Im willing to admit right now in print that I smoke a lot of pot. It doesnt overwhelm my life so I can safely advocate anyone smoking as much marijuana as they want. That said, please get high and go see The Marijuana-Logues. It is definitely the funniest show I have ever seen in New York City. The show is written and performed by three veteran standup comedians, Arj Barker, Doug Benson and Tony. It originally began as a satire on The Vagina Monologues but it soon developed a life of its own as the three comedians traveled all over America with the show. Now its settled at The Actors' Playhouse in the West Village.
Get tickets for The Marijuana-Logues
Daniel Robert Epstein: I saw the show last Friday and it was hysterical.
Doug Benson: Thanks.
DRE: How long have you been doing this show for?
DB: Three years.
DRE: Did any of you ever expect it become something you kind of do.
DB: Its funny because when the idea first came up between the three of us we thought it could really be something. Then we went through a period of a year or two where we thought it was fun but wouldnt amount to anything. Then a few things happened in a succession where we realized that it is something that people want to see and enjoy. We thought we could make a living from it.
DRE: Were those things that happened the TV appearances?
DB: Yes, the first big thing we did was [Real Time with] Bill Maher. It was the perfect place for us to do it because they didnt censor anything we wanted to say because its HBO and Bill Maher is so pro-pot. That little clip is what the producers in New York saw and got them excited about mounting it in New York. Then they brought in an investor who put some money in it. First we did a few different cities before coming to New York.
DRE: So the New York stage show is what its all been leading up to.
DB: Yeah and hopefully things will get even bigger from there. We wouldnt necessarily expect to move to Broadway but there is definitely a chance for other road companies and appearing in other cities.
DRE: How do you expect to compete with something like STOMP?
DB: [laughs] I wouldnt even dare to try to compete with them. Although once in a while one of us will have a tantrum and stomp around.
DRE: From what I saw in the show it seems like the three of you still make each other laugh with some of the same jokes.
DB: Thats the thing. We know the script so when someone does something different to crack up the other guys onstage or something spontaneous it makes us laugh. There is nothing funnier than when another guy screws up. We all try to get through it with as few mistakes as possible.
DRE: Is there any improvisation?
DB: There is a little bit but we try not to go overboard because its very easy to be self-indulgent and have the audience get frustrated that youre not putting on a professional show. But on the other hand we are talking about potheads who are not the most precision oriented individuals.
DRE: I did some research on you and found that youve been doing standup dating back to at least 1990.
DB: Yeah all three of us have been doing standup for a while and weve been friends for a long time as well. Thats where this came from. All three of us like to do jokes about pot and we like to smoke pot so lets put together a show. It was never an intention that would help us to meet people who like pot and people who like to share their pot. But it has worked out in that way and its been terrific. Like we say in the show, pot smokers are really nice people and fun to hang out with as long as you dont get them started on a story.
DRE: There is a disclaimer at the beginning of the show. Whose idea was that?
DB: Every time we do radio, TV or print the first thing people say is How can you glorify drug use? We say that were sitting there saying that we enjoy doing but it makes you stupid, distracted and lazy. Since were three funny guys saying we like it then I guess that means we are glorifying it. Its something you have to say to get the mainstream media to pick up on it. There is a lot of negative stuff in the show and we have a lot of fun with the idea that we cant remember anything and we compete in dumb-offs.
DRE: The dumb-offs are really funny.
DB: People always love that part because who doesnt have a story of some dumb thing they did when they were high. They usually arent I let a little kid drown or I drove over someone in my car. Those things are made up to scare people.
DRE: Can I tell you a quick dumb-off I did?
DB: Im in Amsterdam and I was sitting in one of the coffee shops really high. They have candles on all the tables and I just playing with a cappuccino spoon by holding it over the flame. A couple seconds later I put the spoon in my mouth.
