Greg Proops of “The Smartest Man In The World”

Sri Lanka, Whose Line Is Anyway? Was one of the first shows that we were introduced to, and my brother and I would watch it non stop like there was no getting us away from the TV. And Greg Proofs, of course, the star of that show and also the star of this week's edition of Access Podcast. Let's check out a little bit of his show. Let's see here. According to recent estimates, women may go under twenty of Congress and less than of all state legislatures, only six

governors or women. But they're of the population. So when we go on and on and on, here and here, he is the smartest man in the world, the smartest guy I've ever had the pleasure to work with. Greg Proops. High Greg, Hello, Maddie, you're very flattering. H Well, you know it's true. You are very smart, marvelous, there's no question. You know. Here was the thing when I did my old radio show, we would have comedians come in and just let them talk and and not really you know,

do stick or anything. And there were always a couple that I thought, when I moved into podcasting, that's somebody that should be podcasting, and you or we're always like on the top of that list. For me, I'm so glad to see that you've taken the podcasting as much as you have. It's really changed everything, Maddie. I think it's made me a more relevant comedian. And when I did the first one. After I did it, my wife Jennifer said to me, this is what you should be doing.

And I was like, huh, because I always thought stand up was the most direct way to communicate with the audience. But I think podcasting is you really reach people on a honest, visceral level and they seem to hear what you're saying. You know. Yeah, I mean I overuse this phrase, but you know, podcast create empathy and I think that somebody like you that's important and what you do it is it's easy to be misunderstood as a comedian because people our reactionary and they react to a phrase or

a word or a thought or something. With podcasting, people really hunker down and listen and you can really communicate with them. The highest phrase I think, Maddie is like people write me and say I used to think about things one way, and I listen to your show and I've changed my thinking on that, And you think, well, that's amazing. Because stand up doesn't change minds. Comedy is not really a force for It can be a voice, but I don't think it's you know, that giant catalyst

for social change. I'm laughing now, but you know there's very few George Carlin's or Bill Hicks or Lily Tomlins. Well, I think that. Um again, you know, with with comedy, you you hit a city in a city a city, and with a podcast it hits so many people. Um, have you found a new audience do you think of podcasting that you had with comedy? I do. I think the people that wouldn't walk in the door of a comedy club because they thought it was sexist and racist, Um,

will listen. I get a lot of young people who are too young to come to a comedy club, which is really amazing to communicate with teenagers. And uh, you know people who can't drink yet they love it as entertainment too. And also I've been to um Holland, Sweden, Norway, Scotland, England, France, Australian, New Zealand, Finland, you know what I mean. So you you can draw an audience all over the world through the power of podcasting because it's on people's phone or

on their computer. You don't have to be on a TV show anymore. TV is not necessary to have a presence, you know. I think that when somebody's doing a good podcast, a good any good radio or audio. In my in my mind, you know what's good when people think they could do it too. Well, let's say I could you know I could do that too. And the same thing with comedy. You know, everybody thinks that they can get

up on stage. But I think, you know, for you, I would think that your background and especially with improv, has really prepared you to do a podcast where you are kind of you know, at your will to speak about things. But also no, all right, you know I

need to stay on some kind of target it's true. Um. I love the thrill of walking backwards and free falling and improvising and with when you when you podcast, I can start at one place and work my way around in a huge circle, you know, and still try to get towards the point of the thing. Um. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes it takes me a whole hour to get off one topic. But people will stay with you for that in a podcast where they wouldn't perhaps as much in

a stand up act. That kind of want you to hit a joke every fifteen seconds, um, And I think that's what makes it's so exciting for me. Um. I talk about politics, a lot of feminism, history, uh, raised, religion, music books are literature blah blah blah, and there's a more open playing field for that people. I know people are listening and responding to that because they bring poetry books to the show. You know, they bring dope and

dka to you. Of course, my my habits are forefront, but they bring poetry books and artwork they've done, and feminist literature and records on Vinyl Maddie, which is like, you know, close to my heart. So you know you're getting through to people, and that's what's happening. And I

don't ask for these things. It all happened organically, which makes it a thousand times more gratifying to me than being in a corporate meeting where people talk about what they think people like and what they think people want

and they really don't. They've just taken a survey. One of the things I always I have always enjoyed about you, and always enjoyed when you would come into the studio on the shows that I worked on, is is is the topics that you talk about and and you know, I like it when people can be funny and smart at the same time. And I'll be honest with you, the fact that your podcast is doing so well makes me feel like maybe society isn't as fucked as I

think it is. I like to think so. I mean, I wake up with it, you know, like everyone else. There's the thirty seconds in the morning before you remember what's going on and who the who's in power, and then the depression, you know, climbs over you and abuse your soul with a blackness that can be inescapable horror

