, make sure they know that they must wear maroon.
Charlie: Yeah, yeah. I love it. especially look, it and this Saturday, huge game for Mississippi State. we finally have hope. So if please if you give your tickets away, don't let those people be in yellow and gold. Okay?
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes, like in the like don't have yellow and gold in the student section or yep it there's a visitor
Charlie: Amen.
Ellen Skrmetti: section. That's the other thing is that there's
Charlie: I if you
Ellen Skrmetti: a
Charlie: go to this, if you're a student, don't give your buddy, well I guess I did this 1.2, but it was a mistake. Don't give your friend who's gonna wear the opposing colors a ticket. That's just you're doing it wrong.
Ellen Skrmetti: Right. And you're gonna have like this sea of maroon and then you're gonna have like black and gold for Mizzo. And then also they're gonna be miserable because you know what? We're the only people that could go to sleep to the sound of cowbells.
Charlie: You're right. You're right.
Ellen Skrmetti: If give me a Mac mac and alley. national anthem, a flyover with some cowbells and you're going tears. I'm just gonna cry.
Charlie: Will you be there this weekend?
Ellen Skrmetti: No, because I'm doing a I'm doing the Stamford Parents Breakfast. Yes.
Charlie: Let's go. A different a different kind of bulldog.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, and they called they sent me a message and they said, now Ellen, we're a dry campus. And that is with our comedy too.
Charlie: Ha ha ha ha. You know, I've always thought like performers, like music artists or comedians, I always think like, gosh, like if you're a football fan, a college football fan, like you're doing a lot of shows on Saturday nights, I feel like, and that
Ellen Skrmetti: You are.
Charlie: must be a bummer.
Ellen Skrmetti: It okay, last week was hard because I made it into the don't tell comedy competition. Amazing.
Charlie: Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: I get the call, I get the email, congratulations, and I look and it's like, well, we're playing South Carolina and
Charlie: Mm.
Ellen Skrmetti: OS is playing LSU and I'm going.
Charlie: Do I wanna do this now?
Ellen Skrmetti: But I l so I started to listen to the South Carolina game. Heads up. Do not listen
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: to the opposing teams broadcast. Like that's what was on serious. And
Charlie: Yeah. Brutal.
Ellen Skrmetti: so if you ever thought Vern Luntwist was partial, listen.
Charlie: Title.
Ellen Skrmetti: And you'll be like, Vern Lun Lundquist calls it right down the middle.
Charlie: Bring him back.
Ellen Skrmetti: I'm so sorry for hating him on Stevie.
Charlie: For all those years.
Ellen Skrmetti: Cause listening to the Mississippi State South Carolina broadcast from the South Carolina booths, you know,
Charlie: Brutal.
Ellen Skrmetti: it's like listening to Jack Crystal call a game, you know, like
Charlie: Yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: so I had to stop. Plus, we were losing. And I went, You cannot be funny if you know that your bulldogs are just laying a goose egg.
Charlie: You're sad. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: so I turned it off. I get back in the car and my husband goes, Honey, we're winning this game. And Ole Miss is up seventeen to nothing. And I'm like, So I listened to the Ole Miss LSU game on the way
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: home from Atlanta.
Charlie: Who this is okay, I I I I for some reason I've I've found a lot of controversy in the Bulldog space. Who are you rooting for in the LSU all miss game?
Ellen Skrmetti: Okay, if I must be so honest.
Charlie: Plea and please do.
Ellen Skrmetti: I wanted them both to lose.
Charlie: Amen. Amen. Amen.
Ellen Skrmetti: I did. And I respect here's I I respect people who are like, it's our state and I want our state to win. But also I have a great deal of respect for my old Miss friends that hate Mississippi State.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: I I respect it. I I am okay with it. I I I actually want it. I feel like
Charlie: I I agree.
Ellen Skrmetti: And I feel like Ole Miss feels the same way. Now, in my comedy, when I'm doing reels, people are like, I think you're doing a Ole Miss Tailgate. Number one rule of comedy, you cannot have people asking questions.
Charlie: That's not yeah, it's not part of it.
Ellen Skrmetti: So I'm not gonna do a comedy sketch and try to act like Mississippi State does a better tailgate than Ole Miss. I can't
Charlie: Sure. Yeah. Authenticity, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: yeah, I need you just to laugh with me and I need you just to be like that's us.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: Will never put a Mississippi State tailgate up against the grove. I mean, the
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: things, the things that they do, it should be celebrated and it deserves to be celebrated. And just
Charlie: That's kind.
Ellen Skrmetti: when, you know, my friend Jane did the zebra tent and they're not able to really do it anymore. Her husband's gotten older, and it's just not something they can do. And you know what? New tents have taken over. You know,
Charlie: Yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: when one queen dies, a new one emerges.
Charlie: It rises.
Ellen Skrmetti: It and and nothing in this era of of NIL has made them think, well, maybe we shouldn't do tail detects anymore.
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: You know, like they're still doing it and I love it. But I'm okay. I but then my brother, when I talked to him who graduated from Mississippi State, he goes, cannot believe that Lane Kiffin had me waking up on Sunday morning happy that Mississippi State, that old miss won.
Charlie: Yeah, people have been saying that for sure.
Ellen Skrmetti: Well, but I think it's because I found myself cheering for Ole Miss years ago when our very own pirate, when he was at Texas Tech,
Charlie: Mm.
