[00:00:00] Steve Byrne: Steve,
[00:00:14] Kyle: what's going on? How
[00:00:15] Steve Byrne: are you? Nice to see you.
[00:00:16] Kyle: Doing
[00:00:17] Steve Byrne: good. Are you in, uh, I think I saw, are you in San Antonio today? I'm in San Antonio this weekend at a comedy club and just been, uh, it's been a long run of clubs, but I'm gearing up to, um, I'm going to film my fifth [00:00:30] hour special here shortly. So just getting all the kinks out and getting it well greased.
[00:00:34] Steve Byrne: So pretty excited about that.
[00:00:36] Kyle: Fantastic. How's the new, how's the new hour going? Are you out there working it?
[00:00:40] Steve Byrne: Yeah. Yeah. It's coming together. I think, um, you know, it's taken me over 20 plus years to finally like get it right. So I like look back on the other hours, you know, when you're posting clips on social media and there's, you know, definitely like cringy, like, Oh God, that's so bad, but you just post it.
[00:00:57] Steve Byrne: But I feel like this is, [00:01:00] The first special I've had from A to Z, where I can look back on it, where I'm like, this is the best work I've ever done yet, for sure.
[00:01:08] Kyle: Yeah. And it's, you know, considering how long you've been doing it at the level you have been, it's probably weird to see that transition of comedy now clips.
[00:01:16] Kyle: It's like, it's out of context. It's like, you know, it's, there's so much buildup, but people only have such a long attention span on social. I mean, how does that, how is that for you as someone that went from, you know, doing it, You know, like you said, 20 plus years. And now, like, I got to put this clip out there.
[00:01:29] Kyle: It's out of [00:01:30] context, but I got to elicit a response somehow.
[00:01:32] Steve Byrne: Yeah. Yeah. Especially these days. Whereas when I first started, like nobody, nobody, you were just doing it at a club or it'd be on TV. And that was it. And now it lives forever on the internet and social media and you could be held accountable, you know, if not today, maybe 15 years from now, there would be something I say that, you know, will piss off some angry person in a cubicle drinking a kale smoothie.[00:02:00]
[00:02:01] Steve Byrne: Yeah. This investing the world, how dare he, you know?
[00:02:04] Kyle: Yeah. This, this tirade to cancel comedians is, is, we don't have to go, go off on a tangent, but it's pretty, it's pretty unbelievable. It's, I mean, you know, some of the most moderate things you hear, it's, it's, you just don't know. It's a ticking time bomb out there.
[00:02:17] Kyle: And some, like you said, someone's cubicle out there.
[00:02:20] Steve Byrne: Yeah.
[00:02:20] Kyle: That,
[00:02:20] Steve Byrne: that's how it is these days. But I, I think, I think in the last few months especially, you're finally seeing some like pushback. And I think the pendulum is going to start [00:02:30] swinging the other way.
[00:02:31] Kyle: Yeah, I think it's because we're clamoring for humor.
[00:02:33] Kyle: I mean, I think it's, you know, what I've, in my circle of people that I talk to, it's like people are clamoring to be entertained and to laugh. Like we need a laugh right now, like a legitimate, unfiltered, unfettered laugh.
[00:02:44] Steve Byrne: Yeah, exactly. Uh, and I think that's why, you know, comedy is as big as it's ever been, certainly my lifetime where, you know, prior to if a comic did Madison Square Garden, it would be a huge feat.
[00:02:57] Steve Byrne: Now you're seeing a lot [00:03:00] more comics doing arenas and, and theater tours, uh, I believe than I've ever seen in my lifetime.
[00:03:06] Kyle: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, obviously we're a movie podcast and we can talk about, you know, whatever you want, but we, you know, I was working on the, just my pre recorded intro so people can hear your entire resume.
[00:03:18] Kyle: I was like, it would be, it would take less time to talk about the things you haven't done because it seems like in your career, um, obviously you have been and still are doing comedy at the highest level, but along the way you became a [00:03:30] filmmaker, a writer. You had Sullivan and Son on TBS. Um, and you're, you're also now a documentarian.
[00:03:35] Kyle: So can you tell a little bit about that story about how you went from, you know, touring and doing specials to also getting into filmmaking and writing?
[00:03:43] Steve Byrne: I think, uh, you know, had I not, you know, I think my career really shifts into a different gear due to the fact that I moved to Los Angeles and became friends with Vince Vaughn.
[00:03:57] Steve Byrne: Um, he was one of the first guys I met when I moved to LA. [00:04:00] You know, it was just through osmosis and a channel of friendships that that it all happened. But once, uh, the friendship happened, you know, getting to know him, he's such a, um, a scholar on foundation of storytelling, uh, you know, Joseph Campbell, et cetera, et cetera.
