S3 - Ep. 41 - Ron Funches

Are you leaving?

I you want your way back home?

Either way, we want to be there, doesn't matter how much baggage you claim and give us time and a terminol and gay.

We want to send you off inside.

We wanna welcome you back home.

Tell us all about it.

We scared her?

Was it fine?

Malborn?

Do you need to ride?

Do you need to ride? Do you need to ride? Do you need to ride? Do you need to ride? Do your need do you ride?

Ride?

Do you need with Karen and Chris welcome to Do you need to ride? This is Chris.

Fairbanks and this is Karen Kilgaroth.

I don't know why I have to go uh before my name. It's as though I have to think about it for a second.

I think it's your way of seeming natural, right, it's my who knows.

I have to try really hard to seem natural, and I do a lot of stammers and ums, especially when that's more natural script reading or scene reading. I've been rehearsing with a band, and I mentioned it before that I was nervous, But now I feel better now that I'm not just listening to Dead Kennedy's and fire Hose and all these singers with different voices entirely and trying to mimic them, which is what I was doing. And now that I'm doing it with a band, I'm singing

I'm glad that you are continuing on the journey instead of stopping at being nervous, because that's the key, right it is a gars And also you have to remember that feeling. And you're going to do this to yourself because I've seen you do this in comedy. You're going to start telling yourself stories as it's happening about how people are receiving you. You are wrong, you are wrong. You are wrong, although and you don't know how they're receiving you don't know, I assure you. And what's really

Yep.

And I'm not going to give a speech in the beginning that says I've never sang in a band.

I'm actually a comedian. I'm not going to make excuses.

I'm going to pretend I along there, do a lot of high kicks, and I'm going to do a lot of screaming, and I'm going to drink my throat coat tea.

So you just.

Started this story kind of out of the blue. But what is this a gig? Is it a Show's the other thing.

It's like one of those comedy shows where you have to do a bunch of homework and write new material. It's so much work for one show. Yeah, and it is a scale.

At least they're paying you five hundred dollars.

No money, no accolades, really just friendship. College friends from my college days in Missoula. They all know how to play instruments. They asked me to sing I when I was in Portland, and I said yes, and then I was nervous for a full month.

But now, yeah, figuring it out.

But it's for a skate park opening in How many songs are you going to do? Seventeen songs are.

You being serious, Yes, and you're doing a double album of songs.

Yes, A lot of them are two minute interstitial songs. Specifically, they're all from late eighties early nineties skate videos, and some of them are just very short, one minute songs. All of them involved me using all of my vocal chords. Sure, but some of them I'm nailing, I think. And it's a but. Yes, it is a lot of songs, but those guys are learning the basslines and guitar riffs and drumming. I mean, my job is easier. I'm just singing karaoke.

Arguable because if the bassline dips out for five seconds because the guy gets lost, the entire song still keeps going right, but the.

Sing if my voice cracks, I notice, and I faint and hit my head or something, which I've imagined specifically that scenario the show's over. Yeah, you do have a good point and the nervousness is back.

You need that nervousness. It's good energy. Don't interpret it as bad energy.

It'll be great. I'm gonna do.

I forgot I have the option of doing high kicks. Yeah, they asked me. In Portland, that's where our guest is from. Today, and I'm very excited to have him because every time I talk with Today's guest in person, it's like therapeutic for me.

He's a special, special person.

He's a special person.

He's actually originally from Carson, California, though.

Where the goat carts are.

That's all I've done. In Carson.

They also have a Toyota dealership where you can't get a lemon.

Go somewhere else and you have to go.

I almost got a lemon, not in Carson, Not in Carson. I assume it's the same Carson. You've seen him in colleges and clubs across the country. It's better when you do that, Karen.

No, you're don't bail halfway through.

Yeah, you know what I did, bail on through. I almost called you, Kevin. I don't know why. It's better when you do it, Kevin.

Goot, Karen, you've seen him at clubs and colleges across the country. Put your hands together for the hilarious Ron funches.

Everyone. Hi, Hi, Ron.

I like your friendship. It's fun. Thank you, buddy, it's real.

I like how supportive it is and Karen just saying the right things.

It's all so true.

Thank you.

I try to be I try to be supportive in a kind of confrontational way because Chris Chris has a way of thinking about himself that some times infuriates me. Right when I watch him be great at comedy and then he comes off stage like death sucked, and I'm just like, you don't know shit, Yeah, I think that's important.

I thought you were going to tell me to cancel the show, and then you you were just supportive.

So you're right.

It's very realistic and supportive. Where she goes, you have to do it, and you have to go through the fear, and then she also goes, that's too many songs, so it's really everything that you want to hear.

It is all true. It is too many songs.

I dog here the ones I'm willing to let go, like the Dead Kennedy's I can't do high ethel Merman vibrato screaming.

Unless I go aha, I can. Sorry for that sample, but I've been.

That live on stage. That was probably off put It was off putting to me.

Jessica, you got to hear the whole song ron because love it. Jessica Simpson does that with a mic.

She goes like a waves it in front of her face to create a vibrato yep.

Yeah. And where's she been lately?

There's a lot she makes shoes now, Oh there's a lot. Yeah.

My nieces love her pumps.

Yeah.

Yeah, she's got a hole.

And she actually just bought back her own like trademark or something like. Apparently she sold it and then it was going downhill, and then she bought it back and now she's Jessica. She's back on top. I just remember looking at the headline and she was wearing like a cowl neck sweater, and I actually felt happy for her, even though I've like I was too old when she got big to care one way or the other. But then I was like, I love when a person buys their thing back. Yeah, that's always good.