Ellen Skrmetti: he said something ugly about Ole Miss. And so he said something ugly about
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: Ole Miss, and I was like, Well now I hope Ole Miss wins.
Charlie: You feel you feel like, you know, one time there's this old Oregon player who talked bad about the University of Alabama.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah.
Charlie: I I can't remember his name. He's like on the Giants now or something. But to me he was talking about all of us, you know, and it pissed me off.
Ellen Skrmetti: Was he talking about how like Alabama wasn't that great of a school? Yes.
Charlie: Yeah, and can we get into this? Oregon has a higher acceptance rate than Mississippi State. It's it's harder to get into MSU than Oregon. And he was talking bad about Alabama, like it was just like this school that anybody gets into. Ugh.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, I remember that because Greg Greg McElroy was like, I'm sorry, have you tried to get into the school of business at the university? It is. It
Charlie: It's hard. It's hard. Yeah. Thanks, Greg.
Ellen Skrmetti: is. And so because I mean he was like, I I toured every school and he was from Texas. And he was like, I also wanted a great education.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: And so that is part of the reason why I chose Alabama what
Charlie: Alabama.
Ellen Skrmetti: was because I could get a great education and play really great football. And there's also just the whole like big brother, little sister thing, not from a standpoint that we're theirs, but from the standpoint of like my brother could beat me up.
Charlie: Yeah, okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: And my my brother could call me names and do whatever he wanted to. But the second you do it, uh-uh, that's my sister. So
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: we we can hate each other and that's fine. But you
Charlie: Sure. I g I
Ellen Skrmetti: You don't say we've got saying bad stuff about on this covered. You don't have to do that. You respect your opponent.
Charlie: It for sure. I can guarantee you. I can guarantee you I've said some bad things about Ole Miss. And I will continue. And I like you said
Ellen Skrmetti: And I would just like to make it clear that they've said bad stuff about us and
Charlie: Yeah. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: we're okay with it.
Charlie: Well, and that's you said, look, I was thinking about this the other day. A rivalry? I never want the other school to like me. I'm never doing anything
Ellen Skrmetti: Money.
Charlie: to impress the University of Mississippi. I I hate them and I want them to hate me. That's part of it.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes. And like it's fine. And if when we were like doing well and people would be like, hey, I just want you to know that I'm an old Miss fan and I'm cheering for you. And I'm like, quit it.
Charlie: Don't it's not your role.
Ellen Skrmetti: Your your bad grigree that you're putting into the world is what's fueling our win.
Charlie: Yes. Yes. You have to have haters. You have to have them.
Ellen Skrmetti: If you don't have them, you're not doing it right.
Charlie: You're not doing it right. Amen. I couldn't agree more. I couldn't agree
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah.
Charlie: more. You you also said something earlier that we kind of glossed over, but I made a note of it, because we I we can't let this we can't move past this. It's it was maybe the most southern thing I've ever heard. I wanted to be a house divided. We I had Mississippi State pottery. I wanted some Southern Miss pottery. I mean, if that's not the most like southern thing you've ever heard.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes, like I went to Southern Miss and so I was like, well, we need some black and gold pottery. And but my husband stopped the car and was like, listen,
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: we're not a house divided. We're a house united. You
Charlie: Mm.
Ellen Skrmetti: you went to Southern Miss. And when you went to Southern Miss, you broke your father's heart. You broke your
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: family's heart. And that is where your degree is from. But you were born a bulldog. You were raised a bulldog. You just forgot who you were for two years. And you're a bulldog. And I was like,
Charlie: And and we're yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: you know what? You're right.
Charlie: And we're gonna get some marinant white pottery to go next to the McCarty.
Ellen Skrmetti: Every yeah, it and so it really I kind of needed that. I kind of needed him to just declare, you are a bulldog.
Charlie: Yeah. Well and and it f he went there, so th y he's given you that, you know?
Ellen Skrmetti: He went there, he had he was like, I have two degrees, one is yours.
Charlie: that's marriage right there, right, Ellen? That's marriage.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, yeah. He said, I got a double major. Which one do you want? Do you want the marketing or the management?
Charlie: Well, what an overachiever. But you you before comedy, before all this, you also were
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah.
Charlie: in marketing, right?
Ellen Skrmetti: yeah. I was in sales forever. I started, if you're in Mississippi, I helped start VIP Jackson magazine. And I was there,
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: I was the advertising sales manager, and then that got shut down. I was the community outreach something at the CBS station in Jackson. And
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: then when all the do not competes were up with VIP because Clary and Ledger bought it out.
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: Lee, who started it, who she now owns Mississippi magazine, she started Social South. And so I came back and we did Social South. And I worked there forever. And then my husband got a job offer to transfer to Nashville. And we lived in Nashville for a year, where I got to
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: work at In Focus, which was like the mothership of social magazines and
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: the Nash and the Nashville scene, which is like they're alt weekly. And so I got to work there for a year. I actually got to sell advertising space into the Titans Game Day guide, which was so fun.
Charlie: That is so cool.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah. So I got to sell all kinds of like really cool stuff in Nashville, got to meet all kinds of people. And so I feel like I only lived there a year, but it
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: really felt like home because I was just getting to meet all these business owners and just everybody that I worked with were all still friends. And then after a year, we joked that Jackson was too little. Nashville was too big, but Birmingham's just right. So
Charlie: Boom.