DB: [laughs] Ouch! Thats nasty. One time the three of us were waiting for an elevator in a hotel where the elevators are notoriously slow. But one day we stood around waiting for 20 minutes then we realized that we hadnt pressed the button.
The thing is that those things can happen when youre not high as well but being high makes it funnier to talk about.
DRE: I just read the story of Bob and David [Mr. Show: What Happened?!] that Naomi Odenkirk wrote. They attributed a lot of their success to their agent, Dave Rath. I saw that he also produces your show.
DB: Hes the managing company behind the show. We have agents, lawyers, accountants, publicists and all that stuff now. But he was Tony and Arjs longtime manager and longtime friend of mine as well. He represents the show.
The genesis of our show was similar to Mr. Show in the sense that there was a space in Los Angeles that no longer exists called The HBO Workspace with 75 seats where HBO used to let people put on shows in the middle of Hollywood. You could put on shows for free if you signed something that let HBO have the first option of turning it into something like a TV show or taking it to their festival in Aspen. We must have done the show there 10 or 12 times over the course of a year and a half. Each time it would be a little different and a little longer. It was a great space to work on it until we could get it good enough to take out on the road. Mr. Show did a few performances at the workspace until it became a series. Los Angeles is a terrible theater town so to get something like this going there is a minor miracle because its too expensive to mount your own production and its difficult to get people to come out and see something. You kind of have to make it in New York then come out to Los Angeles.
DRE: Are the personalities the three of you have onstage similar to your real personalities?
DB: Yeah but probably with a little more arguing than you see onstage. We all have childish personalities and refuse to grow up. There are a lot of friendly insults going on all the time. But basically those are our three exaggerated personalities.
DRE: How tough is it for three comics basically on the same level to work together as much as you guys do?
DB: It isnt that difficult in the sense that we each do get a lot of our own solo moments in the show. So everyone has been pretty agreeable. Thats what weve been working on these last years. Putting everything in an order where nobodys joke steps on someone elses joke or no ones entire piece is similar to someone elses. Weve already limited ourselves to just talking about pot so we have to be very careful. Even though its the one subject matter all the way we have to be careful not to become too repetitive or redundant. Wait, what was the question?
DRE: Do egos ever get involved?
DB: We all have pretty big egos but fortunately it seems to be working out for all three of us. If it was like a band where someone was the main singer I could see where there could be problems but considering the three of us have come along together with one common goal and we all write and perform so we all have our fingerprints on it. Also weve all written really good jokes for each other. One of us will think of something funny for someone else to say but then as soon as you give it to them you regret it because you wish that you were saying it every night. Sometimes rehearsals can be rough and we certainly have spent way too much time together but at this point were having so much fun being in New York that everything has been cancelled. All three of us still like to go out and smoke and drink after the shows together.
DRE: Will you guys really smoke pot with the fans after the show?
DB: Yeah. Several times weve had fans barge right across the stage into the dressing rooms after the show and weve had to tell them to wait outside because were changing. If people hang around weve been known to hang out with them. The trouble in New York of course is that its probably not too wise to stand around smoking pot in front of a big sign with a marijuana leaf on it. We usually move it somewhere else. When we have a two show night people come up to us after the first show and ask us to get high but we say We do want to but we have to go get ready for the second show. Thats when we get phone numbers.
DRE: David Cross has said that people will give him bags of weed sometimes.
DB: Oh yeah and David doesnt ask for it like we do. Weve got jokes in the show where we ask for pot. But even without that I still think theyd give it to us. People are so proud of their pot when they have good weed. They meet somebody like us who makes them laugh, its a very friendly culture, the pothead nation.
DRE: I also read that you have met non-pot smokers that like the show as well.
DB: Oh yeah. We want people to either laugh with us or at us. It doesnt really make a difference, which it is because its impossible to make that distinction when youre on a stage. Since were all nutty stand-ups to begin with we dont care if people show up and go What a dumb bunch of potheads. As long as everyone has fun. We try to keep a balance between saying that pot is a lot of fun to smoke but it does a little bit of a downside or a lot of a downside for some people but not for us not as much.