of the volcanic racism. And you know, but anyway, yes, I think you're right, Um, The truth is people are interested in my One of my guys I work with Matt bell Nap is on Never Not Finding with Jimmy Pardo, and he's been at the very beginning of podcasting and he asked me to do this with his partner Ryan mcmaniman. And at the very beginning of this, he said to me something that no TV person would ever say to you. He said, people are attracted to content. Yeah, and that's

what makes me. And then I say to Jennifer, well, I'm talking about jazz or I'm talking about this or that book, and surely everybody knows this, and she said to me, they don't. They don't know it. You need to introduce it to them. You're curating what you talk about. You're curating literature for them or art, because everybody doesn't have the same experience and everybody doesn't have the same prime of reference. And it's not a matter of ignorance

for stupidity, it's just, you know how it is. Some people had a good English teacher or good parents, and some people didn't, and so they have to kind of I feel like I'm teaching a one oh one class. You know, I've spent the last six years teaching at a university. And and it's one thing I have learned is it's it's people aren't bad because they're ignorant. And that word gets used wrong. You know, Yeah, it's not a bad thing to be. I'm ignorant. Every one's ignorant

on something, UM. And the key is to instead of pointing your finger and wagging it at them for being ignorant, it's to say, well, let me tell you about that. And I think that's something you do very very well, and I'm it. And again, it makes me so happy that there's actually in the audience is engaged in that, because every day I feel a little bit more like the movie Idiocracy. UM. And and I and I worry that we are we do revel in our ignorance, and we revel in UM. We revel in in our snarky

putdowns that aren't well thought out. And I like it when you do very thought thought, well thought out snarky put downs. Um. What do you teach, Maddie, I actually teach podcasting, UH and broadcasting. I started the first podcast program UH as far as I know, in the United States at the Candemy of Art University. So that's fantastic. It really is an effective tool, you know. And just like music, there's a there's podcasting, a million types of

ways to podcasters, a million different podcasts. Um. My only complain about comedy podcasting is that it's inconceivably male for the first ten years. And now you're starting to see um, you know, uh, black women and and all kinds of women getting into it, the guys we fucked and the chegop queens, and but it took a while for them to get traction, you know, because everything is a white guy thing with with comedy, and then it kind of

gets spread around eventually. Um, but I think it's really important to teach podcasting because, like you said, everyone thinks they can do uh, you know, a podcast or everyone they can do comedy and uh and and sorry, in essence,

they kind of can. Yeah, if it's if it's And here's the thing I al would say to my students is even if you get done my class, and by the way, my mid term is a power point presentation on finding an audience and and like you know, really thinking about what you're doing instead of just going out and doing it. But that when you're done with my class. Hopefully you've learned to communicate effectively so that no matter what you do in life, you can go into a room.

And again I had to overuse the word, but you have that feeling of empathy with whoever you're talking to, whether it's business or you know, anything else that you do. And I think that when you do a podcast, you you get to flex that muscle a lot. Yeah, I think you're right. Um, empathy isn't so important. Um, Connecting with the audience is the only thing I ever wanted because I'm shallow and I don't have an inner life, and so to be able to to be able to

reach people. And I think, like you're saying, you're in real life. We're on the phone making caustic remarks about other people's politics or their habits or whatever, and it's a chance to not it's a chance to articulate that

more and not just take pot shots at people. You have to develop something when you're doing a podcast has to be I mean, you know that there's you've heard ones where people just blather, and then you've heard ones where people make a very salient point and or it's about history or music, or you know they've taken a topic and that's their topic, or sex and all of all of which need to be discussed. The problem isn't that, like you said, people are ignorant and they're stupid and

they need to be castigated for being morons. The problem is we don't have dialogue about anything. Do you find it hard? And I think that Jennifer fills this role for you and she as I think you know anybody. I love you in your marriage and it reminds me so much of my wife and I were. You know,

that's my best buddy. That's that's my sounding board. Do you feel like when you're doing the podcast from the Fortress of Propitude that that that's you have a sounding board to, you know, instead of having an audience in front of you. Yeah? I do. Um. You know, she's been um part of this thing since the beginning and my partner in it, and a lot of the ways the topics have been driven is because of her. A lot of the news stories I read and the information

I have is because of her. So I've given her credit since the beginning. And uh now we're starting to do ones at home together where she talks more. She's always wanted to be sort of in the background, and that was her choice, you know, And I didn't press her to push forward. But lately she's wanted to say more, and so I'm happy with that evolution too. And of course people right me and say could you put could you turn her mic up? Yeah, you've got her on

the side there in your sideline here. And now I feel awful because I'm always talking about people's sidelining women, and and the last thing we did, I don't think she was on Mike ut. But yeah, I think you have to have a sounding board, um. But more importantly than the sounding board for her, for me, she's sort of the guiding heart and soul of this whole thing, one of the things that you know you do well. And I feel like I tell people all the time.