Ellen Skrmetti: we moved to Birmingham like ten years ago. Yeah. Been there been here since. Yeah.
Charlie: Okay, and and been there since. Are you at a point where Birmingham like you you know, we start with where are you from? 'Cause I like to see what people
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah.
Charlie: say. Like, do you ever say Birmingham now? Like are you like that's my home, Birmingham's home?
Ellen Skrmetti: yeah, like when we travel and people say, like, where are you from? I say Birmingham.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, because I'm like, that's where we're settled. And truly, post-COVID, when everybody went remote, Tim and I realized, like, wait a minute, we could actually live anywhere because his he has a remote job. I'm obviously remote. And
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: we were like, wait, we can live anywhere. We really like Birmingham and we So we live here on purpose. Like we moved here on purpose. We just were like, hey, let's just kind of see what happens if we can get jobs here. And we did.
Charlie: Yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: And we've just we've just really brick by brick have built a life here in Birmingham and we love it.
Charlie: As you're doing like sales and marketing and you know, Jackson and Nashville down to Birmingham, did you know you were funny then?
Ellen Skrmetti: I did. I did. I was making I was making my customers laugh. I was in Jackson. A lot of my customers, like I would leave funny voicemails to remind them that they need to turn in their advertising. Like
Charlie: Okay. I love it.
Ellen Skrmetti: Real Housewives of New York was really big. So I would call as Jill Zaren.
Charlie: Okay, okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: And I would call and do my Jill Zaren impression and offer them a discount at Zaren Fabrics if they got their discount, if they got their ad materials in on time.
Charlie: I love it.
Ellen Skrmetti: And even like one of my customers, Dana at Village Boutique, had me call her rep at Northside Sun and leave her a message.
Charlie: That's awesome. that's awesome. do you think there should be a real Housewives of Jackson? You don't want people to enter that world.
Ellen Skrmetti: It just We already we we know, because we already like try to do mistletoe and there's always a fight.
Charlie: Okay. That's enough. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: I can't tell you how many times I am sitting here minding my own business in Jefferson County, Alabama, and I get sent a reel of two women fighting at mistletoe.
Charlie: Yeah. Yeah. And you can laugh at it, but people from anywhere else they can't, right? You know what mean? Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah. And it'll just it'll tear the city apart because it's truly it's not big enough. So whoever they pick won't be the right people. To whoever gets picked.
Charlie: Sure, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: And so whoever gets picked, the people who didn't get picked are
Charlie: Like
Ellen Skrmetti: just gonna be like, Well, everybody knows her husband's doing these. Like
Charlie: Yeah, I get it. I get it.
Ellen Skrmetti: it just I mean, Dallas was very barely big enough, you know?
Charlie: Sure, sure.
Ellen Skrmetti: So no, no. It just need
Charlie: No Jackson, no.
Ellen Skrmetti: to continue to just just can and here's the thing too. I'll I'll tell you this. Mistletoe Marketplace is famous in every market I go to.
Charlie: really?
Ellen Skrmetti: And so I left the junior league with one year left. I had done my provisional year and all my years I had one year left before I could go to Stainer. I didn't want to join in Nashville because I just wanted to get my feet wet. And just and then was like, okay, well, maybe next year I'll do it.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: We moved to Birmingham. Birmingham is a 10-year commitment as opposed to Jackson's three-year commitment. But I met some ladies who were doing market Noel or whatever they
Charlie: Mm.
Ellen Skrmetti: do in Birmingham. And they're like, my gosh, you did junior league of Jackson. What do you know mistletoe? I like, I was science chair. and they were like, Well, you tell us everything. And I was like, Yeah, if I can, if you can shorten it to one year from three. And they were like, no. They're like, you have to do basically another provisional year, then your three years, and then you can be sustainer. And I was like, well, then I'll just keep all my information in my head.
Charlie: And it's still there.
Ellen Skrmetti: It's still here.
Charlie: It's that's awesome.
Ellen Skrmetti: And my girlfriend Lauren said, You would never this is so ugly. So I'm gonna whisper it. My girlfriend Lauren, who also moved to Birmingham and she was in Junior League of Jackson with me, she moved to Birmingham and she said, Ellen, their food at their meetings is from the grocery store and they serve it on plastic. And I was like, Kill me now.
Charlie: Gotta I gotta say that's the most Jackson thing I've ever heard.
Ellen Skrmetti: Well, because we had a committee and all we did was we got the food together for the meetings. And that was one
Charlie: For lunch. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: of my placements. And everything came from Southern sideboards or come on in recipe books.
Charlie: Okay. I love that. And sir served
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah. So like
Charlie: on China.
Ellen Skrmetti: Or Peter's pottery or McCarty pottery. I mean, like you were like,
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: there's a there's a cat, there's a closet at the junior league house that
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: has the serving pieces. And so the serving pieces would be set out and it all matched.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: I mean, these are old Miss Tailgators who have grown up, moved to Jackson and are run in the junior league. And the best
Charlie: Sure. So it's work
Ellen Skrmetti: and the brightest from Mississippi State.
Charlie: Amen.
Ellen Skrmetti: And Mill Saps and all the other places. The my
Charlie: With.
Ellen Skrmetti: Greatest memory of a junior league meeting was when I looked around and we all had our sunglasses on the top of our head. It's like it was the ja it was the headband. I mean, I did it too. I'm not I'm not making fun.