[00:04:22] Steve Byrne: And we would take these hikes and walks up to the Hollywood, up to the Hollywood sign when he lived in the hills. And we would just talk about, [00:04:30] you know, goals and things we wanted to attain while we're young guys in Hollywood at the time, especially. And, uh, he said, you should write something for yourself.
[00:04:38] Steve Byrne: I said, well, I don't know. I just write jokes. You know, I barely write jokes. Um, and he's like, you could do it. And I was like, why don't he just kept saying, you can do it. You can do it. So I went ahead and bought some books on foundation, storytelling, and, and basically like taught myself. Yeah. how to write, um, based off of Joseph Campbell, Blake Snyder, uh, you know, uh, [00:05:00] William Goldman and just all these books that I would read on script writing or like William Goldman's books on like, you know, adventures in the screen trade, even though it's not about writing itself, it is because he's dictating stories about, you know, his, his trials and tribulations of the princess bride butchering Sundance and, you know, the plethora of incredible work that he had done.
[00:05:22] Steve Byrne: So, You're learning along the way as well. So, so it was just through, through all that, that I just said, Oh, maybe this is something [00:05:30] I could do. So the first thing I wrote was Sullivan and Son. And, you know, look, I got paired up with a great showrunner, Rob Long. I'd like to say I wrote it, but I mean, the guy, Rob really, really, you know, taught me what writing in the writer's room is all about.
[00:05:46] Steve Byrne: And, So I learned a lot about storytelling in a 30 minute format for a multicam with, with Rob Long and obviously with Vince as well. And then when the show got canceled, I went ahead and just thought, okay, well, [00:06:00] I'm not going to wait for somebody else to give me something because my whole career has been like, I've never gotten cast in anything unless I wrote it for myself.
[00:06:08] Steve Byrne: So I wrote, um, a film about stand up comedy called the opening act. And, and it was, it was a lot of inside baseball, but I felt like I was at the right age to write it. Uh, it was an experience enough to write it. And then directing that was a whole nother ball of wax, but again, um, never would have done it if I didn't hike up those Hills in Hollywood all those years [00:06:30] ago by Evan's phone.
[00:06:30] Steve Byrne: Um, That's the long answer. But yeah,
[00:06:33] Kyle: that's amazing. Yeah. And, um, and so the opening act and so, you know, starring Jimmy O. Yang, Cedric the Entertainer, um, you know, I, I think when we first talked, you know, I, I fumbled along trying to do comedy for a long time and it felt like it was, it felt like it had two sides to it.
[00:06:48] Kyle: It felt like it was an homage to the process of creative, of creativity behind comedy, but also if you're not someone trying to do standup or haven't done standup at any level, um, Um, it's appealing because it's, you're kind of getting [00:07:00] an outside look and it was, it's, it's almost educational, but super entertaining at the same time.
[00:07:04] Kyle: What was your, what was your point of view when you were writing? Did you want it to be an homage or?
[00:07:08] Steve Byrne: Uh, I, I, I wanted it to, you know, there were other, there were other projects I'd seen or heard about, and it's always from the perspective of. somebody who was coming back to it. And I was like, I don't want to watch a film about a 50 year old driving home from Las Vegas.
[00:07:27] Steve Byrne: So I want to watch a film about a 20 year old driving to [00:07:30] Las Vegas for the first time. That was kind of like. What I was thinking of the mindset of going back to the beginning and how exciting and romantic and the journey OO of it all is, is more exciting than, than actually doing it. Right. So, so I was just thinking what are the worst things that could happen to you when you, when you first start doing it?
[00:07:49] Steve Byrne: Uh, a bombing, of course, but there's all the things that go along with. been no comedy club, but a weekend doing the [00:08:00] routi in on thursday, what it m show friday and saturday Um, the relationship with the management's uh, morn understanding the dynamics of, of a disgruntled, road weary veteran headliner. So I just wanted to play all those dynamics into, you know, 72 hours or, you know, four days a weekend.
[00:08:25] Steve Byrne: And I just thought, boy, there's, there's so much, I [00:08:30] didn't want to make it a long winded thing. It's like, you can put the whole thing in one weekend, Thursday through Sunday, that's it. So that was kind of like my process to show people at the beginning of a comics journey, how It's not just about being a comic.
