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Is better things the voice of Bobby Hill and more got an early start in her career in show business when she was about 12 she decided she wanted to act and she didn't ask permission from her mom and dad really she just did it she actually literally got the phone book looked up an agent made an appointment and then a couple days later there she was standing in an office during her 1st ever called raid Yes she had me read a tide commercial and she it was like one of those like this kids this you know like she like put her feet up on the desk and said I want to sign or and or she's smoking I feel like she was I feel yeah maybe it's balls I. Began. This week Pamela Adlon her show better things on f.x. Is coming back for a 3rd season and chill tell me all about that she was also the voice of Bobby Hill one of my favorite shows King of the hill one of her best ever roles a job she loved in part because she could keep things fresh and so there was one year where I said to you know Greg Daniels can Bobby not say for. I like this whole season can we just not say fruit. More it's a big ask yes or Carrot Top van James a caster he's an up and coming British stand up but what do you do before he took up comedy 1st he had a band for I was going to become one of the most influential musicians of all time that is what I genuinely believe. About was to decide that now that's all coming up on balls I Let's go. It's balls I'm Jesse for my 1st guest this week is Pamela Adlon Pamela actually started acting in her early teens with a very juicy role in the musical Grease 2 she played one of the Pink Ladies Dolores but she really established her career as a voice actor over the last few decades Pamela has had roles on rug rats Bobby's World and my personal favorite King of the help she played Bobby Hill. Looking for a plant which one of these states is going to turn into roses. That one maybe I don't know I just got transferred from fabrics it's as roses yet told you Ok tag says they need food and water and sun and dirt and love can I substitute x. For love for Sun I have to hide in my bedroom closet. In the last few years Pamela has been appearing in front of a camera before she was one of the stars of Californication and she was a regular on Louie these days she has her own show it's called Better things she co-created and star center panel place same a single mom in a working actor living in l.a. She isn't like starving but neither is she super famous she dates but that isn't the center of the show or her life it's an honest funny show. And it talks about parenting in a very real way here's a little bit from better things 2nd season in this scene Sam is on a date with a man she's been seeing for a few weeks this is a guy she slept with but doesn't particularly enjoy spending time with he senses Sam's disinterest and he confronts her about it telling her all I ask for is basic consideration Sam lets him know she thinks he's a needy guy who requires too much attention and he calls her mean and this is where the confrontation goes from there why does everybody have to be so careful all the time with a man's feelings don't hurt the man his feelings are so important you guys are supposed to be tough Here's such. The 2nd a woman is a tiny bit mean to a man or even just a tiny bit honest she's. Ok with that. Welcome to Vols a it's great to have you know Michelle thank you for having me your father was a. T.v. Writer and producer Yes but I get the impression that maybe when you were a kid he had. Mixed success. Yeah he was he had his finger in a whole bunch of things you know because he started out just being a writer he wanted to be used School of Communications and then he was trying to get by and he was writing you know dime store novels in like little soft core porn as and talked about comic books as you ever read any of your photos of course yeah . Yes I've read super tall. And probably his best known work I mean you guys and he wrote under pseudonyms because there was kind of like we don't like Jews kind of mentality in the world which is so weird because nobody has that now anyway so then he started writing and producing for television and he was always struggling I just remember seeing my dad like you know in whatever kind of makeshift office situation he would have with the football game on and trying to write and and towards the end of his life he had a partner film Argo who was one of the original tokens the wind sleeps tonight and they were writing partners and and so I know that when he turned 50 it was a difficult time for him because there was a lot of ages but yeah he struggled he really did how old were you when that happened when when things sort of went dry for your dad yeah. I was probably a teenager yeah I think so because I was in my twenty's when he passed away and he was 60 were you already working then I made it as an artist Yes I said I started working when I was quite young. Probably like Ron Paul why. I wanted to I I really. On a 2 I didn't want to go to school and. We did it's amazing to think that I didn't want to go to school you know maybe I could just act or be an electrician I just figured it was better to you know factory I know you know it actually came to California to visit and I met kid actor and I saw like her composite like head shots and everything and that she talked to me about having an agent I was like I want that that's so interesting you know and I grown up on sound stages and my dad shows so I had the bug is a composite of the one where in one you're wearing a fireman hat and yeah you know your Frisbee. Hand on your face goofy hat Yeah totally and you're like oh I've lived