The Room Don Jamieson Wanted: KISS, Looney Tunes, G.I. Joe & Olive Loaf

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What is going on, friends? Welcome to The Room
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We Wanted. I'm Brian Colburn. And I am Jay Sweet.
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And we are back in the room for another heaping
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serving of nostalgia. And tonight, our roommate's
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a comedian, a longtime rock and metal guru who
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you probably know from That Metal Show, and his
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current sports and music crossover show, the
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brilliantly titled Rockstrap. Oh, and he's also
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got not one, but two new comedy albums. terrorizing
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telemarketers volume eight with Jim Florentine
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and comedy is killing me, which I think in this
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day and age, comedy is all we need right now.
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So the one and only Don Jameson is joining us
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tonight. Hello, Don. Fantastic intro. Thank you,
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Jay. Thank you, Brian. And happy to be a part
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of this, uh, this new concept because, you know,
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we get on and we talk about, you know, what's
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your first album and this and that, but like,
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What else was going on in your world back then?
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You know, what was your favorite snack? You know,
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what other kinds of things were you into at that
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age? You know, it wasn't, I didn't just put on
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a Kiss album and go, okay, this is all I do.
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You know, you're still a kid and you're still,
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you know, you have all those little favorite
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things in your life. So this is really cool.
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I'm glad to be a part of it. And we're glad to
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have you. We've had the chance to talk several
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times on My Weekly Mixtaping. Let's just consider
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this a widening of that conversation, to say
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the least. Absolutely. All right. Before we enter
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the room, take us back to the kid who wanted
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it. What would we have seen walking through the
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school halls? Oh, boy. So what grade are we talking
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about here? Whatever time frame. Yeah, whatever
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time frame this room that's in your head is.
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So you could say middle school, high school,
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whatever you want. Well, definitely in high school,
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you know, went through a bunch of different looks
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because that's really when, you know, hard rock
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and heavy metal just became a complete imprint
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on me. And there was definitely a point in high
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school where, you know, me and all my classmates
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dressed as Motley Crue. Like pretty much every
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day we wore spandex and bandanas and, you know,
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we had the whole thing going on. You know, I
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didn't wear that to school, of course, because
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my parents wouldn't have let me leave the house
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in spandex. But when we got to school, you know,
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we sometimes we'd swig a little Blackberry brandy
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in the morning and change into our rock and roll
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clothes and go about our day. But, yeah, it was,
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you know, rock and roll was not encouraged in
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my household when I was younger, which, of course,
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led me to buying Kiss makeup. For Halloween and
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painting my face as Paul Stanley and getting
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the whole outfit and everything. And then being
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told immediately when my mom got home from work
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to wash it off my face and go to my room. Well,
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now that we've got that image in our mind, you're
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dressed for the era. So let's get down to business.
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There are four things you're going to be bringing
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into the room tonight. Those being the sound,
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the screen. the stuff, and the taste. So Don,
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what four things make up your room? Well, I've
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already mentioned twice the band Kiss, such an
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important part of me. Looney Tunes, of course.
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I'm in my early, late 50s, so Looney Tunes. G
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.I. Joe, of course. And Olive Loaf. And for people
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who are not familiar with olive loaf, if you're
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under, geez, if you're under 50, you definitely
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don't know what olive loaf is, but I'm sure we'll,
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we'll be able to explain it. Yeah. Most people
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so far have come on with a sweet treats. So lots
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to dive into, but we're going to put a pin in
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that. And I think you could actually put a pin
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into olive loaf if you really had to, but let's
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start with kiss here. You and I, Don, had talked
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a lot about KISS. We did a whole episode where
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you put together your ultimate KISS concert set
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list. But for tonight, for the people that are
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listening here, why don't you talk about your
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introduction to KISS and what they brought to
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you in your childhood, maybe more than music?
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It was definitely more than music. It was...
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It was really it was everything. They totally
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consumed me because not only are they rock stars,
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they're superheroes and they're comic book characters.
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And when you're 11, what's better than those
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three things? So they really did. And I couldn't
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imagine back then even ever liking another band
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because I'm like, what band could be better than
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this? It's not possible. So and it's the funny
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thing is, and you and I probably discussed this,
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Brian. I don't know what inspired me to get Kiss
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Destroyer or ask my mother to take me to get
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Kiss Destroyer when I was young. But it must
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have been a commercial on TV or something like
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that. And just seeing that visual and knowing
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I have to have that. And her resistance to take
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me to get it obviously made me want it more,
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right? Of course. And that led to every inch
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of wall space. including the molding, which was
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adorned with KISS cards taped all over the molding
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around the doors and around the floor and posters
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on every inch of the wall. And my parents just,
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they drew the line at the ceiling. They would
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not let me put anything on the ceiling, although
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I did convince them when the four solo albums
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came out to put the puzzle pieces together for
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KISS on the ceiling above my bed. But that was
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it. And, um, that was my room when I was a kid,
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that was my setup. So, you know, when I got sent
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to my room for misbehaving, I was okay with it.
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It was cool. Now you see, when I got punished
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growing up, my father rest in peace had the ultimate
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punishment for me because I was a music guy as
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well. I also loved my video games and he had
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one rule. You bring home A's and B's and everything
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in your room is yours. They are privileges, not
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rights. So I brought home my first D in seventh
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grade algebra. I will never forget this. And
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he looked at my report card and goes, all right.
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And he walks out of the room and I go, okay,
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I got out of that one. Not bad. So I walk into
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the room and I'm like, I'm going to go put on
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some music. And I go to put a CD in and there's
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no speakers next to my stereo. So I'm like, all
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right, let me grab the headphones. I open up
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the drawer. No headphones in the drawer. I said,
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okay, I'll play my Nintendo. I opened up the
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drawer. All my games were there. I'm like, all
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right. I pulled the game in. I put Mike Tyson's
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punch out in. The controllers were missing. I
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said, okay. I went to turn on the television
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and the antenna was taken. And there's my father
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standing in the corner of the room in my doorway
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with his arms folded. And he goes. You have the
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next semester to remember that the things in
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this room are privileges and not rights. Your
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dad was intense. That was the ultimate punishment.
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I thought that honestly, he was former military.
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He did not mess around. His rules were rules
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and I stuck to him. But in hindsight, I said
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to him as he got older, I'm like, dad, like that
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was like scared straight for me. And that set
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me on a different path of life because I hated
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it. for the entire semester. But how could you
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not respect that? That was a baller movie played
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on me. Oh, big time. Yeah. My dad had a similar
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thing where when you're younger, a lot of parents,
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they set a curfew, right? You have to be home
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by this time. And that's it. My dad didn't do
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that. My dad let me set the curfew, which is
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almost worse. In fact, it is worse because The
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problem was, first of all, you had to figure
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out where you could set it at, right? Where he's
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not going to be mad or that he'll accept it.
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But he puts you on the spot. What time are you
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going to be home? And you're like, ah, I won't.
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No, he won't go with 1 a .m. That's too late.
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11, that's too early. I won't be back until midnight.
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Okay, midnight. and you know who was standing
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at the top of the stairs at midnight exactly
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was dad there it is midnight meant midnight it
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didn't mean 1201 it didn't mean 1202 and if i
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was not in that door at midnight or before same
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thing would happen to me some privilege would
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be taken away so We both had sadistic parents,
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so basically that's where we're getting at. It
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was like a Cinderella situation happening here,
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except you didn't have the glass shoes or anything.
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You just lost all privileges. But I had my Kiss
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album, so that's all I cared about. And speaking
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of that, I know you mentioned Destroyer. And
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for those listeners who have followed us for
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a while, know that my introduction to Kiss was
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also in 77's Destroyer. However. That was not
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only my introduction to Kiss, but it was also
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my introduction to rock and roll, like heavy,
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hard rock and roll. So my question to you, Don,
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is what was your go to album? Yeah, well, it
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would be Destroyer because that's the first one.
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And, you know, it's so funny because so many
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Kiss fans. Now, obviously, I didn't purchase
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it in the year that it came out because I was
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too young. It was years later. But that's the
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first one that I got. and to me that was what
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kiss sounded like and so so many kiss fans love
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the album rock and roll over but i think that
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album sounds so dry and kind of bland to me compared
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to destroyer because they really took a step
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up with orchestration and guest musicians and
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things like that and bob ezrin really kind of
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helped them take it up a notch so that's was
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my go -to album it's still my go -to album and
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it probably always will be and um The beauty
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about being young, and this is my original copy
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from when I was a kid, which you could see the
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ring of the vinyl on the cover there, is that,
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man, I did not realize how dark the song Detroit
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Rock City was as a kid. I mean, I knew all the
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words, I sang along to it, but I didn't realize.
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It's a song about a guy going to a concert and
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he gets messed up and he dies. You know, he crashes.
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And it's based on a true story. And it's an anthem.
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Yeah. And it's still the best opening song that
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any band could ever open with. Obviously, Kiss
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opened for forever and ever. It's either an opener
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or a closer. But yeah, that album, to me, it's
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still magical after all these years, again, in
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my early, late 50s. And I'm a little younger.
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When I was growing up, my parents... had destroyer
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so it was my parents kiss album and the thing
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that i found most interesting about destroyer
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from my parents perspective because my parents
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listened to everything growing up they grew me
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up on the cars huey lewis in the news the doors
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black sabbath you name it but the thing that
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really struck me about kiss was my father was
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there for detroit rock city and my mother was
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there for beth And I feel like from a band and
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a genius perspective, Kiss really blew the doors
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off of what their audience could be because of
00:12:22.929 --> 00:12:27.090
the way that album kind of ran a spectrum. Yeah,
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I didn't have any preconceived notions about
00:12:29.629 --> 00:12:32.669
what Kiss should sound like. So Beth, to me,
00:12:32.690 --> 00:12:37.889
it didn't feel like it was out of place. It just
00:12:37.889 --> 00:12:41.399
felt like, hey, this is just another. level of
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the music and let's face it one of the reasons
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this album is great like any great musical album
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of any genre is is all the ebbs and flows and
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all the different flavors and colors of an album
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and so being young now we listen to an album
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go well they didn't do this or they there's too
00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:03.960
many ballads or there's not enough or whatever
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it's like but the the albums that sort of give
00:13:06.519 --> 00:13:09.159
you a little bit of everything really are the
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ones that stay with me and um and destroyer you
00:13:13.629 --> 00:13:15.870
know that that's one of those it's funny i was
00:13:15.870 --> 00:13:19.789
doing a podcast before and um i was telling him
00:13:19.789 --> 00:13:23.470
about alice cooper yeah you go hand in hand with
00:13:23.470 --> 00:13:26.529
kiss and you know if you love kiss then you end
00:13:26.529 --> 00:13:29.269
up finding alice cooper of course and to this
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day the theatrical bands are always still my
00:13:31.389 --> 00:13:33.909
favorite but you know he did the song you and
00:13:33.909 --> 00:13:38.320
me Which they used to play on FM radio when I
00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:41.139
was a kid. And I'd be in the car with my mother
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and my father. And they'd go, oh, this is such
00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:45.779
a nice song. And I'd go, oh, this is Alice Cooper.