In a lot of ways, we should be very grateful for Donald Trump, because it's the first time people actually pay attention to what's happening and are interested in c span and who's the secretary of this and who's the secretary of that. So there is a lot of a lot more dialogue about what's going on with our government. But I feel like it's also created a place where you can see where a lot of people aren't maybe

the best people to be talking about politics. And I think of some comedians and some of the podcasts, and I think in general social media where it's been maybe you know, not working out UM for them. How you know, A long way to ask a question is you know, how do you feel about this, this this current culture of of Donald Trump and how it affects what you do.

I think it's galvanized people in a positive way. And I think most importantly it's forced complacent UM white people into some sort of you know, getting woke as they say, UM. The violence that he brings in his rhetoric, he's basically a one man recruiting squad for white supremacists. Every single UM in saying shooting that's taken place, the shooters have all said that they listened to him, that they appreciated him, that it was his message that they were reacting to

and relating with. UM. And I think it's a real nice wake up call for people. If I wanted Hillary more than I've wanted anything in my life, but I do realize if she had been elected, we'd be locked in this thing where the Republican Congress would be fighting her tooth and nail right now, she'd probably be indicted. Yeah, and there might be impeachment proceedings going on a year and a half. And because that's how psycho they are

about it. Whereas with this we're fighting against basically fascism every day. But now I know the names of every single council person in my neighborhood. UM, I'm writing politicians all the time. I'm completely galvanized. UM. I've joined fifteen different groups. And I think a lot of people feel that way. And to see the crushing amount of women and young people that are registered to vote and running

for office is what I always focus on. Um. A lot of liberal people will be like, oh, it's worse than it ever was, and the whole world's coming to it. And it's like, that's true. But there's gonna be so many women running for office in the next two years, and so many people of color. We're talking about a black woman governor of Georgia in the in the in the near future, which has never ever happened in the history of the United States. There's never been a black

woman governor. And that's progress. Might always say to people, I'm old and when I was little Nixon was president. And when Nick was president, there was no question that a woman or a black person was ever going to be president, much less attorney general, much less Secretary of State. So all those things have happened in my life. And I'm not that fucking old. But you know what I mean, things move slowly, incremental change changes. That is the course

of American politics right now. We're in a terrible time where white supremacists and the Russians have an awful hold on kind of the people's imagination in the media. But I think that the vast majority of people are are not bad people. I mean, you know, and and can be motivated to get off their ass every once in a while, uh and do something. And I think you're

seeing that. Um. I think of people I didn't know the name of a few years ago, like Sarah Kenzie or or Joy Read or um you know, that are in the media now that are literally fighting for change every day. And I think that's the part that gives me hope. So that's my take on it. I mean, he is a person, is an inkoit um demanded mess. He doesn't have an agenda he I mean a constructed agenda.

He simply pushes buttons a racism, homophobia, transphobia, whatever. There's no coherency to anything Orange forty five is doing because he's not intelligent or well read. It was just revealed yesterday that mc masters, who was the former National Security Advisor, would be in the middle of giving him a briefing and realized he wasn't observing anything he said. So we're not talking about a normal presidency here. We're talking about the idiocracy presidency. Like you say, accepted in the movie

Terry Crews was more awesome. Oh, he was much more awesome. I would probably consider voter for Terry Crews, you know. And I had to have to, you know, when when everybody says this is the worst time, I I you know, you study history, and I'm I'm a bit of a history buff. I feel like, you know, when a look

at the sixties. Uh, there was a lot of a lot of strife then, and I think out of both situations was what you're saying is coming true, which is it wakes people up and and hopefully now this next younger, smarter, more you know generation will will start paying attention and take part as it did with the sixties. Absolutely, look look at um uh what the Parkland Uh teenagers of jen That march was gigantic and the Republicans can ignore it all they want and the n r A can

react to it all they want. But the tide turned, the tide turned. It was it was a moment and um with Hillary running, the tide turned there when you saw a woman get nominated and get the most votes that you don't go back on that. And women are I think people are really motivated um in a way they weren't before because we have that extra added incentive

of we're fighting for our very survival. But the sixties were this bad and the seventies were this bad, and we've had racist, white supremacist, narcissistic, sociopathic liars as presidents, just never all at once. Well. I always tell people, Hey, you think he's bad, look up Andrew Johnson. Man there you go there, that's that's a bad president. My wife

the other day, that's how boring I am. I'm like, if you want a white supremacist president who presided over a mass and had a corrupt administration, it was Andrew Johnson. Is cake taking Lee shitty? He might be the worst president extra Trump. I think, I, oh, I I he's always my he's always my go to for worst president. I can't. Oh my god, he's just horrible. And so people think we haven't had this kind of insane white

supremacy before, but we have many many times. Woodrow Wilson was a screaming white supremacist and he was also an intellectual, which is like, you know, quite a quite a gyration there to be able to do both things. Um, you know, uh, I think a lot of that this has to do, you know, and social media has everything to do with why we think everything is the worst now because it's