all of this for you and on face totally Yes I've got to find that it's got to be I have to locate that how did you get into it I mean having a father who knew how showbusiness worked and that's an important 1st step in kind of being physically here you know I called up the woman who was on that girl's head shot you called Yeah is this before or after you told her parents that this was her for I call I called her her name was Beverly Hecht And I opened up the phone book and I called and I mean appointment and I sat my parents down and I said I made an appointment with an agent and I would like to go and they were supportive they were like Ok it's not all you know rainbows and unicorns and so they were down and my mom you know me around and took me to stuff so what did you have to audition in the office yes she had me read a tide commercial and she. It was like one of those like this kids you know like she like put her feet up on the desk and said I want to sign or and or she's smoking I feel like. I feel yeah maybe. I'm picturing a giant cigar but you know like an absurdly large cigar me too. And going like Yeah thank you. Calling your secretary and exactly my g. Come in here look at this kid read the tide commercial again let's go come on to me . Well what kind of work you do going to 1st. I did Kool-Aid commercial where I was the sepia toned version of the star like who was like when I was a little girl who would go blue blue and I had like the long braids and you know and and then I did a commercial for Mexican putting that wasn't approved by the f.d.a. And I wore the dress that I ward of my brothers that's for. Quire f.d.a. Approval. Is a drug delivery system so no but it's food and drug it. Wasn't approved so we did it in Spanish. But are all some weekday mostly has posted a s. As yeah. I did a commercial for a pen Mentos bread I don't even Jesse this is so good like therapy you take me back I mean it is very odd thing to be doing as a teenager even as an Angeleno what even I think I think even in Los Angeles where there are showbusiness people around. It's still kind of like a crazy thing to be like oh yeah I'm Friday and I'm going to be in school yeah that was the goal the goal goal was no school the goal was no school because it was like . When I got you know into high school I went to Beverly Hills High School for 9th grade and it was brutal for me I was like I couldn't find my my place you know and I this was Beverly Hills in the eighty's and the early eighty's that was like it was hard in the streets like it was just like girls looking at me and I was wearing my brother's hand me downs like I wasn't sparkly you know Beverly Hills piece of candy and so the goal was maybe also I mean probably a little different for guys and girls but when you're also really small Yeah and you must have been. Particularly small when you were 14 well I was I didn't feel small as much as I felt like I wasn't like you know like the other girls you know and so I remember like sneers and like nice shirt like I would try like I would wear t. Shirts and like my brothers hand me downs and things like that but. That was it like everybody was wearing like like their costs that's what I was about to say what are you serious I was sincerely on her own one in my life and one of my best picture in like white jeans a lot too yeah it just wasn't happening for me but. And then I got my 1st movie which was Grease 2 and so I was out of school for quite a long time and then I got into a car accident right at the end of filming and so I was like bedridden for a couple months and. So like at the end of Grease 2 everybody's like jumping off this mattress in front of right bell and it's supposed to be me and Leif Greene but I'm not there because I. Went through a windshield when I was. Being driven to set one day so. Anyway I do have a clip from grease to. Grease 2 of course is beloved sequel to grease Yes So this is like me and Maxwell it has to be the skateboard Yes You know that's exactly what it is. This is them. Leaving the bowling alley where a big bowling song just happened Ok Christy's famous bowling at them oh yeah let's both Courteney scored and scored and I offer to be a pink lady mass but I think the coolest job but it's a start I think they'd listen forget it this is me off. First pretty late I think of it I walk out Oh I don't need a babysitter Ok. What do you think it is a day Ok. Well let me just say so in the 1st place. Sure you know when I'm in the 12th grade I know I'm going to be beheaded thank ladies my pink ladies will rule the school I'll be the best of the purple chocolates tried to put letters on the steps you know didn't work I fell right off I was really embarrassed because it happened in front of my sister Paulette didn't mean for it to happen. Oh my God voice oh my god after he says well why don't you think of it as a date Ok and I say why didn't you say so in the 1st place all the rest of it was me ad libbing Burch was like just keep talking and I was like Oh Ok but wow so funny to hear. Little little Pamela's voice I mean you must be very familiar with your voice since you have been a voiceover actor for so long. Like I think a lot of people when they 1st hear their voice it's really distressing because you usually hear it inside of your head and it resonates inside your head and sounds really nice. And then when you hear your actual voice it's really upsetting I like maybe 6 months I've been comfortable listening to my own voice I've been doing this since I was 19 wow yeah it must be really something to hear your voice is what it what were you maybe 15 or 16 Yeah I was 14 Yeah yeah so so cute I mean I guess my balls dropped. For a you need a