[00:08:44] Steve Byrne: It really is about discovering your voice, but taking those hits along the way and understanding it's not easy. You gotta get beat down. You gotta, you gotta, you gotta fall and you gotta get back up repeatedly and you gotta get your sea legs. And that's what the whole film's about. [00:09:00]
[00:09:00] Kyle: You know, the part that resonated strongly was, you know, he has an office job, you know, and I just, you know, as a creative myself and so many creative people, I know that are maybe rotting away, you know, in their cubicle.
[00:09:11] Kyle: Now, not all of us have Bill Burr as a boss. I couldn't help but transcend. I know he's not playing himself, but I was like, wow, what would it be like to work in a cubicle for Bill Burr? But, uh, you know, it's, it's this that resonated so strongly. I was like, how many creatives are out there festering, dreaming of, like you said, that first drive to Vegas or that first gig, or just getting up on stage and doing the [00:09:30] first five minutes.
[00:09:30] Kyle: I mean, that resonated in a big way.
[00:09:33] Steve Byrne: Yeah. I would hope that that's the rocket fuel that somebody would need to be inspired because every comic on the project had dealt with that. Every comic had been there. That's why in the end credits, you know, I thought it'd be fun to do something where comics recollect about that moment in time where they believed in themselves and pushed all in and gambled.
[00:09:53] Steve Byrne: So that was a lot of fun to get to do. The bittersweet part of that is I interviewed a ton of comics for that, like [00:10:00] David Tell and, you know, all these great comics and they told their things. But yeah, When we tested it with the audiences, they were like, well, who's that guy? Cause not everybody knows who everybody is.
[00:10:10] Steve Byrne: So they, we just kept it to, uh, the people within the, uh, the film. But again, the film is just so chock full of all the comics along the way. I mean, you got Alonzo Bowden playing the security guard, Bill Burr playing the boss. And what stunk about having Bill Burr as the boss, I shouldn't say there's anything that stunk about it, but [00:10:30] he was so goddamn funny.
[00:10:32] Steve Byrne: He was so goddamn funny, and he had so many great lines, but what we realized is that when we kept Bill funny, the, um, the precipice into Jimmy launching into his, his career, uh, or that weekend leaving the job was less impactful. So we had to keep it, we had to play it by the numbers and really kind of like neuter Bill.
[00:10:54] Steve Byrne: Um, humor would suck because when Jimmy leaves, for example, um, he's like, you [00:11:00] know, can I get the day off? Can I get the day off? And Bill's like, no. And then Bill, Jimmy leaves and Bill's like, all right, you can have the day off. Just, just work today till, till four.
[00:11:11] Kyle: That's a substandard line for him.
[00:11:14] Steve Byrne: He just had all these great lines.
[00:11:16] Steve Byrne: Um, but yeah. And it was, it was so goddamn funny. But, but again, it was like another, another part of the process of, you know, leaving a lot of fun things on the cutting room floor.
[00:11:26] Kyle: That's what's amazing about, um, and, and this is kind of an off the [00:11:30] cuff question, but we did an episode, uh, Dumb and Dumber versus Tommy boy.
[00:11:34] Kyle: You know, there is this whole idea that if Chris Farley had lived on, we would have seen him a lot of people, including Jeff Daniels and other filmmakers said we would have seen him become a, a touted, possibly Oscar worthy, dramatic actor. Jim Carrey has obviously done that. You're doing that as a writer and a director.
[00:11:51] Kyle: Um, what is it about comedians? You know, you talk about Bill Burr, even though we want him to, you know, he has such a distinct voice, we want him to drop the joke. He's willing to tamper himself and [00:12:00] able to do so. Why do comedians like yourself, like Jim Carrey, potentially Chris Farley, why can they transcend comedy to drama or to acting or to other mediums so well?
[00:12:11] Steve Byrne: Well, I think I think what you're seeing is like when people go to a comedy club, when people turn on Netflix or whatever the special is, you're really seeing the best representation of the, Of that individual in the 60 minutes. Um, the other 23 hours, [00:12:30] that's where, that's where the demons call in. Right.
[00:12:33] Steve Byrne: And so I think, uh, by most standards, I'm a pretty mentally healthy person in my industry. My parents hugged me. I don't have really big issues. Uh, you know, I'm not addicted to anything. I don't have deep seated things that I need to recline and pay somebody a thousand dollars to talk to about. Um, I think there is absolutely a dark side to all this.
[00:12:56] Steve Byrne: There's something inert within [00:13:00] every comedian that propels them to want to do the most fearful thing that everybody, according to polls, doesn't want to do, which is get up on a stage, and not only publicly speak, but publicly speak With the, with enhancing the odds, OO of, of making people laugh. So people would rather die.