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And they'd go, no! It can't be Satan singing
00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:54.340
this beautiful love song. But it was. And to
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me, it seemed natural, right? Because I didn't
00:13:56.460 --> 00:14:01.039
have that bias of Alice is only sort of this
00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:04.990
mad. serial killer or psychotic character it
00:14:04.990 --> 00:14:08.529
was like no it's it's it's whatever it is exactly
00:14:08.529 --> 00:14:12.750
sidebar here kids uh radio fm radio was imagine
00:14:12.750 --> 00:14:16.350
our podcast you see and uh but it was everywhere
00:14:16.350 --> 00:14:18.909
and you didn't have to log on to hear it you
00:14:18.909 --> 00:14:21.009
just turned a radio on and there you didn't have
00:14:21.009 --> 00:14:23.070
to download an app you didn't have to open an
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account Okay, well then, speaking of FM radio
00:14:26.820 --> 00:14:31.080
here, or FM and AM specifically, if you see where
00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:33.700
I'm going with this, Don, as Jay mentioned in
00:14:33.700 --> 00:14:36.820
your introduction, you are a comedian. Allegedly.
00:14:37.179 --> 00:14:40.460
Yeah, allegedly. And we're talking about Kiss
00:14:40.460 --> 00:14:43.759
and the album experience. So let's say that's
00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:46.000
where the rock side comes from your rock and
00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:48.759
roll comedian title. But looking at the comedy
00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:51.480
side of the spectrum, growing up when you did...
00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:54.879
there were a ton of comedy albums. I grew up
00:14:54.879 --> 00:14:58.120
with them because I know at night I spent many
00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:01.279
a nights with my walkman listening to Eddie Murphy's
00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:03.860
Delirious on cassette or was called Comedian
00:15:03.860 --> 00:15:06.940
on cassette over and over and over again. So
00:15:06.940 --> 00:15:09.659
I'm curious if you had any comedy albums growing
00:15:09.659 --> 00:15:12.980
up that really resonated with you. You know me
00:15:12.980 --> 00:15:16.710
all too well, Brian. And I should have pulled
00:15:16.710 --> 00:15:18.549
them out because I always love holding up the
00:15:18.549 --> 00:15:20.830
vinyl because I'm such a vinyl junkie still to
00:15:20.830 --> 00:15:24.070
this day. But I still have my original copy of
00:15:24.070 --> 00:15:27.549
George Carlin Occupation Fool. Oh, fantastic.
00:15:28.070 --> 00:15:32.070
Which is just a brilliant album. And I still
00:15:32.070 --> 00:15:36.029
have my original Cheech and Chong Big Bamboo
00:15:36.029 --> 00:15:40.029
with the giant rolling paper in it. Oh, that
00:15:40.029 --> 00:15:43.279
I came with. And so, yes, those those albums
00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:47.539
were so huge when, again, 11, 12 years old. And
00:15:47.539 --> 00:15:50.240
even though I didn't understand particularly
00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:53.580
the drug humor, you know, and I still don't in
00:15:53.580 --> 00:15:58.299
a lot of ways, but I knew was subversive. And
00:15:58.299 --> 00:16:01.120
so that obviously made it more attractive to
00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:03.000
me. And I knew my parents didn't want me listening
00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:05.600
to George Carlin or Cheech and Chong. And so,
00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:08.700
yeah, those comedy records. that I still have
00:16:08.700 --> 00:16:11.139
are still so important to me. And that's why
00:16:11.139 --> 00:16:14.200
my last three comedy albums I put out on vinyl
00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:17.600
for that same reason, because I just, the memory
00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:21.580
of how much those records meant to me and hearing
00:16:21.580 --> 00:16:24.980
that stuff on vinyl, you know, it's just such
00:16:24.980 --> 00:16:28.299
a, you know, it's such a part of the fabric of
00:16:28.299 --> 00:16:31.399
who I am, you know, Kiss Destroyer and George
00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:34.919
Carlin, Occupation Fool, the two first vinyls
00:16:34.919 --> 00:16:38.009
that I ever had in my life. you know, pretty,
00:16:38.070 --> 00:16:41.250
pretty much still symbolize what my life is now,
00:16:41.350 --> 00:16:44.389
you know, that I've made my living in comedy
00:16:44.389 --> 00:16:47.269
and rock and roll. And when you talk about the
00:16:47.269 --> 00:16:50.750
11 and 12 year old phase of comedy, that's when
00:16:50.750 --> 00:16:52.950
I really started to fall in love with comedy
00:16:52.950 --> 00:16:56.690
a lot through HBO and the hour long comedy specials.
00:16:56.690 --> 00:16:58.909
And one of the first cassettes my buddies brought
00:16:58.909 --> 00:17:01.490
to my house and said, dude, let's go to the basement.
00:17:01.570 --> 00:17:03.610
I got to play you something was something that
00:17:03.610 --> 00:17:07.170
I considered the first. at least for me in my
00:17:07.170 --> 00:17:10.349
lifetime, rock and roll comic, not just because
00:17:10.349 --> 00:17:13.470
the album was out on Def Jam, but Andrew Dice
00:17:13.470 --> 00:17:17.230
Clay's Dice with the Dirty Nursery Rhymes. That
00:17:17.230 --> 00:17:20.230
was like a rock and roll comedy. When he did
00:17:20.230 --> 00:17:23.430
the Dice Rules Tour selling out Madison Square
00:17:23.430 --> 00:17:27.069
Garden, he was like the first comedian that where
00:17:27.069 --> 00:17:29.529
now there's a lot of big name comedians that
00:17:29.529 --> 00:17:33.150
sell out arenas. I think Dice kind of paved the
00:17:33.150 --> 00:17:35.970
way for that in some aspects. Yeah, totally.
00:17:36.289 --> 00:17:40.869
And I couldn't agree more. And, you know, he's
00:17:40.869 --> 00:17:43.289
the guy that, you know, even though my comedy
00:17:43.289 --> 00:17:47.190
is not like Dice's, he was the guy that really
00:17:47.190 --> 00:17:51.309
inspired me to get on stage and do it because
00:17:51.309 --> 00:17:54.490
he was so larger than life. And he still is.
00:17:54.950 --> 00:17:57.809
And, you know, I don't know if you, Jay and Brian,
00:17:57.910 --> 00:17:59.250
I don't know if you guys know this, but I did
00:17:59.250 --> 00:18:03.039
10 years with Dice on the Road. The fact that
00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:06.859
he's still a good friend of mine is really incredible.
00:18:07.700 --> 00:18:10.900
But I never lose sight of the fan in me, like
00:18:10.900 --> 00:18:14.059
what you just described, Brian. And being one
00:18:14.059 --> 00:18:17.940
of the guys at Madison Square Garden when he
00:18:17.940 --> 00:18:21.119
headlined there for the first time. I remember
00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:22.839
one of the first gigs I did with him, he said
00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:26.359
to me, he goes, what do you think I did after
00:18:26.359 --> 00:18:28.779
the night I headlined Madison Square Garden?
00:18:28.859 --> 00:18:31.369
I go... you're probably in a jacuzzi with like
00:18:31.369 --> 00:18:35.630
10 hot chicks. And he's like, I just got married
00:18:35.630 --> 00:18:39.089
and my wife was pregnant. He goes, he goes 15
00:18:39.089 --> 00:18:41.589
minutes after I was off stage, I was walking
00:18:41.589 --> 00:18:48.049
my dog in Brooklyn. And the six hot chicks in
00:18:48.049 --> 00:18:52.069
a hot tub is a way better story, but right. It's
00:18:52.069 --> 00:18:56.529
just, it's funny how you, you know, imagine something,
00:18:56.690 --> 00:18:59.849
an event like that going down. When you're a
00:18:59.849 --> 00:19:02.730
fan and then hearing like the reality of it was
00:19:02.730 --> 00:19:05.009
like, yeah, I'm just another schlub who takes
00:19:05.009 --> 00:19:08.069
out the garbage at home, you know? And Dice was
00:19:08.069 --> 00:19:12.109
so frigging kind to me over the years to put
00:19:12.109 --> 00:19:15.250
me up in front of his audiences who, while he
00:19:15.250 --> 00:19:18.049
wasn't headlining arenas at the time, they're
00:19:18.049 --> 00:19:21.150
still Dice fans and they're still hardcore. Oh,
00:19:21.250 --> 00:19:23.450
absolutely. He's back out on tour now, isn't
00:19:23.450 --> 00:19:26.430
he? He's always doing gigs. We actually just
00:19:26.430 --> 00:19:29.029
tried to set up some shows together, and the
00:19:29.029 --> 00:19:32.130
dates just didn't line up. But no, he's better
00:19:32.130 --> 00:19:34.829
than ever because it's now Dice in the Modern
00:19:34.829 --> 00:19:37.970
Age. So it's like this Neanderthal trying to
00:19:37.970 --> 00:19:42.670
figure out social media and AI and all this stuff.
00:19:42.849 --> 00:19:46.230
So the comedy never ends. And for people who
00:19:46.230 --> 00:19:48.329
haven't seen his Instagram videos, they're just
00:19:48.329 --> 00:19:51.049
outrageous, where he just goes out in public
00:19:51.049 --> 00:19:54.170
and he's a complete nuisance to people. on the
00:19:54.170 --> 00:19:57.410
streets with his cell phone, and he's filming
00:19:57.410 --> 00:19:59.730
everything. And I don't know if you saw the Billy
00:19:59.730 --> 00:20:02.009
Joel one, but that's maybe the funniest thing
00:20:02.009 --> 00:20:05.130
that's ever been posted to the internet ever.