DRE: I spoke with Patton Oswalt I found that hes not a super funny guy when youre just talking with him. I think he even makes a point to not be really funny in a conversation. Obviously you three take standup very seriously but are you funny when you dont have to be?
DB: Hmmm it depends on what you mean by When you dont have to be. You dont need to be funny to go to the bank or go to the dentist. In those situations people might be surprised to hear that Im a comedian because Im not on all the time and Im not always trying to make people laugh. But when Im out with friends or smoking pot I think I cant help myself. I do always want to entertain. When youre being interviewed you want to give sincere answers and not be flippant. So thats why someone like Patton might turn it down a bit. When youre a comedian you dont get asked serious questions so when it comes up then the jokes fall by the wayside.
DRE: How has it been doing The Marijuana-Logues in New York compared to other cities?
DB: Weve done the show all over the country and even in Canada and we did a festival in Australia. Everywhere we go there are these subtle differences. Everyone loves pot but when we were on the road we were doing mostly comedy clubs so we would get comedy fans that smoke pot whereas in New York were getting a mix of theatre lovers and pot smokers. I know I love getting high and seeing a play. The audiences in New York really listen to every joke and respond accordingly. In comedy clubs we get this continuous raucous din of people ordering drinks and laughing. Its been a lot nicer in New York.
There are regional differences as well. Weve had a line in the show for a long time that foes, You shouldnt hand someone an empty bowl without warning them of its potential cashedness. Apparently people here dont use the expression cashed as much as they do kicked. I changed it to kicked but it still doesnt get that great of response so I think the bottom line is that there are more theatergoers in the audience than were used to. We look out into the crowd and see these middle aged people who probably bought their tickets at the tickets booth in Times Square or they just see everything. People are so much more experimental. They will go see a show about that dont necessarily smoke pot just like conservative people that will buy tickets to a show like Hair to see all the hippies.
DRE: Whats the next medium The Marijuana-Logues could go into?
DB: Theres talk of a feature or a DVD. Who knows? At this point the thing thats exciting for us and the investors is that if its a success Off-Broadway then there is all these possibilities. Even though its just 170-seat theatre in the West Village its opening doors. We could explore the idea of franchising it out internationally like Blue Man Group. It could be Green Man Group.
DRE: Im a big fan of those movies reviews that you do on Bob and Davids website.
DB: Thats a different side. The show is good-natured as opposed to those reviews where I get to be as nasty as I want to be.
DRE: How did you get that gig?
DB: Bob Odenkirk told me that since I like movies so much that why dont I do reviews for the site but just say terrible things about everything. Lately its been harder to see movies though.
DRE: So you do see them?
DB: Yeah Ive seen about 80 percent of the movies Ive reviewed. The whole time Im worried Im going to burn some bridge because some actor or director will not get the joke. Sometimes I get emails from people saying How could you hate that movie? The joke is that I hate everything.
DRE: The picture on the site is really funny.
DB: Its a weird picture. A lot of people dont get that the glasses and the stick are supposed to show that Im blind. I get emails asking me why Im wearing those big thick sunglasses.
DRE: What did you do in the episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm you were in [called "The Acupuncturist"]?
DB: I was the guy at the funeral of Ed Asners character who accuses him of killing him. I got him in a headlock.
DRE: How was doing that show?
DB: Its so much fun. Its such a great way to work. When you go in to audition Larry, Cheryl and Jeff Garlin are there. Whoever your scene is with you improvise the scene right there with them. I assume from my experience that whoever does something in the audition they like, they hire and then you come in and do the scene onset. The scene goes on longer when youre filming. Theyve got their story they want to tell but you get to do your own. Theyll do multiple takes and say That one thing you said was good or say this instead. But there is never a script. Its mostly getting people mad at Larry. Thats fun because you go in and meet him then start screaming at him. I did an episode of Friends the year before that and in both cases it was so bizarre to playing opposite these characters that I watch on TV all the time and feel like I know. Then the character Im playing is supposed to be a stranger to them. Thats the hard to get out of your head, the idea that youre standing there next to Jennifer Aniston.