Yeah.

People were really hard on her, just because she thought that maybe tuna was chicken. But it's called Chicken of the sea. It's a deceiving name. I know why she said that.

They set her up.

Yeah, and if you're like her, having fresh albacore or seared tune all the time, it does seem like a can of chopped up chicken. And in her defense, what with all the dolphins and everything. You know, I get very environmental, all the different meats in the can.

There might be chicken in there, Jessica, she's not here, Chris.

I put her on speakerphone, Ron, Can you sing.

A little bit?

I take singing lessons or I was taking singing lessons for a while really when yeah, for what reason?

For fun?

Because it was a pandemic and I didn't have much to do, and I like, I wanted to do an activity or try to find a hobby or a passion that didn't have anything to do with monetary.

Results at the end.

You know, everything else that I did, it was usually like, oh, I'm trying to get paid for this and that, and so to just do something because I wanted to do it and to try to get better at it and something that I'm not, you know, confident.

It was just something I wanted to do.

Have you ever been a person that did karaoke?

No? I don't really.

I'm a pretty shy person outside of the stage. I don't like attention on me unless I want attention on me, and then I want a lot of attention.

Yeah. Yeah, wait, can you give Chris any singing tips of like what you learned.

I just learned a.

Lot more vocal techniques about how I hold my mouth in ways, just making sure your mouth is loose and when you're you know that your o's are more like awe, you know, like opening like that, and to not sing from your throat but the thing from your chest and through.

So I had to do a lot of practice.

Yeah, so I even googled some things.

And what I was doing was taking a deep breath so I could spit out four lines. But apparently you're supposed to take a deep breath in and then exhale most of it because if you have all that wind rushing against your vocal cords, that's what strains them.

Apparently that's but it's hard to do.

And that was also another reason that I do a lot of voiceovers, and some of them involved singing, and that was very like I would do the voiceover and like we'll get done in an hour, and then we do a song, and it takes me like two three hours for one song because we'd have to the rhythm of the song and then I'd have to sing it.

In my voice. And then they'd be like, well, you gotta be the character.

So right, you're like, but my character doesn't sing.

Yeah, either me nor my characters sing.

It is much harder because I did the opposite.

I was listening to all these different artists and doing an impersonation of their voices. But now that I'm playing with a band and not just singing along with a song, I'm just singing like myself, and it's such a weight off my shoulders. It's so hard to sing as someone else.

Yeah, well, I think that's like any type of art, right, you do. You start off by mimicking the people that you enjoy, and you know, I do the same with my stand up, you know, and then try to find who you are and your differences.

You know, Yeah, did you paint these paintings or what's this?

Oh?

My dad painted those?

Oh they seems a great artist.

Thanks, Yeah he is, Yeah, he is.

He is great.

And this is how Karen ended up with one of his paintings, just this exact situation.

Looking around that room behind him and then being like, what's that over there?

Yes, to just point to the one you want. And my dad really is because he can't paint anymore. He's got a hand issue, a nerve issue, so he's just trying to give them a way to everyone.

Was that difficult for him, Yeah, it's just a shaky hand. It's no, I just me not being able to pain.

Oh right, Uh, he's sure pretending it isn't, but it has to be.

Yeah, I would imagine.

So it's something I think about a lot, just you know, especially since we had to take a break for a while with the pandemic.

I get more.

I mean, I don't like try to do comedy every night, but I'm certainly more like, oh like this can be taken from me. And also like my uncle, I get a lot. I got my real against my own instincts, which is to be lazy.

And chill all day.

I'm very much like a go get I like working a lot. And I get that from like my uncle, who when I live in Chicago, he was always such a like he was like vice principal. Everybody knew him around the neighborhood. Like if it was a midle of a blizzard and someone knocked on your door at nine in the morning, like you knew it.

Was my uncle. He was the only person who would be up and out like that. And then like one day.

He also was like the super of a building and he heard a commotion in his building. He went to check on it and some the people were robbing this lady and they saw him and they shot my uncle in the head, and like he survived, but like ever since then, he's gotten like, you know, brain damage and like he has more like a mentality of like a teenager where he likes to just stay inside all day and smoking the house and like, uh play you know, not video games, but like just like his little pea.

Bottles in the house and stuff.

Yeah, like like a teenager, like a like a fourteen year old teenager. And it's like something that I'm always like, oh, like you can always like someone can take that spark from you, whether you you know, from in so many different ways.

So right, it's important to remember that. Is that why you have the plan B of becoming a wrestler? And how has that gone?

I mean, no, I just did one match and I liked it. It was really fun. I don't plan to do more because it seems painful. It was painful, right.

I saw some footage.

I don't know where I saw it, but the mat is not as springy and padded as you think, right.

No, I mean it's got some give, but it's it's still people like when they slap you and stuff, they really slash.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I for when I worked for Fuel TV, I let the guys a luchavavum guys throw me around and I didn't get one but needed a neck brace afterwards. And I had the big red slaps on my back and chests like permanent handmarks. But it was my I said, let me have it. I can take it. But that was one thing I noticed. The floor is not it is a just a piece of wood with.

Fabric on it.

Yeah, sometimes, especially when you train and they don't Sometimes they don't even let you use the rain. They just make you use an old school wrestling matt on the floor. Oh wow, it's just like you really gotta be careful.

How much did you train for that?