00:20:05.470 --> 00:20:08.009
I have not seen this, and now I have to remedy
00:20:08.009 --> 00:20:12.509
that. He goes backstage to see Billy Joel, and
00:20:12.509 --> 00:20:14.349
Billy walks in and goes, hey, Billy, all right,
00:20:14.509 --> 00:20:19.170
I need tree things from you. The way we was,
00:20:19.450 --> 00:20:24.470
oh, how we made it true to rain. and uh the uptown
00:20:24.470 --> 00:20:27.490
girl thing and and billy joel's looking like
00:20:27.490 --> 00:20:29.690
what they've made it through the he goes made
00:20:29.690 --> 00:20:31.490
it through the rain that's not even my song dice
00:20:31.490 --> 00:20:34.250
he goes i mean he goes yeah you do that right
00:20:34.250 --> 00:20:37.150
he goes no that's barry manlo he goes ah what
00:20:37.150 --> 00:20:39.170
you know like you don't like do that for no reason
00:20:39.170 --> 00:20:42.009
or nothing no he goes all right i'm gonna go
00:20:42.009 --> 00:20:44.970
to my seat you know like it's but what you don't
00:20:44.970 --> 00:20:47.900
see is this maniac going You know, you made it
00:20:47.900 --> 00:20:50.160
true to rain and then putting the camera in Billy
00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:53.119
Joel's face and back to his face and back to
00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:56.579
Billy's. And it's just so incredibly funny and
00:20:56.579 --> 00:20:59.599
so real. And you could just see Billy just like
00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:01.539
he knows who Dice is, but he's just completely
00:21:01.539 --> 00:21:06.180
confused by this guy doing this. And those videos
00:21:06.180 --> 00:21:09.000
are just so funny. So I love that he does that.
00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:12.220
And no matter whatever happened, if I only open
00:21:12.220 --> 00:21:15.670
for him one time ever. It would have been one
00:21:15.670 --> 00:21:17.569
of the greatest moments of my career, but I did
00:21:17.569 --> 00:21:20.670
10 years. Amazing. And if you're one of the folks
00:21:20.670 --> 00:21:22.809
listening out there like Jay or I who haven't
00:21:22.809 --> 00:21:24.990
seen this video yet, I will make sure to embed
00:21:24.990 --> 00:21:28.109
it over on the episode page at theroomwewanted
00:21:28.109 --> 00:21:31.630
.com. Well, this is a great place to parry into
00:21:31.630 --> 00:21:35.089
from the speakers to the TV screen, because we're
00:21:35.089 --> 00:21:37.430
talking about where your sense of humor may have
00:21:37.430 --> 00:21:40.029
come from. We got a little bit of the taste for
00:21:40.029 --> 00:21:42.529
where the theatrics came from, but we're going
00:21:42.529 --> 00:21:45.440
to talk about Looney Tunes now. And Wile E. Coyote
00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:47.220
falling off cliffs and getting hit by rocks,
00:21:47.299 --> 00:21:50.200
chasing after that rascally roadrunner. Yeah,
00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:52.900
well, Bugs was always number one, right? Absolutely.
00:21:53.559 --> 00:21:56.319
But it really does, you know, Jay, I think you
00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:59.279
really, you nailed something kind of important,
00:21:59.480 --> 00:22:02.220
which is, I think there's, you know, there's
00:22:02.220 --> 00:22:05.559
an attitude and even with the cartoons, a little
00:22:05.559 --> 00:22:09.420
danger there that became very attractive to you
00:22:09.420 --> 00:22:12.660
as a kid. And so I always tell people, you know,
00:22:13.019 --> 00:22:16.339
Even though I package my albums on my favorite
00:22:16.339 --> 00:22:18.519
hard rock and heavy metal bands, you don't have
00:22:18.519 --> 00:22:21.140
to be a fan of those bands to enjoy my records
00:22:21.140 --> 00:22:24.579
because the material is for everybody. But the
00:22:24.579 --> 00:22:26.859
rock and roll attitude is always going to be
00:22:26.859 --> 00:22:30.559
there. And, you know, to me, Bugs Bunny was a
00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:34.200
rock star, right? I mean, he always won. In the
00:22:34.200 --> 00:22:37.579
end, he always won. And, you know, his catchphrase
00:22:37.579 --> 00:22:39.759
is, I'm a stinker, ain't I? Right. Or whatever
00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:42.299
he said. That's right. And but but he always
00:22:42.299 --> 00:22:45.220
won no matter what. And there was just something,
00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:49.099
you know, so funny about the writing of those.
00:22:49.299 --> 00:22:52.240
And again, like the early days of Cheech and
00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:55.079
Chong, when I was listening to them and I didn't
00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:59.099
get all the drug references or any of the political
00:22:59.099 --> 00:23:02.980
or social references. Again, I knew it was subversive
00:23:02.980 --> 00:23:06.380
and it was funny enough because they were so
00:23:06.380 --> 00:23:08.660
funny and they did funny characters and everything.
00:23:08.900 --> 00:23:12.160
And you guys know this. We didn't understand
00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:16.420
probably 50 % of the stuff that we saw in the
00:23:16.420 --> 00:23:19.859
Looney Tunes cartoons because a lot of the references
00:23:19.859 --> 00:23:23.559
were for adults. That's right. And it's how enduring
00:23:23.559 --> 00:23:26.859
of a cartoon, right? Because even in my kids
00:23:26.859 --> 00:23:29.809
will do the. You're going to let me borrow the
00:23:29.809 --> 00:23:31.730
car this weekend. No, I'm not. Yes, you are.
00:23:31.829 --> 00:23:33.730
No, I'm not. Yes, you are. Yes, you are. No,
00:23:33.809 --> 00:23:36.390
I'm not. Duck season, rabbit season, duck season,
00:23:36.609 --> 00:23:38.549
rabbit season. It's just the thing that it's
00:23:38.549 --> 00:23:40.970
a gift that keeps on giving, Clark. It really
00:23:40.970 --> 00:23:43.829
is. The other thing I kind of wanted to bring
00:23:43.829 --> 00:23:46.490
up, too, was the melding that Mel Blanc just
00:23:46.490 --> 00:23:50.470
did seamlessly with music and the comedy. I mean,
00:23:50.529 --> 00:23:52.849
kill the wabbit right to the ride of the Valkyries
00:23:52.849 --> 00:23:56.490
is another one of those enduring moments. And
00:23:56.490 --> 00:23:58.970
all of the operatic things that when Bugs was
00:23:58.970 --> 00:24:01.950
the conductor and he was tormenting that singer.
00:24:02.230 --> 00:24:05.309
It's just it's great stuff. Yeah, there was always
00:24:05.309 --> 00:24:08.670
the threat of some kind of danger. And I mean,
00:24:08.690 --> 00:24:12.509
every every cartoon had the same through line,
00:24:12.609 --> 00:24:16.009
which was like someone might die at the end of
00:24:16.009 --> 00:24:20.529
this cartoon. Right. And as a kid, you know,
00:24:20.529 --> 00:24:22.690
now you can't. Like, if you go on your iPhone,
00:24:22.930 --> 00:24:25.369
you can't find a gun emoji. Like, God forbid,
00:24:25.509 --> 00:24:27.509
you know, a kid sees a gun. Meanwhile, I had
00:24:27.509 --> 00:24:30.269
a million plastic guns around my house. You know,
00:24:30.329 --> 00:24:33.349
we played army men all the time. And we, you
00:24:33.349 --> 00:24:35.670
know, we grew up, well, all right, maybe not
00:24:35.670 --> 00:24:38.269
me, but most of them grew up sort of normal.
00:24:38.309 --> 00:24:41.759
But, you know, those cartoons really were. pretty
00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:44.299
violent and, and some of them were kind of really
00:24:44.299 --> 00:24:47.480
dark, man. Oh yeah. You're right. The genius
00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:50.220
of putting, you know, something to like an intense
00:24:50.220 --> 00:24:52.799
piece of classical music, you know, you didn't
00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:55.079
appreciate it then, but you, you sort of look
00:24:55.079 --> 00:24:57.900
back now and you're like, wow, that's crazy.
00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:02.019
Yeah. So I have to ask, you've talked about bugs
00:25:02.019 --> 00:25:04.880
and your favorite characters. And I think everybody
00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:07.339
will answer this question differently. Honestly,
00:25:07.539 --> 00:25:11.819
was it the characters themselves? Or the fact
00:25:11.819 --> 00:25:15.619
that the cartoons were pretty much unhinged that
00:25:15.619 --> 00:25:18.900
drew you to them as a kid. Because I think about
00:25:18.900 --> 00:25:23.039
characters like Foghorn Leghorn and our dog Buddy.
00:25:23.140 --> 00:25:25.619
We have a puppy who's four years old. I always
00:25:25.619 --> 00:25:28.259
think of the Spike cartoon where you've got the
00:25:28.259 --> 00:25:30.339
little dog that's going, come on, Spike. I want
00:25:30.339 --> 00:25:32.480
to be like you, Spike. Like those type of things.
00:25:32.839 --> 00:25:35.859
Even the B characters that aren't the most popular.
00:25:36.569 --> 00:25:38.670
resonate with you but then there's the fact like
00:25:38.670 --> 00:25:42.170
you said every one of these cartoons something
00:25:42.170 --> 00:25:45.630
terrible can happen so which one resonated more
00:25:45.630 --> 00:25:51.470
for you i say i'll say i said boy um i think
00:25:51.470 --> 00:25:55.549
um i i think i you know i always identified with
00:25:55.549 --> 00:25:58.569
the protagonist Now we're getting, like, really
00:25:58.569 --> 00:26:01.470
deep and psychological here, but now that we're
00:26:01.470 --> 00:26:03.650
talking about it, you know, I always thought
00:26:03.650 --> 00:26:06.150
of myself like Bugs, ain't I a stinker, you know?
00:26:06.569 --> 00:26:10.309
Or maybe I was Jerry the Mouse, because he always
00:26:10.309 --> 00:26:14.390
outsmarted Tom. But we had great villains and
00:26:14.390 --> 00:26:18.069
great protagonists in all these cartoons, and
00:26:18.069 --> 00:26:20.700
I... You knew nobody was ever going to die when
00:26:20.700 --> 00:26:23.799
when Elmer Fudd, you know, blasted Daffy Duck
00:26:23.799 --> 00:26:25.859
in the face with a shotgun. It just turned his
00:26:25.859 --> 00:26:27.779
bill around. And then that's right. You know,
00:26:27.819 --> 00:26:31.000
he moved it back again. You are despicable. So
00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:34.759
it was it was sort of, you know, sanitized violence.
