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Nov. 4, 2021 - The Joe Rogan Experience
03:02:30
Joe Rogan Experience #1729 - Gilbert Gottfried
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gilbert gottfried
01:38:47
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joe rogan
01:15:23
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jamie vernon
00:15
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Speaker Time Text
unidentified
The Joe Rogan Experience.
joe rogan
Train by day.
unidentified
Joe Rogan Podcast by night.
All day.
Hello, Gilbert.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, hello.
joe rogan
It's a pleasure to finally meet you.
I can't believe I haven't met you.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, I know.
It's kind of wild.
Yeah, I don't think we've ever met.
joe rogan
No, we just must have missed each other at every club.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
It's kind of crazy.
gilbert gottfried
Yes, and we haven't even run into each other at the morning radio stations.
joe rogan
No, nothing.
gilbert gottfried
Where I'll usually run into comics.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
You know, doing like Captain Bob and Crazy Jim and his morning zoo.
joe rogan
Yeah, those are a lot of fun.
Are those around anymore?
You still do those things?
gilbert gottfried
I don't...
Is radio totally dead now?
joe rogan
It's not dead, but it's definitely on life support.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's just...
They're censored, you know?
And it's, you know, local.
It's only like a small round of range.
Unless you're on satellite radio.
And satellite radio is kind of odd, too.
Because there's the internet.
You can't really...
You know, satellite radio is...
It's hard for them to compete with the internet.
gilbert gottfried
So, uh...
Radio's on life support...
And movies are on life support.
joe rogan
Movies are doing good, apparently.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
People are going to the movies, these reckless young folks.
They don't give a fuck about diseases.
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
No, I think even before, even before, like, it was the pandemic, movies, you know, it got to that point where it's like, A movie would be in theaters and also at home on TV. I think movies are going to go the way of vaudeville.
joe rogan
You think so?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Yeah, I really think so.
joe rogan
But people like to go out.
They like to go out to a comedy show.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
I hope they keep liking that.
joe rogan
Do you think we'll ever get to a point where there's going to be virtual comedy clubs where you'll be at home and you'll be watching stand-up in an audience?
You'll feel like you're in an audience because you're watching them live.
You'll be able to buy a ticket for Zany's at 8 p.m.
on Friday, but you'll be able to watch it from home.
gilbert gottfried
So you could sit in your underwear and watch?
I think so.
I mean, already, like, I did a show on the internet, and other people have done stand-up on the internet during the pandemic, and it shows you're really...
So they could put it...
And I think they could put in an audience there with you.
joe rogan
Well, I think they're doing stuff like that now where you'll have, like, John Heffron was doing this before.
Do you know John Heffron, Conk?
gilbert gottfried
I probably have spoken to him 500 times and don't remember him.
Very funny guy.
Yes.
joe rogan
Anyway, John, before the pandemic, was doing these corporate gigs where they would bring him to a place and he would stand in front of an array of screens, like 30 or 40 screens, and he would do his act and you could see the people They're faces, like they're audience members.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, I definitely could see that happening.
Here's something I wonder.
Are they ever going to build, like they make animatronic people, or what's it called when it's half animatronic and half person?
Cyborg.
Are there ever gonna be, I'm sure they will have it, cyborg hookers.
joe rogan
Oh yeah, for sure.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
It'll probably be more robot hookers, because people will still be concerned about an actual biological human who's a hooker.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Which is odd.
You know who no one gives a fuck about?
Male hookers.
gilbert gottfried
No.
joe rogan
No one's trying to protect male hookers.
unidentified
No.
gilbert gottfried
Nothing.
joe rogan
Not at all.
gilbert gottfried
They could all get killed.
joe rogan
It's true.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
As long as they're adults, grown adult men, no one gives a shit about a 40-year-old male hooker.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, God, yeah.
joe rogan
No sympathy.
gilbert gottfried
You don't even want to think about a male hooker.
joe rogan
But it's like the guy gets no sympathy.
gilbert gottfried
None.
joe rogan
A 40-year-old woman who's walking the street is sad.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
A 40-year-old guy looking to suck dicks for a little extra money.
Literally, no one feels bad for him.
gilbert gottfried
See, so I think we should have more sympathy for guys who suck dicks.
joe rogan
Or we should have an even amount of sympathy.
We always feel more sympathetic to women who are down and out.
Women, homeless people I feel bad for.
gilbert gottfried
I remember they once on TV, they once filmed, they had a hidden camera by an air pump at a gas station.
And they'd have like a pretty girl...
Show up with a bicycle and go, I don't know how to operate this thing.
I'm all confused.
And a million guys would run over.
Oh, oh, it's okay.
This is very complicated.
Let me do it for you.
And then they'd have a guy with a bicycle say, I don't know, and they'd say, what are you, an asshole?
joe rogan
Men don't get your break, Gilbert.
unidentified
No.
joe rogan
It's horrible.
gilbert gottfried
No.
joe rogan
Sad out there.
But it is true.
Because the guys are probably trying to fuck the woman.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Or at least get her to like them.
Because men like it when women like us.
gilbert gottfried
And I remember one time sitting in like, it was like a bus or a train terminal, and there was some pretty girl there with her dog.
And I thought, boy, it's amazing how many guys at this terminal are curious what kind of dog that is.
And what kind of pet it makes.
Every guy was like, oh, what a nice dog.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's a trick.
Yeah, and like guys with puppies, that's why they get puppies.
They get puppies to get the opposite.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
So the women come up to them, oh my god, so cute, so cute.
Especially guys with like a little puppy.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, forget it.
joe rogan
A little shih tzu puppy.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
Something like that.
It's a trap.
joe rogan
It's a trap.
How many guys actually get puppies just so that women pay attention to them?
unidentified
Oh!
gilbert gottfried
A lot.
Yeah.
unidentified
For sure.
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
I'm sure.
And then when they don't wind up getting laid, they kill the puppy or something.
joe rogan
Or they bring it to the pound.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Or they give it to a friend.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Or they try to give it to a girl.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
And then she still won't fuck them.
joe rogan
Sad times.
Sad times.
So how has the pandemic treated you?
How have you handled it?
Did you get COVID? No, no.
Did you get vaccinated?
gilbert gottfried
No, knock wood.
Yeah, I got the two regular shots, and I even got the booster.
joe rogan
And everything's fine?
You're good to go?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, yeah.
Knock wood 5,000 times.
joe rogan
Yeah, knock on some wood for you.
gilbert gottfried
Now, did you get it?
joe rogan
I got COVID. Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
And how was that?
joe rogan
Not bad.
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
So do you recommend it?
joe rogan
No, I don't recommend it.
No, it's definitely dangerous.
I recommend you being as healthy as possible, but when I got it, I got good treatment, and I was better in a couple days.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, good.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, because...
I just remember when it was going full force.
And you couldn't watch a TV show.
Everything was reports on it.
And it would be like, oh, it's doing better this week.
It's only 500,000 dead.
And so that was scary.
joe rogan
Well, it was real scary in New York City, right?
Like, New York City, everybody's on top of each other, which facilitates that kind of spread.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, but as far as me and vaccines, I would get three vaccines a week if they said that was...
joe rogan
How long did you wait before you did sets again?
gilbert gottfried
It wasn't that far from now.
I mean, it was, you know, a couple, six months ago.
joe rogan
So you waited like a year or so?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, over a year.
joe rogan
Where was that?
gilbert gottfried
I went back and I did Caroline's in New York.
And it's so funny how rusty you do get.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Because when I was doing it all the time, it's like, you know...
joe rogan
Normal.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Wake me up at 3 o'clock in the morning, and I'll do my whole set on the phone to you.
And now it was like I was up there, first of all, thinking, is this really what I do for a living?
unidentified
Right.
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, it's like, so all of a sudden, this isn't normal.
I'm up here saying dumb shit, and people are laughing and clapping their hands, and then I feel bad if I say dumb shit, and then not clapping their hands.
joe rogan
You know Ron White?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yes.
joe rogan
Yeah, Ron went about, I think he went eight months without doing it, and we did a show in Austin.
And before we did a show in Austin, he's like, well, I'm basically retired.
I'm just going to fucking play golf and hang out.
I guess I'm done with comedy.
I had a good time, but I mean, fuck this.
I mean, I'm busy.
And then we were going to do a show here at Vulcan, Vulcan Gas Company on 6th Street, and Ron decided to do a set, and he prepared, went over his material, went up, and absolutely fucking annihilated, just destroyed.
And then he gets off stage and he grabs me by both shoulders and goes, whatever the fuck we have to do to keep doing this, we're going to do this for you.
He goes, I'm back, baby.
Like, he just got a jolt of re-emergence.
But people, like, a lot of us had kind of settled.
I didn't do Stand Up for, like, six months.
A lot of us had kind of settled into this thing where we weren't doing comedy anymore.
Like, okay, this is just regular life.
I could deal with that.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, I was thinking, too, the same thing.
Like, I'm home, I'm on the couch, I'm watching TV. This isn't so terrible.
As long as I've got my health and my TV works...
And so the idea of packing my suitcase and going to the airport and all that, like going through security and...
joe rogan
The masks and the fucking fear.
gilbert gottfried
Yes, yes.
And so, yeah, I was quite comfortable not doing it.
And then when I got back, it's like, oh, also, I'd be on stage and...
Now it's starting to come back.
But I was on stage first couple of times, and I was like, I'm sure I have more material in this.
I can't think of other bits that I do.
And this bit that I'm doing right now, I think it had a funny line at this part.
joe rogan
You'll remember it.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
Isn't it funny?
If you do a lot of stand-up and you don't write your act out, you don't know what you said, unless you have recordings.
Do you have recordings of any of your sets?
gilbert gottfried
Only specials and stuff.
joe rogan
I record everything on my phone.
gilbert gottfried
Oh.
joe rogan
The voice notes, which is nice.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because then I have a whole catalog of all the sets that I did, which is so easy to do.
gilbert gottfried
I've never done that.
I've never recorded.
joe rogan
You have an iPhone?
gilbert gottfried
I have some kind of phone.
joe rogan
You don't know what kind of phone you have?
gilbert gottfried
I'll just show you my phone.
joe rogan
You have to show it to me.
That's hilarious.
I think that's an iPhone.
Yep, there you go.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, okay, so I have an iPhone.
joe rogan
Yeah, so you have voice notes on that thing.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, I mean, and it's like, okay, here's something that I find really odd in doing comedy is there are some bits...
That you do that are your killer bits.
Those are the ones you could be bombing the whole night, pull that one out, and the crowd goes nuts and the room is shaking.
And do you ever have a bit that just goes away?
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
With no warning.
I'll have these bits where I'm like, uh-oh, here I better hold on to something because the walls will crash down.
It's going to be so much reaction.
And then I do it and nothing.
And then I do it a bunch of more times and still nothing.
It's just like the bit gets up and walks away from me.
joe rogan
They go away.
And it's weird.
It's like I never know if it's my engagement with it.
Like maybe I'm not so enthusiastic about it anymore and the audience can tell.
Maybe the time for the bit is just gone.
Like maybe it's only time relevant.
You know, it's only relevant to like three months ago and now no one gives a shit about the topic anymore.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, because I'll have it where...
Yeah, and same thing.
Like, I'll go, oh, you know, maybe I'll just give it a, you know, louder, heavier hit for the punchline or the middle section.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Or faster or slower.
And it's like, no, they just go away.
joe rogan
They go away.
Sometimes bits do.
Sometimes bits go away.
It's interesting.
It's like...
Sometimes you'll have a bit in one show and it'll crush and then the next show you say it the exact same way and it won't work.
gilbert gottfried
Yes!
Yeah!
It's um...
Okay.
Old joke.
A comedian's in his hotel room and there's a knock on the door.
He opens the door.
A gorgeous girl is standing there in the sexiest outfit.
She's got an incredible body.
And she says, I saw you.
I was in the audience tonight, and I watched you, and you were so funny and so exciting that I got so turned on.
I want to come in there and fuck you and suck your dick like it's never been sucked before.
And the comic says, let me ask you something.
Was this the first show or the second?
unidentified
Exactly.
joe rogan
Exactly.
You'll have one flub line that'll haunt you for the rest of the night.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, and it is like the difference between first and second, it's like you don't know.
One, it could be tremendous, and the other one, it'll be like, you know, I fooled them long enough, and I shouldn't be in this business.
joe rogan
Are you working the road now?
Are you doing the road these days?
gilbert gottfried
More and more, yeah.
I'm going back to flying and whatever.
joe rogan
You moved out of the city?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, I'm in Florida now.
unidentified
What is that like?
joe rogan
You're a lifetime New Yorker, right?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, so now I'm going where Jews go to die.
joe rogan
What part of Florida are you in?
gilbert gottfried
In Boca Raton.
Real Florida.
Yeah, real heavens waiting for me.
joe rogan
What is it like down there?
gilbert gottfried
The heat is intolerable.
Oh, they're in Aladdin.
There was a line in the original song, when they sing Arabian Nights, where he sings, where they cut off your nose if they don't like your face, it's barbaric, but hey, it's home.
That was the line, the original line in it, and they had to change that.
And they changed it to where the land is immense and the heat is intense.
It's barbarian?
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
So the original Aladdin, was it a musical?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
unidentified
What was it?
gilbert gottfried
The movie?
No, the one that I was in.
Oh, okay.
But it had songs in it.
joe rogan
But was it an old song?
gilbert gottfried
No, they had written it.
It was a funny line.
joe rogan
And they had a cutout?
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, I remember they had the Aladdin TV show for a while.
And...
There was one part where we were being chased by a tiger, and my character goes, he's gonna eat us like kitty chow.
And some woman somewhere in Ohio or Cincinnati, whatever, she complained.
And she said she was horrified that she was watching it with her children.
And I said, that tiger's gonna eat us like titty chow.
She actually heard it as Titty Chow.
joe rogan
And she complained?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
And it got all the way to you?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Why didn't someone tell her, hey, it's Kitty Chow.
Shut the fuck up.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, yes.
joe rogan
And then that would be the end.
gilbert gottfried
Who brought it to you?
Well, I found out because they re-recorded it.
joe rogan
To make it sound more like Kitty?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, where it's like, oh, he's going to eat us like Kitty Chow.
joe rogan
How annoying.
gilbert gottfried
It's kind of like, oh, in the opening of All in the Family, there was that one line that nobody knew.
And that line was, G.R.O. LaSalle ran great.
Yeah.
What is that?
Yeah.
And it was an old car, LaSalle.
joe rogan
Oh, our old LaSalle ran great.
gilbert gottfried
Our old LaSalle ran great.
And so when you heard that, you always just heard...
joe rogan
Those were the games.
gilbert gottfried
And so they re-recorded it in the next season to G.R. Old LaSalle ran great.
joe rogan
Look at these lyrics.
Guys like me, we had it made.
Those were the days.
Didn't need no welfare state.
Everybody pulled his weight.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, I know the whole chunk.
joe rogan
Look at these little lines, though.
Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again.
People seemed to be content.
$50 paid the rent.
Freaks were in the circus tent.
Those were the days.
unidentified
Uh-oh.
gilbert gottfried
See, but you know, the freaks were in the circus tent.
They didn't sing in the TV show.
But there is a recording of Sammy Davis Jr. singing the opening of All in the Family.
unidentified
Really?
joe rogan
Yeah.
Was he an option at one point in time?
Like he was going to be the singer?
gilbert gottfried
Well, it's like, I don't know.
I guess they wanted to maybe release it.
But they didn't.
But there is a recording of him singing that.
joe rogan
Wow.
gilbert gottfried
Where it's like, Franks were in a circus.
joe rogan
Look at this right there.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Look at him with a big stogie.
unidentified
Where's the lyrics? .
You take a Sunday spin Go and watch the Dodgers win Have yourself a dandy day that cost you under a fin Hair was short and skirts were long Kate Smith really grooved a song I don't know where we went wrong Those were the days.
joe rogan
Isn't it funny that every generation complains about the direction the new generation is going in?
Because if we go back to 1970, we look at it, we go, oh my god, look how crazy life was back then.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
So simple.
They're looking at, like, the 1950s, going, oh, those were the days.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, every generation does it.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, I'm sure in, like, 1403. Remember back when nobody was a robot?
Oh, yes, yes.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Remember back when we couldn't read minds?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
That's what they're going to say.
gilbert gottfried
Remember when we had just five fingers on each hand?
joe rogan
Yeah.
Remember when there was no genetic engineering and everybody had regular-sized dicks?
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Remember before when you lost a limb, you couldn't grow a new one?
joe rogan
Yeah.
That's what they're going to say.