it's so in our faces. Um, And you know, how have you been able to use you know, social media, you know that kind of not only just to to say what you think, but also is a is it is there a former therapy at all for you? Or or do you find it to be as kind of does it get you worked up as it does other folks? It gets me worked up and then I have to

take a break from it. And it's when I find myself reacting to every single goddamn tweet and feeling like I have to chime in, is when I think, you know, it's okay to think for a while about what's going on and not just immediately react. I never used profanity on my Twitter, and the one or two times I accused someone of being a Nazi openly, I got very big trouble and trolled to death, and I thought, okay,

so don't do that. Um, I can't believe the people who right fuck you you yea there because it's there forever, yeah, and someone that's going to go back and find that you called someone a piece of shit, And so I try to keep the discourse high. UM. I decided early on that in my acting on the podcast, I'll use profanity freely. But on Twitter and social media, I feel like it doesn't really do a lot for your rep um, and you can't call everyone that you think is a

moron a moron. Um. You have to let morons be more on. Sometimes it loses its luster if you overuse it, I think. So I try to praise people, and the only good thing about social media is like, for instance, um, LORI kill Martin who's a friend of mine, and Alison Rosen is a friend of mine. They both have books out now, and so you're able to help people by pumping their projects, you know. And I think that's that's

a really good thing about social media. When my book came out, I asked all my little comedian friends, will you retweet this? And to a person they did, And I think that's the kind of the the fun of social media is that it's a it's a it's a club, it's a fraternity, if you will, where we can support each other. I can't wait to see the support you give my new pot of this new podcast of mine.

I'm so excited, Maddie. You tell me when and I will, as they say, retweet it and I'll send it out to I think that's the other groovy thing is like I love doing podcasts and I don't care if they're new or big established ones. I love doing new ones too, because that's how they get off the ground. Baby Ria Butcher just started one called three Strikes, three Swings, and

You're Out, a baseball one. I'm gonna do one named podcast carpool in May that a guy hooked me up with, UM, you asked me to do years and I thought, yes, UM, because I know you and we've always had fun chatting. Uh. I think that's how they get off the ground and how you get any traction. You know, Well, we started Stitcher and that's you know, I left. That's why I left my morning show was to go over and help

start Stitcher. Was you know, the one guy I always remember who would do anything and want any podcast was Mark Marin. Mark. Mark said no to nobody when he started that podcast. We did. I did a little podcast out of a closet at Stitcher because you know, startup, we had no mudget everything. And Mark came and did the podcast in my closet, and and and I think that that's and that's it's and it's one of the things that make podcasting special is that it's not a

it's not cutthroat. It's not like you know, you know, every morning radio guy thinks he's the coolest thing in the world and every other morning radio guy sucks. You don't get that attitude with podcasters. It's hey, how can I help you with your podcast? Because it's just helping me. At the same time, I agree, I've done obscure ones in Sacrimano, Colorado, Zameto, Toronto. Yeah, I can't remember the guy's name. He did it in his house. We all went over, we smoked a joint and he had a dog.

He took pictures of us, and uh, I mean, I don't know if anyone heard it. I think some people hear it. Um Any any time I go to where cats will ask me to do their podcast, I I generally if I have a moment, I'll do it. My new account in Philly was a big music fan. I went over to his house and in his dining room table we did it. And you know that that's the other thing that's beautiful about it. This is a movable feast.

I have a couple of different Zoom recorders, but I've got the little handheld Zoom one now and it's changed my life, man, because uh, Jennifer and I went to Mississippi last year with the Lady parts Justice Liz Winstead, who is a great comedian who started daily show, and she has this you know, abortion rights group that helps out and goes to clinics all over the country. And they don't just go and like do a comedy show

and self intuligent. They'll paint the place, they'll bring office furniture, whatever it's required they ask. Then they do a comedy show. They also do escorting and then at the end of the comedy show. There's like an open dialogue with doctors

and volunteers. It's very cool. So I went and the one in Mississippi is full of anti choice, crazy white men with bibles and pictures of dead babies outside screaming at a stream of poor black women who all of whom have four or five kids and are getting an abortion because they can't afford on another child. And I had the recorder in my hand and they started yelling at me the minute I got there, and then I was able to interview them. They were glad to do

an interview because they recognized me from whose line. And I kept it really low key, you know. I let them talk and I spoke like this in a cold, clear tone to them, and they explained their position, which was kind of crazy, and I think that did more than if I'd argued with them, were ranted and raved about it. I let them talk, and everybody wrote and was like, I can't believe this with these what these white men believe, and it's like, well, that's what's going on.