year that. Were you always. A little tough kid and these things yes I was always yes I was you know I was the kid like a scrappy kid so yeah I was the scrappy I was like I rob Edna's edibles on the facts of life and I sold crack on the Bronx Zoo an ad as nurse called me into the principal's office and you know I robbed the dry cleaners on The Jeffersons and in an arc on a show called wiseguy with it was like this rock'n'roll arc with Tim Curry and Debbie Harry and Patty D'Arbanville and Paul Winfield and Glen Fry Paul MacLean were going to take. All of those are my. Formative formative as aff but. I mean this is like. I guess looking back at all of those things it's kind of the only areas it's balls I'm just a thorn my guest Pamela Adlon created and stars in the f.x. Show better things one of the things that happened is that. When you. That you had a hard time transitioning from being a teenage kid sister in a 1000 things to being an adult actress That's right yeah absolutely. I don't think I've really talked about that it's true it's. There there were some dry years and I just could not find my footing I couldn't find my face in like a way to appear as a person and stuff and you know I was never. Kind of. A girl enough a lady enough pretty enough and I just did not fit in anything and once in a while somebody would be like I want Pam like I I want her this is the way we want to go and there would be dissenting voices going we don't want that and they would go and you know a safer direction you know because you know I was always like Spike here and like I remember doing this one does need t.v. Movie because I know you'll love this because now I know your taste it was a Disney movie with John Denver and Cindy Williams And it was called the leftovers and they took a bunch of orphans in and I remember the woman who wrote the movie said to me and I was a teenager and she said I was so happy to hear that you were playing Jessie because you have such a damaged quality to you. I was like oz of. A kid out. Areas. I'll never forget that I was like oh thank you. I I have to say that Bobby Hill who you played for I think like a dozen years 1213 years yeah I'm king of the hell the Fox show is one of my favorite t.v. Characters of all time sincerely top 10 when you hire I think that's also I think that's true for a lot of. A lot of comedy people. Especially my age like it is something in which you recognize your own childhood through he is so sad desperation and course weakness yes it's terrifying desperation it's such an indelible character I think because. You know that there are not a lot of boys on t.v. Who are sad and have feelings. And also I think I'm not a lot of boys that like people who want to become performers relate to and I wonder if there were parts of that character that you realized you related to as you know having been a child performer yourself having been such a performer that you like for making phone calls by yourself at age 12 to agents Yes You know I remember you know in the 1st place that show really helped for me as a writer professionally. Because I was so impressed by the writing all the time so it doesn't surprise me that it was emotional for you or made you have feelings because it was a very touching show and the show had real moments and it had a lot of life and error in it it was in a boom boom boom satisfying comedy beats buttons type of thing and so I remember you know we did it for 13 seasons. And I remember being very you know I became you become the Bible of your character and so there was one year where I said to you know Greg Daniels can Bobby not say fruit pie flake this whole season can we just not say fruit I or it's a big ask or a carrot top or you know what I mean prop comic because I didn't want it to become too jokey I wanted to keep him multidimensional and layered and I just I loved how . It was always very odd to me because people some people would say Well Bobby Hill is gay and I'm like why are you saying that Bobby is just an all around person and he's too young to proclaim anything and so. A significant one to me was when he was chewed choosing to be the Dalai Lama like when they were asking him and it's like you know and then Bobby was like he was getting all the girls and then he was just being a very sad a boy and he was a disappointment to his dad and then his dad was proud of him this is the way life is and those guys just created a beautiful way to show a modern young boy I've often dreamed of having you on this program specifically so that I could play this clip from season 6 episode of King of the hill where Bobby Hill is getting bullied at school so he signs up for a self-defense class that turns out to be an adult women self defense Yes Yes And so like what you are about to hear is the demo from the class which is where you know it's the thing where like somebody is pretending to be a mugger and Bobby is being mugged and he's trying to say his line that they've given him that you're supposed to yell down while you're defending yourself shouldn't be give me your purse. Ok I want everybody to try you 1st. See I don't hate me and. Give me your purse now it's my car don't be afraid to shout it back. Tried again. Oh. Oh my God Do you know how many people have that tattooed on their bodies I mean people there's like a whole 5 b. Hill I don't know you that's my birds that's hilarious oh Mike. So that was actually Gardner and Toby has that clip amazing I don't know you. We have even more with Pamela Adlon when we return from a quick break she'll tell me why she works so hard on her show better things to portray Parenthood in real relatable terms it's polls are for maximum fun dot org And n.p.r. Support for Connecticut Public Radio comes from Highland Park market in Farmington celebrating their grand reopening now featuring expanded prepared entree cook to order deli and bakery selections for your shopping and eating experience fresh and local Nobody Does It Better than Highland Park market next time on Studio $360.00 becoming a Floridian with a really difficult transition to the right or. Strange creative seduction of her adopted state I still even now 12 years later wake up thinking oh my gosh this is my life I live in Florida when life gives you oranges make orange your heart about the Sunshine State next time Studio 360. Hope you can join us this afternoon at 2. And this week's live from here features music from Ben Folds and comedy from Dave Hill tonight at 9 You're listening to Connecticut Public Radio. Member relations associate here. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Member stations and the n.p.r. Wine club offering wines from around the world with the stories behind each one and bottles inspired by favorite n.p.r. Shows available to adults 21 Years or Older learn more at n.p.r. Wine Club dot org And Newman's Own Foundation working to nourish the common good but donating all profits from Newman's own food products to charitable organizations that seek to make the world a better place more information is available at Newman's Own Foundation dot org. I'm Jesse thorn my guest Pamela Adlon is of voice actor with dozens of credits including Bobby Hill on King of the hill she's created and stars on the f.x. Show better things its 2nd season she directed every episode wrapped up last year its 3rd season is in production now let me play a scene from the 1st season of better things which is my guest Pamela Adlon show that just just finished 2nd season and is headed into its 3rd in this scene she who Sam is a single mom and she's she's been fighting with Mormon mom whose name is Trinity whose daughter goes to her kid's school and Sam and her kids had gone to a service at Trinity Church and in this scene Sam and Trinity are sitting on a bench in the playground and Trinity kind of peevishly accuses Sam of having preconceived notions about what Mormons are supposed to be like and this is same for spots. The problem with you church people is that you like to pretend that isn't the way it is like that's going to fix it. That's a teenager and yeah she's a mess and I'm failing. And I don't need God or Jesus or you to tell me that. And by the way you want to judge me how about you dumping your daughter on me on Friday without any warning and then when I call you you don't say sorry or even acknowledge the bull passive aggressive power play you pulled on Ok. But yeah. I feel like one of the things that the show is about is that parenthood and I imagine this is doubly true when you're a single parent which you've been for 10 years or so is like just a series of. Failures of various scales. Yeah I agree I mean. I feel like the number one thing about parenthood is is like guilt you know you're constantly guilty like you know you could always be doing more and then when you do do more then your feelings get hurt and then you take things personally and the failures that you feel as a parent really are your own your own Mischa guys that you that you need to work out for yourself but in terms of the kids and when they become young adults they're resilient you know they're they're unbelievably resilient and it's like you can do the simplest things to show up for your kids and they know that you're there you don't have to shove yourself into their lives. And want it you know I mean some nights I'm in my kitchen cooking for all my daughters and they're all in their rooms with their doors shut and they're on their computers. And I'm cooking by myself in the kitchen but they're all there and they know that I'm there and if they want to come down and sometimes we all have dinner together and my mom she actually does live next door and it's those moments that I cherish that I'm holding on to right now you know as my kids are growing up and getting older and finding their way in the world but oh my God we hold ourselves up to such a high standard but it's like unless you're like the biggest pieces in the world I'm not naming names you're fine I'm just a thorn You're listening to bull's eye I'm talking with the actress Pamela Adlon my wife does parenting show and. She and her co-host bed is the message that they give people that resonates especially with mothers that is like beyond it like beyond my comprehension that depth to which this resonates is you're doing a good job. People are so yeah deep into their guilt and the mistakes they've made and the problems that they're facing and they bear all that burden themselves but I think mothers particularly often bear that burden that story hugely disproportionate amount of that burden and just the idea that if your showing up and doing the work and your children haven't died because of your negligence you're doing a good job exactly he is like I've seen people in tears yeah talking to my wife and her co-host because just no one had ever like told them that well you know I mean that's one of the reasons that I'm so so grateful that I can make my show you know I mean because really it's like I needed somebody around me when I was a new mom because I was one of the 1st people to have kids and I just was constantly trying to measure up to these other moms and finally I was like I don't need to look at anybody else I don't need to look for people approving of my kids or my parenting this is the way it is and sometimes it takes a long time to find that place for yourself I would constantly be like I wonder