I mean overall for like a year, but I'd say steady. I would go once a week for three hours a day for like three months, and then I found this other place that was a little more chill, and I would just go like once a week, once a month, once a month, usually for like a few few months, just to get ready.

Are you still going, because I remember when you first moved to La and your career was taking off, and I was very excited for you. I think it just started with seeing you on at midnight. To me, you were such a new comic that I just met, and then that was that was a big deal to me.

I was proud of you.

Still out, thank you, But you and like Matt and a lot of guys went way out of town like was it Carson or something in that direction to go see.

Went to Long Beach, I believe.

Oh it was well on Long Beach. That makes more sense.

Yeah, you know, cool anyplace, Anaheim.

I's in Chicago at a show last week, so I go, I'll go to the show.

Why not? Yea?

I went in for the first time. I went and saw our of comedy. So Alex Edelman's won That Man show and that was fun. It was fun to watch somebody else do comedy for a while.

It's rare. I'm not going to do it a lot, but it was nice to do.

Yeah.

I still like watching it too. I always thought it was strange when comics were like did not want to watch because I like stand up more than ever now, so that includes watching other people that are good at it.

Yeah, it's fun.

It's a real fun for me to like I'm gonna be which is not old, it's just a fact. I'm not trying to say, like, oh oh, I understanding I'm going to be forty in six months. And like I started when I was twenty three, So it's for the first time where I've seen like there's like a full

The youngsters are always coming up from behind. That's always a weird thing too, because I noticed when I was like, I stopped doing comedy, then when I came back to do it, it was like there was two, if not three, generations that were now doing it. And I from my observation, I was just because it was also between when like the Internet and people learning from like seeing way more comics than just late night because of the Internet. To me, I was just like, these people are so much funnier

Kind of Yeah, well, it's the evolution of anything, just like you see in sports where there's better athletes just from people being able to watch, people being able to learn technique from other people. And I think one of the things the lessons I'm trying to take is that like all the people who were inspired by me in some way, and I'm not trying to say a bunch of people were, but at least some people, uh, And what I can then learn is like the twist off

By the people on the ground floor.

And I know, and it's so fun to see that, which I like because I you know, I'm a fan of wrestling and of hip hop, and.

That's like how it always goes.

It's like these people come in as the rebels, they become established, and then there's this other group, that younger group that comes in and says you're lame now, And that's fun to me.

Yeah, well it keeps.

The pressure on a little bit. Also, I feel like watching watching the younger people start and not have and maybe this is part of what you're saying. But when you are known, you don't have the pressure, and you also don't know a bunch of stuff, so you can you I think you feel freear, or at least you your mind is freer. But then as you as you kind of go along, you either fear or trying to aim yourself, which is to me, I think a mistake when you're like, oh, I'm going to do it this way,

Of, right, I think, and I mean sounds like you might have had something to say, Chris, I don't want to interrupt.

Oh no, no, go on, go on.

One of the things that.

I think it's fun about that, and not that I would ever want to go back there. But like when you before you have any hit of like success, then you really kind of are like mining for gold. Right, You're like, I'll try this, I'll try that, and then if you get some positive reinforcement of acting a certain.

Way, a lot of people get locked in that. Right.

They go like, Okay, if this is how you wanted me to act so that I got a paycheck, I'm going to stay that way. And you know, and I've always it's hard sometimes, but I listened to my intuition.

I listened to myself.

That's like no, like, you know, it's one of my big reasons of getting healthy. And some people, and in some cases they were right, they were like, oh, if you lose this weight, people are going to look at you differently as a character, and it's going to set you back.

People aren't going to know who you are.

And in some cases, like the first six months of people like when I was putting up posters of my new self and people be like, I don't even I don't know who that is, you know, And I'd be like, well, no, they will put up in some I go to some clubs and they were just using the old posters so

Overall is what has gotten me success.

Is always like listening to myself and what I want to do as opposed to I just think sometimes so many people get a little bit of success and then that makes them get serious about comedy when it should still be just as still worst fun.

Yeah, yeah, yes self serious comics.

Yeah.

I mean I feel like we've all done it a little bit, but yeah, I did die. Also, it makes me think that that kind of advice of like, oh, if you if you lose weight, people can't recognize you. It's like, but you'll have the same name and the

That's why I've given myself permission to maintain a slightly less than athletic physick. I always, you know, my tendency is to want to get very vany and ripped. But then you got that Joe Piscopo syndrome where no one's gonna think you're funny.

So I can't get those big muscles.

You know, it's just bad for comedy, and I have sort of I'm kidding, of course, but I also agree with what I'm saying. No one wants to see a big muscley comedian. You gotta work extra hard, you gotta be sillier.

Now, Yeah, that's true. Your different styles, Yeah, you can.

Only wear tank tops. I think if you're a weightlifting comedian. Yeah, it restricts your wardrobe quite a bit.

Yeah, but that can bring in people that can help.

True. Yeah, not in winter. There's a lot of people out there start debating.

Yeah, seasonal fans of arm comedy. I love summertime muscle comedy.

What kind of you do.

Quirky, winter soup comedy, winter swishy quirky?

Well, I mean I.

Just think overall to you know, to be real about it, like the job is often super unhealthy.

Yeah.

So that's the thing I've been noticing mostly is especially now that I got my new son and I just want to spend more time at home like that, I just and then that I've been.

Trying to be healthy.

You know, I've made this goal for myself because you know, you guys know me for a long time. So like, you know, when at my heavy it was like three hundred and sixty pounds, and then I lost a bunch away and then the pandemic and I put on like thirty forty pounds, and so I just kind of made this goal to myself of like I want to be at my healthiest when I turn forty years old.