They also didn't know that white men gather outside of clinics all over the country and scream at black people for trying to avail themselves of their constitutional rights, whereas no one stands outside gunshops and yells at white guys day. And so the effectiveness of having a little handheld device Jesus Christ. When I was a little my first tape recorder had two giant reels and it was weighed like pounds,

you know. And now that we can carry around these things that are small as a phone, and you know, it just makes broadcasting a whole nother thing. No more physical tape. Baby, you don't have to deal with that ship anymore. But yeah, we still say tape. Oh yeah, and we still say we say recording, we say telephone. We I think, I always say to Jennifer, everything is really old fashioned, even though it's super new. Uh, people

still say tape things. I love that my wife makes fun of me because I'll forget I'm from West Virginia and then I'll say an expression and like I'll call it the commode where I'll call her I'll call her purse, her pocketbook, and she's like, she's like, what are you some? Are you an eighty year old person here with pocketbook and commode. I'm like, now, that's just how we talked there all right, do you say crick and ruff as well? Oh, crick roof and holler. Yeah, we're going to West Virginia

this year for the Lady Parks Justice League thing. That's the date we're gonna do. We're gonna go to Charleston. Oh, good luck in Charleston, and then I think we're gonna interview the teachers because that's great just so happens in the clinic and Charleston doesn't have a bunch of crazy people standing outside. Um they they they've gotten off the hook on that. So I thought we'd go and talk

to the teachers. Or it was Jennifer's ideal. Let's be honest, because the teachers have started a tidal wave in West Virginia and God blessed them. You know, it's spread to Kansas and Oklahoma and everywhere. You know, there's uh my, my one of my best dearest friends is a lawyer uh in Charleston, African American lawyer, and he you know, he,

you know, he is always kind of pressuring me. He's like, we need you, people like you to come back because you know, we need to get voices back in the state. Who have you know, have experience and and think a little bit. And you know, when I saw that teacher strike, I was just warmed my heart to see the people that came out to support them. Uh, in the in the state, because you know, my my state worries me a lot. And I'm glad that you're going there. I

think that you'll you'll have a wonderful time. I hope you can get to the Eastern Panhandle, that's where I'm from, which is actually the beautiful part of the state. So I've been a couple of times in West Virginia and plive years ago with whose Line at the University in Charleston, and they were unbelievably avid. And they also we did a Q and A after or I guess Ryan and

Chip did. I'm I didn't take it much part of it, but they they the students really wanted to talk, uh, and it was it was an opportunity for them to talk to people who make a living performing. And yeah, the people ask me, why do you go everywhere and do stuff? And it's like I feel like you're you know, we're we're troupe doors. Uh. You know, as a performer,

you gotta I don't know, Bob Dylan. You look at his calendar sometimes and he'll be in like Lexington, Kentucky and Evansville, Indiana, and people will ask him why do

you go to these places? And he's like, people live there, and I think it's good for you know, I grew up in a really small town in West Virginia, pretty poor, and um, I would go once this year to this, uh, this church camp and it was the one place where I meet people who were from different backgrounds, had you know, come from different families, and we're smart and really were into reading and education. And and um, Henry Lewis Gates Jr. Is from the town that I'm from it and he

would go to the same church camp. And I've read his book Black People, He Colored People. He talks about that being the place where he actually got some like, oh my gosh, there is a world outside of Kaiser,

West Virginia. And and I think that when people you know, come into the state and do performances, you know, there's always that kid like me who was going to see it and go oh wow, Yeah, there's people that don't think like everybody that I go to school with, this is cool, Alright, I can I have there are other people out there. Yes, it's and it's so important. Um, the people who live in real America have that communication.

People do right in me and Goo, I live in a terrible little town in Missouri or a little town in Illinois, and I love listening to your show, and you think, well, you're reaching them, and that's important, you know. I mean, I love New York and London in San Francisco as much as anyone else, and of course I want to play there all the time, and I do. But cities are starting to be like places people are leaving because they can't afford to be there anymore. You know.

We were just in Ohio and Indiana, and the downtowns are getting renewed in some of these towns that are you know, like Toledo. Um, Toledo is not. It's depressing, but you can see that it's coming back. And people are forced to move to places like that now because you can't go to Portland or Denver anymore. Portland and Denver priced themselves right out of the market. And there's that there's that wild reality going on in the United States where there's simply not enough places to live in

enough jobs for everyone to afford. You know, when we first lived in Arantisto, Maddie, you could live there. Yeah, Now what is it? Four thous dollars a months the average rent. It's ridiculous, It's crazy. I don't know how anybody lives here who's on a normal income. I honestly don't. I mean, you have to be like Facebook rich too,

and that's just that's not riot. I mean when I yeah, so, I think that the real estate developers are the most I used to think arms dealers were the most evil people on earth, but I think it's real estate developers and Luke who's president. Yeah, oh, I there's nothing more frustrating. I mean, my wife and I were looking to buy a house, and you can't buy one unless you have cash in hand. And those folks who are buying them with cash in hand don't live here. They don't. They're

only doing it for speculation. It's it's really frustrating. And all these damn flippers, all these flippers that damn TV shows made everybody think they can go out and flip a home now, so they come and buy them and then yeah, it's terrible. Oh I know. I mean I bought a house in l A with my wife, and they're always asking us to sell it. But what they're gonna do with it is tear it down and build a McMansion. And I'm not doing that. Don't do it. I can't add to that, you know, it's there's enough