Remember back before people were immortal?
That's what's going to happen.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, and Sammy also sang a recording of Hawaii Five-0.
joe rogan
Really?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, where it's like, oh, something like, if you're in trouble, gotta call Five-0.
You will be there on the double when you call Five-0.
joe rogan
Did you ever see him perform live?
No.
I would have loved to have seen Sinatra, Sammy David.
I would have loved to have seen the Rat Pack a lot.
That would have been interesting.
gilbert gottfried
I saw, because a friend of mine knew how to sneak into this one theater, and I saw, it wasn't the whole Rat Pack, but Frank and Dean.
joe rogan
You saw them?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Wow, what year was this?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, oh God, years ago.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Sinatra, would he die in the 80s?
When did he die?
gilbert gottfried
I think so.
Yeah, in the 80s, I think.
joe rogan
Yeah, I don't remember, but obviously I never got a chance to see him.
gilbert gottfried
And I remember, too.
joe rogan
98?
Oh, 98. Oh.
Interesting.
gilbert gottfried
He was on, like, oh, I think the Grammy show.
And he started to make a speech, and then they cut to a commercial.
And everybody was outraged about this.
And, you know, Billy Joel mentioned it, and everybody.
And then they said that Frank, during the speech, started to ramble.
joe rogan
Oh, he's getting older?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, he was Joe Biden-ing it.
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
That's the medical.
joe rogan
It's a verb.
Joe Biden-ing is a verb.
That poor guy.
I mean, I didn't vote for him, but I feel bad for him.
It's like watching this happen.
It's so sad.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, another thing.
On my podcast, Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast.
joe rogan
Available everywhere.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
And we had on some, like, expert on Columbo, and that brought back—remember that footage of Peter Falk?
There was this footage, like somebody on people's phones, he was like, you know, roaming through the street, his clothes looked more ragged than Columbo's, and his potbelly was hanging out of his shirt, and he looked like a mess, and he died of Alzheimer's.
joe rogan
I didn't see that, but...
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, horrible.
joe rogan
It's horrible.
Dementia and Alzheimer's and just watching someone deteriorate like that.
That's why the Joe Biden thing is so sad because it's happening in real time and everybody's trying to pretend it's not happening because he's the president.
And no one is stepping in.
Like, if it was your grandfather, you'd be like, oh, jeez, we gotta do something.
But instead, it's the president.
So, like, he fell asleep at a conference the other day.
Like, on TV, you see him, like, closing his eyes, and he's got his arms crossed.
He just falls asleep.
It's like, come on, the poor guy.
gilbert gottfried
It's like, I always think when people say, like, oh, you know, Belushi and Chris Farley, that's so tragic.
And I'm thinking, they died, stoned out of their mind, and great state.
You know, just floating, just total ecstasy, and a hooker is blowing them wild there in this stone state, and that's how they died.
And I'm thinking, okay, what about these people, Alzheimer's, MS, Parkinson's, all these horrible things where, after a while, people are just wired up to machines.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Everybody goes, but just how do you go?
Do you want to like drag it out where your body's like literally deteriorating before your eyes?
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
That's what you're seeing a lot in Boca Raton.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Right?
gilbert gottfried
In your new neighborhood?
The one I felt bad for the most was...
Annette Funicello.
joe rogan
Oh, I didn't see that.
gilbert gottfried
Well, they didn't really show her so much, but it was that she had something like one of those diseases that cripples you and where you're still alive, but after a while you can't blink your eyes.
unidentified
Oh, Jesus.
gilbert gottfried
And she lived for years with that disease.
And I always think of that line in Dracula.
unidentified
To die, to be really dead, must be glorious.
There are far worse things awaiting man than death.
joe rogan
Was that, who was it, was it Boris Karloff?
Who did that?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, that was Bela Lugosi.
joe rogan
Bela Lugosi, that's right.
Boris Karloff was Frankenstein.
gilbert gottfried
Okay, Boris Karloff was Frankenstein and the mummy.
Bela Lugosi was Dracula, but he also played Frankenstein in one movie.
joe rogan
He did?
gilbert gottfried
In Frankenstein meets the Wolfman.
And Lon Chaney Jr. played all the monsters.
joe rogan
Did he?
gilbert gottfried
He was most famous for the Wolfman.
joe rogan
Who else did he play?
gilbert gottfried
He was also Frankenstein in Ghost of Frankenstein.
And he was the mummy in about three of those low-budget mummy pictures.
Oh, there he is!
Dracula in Son of Dracula.
joe rogan
When you watch that old wolf, man, it's so corny.
Oh, he's Dr. Jekyll as well?
gilbert gottfried
Uh, no.
Oh, that's his father.
joe rogan
Oh, Lone Cheney Sr. Yes.
Yeah, the original.
Yeah.
I wanted to be a makeup artist when I was a kid.
That's what I wanted to do.
unidentified
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
I wanted to do makeup for horror movies.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, you know, these guys like Lon Chaney Jr. Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Also, on the podcast, we interviewed Rick Baker.
joe rogan
Yeah, Rick Baker's done the podcast.
He's amazing.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, he's amazing.
Yeah.
joe rogan
In my studio in L.A., I have a duplicate of the American Werewolf in London.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah?
joe rogan
That frees people at the front door.
Yeah.
Which is one of my all-time favorite movies.
I still love those movies.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, I did too.
I grew up on those.
And another time Lon Chaney Jr. was Frankenstein, was in Ghost of Frankenstein, but in one scene in Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, the monster, that was played by Glenn Strange, Has to throw a girl out the window.
And I think Glenn Strange hurt his ankle previously with his big Frankenstein boots.
And so Lon Chaney was made up as the monster in that scene.
There's one scene where the monster throws the girl out the window, and that's Lon Chaney Jr. as the monster.
joe rogan
Oh, he subbed for them.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Wow.
You're a fucking veritable treasure trove of information, Gilbert Gottfried.
unidentified
Either that or fucking pathetic.
joe rogan
It's funny how many monster movies they used to make.
They didn't make a lot of movies back then, right?
There was less movies than there are today, but a lot of them were monster movies.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
And also, well, like movies today with sequels, after a while they would do identical plots from one to the next with one or two scenes changed.
But yeah, I used to love those.
And I mean, they were the classic ones, you know, Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolfman.
And then I would enjoy the crappy ones too, like the hideous sun demon.
joe rogan
Yeah, there's some bad ones.
The Hideous Sun Demon.
I just remembered that one now that you brought it up.
God, who was that?
Who was in that movie?
gilbert gottfried
I don't know that anyone was known except for like those D movies.
joe rogan
Yeah, those were great though.
They were so dumb.
There's the Hideous Sun Demon.
gilbert gottfried
Yes, yes!
joe rogan
Look at that thing.
Oh my god, that's so ridiculous.
Oh my god, look at that thing.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, it looks like they put coins all over it.
joe rogan
Get some video of that, Jamie.
We need to see that in video.
God, I forgot about that movie.
gilbert gottfried
That's hilarious.
Yeah, they pulled a switch rather than the sun coming out and turning them into a monster.
59. Rather than the moon, it's the sun.
Oh, it's atomic, so of course that makes you turn into...
joe rogan
They did a lot of those movies right after World War II, right after Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, like Godzilla was a whole...
joe rogan
Yeah, the whole Godzilla sequence, like the Mothra and Rodan and all those different ones.
It's all related to atomic weapons, right?
gilbert gottfried
Yes, and...
Oh, Gary is breaking into a building.
joe rogan
Let me see what he looks like.
Is it playing?
Oh, it's froze.
It's so corny.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, now he's running up the stairs.
joe rogan
It's so fake looking.
It's so dumb.
gilbert gottfried
But still, so much fun to watch because it's so stupid.
joe rogan
I watched the original The Thing recently.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Way before John Carpenter.
The original, original one.
God, it's so bad.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Oh, but the thing is James Arnaz.
joe rogan
Oh, is it?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Is that Desi Arnaz's dad or something?
gilbert gottfried
No.
James Arnaz from Gunsmoke.
joe rogan
Oh, really?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
What did the thing look like?
I'm trying to remember what the thing looked like.
gilbert gottfried
You never really saw a clear look.
You saw something hulking out and more of a silhouette.
joe rogan
Yeah.
It was corny.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, but also fun.
joe rogan
Is that what it looked like?
That was the thing?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
See, there you could make it out.
joe rogan
But did they show that actually in the movie like that?
gilbert gottfried
I just remember it as more of a silhouette.
joe rogan
I only watched like 20 minutes of it.
I was just laughing.
It's how corny it was.
It was just so weird.
That's what he looked like?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, it's kind of like Frankenstein.
joe rogan
I wonder what the obsession with monsters was back then, because that was a good percentage of the films that were made were monsters.
Maybe it was just that they were successful.
gilbert gottfried
There was also someone we interviewed on the podcast, I think it's David Scholl, whose theory I think I think I'm going to go.
We're now alive with missing arms and legs and their faces.
And his feeling is that's what made people so fascinated with monsters because these were like real live monsters around them.
joe rogan
Yeah, there's a bunch of photos online of people who survived in World War II. And they survived gunshot wounds to their face and things along those lines.
And there's horrific photos.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
That makes sense.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because so many people coming back from the war that did live.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, it was like much nicer and prettier if the soldiers would just die.
But once they live and you see what actually happens to them...
joe rogan
The worst story I heard about the war was from World War I where the Russians and the Germans had to have a ceasefire because so many of them were getting killed by wolves that they actually joined together to kill the wolves in Russia.
gilbert gottfried
Jesus!
joe rogan
Yeah.
There was hundreds of wolves because what had happened is they were doing trench warfare, right?
And so a guy would get shot and he'd be in agony in the trenches and the wolves would smell the blood and the wolves would go into the trenches and eat the men alive.
And kill them.
And so they would, guys would go on patrol and they would like find a boot with a foot still in it and that was all that was left of them.
And so they realized that these large packs of vicious wolves in Russia were just picking off soldiers from the outside.
So anytime someone strayed away from the camps or strayed away from, you know, wherever they were stationed, wolves would get them.
And so they literally got together and had a ceasefire and said, let's stop killing each other.
Let's kill these fucking wolves and then we'll go back to killing each other.
gilbert gottfried
It's the insanity of that.
We gotta make it safe for us to kill each other again.
joe rogan
It's kind of amazing that that's a historical fact.
It's a really wild story.
gilbert gottfried
Also, you reminded me because we interviewed Sandler.
Do you remember Sandler and Young?
joe rogan
No.
gilbert gottfried
He was Belgium, so he spoke in French, and then he had an American partner and they would sing.
joe rogan
Were they a comedy act?
gilbert gottfried
No, no.
They were like just a song.
Singing team.
Singing act?
They'd be on all the variety shows.
And, you know, it'd be like, Oh, when the saints come marching in.
Oh, when the saints come marching in.
And then it's like, And they'd sing it, American and French.
And Sandler said, in Belgium, of course, he was there during World War II. Oh, and he said that Nazis would take over people's houses and use them as headquarters.
And he had Nazis in his house, and they were instructed, just do everything as you normally do.
Don't do anything different.
And it's like, which is hard if there's fucking Nazis in your house.
And he said one time he and his friends were playing, and they found a boot with a footnet.
unidentified
Whoa.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, and as far as horror and real...
I think the movie The Black Cat with Karloff and Lugosi was actually based on some prison camp.
unidentified
Really?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
It was just...
I don't know what happened there or who.
I don't know the exact story, but it was...
joe rogan
I don't even know what that movie is.
unidentified
The Black Cat.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, The Black Cat.
If you like horror movies, that...
It's Karloff and Lugosi, and the movie, not three seconds of it makes any sense.
unidentified
Really?
gilbert gottfried
You feel like you're watching, you're having a weird dream.
But it's so good.
It's so entertaining.
joe rogan
Just because it's so old and weird?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, it's very weird.
But it's not one of those, you laugh at it because it's bad.
It's a good movie, but it makes absolutely no sense.
joe rogan
It's a good movie that makes no sense.
gilbert gottfried
Yes, yes.
Usually I get angry when movies make no sense.
joe rogan
But when they're old, you're kind of watching history as much as you're watching a movie.
Yes.
When my kids were little, my wife was out of town, and we were trying to figure out something to watch together.
And they were like, I think they were six and eight.
And I said, do you guys want to watch a scary movie?
And they were like, you know, my littlest would get real scary.
She goes, I don't want to get scared.
I go, I'm going to show you a movie that used to be scary, but now it's funny because it's so bad.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
And so I showed them the original King Kong.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
From like, what was it?
Like 1933?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And it's so bad.
Like, you watch it, like, the animation, like, it wasn't scary at all.
They were laughing.
They thought it was hilarious.
I was like, this is funny.
Like, if you were a little kid in 1933 and you watched this, it would probably be quite scary.
Because, like, the animation and everything, like, they didn't have anything to compare it to.
So it didn't look bad.
It just looked like there was a beast, you know?
But people today, you try showing that to a little kid today, they just laugh at it.
gilbert gottfried
See, but me, I grew up on that stop-action animation, you know.
You know, Ray Harryhausen and Willis O'Brien.
So I still enjoy that.
That I prefer to computerization.
And I think what Roger Ebert said, stop action looks phony but feels real.
And he says, CGI looks real but feels phony.
joe rogan
Yeah, there is something about CGI that just doesn't resonate.
There's something about it where it just doesn't feel right.
You know, there's a lot of these guys that do that Rick Baker style makeup for movies, and they're big advocates of that.
They don't think we should have CGI because there's a disconnect when you see something on the screen that's computer generated, even if it's really realistic.
Did you see the Wolfman with Benicio Del Toro?
That's pretty good.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
I liked it.
But that movie was a little bit of both.
But when you saw the CGI parts, you'd be like, ah, this looks fake.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
But when you saw him with the makeup, it's like, okay, this is a real thing.
This is an actual object.
gilbert gottfried
It's like...
To me, when I watch the original King Kong, I feel like, well, there is a real King Kong that they built.
So you could touch King Kong if you were there.
But you can't touch, you know, CGI. You can tell.
joe rogan
It's weird.
It's that weird disconnect you have, even if it's like super, super realistic.
You know that it's not real somehow.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
Also, the difference between American Werewolf in London, where that was like great special effects.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Amazing.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
And then they did American Werewolf in Paris, where they were using CGI, and it looked like half of it was a cartoon.
joe rogan
Yeah, that looks stupid.
Yeah, there was a lot of those movies that looked really stupid like that.
But then they had The Howling.
The Howling was all special effects, too.
It was kind of the same deal.
You know, those movies, it's like there's something that you get connected.
Even though you know it's fake, you get connected to it.
It's okay.
Whereas, like, if it's CGI, you're just watching some stuff happen.
You're watching some images.
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, I always missed...
I mean, even as a kid, I knew how they made King Kong move, how the dinosaurs move.
I knew how Chaney turned into the Wolfman by turning the camera on and off, but I loved watching that, and it still feels more real to me.
joe rogan
Well, it's also fun because you're watching these people make the best with what they had, and you know what was available then as opposed to now.
Like, stop motion, claymation, all that kind of stuff, and the kind of makeup.
Like, Lone Chaney Sr., a guy disfigured his face to make those movies, tortured himself.
gilbert gottfried
And there was also, like, I used to be fascinated to hear...
People talk about how effects were done in movies.
And now if you ask someone, it'll be like, well, this button makes it rain and this button makes dinosaurs show up and this button fire shoots out of the dinosaur.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Well, it's also, if you look at the American Werewolf in London, because of the fact that it wasn't computer generated, they had to show you everything in very quick flashes.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
They didn't lock onto it for a long period of time where you got to see it.
The longest you got to see it was when the wolf was walking through Piccadilly Square.
Remember that?
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
He was snapping at people.
That was the clearest and most you ever got to see it.
Other than that, you get to see a brief glimpse of its face right before it attacked.
Like Alien, the Ridley Scott movie, same kind of deal.
You really didn't see it that clearly for long periods of time.
gilbert gottfried
But what shows how good the makeup and everything was in there, when he changes, it's in a well-lit room.
Because so many movies, there's immediately, it's at night, and there's a thunderstorm going on.
joe rogan
Yeah.
No, that was an epic, I mean, that was, when you see that, I forget the actor's name, played the American Werewolf in London.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, David Norton.
joe rogan
Yes.
When you see his hands stretch, he's like, ah!
And he's watching it.
gilbert gottfried
For years after that...
joe rogan
Play that.
Try to find a transformation scene.
gilbert gottfried
For years after that, I would know it's special effects, but I'd look at my hand and see if I could do that.
joe rogan
Yeah, also when the hair is popping up on its back.