[00:13:22] Steve Byrne: People would rather, there's like all, there's like all these polls of like, things people would rather do. Public speaking is number one. Um, so I, yeah, I, I think [00:13:30] it, it is something. inherent within comics that want to do that. But because of that, I think that that lends credence to go to the more dramatic places.
[00:13:42] Steve Byrne: Because I think when, when you have a dramatic actor, they would say, I want to do comedy with the comedians. I think it's like, God, it'd be so fucking easy to just get a fucking script and not have the pressure of making people laugh. I could just say this and, and, you know, just be serious. Oh, that'd be great.[00:14:00]
[00:14:00] Steve Byrne: I think there's the pendulum swing, you know?
[00:14:03] Kyle: Yeah. No, absolutely. And what was the, you reminded me of the great iconic Jerry Seinfeld bit, um, about public speaking. You'd rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy.
[00:14:12] Steve Byrne: Well, when Seinfeld does his, uh, any, anything public speak, I'd rather be in the casket than listen to him.
[00:14:19] Steve Byrne: Oh, did I just, did I just open a can? Oh, I do not, do not appreciate his work. No, I do not. Not a fan. Okay. The only [00:14:30] comic I will publicly go on record and go, he is a cunt.
[00:14:34] Kyle: Okay. Do
[00:14:34] Steve Byrne: you want to talk about it? Uh, I think the less time spent on him would be better. Yeah. There's just not much to even talk about.
[00:14:41] Steve Byrne: Just. person. Okay.
[00:14:44] Kyle: I apologize. I didn't mean to open that up.
[00:14:46] Steve Byrne: I
[00:14:47] Kyle: didn't know I was walking
[00:14:47] Steve Byrne: into that. I'm sorry to apologize. He owes me an apology.
[00:14:50] Kyle: Okay. Jerry, make the apology now. You don't know who we are as movie wars, but just do it. Just apologize. Yeah.
[00:14:56] Steve Byrne: Well, he should apologize for B movie.
[00:14:59] Kyle: Oh, [00:15:00] it was less than a B movie.
[00:15:02] Kyle: Yeah. Yeah. No, absolutely. Um, so let's get into the bulk here. And, uh, and you know, like we discussed earlier, it's, it's, you know, the bulk of this conversation I wanted to talk about, uh, what you and I initially talked about, which is some of the, you know, the issues surrounding the amazing Jonathan and your version, always amazing.
[00:15:20] Kyle: There was all these documentaries about, Jonathan being made. I mean, he unfortunately passed this week and, um, you know, and, and I watched all the documentaries are the [00:15:30] two yours and the one that's on Hulu. I did as much research as I could, cause I wanted to come into this prepared, but I gotta be honest with you.
[00:15:37] Kyle: I feel like I gotta be an astrophysicist to understand the dynamic because I watched yours first. And then I watched Ben Berman second. And I feel like. And I don't want to, you know, purposely call him out, but I feel like he was intentionally trying to confuse me as to what was going on. And on, on the video, uh, on YouTube, when you posted your film, you posted a very transparent, humble, you know, just a great, you [00:16:00] know, five paragraph thing about what was really happening.
[00:16:02] Kyle: So I would rather you describe the situation to myself.
[00:16:06] Steve Byrne: Well, I mean, yeah, I broke down exactly what happened because I always felt like, look, we're two guys put in a situation because Jonathan is a wild card. And, um, I know Jonathan, I've known him for all these years, Ben doesn't, right. And so Ben fell for it.
[00:16:28] Steve Byrne: He fell for the trap. [00:16:30] Jonathan's poking him the whole time, just needling him. Oh, these guys, you know, and Ben fell for it. And so I never, I knew Jonathan was doing that. And so to me, like, look, at the end of the day, we both were in a situation where we're like, okay, well, I guess none of us is going to fold.
[00:16:51] Steve Byrne: We're both going to do this. And I always thought there's enough real estate to do this. I was the first to tell Ben, Hey, look, this is the film I want to make. It's about [00:17:00] Joel and Jonathan. I mean, it's Jonathan's, the face of the, of it. Joel's the heart. Joel's Han Solo. He's going to come in at, uh, at, uh, page 25.
[00:17:08] Steve Byrne: He's going to leave at 75. He's going to come back at the very end to help blow up the Death Star. So that's kind of like the story format for Joel. Ben's took a weird turn. I don't know. I, a lot of the things I know firsthand, a lot of things in the film were fabricated and, uh, look at the end of the day, you know, [00:17:30] Jonathan sent me a text.
[00:17:32] Steve Byrne: He said. I love your film. I don't like the other one. Thank you for doing it. Thanks for keeping my name alive and thanks for, you know, putting out a film. That's a great representation of my work and my relationship with Joel Osborn. Uh, you know, there's a reason that when all this went down, like, You know, Jonathan and I, we still kept calling each other.