of that. Um. Yeah, I have heart of any part of any cities, the architecture, and I don't understand people who just want to knock everything down all the time. But l A is heedless, you know, I'm a at least it's a little bit more affordable in l A though. Yeah, it is, it is, It still is, and there's still

cheap apartments to rent. Cheaper When I first came to l A, Oh my god, I think we were renting a place for I was splitting it with Sue Murphy, the comedian, and like there's think five dred dollars each a month. Twenty years ago. Hey, I got a question from a listener, Larry. He's got three I'm gonna give you two of him. One. Do you have a photographic memory? No, I just have a good memory. Um, there's giant gaps in my memory, and of course memories really selective. I

don't remember any of my nephews or niece's birthdays. But I can tell you what Tai Cobb hit for every season kind of thing. So that's amazing. Uh, that's you know, It's like some of the sports guys that worked with in New York that they would walk in and just they couldn't remember what they have lunched yesterday. But I forget about you know, the eight six Mets will tell you every stat everything about him. Sure. How about the other question as is, were you Do you really drink

vodka when you're doing a podcast? I do. I've got a drinking problem, and I take it on the air. I necked down several glasses during a podcast I'm doing one tomorrow night here in h Holifox is where I am now at the Halifax Comedy Festival, and they put me in a little bar called the Carlton and I've done it there. I've done it here a couple of times and really good fun. Is the end of the bloody continent out here. Um. But yes, I really drink. I really drink, and people give me my call all

the time. I bet once once they know you like something, that was the thing. I quit drinking h three years ago. Well, I can always tell when somebody's really a friend of mine and when they're not by the gifts that give me a Christmas because they'll, you know, I'll get bottles in the mail. I'm like, yeah, we haven't talked for a while, have we? Uh right, I can't enable that ship. It's like, well it's you know. Then I have gifts for other folks. So it doesn't work out very bad,

but it's always funny. Hey. Um. I always end with three killer questions. Three questions if you could listen to a podcast that had anybody living or dead on it? Whose podcast would you listen to? Oh? Gee whiz, that's a good question. Um uh golly, all right. You kind of stopped me because I have a thousand people that I want to say. You can come up with a couple of combinations if you want. This is one I was really excited to ask you in particularly because I

figured you come up with something good. I would like to hear Gentle Rivers because I wished up been adored her as a comedian. Um living Friendly Blitz. If someone would just interview Friendly Wits every week. Um, she's so witty and so funny and so incisive and is so liberal minded and hysterically you know, just I just adore her UM comedy. She's mostly a writer, obviously, but she does do interviews and she just nails the douvil out

of it. UM if it was old fashion, if we're talking living or dead, ever, I would love to hear Leonardo da Vinci's thoughts UM. I'd also love to hear like some of the women of history that get skipped over, like Ada Loveless who basically kind of invented the computer, and all of the black women from Hidden Figures who

were the physicists who worked at NASA UM. It would be very interesting to hear them talk about their experience with UM astronomy and and dealing with the giant paradigm that they were forced into and how to go with it. I'd love to hear Abraham Lincoln speak, um, have I given you enough? You've given me funny? I could go on and those are great. Louis Strong I think would

have quite a lot to say about different things. And you know, I mean, I think there's a bunch of people living who don't get on podcasts, and maybe we should interview them, like Dolor Suerta, who started United farm Workers with Cesar Chavas. She's still alive and you've just given me an idea. Here you go. That's that's my that's the that's the that's the producer and me, Hey, what was the right? Yeah, we mentioned you know, podcasting is kind of the latest technology that's that's changed your

life and what you do. What's the first piece of technology that you remember using and going this is neat, this is going to be something, it's going to change my life. Well, um, like I said, when I was probably six or seven, like parents, game in this tape recorder and it had giant reels and you turned, uh, this giant lever to make it go and to rewind it, and then you had to press the button and turn the leaver at the same time to make a record.

And it had one of those green like I don't know what you would call it, an a solo scope, like you know that when you spoke the levels, we're kind of a fluctuating co sign in the that's early. I don't know if that's digital technology. I'm sure it was a light bulb, you know. I remember thinking that was super bitchen and also portable phonographs when that was little, the kind you would drag over to your friend's house and just plug it in the wall and it just played.