And it was a unique...
For these kind of movies, for horror movies, it was revolutionary.
Because it was like, Rick Baker was the king.
He was the best at this stuff.
And they gave him the ability to kind of completely change the way people feel about these kind of transformation scenes.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Like this shit.
gilbert gottfried
That's amazing.
That looks like a real hand.
joe rogan
And they added, like, John Landis made it funny.
They added the right kind of music to it.
There was so much to it.
And as this thing's changing, and he falls to the ground, you see his hair pop up on his back.
Fuck, this was good.
unidentified
Yeah.
Oh, what a great movie.
joe rogan
movie.
It was such a great movie because it was a combination of comedy and horror.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
But it was both.
It was both actually really funny and really fucking scary.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Oh my god, what a great scene.
Yeah, and completely well lit.
Look at that.
unidentified
Fucking amazing movie.
joe rogan
We have to turn the music off?
gilbert gottfried
There was once a case of like...
joe rogan
And then the face, when his face stretches out?
gilbert gottfried
Oh yes, that's this.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I mean, Rick Baker's a fucking genius.
Imagine being able to do this in like, what was it, 1980-something?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
I mean, there was nothing like this before this.
It was so revolutionary.
gilbert gottfried
These came out at the same time.
This one and The Howling.
Both were.
joe rogan
I think this one came out first.
And I think this was so successful that it sort of ignited this desire for werewolf movies.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, and then there's a dopey horror film that I think it's called The Beast Within that does a transformation scene that goes on like way too long, but it's so much fun to watch.
joe rogan
The Beast Within?
gilbert gottfried
The Beast Within.
joe rogan
Do you remember Cats?
Cat people?
gilbert gottfried
There were two.
There was the original one, and then there was the one with the top.
Oh, that's it!
There it is!
joe rogan
What is this?
gilbert gottfried
Yes!
joe rogan
Look at her.
She's like, what is happening?
They're both just standing there.
They're not running out of the room.
Like, imagine if you saw a guy's face do that.
You'd be like, I'm getting the fuck out of here.
gilbert gottfried
Yes!
They're all standing by.
No one's screaming.
joe rogan
And one guy has a syringe in his hand.
Like, how about you inject that guy with whatever you've got in that syringe?
Whoa.
This is so terrible.
unidentified
Play it.
joe rogan
Let it play.
Let it play.
What is happening to his back?
gilbert gottfried
His whole body's splitting open.
joe rogan
Oh.
gilbert gottfried
And what's funny with this, after he goes into his, like, 15th metamorphosis, one guy says, oh, my God.
And I'm thinking, the other things weren't worth an oh, my God.
joe rogan
This is so long.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
See, they needed a good editor.
Look at her.
She does the same face the entire time.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
She's just letting it all happen.
Oh, now finally she's screaming.
unidentified
Oh, finally!
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, yeah.
She, you know, before, nothing was so...
joe rogan
I can't wait to see what he turns into.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, see, that guy with the mustache said, oh my god.
joe rogan
Meanwhile, they're just all standing there.
gilbert gottfried
Yes, yes!
unidentified
Why wouldn't you get the fuck out of Dodge?
gilbert gottfried
Anybody would run for their life.
joe rogan
Yeah, what is the...
What are you?
It keeps going back and forth.
It got bigger, it got smaller.
Now what is it?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, now it's big.
joe rogan
Shoot him for God's sake, it says.
unidentified
Shoot him for God's sake.
joe rogan
They don't make them anymore, Gilbert.
They don't make a good horror movie anymore.
gilbert gottfried
No.
joe rogan
Not that many of them.
I mean, what was the last good one you saw?
gilbert gottfried
Oh God, I don't know.
joe rogan
Cloverfield?
That was a monster movie?
Yeah, that was a monster movie, right?
That was interesting.
jamie vernon
Like Hereditary and The Conjuring, those have kind of gotten really popular more recently.
joe rogan
Yeah, but those are horror.
unidentified
Yeah, it's like psychological stuff.
You don't have good monster movies anymore.
joe rogan
Gotta bring them back.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Scream's on its way back out.
unidentified
That's not really...
joe rogan
I guess that's more serial killer.
unidentified
It's all horror.
Yeah.
joe rogan
So, do you have a home club in Boca?
gilbert gottfried
There's some nearby clubs.
One I worked recently.
unidentified
And, oh, God.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
But now, I mean, like, tomorrow I go to Houston to do a club.
joe rogan
What club are you doing in Houston?
gilbert gottfried
God, I don't know.
Somebody find out.
What the fuck is sitting there like that?
Find out where I am, what I've got to plug, and don't fucking shit.
joe rogan
Are you doing the improv?
Improv's great in Houston.
gilbert gottfried
I don't know if I've ever done that one.
joe rogan
That's a good one.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, but one thing I have to plug, of course, I'm on cameo.com slash Gilbert Gottfried for...
Personalized video shoutouts.
And for 25% off, use promo code JoeRogan.
joe rogan
And these cameos, you're doing these a lot, right?
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
And do you enjoy doing that?
Is it fun?
gilbert gottfried
Well, that was like what I was doing all through the pandemic.
joe rogan
Yeah?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Because clubs were closed, and TV was closed, and so I would do those.
Yeah.
joe rogan
And you can make good money doing those?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
It depends on...
Sometimes you have busy days, sometimes less.
But it's one of those where you could...
There were times I just had a shirt on and no pants.
I just...
Put it up.
And yeah, so cameo.com slash Gilbert Gottfried.
joe rogan
Oh, you're doing Skankfest.
gilbert gottfried
I am?
Yes, Skankfest.
unidentified
That's hilarious.
gilbert gottfried
That's the one in use.
joe rogan
Yeah, the guys who were here yesterday, Ari Shafir, Shane Gillis, and Mark Norman were on yesterday, and they're headed down to Skankfest today.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
You could have rode down with them.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
So that wasn't even a joke there that I didn't know.
unidentified
Didn't know.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Who handles all your stuff?
Your wife?
gilbert gottfried
Does she take care of everything?
Right now my wife.
Because it seems like the agencies are falling apart.
joe rogan
Because a lot of them are falling apart.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Well, they just didn't have anybody working for over a year.
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
And the funny thing that the pandemic showed me is without agents, my career hasn't been that much worse.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Well, if you have someone like your wife that can take care of everything, it's probably better to not know where you're going.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Just don't think about it.
gilbert gottfried
Just show up.
Yeah, somebody just tell...
Well, it always gets me when, you know, they'll show, to get a laugh, they'll show a politician or a singer on stage who says, I love you, Ohio, and then it turns out they weren't in Ohio.
See, I don't laugh at that because when I'm doing clubs, I'll be walking through the city, and I don't know what city I'm in, and people will recognize me and ask me, oh, where are you playing?
I won't know the name of the club.
joe rogan
Well, good thing nowadays they can actually find it.
They can just Google it.
gilbert gottfried
Yes, yes.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's not that hard to take that extra step.
But yeah, that's a weird feeling when you wake up in a hotel room and you stare at the ceiling and you forget where you are.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, absolutely.
joe rogan
That happens a lot.
gilbert gottfried
And I get these dreams where sometimes I'll be home and I'll get to dream like that I'm there and I have to find some way of getting home.
Oh, interesting.
And so I'll get mixed up with my dreams, or you're sleeping and you think you're home, and then you go, this bed feels different.
I don't know why.
And you reach for the lamp and go, wait a minute, the lamp was always on this side.
Why can't I find it?
And Then you turn it on.
It's like, whoa, a different place.
joe rogan
When you go on the road, do you just do weekends in places?
How often were you going on the road for?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, I used to.
It used to be like every week.
joe rogan
Every week at different clubs somewhere?
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
And I would do those ones that would be from Thursday through Sunday.
joe rogan
Oh, you did those, huh?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
And now I... Now the shortest amount I have to work, I enjoy the most.
joe rogan
Yeah, I like weekends.
Just Friday, Saturday, back home.
Yeah.
Those guys that do those Thursday through Sunday gigs, boy, they get tired.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
By the time Sunday's show rolls around, you're fucking exhausted.
gilbert gottfried
Also, I've done a bunch of shows over the years where it was three shows a night.
And by that third show, you don't know what the fuck you're talking about.
joe rogan
You don't remember what you said.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, you think, did I just say that joke?
The joke I'm saying now, did I say it five times already?
You don't know.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's because once you're in the groove of actually telling your jokes and actually doing your set, you think that you're in the same mindset that you were in two hours earlier for that show and two hours before that.
You don't know what the fuck you're doing.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah!
Yeah, that's a surreal feeling.
joe rogan
The only thing that saved me is to have a very specific setlist for those shows.
Yeah.
Because sometimes I'll fuck around, I put things out of order.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I can't do that when I have three shows.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, you have to say, yeah.
The butcher shop now.
The roller skating one now.
joe rogan
Right, right, right.
Yeah.
Those guys that do those long weeks, and some of them do Wednesday through Sunday, they get tired.
They wear out quicker.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's not good for you.
gilbert gottfried
And also, it's like that weird thing after you do a show.
It's like you're exhausted now.
But you have too much adrenaline flowing to go to sleep.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
So you're lying there in bed staring up at the ceiling going, oh, I'm going to force myself to sleep.
joe rogan
Or worse, you're just watching TV mindlessly.
gilbert gottfried
Horrible.
joe rogan
Yeah, staring at that screen and then the blue light from the TV and the screens fucks with your head and then you can't sleep.
gilbert gottfried
And then especially like when you work in Vegas, they don't want to give you good channels to watch.
joe rogan
Right, right.
unidentified
So...
Yeah, it's...
gilbert gottfried
And then I'll be switching around the channels, and it's like, I'll go, okay, this I really don't like, but it's less awful than the other things I was clicking on.
joe rogan
Do you bring people with you when you go on the road, or do you just accept the local acts?
gilbert gottfried
Usually it's just been me, yeah.
joe rogan
And so whatever they have that opens for you, you just accept it?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, usually because they'll say, oh, what do you think of the opening?
Sometimes I'll have opening acts a lot.
They'll go, oh, can you watch my set and tell me what you think?
And I never watch other comics.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's a big ask.
Like, if you're friends with a guy and he says, can you watch my set, that's one thing.
But if you don't even know the guy and he wants you to be a consultant on his material, like, come on, buddy.
gilbert gottfried
And it's also that thing of, you know, when you've been doing comedy a while, the very best you could ask for in watching a bit is, ah, that was clever.
joe rogan
Yeah, exactly.
What year do you start?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, God.
I think it was the end of the 60s.
joe rogan
No shit.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
I was 15 the first time I got up on a stage.
unidentified
Wow.
gilbert gottfried
And I should know, but I don't, like an idiot.
I should know the first club I worked at.
I don't remember the first club I worked at.
joe rogan
Really?
gilbert gottfried
You'd think it would be an important event enough to remember, but I don't remember.
joe rogan
Well, what were the regular clubs that you worked at back then?
gilbert gottfried
Well...
First time, it was some club.
You went in and signed your name and a book.
But of the clubs I've worked over the years, there were the known ones, Catch a Rising Star, The Improv, Comic Strip, Bitter End.
And then there'd be like a million of these clubs that would open for like two weeks.
And you'd be like looking out for any place you could work for no money.
joe rogan
In the late 60s, were there actual comedy clubs?
Or were they like variety clubs?
gilbert gottfried
I think that came later or something.
Also, I remember in...
Comedy clubs used to have singers also.
And like, well, you know, Pat Benatar and Patty Smythe both came out of comedy clubs.
unidentified
Really?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, they both used to pop up at Catch.
And I remember, you know, it was not uncommon.
You'd walk into a comedy club and you'd hear, you know, everything has its season, everything has its time.
joe rogan
And this was in the 70s?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
70s, 80s, yeah.
Well, 80s, I think it started to make it more just...
No, they still had some singers there.
joe rogan
So what was like the first club, the first actual stand-up club in the city?
Was it the improv?
Was it catch?
gilbert gottfried
I think the improv would be the oldest of those, but I mean before then...
joe rogan
So that was the early 70s?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, I would think so.
Maybe it could have been even in the 60s.
I don't know when improv started.
joe rogan
And then Catch a Rising Star came after that.
That was the first place I did in the city.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
And then there was all the other ones, you know, The Cellar and Dangerfields.
I heard Dangerfields went under recently.
gilbert gottfried
Yes, just recently.
I was in New York and we were in a cab and I looked out the window and there's that big awning of Dangerfields and it said like room, you know, space for rent.
joe rogan
Isn't that crazy?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
That place was always so weird.
Like it was never really packed.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
But it was a great room.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
It was an amazing room.
gilbert gottfried
Like, I'm wondering if his mob friends were doing business.
joe rogan
Most likely.
gilbert gottfried
Well, another thing I always thought mob, Grandpa Munster had his own restaurant.
joe rogan
Yeah, Grandpa's.
It was in Staten Island.
gilbert gottfried
And that place, I always think, I'm sure, yeah.
joe rogan
They knew some friends.
gilbert gottfried
And the chief.
From Gilligan's Island.
He had his own restaurant.
Who was the chief?
The skipper?
The skipper, not the chief.
joe rogan
He had his own club?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
What the fuck was that guy's name again?
His father was an actor, too.
joe rogan
I always felt bad for Gilligan, because that poor motherfucker had to wear that hat to the day he died.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
That was his thing.
He had to wear that stupid hat.
That stupid hat was his thing.
gilbert gottfried
I've been to...
joe rogan
There it is.
gilbert gottfried
Alan Hale, Jr. Alan Hale, Jr. Yes.
That would have killed me.
joe rogan
And he had to wear his stupid hat, too.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
There was never a scene where he didn't have that stupid captain's hat on.
gilbert gottfried
And I've done a few of these autograph conventions.
And you'll see these guys, they're like 90, signing autographs, and they'll have their caps or funny hats that their character in TV shows should wear.
joe rogan
Maybe Belushi went out the right way.
gilbert gottfried
Yes!
I definitely think that.
joe rogan
Yeah, maybe that's better than just arthritis hand.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, he was feeling great on drugs, and he was fucking some hooker.
unidentified
Was he?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Congratulations to him.
And then we remember him as a legend.
I mean, think about how many of the great musicians, rock stars, went out that way.
Hendrix, Morrison, Janis Joplin.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, and do you know the magic age?
joe rogan
27, right?
gilbert gottfried
Yes, 27. Wow.
That is.
joe rogan
Was Amy Winehouse 27 as well?
gilbert gottfried
I think so.
joe rogan
That's a weird number that just keeps coming up over and over and over again.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
I wonder why.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, Amy Winehouse then.
I want to name famous Jew rockers.
Amy Winehouse was a Jew.
joe rogan
Bob Dylan.
gilbert gottfried
Bob Dylan.
Bob Simmon.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, well, the Beastie Boys were Jews.
Slash.
joe rogan
Slash is Jewish.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, Slash.
unidentified
Interesting.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, who else of the rock?
Oh, well, I guess...
Gene Simmons.
Neil Diamond.
joe rogan
Gene Simmons from Kiss.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yes, yes, of course.
They were all Jews, Kiss.
joe rogan
Geddy Lee, Lou Reed, wow!
gilbert gottfried
Lou Reed was a joke?
joe rogan
David Lee Roth, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Wow.
Neil Diamond.
Lenny Kravitz.
Lenny Kravitz is Jewish?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, well, Kravitz.
joe rogan
I know, but it just doesn't, you know, you think of him as like a hippie.
Adam Levine.
gilbert gottfried
Well, yeah.
Yeah, well, obviously Levine.
Wait, wait, who's the pretty girl there?
joe rogan
Which one?
unidentified
Probably Simon?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, Susanna Huff from the Bengals.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah, that's right.
Wow.
Steven Adler from Guns N' Roses.
gilbert gottfried
Arlo Guthrie was a Jew.
joe rogan
Adam Duritz.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Interesting.
Art Garfunkel.
Courtney Love was Jewish?
No kidding.
gilbert gottfried
Geez.
joe rogan
Wow.
The Jews run everything.
It's true.
unidentified
They're right.
joe rogan
The conspiracies are correct.
I would have never guessed Lou Reed.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, no, I wouldn't have guessed that one either.
joe rogan
The Jews run everything.
gilbert gottfried
Yes, yes.
I have to admit it myself.
joe rogan
How do you guys run it?
Do you run it from, is there an organization?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Or is it just known?
gilbert gottfried
We get involved in everything.
joe rogan
It's funny how, if you go back to the early days of show business, it really was dominated by Jewish folks.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
You know?