Charlie: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: But like I did I looked around and I was like, We could solve hunger if we all sold our sunglasses.
Charlie: Ha ha ha. I love that. That's just
Ellen Skrmetti: If we
Charlie: it's so perfect, you know?
Ellen Skrmetti: And yeah, and one time I was I needed to be on the end because I was just there with my girlfriend who I'd gotten her group together and I had to go to this meeting where it was like to learn if you wanted to be in the junior league.
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: But it was also the season premiere of Real Housewives of Orange County. I told this girl to scooch. I said, I'm gonna need you to scooch down because I need to be on the end. And my friend is laughing and she goes, Do you know do you know who that is? And I was like, Does she know who I am? We're all at the same stupid meeting.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: You know, and she was like, that's so-and-so, and her daddy's so-and-so. And I was like, well, I'm so-and-so, and I gotta get to Real Housewives of Orange Valley.
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: And I'm gonna need you to scooch.
Charlie: Did she scooch?
Ellen Skrmetti: She scooched. Yeah.
Charlie: Come on, come on.
Ellen Skrmetti: But I just thought it was funny that she thought that it was crazy that I would ask so and so's daughter to scooch.
Charlie: I love it. Hey Southern Fried listeners, just want to jump in real quick and say thank y'all so much for listening to this episode. Sitting down with Ellen was, like I've said a billion times already, a blast, and I hope y'all are enjoying the conversation as well. Getting to learn about her life and how she got into comedy and how it was kind of a leap of faith for her was such an interesting story to tell. I hope you guys will consider liking and subscribing and sharing this with somebody. It helps us grow. I know I say it every episode. But it really does. It's such a huge help when y'all do that and y'all share it with somebody. It just helps Southern Fried continue to build an audience. But thank you guys so much for listening. It's a huge help. I can't wait For Southern Fry to continue to grow. Y'all know we are in over a year of putting out Southern Fried. And so that's just so incredible to think about. The journey that we've been on, the guests that we've had. And I hope that it just continues to grow. All right. Now let's get back to this episode with Ellen. alright, so clearly comedy has been a part of you for a while.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes.
Charlie: I mean, we're laughing right now. She needed to scooch. I'm sure that was a good time too. But you you like getting into the comedy world was kind of was later in life, like really pursuing it as a career. Did it start with Second City, was that when you were like you like committed to Second City or did you do some some funny stuff before that?
Ellen Skrmetti: So I had taken a comedy class pre-COVID. I was like 41 years old. I'm 49 now. I took a comedy class in Birmingham. And I
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: got my first five minutes on stage the Thursday before Alabama shut down for COVID. And I was was like, okay, my career's over. But what happened is Second City had to keep their doors open. They had only been, you had to go to Chicago to take classes. There were no online classes.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: But during COVID, they had to keep their doors open. So I started taking comedy classes online,
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: as many as I could during the shutdown. And they they gave me the confidence and they were like, Your stories are good. Let's just figure out how to shape them to tell the story. And like
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: let's just put in some like common comedy terms of like A B3 and let's do some different, let's just do some things here. And like they really helped me figure out how to shape the stories and tell the stories so that they could be funny. And then one day my comedy teachers and I are all still friends, and I'm still friends with people in my comedy classes.
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: But one day I logged on early. And my comedy teacher said, listen, we're getting so many new students who they have built up an audience during comp during COVID. And now things are starting to open and they don't have an act. So now they're taking comedy classes and working it backwards and getting an act for the comedy classes.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: So she was like, guys, when you get your shot at a comedy club, you're gonna be so ready. And I was like, no one is gonna give a 40-year-old mom a shot. And like one of the rules of comedy too is you gotta have people have to like to be wanting to laugh and ready to laugh. And I'm like, these sweet 20-year-olds coming into a comedy club for like open mic night are not
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: wanting to hear about stuff with my kids. And
Charlie: Sure.
Ellen Skrmetti: so I was like, okay, this is the only way to do it. I'm gonna have to start doing reels to like find my crazy people and then
Charlie: Sure.
Ellen Skrmetti: I can start doing shows. So I started doing the reels to build my audience. So that way I was like, okay, they can come and see me in clubs. So
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: I that's that's how we did it.
Charlie: I love it. And and now I mean now you're in clubs. Now you've you know now you're an author. I mean you really is it crazy?
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, hold on.
Charlie: You got it? What a Cadywampus.
Ellen Skrmetti: Patty Wampus, a Southern Woman's God to Laughing When Life Goes Sideways, comes out in November. I feel like Catty Wampus is the most southern word, and it just really describes this time of life because I mean, I have a girlfriend with a newborn. I just got a baby shower gift from my other girlfriend that's about to be a grandmother, and I'm still doing carpool.
Charlie: Yeah, yeah. Ever yeah, that's so true.
Ellen Skrmetti: It's I I'm nowhere near. I mean, my daughter is a junior in high school. So, you know, Lord willing, I'm nowhere near being a grandmother. I'm nowhere near planning a wedding.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: And then, you know, now I'm at the age two, we're like we're starting to go to our grand our our parents' doctors' appointments. It's just a really weird time of life.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: So I just felt like Caddy Wampus was the perfect, was the perfect name. So it is weird to have all this going on.
Charlie: But I mean, the but you're like a full fledged like you're you you know, you open you headline clubs and you're going places. Does that
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah.