DRE: You were a standup all through the standup boom.
DB: Yes I sort of benefited from the boom in the sense that I was new to it but still got tons of work and got to be on TV quite a bit. I did all that stuff because they needed so many comedians. Its harder now to get those things. I got to do lots of roadwork and make a decent living, which is hard for people to do now. When the bottom dropped out I got into doing a lot of writing for various TV shows. Not day jobs but gigs that dont rely on getting the audition.
DRE: Which shows did you write for?
DB: A lot of MTV shows then promos for the WB and I was a voice on the WB making announcements for what shows were coming up. Ive written three different TV pilots whom sold to various networks but none got produced. Now Ive been doing tons of these VH1 shows. They actually quoted me in Entertainment Weekly on something I said on Best Week Ever.
DRE: Where did you grow up?
DB: I grew up in San Diego. Arj and Tony are from the San Francisco area.
DRE: When did you meet?
DB: San Francisco was one of my favorite places to do standup during the 90s. We all worked together in various shows.
DRE: When did you first smoke pot?
DB: I played around with it in high school but I didnt know what I was doing. I thought it wasnt working. I would stand around with these hippie kids from next door because I liked the camaraderie. I have never been a cigarette smoker so I just wasnt inhaling properly. It wasnt until I became a professional comedian and a couple of my professional comedian friends turned me onto the idea of smoking pot after shows and sometimes even before shows.
DRE: Which comedians? Was it Jon Stewart?
DB: [laughs] Ive worked with Im but hes pretty straight laced when it comes to that.
The guys I would smoke out the most with were Brian Posehn and Greg Proops.
DRE: I always hear that about Brian Posehn.
DB: He likes the weed.
DRE: Do you still smoke a lot of pot?
DB: Yeah. Now we have to because otherwise people will think were frauds. I do really enjoy it and I have more access to it. I do say to young people that everyone should wait to smoke pot until they are a professional comedian.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Get tickets for The Marijuana-Logues
Daniel Robert Epstein: I saw the show last Friday and it was hysterical.
Doug Benson: Thanks.
DRE: How long have you been doing this show for?
DB: Three years.
DRE: Did any of you ever expect it become something you kind of do.
DB: Its funny because when the idea first came up between the three of us we thought it could really be something. Then we went through a period of a year or two where we thought it was fun but wouldnt amount to anything. Then a few things happened in a succession where we realized that it is something that people want to see and enjoy. We thought we could make a living from it.
DRE: Were those things that happened the TV appearances?
DB: Yes, the first big thing we did was [Real Time with] Bill Maher. It was the perfect place for us to do it because they didnt censor anything we wanted to say because its HBO and Bill Maher is so pro-pot. That little clip is what the producers in New York saw and got them excited about mounting it in New York. Then they brought in an investor who put some money in it. First we did a few different cities before coming to New York.
DRE: So the New York stage show is what its all been leading up to.
DB: Yeah and hopefully things will get even bigger from there. We wouldnt necessarily expect to move to Broadway but there is definitely a chance for other road companies and appearing in other cities.
DRE: How do you expect to compete with something like STOMP?
DB: [laughs] I wouldnt even dare to try to compete with them. Although once in a while one of us will have a tantrum and stomp around.
DRE: From what I saw in the show it seems like the three of you still make each other laugh with some of the same jokes.
DB: Thats the thing. We know the script so when someone does something different to crack up the other guys onstage or something spontaneous it makes us laugh. There is nothing funnier than when another guy screws up. We all try to get through it with as few mistakes as possible.
DRE: Is there any improvisation?