Lenny Bruce.
This is another one of my favorite topics.
Famous Jew pieces of ass.
joe rogan
Okay.
How many really hot Jewish ladies?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Okay.
joe rogan
Give me them.
gilbert gottfried
Natalie Portman.
joe rogan
There you go.
gilbert gottfried
Scarlett Johansson.
joe rogan
Scarlett Johansson?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Mila Kunis.
Oh, Ringo's wife, Barbara Bach.
unidentified
I don't know who that was.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, she was a famous model.
Look up Barbara Bach.
Maybe you can get her Playboy pictures.
joe rogan
Oh, boy.
This is getting racy, as they say.
gilbert gottfried
We could jerk off to a woman who's in her 90s.
joe rogan
Is she in her 90s now?
gilbert gottfried
I don't know.
joe rogan
Is she still kicking?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's got to be rough when a lady loses that.
You have this immense power over everyone just by your mere presence.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
And then it just goes away.
That's her back in the day.
unidentified
Yes.
Woof!
joe rogan
Look at her face.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Look at that picture in the middle.
Yeah, look at that.
God, she's gorgeous.
gilbert gottfried
Oh.
unidentified
Woof!
joe rogan
She's so pretty.
gilbert gottfried
See, Ringo, the one they all laugh at, look what he winds up with.
joe rogan
Wow.
Good job, Ringo.
gilbert gottfried
Meanwhile, Paul McCartney, what the fuck?
joe rogan
That poor bastard.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, that lady that he married with one leg, what a fucking monster she was.
gilbert gottfried
Like, even I can find women to fuck who have two legs.
joe rogan
Well, if she had one leg and she was nice, that would be great.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
But there was some...
When he was breaking up with her and she was blackmailing him or threatening to come out with...
gilbert gottfried
Major fucking bitch.
joe rogan
She knows so much about him.
Like, what do you know?
What the fuck?
Paul McCartney?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, go ahead and talk.
No one's going to listen to you.
But he gave her some insane amount of money for a very short relationship.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, I heard it's something like 275 million.
joe rogan
Yeah, and it was a short relationship.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
They had a child together, though, right?
Didn't they?
gilbert gottfried
I think so.
joe rogan
Yeah, if you're a monster and you want to rope a man in, that's what you do.
Have a child with him, then you got him.
No prenup, probably, because he was a knucklehead.
Unfortunately, his situation was he had a relationship with his wife, I guess.
This is what I'm hearing.
I don't know anything about him.
But that he had a great relationship with his first wife.
He loved her, and then she died.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
Oh, that was...
joe rogan
Linda.
gilbert gottfried
Linda Eastman.
joe rogan
Yeah.
So he was probably used to that being the kind of relationship that he had.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like a really great relationship.
gilbert gottfried
He could trust her and everything.
joe rogan
So he probably assumed, oh, I found another one.
We're going to be okay.
This is my new love of my life.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
And then she turned out to be a monster.
I remember listening to an interview with her talking about him.
I'm like, Jesus Christ, listen to this lady.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, she was fucking horrible.
joe rogan
Judge berates Heather Mills.
The judge and Paul McCartney's divorce settlement berated the former Beatles' estranged wife, Heather Mills, for giving inconsistent and inaccurate evidence according to the details of the ruling released on Tuesday.
If I was him, I would have dragged that divorce out to the end of time.
I would have.
I would have lost money for spite.
I would have been like, let's have a game.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, and here's another article.
Judge Cole's Heather Mills a fucking cunt.
joe rogan
Is that what he said?
gilbert gottfried
Is that what he said?
No.
joe rogan
What is the number?
jamie vernon
She asked for $250 and she ended up getting $48.7.
joe rogan
Imagine asking someone you were married for a couple years, asking for $250 million.
Hey, you fucked me for like 12 months.
I want a quarter of a billion.
gilbert gottfried
How great was her pussy that she could charge?
joe rogan
It wasn't that good.
I'm going to tell you right now.
There's no way.
Couldn't be that good.
No, the pussy's...
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's just...
It's normal.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's great.
I'm sure it's great.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
It's fine.
joe rogan
But not a quarter billion dollars.
You know how many fucking songs he had to sing to make a quarter billion?
gilbert gottfried
God, yeah.
jamie vernon
She also conducted her own defense.
joe rogan
Oh, that bitch was so crazy.
unidentified
Oh.
joe rogan
But she made away with $48 million.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, so she wasn't that stupid.
joe rogan
You monster.
gilbert gottfried
Well, also, if you married somebody that rich, you know, you could get a chimpanzee as your lawyer and you'll wind up with a fortune.
joe rogan
Yeah, you'll get something.
You'll get a nice slice.
I mean, the Beatles were like billionaires, right?
Yeah.
At the time they died?
And why did everybody make fun of Ringo?
Why was he the joke?
gilbert gottfried
I don't know.
They all thought, you know, the other three, they were named, you know, great musicians, and he's just, you know, goofy-looking guy playing drums.
joe rogan
People didn't respect drummers for a long time.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I don't know why.
Drummers just, they got a bad rap.
It was the guy out there in the front with the guitar and the singer.
Those are the guys you wanted to be.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yes.
Yes.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Maybe if you were a low-key, you could be the bass player.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
But that fucking idiot with the drums?
Nobody respected.
Until they did.
And then, you know, somewhere along the line, guys like, you know, like, who are the great drummers?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, there was that one-armed drummer.
joe rogan
Oh, from Def Leppard.
gilbert gottfried
Yes, yes.
joe rogan
Yeah, he lost his arm in a car crash.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Yeah.
There's been, you know, drummers are very respected now, though.
Phil Collins was a drummer, right?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Yeah.
unidentified
Tommy Lee from Motley Crue.
gilbert gottfried
Singer, drummer, Karen Carpenter.
joe rogan
Really?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Travis Barker, of course.
He's famous for being a drummer.
Yeah, he's like the most famous guy, yeah, of the bands he's been in, and he's a drummer.
That's interesting, right?
It's like some drummers break through for whatever reason.
gilbert gottfried
There's an old joke.
Why is a drum solo like a sneeze?
You know it's coming, but there's nothing you could do to stop it.
joe rogan
Solos were a big part of performances, right?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, and that drum thing would be, oh, he's got a lot of energy.
joe rogan
Yeah, look at him, banging on those drums.
gilbert gottfried
Wow, he really...
joe rogan
The guitar solo was always better.
Yeah.
But then there's guitar solos that are planned out.
That was one of the interesting things about Leonard Skinner.
When they did a guitar solo, it was orchestrated.
Every single part of that solo was prepped.
Like for Freebird, which is one of the most amazing guitar solos in the history of music.
That is all completely planned out.
Like every single note is completely planned out.
And they repeated it over and over again live in concert.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's interesting, because most guitar solos, the guy would just start riffing and going off.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, just whatever hits him.
joe rogan
Yeah, not that.
gilbert gottfried
I'm sure there are a lot of ones that, even if they weren't originally planned out, after doing them for years, it looks like the guy's riffing, but his hands are just playing it already.
joe rogan
Right, right.
Which is how it gets to be like comedy as well, right?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
You know, there are those bits you do where it's like, and I'm sure, yeah, with singers and with, you know, stage actors, after a while, you could be doing something dramatic or whatever, and it's like saying the Pledge of Allegiance.
joe rogan
Yeah, yeah.
They probably just are phoning it in after a while.
Unless they're not...
Unless they're still enjoying it, you know?
I mean, I've been doing stand-up now for 33 years, and one thing that did happen during the pandemic was when I started doing it again, I really...
Not that I ever had no appreciation for it, but it reignited my appreciation to an even higher degree.
Because having all that time off and it almost went away and now that we're doing shows again, it feels like magic again.
It's exciting.
gilbert gottfried
Well, it's like – because what I noticed that – you know, like I said, where I said, you know, what bits do I actually do and what am I doing?
And then you realize, oh, this is something that I do.
This does take effort.
joe rogan
Yeah, it does take effort.
But it also, to see it as a person in the audience, too.
One of the things that I did when I came back is I would sit down and watch my friends do stand-up and enjoy it.
I'm like, God, this is fun.
This is a great thing to go see.
It's an exciting thing to go see.
As an art form, as an audience member, it's a very exciting thing to see.
It reignited my appreciation for it in a greater way.
gilbert gottfried
There's a line, and I think it's network news, that one with William Hurt and I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it.
joe rogan
That was network.
gilbert gottfried
That was network.
But I think this other one was network news.
It's got William Hurt.
Hey!
Hey!
What the fuck are you doing over there?
joe rogan
Hey!
unidentified
Hey!
joe rogan
Network news.
gilbert gottfried
Is that it?
joe rogan
There it is.
Broadcast news.
gilbert gottfried
Broadcast news.
There's one part where William Hurt is teaching Albert Brooks how to do the news.
And he says, when you find yourself just reading it, stop.
And he goes, you sell people the news.
And it's like, if it's a...
I understood it exactly, because if it's a bit you've been doing for a while, you're like...
And then you've got to go, oh, wait, wait, let me actually perform this.
joe rogan
Yes.
Yeah.
Well, the thing about comedy to me has always been, if I care about what I'm saying, then it's going to be good.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
But if I don't care about what I'm saying, the audience is going to know.
They smell it.
They smell it.
Right?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
When you were 15, when you started, had you been a fan of watching comedy before you did it?
gilbert gottfried
Well, I was just a fan of show business and actors and comics.
So I started watching people on TV and imitating them.
And so when I first, the first couple of years, like maybe two, three years that I was doing it, I wasn't that different than like, you know, when they used to have impressionists, you know, Rich Little, Frank Ocean, Will Jordan.
And, you know, that, uh, hey, you know, which was always like, uh, and imagine if your waiter was Cary Grant, it might go something like this.
joe rogan
That was a lot of people's acts back then.
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
And, and you don't see, with the exception of Las Vegas, you'll see impressionists.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
But you don't see them on TV. There used to be all those guys.
joe rogan
There used to be prop guys too.
gilbert gottfried
Yes, yes.
joe rogan
But then Carrot Top became so successful that he owns props now.
gilbert gottfried
Yes!
joe rogan
He's the only prop guy.
It's kind of amazing what he's done.
gilbert gottfried
It really is.
joe rogan
He's taking over the prop genre.
It is all carrot top.
gilbert gottfried
People joke and insult him, but boy, he does own props.
joe rogan
He's a funny guy.
They shouldn't insult him.
He's a nice guy.
He's a funny guy.
unidentified
He is.
joe rogan
He's very prolific, and he's been doing his show out of Vegas for...
God, I want to say like 15 years now.
Solid.
It's always packed.
gilbert gottfried
And he's one of those people, like, there are those lists of people who you feel like, oh, they have to be insulted.
They're no good.
joe rogan
Well, it's like Nickelback.
Like, it's an easy punchline.
Like, even though Nickelback has some songs that you might actually enjoy.
When you want to shit on a band for being like a top 40 sort of, you know, cookie cutter band, you go with Nickelback, and it's like...
It's one of those...
unidentified
Yes!
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Or like, I don't know who Anne Hathaway killed...
We have to hate Anne Hathaway.
joe rogan
She killed somebody?
gilbert gottfried
No, I mean, it feels like it.
joe rogan
People don't like Anne Hathaway?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
unidentified
Oh, Anne Hathaway.
joe rogan
I've never heard that before.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, she was a famous person to hate for the longest time.
unidentified
Really?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
And I'm thinking...
She's, you know, really pretty girl.
She's a good actress.
And what school bus did she blow up?
And yeah, she used to be a famous one.
Also, somebody got me tickets to see Barry Manilow.
Another one you're supposed to hate.
joe rogan
You're supposed to hate Barry Manilow.
gilbert gottfried
And I thought, this is a good show.
joe rogan
Listen, he's got a lot of fans for a reason.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Same thing like I saw Wayne Newton live, and I thought that was a great joke.
joe rogan
I met Wayne Newton once.
I've never seen him live, but I just wish I was his friend and tell him to slow down.
Whatever you're doing with your face.
Slow down.
That's not helping.
You just look different.
You don't look better.
Especially as a man, just get older.
Don't do that.
gilbert gottfried
I predict that eventually, years from now, they'll have it where you age till you're like 20, and then it stops.
You stop aging after that.
joe rogan
Yes, for sure.
And then they'll probably actually be able to take you from where you're at right now and bring you back to like when you're 20. Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
When you're in your prime.
gilbert gottfried
Or grow a whole new you.
joe rogan
And then pull your head out.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
And then put your brain in the other one.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
But then you get Alzheimer's in the 20-year-old body.
Imagine that.
Like, shit.
We haven't perfected it yet.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Yeah.
Now I've got loads of energy...
joe rogan
There's a lot of doctors and scientists and researchers that are looking at aging as a disease instead of looking at it as just inevitability.
They're thinking it's a disease that everybody has.
And treating it that way, they can, instead of saying, oh, it's inevitable, let's just prolong your health as long as possible.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, cure this disease.
joe rogan
Yeah, they're trying to cure it and they're trying to make it so that as your cells regenerate and as you replicate that you don't have errors.
That's what liver spots are and when your skin loses collagen and all the things that turn you into an older person.
They're trying to figure out ways to mitigate that.
gilbert gottfried
See, that's one of those things, like, whenever I go to a doctor or a dentist, I always think, for this visit, can I take a time machine a thousand years from now?
joe rogan
In the future, right.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, where it's like, where you'll go in, and it's like, you'll go, oh, I need heart surgery.
And I'll go, heart surgery?
That's so medieval.
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Here, let's shine this light on you and you'll be fine.
joe rogan
Yeah, they'll just put you in a scanner.
It'll find everything that's wrong and then just repair it from outside.
gilbert gottfried
Yes, and more and more they're doing it where they treat the fetus and they can examine what you're likely to get, what diseases.
joe rogan
Really?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, they're doing more and more work like that nowadays.
joe rogan
The thing that scares me about that is like, what if you find out that your kid has a potential for a disease and you decide to abort it?
gilbert gottfried
Ah, that's, yeah, that's gonna bring a lot of...
unidentified
Ethical questions.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Yeah, because if you find out early on that you're, like, maybe the fetus is only, like, 15 weeks old or 12 weeks old or something like that.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, that...
joe rogan
Well, 12 was three months.
Like, let's say, what is the awful abortion law in Texas?
I think it was six weeks, which everybody thought was insane, and I agree, because it's like six weeks is like that big.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
But what if they found out somehow or another?
Like, I know that some women are preemptively having their breasts removed.
Because they have the gene that may lead to breast cancer.
So no thing wrong with their breasts.
gilbert gottfried
I think, what's her name?
joe rogan
Angelina Jolie.
gilbert gottfried
Angelina Jolie and didn't also Christine Applegate?
joe rogan
Did she do that as well?
gilbert gottfried
I think so.
joe rogan
Mmm, it's a tough call.
I mean, breast cancer is horrible, but is there a way to avoid it?
I mean, I don't know.
I don't know what would avoid something.
Like, I had a guy in here a couple days ago, Rob Kearney, who's a strong man, like a just big fucking manly guy, had ball cancer out of nowhere.
And he said it spread so fast, and he had to get one of his testicles removed.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, geez.
joe rogan
Yeah, exactly.
Nothing wrong with him.
Super healthy.
Eats well.
Super fit.
Big, strong, powerful guy.
gilbert gottfried
That's the thing that always gets me when I'll hear someone I know died.
And I'll say, oh, well, how old was he?
And you're waiting for them to say, oh, he was 98. Yeah.
And then you find out he's much younger than you thought he was, and I'll go, but he drank and did drugs, right?
No, never touched it.
joe rogan
Yeah, sometimes people just have a genetic thing, and things stop working, and it just shuts off, and then they die.
Yeah, it sucks.
gilbert gottfried
So this has been a fun interview.
joe rogan
Fun show!
When you were a little kid, who were the comics that inspired you to start doing stand-ups?
gilbert gottfried
So many!
I always thought inspired meant plagiarized, but...
joe rogan
That was the old days.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
There was a lot of plagiarism back in those days, right?
gilbert gottfried
It's funny.
You talk about it now.
Oh, this guy's a joke thief.
That guy...
Back then, I think there were about like a hundred people doing who's on first.
Right.
And...
joe rogan
There was no accountability back then.
gilbert gottfried
No, no.
joe rogan
Couldn't get in trouble.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
But yeah, I remember the old guys were still around, like Jack Benny, Groucho.
joe rogan
Did you get to see Groucho live?
gilbert gottfried
I did.
I saw it at Carnegie Hall.
joe rogan
Wow.
gilbert gottfried
I mean, granted, he was...