Charlie: like at forty years old, you know, you decided to do it at forty. Like were you like, God, I can't do this? Or were you like, I'm hitting this full steam ahead, let's like let's see what happens.
Ellen Skrmetti: I mean, Charlie, I'll be honest with you. Everything that is happening, it's everything I've prayed for. So
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: if it is unbelievable if you take out the God factor. Okay. If you're doing it yourself, if you're trying to do it all on your own, then yeah, it's pretty unbelievable. When you factor in God and you factor in praying for it, and that go that comes into play, then you're like, yeah, seems pretty reasonable.
Charlie: that's awesome.
Ellen Skrmetti: You know because when I started my reels, I would pray that the Lord would just send the right people. because as we know from our dear Justin Bieber, who was discovered on YouTube by Usher. Mm-hmm.
Charlie: I never would have expected a a Jesus analogy to bring in Justin Bieber, but I'm
Ellen Skrmetti: Well, here we are. Here we are.
Charlie: Never say never.
Ellen Skrmetti: I was like, dear Lord, send me my Justin Bieber. Send
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: me send me my just send me my usher.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: Make me your Justin Bieber and send me your usher. And so one day I did one of my Hey Jesus reels. It
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: made a lady laugh in Texas who sent it to her sister. Her sister is the book agent for T D Jakes, Joel Olstein, Maria Schriver. Ann Nielsen, Ann Nielsen's Angels, all Dr. Phil. I can't tell you how many times my meetings get pushed back for Dr. Phil.
Charlie: Yeah, d he gets priority, you know.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, especially when he was doing his network. I mean it'll be like Ellen, we're gonna have to push this back fifteen minutes. She's on with And I'm like, who it and they're and I'm like, that's fine. so so you know, that's the Lord. And so we get the first book deal. Who without her, I mean, I got to go pitch my book to all the big four publishers. And then my publisher at Hashette National went to old miss.
Charlie: that yeah, how about that? And I'm
Ellen Skrmetti: Ki.
Charlie: sure y'all knew people.
Ellen Skrmetti: raked up Ken in the meeting because she grew
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: up on the coast and so she grew up with the Luke family. And so she was like, Do you know Gretchen Luke? And I'm like, Yeah, we were in the junior league together. I love Gretchen. And
Charlie: It's awesome.
Ellen Skrmetti: 'cause Gretchen is Matt Coach Matt Luke's sister.
Charlie: Okay, that Luke family.
Ellen Skrmetti: That Luke family. And so you know, we're just raking up Ken. And so she's watching my stuff and she read my book proposal and she goes, This is it. Like this is how you're not, you're not peppering it. Like this is just this is how we talk and this is how we act. And so she really got it. Whereas
Charlie: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: you like book book editors in New York were like, Is this funny? Yeah. Yeah.
Charlie: Said why?
Ellen Skrmetti: And so then after I wrote the book. My agent was like, Hey, you gotta get on the road now. We gotta, you gotta go do your stand up. And so then I called Bruce at the stardome.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: And I was like, Hey, I know you don't know me and I know this sounds crazy, but can I come do a show? And he was like, Yeah,
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: you can. He goes, I have a small room and you can rent it for $500. And I paid him $250. And he goes, And if you sell it, you know, at the end, we'll settle up. Either you'll owe me $250 more dollars if you don't sell any tickets. Or I'll give you what's left over. And we sold tickets for $10. And
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: I sold out four shows. It was an 80-seat room. I saw it, but I had never, I didn't know, I didn't know how a show worked. I did 90 minutes. I didn't I was supposed to have an opener. So I did four 90-minute shows.
Charlie: Nine give me shows.
Ellen Skrmetti: I couldn't walk for a week.
Charlie: Yeah, you're I mean that's impressive
Ellen Skrmetti: But then Bruce calls the
Charlie: though.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah. And Bruce calls the people at Zany's and was like, hey, y'all should book her. And so then they booked me into the room in Huntsville. And then they booked me into a room. They booked me at Zany's. And then he called people in Atlanta and they're like, you need a booker. And then he was having dinner with this guy who goes, Who's this Ellen Scrimety like selling tickets on a weekday? And he was like, she needs a manager. So that's how I got my first manager. And so
Charlie: Wow. You did all of that, the book publishing, the the setting of the start of that was all on your own.
Ellen Skrmetti: Jesus Jesus
Charlie: That is so awesome. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: It's me and the Lord. It's it's me and the Lord just light in the steps, you know?
Charlie: Ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: And so then one day I have loved Zarna Garg forever. She is an Indian mom. She has like two million followers. She's the lady on the JCPenney commercials.
Charlie: Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: She sends me a DM. Ellen, you're so funny. You've got to keep doing it. So we talk. And so we're just very much love each other. She had me, I went and opened for her last Christmas. She had a show in Chicago
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: and her regular opener just like needed a break. and so I opened for her and then I messaged her because I got an offer to do content from Zaxby's, which they passed. But anyway, I messaged her sister and I was like, I messaged her daughter. I was like, Zoya, how much should I charge? And she was like, look, if you want to work with Zoya, you can, but you need her, you need a manager. And I was like, well, I have one. And she was like, okay. So she called her manager in New York and was like, Adam, you need to sign my friend. And so now I have my management. I'm with Three Arts in New York. And and I called Chris and I said, Chris, Three Arts wants to sign me. And he goes, Is it, has this name come up? And I said, Yeah, he works with him. And he was his assistant and his whatever. And it's part of that group. And he goes, I can't hold you back.