00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:39.480
But I think, like I said before, the we didn't
00:26:39.480 --> 00:26:42.920
get a lot of the stuff, but it was so kind of
00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:46.660
wacky and absurd. You know, I'm still such a
00:26:46.660 --> 00:26:50.140
huge fan of absurdity. You know, that you just
00:26:50.140 --> 00:26:53.180
you laughed, you know, you laughed at stuff just
00:26:53.180 --> 00:26:56.859
because it was over the top. And then later on,
00:26:56.880 --> 00:26:58.640
you sort of went, oh, wow, I didn't get that
00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:03.519
before. And then you can kind of get it at another
00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:06.279
level. But I think it was just really just the
00:27:06.279 --> 00:27:10.359
visual and, you know, the characters and and
00:27:10.359 --> 00:27:13.660
somebody getting away with something. So then
00:27:13.660 --> 00:27:18.089
as you grew up. Did the cartoons evolve with
00:27:18.089 --> 00:27:20.509
you? Because I remember watching the cartoons
00:27:20.509 --> 00:27:22.750
on Saturday morning. They were part of my ritual.
00:27:23.029 --> 00:27:26.809
And as a child, I watched them for one reason.
00:27:26.910 --> 00:27:30.470
And when I watched them again with my kids, I
00:27:30.470 --> 00:27:33.289
saw things that I completely missed the first
00:27:33.289 --> 00:27:36.390
time around and saw different layers of humor
00:27:36.390 --> 00:27:40.299
that to me. showed the brilliance even more,
00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:44.039
including up to a few weeks ago when I took the
00:27:44.039 --> 00:27:47.319
whole family to see Coyote vs. Acme. It still
00:27:47.319 --> 00:27:53.039
resonates just as much in 2026 as it did in 1986
00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:58.420
for me. Yeah, you know, I just hit a wall probably
00:27:58.420 --> 00:28:01.839
when I got interested in girls and then cartoons
00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:06.309
were out of my life forever. and even to this
00:28:06.309 --> 00:28:09.130
day and you know this is this is not a knock
00:28:09.130 --> 00:28:12.490
on any animated shows because they're obviously
00:28:12.490 --> 00:28:15.529
so great and popular but you know i just i i
00:28:15.529 --> 00:28:17.710
can't sit down and watch an entire episode of
00:28:17.710 --> 00:28:21.549
the simpsons or family guy and as a guy you know
00:28:21.549 --> 00:28:25.670
who grew up loving and worshiping cartoons i
00:28:25.670 --> 00:28:28.289
just i don't know what again you know once i
00:28:28.289 --> 00:28:31.970
got pimples and my braces came off and i liked
00:28:31.970 --> 00:28:35.440
girls you know cartoons just um Kind of passed
00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:40.859
me by, but I think talking about this and going
00:28:40.859 --> 00:28:43.660
down that road and reminiscing again, it just
00:28:43.660 --> 00:28:46.119
kind of reminds me of what I really did love
00:28:46.119 --> 00:28:50.480
about them originally. But for people watching
00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:54.640
those shows now, God, there's so much brilliant
00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:57.339
stuff in there. You know, South Park. I mean,
00:28:57.380 --> 00:29:00.480
can you imagine a live comedian getting away
00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:04.559
with half the stuff? No. They say on South Park,
00:29:04.619 --> 00:29:07.160
but because it's animation, they're able to get
00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:11.039
away with it. So again, being attractive to things
00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:15.079
that are subversive, South Park really resonated
00:29:15.079 --> 00:29:18.059
with a lot of people and even young people, again,
00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:21.059
who might not get all the references, but they
00:29:21.059 --> 00:29:24.599
just know like, oh, this is hardcore. I got to
00:29:24.599 --> 00:29:28.579
watch this. The only time I ever saw comedians
00:29:28.579 --> 00:29:31.559
get away with comedy that would be considered
00:29:32.250 --> 00:29:34.789
The level of what South Park does and South Park
00:29:34.789 --> 00:29:38.869
was included in this was Penn Teller's insanely
00:29:38.869 --> 00:29:42.630
brilliant documentary, The Aristocrats. Yes.
00:29:42.690 --> 00:29:46.329
And in that documentary, we saw it in Princeton,
00:29:46.490 --> 00:29:49.589
New Jersey at the theater on Nassau Street. My
00:29:49.589 --> 00:29:51.930
wife and I, we went out to dinner. We went to
00:29:51.930 --> 00:29:53.609
this movie. I said, hon, you're probably not
00:29:53.609 --> 00:29:56.569
going to like this. And it opens up. They go
00:29:56.569 --> 00:29:58.519
through the whole thing. George Carlin appears
00:29:58.519 --> 00:30:01.220
on screen and they start telling the joke over
00:30:01.220 --> 00:30:04.339
and over again. And one by one, we saw people
00:30:04.339 --> 00:30:07.740
getting up and exiting the theater as I continued
00:30:07.740 --> 00:30:11.599
to laugh and cry until it hurt. And my wife sat
00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:14.059
there looking at me going, oh my God, it's the
00:30:14.059 --> 00:30:16.259
Smothers Brothers. Please don't go dirty. And
00:30:16.259 --> 00:30:19.000
they went blue. And then Bob Saget went blue.
00:30:19.160 --> 00:30:23.339
And it was at the point at the end when Gilbert
00:30:23.339 --> 00:30:27.920
drops that piece, you realize. You are so numb
00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:31.480
from the last hour and a half that Gilbert's
00:30:31.480 --> 00:30:35.000
11 minutes of brilliance that took place right
00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.599
after 9 -11, it shows the power of comedy. And
00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:43.859
it was absolutely one of the most brilliant documentaries
00:30:43.859 --> 00:30:47.119
and offensive documentaries I've ever seen in
00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:51.339
my life. Agreed on all points. And the thing
00:30:51.339 --> 00:30:55.789
that's so crazy about That joke, and of course
00:30:55.789 --> 00:30:59.349
the brilliant documentary, is that obviously
00:30:59.349 --> 00:31:03.630
the humor of the joke, and so for people who
00:31:03.630 --> 00:31:05.470
are watching this who aren't familiar with it,
00:31:05.529 --> 00:31:09.650
the joke starts out very innocently about a family
00:31:09.650 --> 00:31:12.750
that are auditioning for a vaudeville act, and
00:31:12.750 --> 00:31:15.009
they call themselves the Aristocrats, which makes
00:31:15.009 --> 00:31:17.329
you think it's going to be this highbrow, very
00:31:17.329 --> 00:31:20.170
family -friendly thing, and it devolves into
00:31:20.170 --> 00:31:25.500
this horrendously offensive, and dirty kind of
00:31:25.500 --> 00:31:27.839
you know depending on where you take it the joke
00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:31.720
can go anywhere but it's such a hard joke to
00:31:31.720 --> 00:31:34.940
put your own spin on because it's not just about
00:31:34.940 --> 00:31:37.660
being as filthy as you can you know when you
00:31:37.660 --> 00:31:40.039
watch it you think that's what it is but if you
00:31:40.039 --> 00:31:42.140
really if you try to do that joke to somebody
00:31:42.140 --> 00:31:44.500
and you don't kind of have a direction for it
00:31:44.500 --> 00:31:47.640
and you're just filthy it's not that funny right
00:31:47.640 --> 00:31:49.539
like they're really hot you really there's an
00:31:49.539 --> 00:31:54.420
art to telling That joke and taking it each time
00:31:54.420 --> 00:31:58.359
to another level. But yeah, I mean, that's such
00:31:58.359 --> 00:32:01.559
a great example of what we used to be able to
00:32:01.559 --> 00:32:06.480
do, but we can also still do to this day. But
00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:09.980
I think we kind of we do it a little differently
00:32:09.980 --> 00:32:15.039
now, you know, whereas comics could have a little
00:32:15.039 --> 00:32:18.160
more shock value nowadays, I think. comics sort
00:32:18.160 --> 00:32:21.140
of um still say the same thing but they're maybe
00:32:21.140 --> 00:32:23.680
a little more clever about it right i mean there's
00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:25.779
still some guys who can pull stuff like that
00:32:25.779 --> 00:32:29.319
off but um i find obviously nowadays crowds are
00:32:29.319 --> 00:32:31.900
a little more sensitive and that's okay because
00:32:31.900 --> 00:32:34.519
just like anything you evolve with the times
00:32:34.519 --> 00:32:37.740
and i find i could still say the same things
00:32:37.740 --> 00:32:41.480
i've said for the last 27 years but i say them
00:32:41.480 --> 00:32:44.240
a little differently and they're i think they're
00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:47.759
even funnier now because now there's a an underlayer
00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:51.220
so if you get the the surface laugh that's cool
00:32:51.220 --> 00:32:53.619
but then there's one underneath it that you're
00:32:53.619 --> 00:32:56.759
not saying out loud but that people who get it
00:32:56.759 --> 00:33:00.259
know you know so but that's the beauty of comedy
00:33:00.259 --> 00:33:02.599
like you know the more layers there is to it
00:33:02.599 --> 00:33:05.579
um and again i love absurdity so the more absurd
00:33:05.579 --> 00:33:07.960
something is the funnier it's going to be to
00:33:07.960 --> 00:33:11.559
me well so far we've visited detroit rock city
00:33:11.559 --> 00:33:13.960
with kiss and made saturday morning cartoons
00:33:13.960 --> 00:33:17.910
a staple with the Looney Tunes. Next, we'll have
00:33:17.910 --> 00:33:21.829
a little cold slither with G .I. Joe and I got
00:33:21.829 --> 00:33:23.710
nothing for olive loaf other than questions.
00:33:23.869 --> 00:33:27.470
So there's that and so much more coming up on
00:33:27.470 --> 00:33:37.829
The Room We Wanted. Welcome back to The Room
00:33:37.829 --> 00:33:40.210
We Wanted. I'm Brian Colburn, along with Jay
00:33:40.210 --> 00:33:42.730
Sweet. And tonight, our roommate is comedian
00:33:42.730 --> 00:33:46.450
and rock encyclopedia Don Jameson, who has two
00:33:46.450 --> 00:33:50.049
new comedy albums out now, Terrorizing Telemarketers
00:33:50.049 --> 00:33:54.730
Volume 8 and Comedy Is Killing Me. Yes. And these
00:33:54.730 --> 00:33:57.670
are two very different approaches to comedy.