DB: There is a little bit but we try not to go overboard because its very easy to be self-indulgent and have the audience get frustrated that youre not putting on a professional show. But on the other hand we are talking about potheads who are not the most precision oriented individuals.
DRE: I did some research on you and found that youve been doing standup dating back to at least 1990.
DB: Yeah all three of us have been doing standup for a while and weve been friends for a long time as well. Thats where this came from. All three of us like to do jokes about pot and we like to smoke pot so lets put together a show. It was never an intention that would help us to meet people who like pot and people who like to share their pot. But it has worked out in that way and its been terrific. Like we say in the show, pot smokers are really nice people and fun to hang out with as long as you dont get them started on a story.
DRE: There is a disclaimer at the beginning of the show. Whose idea was that?
DB: Every time we do radio, TV or print the first thing people say is How can you glorify drug use? We say that were sitting there saying that we enjoy doing but it makes you stupid, distracted and lazy. Since were three funny guys saying we like it then I guess that means we are glorifying it. Its something you have to say to get the mainstream media to pick up on it. There is a lot of negative stuff in the show and we have a lot of fun with the idea that we cant remember anything and we compete in dumb-offs.
DRE: The dumb-offs are really funny.
DB: People always love that part because who doesnt have a story of some dumb thing they did when they were high. They usually arent I let a little kid drown or I drove over someone in my car. Those things are made up to scare people.
DRE: Can I tell you a quick dumb-off I did?
DB: Im in Amsterdam and I was sitting in one of the coffee shops really high. They have candles on all the tables and I just playing with a cappuccino spoon by holding it over the flame. A couple seconds later I put the spoon in my mouth.
DB: [laughs] Ouch! Thats nasty. One time the three of us were waiting for an elevator in a hotel where the elevators are notoriously slow. But one day we stood around waiting for 20 minutes then we realized that we hadnt pressed the button.
The thing is that those things can happen when youre not high as well but being high makes it funnier to talk about.
DRE: I just read the story of Bob and David [Mr. Show: What Happened?!] that Naomi Odenkirk wrote. They attributed a lot of their success to their agent, Dave Rath. I saw that he also produces your show.
DB: Hes the managing company behind the show. We have agents, lawyers, accountants, publicists and all that stuff now. But he was Tony and Arjs longtime manager and longtime friend of mine as well. He represents the show.
The genesis of our show was similar to Mr. Show in the sense that there was a space in Los Angeles that no longer exists called The HBO Workspace with 75 seats where HBO used to let people put on shows in the middle of Hollywood. You could put on shows for free if you signed something that let HBO have the first option of turning it into something like a TV show or taking it to their festival in Aspen. We must have done the show there 10 or 12 times over the course of a year and a half. Each time it would be a little different and a little longer. It was a great space to work on it until we could get it good enough to take out on the road. Mr. Show did a few performances at the workspace until it became a series. Los Angeles is a terrible theater town so to get something like this going there is a minor miracle because its too expensive to mount your own production and its difficult to get people to come out and see something. You kind of have to make it in New York then come out to Los Angeles.
DRE: Are the personalities the three of you have onstage similar to your real personalities?
DB: Yeah but probably with a little more arguing than you see onstage. We all have childish personalities and refuse to grow up. There are a lot of friendly insults going on all the time. But basically those are our three exaggerated personalities.
DRE: How tough is it for three comics basically on the same level to work together as much as you guys do?
DB: It isnt that difficult in the sense that we each do get a lot of our own solo moments in the show. So everyone has been pretty agreeable. Thats what weve been working on these last years. Putting everything in an order where nobodys joke steps on someone elses joke or no ones entire piece is similar to someone elses. Weve already limited ourselves to just talking about pot so we have to be very careful. Even though its the one subject matter all the way we have to be careful not to become too repetitive or redundant. Wait, what was the question?
DRE: Do egos ever get involved?