Charlie: that's so cool.
Ellen Skrmetti: You know, and I was like, okay, well, I wasn't, I said, you know, I wasn't calling to tell you I'm leaving you. I'm I was calling you to say, what do I do? And he goes,
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: if those, he goes, Ellen, if those guys want you, you have to go.
Charlie: Wow. That is really cool.
Ellen Skrmetti: Which was really great. And so everything has just been like, but I have been praying for the past year. Heather Thompson Day said, pray for it once and then start thanking the Lord for it. You know. And so I would just wake up every day and I say, Dear Lord, thank you for whatever it is that you're doing behind the scenes that are gonna just gonna move my career forward.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: Like, and so I just wake up every day and I just thank the Lord for whatever it is that's happening that I don't see that's like moving it forward. So, yeah.
Charlie: Yeah. You know, like talking to you and knowing like obviously, like do you think Hey Jesus is probably your biggest, like that's how a lot of people know from your reality you are. But I I think what's cool is like talking to you about your journey is like obviously all that's satirical. Like a lot of it's y it's a joke, it's comedy, but it's not it's all authentic. Like you still Like it's who you are. It wasn't like you were like, people in the South you know, we say Jesus, so I'll use it. It's like that really is who you are. And so that authenticity I think really like bleeds into your comedy. I think that's it's so cool listening you talk about how really like your faith does it is important to your life. You know, I think that's so
Ellen Skrmetti: It's
Charlie: fa awesome.
Ellen Skrmetti: it's so important and it hurts my feelings so much. The algorithm, and I've just been trying to figure out like the algorithm, you have to hook people in three seconds. And so when I start a reel with, hey Jesus, it's me, people are like, I know what this is going to be. And then they click, and then so then they stop putting it out.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: You know? And so now the trick is I'm trying to figure out. How do I keep Hey Jesus? It's me going, but like, what do I need to do different? Because what I love about Hey Jesus, and the whole thing behind Hey Jesus, was that you talk to Jesus about everything. You don't just take him the big stuff. You take him everything. You take him, you know, he does want to laugh with you. He wants to cry with you and he wants to laugh with you and he wants to do everything. And so that was the whole message behind Hey Jesus, it's me. Like it was not ever to be sacrilegious and make fun of talking to Jesus. It was
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: about that he wants to laugh with you and he wants the big stuff and the small stuff. and so and it came that my first Hey Jesus was so authentic because I really did just say the very first one was I had this fictional co-worker, Kevin, and I just said, Hey Jesus, it's me. Is praying for Kevin to get a tapeworm, is that too big or not enough? Is that should I pay pray a bolder prayer than for him to get a tapeworm? And then I call him back and I'm like, well, if I can't pray for him to get a tapeworm, can I pray for me to get a tapeworm so I can lose some weight?
Charlie: Love that.
Ellen Skrmetti: I I don't wanna I don't wanna I don't wanna swallow the tapeworm. I just would maybe want it to just be hidden in my taco.
Charlie: Just a little losing wake.
Ellen Skrmetti: So, you know, that's how it came. And so my hope is that, you know, my my shows there's not an altar call. I mean, I I joke about how I had to dress as Ruth one year for Christmas because we did a fall festival for Jesus, because it was like the first year the Baptist had to come to terms because it fell on a Wednesday.
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: And for all these years, the Baptists had just ignored Halloween and then all of a sudden it
Charlie: Uh-huh.
Ellen Skrmetti: fell on a Wednesday. And it was like, what do we do? And they're like, we're gonna have a fall festival for Jesus. So long
Charlie: Fall festival. Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: before there was a trunk or treat, okay,
Charlie: Mm-hmm.
Ellen Skrmetti: the Gen Xers and the and the elder millennials, okay, we were going dressed like Mary in Bathsheba.
Charlie: wow, that's risque.
Ellen Skrmetti: Okay, we were we were and our and our brothers were going dressed like in sh bed sheets with a stuffed lion, you know? And
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: no papa had a cane. Cause we c took everybody we took every papa's wooden cane to be our whatever. And
Charlie: huh. Yep.
Ellen Skrmetti: so, you know, I get up and I joke about that and I joke about how I had to be Ruth and my mom took a broom and that was my wheat.
Charlie: It's great. I I just I love that like, yeah, all of that that you talk about, it really feels so authentic. You know, it's like you're not forcing anything.
Ellen Skrmetti: N thank you. Thank you. Because I want people when they say I feel like I know you, I'm like, Well, you really, you know, you do. I mean, I may like frank
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: up the accent a little bit, but like these are all real. Like I can't help like my my agent, book agent said, Well, you know, nonfiction's in the tank. And I'm like, I can't help it's real. I can't
Charlie: Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome.
Ellen Skrmetti: Can't that's not my problem. I can't help that all these stories happened to me. Like my mother really did throw a Christmas tree out the back door 'cause the Christmas tree kept falling down.
Charlie: She was just tired of it. Well,
Ellen Skrmetti: It did. Yeah.
Charlie: Ellen, I've I've loved talking. like
Ellen Skrmetti: Thank you.
Charlie: I've just had a blast and I I like to end Southern fried conversations with just a quick survey I call the Southern Fried survey to really see how Southern fried you are. Is that all right?
Ellen Skrmetti: Okay. Okay. Let's do it.