[00:17:53] Steve Byrne: We'd still, I'd still go visit him. Like Ben, I think reached out once or twice and Jonathan never [00:18:00] called him back. So, you know, I, I think that, you know, you would think, boy, you got a film that's going to Sundance, you'd be proud of it, but, uh, Jonathan, at the end of the day, um, certainly preferred ours over the other one.
[00:18:13] Steve Byrne: And, uh, uh, I, I know he was not happy with a lot of things that were in Ben's film. I mean, Ben's film, he Shanghai's Jonathan's mom's birthday at the very end. What you don't see is that Doreen Jonathan's mom said, please leave my [00:18:30] birthday. They kicked him out. Like they kicked him out of his, Who in their right mind would just show up at a woman's like a birthday party in a senior home and just crash it with cameras.
[00:18:41] Steve Byrne: It's like, that is like a microcosm of like who he is and the film he made and the lengths he was willing to go to, to do this. It's like, I would feel cringy. I just couldn't do that. You know, I couldn't shove a camera in somebody's face at six in the morning. Like he did to me and [00:19:00] it's just like, this guy's fucking nuts.
[00:19:02] Kyle: That's where the, it took a huge left turn into self gratification to me. It's like, what's the closing scene. It's obviously the, you know, shin, you know, the, the guy, he basically bamboozled into producing it because he basically said, well, the drama's already here. Why don't you just go ahead and sign on?
[00:19:17] Kyle: That's how I, as a, as a movie watcher interpreted that. And what's the first thing you see during the credits? It's him pushing Jonathan in a wheelchair and the giant. Shin, you know, executive producer. It was kind of like, I was just like, what's the payoff here? You know, I'm not trying to be [00:19:30] over overly critical or a homeboy for your film, which I am a homeboy for your version, but it's like, why, why do I need to see that?
[00:19:37] Kyle: Is that really how you're going to, is this the climax really?
[00:19:40] Steve Byrne: Yeah. Look, I guess it's for some people. Um, you know, again, even along the way with, with Ben, I never had an issue with him, you know, when Mike came out. And then his came out. He was shitting on me. He was shitting on our film. He shit on me in his film.
[00:19:55] Steve Byrne: He did. Like, I was nothing but cordial to him. Uh, uh, you know, we, we bent [00:20:00] over backwards to, you know, this guy, this is the guy that, that went to film school. This is the guy that, uh, should know you need, you need release forms. Like I never made a film before. I know you need release forms. So when we were filming a casino, I knew you can't just show up at a casino.
[00:20:16] Steve Byrne: You got to call ahead. I mean, that, that would just be natural thinking. This guy just showed up with cameras and Jonathan had to finesse it and let them come in. And so when he finally comes to the casino, like for example, the, those Foxwood [00:20:30] shows, there were only three stations that you could film at inside the venue.
[00:20:35] Steve Byrne: And I'd set up my three. I didn't know that. I'd gotten permission before, but I, I just like told, okay, I have three positions. And when Ben shows up, they're like, oh, well, he, he already has all three positions. And I didn't know that. I thought Ben maybe has his three or something. I didn't know. So Ben shows up not doing any leg work, not calling ahead or anything.
[00:20:57] Steve Byrne: And I relinquished one of my positions and gave it to Ben so [00:21:00] he could film there. And then in his documentary, He's making it seem like I shut him out of the venue and I won't let him in. It's like, this guy is a Royal piece of shit, a Royal piece of shit. Anybody that shows up at like our film premiere films us lies to us about why he's there.
[00:21:16] Steve Byrne: And then stage is like all that shit. It just like, again, it just like those are the lengths he was willing to go to. I was, I would, I would not, I just don't have that moral compass. I couldn't do that to other people. At the behest [00:21:30] of finishing my project, I'd want to do it the right way. And that's with.
[00:21:34] Steve Byrne: Everybody's respect and, you know, compliance and the agreement of like, hey, are you cool with this? I mean, that's something that I don't think he ever went over. I'll never forget, Jonathan was so pissed. There's a scene in Ben's, I only saw it once, and I saw it in my lawyer's fucking office.
[00:21:55] Kyle: Of course.
[00:21:56] Steve Byrne: Yeah, because I had to watch it so I could tell these fuckers what [00:22:00] not to put in or whatever and and the chin guy He's a fucking world piece of shit, too They both can fucking rot but along with Seinfeld the three of them should So the so, um, so there was a part where Ben confronts Jonathan right like what's going on What is it all this shit?