00:33:57.789 --> 00:34:00.950
One is road tested, worked out before the album
00:34:00.950 --> 00:34:03.650
gets recorded, while the other is essentially
00:34:03.650 --> 00:34:06.829
is on the spot as you can get. Do you feel like
00:34:06.829 --> 00:34:09.610
you're flexing completely different comedic muscles
00:34:09.610 --> 00:34:13.429
when you produce these? Yes, and my cat, if you
00:34:13.429 --> 00:34:16.110
can hear, obviously agrees because he's screaming
00:34:16.110 --> 00:34:20.630
outside my door, but he's a big fan of mine.
00:34:20.949 --> 00:34:24.269
Yeah, so obviously the live stage is really where
00:34:24.269 --> 00:34:26.349
you get your rocks off, right? I mean, that's
00:34:26.349 --> 00:34:29.090
where you make your bones, in front of a crowd,
00:34:29.190 --> 00:34:31.630
and you either make them laugh or you don't,
00:34:31.630 --> 00:34:35.119
but the response is immediate. That's sort of
00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:36.860
the you know, it's that's the walking at the
00:34:36.860 --> 00:34:40.099
tightrope comedically. But Jim and I just started
00:34:40.099 --> 00:34:43.099
messing with telemarketers to tell each other
00:34:43.099 --> 00:34:45.719
funny stories when we would drive three, four
00:34:45.719 --> 00:34:48.360
hours to these godforsaken gigs that we used
00:34:48.360 --> 00:34:51.539
to do, you know, back in the day. And then a
00:34:51.539 --> 00:34:53.460
light bulb eventually goes on and we're like,
00:34:53.539 --> 00:34:56.599
wait a minute, maybe we should record these and
00:34:56.599 --> 00:34:59.599
put them out, you know. And so this is volume
00:34:59.599 --> 00:35:03.269
eight of these calls that that. Apparently, people
00:35:03.269 --> 00:35:06.769
are not sick of, which is incredible that, you
00:35:06.769 --> 00:35:09.369
know, it debuted at number one on the iTunes
00:35:09.369 --> 00:35:12.329
charts when it came out. And so, you know, it
00:35:12.329 --> 00:35:14.289
just goes to prove, you know, prank calls and
00:35:14.289 --> 00:35:18.309
farts are always going to be funny. Yeah, we
00:35:18.309 --> 00:35:21.710
started with acts like the Jerky Boys and even,
00:35:21.909 --> 00:35:24.449
you know, for those of the older generations
00:35:24.449 --> 00:35:27.829
who remember FM radio, we had Scott Shannon and
00:35:27.829 --> 00:35:30.820
Todd Pettengill down at WPLJ in New York. And
00:35:30.820 --> 00:35:33.980
they would do a daily phone scam that was just,
00:35:34.059 --> 00:35:36.179
I mean, they would just call people and it was
00:35:36.179 --> 00:35:39.559
hilarious. Now, a little peek behind the curtain,
00:35:39.639 --> 00:35:43.239
kids. The FCC has regulations. You can't just
00:35:43.239 --> 00:35:45.980
necessarily call somebody and start riffing on
00:35:45.980 --> 00:35:48.059
them and play that back on the air. So you kind
00:35:48.059 --> 00:35:49.900
of do have to get some permissions and you kind
00:35:49.900 --> 00:35:52.719
of have to let people know what's going on. But
00:35:52.719 --> 00:35:56.219
who doesn't want to tell off a spam caller or
00:35:56.219 --> 00:35:59.309
robocaller whenever your phone rings? Yeah, Jay,
00:35:59.510 --> 00:36:02.170
I mean, that's the thing. I mean, our twist on
00:36:02.170 --> 00:36:04.750
the prank call, because obviously we didn't invent
00:36:04.750 --> 00:36:07.510
it, and the Jerky Boys really are the kings of
00:36:07.510 --> 00:36:10.710
it, but our twist is that they call us. And so
00:36:10.710 --> 00:36:14.690
when you decide to enter our world, we can't
00:36:14.690 --> 00:36:17.030
be held responsible for what goes down after
00:36:17.030 --> 00:36:19.349
that. That's right. Now, I know this might sound
00:36:19.349 --> 00:36:22.599
like a stupid question, but hear me out. Do you
00:36:22.599 --> 00:36:26.019
have to get permission from these telemarketers
00:36:26.019 --> 00:36:29.639
because they're calling you? So the burden's
00:36:29.639 --> 00:36:32.860
kind of on them. Yeah, that's exactly, you know,
00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:35.480
we try to get permissions when we can, but they're,
00:36:35.480 --> 00:36:38.659
you know, they're, um, as you can imagine, they're
00:36:38.659 --> 00:36:42.780
generally not eager to hear from us again. Sure.
00:36:43.300 --> 00:36:45.659
And that's, that's the thing is whereas Scott
00:36:45.659 --> 00:36:48.380
and Todd used to do like setups, right. Or, or
00:36:48.380 --> 00:36:50.199
even the jerky boys to some extent would have
00:36:50.199 --> 00:36:52.940
some certain amount of setup there. these telemarketers
00:36:52.940 --> 00:36:54.840
don't know that it's coming. And if you right
00:36:54.840 --> 00:36:56.380
away, when you pick up the phone and you're like,
00:36:56.460 --> 00:36:58.880
oh, hey, this is Don Jameson. Thanks for calling
00:36:58.880 --> 00:37:00.139
you. Now you're going to get recorded and put
00:37:00.139 --> 00:37:02.280
on a comedy bit. They're going to hang up and
00:37:02.280 --> 00:37:04.500
it's not going to be as funny. So talk a little
00:37:04.500 --> 00:37:07.019
bit about navigating that fine line. Yeah. And
00:37:07.019 --> 00:37:11.079
it's just, again, they're such an easy target,
00:37:11.219 --> 00:37:14.920
right? Because nobody likes telemarketers. And
00:37:14.920 --> 00:37:17.639
most people, because we're in the digital age
00:37:17.639 --> 00:37:21.769
now, are on the do not call list. Me and Florentine
00:37:21.769 --> 00:37:26.809
are on the please call list. So we get together
00:37:26.809 --> 00:37:29.369
like we're we get together almost like we're
00:37:29.369 --> 00:37:32.030
a band recording an album, you know, like I'll
00:37:32.030 --> 00:37:35.889
go to Jim's house and he's got a landline still.
00:37:35.969 --> 00:37:38.909
And even if a couple of years goes by between
00:37:38.909 --> 00:37:41.889
albums. the minute i'll go to his house and we
00:37:41.889 --> 00:37:44.550
plug in the landline within 30 seconds the phone's
00:37:44.550 --> 00:37:47.590
ringing again oh of course wow these telemarketers
00:37:47.590 --> 00:37:50.210
are relentless and sometimes we get the same
00:37:50.210 --> 00:37:53.909
company over and over and it'll be funny like
00:37:53.909 --> 00:37:56.949
you know they'll go uh yeah hi is this so and
00:37:56.949 --> 00:37:59.369
so and go yeah yeah this is them and they'll
00:37:59.369 --> 00:38:02.650
go uh yeah one of my associates called here um
00:38:03.280 --> 00:38:05.179
Looks like a few years ago. And it seemed like
00:38:05.179 --> 00:38:07.420
there was a problem. And we're like, no, we don't
00:38:07.420 --> 00:38:09.380
remember any problem. Let's let's try to get
00:38:09.380 --> 00:38:12.000
this. And then, you know, and then they get suckered
00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:14.860
in, you know, because they don't know what happened
00:38:14.860 --> 00:38:17.239
two years ago. And that that call probably made
00:38:17.239 --> 00:38:21.659
it on an album. But yeah, it's funny, too, because,
00:38:21.659 --> 00:38:25.300
you know, we've been doing these for 20 years
00:38:25.300 --> 00:38:29.019
or something now. And Jim has a son who's 15
00:38:29.019 --> 00:38:32.739
now. And when we go down in his basement. and
00:38:32.739 --> 00:38:35.739
record these, his son, Luke stands at the top
00:38:35.739 --> 00:38:37.679
of the steps and he invites his friends over
00:38:37.679 --> 00:38:39.699
and they stand up there and they giggle. And
00:38:39.699 --> 00:38:42.340
I'm like, this is our target audience. I hope
00:38:42.340 --> 00:38:46.199
you know that. Like our humor appeals to 15 year
00:38:46.199 --> 00:38:50.239
old boys. So I have talked to my, my daughter's
00:38:50.239 --> 00:38:52.840
a huge fan of impractical jokers. She loves that
00:38:52.840 --> 00:38:55.960
show on true TV. We watch it all the time. She
00:38:55.960 --> 00:38:58.280
asked me one day, do you think there's ever a
00:38:58.280 --> 00:39:01.090
point? where people know who they're dealing
00:39:01.090 --> 00:39:02.949
with. And I said, well, because they're on TV,
00:39:03.190 --> 00:39:05.329
there is a chance that some of the people that
00:39:05.329 --> 00:39:08.110
walk up know what they're getting into and play
00:39:08.110 --> 00:39:11.989
along to it. Has there ever been a time where
00:39:11.989 --> 00:39:15.309
a telemarketer has called you and been like,
00:39:15.389 --> 00:39:18.489
wait a minute, is this Don and Jim? Like, did
00:39:18.489 --> 00:39:21.550
you ever have that moment happen? It's really
00:39:21.550 --> 00:39:26.660
more Jim's voice because Jim has such that. incredibly
00:39:26.660 --> 00:39:30.840
deep you know scratchy voice and so yeah we it
00:39:30.840 --> 00:39:33.059
happens pretty much every time i make an album
00:39:33.059 --> 00:39:36.860
somebody goes is this jim florentine and so then
00:39:36.860 --> 00:39:39.000
you know you know but he'll you know he'll go
00:39:39.000 --> 00:39:44.800
no which which a telemarketer obviously hears
00:39:44.800 --> 00:39:47.920
as yes because it's such a distinctive voice
00:39:47.920 --> 00:39:50.960
so yeah i mean so those calls obviously never
00:39:50.960 --> 00:39:54.630
make the record but we did have a guy once who
00:39:54.630 --> 00:39:57.889
came to a show we played together at a show somewhere
00:39:57.889 --> 00:40:01.210
in the Midwest. And he was one of the telemarketers
00:40:01.210 --> 00:40:05.110
that made it on our album. And he said, he goes,
00:40:05.210 --> 00:40:07.889
yeah, my, he goes, my friend called me and he's
00:40:07.889 --> 00:40:10.090
like, I think this is you on the member used
00:40:10.090 --> 00:40:11.909
to be a telemarketer, right? I think this is
00:40:11.909 --> 00:40:15.110
you on this, this crazy album. And he listened
00:40:15.110 --> 00:40:17.250
to it and it was him and he really loved it.