Charlie: Okay, so first one I th I already know the answer, but I'm gonna ask because it's it's a question I like. Favorite Southern word or phrase?
Ellen Skrmetti: Fix into.
Charlie: Ooh, over caddy wampus.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes, I mean I love Cadywampus. But I mean that's it's a great one. But I mean
Charlie: Love fixing too.
Ellen Skrmetti: six and two, about two. Go get round to it.
Charlie: The anything anything to or it is just we're we're knocking it out of the park.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, I mean I was fixing too you were not, you know.
Charlie: Yeah, man, I've said that once or twice.
Ellen Skrmetti: Nothing nobody was less bout to than somebody that says they're fixing to.
Charlie: Fix it too. for you, how sweet is too sweet? And we're talking tea.
Ellen Skrmetti: See, I mean, if the spoon can stand up in the middle
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: of the thing, in
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: the middle of the glass, it might be too sweet. Yeah.
Charlie: That's we we've crossed the line, but if there's any lean, you you should drink it.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah. Yeah.
Charlie: do you have a favorite fellow southerner?
Ellen Skrmetti: my favorite southerner, okay, Suzanne Schulerbaker.
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: I'm just gonna have to name somebody not real.
Charlie: Suzanne Sugar Baker, she is you know, she owns the bakery down the street.
Ellen Skrmetti: Well, she's from Design and Women. How southern are you?
Charlie: Wait, I thought you just said you were naming somebody not real.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, Suzanne Sugarbaker from Southern Women. I mean from Design and Women.
Charlie: What is d I I'm not I'm not a w a woman though.
Ellen Skrmetti: Charlie.
Charlie: Are you about to take my card my southern card? you you're throwing up.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah. Charlie Designing
Charlie: So we're
Ellen Skrmetti: women? Suzanne and Julia Silverbaker. And that
Charlie: Feel like
Ellen Skrmetti: is the night that the lights went out in Georgia. They had a pig, she had a pig, no ale.
Charlie: I don't know what we're talking about anymore. I feel like I'm having a f I
Ellen Skrmetti: What is nylon? What is n alone?
Charlie: feel like I'm having a fever dream with whatever's happening right now.
Ellen Skrmetti: Charlie, I'm gonna get on the phone with your mother. You don't know about the show Designing Women.
Charlie: Don't
Ellen Skrmetti: It took place in Atlanta.
Charlie: I'm like Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: Julia Sugar Baker is a decorator. Her sister, Suzanne, was played by Delta Burke.
Charlie: Okay. It's a
Ellen Skrmetti: The wife of Gerald McRaey, Ole Miss graduate. I can still remember being at Ole Miss at cheerleading camp at Ole Miss, and he was major dad. And he is sitting there and God love him. He is just at his alma mater, living his dream, living his best life. And
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: he did not know that he was sitting in the union or the cafeteria or whatever. Just sitting there and all of a sudden every little cheerleader sees Major Dad and we swarm that poor man. And he
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: just took pictures. He took pictures with every single one of us.
Charlie: How about that?
Ellen Skrmetti: Yeah, but so Suzanne Sugar Baker is my favorite.
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: Charlene, I mean, Gene Smart played the secretary, Annie Potts.
Charlie: I Jean Smart.
Ellen Skrmetti: Not like I do.
Charlie: I'll okay. I'll I'll I will look it up the moment we end this call.
Ellen Skrmetti: I mean, do you know about Steel Magnolius? Have you seen that movie?
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: Adult Yeah, like when you did not know.
Charlie: I've never heard of designing women.
Ellen Skrmetti: Sophie Hudson and I are gonna have we're gonna rescue you, we're gonna kidnap you, and Sophie Hudson
Charlie: Yeah, I need a watch party or something.
Ellen Skrmetti: and I are gonna make you watch Designing Women and
Charlie: Okay, I'm s and I've I do feel like I've let y'all down. And it's hard to admit. What if we and
Ellen Skrmetti: be like you not it would be like me not knowing Magnum PI.
Charlie: It's on the same level as that.
Ellen Skrmetti: Southern women quote it all the time. Your mother is going to be so mad at you. And so is your mother in law.
Charlie: I'll go you know, I actually r I record I record in my mom's guest house, so I will go ask her after this.
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes, and she's gonna be like, and that is the night that the lights went out in Georgia. Because a a girl was talking
Charlie: I love I do love this
Ellen Skrmetti: about Suzanne being overweight, was talking about Suzanne like she's gain weight or whatever, and she was like, Let me tell you about the time my sister took her baton at the Miss Georgia pageant. And
Charlie: I can't.
Ellen Skrmetti: she just and then it took the lights, and then she goes, and that is the night that the lights went out in Georgia. And then they were having dinner and this guy, Ray Don, came over and Julia is like, Ray Don, let me tell you, Ray Dawn, thank you. But women can have dinner alone, Ray Don. And then he ended up like trying to like book them. And they're like, that is who you cussed out in spirit.
Charlie: I'll I'll have to I'll I'll I'll do my research and I I do wanna say I'm sorry.
Ellen Skrmetti: It's okay. You're gonna have to cut all this out of the
Charlie: I th I think most of this will stay. All right. Let me let me ask you two more and then I'll let you go 'cause 'cause we have been chit chatting for I mean, I've taken so much of your time today. As a southern comedian, do you have a favorite comedy club in the South?