[00:22:18] Steve Byrne: fabric. It's edited in a don't see is that at the for Jonathan to die. Jono repeatedly. He's waiting he has an [00:22:30] ending to his f outlive expectations as w Ben gave him a lot of cas and says, I will give you If you throw me out of your house and I can film it, so I have an ending to this film. And that's where Jonathan turns and gets angry.
[00:22:49] Steve Byrne: So what you don't see is the impetus to make him angry. And then Jonathan gets furious and is angry with him because of that. He felt insulted. So, [00:23:00] you know, look, it is what it is. I can nitpick the whole thing. I haven't even thought about it for years since you brought it up. But at the end of the day, I'm very, very proud of the film I made.
[00:23:10] Steve Byrne: It's nice to see that was received so well by his fans, especially on YouTube. YouTube's a dumpster fire. You post something you could see you people are just waiting to hate. And I'd say it's like 97 percent positive. It's rare. I've I've read something negative about the film. So I'm glad that we got to.[00:23:30]
[00:23:30] Steve Byrne: Do it because I think Ben's, Ben's film was a disservice to Jonathan's legacy and who he was. You know, you're smoking meth with him to make a film. It's like, again, that's just something I never would do. I wouldn't, I wouldn't sell my soul to the devil to, to have a great scene in a film. It's like, why would you do that?
[00:23:47] Steve Byrne: Can't you just narratively construct, come up with something? I think that's, that's a lot more applicable and easy, not easy, but just a creative, I just thought it was low hanging fruit. [00:24:00] I thought it was the the cheapest, easiest thing to do is to do meth with a subject and then film it like I want to film you doing something horrible.
[00:24:11] Steve Byrne: But the caveat is I do it with you. It's like, it's just, why would you want to show that ugly side of an individual. It's like we all know. that sort of certain artists will creatively do things or, you know, they need to do those things to, to get through the pressure of a career or whatever. But [00:24:30] there's no doubt that Jonathan was an addict.
[00:24:33] Steve Byrne: Of course he was. I as a friend would feel horribly uncomfortable showing that or exhibiting that the ugliest side. I know that he didn't like it. I know that his mother, Doreen, detested it. And so again, my point is, I'm glad our film was out there because it's like, Ben's was a yard sale. And we were the cleanup crew, we cleaned everything up, we go, no, everything was nice and clean again.[00:25:00]
[00:25:00] Steve Byrne: This is the guy, this is the guy we talk about.
[00:25:03] Kyle: Yeah. And I think what, I think the reason your film has a 97 percent approval is because, you know, and I'd love for you to, to talk about what you, you know, you were so close to Joel and to Jonathan, you know, what inspired that to be The impetus for the film.
[00:25:15] Kyle: But I think from my perspective is just a movie fan. You nailed something very endearing. I didn't know about before. Of course, I knew who the amazing Jonathan was and was a fan of his work, but this relationship you focused on and excluded all the shit you're talking about with Berman, right? It just [00:25:30] focused on this beautiful.
[00:25:31] Kyle: kind of strange but beautifully organic relationship. Was that the, it's, it's totally opposite, right? Was that, but that was that kind of the driving force for you to make the film was like, wow, that's where it started.
[00:25:40] Steve Byrne: Yeah. Yeah. That's where it started. Cause I knew about them. I knew, I knew how they were.
[00:25:44] Steve Byrne: I know that Joel's this, he comes over as this 18 year old kid that You know, he's such a pacifist. He, he, he meditates, he doesn't drink. He doesn't do drugs. You know, he, he comes over, it's basically like [00:26:00] an Australian Clark Kent is flying from another continent to take care of a drug addict in Las Vegas.
[00:26:06] Steve Byrne: It's like, it's fucking crazy. And there's so many stories that didn't make. the doc because we didn't why I'm going to go pitch show about jonathan and j And even in the film, lik that he had with them or favorite stories about ho Joel's father leaving [00:26:30] him and Jonathan finding humor in those things.
[00:26:32] Steve Byrne: It's fucking, it's, it's unlike any other relationship I've ever come across in my life. And I was like, it's so endearing and heartwarming and fraternal. I was like, this is who Jonathan is. That's the exhibition of him as rough as he is around the edges, as crazy as bombastic, as violent as he is on stage and as entertaining.
[00:26:55] Steve Byrne: He's just this wrecking ball. At his core, there is a [00:27:00] very, very sweet side to him. He's the kind of guy that's not going to apologize to you, but the next day you show up and maybe there's like a, you know, a sports car outside or, you know, whatever, that's his way of apologizing. I find the dynamic between them fascinating and still to this day, you know, I will always find it fascinating.