00:40:17.309 --> 00:40:19.610
And he came down and, you know, we had a great
00:40:19.610 --> 00:40:22.079
time with him. Of course we bought him drinks
00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:23.739
because, you know, we didn't know if he had a
00:40:23.739 --> 00:40:26.480
lawyer waiting around the corner. Of course.
00:40:27.639 --> 00:40:31.119
Well, we've talked about Kiss. We've talked about
00:40:31.119 --> 00:40:34.760
the Looney Tunes. Let's get into the stuff. G
00:40:34.760 --> 00:40:38.519
.I. Joe. Don, were you the kind of kid that kept
00:40:38.519 --> 00:40:41.860
your figures pristine or were they immediately
00:40:41.860 --> 00:40:46.039
getting thrown into the mud and attached to fireworks
00:40:46.039 --> 00:40:50.099
in the backyard? Okay. So, so I'm somewhere in
00:40:50.099 --> 00:40:52.860
the middle there. Okay. Yeah. I wouldn't attach.
00:40:53.199 --> 00:40:56.260
I'm to this day. I'm still terrified of fireworks,
00:40:56.380 --> 00:40:59.699
but you know, I wanted my GI Joe's to last, but
00:40:59.699 --> 00:41:02.219
I also wanted to put him in the GI Joe helicopter
00:41:02.219 --> 00:41:07.539
and throw him off a cliff. Of course. So that's
00:41:07.539 --> 00:41:09.380
where, yeah, that's where I was. But yeah, that
00:41:09.380 --> 00:41:11.860
was, you know, again for, I mean, people listening
00:41:11.860 --> 00:41:14.119
to this are probably will be old enough to remember
00:41:14.119 --> 00:41:17.840
GI Joe. He's been downsized since then, I think,
00:41:17.880 --> 00:41:20.960
right? But when we were kids, it was, you know,
00:41:20.980 --> 00:41:23.780
a good 12 -inch tall action figure, and then
00:41:23.780 --> 00:41:26.239
there was different outfits and this and that.
00:41:26.380 --> 00:41:29.619
But, man, that was amazing, you know, because
00:41:29.619 --> 00:41:34.019
what video games did I have back then? Pong from
00:41:34.019 --> 00:41:37.900
Atari? So, you know, the best option was to be
00:41:37.900 --> 00:41:40.559
outside, and what better toy to have, especially
00:41:40.559 --> 00:41:43.070
if you grew up in the suburbs like I did. And,
00:41:43.070 --> 00:41:44.929
you know, there was there was a lot of forest
00:41:44.929 --> 00:41:47.130
and there was beach and everything where I grew
00:41:47.130 --> 00:41:50.030
up in New Jersey. So G .I. Joe was the all terrain
00:41:50.030 --> 00:41:52.269
toy. You know, you had the G .I. Joe Jeep. You
00:41:52.269 --> 00:41:55.730
had the helicopter, the toy himself. The G .I.
00:41:55.769 --> 00:41:59.050
Joe himself was real solid. And so, you know,
00:41:59.050 --> 00:42:03.170
I always loved him, you know. And so I was simultaneously
00:42:03.170 --> 00:42:07.329
obsessed with G .I. Joe. And I was in the Kiss
00:42:07.329 --> 00:42:10.309
Army at the same time. Well, that's a win. A
00:42:10.309 --> 00:42:12.210
moment of silence, by the way, for all of the
00:42:12.210 --> 00:42:14.650
accessories and the G .I. Joes left behind in
00:42:14.650 --> 00:42:17.570
those forests or on that beach. Yeah, and we
00:42:17.570 --> 00:42:20.750
thank you for your service, G .I. Joe. Looking
00:42:20.750 --> 00:42:23.829
back, were you actually playing with the G .I.
00:42:23.869 --> 00:42:26.130
Joes or creating your own or directing a very
00:42:26.130 --> 00:42:29.469
low budget G .I. Joe action movie? Or were you
00:42:29.469 --> 00:42:31.510
following along with storylines from the cartoon,
00:42:31.650 --> 00:42:34.929
maybe? No, you know, I don't really remember
00:42:34.929 --> 00:42:38.309
the cartoon so much. Um, yeah, I think I was,
00:42:38.409 --> 00:42:41.389
you know, I was my own little, you know, you
00:42:41.389 --> 00:42:44.590
know, Martin Scorsese of, uh, GI Joe films, you
00:42:44.590 --> 00:42:47.590
know, me and my friends would come up with different
00:42:47.590 --> 00:42:50.349
concepts and, uh, yeah, but there, and they're
00:42:50.349 --> 00:42:53.329
always just like, um, you know, like any of the
00:42:53.329 --> 00:42:56.269
old fun action shows when we grew up, like Duke's
00:42:56.269 --> 00:42:58.369
a hazard, you know, there had to be some kind
00:42:58.369 --> 00:43:02.519
of crazy stunt. in our little movie. And yeah,
00:43:02.579 --> 00:43:05.199
that would always include the helicopter or the
00:43:05.199 --> 00:43:08.320
Jeep or something like that, or at least a good
00:43:08.320 --> 00:43:12.619
fistfight between opposing G .I. Joes. Now, was
00:43:12.619 --> 00:43:15.679
there ever a point that you cross -pollinated
00:43:15.679 --> 00:43:19.000
your toys where, like you mentioned, Duke's a
00:43:19.000 --> 00:43:22.159
hazard? Was G .I. Joe ever hopping into General
00:43:22.159 --> 00:43:25.409
Lee and taking it for a spin? I don't think we
00:43:25.409 --> 00:43:27.309
didn't have that many toys back then, you know,
00:43:27.309 --> 00:43:30.590
to, to cross pollinate really. So usually toys
00:43:30.590 --> 00:43:34.409
had their own era, you know? So it was like,
00:43:34.409 --> 00:43:37.130
you know, hair metal had its era and then grunge
00:43:37.130 --> 00:43:39.750
came in, then new metal was like, you know, GI
00:43:39.750 --> 00:43:42.070
Joe, and then the next toy and then the next
00:43:42.070 --> 00:43:45.869
toy after that. But, um, I can't really think
00:43:45.869 --> 00:43:49.690
of, uh, what else, you know, you know, I was
00:43:49.690 --> 00:43:53.289
a bit of a book geek when I was a kid. So when
00:43:53.289 --> 00:43:56.300
I wasn't out, doing something outside, which,
00:43:56.340 --> 00:43:58.980
you know, was usually if it wasn't GI Joe's,
00:43:58.980 --> 00:44:01.380
it was playing sports or whatever. I was in my
00:44:01.380 --> 00:44:04.000
room, um, either, you know, listening to kiss
00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:07.940
or reading Hardy boys. Mystery. Yeah. So I was,
00:44:07.940 --> 00:44:10.460
uh, that, that, that's the cross pollination
00:44:10.460 --> 00:44:13.119
is, uh, go do something, you know, go kill your
00:44:13.119 --> 00:44:17.000
GI Joe and then, uh, get lost in some good teenage
00:44:17.000 --> 00:44:19.980
literature. And as a child who grew up in the
00:44:19.980 --> 00:44:22.780
80s, it was almost the antithesis to that because
00:44:22.780 --> 00:44:26.119
I grew up with nothing but commercials, cartoons,
00:44:26.480 --> 00:44:30.739
toys between He -Man, G .I. Joe, Transformers.
00:44:30.739 --> 00:44:32.920
And then even if you think about from the female
00:44:32.920 --> 00:44:35.619
side of the perspective, you had Barbies and
00:44:35.619 --> 00:44:38.639
Cabbage Patch Kids and maybe Transformers. I
00:44:38.639 --> 00:44:40.360
don't know. Strawberry Shortcake. Strawberry
00:44:40.360 --> 00:44:42.340
Shortcake. My Little Pony. There you go. Like
00:44:42.340 --> 00:44:44.920
there was just an onslaught of things. And I
00:44:44.920 --> 00:44:48.119
think that's a really interesting. perspective
00:44:48.119 --> 00:44:51.800
from being a child in the 70s to the early 80s
00:44:51.800 --> 00:44:54.960
just in those couple of years the toy company
00:44:54.960 --> 00:44:57.420
said let's just flood it and that's what happened
00:44:57.420 --> 00:44:59.420
yeah and that's what i was going to say too i
00:44:59.420 --> 00:45:02.460
think it got infinitely more fun for us when
00:45:02.460 --> 00:45:06.400
my buddy next door got himself a vhs recorder
00:45:06.400 --> 00:45:10.940
camcorder and we would then buy um you know model
00:45:10.940 --> 00:45:14.719
airplanes and set them on fire throw them film
00:45:14.719 --> 00:45:16.559
the whole thing in super slow -mo look at the
00:45:16.559 --> 00:45:20.099
michael bay of the future right here yeah yeah
00:45:20.099 --> 00:45:22.320
yeah we we didn't have that we just you know
00:45:22.320 --> 00:45:24.739
we just did it without the cameras but yeah that
00:45:24.739 --> 00:45:27.139
probably would have taken it up a notch for sure
00:45:27.139 --> 00:45:35.599
well kiss looney tunes gi joe i could speak to
00:45:35.599 --> 00:45:38.260
all of these things but all makes sense olive
00:45:38.260 --> 00:45:42.000
loaf don explain yourself Now, to be fair, I
00:45:42.000 --> 00:45:44.019
know what you're talking about. Oh, I know what
00:45:44.019 --> 00:45:48.599
it is. My father loves him some olive loaf. He
00:45:48.599 --> 00:45:51.199
also loved having the olives with the pimentos
00:45:51.199 --> 00:45:53.539
right out of the jar. He'd eat a whole jar of
00:45:53.539 --> 00:45:57.119
them. And to the day he died, he loved his bologna.
00:45:57.340 --> 00:45:59.800
So it was certainly in my life. But when I think
00:45:59.800 --> 00:46:02.699
about the food I love as a kid, I don't know.
00:46:02.980 --> 00:46:05.920
That's not one of them. Yeah, well, when we were
00:46:05.920 --> 00:46:09.019
discussing what the taste thing would be, to
00:46:09.019 --> 00:46:11.980
me, I just said olive loaf is funnier, right?