what they're cooking their family for dinner I wish I could look in everybody's lunch boxes and see when I was at the gym I used to be like oh my God look at that Mom made snack she cooks he orders. Persian spices like I want to be able to do all of this it'll eventually come if you care it will come out of the super king I mean that's the secret you go to the super king the super king they just have this wall of bags of Persian spices Oh you just grab one and put it on the chicken where is the. And you know no it's signed and it's one cent it's on San Fernando in East l.a. Los Angeles going today yeah the super k. I don't have very good produce specials going to Super can a lot of kinds of yogurt Oh my gosh so many kinds of you know. But that does seem to be like in a way what it what it feels like you're trying to do better things is just acknowledge what being a parent is like yeah not in a judge mental way either way but just be like yeah being a parent like parenting is a very beautiful and yeah great warm thing because like the other part of it is you know I feel like in parenting media often there's only kind of 2 categories Yeah one. Thing is amazing I'm aspirational whatever yeah and the other is like f. My kids how yeah and there's just not a lot of stuff that's about like just like regular little painful stuff about parenting and also that that that passes Yeah yeah yeah like everything else well. You know I mean it's just the way I am in my in in my life and what I've learned you get these rare wonderful moments and then there's really it's and then there's there are my kids moments but then 5 minutes later it's like oh my God I love my daughters you know what I mean it's everything and kids have it too I learned by watching you know I grew up like wanting to be a member of the Waltons family and I wanted to be an 8 is Enough and I you know I saw Bonnie Franklin on one day at a time and I saw Esther role in good times and I saw you know Roseanne in the original Roseanne and that made me laugh like I loved her and John Goodman and how they were just these 2 people who were they didn't look like 2 pieces of candy and they were sexy and funny and making everything work and they would joke around with their kids and they would on each other and it was just it that was everything to me. It's bulls eye on Jesse thorn my guest Pamela Adlon is the show runner and star of the show better things she co-created the show with Louis c.k. Who last year left the show after admitting to sexual misconduct in a stand up career Pamela told us that she didn't want to talk about Seacat I did ask her what it was like to continue her show with a new writing staff working in the aftermath and contacts of c case actions you know to be have to rebuild which is something that I've had to do pretty much every year of my show some kind of massive like catastrophic event would happen and somehow it was like trial by fire like how I ended up directing all of season 2 and running my show and everything's so I've never worked with more than one writer before I've never had a writer's room certainly never run a writer's room been in a writer's room so now was the time and I had to. Read people and that people and figure out how to put people together and. Kind of mourn the loss of you know this this voice that was my sounding board for the better part of a decade and have to just start from scratch and so. I I can say that that is one positive thing because it's been. A really. Great experience for me to work with these other people and to you know really just kind of push forward and. It was literally like I mean the past 6 months have been brutal and you know just somehow like everything cosmically It's like legally in my life and all that but. You know everybody has to move on and you mention that you directed all these episodes versus intern you literally directed every episode for some tips are you couldn't drive for season 3 yes why I mean like I'm not that I don't think you did a great it's just you're already on the show and you know it's funny because it's like this is what I say you know I'm there anyway I mean every episode so it's like why not and this show is a very handmade show and it's you know it's my my my my voice my color you know my music my vision so it's it doesn't tax me anymore you know because I'm invested so. It's exhilarating the work work saves you work saves you I mean it must be an extraordinary growth to to go through from. From can I be an actor which is the natural state of being an actor. To the point where you can say. Not only can I have my own show I can direct my show it's my show yeah I never thought I'd do it I can be in charge of hiring writers and the direction of the writing of your show yeah it's like I said trial by fire and it's just an unbelievable thing and like my dad at the end of his life he was helping people become writers and he was the person who said reinvent yourself he was doing it all those years ago so it's about keeping yourself relevant and reinventing yourself to keep yourself working and healthy and happy Well I love your work so much I'm so grateful that you talk to me thank you for having me. Pamela Adlon her show better things wrapped up its 2nd season late last year look for the 3rd season to premiere later in 2018 when we come back from a break British comedian James caster stick around it's bulls eye for maximum fun dot org And n.p.r. . Support for Connecticut Public Radio comes from Bradley International Airport affordable parking less stress less lines and more fun Bradley wants you to love your journey flight and parking information at flight b.d.l. Dot org Bradley International one of the journey. Throughout . The California Energy Commission. Tomorrow morning at 9. The experiences that shape the person we've become in this week's Ted radio hour this afternoon at 4. Public radio. I. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Member station. Supports efforts to increase the well being of u.s. Communities by the many identities and experiences of Muslim populations and the Kauffman Foundation working together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create. And empower people to shape their lives. For my next guest is James. James is a stand up comic from London he's appeared on a bunch of t.v. Shows over there Mock The Week sounds random and more shows that you would know if you lived in the u.k. Over here in the States you might have seen him on The Late Late Show with James Corden recently or on Conan. J.j. Castor is observational and a little bit absurd like maybe a more narrative Mitch Hedberg he's very prolific as well a couple months back he put out his 1st ever Netflix special it's called James a caster repertoire and it is 4 hour long live specials it's very funny here's a little bit from other good comedy but I get trashed I just get to see to see the best thing you can be in life is to as fulfilling to be in life. Takes a truck hunh. She sees you don't before you don't try Judy. She will enjoy some of the jokes aside. But she should talk to you getting tipsy and you would think the soft and sustain it maintain it. Would do pantomime love Dr Pepper and plain to understand it I'm not that I'm going to. Want to drink is something every night I could not tell you what flavor it is. Nor did my mouth full of Dr Pepper will have a sense to show off will be like taking a sexy bunch of. Sexy back to me. James a caster Welcome to both I have great carry on the show thank you so much for having me can I tell you I feel like that Dr Pepper humor is something that would play distinctly differently in America and in the u.k. Yeah I say so I think so last year I came to the us with 1st time to do some shows and I was getting ready to film the show that clips form and. That talks about rating I was overjoyed they did it a show 4 years ago and they just didn't do it for ages and resurrected it for this and. It did better in the u.k. That it used to because more people didn't go to papa No they did a lot but over here. A lot of people you know it's been a part of the culture for a very long time by which part of the culture I feel like maybe Americans going to see a British stand up they're just sitting there and they've got 20 minutes of like hard work so you know like are similar they're like Ok I'm putting the pieces together I'm listening carefully I got to understand a different x. And I got it occasionally they might say Laurie and then they get to a Dr Pepper thing it's like oh I'm home free baby yeah Dr Pepper you're Yeah sure that's with us with the tweet start rolling and. The happy to eat. That's the thing that I wanted one of the shows Well I'll talk about lollipop man. Women back in the u.k. And don't have those who have crossing guards it like that's what they are. Like is it does a lollipop mean I was literally sitting there thinking like as a lollipop is that what is that what a popsicle is called and the only trying to put the pieces together yeah is that there's a very confusing for people here to google if I was the cause of God when you started doing comedy were you trying to be I mean I don't know what the British equivalent is but were you trying to be a classic Jay Leno Jerry Seinfeld observational comedian and Mike keep it light really to everyone I think I discovered the stories that were the best were the ones that honed in on small little details and make it obsessed with something tiny going over and over there's this one story there's the 1st story I had that worked it was about me holding a grudge against the ticket man catching train station in England and how like how much I hate this man I didn't realize that the reason the routine worked so well was it was a long routine that was me folks in this tiny little detail about this guy and really taken offense to it and well I for I thought the routine worked because it was about. A kind of floor in my personality and shown me in a bad light that was banned in all these clutches for no reason so I was like loads of ratings about what scumbag I was none of them were told it was like you know just all the negative things about me all the things I was ashamed of and none of those were there like I had to go back to square one I got to go Ok it was so what was that and then eventually figure out that it was the minutiae of stuff when you started stand up comedy a you had been in a couple of bands where you were in those bands thinking that you were going to become a real life full time professional musician for I was going to become one of the most influential musicians of all time that was what I genuinely believed. Yeah embarrassing to say that now but at the time I For this I think that what happened . I wanted that to happen that's what the I was was to do this band sound like nobody else has ever sounded influence all who come after us and that was kind of the game I was like you know late teens I think at that age if you're in a band that's how you got feel about it if you're 17 and in a band and your main thing is how do we get a record deal and how we're going to get to the top of the charts and sellers of records that's too early to kind of like resign yourself to that sort of citizen is a when it comes to create stuff that I think or if you're just in a Beatles cover band yell something like things and yeah Yeah well there's a guy who