[00:27:18] Steve Byrne: And that's why I'm, I'm inspired to, uh, spend the time to write this thing. So hopefully knock on wood, we get to make it. Is
[00:27:25] Kyle: the show. So, I mean, you probably can't go into too much detail, but what can you share about the show? What's the format? [00:27:30] Is it, is it an extension of the film or.
[00:27:32] Steve Byrne: Yeah, it's basically Joel showing up, uh, first day and like exhibiting all of the things that happened to them.
[00:27:41] Steve Byrne: Like all the things you couldn't put in. Um, Joel, for example, was, this is fucking crazy. Joel shows up. Okay. At the golden nugget. Jonathan is. Um, he's, he's sold out enough tickets and he had a contract for like two [00:28:00] months. So now it's like, do you want a residency? And if you get a residency, you sign a contract for like 2 million for the course of a year, right?
[00:28:07] Steve Byrne: So they, they, they've done the legwork. They have the show sold out, but they have the case to get a residency. So Jonathan doesn't do it himself. Jonathan doesn't have his agent do it because he just fired his agent. Right. Right. He has an 18 year old kid. dress up in a [00:28:30] suit to meet with the president of the of the golden nugget and the entertainment director and jonathan instructs him you go in that room you say jonathan wants billboards he wants to hire per diem and he wants two million dollars a year And if you can't give that to him, you can fuck off.
[00:28:50] Steve Byrne: And then Joel, I want you to walk out and slam the door and we'll wait. And Joel's like, well, I don't know if I can do that. So now Jonathan is like making him rehearse and he's [00:29:00] sitting there. He's like, say it, say it. And Joel's like, I want you to fuck off. Like seeing this like energetic cokehead and this pacifist going, I can't slam the door.
[00:29:11] Steve Byrne: I can't say fuck off to a president of, and Jonathan's like, that's what you have to fucking do. They're rehearsing the fuck
[00:29:17] Kyle: off.
[00:29:18] Steve Byrne: He had to tell, and he didn't have to say fuck off. He had to scream it at them. You have to scream, fuck off. So they're like rehearsing this and Joel of course [00:29:30] does it in his own way.
[00:29:31] Steve Byrne: Okay. And he pacifies the situation. Of course they lock it up. Another example, another example, this was on the cutting room floor. And this is, this is crazy. This is one of the things that like, when we first saw this, we're like, holy shit, this document is going to be great. And again, a Testament to how strong the story is, but we had to lose this part.
[00:29:50] Steve Byrne: And this part is one of my favorite parts. Jonathan had these Halloween parties in Las Vegas. So, so for the time that he was headlining. and synonymous [00:30:00] with Vegas. Everybody in Vegas had to go to this Halloween party because Jonathan likes to shock people as you know. So he said, I want people like when you walk in, there's like people with hooks in their skin hanging from the ceiling, like really kind of like creepy carny shit.
[00:30:16] Steve Byrne: And there's like women like blowing darts out of their vagina and popping balloons and shit, just like all those like carny freak shit. And Jonathan said, this year, I really want to freak him out. I really want to freak [00:30:30] him out. And I want this at the very, as soon as they walk in, I want them to see this.
[00:30:34] Steve Byrne: So, so he asked Joel call, uh, escort agencies. in Las Vegas to find out the rate to hire a hooker to fuck a donkey. But she also has to be dressed as a nun. So Joel, who's never had, he's a virgin. Now he's got, Joel's got to call escort agencies [00:31:00] and find this out. And then, and then he's got to lower the rate too.
[00:31:03] Steve Byrne: He, he, Jonathan's like, whatever they want, I'll pay. It's like, Jonathan still wants to low ball him. So Joel's got to call these places like Totally like finesse how to get, and she got to dress like a nun. It's fucking crazy. My God, this is, this is Joel Osborne's like daily routine on a daily basis. She's putting out fires.
[00:31:23] Steve Byrne: He's constantly putting out fires for Jonathan. And that to me is the fun of it all. I mean, this, [00:31:30] you know, uh, hacks or whatever it's that's all fabricated. It's not real. Like this all actually fucking happen. And it's so crazy. And you go, there's no way it's like, ask him. Ask him. He'll tell you right now.
[00:31:43] Steve Byrne: Joel has so many fucking stories.
[00:31:46] Kyle: That's incredible. Like, just you describing those two things, I would subscribe instantly to that show. That sounds amazing.
[00:31:51] Steve Byrne: I'm hoping we get to make it. Um, we'll see. We'll see. It is damn fun. But I also think it might be, it [00:32:00] might be a little too much. Who knows?