00:46:12.159 --> 00:46:17.659
It really was. For, again, a 12 -year -old kid,
00:46:17.920 --> 00:46:24.059
it was this bizarre combination of, I guess,
00:46:24.099 --> 00:46:27.320
sort of a vegetable with sort of a meat. And
00:46:27.320 --> 00:46:30.019
for people who don't know what olive loaf is,
00:46:30.119 --> 00:46:34.320
it was basically like a bologna with... Olive
00:46:34.320 --> 00:46:38.920
sliced very thinly that was sort of cooked into
00:46:38.920 --> 00:46:43.320
the cold cut of the of the bologna. And so you
00:46:43.320 --> 00:46:46.880
had this this thing called olive loaf. And, you
00:46:46.880 --> 00:46:53.250
know, it was probably disgusting, but. But as
00:46:53.250 --> 00:46:56.230
a kid, again, it was like Kiss. It's the combination
00:46:56.230 --> 00:47:00.449
of rock stars and comic book heroes and superheroes.
00:47:01.250 --> 00:47:04.769
So olive loaf was this great combination of bologna
00:47:04.769 --> 00:47:09.510
and olives, and you put it on a sandwich with
00:47:09.510 --> 00:47:14.010
mustard, and it was allegedly good. But I don't
00:47:14.010 --> 00:47:16.230
know how much I actually enjoyed it. I think
00:47:16.230 --> 00:47:19.429
I enjoyed the idea of it more than the actual
00:47:19.429 --> 00:47:22.690
taste. When my mom used to take me to the butcher
00:47:22.690 --> 00:47:24.610
shop. Remember you used to go to the butcher
00:47:24.610 --> 00:47:27.869
shop? Oh, yeah. Yes. We got to go to the butcher's.
00:47:27.869 --> 00:47:31.090
I got to get some ribs or, you know, some pork
00:47:31.090 --> 00:47:35.409
loin or a London broil. And your mom would always
00:47:35.409 --> 00:47:39.110
say to the butcher, get a slice of olive loaf.
00:47:39.769 --> 00:47:42.190
Because I'm sure I was a pain in the ass and
00:47:42.190 --> 00:47:45.170
pulling on her pant leg when we going home. And
00:47:45.170 --> 00:47:47.230
so the butcher would come out with a little slice
00:47:47.230 --> 00:47:50.500
of olive loaf and you'd be so happy. You'd eat
00:47:50.500 --> 00:47:52.679
it and you'd be quiet for 20 seconds, which really
00:47:52.679 --> 00:47:56.059
was what the purpose of olive loaf was. Now,
00:47:56.079 --> 00:47:59.659
if only they marketed it as olive loaf, the kiss
00:47:59.659 --> 00:48:01.780
behind the deli counter, you'd still be eating
00:48:01.780 --> 00:48:05.219
it today. Well, I didn't need that back then,
00:48:05.340 --> 00:48:08.900
but yeah, I mean, it is all about the marketing
00:48:08.900 --> 00:48:10.559
at the end of the day. I could have been in the
00:48:10.559 --> 00:48:12.760
olive loaf army, so things could have been worse.
00:48:13.820 --> 00:48:17.139
Look, you got bologna? Good. That's all right.
00:48:17.199 --> 00:48:19.079
If you like hot dogs, you like bologna, right?
00:48:19.219 --> 00:48:21.440
A little mortadella, maybe. Olives, always good.
00:48:21.559 --> 00:48:23.880
Love every kind of olive. I'll eat any olive,
00:48:23.960 --> 00:48:27.019
but not necessarily together. What kind of a
00:48:27.019 --> 00:48:29.340
cheese would you pair with? Did you eat your
00:48:29.340 --> 00:48:33.519
sandwiches with cheese? Oh, there would never,
00:48:33.719 --> 00:48:38.019
ever be an instance. Where a sandwich wouldn't
00:48:38.019 --> 00:48:39.980
have cheese on it when I was a kid. I mean, there
00:48:39.980 --> 00:48:42.679
was just, there would be no possible way. So.
00:48:42.780 --> 00:48:45.800
Peanut butter, jelly. Cheese. Yeah. Tuna fish.
00:48:45.840 --> 00:48:48.360
But it has to be American cheese, right? Yeah.
00:48:48.840 --> 00:48:51.199
Well, we didn't have that many cheeses back then,
00:48:51.239 --> 00:48:53.780
right? We didn't have, you know, frigging gluten
00:48:53.780 --> 00:48:57.559
-free plant -based Gouda back then. That's right.
00:48:57.880 --> 00:49:00.980
It was those frigging 12 slices in the package
00:49:00.980 --> 00:49:03.719
of American cheese. And that was it. You know,
00:49:03.719 --> 00:49:06.079
that was your choice. So yeah, always a cheese
00:49:06.079 --> 00:49:08.980
accompaniment. And we only had one mustard. We
00:49:08.980 --> 00:49:10.980
only had the yellow mustard. We didn't even have
00:49:10.980 --> 00:49:14.400
the Dijon or any of that stuff. So if you wanted
00:49:14.400 --> 00:49:16.119
the special stuff, you had to go to the deli.
00:49:16.199 --> 00:49:19.519
Yes, exactly. Well, now that my appetite's up,
00:49:19.679 --> 00:49:24.380
we've yo -yoed with G .I. Joe and I still have
00:49:24.380 --> 00:49:27.019
nothing for olive loaf. When we get back, we're
00:49:27.019 --> 00:49:29.000
going to tie together all the things we've talked
00:49:29.000 --> 00:49:31.300
about tonight. So stay tuned because there's
00:49:31.300 --> 00:49:41.619
much more to come. on The Room We Wanted. Welcome
00:49:41.619 --> 00:49:44.000
back to The Room We Wanted. I'm Brian Colburn,
00:49:44.119 --> 00:49:46.719
along with Jay Sweet. And once again, our roommate
00:49:46.719 --> 00:49:50.039
tonight is comedian and rock encyclopedia Don
00:49:50.039 --> 00:49:53.179
Jameson, who has two new comedy albums out now,
00:49:53.400 --> 00:49:57.099
Terrorizing Telemarketers, Volume 8, and Comedy
00:49:57.099 --> 00:49:59.840
Is Killing Me. Now, Don, there's no way we were
00:49:59.840 --> 00:50:01.820
getting through this conversation tonight without
00:50:01.820 --> 00:50:03.679
talking about, and you brought it up earlier,
00:50:03.760 --> 00:50:06.300
but I was going to save it for now, the brilliance
00:50:06.300 --> 00:50:09.940
of your comedy album covers. Over the years,
00:50:10.039 --> 00:50:13.820
you have tipped the proverbial hat to Judas Priest,
00:50:14.199 --> 00:50:19.519
Saxon, Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, and now the incredible
00:50:19.519 --> 00:50:22.780
typo negative gets the nod with Comedy Is Killing
00:50:22.780 --> 00:50:25.559
Me. Back when you were on My Weekly Mixtape,
00:50:25.639 --> 00:50:29.099
we talked about how Motorhead gave you the original
00:50:29.099 --> 00:50:32.360
album art from No Sleep Till Hammersmith to work
00:50:32.360 --> 00:50:35.500
up for your album, No Sleep Till McSorley's.
00:50:35.920 --> 00:50:39.800
So when you decided to do the Life Is Killing
00:50:39.800 --> 00:50:43.780
Me homage, did you have to get Typo's blessing
00:50:43.780 --> 00:50:47.920
to use the artwork? And if so, was there involvement
00:50:47.920 --> 00:50:51.280
anywhere as deep as it was when you worked with
00:50:51.280 --> 00:50:55.820
Motorhead? Yeah, same process. You know, I mean,
00:50:55.840 --> 00:50:59.380
I think, you know, I could probably use some
00:50:59.380 --> 00:51:01.360
of this artwork anyway, because there's there
00:51:01.360 --> 00:51:05.860
are parody laws. But because I've been so tight
00:51:05.860 --> 00:51:08.500
with the Motorhead camp, I, you know, want to
00:51:08.500 --> 00:51:10.980
be respectful, obviously, and ask permission
00:51:10.980 --> 00:51:14.599
to. I would have never thought in a million years
00:51:14.599 --> 00:51:16.980
they would have given me the actual original
00:51:16.980 --> 00:51:20.719
artwork of No Sleep Till Hammersmith to use and
00:51:20.719 --> 00:51:23.940
Photoshop myself into. And with Type O Negative,
00:51:24.119 --> 00:51:27.579
same thing. I know the guys in the band. I know
00:51:27.579 --> 00:51:29.840
their manager. And so I just wanted to get their
00:51:29.840 --> 00:51:33.019
blessing. The one guy I didn't know really is
00:51:33.019 --> 00:51:38.059
Josh, the keyboard player. Because I don't know
00:51:38.059 --> 00:51:40.579
him, but from what I've understood over the years
00:51:40.579 --> 00:51:42.920
is he might be a little temperamental. And so
00:51:42.920 --> 00:51:45.639
I didn't know how he'd feel about a comedian
00:51:45.639 --> 00:51:50.360
using this type of stuff for a comedy album.
00:51:50.619 --> 00:51:54.780
And luckily, Josh was all in. And so I'm so grateful
00:51:54.780 --> 00:51:58.039
to those guys for that. But the other tie -in
00:51:58.039 --> 00:52:01.139
is that I recorded the album and the special
00:52:01.139 --> 00:52:05.699
at a place called Duff's. in Brooklyn, which
00:52:05.699 --> 00:52:09.679
was Tybo's favorite bar to hang out in. And it's
00:52:09.679 --> 00:52:12.820
a real museum to hard rock and heavy metal. And
00:52:12.820 --> 00:52:17.059
so it all sort of fit together in my mind that
00:52:17.059 --> 00:52:20.260
I want to do this and pay tribute to Tybo Negative,
00:52:20.480 --> 00:52:24.059
who I always loved. And I mean, even the name
00:52:24.059 --> 00:52:28.239
Life is Killing Me is so funny and clever. as
00:52:28.239 --> 00:52:30.460
an album title. And so I just made it comedy
00:52:30.460 --> 00:52:32.619
is killing me. And at the end of the special,
00:52:32.760 --> 00:52:36.360
I actually do die. So for people who don't like
00:52:36.360 --> 00:52:38.079
me, you probably still want to get my special
00:52:38.079 --> 00:52:41.340
because at the end I perish. Now, as somebody
00:52:41.340 --> 00:52:43.980
who is a massive typo negative fan, I've seen
00:52:43.980 --> 00:52:46.980
the band countless times over the years. This
00:52:46.980 --> 00:52:49.380
is a band that means a lot to me. I was so happy
00:52:49.380 --> 00:52:53.079
when I saw that you were parodying them. I just
00:52:53.079 --> 00:52:56.980
want to thank you for not. parodying the origin
00:52:56.980 --> 00:53:01.039
of the feces as the album cover. Anyone who's
00:53:01.039 --> 00:53:03.780
a typo negative fan knows what I mean by that.