See, that's the groucho I became the most...
I mean, I loved the Marx Brothers movies, except, you know, they hit a point where their movies were really...
had grown horrible.
joe rogan
Oh, really?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Yeah, the first couple of movies with Paramount, you know, Horse Feathers, Animal Crackers, and Duck Soup, great.
And then, yeah.
Oh, but I got fascinated with Groucho after I hadn't seen him for years on TV. And I never met him.
I hadn't seen him come on TV for years.
And then you would see him pop up on like the Dick Cavett show.
And it would be like...
unidentified
Well, I remember when we would play at a theater, and a theater was a place where performers would go on stage and an audience would watch them.
joe rogan
I went on after Richard Pryor.
I followed Richard Pryor for like five or six weeks at the comedy store when he was in a wheelchair.
And so they would carry him to the stage and set him down and they would crank the mic way up like...
Yes, yeah, like you would hear the mic was cranked as loud as it could and he was a shell of himself Yeah, he was dying.
Yeah, he was on all kinds of medication and he was drinking yeah, and he would go on stage and he the audience would be so sad and And then I would have to go on after him, and it would take five minutes to get him from the stage to the back of the room.
And so while that was happening, I would be on stage.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, so everything you're doing for at least the first three quarters of your act.
joe rogan
The first couple minutes are rough, and you know...
I would just try to lighten up the mood a little bit because you could see the people's faces.
They were like, oh.
Because they were, a lot of them, you would see folks that were a little older that were fans of Richard Pryor when he was in his prime.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
And then they had this opportunity, oh, we got a chance to see Richard Pryor live.
Let's go see him.
And they thought they were going to go see Richard Pryor.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yes, yes.
joe rogan
It was one thing because you were in the presence of a legend.
You did have that feeling like, I can't believe I'm around the real Richard Pryor.
But to me, it was also incredibly bittersweet because you're seeing him in his last days of life.
gilbert gottfried
And I once worked for two weeks.
On a movie that was the last of the Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor movies.
It was like beyond a piece of shit.
unidentified
What was it?
gilbert gottfried
It was called...
I didn't make it to the final cut, but it was called Another You.
And it was originally being directed by Peter O'Donovich.
They fired him.
Scrapped old previously shot footage and then got a new director and I heard in LA there was one theater that was just showing it once a day because it wasn't worth the electricity to show it because nobody was seeing it.
But what I remember is That's where I met Richard Pryor.
Very weak, of course.
He could still walk, but very weak.
But he treated me like he was a little kid, meaning like the biggest movie star in the world.
joe rogan
Really?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
unidentified
And he was, oh, you're super funny.
You're so funny that even if you don't want to be funny, you'll be funny.
gilbert gottfried
And I thought, this is unbelievable.
joe rogan
Just to be around them and have them say that to you.
Yeah.
There's something about being around those guys that are legends.
It's an amazing feeling.
gilbert gottfried
Because there are those people, when you see people, some people in person where you go, Wait a minute.
They actually exist in real life?
joe rogan
Yes, exactly.
I felt that way the first time I met Eddie Murphy.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I was friends with his brother, Charlie, and Charlie and I did a tour together, and it was just randomly.
I was in Maui at a hotel with my family.
We were checking in, and I see Charlie's cousin.
And I'm like, what's up?
And I'm saying hi to him.
And I go, is Charlie here?
He goes, yeah.
He goes, Charlie's down with Eddie.
He goes, come meet him.
And I went over and they were having lunch.
And I sat down with Eddie Murphy.
And I'm looking at Eddie Murphy and I shake his hand.
Nice to meet you.
He goes, you're a funny motherfucker.
And I was like, you know who I am?
I was like, this can't be real!
How is this real?
You think I'm funny and you know who I am.
I'm like, this is wild!
And I remember I was on cloud nine for the rest of the day.
I couldn't believe it.
gilbert gottfried
One time I was getting on a plane and a few miles down from me I saw George Carlin.
Well, yeah, he was a few hours ahead of me, and I'd never met him before, so I didn't want to bother him, and I sat down, and then he gets up from his chair, and he looks at me and is walking toward me, and I got so excited.
I thought, George Carlin, he wants to talk to me.
And he comes over to me, and he says, I gotta work on some stuff.
I'm writing, I gotta read something, and then I'm gonna take a nap so I can talk to you.
And he walked...
It was like, basically, he went out of his way to tell me to go fuck myself.
joe rogan
Wasn't he just being courteous?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because otherwise he would have said, I would talk to you.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
But when it was getting near the end of the flight, when they announced that we're gonna be descending soon...
He came over to me again, and he scribbled his phone number down on a piece of paper, and he said to me, next time you're appearing on TV, I want you to call me and tell me, because I want to see what's going on in that brain of yours.
And that was like, holy fuck.
joe rogan
Yeah, I saw him perform live a few times.
I saw him perform live in New Hampshire when I was like 21 in like 1988. I saw him there, and I saw him at the Comedy Store later, and I ran into him once at the Comedy Store, and he was so unassuming.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
He just walked by, said hi to everybody, hello, hello.
It's like real friendly, easy, and just was there to do his work, and super nice guy.
gilbert gottfried
And the funny thing is, I had, you know, George Carlin's number, which, and I thought, that was like a tremendous thrill.
George Carlin's a fan.
I thought, this is unbelievable.
I also met Jonathan Winters, and he gave me his phone number, and I didn't call either one of them, because I've had those...
You know what it's like?
A couple of celebrities who've given me their numbers, it's like...
We meet and they're my best friend in the whole world.
We hit it off like lifelong pals.
And then you call them and you go, Hi, it's Gilbert.
Oh, hello.
joe rogan
It wore off.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
It's kind of, to me, it's like...
When you meet a girl and you get her phone number and she's like, oh, here's my number.
Don't lose this.
Don't lose this.
And if I'm not at this number, here's my other number.
Please call me, call me, call me.
You're all excited.
And then you call them up and you go, hi, you know, remember we met at Joe's party?
And it's like, oh, yeah.
joe rogan
LAUGHTER I think some celebrities just get exhausted by people wanting things from them.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, I'm sure.
Absolutely.
joe rogan
Just you constantly...
Someone thinks that they can get further up the show business ladder just by being friends with you, being around you.
That's why when they act normal, it's so refreshing.
gilbert gottfried
Well, it's like when people come up to me and say, could you give me some advice or some pointers?
I always feel like underneath it is like, can you press that button that makes me a star?
joe rogan
Can you help me?
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
Give me a lift up.
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Which doesn't exist.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
No one can do that.
gilbert gottfried
It's like I think they'll look at you when you're known and they'll think, oh, you know, somebody sprinkled some dust on you, magic dust, and you immediately became known.
joe rogan
And you'll be able to tell me how I can do that.
gilbert gottfried
Yes, yes, where I can get this dust from and I'll sprinkle on myself.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, I think people are just looking for shortcuts all the time, right?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
And I think that's also one of the reasons why celebrities are a little standoffish.
Even when they meet other celebrities, you know, I think they just get...
But then sometimes they feel like those are the only people that they know, that they can talk to.
gilbert gottfried
Like, I feel like, uh, who can the cast of Friends talk to?
joe rogan
Right, right.
They're all oddly famous.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
In a weird way.
One of the weirdest celebrity encounters I ever had was Robin Williams.
He came to one of my shows by himself and I didn't know it was him until a few minutes into talking to him.
He had a big crazy beard and a baseball hat on and I was doing this little meet and greet after the show and I'm just talking to this guy.
And he's like, I really like that bit.
I really love this.
I loved how you did this and that.
And then I'm in the middle of talking to him.
I'm like, holy shit, this is Robin Williams.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
I didn't realize it until like a couple minutes into talking to him.
I just was talking to him like he was just a regular guy.
And he acted like a regular guy.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
There were a couple of times at those clubs.
He would pop into those clubs all the time.
And there were a few times he called me up on stage with him to riff with him, which was great.
And what I remember most about him, I was at the improv, and I wasn't known at the time.
I mean, I was known to the comics and everything like that.
And I guess he had seen me a few times there.
And so I'm getting ready.
They're just about to introduce me.
And then the door opens up and Robin comes in.
So, of course, they go, oh, Robin, you're on that.
Gilbert, go away.
And Robin, you're on next.
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
And Robin said to them, he goes, oh, I have a few people in the audience to see me, and I'd like them to see Gilbert first.
joe rogan
Wow.
gilbert gottfried
And that always stuck with me.
joe rogan
That's so nice of him.
When you started when you were 15 years old, what were the laws then about going on stage in a nightclub?
You were allowed to perform?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, you know what's funny about that?
I don't think anyone asks questions.
Like one time, I wanted, you know, I was like, oh god, 13 or whatever, you know, and I wanted to go in to see a porn movie.
And going to one of these porn shops where you put a quarter in and see 10 seconds.
And so I got a phony ID card, which made me years older.
And I thought, oh, this card will get me in.
And I went into one of these, like...
Porn theaters or whatever.
And I hold up the card and the guy looks at me like, what fucking planet are you from?
We don't care.
I could have been an infant being wheeled in there.
It was really like, who?
What gives a fuck, you know?
joe rogan
That's an interesting transition in this world, right?
Between what porn is now, where people get it on their phone, you know, versus then you had to be in a theater.
gilbert gottfried
You had to leave your house.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
And be seen walking into the theater and seen walking out of the theater.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Well, the next step was video rentals.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Beads that you had to go through?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah!
To get through the floor section?
joe rogan
There's either saloon door, like a swing saloon door, or beads, where you'd go into the adult section, and no one would make eye contact in there.
Everybody would be all weirded out, and they'd be just grabbing these boxes real quick, just pick something and go rent it.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, you're standing there like you're in a urinal.
You look down, you don't talk to the other person.
joe rogan
But some guys would be looking at the boxes, spinning it around, checking it out.
And those boxes all had explicit scenes on them.
So you would pick up the porn box and the box would be all these pictures of people fucking.
And it was like out in the open.
It was weird.
You don't have anything like that today where someone can mistakenly walk through some beads and then pull a box out and go, oh Jesus, there's a dick in someone's mouth.
Right?
gilbert gottfried
It's like, well, I remember in Times Square there was Show World.
That was the big...
joe rogan
Those were peep shows, right?
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
There were peep shows and some stage...
Performers?
No.
Yeah, some...
Yeah, like the allegedly live sex shows, I saw one where like I go, hmm, it's funny how he could fuck this girl when he doesn't have a horn on.
And there was, they used to have these machines you'd put a quarter in And it would show something, and nothing would be happening.
And then all of a sudden, the girl would unbutton her blouse, and you'd go, oh, okay, here it goes.
And then it would go out.
joe rogan
You'd need another quarter.
gilbert gottfried
Another quarter.
And then she'd start to lift up her skirt, go out, another quarter.
And, oh, I just remembered another celebrity...
Who I got that thrill from, was one time I was doing, I think it was like a roast of Jerry Lewis.
And afterwards, Jerry Lewis came up to me and he said, Gilbert, you are out of your fucking mind.
And I wouldn't want you any other way.
And I thought, that's the greatest compliment.
joe rogan
Did you ever see the interview of Jerry Lewis before he died?
He was rather old.
gilbert gottfried
Rather than the one after he died.
joe rogan
Yes.
gilbert gottfried
That one was scary.
joe rogan
But it was late.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, wait, was this the one where he gets, yes.
joe rogan
Yes.
gilbert gottfried
That's scary.
joe rogan
Yes, like giving one-word answers and he was mad.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
I don't know what the guy said to piss him off.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, I mean, the guy sounded like a schmuck, the reporter.
joe rogan
He was a terrible interviewer.
He did.
gilbert gottfried
But yeah, that was scary.
It showed...
Well, I've heard that about...
joe rogan
Well, you know what I think also?
It's like...
The man is doing an interview without trying or even attempting to have a human connection with Jerry Lewis in his home.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Instead of it being like a skillful conversation where he's like, first of all, appreciating the man, thanking him for his time, telling him what a great actor and comedic actor he's been all his career, and just asking him questions, express yourself about these things.
Instead, he's asking him, like, why do you still do comedy?
unidentified
Yes, yes!
joe rogan
He's asking dumb questions.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, same thing.
I thought, you know, first show him some respect.
joe rogan
Yes, yes.
Make a connection as a human being with him.
Instead of just throw some questions his way, have a conversation with the man.
I mean, Jerry Lewis has been around forever.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, I mean, you have a rare opportunity to talk to a guy that was at the early days of, like, films and show business.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, he was around when all the top show business people, he never hung out with the actual Rat Pack, but he was friends with every member of the Rat Pack.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Well, when we did the Comedy Store, you know, the Comedy Store used to be Ciro's Nightclub.
It used to be Bugsy Siegel's Nightclub.
And there was all these photos that they had.
They had all the Ciro's memorabilia.
And some of the photos were like the marquee where it said Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis when they would do a live show.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
And, you know, you get to see these photos of like a young, like 20-year-old Jerry Lewis on stage with Dean Martin.
Yeah, there they are.
gilbert gottfried
Wow.
joe rogan
There's Sammy Davis, and where's Jerry Lewis?
jamie vernon
I just happen to have this one already ready to go.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, Humphrey Bogart.
joe rogan
Humphrey Bogart.
What year is this?
He was very young there, too.
unidentified
It doesn't say.
joe rogan
It doesn't say?
55. Wow.
gilbert gottfried
Jeez.
joe rogan
So that is around the year.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, and Jeff Chandler.
Okay, let's go back to the...
Yeah, that's Jeff Chandler.
He was like a leading man during the 50s.
joe rogan
In films?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Other famous Jew.
Jeff Chandler.
And according to a story Sammy Davis told, it might be totally bullshit, but sounds good.
You know, he got into that terrible car accident where he lost his eye.
He was friends with Jeff Chandler, and Jeff Chandler used to visit him, and he would be in a coma.
And according to the story, Jeff Chandler put a Star of David in his—he opened up Sammy's hand, because I think when people pass out, their hands closed.
And he opened up his hand, put in a Star of David.
And so for the rest of his coma, he was holding on to this.
And when he opened it up, there was the Star of David, and he took it off, and there was an imprint on his hand.
joe rogan
Permanent?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Well, I don't know, permanent, but it took pretty deep.
unidentified
Interesting.
gilbert gottfried
It's one of those stories you want to believe.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Those old school people had no one to model their career by.
That's what's interesting.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
If you think about the 1930s and 40s, those early movies, there was no generations before that.
It's not like there's a hundred years of films that you can go back today and look.
Today, if we want to look at a 1933 movie, we can look at a 90-year-old film and go, wow, look at King Kong from 90 years ago.
Back then, there was nothing.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah!
joe rogan
90 years before that, there was nothing.
There was no movies.
There was barely...
There wasn't even cameras, right?
unidentified
Yeah!
joe rogan
Or maybe there was cameras.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I don't know.
Did we figure this out?
I think it was like late 1700s.
gilbert gottfried
For Christ's sakes!
unidentified
Yeah, they had photos, but cameras wouldn't be like a thing.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
jamie vernon
That would have been a way to take photographs, you know, but like not really handheld or...
joe rogan
Right, one of those...
gilbert gottfried
Here's what I think about with cameras.
Like now, you know...
A pigeon is on a statue, you'll find like 5 billion photos taken of it because everyone has a camera.
And I think about the Zabruda film of Kennedy being shot one day.
Fucking little grainy thing.
Yeah.
The president.
And it's like one little thing.
Now you'd have it from inside his body, the bullet.
joe rogan
Yeah, and it would be 4K and everybody would be streaming and Androids and iPhones.
And that one film, you know, that film wasn't released until more than 10 years after the assassination.
unidentified
Yeah.
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's what's really crazy.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I think it was 10 years.
That film was released by Dick Gregory, another comic who went on the Geraldo Rivera show.
Geraldo Rivera had a television show, and Dick Gregory and Geraldo Rivera showed the Sapruder film to the public for the very first time.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
It's a wild video.
Geraldo Rivera had bell-bottoms on.
Oh, yeah.
1970s dress.
What year was that?
I don't remember what the name of her.
It was like Geraldo Rivera had a talk show.
I don't think it was called Geraldo.
It was a different talk show.
But he had Dick Gregory on his talk show.
And Dick Gregory came on and he had acquired the Zapruder film.
And I believe Time owned it forever.
Like Time Magazine, and they didn't do anything with it.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, wow.
joe rogan
And I think they probably saw it, and they saw what Dick Gregory and the rest of the world.
Like, he didn't get shot from behind.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, you saw his head go back into the left, and you're like, what the fuck is that?