And I was.

Doing it and working on it, and then I go out on tour and I just noticed like, oh, like this is even if I'm trying even be like, oh I'm packing a protein powder, I'm trying to order it is that Like it was just by the end of the week, it was so hard. I'm like, this job is not good for my health and I have to be really aware and balance. And then it really you know, it's the first time where it felt like an athlete where I'm like, oh, I can't do this forever, you know.

Yeah.

Yeah, we were doing podcast on the road. We were there was an era and I mean I gained so much weight on the road because we didn't nobody wanted to eat before, you know.

Like you sick, have to have chicken fingers, yes.

Chicken fingers on like mac and chee. I would always be like, well, I'm gonna have a little treat and have mac and cheese, and I like little treated myself into gaining like forty pounds. But also because oftentimes you're by yourself, so then it's like watching TV and you're not gonna I mean, people do this, but it's like ordering steamed broccoli and watching you know, forensics files is it's just not as fun. There was a whole vibe

Now.

No, who was good for me opening for Greg Barren.

He not only did he tell me I didn't need to drink before every show because I was nervous. The next day, he'd be like, hey, we're going to the gym early in the morning. He kind of forced me to go, and for a while I was in my own habit of doing that. Since gone off, we can all blame the pandemic, but what.

I do with my openers, it's like it's almost weird. It's a little cultish in a way, which I don't deny, and I tell him, I'm like, hey, don't come if you don't want to be involved. But they come and I, you know, I make sure they get to the hotel and everything's taking care and I try to pay him on top of stuff if I can.

But then they are.

Like, hey, you gotta come work out with me because I need someone to go.

Work out with.

You gotta come eat if you if I'm paying for your food, you can work and go eat healthy. If you want to eat not healthy, you gotta go buy that on your own.

But I will take care of you. Great. Here you eat, but you got come eat what I meet.

Yeah, And so that's been fun and it's been helpful for some people, but then sometimes they get sick of it.

Is there is there any comment that was like I'm not willing to do that.

I will not go to the gym.

No, not usually because I could tell them my front. So I picked the right people. I mean, my friend Gabe just because he's like yeah, so he'll be like, you're not gonna not bring me just because I don't want to go.

Yeah, because you're like started comedy, right, yeah.

Yeah, I started? So yeah, he's he gets a pass with everybody else. But luckily, like you know who I love working with, like Blairsaki, and she's super into like she's I mean, I love her.

She's the best. And I just can't wait for.

The industry people to figure that out, for her to figure a way around them, because she's truly amazing and she's such a hard worker and I never have to ask her that. She's always telling me. She'll straighten me out if I'm like, oh, you know, we get some wings and stuff, and she's like, oh, I'm doing this. I'm focused. She's just always, you know, working on her.

Well craft if it's an't constantly. From my perspective, she's been doing great in the last couple of years. I think she's kind of blowing up.

So I only know her from Twitter, but she's really funny.

Yeah, she's the best. She'll really. One of my things about her is that she really.

Makes you grateful for stuff because she's so genuinely excited and happy about little things like if she'll just like if she likes a cheeseburger, you really she's just like, oh.

My God, like Manna from heaven.

You know. She talks like a pro wrestler talks about regular stuff and it always makes me go like, oh yeah, I forget, like this is fun and life is fun and cheeseburgers are good.

Yeah.

Yeah, the simple joys in life we all take for granted.

It's fun.

When you have a friend that points them out all the time, it's like, oh, yeah, you're right, these are our best years.

Good point.

That's why I saw recently. Yeah, ages forty to sixty are like when a human is the most happiest.

That's what I'm really excited about, especially and you you know, not to pre racial then to it, but be making it a forty old black man who grew up in Chicago wild, I really get to be like.

Man, it's a vile out thing. I excited. I'm grandfathered, hopefully away from any type of violence that people go like, he's too old to get involved in this.

Yes, your grandfathered out of violence.

Some times, when I'm in a dark alley or somewhere where i feel like I'm maybe in trouble and someone's approaching and it looks like they don't have a care in the world, or that look in their eye like I might be in danger, I do act like I'm older.

I'll hunch over and kind of.

Lamp a little bit and grumble like I'm just a grumpy old man because I can be I can play.

Old from a distance. M Oh yeah, le yeah, yeah, that's a really good point.

You're changing out of violence.

Oh that's so great.

So we run you. I saw in your bio. But were you just like born in California and then you moved to Chicago and then moved to Portland.

Yeah, well basically get you run down. Yeah, was born in Carson but only lived in the LA area for like four years, and then moved to Chicago with my mom and that got divorced, and I grew up in Chicago till I was a teenager, and then I moved back with my dad, but he's in Oregon at this time, and that's where I, you know, went to high school. And then I started comedy in Portland and lived there until I was thirty, and then moved to Los Angeles, where I've been for the past nine and.

A half years.

Wow, that really lets me know the last decade is flown by, because I have said you moved to LA like five years ago.

Well, we get to subtract too, I believe.

Oh yeah, yeah right, yeah.

That's what I've been telling all people is that, like, you know, if you feel going bad about where you are, you really just gotta remember you're two years younger than you think you are, because, yeah, you got put in stasis for a while.

We all got robbed. We've been in that cryogenic matrix chamber.

Yeah.

Real, that was fun when I saw you last week. Oh you mean twenty nineteen. Yeah, yeah, that's what I meant last week.

I guess. So when people are like, oh, you don't remember me and.