DB: We all have pretty big egos but fortunately it seems to be working out for all three of us. If it was like a band where someone was the main singer I could see where there could be problems but considering the three of us have come along together with one common goal and we all write and perform so we all have our fingerprints on it. Also weve all written really good jokes for each other. One of us will think of something funny for someone else to say but then as soon as you give it to them you regret it because you wish that you were saying it every night. Sometimes rehearsals can be rough and we certainly have spent way too much time together but at this point were having so much fun being in New York that everything has been cancelled. All three of us still like to go out and smoke and drink after the shows together.
DRE: Will you guys really smoke pot with the fans after the show?
DB: Yeah. Several times weve had fans barge right across the stage into the dressing rooms after the show and weve had to tell them to wait outside because were changing. If people hang around weve been known to hang out with them. The trouble in New York of course is that its probably not too wise to stand around smoking pot in front of a big sign with a marijuana leaf on it. We usually move it somewhere else. When we have a two show night people come up to us after the first show and ask us to get high but we say We do want to but we have to go get ready for the second show. Thats when we get phone numbers.
DRE: David Cross has said that people will give him bags of weed sometimes.
DB: Oh yeah and David doesnt ask for it like we do. Weve got jokes in the show where we ask for pot. But even without that I still think theyd give it to us. People are so proud of their pot when they have good weed. They meet somebody like us who makes them laugh, its a very friendly culture, the pothead nation.
DRE: I also read that you have met non-pot smokers that like the show as well.
DB: Oh yeah. We want people to either laugh with us or at us. It doesnt really make a difference, which it is because its impossible to make that distinction when youre on a stage. Since were all nutty stand-ups to begin with we dont care if people show up and go What a dumb bunch of potheads. As long as everyone has fun. We try to keep a balance between saying that pot is a lot of fun to smoke but it does a little bit of a downside or a lot of a downside for some people but not for us not as much.
DRE: I spoke with Patton Oswalt I found that hes not a super funny guy when youre just talking with him. I think he even makes a point to not be really funny in a conversation. Obviously you three take standup very seriously but are you funny when you dont have to be?
DB: Hmmm it depends on what you mean by When you dont have to be. You dont need to be funny to go to the bank or go to the dentist. In those situations people might be surprised to hear that Im a comedian because Im not on all the time and Im not always trying to make people laugh. But when Im out with friends or smoking pot I think I cant help myself. I do always want to entertain. When youre being interviewed you want to give sincere answers and not be flippant. So thats why someone like Patton might turn it down a bit. When youre a comedian you dont get asked serious questions so when it comes up then the jokes fall by the wayside.
DRE: How has it been doing The Marijuana-Logues in New York compared to other cities?
DB: Weve done the show all over the country and even in Canada and we did a festival in Australia. Everywhere we go there are these subtle differences. Everyone loves pot but when we were on the road we were doing mostly comedy clubs so we would get comedy fans that smoke pot whereas in New York were getting a mix of theatre lovers and pot smokers. I know I love getting high and seeing a play. The audiences in New York really listen to every joke and respond accordingly. In comedy clubs we get this continuous raucous din of people ordering drinks and laughing. Its been a lot nicer in New York.
There are regional differences as well. Weve had a line in the show for a long time that foes, You shouldnt hand someone an empty bowl without warning them of its potential cashedness. Apparently people here dont use the expression cashed as much as they do kicked. I changed it to kicked but it still doesnt get that great of response so I think the bottom line is that there are more theatergoers in the audience than were used to. We look out into the crowd and see these middle aged people who probably bought their tickets at the tickets booth in Times Square or they just see everything. People are so much more experimental. They will go see a show about that dont necessarily smoke pot just like conservative people that will buy tickets to a show like Hair to see all the hippies.
DRE: Whats the next medium The Marijuana-Logues could go into?
DB: Theres talk of a feature or a DVD. Who knows? At this point the thing thats exciting for us and the investors is that if its a success Off-Broadway then there is all these possibilities. Even though its just 170-seat theatre in the West Village its opening doors. We could explore the idea of franchising it out internationally like Blue Man Group. It could be Green Man Group.