like you know. About one other guy is me and my friend Graham and that was the whole band. His plumber was in a cover band I'm going to when we were going to we decided we were stopping the band I was 22 at this point right away I just want to be clear I'm not laughing at the prospect of a plumber being in the band I mean laughing at the prospect of your friend having a plumber Yeah well he's got like I got a guy yeah yeah yeah but basically hearing music on his house they did so much plumbing This guy was there all the time like he was always and I would talk about music and Graham was like you were writing these songs or this guy was like Yeah I've learned the people's songs and I he never really understood because all his covers band was playing to loads more people than us so getting booked for proper cakes where we get paid and doing functions and stuff and we were just going around the country not getting paid for gigs playing to hardly anyone and I know music and he was always like I don't get why you're doing this like it's so much easier doing what I'm doing want you doing this and we'd always be like because we want to make a difference that impact is like you but no one does that you know how to do that no one ever does that. But we decided to split up we also decided to record all of our songs even though we would not continue to be in a band anymore and we're going to into that pop over chord in studio for a month which is what memorialize your failure Yeah just like we did we did it we slept on the floor for a month for the studio and recorded 70. Songs of the album's over an hour long and this guy was going I don't understand why you're doing this album like we really want to do it but I would have to get these songs he was like I don't understand I think one day we just got lost our temper with him and I will if you let your guard songs maybe you know just don't like really kind of like I mean where you're making music that people there kind of music that leads to a professional music career I think it was potentially a killer but like it would take us a long time to really what we needed a proper singer who could sing and we didn't have the right so that's a big challenge is huge thing you don't have I mean it's hard to hit the charts. Bad we basically both learned to saying for the project and we couldn't I definitely couldn't sing my singing teacher in the 1st lesson told me that she couldn't take me it was going to be impossible. You know and also we didn't lights you know one vocal melody for the song and both sing it and we both wrote our set put vocal lines for the song and just sang them at the same time so like we were both the 2nd to lead parts over the top of one another for most of the songs and it wasn't like we were doing a cold of response sort of thing it was just to separate songs that were both saying and over these over these tracks you're listening to balls I I'm Jesse thorn my guest James a caster is a stand up comic his debut special on Netflix is called Change a caster repertoire Did you literally I read somewhere and I couldn't quite tell if it was a joke I read somewhere that you decided to skydive and do stand up here well so that was like what I did not do the same Yeah it was a lot of my 1st ever gig so like my 1st of it was I was 21 so still in the band but I was I had a car crash and I got really scared of dying already obsessed with dying for a long time and so I did. Bunch of things that were like on a sort of bucket list of like I want to experience this was a skydiver death and one was trying standup comedy and I did a gig and then I did a gig once every like 4 months just for fun what were the circumstances of the car crash. I just passed my test and then 8 days later I was driving home late at night and back roads like twisty country roads and went around a corner too fast in the dark there's mud all over the road which I was not aware of skidded off the road and like just kind of pinboard against a hedge in the floor for a while stopped and then tried to drive home still but what happened was I went into the road the engine died and I was sitting there and then a car was coming really fast towards me and a car was going really fast behind me and I both saw at the last minute try to overtake me on the same side of him into each other and went to a ditch and then I both got out and it was fine but. I got there was a point where my car was balancing on the the 2 wheels on the right and it was like balance in t 2 in and it was either going to go on its roof in which case because I wasn't going fast if it wouldn't roll it was going to smash and I'd probably break my neck or it was going to go on to 4 wheels and it went on for 4 wheels I look a day of being really proud of how this crash in telling everyone about the house call. And in November it snowed that day I was a college and it snowed. I'm going to my phone crimes car the same Graham Bell's about move and I I slipped while for walking down a hill I landed on my back really hard and people laughing at me. Pretty funny and then I went to the car with Graham and he hadn't he'd left his lights on all days the battery was dead so I had called it the service come out and start it again and were there for an hour laughing at like how unfortunate that was and then he got me home and my family got out for the evening and it's just me on my own in this house it was really dark and I had a bit of a day of being a loser and I member look into that I had my dinner on my own and I was washing my plate I saw my reflection and remembered balance and in that on those like 2 wheels for our could have died and then actually for the not properly realizing