That was like we thought that was the living end. Um and transistor radios when I was really little in the sixties, because you could listen to the ball game on them with one little ear piece in your ear. Yeah, and so you could look you could hide in bed and listen to ball games or take it anywhere and no one would You could sneak uh listening to games. And also, you know, radio was way more eclectic once

upon a time, as you recall. Um and I listened to a dazzling variety of weird DJs from San Francisco alone in my room. Um, guys who played comedy. John guild Land was on Casapo, guys who did comedy like um, uh, well not I'm not old enough to really for Surewood bid him. Oh golly, I'm blanking on his name. But there was you know. Anyways, there was eclectic shows where I remember hearing Monty Paton for the first time on the radio before they on TV. Um. John Gillan played

them on his comedy show. Um, and I think that's that's what we're doing now. For people. What those people did for us when we were a little the exposing you to different things that you had no idea existed. Yeah, I mean I always tell folks with you know, when I was little, we didn't have TV, but we radio and Dcor Demento. Yes, that was God. That was how I found you know, comedy. You know that my mom

let me listen to any comedy albums. I wanted to, so George Carlin and you know, when I was like six or seven, was listening to George Carlin and those things. But uh yeah, Dr Demento And I remember my first radio job on an FM station was I got to play Doctor Demento on Sunday nights at nine o'clock. And I was like, I've made it, yes, yeah right, yeah, it's so Dr Demano. Plus he played um, you know,

records from the twenties and thirties. Oh yeah, he played like all Bob and Ray stuff and he'd play um, oh gosh, Spike Jones and you know all that kind of stuff. That was you know, you know, for a you know, nobody else was playing that. Yeah, no, he he was the one, and it was coast to coast and it was syndicated. Um. We even I remember I was in a group called fault Line and Santancisco in the eighties and we made a Christmas rap record or something and we sent it to him because the show

was still on. This is like eight five. We sent him a vinyl single of it, and he wrote us back and said, I'm not going to play it, but it was more trenchant than most comedy records. And I remember being absolutely thrilled that he called our record trenchant, and uh, it was. Yeah. He's I think a great broadcaster. Yeah, And I think a lot of people have different experiences

depending on what your generation is. Um. There was a radio station in San Francisco that I made it to the eighties called ks an Case and and they had really eclectic Deejays who played rock and roll but also stranger, you know, harder, deeper cuts. And I got an education from them too, And they embraced punk when it came out, whereas the hard rock stations were very resistant to it.

And then punk leads you to art and literature and style, you know, a different direction than listening to Ted Nugent or Montrose or something. All of a sudden, now you have to deal with the intention behind a song, the politics behind a song, the fashion behind a song. And then of course, um, I listened to ks so Well and Kate uh K d I A, which were the black stations in the bar area, and that's where I learned about Glutsy Collins and Rick James and Funkadelic and

Choca Con and you know what I mean. Like so when I was at pizza delivery boy, I would drive around sam Matal and smoke cools and listen to Kiss so Well and they were playing everything groovy, you know. So it was just the Bear has always been good for that because the area is multicultural, and we never even with all the problems of the Barrier House and the racism and the lack of housing and all that jazz, the poverty, there's always been Latin people, Asian people, black people,

white people. You know what I mean. Look at my name, it spos to it more. And then if you lived in an all white place like say, you know Canada, Yeah, r Hanada is not really all why but you know what I mean, No, I bring that up when I go. I still go hunting with my dad in Pennsylvania and uh and I'll get in conversations with guys there and just kind of just point out that, you know, hey, your experience is not like mine where I'm the only white family on the block. You know, it's it's a

little bet Um. All right, one more, What was the last podcast that you binged? Um? That's just gonna sound terrible. I don't really binge podcasts that much. I listened to some sometimes. UM. I love Jacky Cations the Dork Forest because she gets people on to talk about stuff that's real meaningful to them. So it can be any old thing, um,

old time movies, baseball, whatnot. Um. I listened to mine back um after I do it because I want to make it the producer and me, I want to make it better and less repetitive and less as far as the vodka goes. Sometimes maybe there's too much, and that's not always a good dance you make. You want to make sure you're making sense and ur ahead of the audience instead of being that the drunk guy who's cornered

you in a kitchen. You know what, I didn't know what that was like until I stopped drinking, and now I'm like, oh god, that was me. I was the drunk guy, uh in the kitchen trying to tell you why the world needs changed, right. Yeah, I just that's my worst fear. My two worst fears are irrelevance and to be the drunk guy who's corned you in the kitchen and it is repeating the same story. Man, that's funny. Um, that's great. Uh well, uh run that time. But I

really appreciate you coming on, Greg. I'm glad that we got to cash up and and and it's been too long. And you're somebody I always I do. I think of more often you would than you would probably know. Um, that's kind. I've always been thought of you fondly. And every time I go back and do um Sarah and Vinnie, every time I go, and I was there through the Sarah No Name years as well. Uh this, every time I go back and see do Sarah and Vinny, I think of you because sometimes you do the show now

and the producers like looking at the computer the whole time. Yeah, well, I know what you mean. It changes, everything changes a little bit. And uh uh and I think that you know, it's good to see you in this world. I'm glad you're podcasting, and I do think it's it adds to our culture and in a little bit, UH makes me hopeful that things are things aren't as bad as we as I think they are sometimes. Thanks Pal, that's really