We saw each other before the pandemic, I'm like, come on, you're ridiculous to reintroduce yourself.

I just did that with my Uh. I went to my new periodonist, and right before he went into my mouth, I was like, I just need to tell you it's for three years. I didn't go to a hygienis for three years. Whatever you're about to look at, I'm ashamed because for three years I've been fucking round of my house being like, huh uh, I'll take care of it later.

Yeah.

No, yeah, I had some I was doing real well on my dental stuff because we started, you know, no health insurance and stuff, and then I got health insurance and they had to come in and do deep clean and yeah, and there was.

For a long time. I was like, oh, I never wanted to do that again.

Then pandemic and then I went to the end and she's like, we got scheduled deep clean and deep I.

Go deep once a year. Gotta do it, and I haven't for two years.

A laser on you do they laz.

I didn't get the laser. I just got a high power pressure.

Wash, the pressure wash pick and a laser and it was layer and stuff off.

Yeah.

Wow was that for to like heal up some gums?

Yeah?

I got dumb problems too.

Yeah.

You want teeth and change your right and then that's how your teeth get loose and you lose them.

Oh no, this is That's the nightmare I always reoccurringly.

Have in conversation. All your teeth fall out, Oh no, trying to catch them.

But you get a lot of money.

Will I have to go back to high school too? That's my other nightmare? Yeah, I uh, it's time.

What is a perio? What did you say? Periodontist?

Periodontist is for my gums because I take seizure medication, which is bad for your gums, and then if you're not all on it, which I am not, then your gums get all inflamed all the bad things. So you have to go get special I have to go get

Yeah, yeah, I could.

I could use that. I want some burning. I have some thin, vulnerable, translucent gums. Welcome, Welcome to the most disgusting podcast.

On the market.

This conversation is second only to when we talked about cleaning out your ears. Yeah we we don't. We break all the rules of podcasting.

Yeah that's right. You're not supposed to get medical or clinical. But what's doing every last procedure?

Ron?

Tell us where they put those cameras?

Wanna know, I'll tell you when you were in quarantine, did you have any because I know it was super boring and it was just so unprecedented, right, like no one really knew. Uh, it's just such a weird time. Was there any did you have any weird experiences or any kind of like.

Mental breakdown well or epiphanies.

My example was going to be I woke up in the middle of the night one night and the house three houses down from me was on fire, and it was one of the weirdest, like all the firemen came, obviously,

I don't know, Yeah, I mean for me, I think the beginning of the pandemic, you know, I think was right around my birthday and I went to Hawaii to go do the shows with my friends with Blair and the Gabe and my wife who's my fiance at the time, and we went to the Hawaii to go do shows. And so as we're there, you know, we're like, oh, we're gonna do the show on Saturday. We've been hearing about this thing, and oh, but it's gonna be fine.

Wow. And we're like, we're out on the beach.

That kind of all is like setting it up, and like I look over the left and everybody's on their phone kind of freaking out and talking same thing to

Oh, well, these dogs are just playing had fun.

Yeah.

If the dog who freaking out hiding somewhere, did I know, we got? Yeah, I got I go for the great right.

What if you were at the dog park and all the dogs left, like all the dogs started running in one direction, how fucking scary that would be.

I would freak out. I would go I wouldn't know times were coming.

Follow those dogs.

Several times when I would go on walks and you'd see parks like, uh, the little hiking trail near me in Echo Park, everything was overgrown. The city wasn't cutting down these weeds, and it was just flowers and owls everywhere and animals. I wasn't even supposed to be in the park. They had it roped off with like police tape. But I broke the rules and walked alone in a park, and I was comforted by the fact that, yes, the earth, the world was continuing.

It was just humanity that was on hold.

And that includes and I still think about it because there's all this violence sprouting up in certain cities like Chicago. I noticed there's been a lot of murders. Everyone was quarantining during that time. Even murderers were like, well, I'm just going to read a book and you know, just kind of get to know myself.

It just relax a little.

Yeah, it's people.

That I'm scared of. But then you go out and then the earth is still going.

It's like I love like the bad guy from seven with his his creepy apartment and everything, but he's like, I'm just gonna Yeah, I haven't taken a day off in years.

Yeah, I think I'm going to go.

Planning serial murders and relax in here a little bit.

Yeah, do I want a murderer? Do I feel like I just have to because this is what I've been doing.

Yeah, it was nice for everyone to take a little career break, including murderers.

Yeah.

That was the big one for me because you know, most of my life I've just been defined by being a stand up comedian. So to have that not be there was a big old mental journey for me. Part of the time, I was depressed, and it was difficult. It was even difficult for my wife because she, you know, originally she just tried to go to positive route of being like, hey, we're lucky that you can afford to stay home and you don't have to do these things

I am, I'd be like, I'm a comedian.

And so to have to like adjust that and think bigger than that for the first time in seventeen years at that point, I'm very grateful for that because it really changed the way that I looked at life, and then it made me change the way I look at comedy, which has been very helpful as far as me being less competitive and less stressful and able to again enjoy other comedians because I had reached a point where I just saw all other comedians competition, and now it's it's

Lucky to see each other and be around each other and do comedy.

I mean, obviously I want to be friends with everybody and hang out all day.

But you got to keep that competitive edge. I that was the part of stand up I loved was I had a lot of respect for the people I watched, but then I also wanted to beat them, Like the idea, I want to win this night, and I want to get out there and get the biggest laughs. That's the that's the fun part. And then whether I did or not kind of didn't matter because it was just like that's just a thing I have inside me, and I get to try to satisfy.