what that would have meant and there not for 6 months I was not Ok as soon as I thought about that for 6 months I was just thinking all the time about her being dead. And it was yeah it was really but then it meant I did a few good things and also not scared of definitely So in the United States comics tend to kind of. Generate material on a rolling basis. Sometimes even on stage Yes And you know refine it to a really sharp point over a long period of time in u.k. Comics especially headlining comics work almost in there in a reverse order which is to say that there's a kind of comedy year that starts at the Edinburgh Comedy The French best of all. With a show and comics will take some time you know months maybe to write their hour then perform it as a show off and a more a more theatrical experience you know more narrative more thematic Lee based a then American stand up your series of Netflix specials is basically 3 of those years worth of material that you had performed at Bir and toured the country and then another special that is like a mix of old stuff and new things. And that is like by far the most audacious set of stuff to go out as comedy specials that I am familiar with. Work was there ever a point where you were just like I'm just going to take the best 15 minutes from each of the last 4 years our Or was there always the plan I'm presenting a set group of things that go together yeah it was always the plan I think because I was on top I was watching a lot of you cheap before went to bed and one of the You Tube videos I discovered was a lot filmed fairies and fanfare is about films and I really go into the Pixar fairy which is the fairy the all the Pixar films a 10 in one story and they've been released at different times on the timeline but it's one story about an apocalypse and that's where all the. Places I really love the pics are fairly really love people read into it far too much and you know I know the fair is not true but what I like about it is people make it true themself and it's like a fun extra creative thing for the fans to do and then I was doing these shows one after the other every night. And I was noticing links between them anyway it was all about crime and so I was able to do a little callbacks to the shows and I think I was the 1st show I'm talking about been an undercover cop of infiltrate a gang and the 2nd show there's a small routine mention that I used to be in a gang and because they were a year apart of age and they're never put those 2 things together but when you're doing them one after the other and I know I know it's the 2nd night one of us that are used to be in a gang it would get a laugh and it never really used to and I was like why is that get a laugh now and I'll yesterday you were in again so that they think you're doing a callback and so I start thinking about my own show picks off every term we go well if they can do it with some films they've not even written these fans I can do it my own show and originally I was going to have like a post credits and also do all 3 of the shows and I would post credits thing where it said what happens to me after the facts are figured out that that one show was actually a prequel and I don't know what I'd like a little you know this is what happened to James after this you need like you know there's that guy who works for Marvel and he's in charge of the Marvel Universe there's a Star Wars person to yes like you're basically trying to create a James a cast or Cinematic Universe Yeah that's what it did because the people who were filming the specials with me a really into that kind of stuff that my friends there are an independent company a production company and when I told them about this they totally inter-family So they're like Ok so this this this and this and like my tour manager as well is really into that kind of thing so I'm just talking to these people about all the time and then for I can't put it all if I put it was a postcard it's been it's actually to go on for ages going to be a really long load of writing explaining how the gap between one show and the other and a 4th just do another show that fills that gap and I've got all these Matilda of real and anyway that's the light length of time and I'll just apply a narrative to it that fills the gap and bodily figured out a way that I could film it for no extra cost source audio figured out a way that I did $4.00 shows. Sort of for. The same amount of money into the same amount of time fine if you want to do that you can. Kind of like the plan developed literally the year that we. Thank you so much for coming on. Stand up comedian James Castor he has 4 specials a mini series of stand up specials on Netflix they're called Jane's a caster repertoire. That's all for this week's. Is recorded at maximum World Headquarters overlooking MacArthur Park in beautiful Los Angeles California. Remote controlled speedboat of the spring season this year. Around the lake in bright green annoying birds possibly also fish maybe even turtles hard to say from our perspective. The show is produced by speaking into microphones our producer is Kevin Ferguson he had help from Brian our production. And Shana de Loria our senior producer is. Our music the music that you're hearing right now was provided to us by d.j. . 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Bull's eye with Jesse thorn is a production of maximum dot org And it's just. The doctor looked at my dad and he said what was the joke. My dad starts laughing so hard. Dr Sandy Weill we need to run some task that's not doing this for more true stories told Live this week stories about fathers and father figure that's next time on the math reading from p.r. .