nice of you. Do you let me know when this is going to come out and email me and I'll definitely put it all over my Twitter and stuff like that. You got anything you want to promote before we get out of here, Yeah, that'd be great. Um, I've got a podcast coming up this May second at Bar Lubic in Los Angeles. Someone's free to attend. I'm also on the road with the Whose Line guys, and we're going

all over the Midwest and the South starting May fourth. St. Louis County City, Springfield, Atlanta, Raleigh, Oliver, Dallas And that's at whose Live anyway, and then I'll be in New York City on May twenty six at the at the Bellhouse in Brooklyn. And that podcast is always wild, so I'd love it if people would come up for that. And um, the Greg Proops Film Club will be showing three Days of The Condor on May sixteen Wednesday sixteenth at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. And if you haven't

seen three Days of the Condor. It's a CIA paranoia movie from the seventies where Robert Redford has awesome hair. Awesome. Thanks Greg, we'll put all that up on our Facebook page. Two at Access Podcasts, Hazy, Hi, Maddie. I enjoyed my time with Greg Proops. It was a really good interview. It was fun to listen back to. I like, I've liked Greg forever. I met Greg a long time ago, like fifteen years ago, and uh, he's one of those people that he's so smart that when he acknowledges something

that you said is smart, you feel even smarter. And I like to you guys had a conversation about how if someone's ignorant, you don't just bash it, You kind of try to use it as a learning opportunity. And I like that what he said about that. Now you know how I get through my job every day. Learn Oh No, And hey, being smart it's a wonderful thing.

And podcasts make you smarter. So this week I wanted to highlight podcast that makes you smarter and Z You've gone out to the interwebs and looked for three to recommend to our listeners. What he got Ye, So the first one is Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell. Very smart. Yeah, very smart guy, and he has this voice that you just want to sit and listen to all the time. And it's just um. It's a podcast where they interpreted things from the past that cases or like different stories

that one might have overlooked and it's really interesting. I love this podcast, let's hear it. He closed her nostrils with his other hand, and since she could not get air, she lost consciousness. When she came to, she realized that she was in the back of a moving automobile. Okay, I might say, he Okay, he's definitely smarter than me. I'm not doing a list of all the people smarter than me, and it's getting very long. Yeah, how are you looking on that list? Where are you at? Oh,

I'm I'm I'm probably fifty deep at this point. And that's just in this building alone. What have we got for the second podcast? The second one is good Job, Brain, Good Job, which you actually told me about and I love it because I'm such a like trivia nerd. I love trivia. And this is just a group of friends and it's like a they call it like a bar quiz and it's offbeat trivia and if you love facts and learning new facts, this is a great show for you.

Check it out. This is that everybody question what authors first three names were John Ronald Rule Martin. Yeah, those guys have been at it for a while. I love podcasts like that that uh come from a place of friendship. Yeah. Their chemistry is great and it just flows onto the audio the podcast. I'm just gonna keep talking. Okay, next one, alright, when the last one is Star Talk with Neil Degrass Tyson, who is probably like top three smartest people. He's pretty smart,

he is crazy smart. And he has a podcast about astrophysics like can I say that work? Um? And he has great guests like George Takai, Buzz Aldrin, Morgan Freeman, Um, obviously Bill Nye the science guy. They're like bfs and it's just teaching you more about the universe. And who doesn't want to learn more about space. Let's hear it that a rock has less God in it than life does? Okay? Okay? And he talks about the orbits of planets and which

Newton had already figured out in his publication of Principia. Okay, so I already figured that out, and so so he is not saying that the planets are moving according to God, because we already had those answers in this book. Every place he involkes God is where we knew the least about the natural world. That's a very common thing. You know, who loves Neil de grass Tyson our our music composer, Casey Franco. Yeah, he's yeah, he's like, he's he's he's a big fanboy. I'm pretty sure he has like a

full size poster m over his bed. Yeah, I've been to this place before. That was wonderful. Thank you, Zee and uh. If you like to hear those podcasts, don't forget check them out on the I Heart Radio player. If you've got a podcast that you want to put on the I Heart Radio player, I guess what. There's a submissions page and what we're linked to that up on our website. All you have to do so check us out on Facebook. It's Access Podcast on Facebook. You

can also catch us on Twitter. It's Access Podcast one. Some dumb dumb took Access podcast ten years ago and it's never used to handle woo uh. But anyway, you can follow us on social media. I also want to thank everybody involved with the show. See you're the best. Casey Franco composes our music, Don'ton Runberg helps out with graphics. Also want to thank Rick Hardo, a R who does a lot of social media promotion for us as well.

So thanks to all those guys. Thanks to Don Parker and Katie Wilcox here in San Francisco, and our godfather of podcasting, Chris Patterson. What's up Chris, Hey, let's do a shout out to to Darren James, president of I Heart Radio Killing it all right, everybody, thanks for listening, and remember, if you like podcast go check one out and share it with a friend.