1975. Yeah, so there you go.
Good night, America.
So it's 12 years later.
12 years after the assassination.
gilbert gottfried
I just got a flashback when we were talking about porn.
Back to the left?
No, yeah.
I remember Years ago when, like, you know, these cable stations were first starting, and they didn't have that much, you know, stuff to fill it up with.
Programming.
Programming.
They didn't have, or as I call it, stuff.
Now, that programming.
So I think here, if you could look this one up, I think it was Showtime.
I think it's called Showtime and it was aerobicize.
And it would just be girls in like spandex exercising.
And I mean, this was to me beyond porn back then.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's funny because people didn't, is this it?
gilbert gottfried
Oh yeah, look.
joe rogan
A Ron Harris videotape?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Oh, wow.
gilbert gottfried
That to me is better than actual porn.
joe rogan
Why is it better?
gilbert gottfried
I don't know.
There's something about that.
joe rogan
It's so overtly sexual.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Yeah.
They're barefoot and most of the shots are from behind.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, and the cameras are pointed between their legs.
joe rogan
And they're throwing their legs up into the air and it's like they're giving you the gap shot.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
And now all of them moving their asses.
Aerobicize.
joe rogan
And are they trying to pretend that it is a workout that you can do with them?
What is the music, Jamie?
So it's just music.
So now they're throwing punches?
Well, now it's boring.
gilbert gottfried
See, this to me was...
I didn't have cable for years and years.
And so...
When I had a friend who had had this, this was like unreal.
joe rogan
So they are pretending that it's an exercise show that you can do along with it.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
But really, the way they're filming it, it's like, look at this.
I mean, come on.
unidentified
Oh, yes.
joe rogan
This is so sexual.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
She's like literally thrusting her hips up into the air and you see her camel toe.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Hilarious.
And she's throwing her head back like she's in ecstasy.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, an orgasm face.
joe rogan
It's interesting that we've seen, just in our lifetime, a great change in what show business is.
But if you just take it back to the generation before us, like the Sammy Javis Jr. generation or the Jerry Lewis, these people had nothing to go on.
I always talk about Elvis.
There was no Elvis before Elvis.
The guy was out there on his own.
There had never been a rock star before.
He was literally the first real, worldwide rock star.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, here's something.
There are a million famous actresses Who dated Elvis.
You'll find all these actresses, and all of them claim, oh, yeah, every other girl fucked him, but I didn't.
That's hilarious.
And I'm thinking, oh, bullshit.
joe rogan
Well, he might have been pilled up at the time.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
He might not have been able to perform.
There were some moments where Elvis was just completely out there, out of his fucking mind.
My favorite is him doing karate.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yes!
joe rogan
When he would get pilled up, so he's, like, high as a fucking kite doing karate.
It is wild to watch.
I mean, it's so strange, because, like, they were all pretending that he was doing real karate.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
And he had, like, I think he had, like, a seven degree black belt or something crazy like that, but it's bullshit karate.
Like, it's not real.
And he's got a long collared shirt on underneath his karate gi.
gilbert gottfried
It's like the kind of karate you used to see in, like, the old James Bond.
chop on the neck.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
And that was like, it was kind of like how in movies you hit somebody with a blackjack or the butt of a gun on their head and they go out.
It used to be like that karate chop.
joe rogan
Exactly.
There's a scene where Elvis is doing a demonstration.
He has all these guys with their knuckles on his neck.
And they're all pushing.
And he's like, and he pushes them back and they all go falling down.
And he's like, ew man, look at what I just did.
And he's high as a kite.
And he's just so high.
It's so obvious.
You look at his eyes.
unidentified
He's like blurry.
joe rogan
But that guy, like, he was on his own.
There had never been a person that had gotten that famous before.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Him and Michael Jackson.
Michael Jackson had hit, like, another realm of that.
gilbert gottfried
I also heard, like, well, the Beatles, in an interview, said when they first came to America, the first person they wanted to meet was Elvis.
unidentified
Wow.
gilbert gottfried
And they went to his house, and first they're all sitting around.
They were like in awe of meeting this god.
And then Elvis said something like, you know, why don't we just take out our guitars and jam?
And they started playing, and I thought, there is no fucking even snapshot of this.
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
I mean, imagine that on film, Elvis and the Beatles.
joe rogan
Well, later, which is really crazy, when Elvis was out of his mind on pills, he went to talk to Nixon in the White House.
gilbert gottfried
Yes!
unidentified
Yes!
joe rogan
And he wanted to stop people from doing drugs.
gilbert gottfried
He wanted to be like some...
joe rogan
A narc?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, like a narc for the country, fighting drugs.
joe rogan
Meanwhile, he's on pills.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, yeah.
He was probably like...
Nixon was probably trying to figure out what words he was saying.
joe rogan
Yeah, and he had sunglasses.
gilbert gottfried
And he had a gun with him.
joe rogan
Did he have a gun on him?
gilbert gottfried
I think he had a gun with him.
He was stoned with a gun, but it's Elvis.
So what, you're going to say, Elvis, can we pat you down?
joe rogan
They probably didn't even have metal detectors back then, right?
So they probably just let him walk to the White House with a fucking gun.
See if there's a picture of Elvis with a gun on his hip at the White House.
Because I know there's that famous photo of him wearing sunglasses, shaking Nixon's hand.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yes.
joe rogan
And that was the pill-popping days, so for sure he was on pills.
It's not like he sobered up and went to the White House.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, I'm sure Nixon like...
Look at his fucking glasses!
That is so unreal.
joe rogan
The one I'm looking at is the one, that's where he's got the glasses on.
Those are the old school Elvis glasses.
Look how cool those glasses were.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Can I buy those anywhere?
Do they sell Elvis glasses like that?
Like his actual ones?
No, no, no, like that.
They need to make a copy.
I need to call Roka.
Roka, you need to make an Elvis sunglass.
But that one where they're shaking hands with the collared shirt, like, right to the left of your cursor?
Yeah, that's it.
That's fucking classic.
Like, look at his outfit!
And that collared shirt, that crazy collar, that's the same thing he wore under his karate gi.
Like, that was his trademark look.
So even when he was doing karate.
Here, we can show some...
gilbert gottfried
Oh, God!
unidentified
Oh!
gilbert gottfried
Look at the collar shirt.
Oh!
He can hardly balance himself.
joe rogan
So these guys are doing these demonstrations.
This is like so corny.
Just walking in like that.
unidentified
Look at him with the sunglasses on.
joe rogan
Just blasted him out of his fucking mind.
gilbert gottfried
This is karate from a Mad Helm film.
joe rogan
But what's fascinating about Elvis is there was no one who existed before him that he could even talk to.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's not like...
If you're a musician today and you could...
Gain the presence of Willie Nelson.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
You could talk to Willie, like, what was it like on the road?
You could ask questions.
You could become his friend and talk to him.
And he could maybe give you some insight into what it's like in show business.
But Elvis was on his own.
There was no fucking giant rock stars before him.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, here's another old joke.
What's the worst thing a woman can hear when a man is fucking her?
I'm not William Nelson.
unidentified
Jesus Christ.
laughing How odd.
joe rogan
These early comics when you were working, was everybody just doing those impression things or telling jokes?
When was the first time you saw someone that was like a Lenny Bruce type act who was talking about stuff?
gilbert gottfried
Well, there were some who were doing that.
joe rogan
Mort Sahl?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Well, I'd never seen Mort Sahl in person, but you know, like...
joe rogan
Did you see Lenny in person?
gilbert gottfried
No.
But there were these comics around back then, like, you know, Robert Klein, David Steinberg, and, you know, Pryor, Carlin.
So there were people who were talking about things.
joe rogan
Did you see Pryor on stage back then?
gilbert gottfried
Once.
Once.
Many, many years ago.
I remember hardly any of it.
joe rogan
What year was that?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, God.
I remember I went with my sisters and it was a whole show.
Maybe it was all people who were assigned to Motown at one time.
And so I don't remember a thing of what he said.
joe rogan
And so when did you, like, officially become, like, a professional?
Like, that's all you did.
Was that your first job, or did you have other jobs?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Oh, I had many other, like, shit jobs, beyond shit.
Like, these different messenger jobs and stuff like that.
I had one.
What I remember most about one of the jobs I had, it was some company that made...
You know, anti-burglary things, you know, like where you had like a metal pencil that you scratch, you know, your number into.
So if they found your TV or whatever, they could show it was yours.
And so they one time had me sitting there for the day with a big pile of metal pencils And a glass ashtray.
And my job there was to take the pencil and run it across the ashtray.
And the ones that scratched it were the good sharp ones.
That went into the good pile.
And the other ones, the bad pile.
And what I remember about it, this is true, on the package it said, tested by skilled craftsmen.
And so I guess I was the skilled craftsman there.
joe rogan
That's hilarious.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And so when did you become a full-time professional?
gilbert gottfried
Wow, full-time, wow.
Let's see, I... I... It started...
Hmm...
I started doing more and more clubs like...
Oh God, I don't remember.
Uh...
I don't know.
And then that led up to Saturday Night Live, which was awful.
Yeah, I don't know.
No, I started to do more and more.
There would be these shows like in Jersey or Long Island where you'd get like $15 to $20 to work there.
And that to us felt like, oh, we're in the big time.
joe rogan
Right.
Well, $15, $20 back then, that's probably a couple hundred bucks today.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Yeah.
unidentified
So...
gilbert gottfried
But, yeah.
joe rogan
So that's when you started making a living.
gilbert gottfried
Well, no.
Then later on...
Well, with Saturday Night Live was the first time of...
Oh, I also did...
I did a pilot...
I was out in L.A. to audition for one pilot I didn't get.
And then a friend of mine, a comic, said, I'm in this pilot.
You want to come and audition with me for it?
I'm already in it.
And I got that.
It never had.
It was terrible.
And that one was called The Adventures of Wally Brown.
And one of the actors just died recently, Peter Scolari.
joe rogan
Oh, the guy from Bosom Buddies.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, yeah.
unidentified
Oh, wow.
gilbert gottfried
And so he was one of the stars of that.
unidentified
Wow.
gilbert gottfried
But that was my first time of, I don't remember how much I got, but getting a check and going, wow, this is actual money.
joe rogan
So was SNL before or after that?
gilbert gottfried
That was, SNL was after.
joe rogan
And you said SNL was terrible?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Well, the season I was on, like the original, well, Lorne Michaels left and the original cast left.
unidentified
Oh, really?
gilbert gottfried
So people hated the show before it even got on the end.
joe rogan
Lorne Michaels left at one point in time?
unidentified
Yeah.
I didn't know that.
joe rogan
And then it came back?
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Then they got in Dick Ebersole was the next one.
Dick Ebersole.
Dick Ebersole was after my season.
My season was Gene Domanian.
But the idea back then of Saturday Night Live with different cast members, that just wasn't – now it's like the cast changes every five minutes.
joe rogan
Right.
gilbert gottfried
But back then it was like, no.
It would be like saying, like, in the middle of Beatlemania that, oh, we're getting four other guys to be the Beatles.
Or when Friends was on, we're recasting Friends, but just watch it the same way.
And so there were news stories and articles saying, how dare they?
This was sacrilege.
joe rogan
So that's funny.
So you were like the second cast?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, we were the second cast, and it's like— And everybody left?
Yeah, yeah.
All the original people were gone, and it was like—see, you don't want to be the replacement.
You want to be the replacement of the replacement, because then you get one guy that's the sacrificial lamb.
That they throw into the fire.
And then next, it's like, oh, well, it's better than that other guy.
joe rogan
Yeah, right.
Then you come in after you, and then you can actually be accepted slightly.
Goddamn.
Did you enjoy the process at all?
gilbert gottfried
Not really.
Nothing new.
I was always weird.
When I was auditioning, there were a few auditions.
Some at a comedy club, others in their office, and there would be like lots of people there.
And I would hear, you know, other people who auditioned who would say, oh, they were so hateful of everybody else who was against them and their...
And I remember, just out of weirdness, not courage, out of weirdness, I didn't take auditioning for Saturday Night Live as something important.
I don't know why.
I just didn't.
And I would go there and do bits and everything.
And when I was on it, I didn't feel like...
Well, I mean, there was a reason I didn't feel like a star there, because everyone was torn to shreds in the press.
And then when I got fired from it, I thought, okay.
Oh, the way I got fired from Saturday Night Live, there used to be a table there that they would throw fan letters, one that was such thing as fan letters.
Now it's, you know, who writes a fan letter anymore?
It's all, you know, email and stuff.
And that they, so I was waiting.
They had fired the producer, And Dick Ebersole came in.
He said, all right, well, we're just going to make changes here and there.
Nothing major.
Come in next week and we'll discuss it.
And they were taking people in one by one.
And I'm waiting there.
And killing time, I see a girl writes a fan letter to me from like Omaha or whatever.
And I open it up before I even get into the office.
I open the letter and it starts off, Dear Gilbert, I'm so sorry about what happened to you.
So I found out from a fan letter from some 15-year-old girl.
joe rogan
How did she find out?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, I don't know.
joe rogan
Maybe she saw it coming.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, probably.
joe rogan
She started writing it after the first episode.
unidentified
Oh, the writing's on the wall.
gilbert gottfried
This guy sucks.
joe rogan
Was it the same kind of environment?
Because the thing about Saturday Night Live that I keep hearing from former cast members is that it was like a dog-eat-dog world over there.
And people would be backstabbing people and stealing their ideas for sketches.
Jim Brewer had a horrible time there.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
I remember, well, I remember, like, I didn't like the writers, and the writers hated me.
And so one time, to prove it, how much they hated me, they wrote a funeral sketch where I was the dead body.
So I just had to lie there in the coffin.
joe rogan
That's it?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Wow.
Just to fuck you.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Phil Hartman said the same thing.
He said the environment over there was just toxic.
Everybody was at each other's throats and just wasn't fun.
They were always just hamstringing each other.
Always trying to fuck each other over and ruin each other's sketches.
Not laughing at each other's sketches when they're laying them out.
That kind of thing.
Yeah.
That there was like a lot of politics over there and you had to learn the politics.
He hated it.
So did Jim Brewer.
Hated it.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
I think, yeah, I didn't have a great time there at all.
joe rogan
Some of those sketch shows are just so different than stand-up.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Is there any other thing that you like doing?
Do you like acting?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
I always...
You know, I was in a couple of movies, if you could call what I do acting, but I was in a couple of movies.
And, you know, like, one of those things that...
Well, the first thing that actually made me a real celebrity and a celebrity that people liked...
One time I was at Catch, and these people were there, and they said they're from MTV. Would I like to come in and audition for something?
And I went on, nothing prepared, and I just started improvising stuff.
And they were filming it and then didn't hear anything from them and didn't, you know, thought, oh, I didn't get this.
And then people started recognizing me on the street and coming over to me.
And I found out that the thing I, what they filmed in me auditioning with, they chopped up and was showing throughout the day on MTV. And that was the first time I was known and it was something good.
joe rogan
Were they paying you for that?
gilbert gottfried
I later asked them, you know, can I get something?
Because they weren't paying me at first.
unidentified
That seems ridiculous.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, they were just showing them.
So I said, do I get anything?
So then they, like, sent me a couple of hundred dollars.
LAUGHTER And, even better, my agents at William Morris, they wound up taking 10% of that.
joe rogan
Oh, my God.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, something they had zero to do with.
joe rogan
MTV was notoriously cheap back then.
gilbert gottfried
Yes, yes.
joe rogan
They offered me $500 for a pilot to do a pilot for a television show that they were doing.
And then if I did it and the television show got picked up, I would be under an exclusive contract with them for many years.
I forget how many years it was.
But what had happened with them was they had done those little sketches that they did with Dennis Leary.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
And Dennis Leary became very popular from those.
People forget that Dennis Leary at one point in time was very famous.
And he had gotten very famous from these MTV clips where he was like...
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, smoking a cigarette.
unidentified
I hate this.
Yeah, smoking, doing commentary.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
Real fast.
And that went on to do some other stuff, but became a star.
And they felt like they got fucked.
Because they had made him famous, then he left.
And so they're like, okay, if we make someone famous, we're going to lock them in.
And so they offered me this ridiculous lowball contract.
I was like, this is the craziest...
And then my manager sent my tape from MTV Half Hour Comedy Hour, which is what led them to try to offer me this pilot, sent it out to a bunch of people and I wound up getting a development deal and then moving to California and doing...
This show Hardball and then NewsRadio.
But it all came out of MTV being cheap.
Because if they had offered me a good...
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, some halfway decent.
joe rogan
Yeah, I would have done it.