That's real fun for me. I'm very competitive. Yeah, I don't mean like it's just about like where I put it, you know, Like I like to be competitive on stage and then just put it away and not live with that and worry about what somebody part somebody got or if they got a show and I didn't get a show, you know. But as far as like, yeah, you know on stage, that's one of my favorite mantras to you. It's just like I'm not better than you, but got no fucking way are you better than me?

That's great? Yeah, it's funny.

I always I grew up telling myself I wasn't competitive, just because I wasn't that into playing team sports. But then I do miss like comedy contests like the Funniest Person in Austin or the first few, like Comedy Central type competitions. And that's when I realized, oh, I'm super competitive, Like I want to win.

It's fun, it's fun.

Why not people, It's fun to play, and sometimes it's fun to go through the feelings of losing. It just makes you better, it makes you not want to feel that again as long as you again, you know where to put it, you know, And a lot for me now it's led to these things like if you see me do sets at the Improper Store, usually, like the first five minutes of my act is just me making fun of whoever went before me.

And I try to always be nice.

I'm never like they sucked or anything like that, because usually they don't, you know, but I try to. If I disagree about someone's joke or premise, I say it and I talk about it and I have fun with it. And it is competition for me, and I mean I just have fun. I mean it's not a thing like you know, a lot of people like Tim Dillon. I think he's a fun comedian and enjoyable of this podcast.

Know, And so that's what I say.

I'm like, oh, I didn't know the world sucked until like I heard this set. I thought things were going good, you know, like I heard gas prices was high, and I thought my assistant was lying to me to try to get more money from me, and you know, just like that's something. And and then I just do this whole bit. I was like, I don't even watch the news, like, you know, and the news makes me sad.

What do I want to do? Just end up sad and fat like Tim And.

Then they were like oh, and I'm like ire, like, you guys are gonna owe me after watching that.

You can't watch him for fifteen minutes, everything apart. And then when I call a sad fat man sad and.

Fat get mad at me.

You were just making it personal because your comedy is personal. That's yeah, that's what you know to do. Yeah, that's what I do.

And it was fun.

And then I still got them on my side, and that's what makes it fun for me when I can still get my point across not be disrespectful.

You know.

I wasn't like, oh, why'd you guys like this or anything like that. Hey, I he's great, Well be great. I disagree with this, this is what I say.

Yeah, yeah, that's an interesting aspect of comedy competition.

Yeah, I never think of it that way.

I also I think him as a sorry I was just gonna say to him as a comic. It feels like he would love that ripah. Oh I always love that.

Yeah, well I see him.

You know, we're not like we're friends or anything, but like he's always respectful to me, and I'm respectful to him. I am respectful of anybody that builds their own thing up. I'm always a big fan of that. So I'm never I just disagree with You can disagree with people so as and I think our philosophies in life are different,

Its own category of comedy.

Yeah, just wherever, I am just being more okay with like what's gonna happen to me? The worst things that happen is that people don't like me, you know, And that's fine. My mom loves me, My mom thinks. My mom tells me I'm the best man she ever met.

So where's your mom at.

She's an Arizona Arizona.

Oh I wonder how hot it isn't it?

Yeah?

You should go there right now and find out if it's one hundred and twelve.

No, no, thank you, not a fan.

Very similar to California. Yeah, I've been thinking about Arizona a lot lately, just because every time I walk outside, I'm like, well, the reason I didn't move to Prescott is because I don't want to live in what I'm living in right now, and yet here we are.

Well, I mean, you still get more colors here. Everything is the same shade of brown there because they could. It's to reduce the heat, you know, but it makes everything look like dune to me.

Or Yeah, I'm just starting to get the desert thing. But man, I am a bushes and grass type of dude.

I don't get desert living. I think it is a front to God. Like, you know what, there's no water here, there's nothing here but lizards and cactus. But I feel like I should build housing here, Yeah, fountains and stuff.

It's one thing I hate about Las Vegas.

I'm just like, this is an unnatural place.

Too much dirt. Do you miss like rain in Portland? Do you miss living in Portland?

Sometimes?

No, I don't usually miss anything. I like to just be wherever I'm at. It's just I mean, I don't mean to sound weird about it, but that's just the thing I try to live by. Of Course, I enjoyed my times, and it's fun to reminisce about it. But I go back and visit and then you know, he goes back lately and it wasn't the economic downturn there and then a lot of like extremism and strife and there it really made that it doesn't look like how I remember, And it's said it saddens.

Me in that way.

So just the rain, I mean the the rain in the water you jump.

Back to Creek Falls.

You don't mean the junkies in downtown Port yelling at each other.

At least they're wet junkies sitting in a puddle.

It was one whereas situation.

I saw they appeared to be a couple and then this guy just turns to the lady and goes.

Shut the fuck up. Punk, And I was like, Punk, that's the one you went with. I'm not you.

I'm not saying I've never heard somebody yell at a lady, but they usually don't deny them their femininity.

So I was like, this place is terrified.

I saw we were sitting somewhere, and there was a guy who was walking up and down the street. And this was a while ago, actually, but he was walking up and down the street and he was chanting about how he had to kill the current president, who at the time I believe was Bush.

When we were.

There and it was like this, and it was this kind of thing where whoever I was sitting with her, I just remember both of us looking at each other and being like, we're not against this, Like this isn't the worst idea we've ever heard. A person who was clearly in a mental distress screaming at the top of his lungs up as he paces up and down the street.

That's how I felt about January sixth. I'm like, man, they just got the wrong reasons.