00:53:03.840 --> 00:53:06.980
I mean the original. Oh yeah. Yeah. Nobody needs
00:53:06.980 --> 00:53:10.659
to see, um, my butt cheeks spread apart. Uh,
00:53:10.880 --> 00:53:15.380
even, even, uh, even at a colonoscopy, you know,
00:53:15.460 --> 00:53:17.880
you, it's like looking at the sun. You just will
00:53:17.880 --> 00:53:21.900
look quick and look away. But, um, yeah you know
00:53:21.900 --> 00:53:25.019
those guys had always had such a tongue -in -cheek
00:53:25.019 --> 00:53:27.480
humor too so that's you know that was another
00:53:27.480 --> 00:53:30.619
reason that you know i it was such a great fit
00:53:30.619 --> 00:53:35.059
to do this and um this is an album that that
00:53:35.059 --> 00:53:38.760
they don't really like that much and so that
00:53:38.760 --> 00:53:40.920
was the other thing i was nervous about is i
00:53:40.920 --> 00:53:44.940
i think they went through a lot of um drama making
00:53:44.940 --> 00:53:48.340
this album and i think this album is really brilliant
00:53:48.780 --> 00:53:52.780
But they don't like this album. And so that was
00:53:52.780 --> 00:53:54.679
something I was nervous about. I was like, they
00:53:54.679 --> 00:53:57.219
might come back to me and they want me to do
00:53:57.219 --> 00:54:00.780
something like Bloody Kisses or another album
00:54:00.780 --> 00:54:03.639
that maybe they had a more pleasant experience
00:54:03.639 --> 00:54:07.920
making. But to me, this totally tied in because
00:54:07.920 --> 00:54:13.340
really, as being a white heterosexual male doing
00:54:13.340 --> 00:54:17.110
comedy in 2026, That line right there could go
00:54:17.110 --> 00:54:20.469
flatline at any moment. So it's kind of fitting.
00:54:20.769 --> 00:54:24.969
This album could have been the end of my career,
00:54:25.070 --> 00:54:29.250
but somehow I continue on, which is great. Always.
00:54:29.449 --> 00:54:32.349
All right. Here's how it boils down. When you
00:54:32.349 --> 00:54:35.230
think about Kisses Destroyer, you've got Looney
00:54:35.230 --> 00:54:38.250
Tunes, Bugs Bunnies, Comedy Genius, G .I. Joe,
00:54:38.469 --> 00:54:42.150
and Olive Loaf. Do you think there's one that's
00:54:42.150 --> 00:54:45.010
had the biggest impact on your life as an adult?
00:54:45.340 --> 00:54:47.079
Or have they all kind of stayed with you in different
00:54:47.079 --> 00:54:51.139
ways? There you go. It always comes back. It
00:54:51.139 --> 00:54:54.780
really does. I mean, all roads lead back to this
00:54:54.780 --> 00:54:59.360
because I'd never seen this. I might have been,
00:54:59.360 --> 00:55:03.659
you know, doing something, you know, I grew up
00:55:03.659 --> 00:55:07.559
in a very blue collar house. My father was, you
00:55:07.559 --> 00:55:10.659
know, the ultimate hardworking man, the ultimate
00:55:10.659 --> 00:55:14.530
man's man. He climbed telephone poles for a living.
00:55:14.670 --> 00:55:17.949
He was very mechanically inclined. He desperately
00:55:17.949 --> 00:55:23.590
tried to get me to my mind to work that way when
00:55:23.590 --> 00:55:26.170
I was a kid and when I was a teenager and growing
00:55:26.170 --> 00:55:31.050
up. And it just my mind was always less linear
00:55:31.050 --> 00:55:34.389
and way more sort of creative and thinking outside
00:55:34.389 --> 00:55:37.429
of the box. But the blue collar ethic did stay
00:55:37.429 --> 00:55:40.769
with me, which is probably how I've been able
00:55:40.769 --> 00:55:44.619
to have longevity. in what i do but really you
00:55:44.619 --> 00:55:48.420
know the effect of just seeing this album cover
00:55:48.420 --> 00:55:51.679
sparked something in my mind that said yeah there
00:55:51.679 --> 00:55:55.219
there's so much going on here and i don't want
00:55:55.219 --> 00:55:58.880
you know climbing telephone poles or or working
00:55:58.880 --> 00:56:01.139
you know digging ditches and all those are all
00:56:01.139 --> 00:56:05.119
wonderful um ways to make a living and and and
00:56:05.119 --> 00:56:09.239
making an honest day's wage but my mind was never
00:56:09.239 --> 00:56:11.750
going to work that way and And Kiss Destroyer
00:56:11.750 --> 00:56:14.369
on Locked Out. So how could, come on, how could
00:56:14.369 --> 00:56:18.389
I give any credit to Olive Loaf? Well, I do want
00:56:18.389 --> 00:56:22.210
to take it one step further because your career
00:56:22.210 --> 00:56:26.389
has towed the line between music, rock, and comedy.
00:56:26.550 --> 00:56:30.309
So taking that into consideration, which one
00:56:30.309 --> 00:56:32.869
of these four things do you think shines through
00:56:32.869 --> 00:56:41.260
the most in the comedy side of your career? Well,
00:56:42.880 --> 00:56:46.460
again, I think still Kiss, because in the sense
00:56:46.460 --> 00:56:50.480
of that, my first two albums were Kiss Destroyer
00:56:50.480 --> 00:56:54.320
and George Carlin, Occupation Fool. And so to
00:56:54.320 --> 00:56:59.800
me, those two worlds always collided in my mind.
00:56:59.960 --> 00:57:02.920
I mean, come on. I mean, there's four grown men.
00:57:03.519 --> 00:57:05.820
in sparkly outfits and clown makeup. I mean,
00:57:05.840 --> 00:57:09.340
there is something subliminally funny about this,
00:57:09.420 --> 00:57:13.059
right? And then paired with subversive comedy
00:57:13.059 --> 00:57:16.500
by some of the early greats that we've discussed,
00:57:16.559 --> 00:57:20.840
those two always made sense in my mind. And imagine
00:57:20.840 --> 00:57:24.039
all these years later that, holy crap, I've really
00:57:24.039 --> 00:57:27.289
been able. to make those worlds collide and make
00:57:27.289 --> 00:57:30.349
a living off of it. So yeah, it really all comes
00:57:30.349 --> 00:57:33.070
back to that. So mom, thank you for taking me
00:57:33.070 --> 00:57:36.250
to Woolworths when I was 11 years old and probably
00:57:36.250 --> 00:57:39.530
me begging you like crazy for weeks on end to
00:57:39.530 --> 00:57:42.510
buy me Kiss Destroyer. But look where I am now,
00:57:42.610 --> 00:57:46.969
kids. Right up there on stage, baby. Well, be
00:57:46.969 --> 00:57:49.349
sure to catch Don when he's performing near you
00:57:49.349 --> 00:57:52.150
and check out Rockstrap wherever you listen to
00:57:52.150 --> 00:57:55.510
podcasts. You can stream Terrorizing Telemarketers
00:57:55.510 --> 00:57:58.389
Volume 8 and Comedy Is Killing Me at all the
00:57:58.389 --> 00:58:01.349
places. But let's be honest, vinyl's always better.
00:58:01.530 --> 00:58:05.190
So you can also find Comedy Is Killing Me over
00:58:05.190 --> 00:58:08.969
at experiencevinyl .com. Don, it is always a
00:58:08.969 --> 00:58:11.469
pleasure talking with you. Thank you so much
00:58:11.469 --> 00:58:13.610
for joining us tonight on The Room We Wanted.
00:58:13.809 --> 00:58:15.650
Yeah, you as well. And good luck with the new
00:58:15.650 --> 00:58:18.840
podcast, man. A really lot of fun to walk down
00:58:18.840 --> 00:58:21.539
memory lane. So I really appreciate the time,
00:58:21.639 --> 00:58:24.059
guys. And thanks so much for the support. And
00:58:24.059 --> 00:58:26.619
we appreciate having you. And to the fellow roommates
00:58:26.619 --> 00:58:29.400
listening, you can find The Room We Wanted on
00:58:29.400 --> 00:58:31.800
all your favorite social media haunts at The
00:58:31.800 --> 00:58:34.019
Room We Wanted. But the easiest way to reach
00:58:34.019 --> 00:58:37.480
us is theroomwewanted .com. And if you'd like
00:58:37.480 --> 00:58:40.099
to support the show and join the roommate community,
00:58:40.340 --> 00:58:44.019
you can find us at patreon .com slash theroomwewanted.
00:58:44.360 --> 00:58:46.500
Also, make sure that you subscribe to the show
00:58:46.500 --> 00:58:49.139
wherever you're tuning in. Leave a review along
00:58:49.139 --> 00:58:51.900
with that five star rating and be sure to share
00:58:51.900 --> 00:58:55.179
the show with anyone you know, because knowing
00:58:55.179 --> 00:58:58.159
is half the battle. How long did it take you
00:58:58.159 --> 00:59:00.880
to think that one up? Unfortunately, a lot longer
00:59:00.880 --> 00:59:03.500
than I probably want to admit. But you, sir,
00:59:03.559 --> 00:59:06.219
are the comedian. I am the old school radio guy.
00:59:06.340 --> 00:59:09.760
So you get the Z morning zoo shit out of me.
00:59:09.900 --> 00:59:12.570
You know what? But that stuff's memorable. Yeah,
00:59:12.590 --> 00:59:14.349
the only problem is it's going to be memorable
00:59:14.349 --> 00:59:17.150
in a way they either really, really love or really,
00:59:17.250 --> 00:59:19.869
really hate. No matter what side you're on, if
00:59:19.869 --> 00:59:21.849
you know anyone who you think would make a perfect
00:59:21.849 --> 00:59:24.010
guest for The Room We Wanted, we want to know
00:59:24.010 --> 00:59:26.710
about it. Send us an email at theroomwewanted
00:59:26.710 --> 00:59:29.949
at gmail .com. Check us out there. And thank
00:59:29.949 --> 00:59:31.889
you to everyone for hanging out with us tonight.
00:59:31.969 --> 00:59:34.570
We will see you next time. Be sure to lock the
00:59:34.570 --> 00:59:35.550
door on your way out.