DRE: Im a big fan of those movies reviews that you do on Bob and Davids website.
DB: Thats a different side. The show is good-natured as opposed to those reviews where I get to be as nasty as I want to be.
DRE: How did you get that gig?
DB: Bob Odenkirk told me that since I like movies so much that why dont I do reviews for the site but just say terrible things about everything. Lately its been harder to see movies though.
DRE: So you do see them?
DB: Yeah Ive seen about 80 percent of the movies Ive reviewed. The whole time Im worried Im going to burn some bridge because some actor or director will not get the joke. Sometimes I get emails from people saying How could you hate that movie? The joke is that I hate everything.
DRE: The picture on the site is really funny.
DB: Its a weird picture. A lot of people dont get that the glasses and the stick are supposed to show that Im blind. I get emails asking me why Im wearing those big thick sunglasses.
DRE: What did you do in the episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm you were in [called "The Acupuncturist"]?
DB: I was the guy at the funeral of Ed Asners character who accuses him of killing him. I got him in a headlock.
DRE: How was doing that show?
DB: Its so much fun. Its such a great way to work. When you go in to audition Larry, Cheryl and Jeff Garlin are there. Whoever your scene is with you improvise the scene right there with them. I assume from my experience that whoever does something in the audition they like, they hire and then you come in and do the scene onset. The scene goes on longer when youre filming. Theyve got their story they want to tell but you get to do your own. Theyll do multiple takes and say That one thing you said was good or say this instead. But there is never a script. Its mostly getting people mad at Larry. Thats fun because you go in and meet him then start screaming at him. I did an episode of Friends the year before that and in both cases it was so bizarre to playing opposite these characters that I watch on TV all the time and feel like I know. Then the character Im playing is supposed to be a stranger to them. Thats the hard to get out of your head, the idea that youre standing there next to Jennifer Aniston.
DRE: You were a standup all through the standup boom.
DB: Yes I sort of benefited from the boom in the sense that I was new to it but still got tons of work and got to be on TV quite a bit. I did all that stuff because they needed so many comedians. Its harder now to get those things. I got to do lots of roadwork and make a decent living, which is hard for people to do now. When the bottom dropped out I got into doing a lot of writing for various TV shows. Not day jobs but gigs that dont rely on getting the audition.
DRE: Which shows did you write for?
DB: A lot of MTV shows then promos for the WB and I was a voice on the WB making announcements for what shows were coming up. Ive written three different TV pilots whom sold to various networks but none got produced. Now Ive been doing tons of these VH1 shows. They actually quoted me in Entertainment Weekly on something I said on Best Week Ever.
DRE: Where did you grow up?
DB: I grew up in San Diego. Arj and Tony are from the San Francisco area.
DRE: When did you meet?
DB: San Francisco was one of my favorite places to do standup during the 90s. We all worked together in various shows.
DRE: When did you first smoke pot?
DB: I played around with it in high school but I didnt know what I was doing. I thought it wasnt working. I would stand around with these hippie kids from next door because I liked the camaraderie. I have never been a cigarette smoker so I just wasnt inhaling properly. It wasnt until I became a professional comedian and a couple of my professional comedian friends turned me onto the idea of smoking pot after shows and sometimes even before shows.
DRE: Which comedians? Was it Jon Stewart?
DB: [laughs] Ive worked with Im but hes pretty straight laced when it comes to that.
The guys I would smoke out the most with were Brian Posehn and Greg Proops.
DRE: I always hear that about Brian Posehn.
DB: He likes the weed.
DRE: Do you still smoke a lot of pot?
DB: Yeah. Now we have to because otherwise people will think were frauds. I do really enjoy it and I have more access to it. I do say to young people that everyone should wait to smoke pot until they are a professional comedian.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
"The world is pretty fucked up right now... shouldn't I be, too?"
Best job EVER.