Yeah.

I like this, I like the aude.

I liked some of the costumes.

I remember when that that on TV when it actually happened. Well, first I saw it on Twitter and then turning on the TV, and it looked so dumb, like because they didn't it was all those shots from inside the house or whatever, so like there weren't any cameras pointed at that crowd outside, which where it was.

It's so crazy guys taking paper out of a printer and throwing it in the air.

It's like, yeah, we're.

Like, what's this poorly planned buffalos doing?

Yeah, it was wild, so crazy, and it's so fun that they can now.

They're just like, hey, could we not talk about it?

They're so surprised to be going to federal prison for five and six and seven and eight years. They cannot believe it. They can't. It's it's crazy.

Yeah, never mind, it was just punishment for having a fun weekend.

Yeah, so nuts.

Have you been ron doing? How often are you doing commentary for wrestling matches?

Are you? I'm not doing much anymore. It got weird. Yeah, it got weird for me so I stopped.

Oh really Yeah did they not let you?

I just know because I had to do commentary for Lucha Vavoum once. Oh I would still do that, Yeah, yeah, because there's comedy is welcome at that, Like you can make light of costumes and not know what you're talking about. In my case, I didn't know what I was talking about. But they're probably really serious about.

It at they're super serious.

It's one thing that I learned from getting into it and actually wrestling because some people were like telling me that I was going to be the detriment to all of wrestling and exposed to business because I'm going to have the worst match.

Of all time.

And it was just like, wow, why did you write this to me directly? Like you could just think this. And I was like, people think comedy fans are sometimes you know a bit much, which is which can be, but in general, I was like, in the pales in comparison to pro wrestling fan.

Oh my god, yeah, pro wrestling is serious. I had to do. I tried to do. Blaine asked me to do the Luchavomoom commentary, and I literally didn't say anything the whole night because what was happening in front of me was blowing my mind so fucking hard. I was literally just I could only be the audience.

And are those guys never rich An Egg.

It's just like it's just like my mouth was open, and then Blaine would riff and I'd be laughing at Blaine and I'd like, I was just at the show where I'm like, I can't think past the fact. What's that one guy that's like he comes out to the Pinacolada song and he's where he's like all sassy, like all the different characters and all the everything about it. I mean you, that's the thing about wrestling is such a show, show show, I mean, like every part of

So many levels.

There's like, right now, it's the most exciting time that you don't even know because there's like a whole soul. There's the wrestling, and then there's all the behind the scenes drama that goes on. And that's real fun too because they don't all get along with each other. But then they got up pretending and then like fake fighting not hurt.

Each other, and that's what makes it so wild.

And right now there's the whole thing where the champion of the league hates the people who are the vice presidents of the company, and then they got in a fight and hit him in the face of the chair but for real, so that got real trouble. Yeah, and so now there's lots of going on.

Did he think he had the special chair and he used a real chair?

Yeah? Real chat.

That was a breakaway Baltimood chair.

No, not this one.

Was it on camera?

No?

That was a real Okay, I'm sorry. A real fight happened at like the wrestling Headcoret and someone actually used to chair.

Yeah, well he were in the ring, let me break down the whole picture for you.

And he hit McMahon or something. I don't know.

Who knows. There's a different league, different league.

Yeah, I don't know the leagues.

Okay, there's a guy named cm punk and sure used to work for the w W League and then he left and he did a podcast with his friend, and then that podcast led to him being sued for like a shit ton of money, and so he's mad at his friend, who basically, you know how I would see this, like, hey man, you, if you was a real friend, maybe we shouldn't you would have told me we shouldn't put out their full lass podcast when I'm very emotional and just yeeling everything out, you know.

And so then they had a big beef with each other, and then that friend got hired at this new wrestling league. First, but then he came in.

He's a much bigger star than his friend, and that friend hadn't really been doing much, just hanging around in the background, having a match every now and again.

But nothing much.

So when the new guy comes in they may seeing Punk Champion, and then they they're like the boss guy's like, hey, I know you don't go you don't like this other guy. I'm probably just gonna get rid of him. But that guy, the other guy is friends with the vice presidents of the company.

So then they.

Were talking shit and talking trash and people were getting all mad and it was turning some of the fans

A lot fight and now he might be fired.

And you were there.

You you didn't see the fight necessarily, but you were there though.

I was there.

I tried to give backstage, and that the guy who was supposed to help me get backstage didn't return my text, so it issues go wrong.

I love it.

So there's the wrestling behind the wrestling, which usually you think is part of the wrestling, but there was actually real.

But sometimes they make it part of the wrestling, So that's what makes it. That's again what makes it so much fun.

It's always my favorite part to see their arguments in the hallway with bad lighting.

Yeah, I just love it. I'm a big fan of it.

I know you are.

I was going to go with you guys back in the day, but I still can. I have this whole future ahead of me.

Once you become a lead singer of a band, right and you put out your double album at this picture of cover, you can decide whether or not you want to stick with singing or move over to wrestling.

Will wrestle Manias in La this this this April, so like there'll be a whole week of just like lots of events, So that would be a good time if you need, if you need.

Time to pray, read up on it a little bit. Yeah, to watch small videos.

I can't just go in knowing nothing.

It's hard.

I got to choose a favorite.

My dad's a lifelong wrestling fan and his dad, my grandpa, who was from Ireland, thought wrestling was real and so they would watch it was like Friday night fights or whatever.

They and.