For sure.
I was like, wow, the opportunity to be on MTV. That was when that show Remote Control was on.
It was a big thing to be on.
MTV at the time was...
One of the best vehicles for you to get famous.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
With young people.
gilbert gottfried
And, yeah, because that's how people started to know me.
And it was like, it's so funny now that...
You know, the letters MTV could be used as a trivia question.
joe rogan
Right.
gilbert gottfried
You know, it's like it used to be so important.
It was everything.
It was on 24 hours, and people would watch it 24 hours.
joe rogan
And they started doing comedy shows on it.
They did the MTV Half Hour Comedy Hour, and that was a big deal.
That was to get on the MTV Half Hour Comedy Hour and have a good set could make your career.
That's when I started headlining like really good clubs.
It was because of my credit from MTV. That was like my first real television stand-up credit.
Is it even around anymore?
gilbert gottfried
Another thing like that, how stuff that used to be important.
Remember for years, the most important war in the country that they were reporting on was the war of Letterman, Leno, and Conan.
Oh, who gets the Tonight Show?
Why did he get it?
And that was like...
The most, more than a real war, that was the most important war.
And now, it's like, say those names to anybody, and if you say Letterman, they'll go, I don't know, who is that?
joe rogan
That's strange.
gilbert gottfried
And then Conan, he wound up, after the two of them left their shows, Conan had a show, and his show was like, He has a show?
It was one of those, you know?
joe rogan
Well, TBS, it was odd.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
And the whole thing was, it didn't ever caught on.
It was like everybody was mad that Jay Leno took the spot from him.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, which I don't understand why they...
gilbert gottfried
He was one of those hated people.
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Like, you have to hate Jay Leno.
joe rogan
I didn't understand that.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, I didn't either.
joe rogan
It didn't make sense to me.
gilbert gottfried
I did a show a bunch of times, and he was always nice to me.
And it's like, They offered him the Tonight Show and he said yes.
That makes him a bad guy.
joe rogan
I don't know if there's any behind the scenes posturing and how it happened, but I remember Jimmy Kimmel berating him on his own show for taking the show from Conan O'Brien.
And I remember thinking, what is this?
Why is everybody standing up for Conan O'Brien here?
If it didn't work out, it didn't work out.
That happens all the time.
gilbert gottfried
What happened there?
joe rogan
Unless I'm missing something.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Unless I'm just not in the loop.
gilbert gottfried
It was like, you know, Jay Leno they gave some kind of primetime talk show to.
That didn't work out.
joe rogan
Right.
gilbert gottfried
And Conan got The Tonight Show and that didn't work.
joe rogan
I think that was part of what people were upset with, right?
It was like The Tonight Show was on, but Jay Leno was on covering all this stuff that you would see in The Tonight Show right before The Tonight Show, and it probably took some of the wind out of the sails of The Tonight Show.
gilbert gottfried
I don't know, but like, yeah, Conan wasn't getting ratings in that hour.
joe rogan
I think the reason why they moved Jay Leno was because he wasn't getting the younger viewers, right?
Which is what they need for advertising dollars.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
And then they put him back.
gilbert gottfried
And it was, yeah, but I... And it's like when I see them, you know, angry, they don't get The Tonight Show and I was thinking...
Well, Letterman has a very successful show that he was making a lot of money off of that was just like The Tonight Show.
And Conan was making a really nice living off his show that was just like...
So you have something that's just like The Tonight Show that millions of people are watching.
So what the fuck?
It doesn't have the title?
joe rogan
It was weird.
It's like, The Tonight Show was the Holy Grail because of Johnny Carson.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
unidentified
Right?
joe rogan
The Johnny Carson effect, like, everybody wanted to be the next Carson, and everybody else that was doing these other shows on other networks, you were just pretenders.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know?
But then when Letterman went over to CBS, that was a great show.
unidentified
Yeah!
joe rogan
Like, everybody loved that show.
It wasn't The Tonight Show, but it didn't have to be.
Like, why does it have...
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, people know you're there.
They'll watch it.
It doesn't have to be that, but that name, The Tonight Show, was what everybody wanted.
They were coming up.
They wanted to be the host.
gilbert gottfried
Which was insane.
joe rogan
Did you ever see that HBO docu-series, the docu-drama where they reenacted the Letterman?
gilbert gottfried
I love those.
joe rogan
So weird.
I think it was called Late Night Wars or something like that.
gilbert gottfried
Yes, something like that.
joe rogan
Such a strange...
And that's one thing that they hated about Leno.
They said that he hid in the closet and was listening in on one of the meetings.
Like, are you sure that happened?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, did he tell you it happened?
Did they catch him?
Like, how do you know that happened?
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
I'd like to know.
I remember with...
You know, I did Letterman a bunch of times.
And I did Conan a bunch of times.
And then...
Somehow I got, like, on Leno, they, you know, it just seemed like every couple of weeks they would call me when something happened in the news.
They'd fly me out there, and I'd be in one of those sketches at the beginning.
So I was like, I was Osama Bin Laden's nephew.
I was Timmy Bin Laden.
I was Harry Potter.
I was, you know, Prince Charles' wife, Camilla or something.
joe rogan
Camille?
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
And oh, I was King Kong in a sketch.
Those I love doing.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, something happened somewhere along the line where nobody gave a fuck about those late night talk shows anymore.
It's like they went away.
The relevance of them in terms of cultural significance, the way people talk about them, they don't care anymore.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, it's like now if you say, who are the hosts of these late night shows?
You'd go, okay, wait a minute, wait a minute, I know.
And you'd have to think about it.
joe rogan
Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon.
Yeah, it's odd.
It's like what it used to be, it doesn't matter anymore.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Everybody became Carson Daly.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's like Carson Daly had that weird, obscure, fairly late night show.
That's what all of them are like now.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Whereas something shifted in the culture where they didn't enjoy those kind of programs anymore.
Their ratings are abysmal.
Especially Conan, before he left, his ratings were so low.
It was weird.
You'd read the ratings and you'd be like, that's all it's watching?
gilbert gottfried
This is crazy.
And also, what's different now in showbiz in general...
But it used to be, you know, like Channel 7 was in competition with Channel 4. Right.
Stuff like that.
Oh, and they have that show and we only have this.
And now there's no such a thing as a war between two.
It's a war between this and the rest of show business.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
There's like a billion other things to watch.
joe rogan
Yes, and there's so many things that are streaming.
Like, there's no time period.
It doesn't matter if it's Thursday night at 8 o'clock, which is Friends, right?
That was the spot.
You wanted to be right after Friends.
gilbert gottfried
They always talked about how, like, it may have been your show of shows with Sid Caesar, that they used to talk about how at the reservoir you could see the water Because toilets were flushing at the same time all over the place because it's a commercial.
Quick, run.
Now's your chance.
joe rogan
Really?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, that's what they say.
They said the water would drop in the reservoir.
And now it's like...
There's no running home to see something anymore.
joe rogan
No, there's none of that.
And everybody has DVRs, so you can record things, and so many things are streaming.
I think most kids today don't even have cable.
They just have internet, and then they have Netflix or Hulu or Amazon Prime, and they use all those things.
And even like HBO, you can watch the shows on HBO Max.
unidentified
Yeah!
joe rogan
There's no reason to just have, like, regular cable anymore.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, there's no such a thing as missing a show.
Right.
Yeah, and it's...
Yeah, there's so many things have changed.
And it's like, now...
Yeah, it used to be you'd have to hold it in when you watch this show.
joe rogan
Yes, you couldn't miss something.
And the world is just different in terms of options.
It's different in terms of what they're willing to watch.
Because the idea of a talk show with these short segments, where you just sit down and someone tells you about their new album, it's brilliant.
Boring.
It's just not interesting.
It's too short.
They don't go into depth enough.
You don't really relate to it.
It's all censored, too.
We're used to so much uncensored content now.
To try to get someone to watch an old Tonight Show, the way we used to watch it.
The world's past the genre.
The genre's just not applicable anymore.
gilbert gottfried
It's kind of like, too...
You know, when a movie was in a theater, you had to go see it in a theater.
Now it's playing in the theater and on TV. Yes.
joe rogan
Well, that's what I prefer.
I mean, I love going to the movies.
It's great.
You have popcorn.
You sit down.
But the risk of some moron talking on the phone or looking at their phone or talking to the people next to them, it's just too much.
It happens too often.
It happens like one out of ten times, and it ruins it.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, they're having a whole conversation and it's like, you're in the movie, someone will walk in the door and they'll go, oh look, he's walking in the door.
joe rogan
Oh boy, those are the best.
Those people are the best.
Yeah, it's just...
gilbert gottfried
And that it costs you a fortune to go to a movie theater now.
joe rogan
Well, it's a thing to do, right?
You go on a date, then you go to the movies.
I used to love the place in LA. It was Cineopolis or Sinopolis.
I don't know exactly how you say it.
But they had a menu and the food was really good.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yes.
We're climbing chairs.
joe rogan
That was nice.
gilbert gottfried
When waiter service, yeah, they deliver it to you.
Well, it's just like when TV came out, that's when movies started doing 3D. Because it's like, oh, see, you can't see this on TV. Right, right, right, right, yeah.
joe rogan
3D movies.
Do they make those anymore?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, I think one of the last Jurassic Park movies was in 3D. I didn't see it in 3D. They had Jaws 3 in 3D. Oh, but for that one scene, that one stupid scene where the shark's coming towards you, it was only really applicable in one scene.
joe rogan
Yeah, the 3D glasses are always the fucking weird part of that.
Those fucking weird red and blue glasses you put on.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, they give you a headache immediately.
joe rogan
Yeah.
It's just not worth it.
gilbert gottfried
And what do they have to do to make a movie 3D? Oh, I think it's shot with two different cameras, and it's like one gets a little of it this way, one a little, and then they put them together.
And with the glasses, it brings the pictures together and somehow creates a 3D effect.
And the funny thing is, the first 3D movie was a movie called Bawana Devil.
And the director had one eye.
And so he couldn't see if the 3D was working.
Because 3D tricks your eyes.
joe rogan
Right, the two eyes.
gilbert gottfried
So the director didn't know if anything he was directing worked.
joe rogan
It's called Bawana Devil?
gilbert gottfried
Bawana Devil.
And also 3D, like in Disneyland and stuff, they have 3D stuff that works, where you really want to reach out and grab things.
But most of the 3D movies I've watched, it's just a gimmick.
Yeah, and it seems like, I don't feel like anything's coming out of the screen here.
joe rogan
I feel like the next real change in all those kind of films, there it is.
gilbert gottfried
Oh yes, yes, see?
joe rogan
Buona Devil.
Dun dun dun.
unidentified
1952. You're watching it without glasses, so it's like blurry.
joe rogan
Right.
All in blazing action.
Buona Devil in thrilling color.
Starring Robert Stack.
unidentified
Robert Stack.
joe rogan
This is where they talk.
unidentified
...savage jungle violence as killer lions terrorize a fierce warrior tribe, and a relentless white hunter challenges death itself for the love of his beautiful bride.
It's the unforgettable African adventure story that made screen history. - Bye.
joe rogan
Your pulse will pound.
unidentified
To every throb of this jungle fury.
joe rogan
That's sexual.
They're doing that on purpose.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Your pulse will pound to every throb.
gilbert gottfried
They would always promise you in those ads, the words they'd use...
And in the posters, they would have like girls with their, you know, their dress ripped down the side.
And you'd always think, oh, this is going to be hot.
And then it never was.
joe rogan
Yeah.
That's the way they sell things, though.
It's kind of interesting that they've always done that.
Like from the beginning of advertising, it's always been like a hot girl with a cigarette.
unidentified
Yes, yes.
gilbert gottfried
And, you know, I've never seen them, but there were a handful of Three Stooges films made in 3D. You know, the Three Stooges shorts.
And according to what I've heard, the 3D in them was in bed.
Three Stooges in 3D. So you really thought Moe was spoke to you in the eyes?
unidentified
Oh, that's hilarious.
joe rogan
Those are the kind of movies you can never do today.
They're bullying each other and hitting each other.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yes.
joe rogan
People would never tolerate that.
unidentified
No, no.
joe rogan
This is not funny.
This is rude.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, like in the later full-length, you know, Stooges, they weren't doing that.
joe rogan
No.
Like, he's being abusive to him.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, it was like, yeah, you know, I grew up on these movies, all the kids grew up on these movies, taking a saw and running it across someone's head, hitting a hammer.
joe rogan
Well, how about the old cartoons?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yes!
joe rogan
They were so violent.
gilbert gottfried
Yes!
joe rogan
Everyone was getting shot in the face.
Everyone was getting blown up.
Anvils were dropping on people's heads.
It was always violence.
gilbert gottfried
Yes!
joe rogan
That's what people thought was funny.
You know what's really fucked?
Watch the early Popeyes.
Because in the early Popeyes, Bluto was just a rapist.
He was just trying to rape Olive Oil.
And Olive Oil's running away.
No, Pluto!
And he was grabbing her.
Get over here.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
They were horrible.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, Popeye was one of those weird cartoons.
joe rogan
Yeah, real weird.
Super violent.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Super violent and super rapey.
gilbert gottfried
And then what always got me with Popeye...
He would eat spinach to swallow a can of spinach to get strong.
But he would first crush the can with his bare hand.
And I go, so he must have been pretty strong before the spinach.
Average guy can crush a tin can with his hand.
joe rogan
What weird propaganda for spinach.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
I remember when I was a kid, I asked my dad if I could have a can of spinach to sleep with.
I wanted to hold on to it when I went to bed because I love Popeye.
I was probably four or something like that.
I just thought a can of spinach would be a good thing to sleep with.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, and remember, that was a terrible movie, Robin Williams as Poplar.
joe rogan
Oh!
That wasn't that bad.
Shelley Duvall, the big crazy fake forearms.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
But it's like, why spinach?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Spinach is not that good.
gilbert gottfried
I think it's because that was one of those famous foods that kids didn't like.
unidentified
Oh, right.
gilbert gottfried
You know, eat your spinach, Billy.
joe rogan
Right.
And so, because Popeye was eating his spinach.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, so, yeah.
unidentified
I'm strong to the finish because I eat the spinach.
joe rogan
I'm Popeye the Sailor Man.
gilbert gottfried
Toot toot.
joe rogan
Remember that?
gilbert gottfried
And I remember there was like, when they still had kiddie show hosts, it was Captain Jack McCarthy.
He would come out on this phony looking boat and he'd be in a captain's outfit and he'd present Popeye cartoons.
And then there was Officer Joe Bolton Who would, you know, come out as a police officer, swinging his nightstick.
He'd show the Three Stooges.
Oh, there was Chuck McCann.
joe rogan
I don't remember any of these guys.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, the worst one of those is the one from the UK that Jimmy Savile, is that how you say his name?
That's the guy that molested all those kids.
Do you know that story?
gilbert gottfried
No.
joe rogan
Oh, this is a horrible story because the guy looked like someone who'd molest kids.
And he apparently molested kids for years and years and years.
And everyone knew it.
All the people that worked on the show knew it.
All the people that worked behind the scenes knew it.
That's the guy.
gilbert gottfried
Jimmy Savile.
If you hadn't told me that story, I'd look at him and say, child molester.
joe rogan
Well, look, as he got older, he got really creepy looking.
unidentified
Oh, God!
gilbert gottfried
Beyond creepy!
joe rogan
And apparently he had molested hundreds of kids for fucking decades.
And they didn't find out about it.
They didn't prove it until after he was dead.
So after he was dead, how Jimmy Savile used power and fame to abuse hundreds of children for decades.
After Jimmy Savile's death in 2011, I hope I'm saying his name right.
Well, who cares?
He's a fucking piece of shit and he's dead.
An investigation into sexual abuse allegations against TV personality revealed that at least 500 victims, some of whom were just two years old, Oh my god.
Yeah, and this guy did this forever.
Put that back up there so I can see it.
It says, when British TV rating personality Jimmy Saville reached his knighthood, they knighted him in 1990. Oh my god.
Many asked, what took so long?
A beloved DJ and BBC presenter, there was something about Saville's cigar-chomping, eccentric on-air personality that put audiences in the United Kingdom at ease.
In the eyes of Saville's most staunch supporters and loyal followers, a knighthood was a fitting culmination to his career.
Which is fucking crazy.
So if you look at the guy, when you scroll down all the pictures of him with kids, just imagine that all these poor kids had no recourse and he was sexually abusing all of them.
gilbert gottfried
And I mean, it still goes on to this day.
If he's making money for you, then you're a little more forgiving.
joe rogan
Wow, I mean, that was always the Harvey Weinstein thing, right?