Ellen Skrmetti: Yes.
Charlie: Are you at are you willing to say? And it's okay if not.
Ellen Skrmetti: No, I do love the punchline in Atlanta, is really special because Jamie, who opens for me, co-owns it with my very first manager. And I still go there, even though he's not my manager. And,
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: you know, Marcy, who is the general manager, I just I love them. It seats, you know, it seats 200 people the way it's set up. It's so great.
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: so the punchline in Atlanta is very, is very special. And I also Love hyenas in Dallas.
Charlie: Okay. Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: Because it's just right there at the rich part. It's like across from SMU's campus. And they put
Charlie: I bet that
Ellen Skrmetti: you in just such a nice hotel.
Charlie: That's not yeah, that rolls.
Ellen Skrmetti: And you're just, you know, and all of those ladies are just there. And I'd like I did two years ago, I did a show there and it was the final cold snap. And I was like, y'all are welcome for giving y'all like one last chance to wear your furs.
Charlie: That's good. yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: You know, and it's just I love And and like one year some ladies they wouldn't let bring it in, but they had ordered a sugarese caramel cake from New Albany, Mississippi. And I know this because I had to go to the restroom while my opener was on. I had to go to the restroom and they're at the bar with their forks.
Charlie: In it
Ellen Skrmetti: And I'm like, what are y'all doing? They're like, we brought this cake and they wouldn't let us bring this bring it in. They're like, but we brought this caramel cake to share with everybody around us during your show. Is that not the best?
Charlie: that's awesome. That's awesome. all right, then all right, great answers. And then last question I'll ask you. I ask every guest who's been on Southern Friday if we switch roles and you were hosting Southern Friday and you had to get somebody, who do you think should be on Southern Friday?
Ellen Skrmetti: Hugh Hauser. Hugh
Charlie: Okay.
Ellen Skrmetti: Hauser, he is a comedian in Nashville, but also he is a wedding planner. If you saw the wedding where the owners of the Titans got married at Titan Stadium, the owner's
Charlie: Yeah.
Ellen Skrmetti: daughter, Hugh did that wedding. Hugh did
Charlie: Okay. I bet he's got some good stories.
Ellen Skrmetti: Lainey Wilson, her wedding was just in vogue. Hugh did it. He is he is best friends with Leanne Morgan. They have been best friends for like 20 years.
Charlie: Flex.
Ellen Skrmetti: And so, but he is the most genuine, amazing. He is just the funnest human on the entire in the entire world. And I I take it as a huge compliment that he did a show with my friend Jen Fulweiler in Austin. And she goes, He's like the male version of you. And I went, Well, kill me now. That's the greatest compliment ever.
Charlie: Thank you.
Ellen Skrmetti: And I was like, Yeah. I was like, if I were, if God had made me a boy, that's what I'd be.
Charlie: Love it.
Ellen Skrmetti: But he but he's he he was born and raised in Nashville. And I'm also so Mississippi that his sister, I was doing a show with him and his sister came in and goes, This is sister. Well, I mean, it's very Mississippi to just call someone sister.
Charlie: Uh-huh.
Ellen Skrmetti: And so I said, a sister, is that your Christian name? Is that is that what I call you? And she was like, No, he just meant that I'm a sister.
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: And she looked, he was like, You were so Mississippi that you would think that my sister's name was sister. Cause
Charlie: Yeah, we're just related.
Ellen Skrmetti: I was like, Do I call you sister? And she's like, No, I'm just the sister. I was like,
Charlie: Ha ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: Well, we had a sister that would sing in Jackson. I can still picture her. We were at a some luncheon at the country club, and sister is singing, You're a grand old flag. You're a
Charlie: Ha ha ha.
Ellen Skrmetti: grand old flag. And I'm like, and
Charlie: And now it's just yeah, it's just her name.
Ellen Skrmetti: We just call pe we just call people's sister in Mississippi. So anyway, you would love him. He is precious. He is
Charlie: Great answer. Ellen, thank you for joining me. This was so fun. Like I told you, if my mom or my mother in law thinks the guest is gonna be good, I usually feel really great. And so far they're bad in a thousand.
Ellen Skrmetti: Thank you. Thank you. I had the best time with you. Little worried about you and designing women. Go watch it and
Charlie: Yeah, I'll look it up and my mom will be mad with me.
Ellen Skrmetti: you're gonna love it. You're gonna love it. Anthony, there's a pig. I mean, it's got everything.
Charlie: All right. Well thank you, Ellen.
Ellen Skrmetti: Thank you.
Charlie: Well, that concludes this episode of Southern Friday. I want to tell you guys, I got finished with this episode. I went to my mother and I said, Tell me about designing women. And she, of course, said, and that was a night the lights went out in Georgia. So I blame her a little bit if she's listening to this for not showing it to me before that. But also that's on me. Okay? I gotta take accountability. My bad, Ellen. for not knowing designing women, I I failed. You know, I failed there as a southerner. But I will watch it and I I saw clips already. anyways, thank y'all for listening. Go subscribe, like, share this with somebody. go buy a ticket to one of Ellen's shows coming up, support her. she is so funny. Go follow her if you don't already. I'm sure you do, because it's Ellen Scribetti and she rocks. but if you don't already, go follow her, go show her some support. Thank you all for listening to Southern Fried, a soul grown podcast as we continue to explore the South through its people. And as always, y'all come on back.