[00:32:01] Kyle: Yeah. This day and age.
[00:32:03] Kyle: Yeah. Yeah. So the show, your next special, any other, aside from comedy, any other, uh, films you're writing any other?
[00:32:11] Steve Byrne: I just finished a film on, uh, Caltech's basketball program. Uh, I've been working with the coach, coach Oliver Esslinger. Uh, basically the story is, is that, um, Caltech, MIT, the West coast, they have a basketball program, basketball program.
[00:32:29] Steve Byrne: Yeah. In [00:32:30] disarray. They haven't won a, a game in 30 years, like literally 30 years. They haven't won a game. It's one of the longest win losing streaks in, in all the sports. And so coach comes in and he's like, I'm gonna turn this into winning program. So the whole film's not about the championship. It's not about getting the playoffs.
[00:32:47] Steve Byrne: The whole film is getting a bunch of black, brown, white, yellow nerds to literally just win one game. They just have to win one game. It's like the complete opposite of a sports film, but it's [00:33:00] a true lesson in failure. It's very inspiring. It's, it's hilarious. And, um, I just finished it. So, uh, it's going to go to market pretty soon.
[00:33:09] Steve Byrne: And I, I just finished a comedy, uh, a comedy Western that I'm about to take off, take out with, and, uh, yeah, I'm still writing. Still writing. I got two shows that I'm gonna go pitch. One of them is the Jonathan Show and then filming this fifth hour. So lot on the lot on the plate. Not a lot of time to sleep.
[00:33:27] Steve Byrne: No, no. That's why I was up at seven this morning [00:33:30] doing radio and, uh, now I'm doing this one and I'm going to take a nice juicy nap after this.
[00:33:34] Kyle: Yeah. Well, Hey, we'll sign off with, um, you, so you got comedy. You also have podcasts going, which I've been enjoying, uh, the pink spoon, comedy pinata, which you do right here in my home, Nashville, Tennessee at the amazing Zanies where you're having guest comics.
[00:33:46] Kyle: How's that going?
[00:33:48] Steve Byrne: Yeah. I love comedy pinata. Comedy pinata is a lot of fun. It's basically, you know, I've seen, I've seen podcasts about, um, you know, special effects artists break down special effects scenes. [00:34:00] And then I've seen stuntmen break down stunt scenes, uh, via film, but never saw standups breaking down standups.
[00:34:06] Steve Byrne: So I thought that's, that's the podcast. So we sit around in a comedy club, we watch, uh, you stand up comics and we break down those bits. Sometimes we have stories about those people. Um, And that's a lot of fun that I'm doing a podcast with Joe Gatto from Impractical Jokers called Two Cool Moms. It's going to come out in the next two or three weeks and we're very excited about that as well.
[00:34:27] Steve Byrne: Nice. I got to show you a funny story. Actually, I [00:34:30] was, I was just going to post this before, before, but I, uh, I was like, oh shit, it's, it's almost time to do that. So, but, um, when I was visiting Jonathan, well, every time I called Jonathan, From the road. 'cause I think he vicariously was living through me asking me what the clubs are like and how, how are the, how, how's this comic doing?
[00:34:48] Steve Byrne: How's this? And he'd always ask me about Bill Burr. 'cause Burr and I are, are are friends. And he's like, how's Bill doing? And what's bill up to? So when I went to visit Jonathan last week. Um, I [00:35:00] asked Burr, I was like, hey, can you, can you FaceTime us? I know Jonathan would be over the moon, because I don't believe that they ever, they've ever met.
[00:35:07] Steve Byrne: And, um, Jonathan respected Burr's comedy so much, so I put them on FaceTime, they're hanging out, it's a really sweet phone call. And Jonathan's, you know, paying homage to him, Bill's paying homage to Jonathan, and we're getting towards wrapping up the, uh, Phone call and burr classic burr goes. Ah, please tell me Steve.
[00:35:29] Steve Byrne: It's not the last [00:35:30] thing you're gonna see before you die And Jonathan goes no. No, it's an assisted suicide actually It's like just set up punch set up punch It was it was great to see those guys and I've been laughing about that line ever since and it was a really really cool Moment to witness it was fun being true
[00:35:47] Kyle: fashion That's amazing.
[00:35:49] Kyle: Well, that's so cool. Steve, I know you got a nap to get to, man. Thank you so much for popping by.
[00:35:53] Steve Byrne: I got a nap to get to. That's right. Yeah. Well, I appreciate having me on. Thank you so much. And, uh, hopefully we'll see you down in Zanus. Sounds good. [00:36:00] All right. Take care, bud.