My grandpa just took it all because he didn't have TV growing up, he didn't have anything, so like he would watch it and just be like, this is amazing, and he just took it all like at face value, which I totally love and so beautiful. It's the best. I mean, he was the greatest. It wasn't he was a smart man or whatever, but he was just like, it's the fights, you know, this is just I'm taking what they're given. But you know Vince Abril, who he's

I believe so, but yeah, I guess.

Well, yeah, to me, it's like Vaudeville and stuff like that, where it's like and stand up in a way where you're just like these are like the building blocks and entertainment, and a lot of times people make fun of it or they don't get it because they go, oh, it's fake. But it's like, to me, that's just so silliness because like all of it's fake. So like you know, every show you watch it's fake. So I don't I never really understood that.

Yeah.

Yeah, there was a lot of wrestlers that in Denver that came to comedy shows. Have you noticed that trend?

Yeah?

No, I've met a lot of wrestlers through coming to my comedy shows and stuff.

So that's been Yeah, it's real nice.

I got a lot of friends and who work in wrestling, and now I have a wrestling podcast that I do, so that's been fun.

What's your wrestling podcast.

I just call One Fall. It's live on Sundays on Spotify Live. It's usually six specific nine Eastern. We just have people call in, we talk about wrestling, so it's real interactive and then I bring my friends from me either the world of wrestling or the world of comedy

When does getting better?

What week day of the week is It usually comes out Monday nights, Tuesday mornings. Yeah, that's my passion project.

We just talk about getting better with my friends, getting better their craft, get better at life, check in with myself. We're in the big We're in the seven Days in the Sweaty September where I try to work out every day is September and.

Then wow, you're in the midst of that.

Yeah, well seven days, yeah, seven days. Yeah, so we're good. Haven't missed one yet. You know, it doesn't have to be some big things. Sometimes it's just walking. Sometimes it's stretching. Yeah yeah, just getting sweaty.

Yeah great, I like that.

Yeah, it's a good plan.

Anything else, Do you have any any plugs or anything coming up that you want.

To I mean, if people want to, they could check out Loot, which is the show I'm on on Apple TV with my Rudolph and Joe Kim Booster and michaela Ja Rodriguez from Poe's Uh and I mean a lot of people in that fact, and it's got a lot Adam.

Scott, he's got a hell of a gas.

It's really show.

So I'm very lucky to be part of it.

And it's real cool to work with my Rudolph. And she's the greatest. She's truly is the greatest. Is a real like so cool. It's such an open, sweet person. And uh yeah, so we got like a second season we're gonna start working on so people won't get in on the ground floor and know what's going on, get in watched this first season and then I played King Shark on a cartoon called Harley Quinn that's on HBO Max if.

People want to check that out.

Yeah, our producer is a big fan of that.

Nice.

I appreciate that. I love that too.

Congratulations on Lute. I didn't know you were on that, that's fair.

Yeah I didn't either.

I've admittedly I've not yet watched it, and now I shall. I will do because of you and not all.

The stars you just listened.

Yeah, you're the star.

Yeah star.

Well I do really good and and I get to do real acting, and which is a big press.

Uh.

You know. Sometimes I've been real interested and I've been in class since I moved out here, but a lot of it my stuff had been like real sick comedy, you know. Yeah, So for to get a chance to like, like, you know, it doesn't really matter anybody.

Else another things silly, but they're important.

You know. I love little things because they're not just to me, and they show me what I want to see. And yeah, you know, I've just been working so hard in class and seeing a lot of progression and the not necessarily been able to showcase that and the things I was booked on and.

I did this, like we did this one episode I was really proud of.

And then like TV Line, which is like, you know, a decent place, a decent act, they do this thing like where they do their Actor of the Week and like I got like honorable mention and that's me and like Ed Harris and Neil Patrick Harris.

And I was likely because at first I was like, oh, whatever, some little blog probably Harris, Yeah, just put me on a thing.

But then I go and look and I'm like, oh, these are like real saying I hung with them, and it really makes me happy and makes me really excited to work harder and try to get even better.

That's so amazing, and you are.

I am competitive too, but you're one of those comics that the whole time I've watched your career build, I've just been really proud of you and it's really.

Cool to watch happened.

So good work, buddy, Thank you very much.

Yeah, of course.

Yeah.

If you've never seen Ron fun just do stand up call, and you're listening to this podcast right now, please go and do that as soon as you can. He's truly such an original voice and such a truly truly talented Just yeah, he's one of those people you watching and you're just like, there he goes. That guy's that he's got it. You've always been like that. Ron. It's none of none of your success surprises me. It's all. It

Yeah, but I guess since not to be am over emotional and just get right back into a plug. Since you said that YouTube did put my hour special giggle Fit on? Oh? Cool content? You'll put it on YouTube so that people do if you've not heard of me. That's probably the best. That's the thing I'm most proud of right now. It's my hour special, So you can you check that on YouTube and then if you like me, I'm on the road, so ronfunes dot com and buy tickets.

But so we get back around.

Thank you so much, so much. Thanks, thanks for being up. It's good to see you.

Yes, thank you for being here. It was great to see you and talk to you.

You've been listening to Do you need a ride? Dym here? This has been an exactly right.

Production produced by Analise Nelson.

Mixed by John Bradley.

Our talent booker is Patrick Cottner.

Theme song by Karen Kolperiv.

Artwork by Chris Fairbanks. Follow the show on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook at dinar podcast That's.

D y n ar Podcast.

For more information, go to exactly rightmedia dot com.

Thank you, Oh, You're welcome.

Hong Kong. We usually honk right there.