He was making these massive blockbuster films, and the actresses just had to...
The only way to get in these films was...
Quinn Tarantino was telling me this about an old-time movie producer guy, that he had a bed in his office.
So when the women would come in to audition, he would take the starlets to the bed and he would fuck them all.
That's how you got a movie role.
That was the only way you did it.
gilbert gottfried
And the funny thing is, they always act like, oh, well, this guy's in jail, now the casting couch is over with.
unidentified
Right.
gilbert gottfried
You know.
joe rogan
Well, the casting couch was pervasive.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
unidentified
Right?
joe rogan
It was the whole business.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, that's how those producers, that's how they cast these films.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
They made sure that these women fucked them.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Which is crazy.
But then there's also the predator women who, like, I know how to get ahead.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
I'm gonna fuck this guy, like...
Not all of them were victims.
gilbert gottfried
You hear these stories about famous actresses that they would come in, they'd offer to fuck them right away.
joe rogan
Yeah, well that's how, there's a lot of them that did it that way.
Well they realized early on, like if you're an actress or an actor and you're just auditioning all the time and you're not getting ahead and you're getting desperate and years are going by.
gilbert gottfried
And there's 20 billion beautiful girls auditioning with you.
joe rogan
That's what's crazy, right?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
And the reality of acting is, certain acting, if you want to be like Meryl Streep or Faye Dunaway or Daniel Day-Lewis, that's a crazy, high-level acting that's insanely difficult and it takes real immense talent.
Most acting's not that.
Most acting is pretend.
And you can do it.
And you can do it probably pretty easy.
Most people who have half a fucking brain, you can act.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
A little bit.
gilbert gottfried
And yeah, I've heard like, yeah, there's loads of these famous names people, see, who've just fucked their way to the top.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's wild.
gilbert gottfried
And I remember there was like one, you know, really famous top-level producer who, there was one woman who worked in his organization, one of the high-level people, And it was just said.
Very matter of fact, oh yeah, she fucked everybody to get there.
It wasn't even like a put-down.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I know girls who have dated guys who are like the head of networks, and that's how they got shows.
gilbert gottfried
And I'm sure they all say...
I had no idea he was a movie producer.
joe rogan
Or, that's not why I got the show.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, no.
joe rogan
We were working together and he appreciated my talent.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
Or the other...
Oh, another thing I heard is after...
What was it?
Whatever the name of that movie where Sharon Stone crosses her legs.
joe rogan
Basic Instinct.
gilbert gottfried
Basic Instinct.
After that, they said there was a large amount of actresses coming in wearing a skirt and crossing their legs and not having underwear.
It became a thing.
joe rogan
Do you remember when a bunch of the famous ladies, like publicly famous, where they would always be at parties and stuff, were getting photographed with no underwear on, getting out of limousines?
There was like a phase.
gilbert gottfried
Yes!
joe rogan
Like Lindsay Lohan, those type of gals.
gilbert gottfried
Britney Spears.
joe rogan
They just were showing their pussy.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like it became a thing they did.
gilbert gottfried
Yes!
Yes!
joe rogan
But it came and went.
It was like, nah, that's too much.
People just stopped.
They did it for a little while, and I was like, oh my god, is this what it's going to be from now on?
But it was so obvious, because all of the photographs were from underneath.
You didn't know that there was a guy lying on the ground with a fucking camera staring at your pussy?
gilbert gottfried
I love the fact Sharon Stone says she was strict.
She didn't know.
And I'm thinking, oh, you didn't see a light right between your legs?
joe rogan
I don't know if she said that.
Maybe she was misquoted because that sounds like a ridiculous thing to say.
It was seductive.
She knew what she was doing.
She was purposely showing her beaver for a couple of seconds.
gilbert gottfried
And she probably got paid like 50 times as much for her next movie.
joe rogan
I bet she did.
Well, she was also a great actress.
She did that on top of it.
She was in some terrible movies, too, though.
She was in...
It wasn't a terrible movie, but it wasn't a good role.
She was in Above the Law with Steven Seagal.
unidentified
She was his girlfriend for his wife.
joe rogan
That was the early days that she couldn't pick and choose her roles.
But Basic Instinct was a good movie.
And that scene was a good scene.
It worked.
That character worked.
And look, you would literally have to freeze-frame it to see her pussy.
It was so quick.
gilbert gottfried
And everyone, when they say, oh, you know, you see her pussy in that scene, I thought, I remember it was showing on TV, and it was like, you know, cable, so I would go right up to the screen, I brush my nose against the screen, and not see it.
And it wasn't until, like, freeze frame, you go, oh, okay, there it is.
joe rogan
I've always wondered, like, What some people have done, like girls like Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, they released a sex tape.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Oh, God.
joe rogan
You know, that's okay.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
Yeah.
And Paris Hilton.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
And I'm thinking, they all claim it got robbed.
Someone broke in.
And I'm thinking, so crooks break into a house and go, quick, let's get the sex tapes.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's what they get.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
They're not looking for jewelry or money.
They're going to find if they're a sex...
That was always such a bullshit story.
joe rogan
It's a bullshit story, but it's also effective.
The thing is, what I was going to get at, if they decided to do an actual porn, their career would be over.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
It's a weird loophole.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Right?
If someone who is a famous actress, if a sex tape got out, It'd be like, oh my god, it's a sex tape.
It'd probably make them more popular.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
But if Scarlett Johansson decided to do a film where she has sex with her husband and films it and then puts it out online or whatever, people would immediately lose respect for her.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, she would never get work again.
And also, it adds to the thrill of, oh God, she was trying to hide this as well as she could, and somebody grabbed it, and now we can see it.
joe rogan
Right, we're not supposed to see it.
We're naughty.
We're being naughty.
Yeah, that's exactly what it is.
gilbert gottfried
I mean, I saw the one that I thought was totally boring.
Most of them are boring.
The one that I thought was really boring, the Pam Anderson...
joe rogan
Tommy Lee?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
That was putting me to sleep.
joe rogan
I think that was the first one, right?
Wasn't that the first of the sex tapes?
gilbert gottfried
One of them, certainly, yeah.
joe rogan
I think that was the first one that was released like that.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, and remember when Dustin Screech Diamond put out a sex tape?
joe rogan
I think he did it on purpose.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, his was on purpose.
joe rogan
He died.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
He died recently.
What did he die of?
Like a heart attack or something.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, some kind of cancer or something that went through his body really quick.
And see, they already did that movie Behind the Bell, I think it was called, where like, you know, Documentary about the cast.
Yeah, well like TV movie with actors playing those actors.
joe rogan
Oh, that's hilarious.
gilbert gottfried
Which I always love.
unidentified
Actors playing actors is hilarious.
gilbert gottfried
So they already did that and I thought had they waited, you know, him getting sick all of a sudden and dying could have been the ending.
Because it's just like, you know, they throw together these, you know, Hollywood true stories and behind the scenes.
And they had one with the two Corys, you know, Corey Feldman and Corey Haim.
And it ends with...
And Corey Haim kicked drugs and is healthier and happier than ever.
And Corey Feldman is now happily married.
And I saw it again recently.
And they put in a voice at the end afterwards saying...
Corey Haim died and Corey Feldman got a divorce.
joe rogan
I met Corey Feldman once and I felt bad for him.
Just like he just seemed like tortured.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
He was one of those guys that had horrible stories about being sexually abused by producers and stuff in Hollywood.
unidentified
Both of them.
joe rogan
Yeah, both of them as children.
And I believe him.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
It seems real.
And when you see the guy, you're like, well, something went wrong.
I mean, clearly being famous at a really young age like that is not good for you.
gilbert gottfried
Yes, yes.
joe rogan
And then if his allegations of sexual abuse are true on top of that, it's terrifying.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, I heard both of them.
joe rogan
That fucking business of just wanting to be chosen, of wanting to be the person who gets cast in this film, this project, and that's what you have to do to make your career.
Just that dynamic alone.
What a fucked up way to live.
And most of the people getting into it are already insecure.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
And then on top of that, you've got to be chosen, and then most of the time you're rejected, so you're rejected nine out of ten times if you're lucky.
gilbert gottfried
And you could see why, like, actors and actresses will fuck a producer and director.
joe rogan
Exactly.
gilbert gottfried
Because they'll go, hmm, you know, they're already out fucking loads of people they don't like anyway.
So why not someone who can make you a billionaire?
joe rogan
Also, they probably at a certain point in time think this is probably the only way I can get in.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
And that's what they want more than anything.
I remember I had a buddy of mine, and he had just gotten a television show.
And I was there when he told his girlfriend.
He was telling his girlfriend that he got this television.
And the girl starts crying.
And she's like, when is something ever going to happen to me?
And he's like...
gilbert gottfried
Yes, yes.
joe rogan
I have a show.
I'm happy.
gilbert gottfried
It's like, fuck you.
When is something going to happen to me?
joe rogan
That's all she could say.
It's like, when is it going to happen to me?
For every girl like that, there's a hundred thousand more.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
And maybe more than that.
Just waiting to do that exact same role.
gilbert gottfried
And it is one of these things like...
You know, girls leave their hometowns where they're like, you know, drop-dead gorgeous, and they show up in Hollywood where there's a trillion girls working in a laundromat.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
You know, as beautiful as them, if not more.
joe rogan
And a lot of them get into porn, and that's what's really crazy.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
When you see porn stars that are just drop-dead beautiful.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
And they're just getting stuffed.
gilbert gottfried
And you see it, like, when they started doing, like, the high-end strip clubs, and I go, oh, God, this girl's beautiful.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
It used to be, like, strip clubs that were smelly and the girls were scuzzy-looking.
joe rogan
I think if you're, like, a really hot woman and you want to make a lot of money and you don't want to have a regular job, they just go, look, I'll just do this for a little while.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Make some cash.
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
I wish there was an option like that for guys.
gilbert gottfried
I know.
And I mean, they have the male like Chippendales.
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
But I don't think...
joe rogan
It's a little different.
gilbert gottfried
And I don't...
I think women go there...
It's festive.
Yeah.
Like, it's a goof when women go there.
Men, it's serious.
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
And I think when women, and they do this in movies too, and women do it, you know, hooting and hollering, and no, that's not in a real strip club.
No one's hooting, and it's very, it's like what we were talking about before.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
You know, you're not looking at the person sitting next to you, and you're being very quiet.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And you're just staring.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Yeah, like you can't believe this is an actual naked woman in front of you.
Whoa, look at that.
She's naked.
Crazy.
unidentified
Right there.
Yeah.
joe rogan
She's looking at you like, oh, I think she likes me.
gilbert gottfried
And see, there too, like with porn, when I watch that, it's like in the first, you know, couple of minutes, oh my God, look at this.
And then somewhere along the way it will hit me and I go, okay, another pair of tits.
joe rogan
Well, you definitely get desensitized if you watch too much of it.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
I remember the first time I ever saw porn, I was probably like 14 or something like that.
The first time I saw it on a VHS, I was like, oh!
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
I couldn't believe it.
Like, the shock of watching people have sex and how exciting it was.
Like, this is crazy.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, you never get to recreate that feeling.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's so commonplace.
Like, my friends will send me some, like, ridiculous guy's dick and some poor girl is trying to stuff it in their mouth.
They think it's funny.
I'm like, how many of these videos are out there?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
There's millions of them.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
To me, the first porn I saw that I was too young to see, but like I said, no one gave a fuck.
And remember that time?
There was a time period when porn became a cool social thing to do.
joe rogan
Deep Throat.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, Deep Throat, Devil and Miss Jones.
Legitimate movie theaters were showing porn.
joe rogan
There's a video of Johnny Carson waiting in line to go see Deep Throat.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And a bunch of other, like, prominent celebrities are waiting in line to go see this film, and they're going to sit down in a movie theater and watch this like they're watching any other kind of movie.
gilbert gottfried
And yeah, I remember there were a lot—then they'd make a bunch of porn, all hoping to be the next Deep Throat.
unidentified
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, and it would be classy movie theaters.
joe rogan
Yeah, and somehow or another people just got tired of that.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
I wonder what happened.
Probably too many guys jacking off in the movie theater.
gilbert gottfried
I'm sure.
You're worried about the guys in back of you talking.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
Getting whacked in the head.
joe rogan
I know how many people were just real creeps and they actually wanted to jerk off on someone.
Like, if you're a woman and you're at that, and there's some guy behind you with a raincoat on, you're like, is this safe?
Is this a safe spot to be in?
You want to be only in the back row.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
Yeah.
joe rogan
It is weird how that changed, that there was a brief window, and I don't know how long that brief window was, where they would make an actual film with sex in there.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Do you know who Vincent Gallo is?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yes, yes.
joe rogan
Do you know that whole story with him?
No.
He made a film called Brown Bunny.
And in this film, Brown Bunny...
gilbert gottfried
Oh, she sucks a cock in it.
joe rogan
They had a real sex scene.
gilbert gottfried
She actually does, yeah.
joe rogan
Chloe...
How do you say her name?
gilbert gottfried
Chloe Seven Yee, I think.
joe rogan
That's it.
So she and him have an actual oral sex scene.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, they show her mouth on his cock.
joe rogan
Yeah, and it killed his career.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
That film killed his career, and he was like a celebrated guy.
He was in that, I think, Buffalo 66, and he'd been in a bunch of films, and he was a real eccentric, interesting actor to a lot of people.
But after that, that was it.
It all dried up.
gilbert gottfried
I remember one time...
They said to me, this was years ago, that he wanted to do a movie, he wanted me in one of his movies, and to give him a call.
And I gave him a call, and I'm on the phone with him, and I think he mentions the movie like once in passing.
And then he's talking about all the different famous actresses he fucks.
And what their tits look like.
joe rogan
That's what you wanted to talk about?
That's hilarious.
He's an interesting guy.
Very eccentric.
Every now and then I'll look at his Instagram and I'm like, Jesus Christ.
Very politically active, if you want to say that.
But just an odd duck.
And I think that just wrecked him.
Yeah.
I mean, I don't know what his thoughts are on what it was like to do that, but before that, he was a big actor.
gilbert gottfried
And then there are those movies with the rumors that the actors legitimately- Actually had sex.
Yes, yeah.
joe rogan
I'm sure that definitely happened.
I had a buddy of mine, and he was in a film, and he had a sex scene with a girl under the sheet, and she said, if you want, we can have real sex.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, man!
joe rogan
Yeah.
And he panicked.
And he's like, in front of everybody?
What do you mean?
He's like, I don't have a condom.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
And she wanted him to fuck her.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, man.
joe rogan
Look at you.
You get excited.
gilbert gottfried
Yes!
Fuck yeah!
That's never happened in my career.
joe rogan
Yeah, well, I've never been in a sex scene either.
It's weird to me how everybody wants to have sex.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, most people want to have sex.
But if someone sees you have sex, it's bad.
unidentified
Yes.
gilbert gottfried
The thing that can destroy any career, it's like in politics or a show business, oh wait, they fuck a lot?
joe rogan
Exactly, right?
Well, with some people, there's double standards though.
Like with some people, it's actually celebrated, like Warren Beatty, right?
It was celebrated that he fucked all these women.
But if a woman fucks a lot of guys...
gilbert gottfried
She's a whore.
joe rogan
She's a whore.
That's not celebrated at all.
It's very strange.
gilbert gottfried
Or as we used to call it in Brooklyn, a whore.
joe rogan
It's weird, though, that you can't have real sex in a film, but you could have at least what looks like real violence.
unidentified
Yes!
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
Real violence, like horrible gunshot wounds and terrible things, blood everywhere.
Nobody has a problem with that.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Which is way worse than sex.
gilbert gottfried
But you know the funny thing about violence in movies?
When you watch a fight in real life, like out in a street fight, it's ugly and disturbing.
And in movies...
99 times out of 100, it's kind of pretty to watch.
It's choreographed.
This guy throws a punch.
That guy throws a punch.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
It's not real.
But the problem with that is it gets a lot of people thinking that's what a fight is like.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
So they're out in the real world.
They actually want to get into fights because they want to pretend they're that guy from the movie.
gilbert gottfried
They get their skulls crushed in real life.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Not good.
Not good.
Yeah.
Because I do work for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, I'm a color commentator for the UFC. I've seen probably, I don't know, a thousand people get the fuck beaten out of them.
I've called more than a thousand fights, but I've seen a lot of horrible beatdowns.
And you get oddly desensitized to physical violence.
gilbert gottfried
Well, you know what?
This was a horrible time period.
When actors who their careers were over with needed to be on TV to make a check and be seen at the same time, they were having those celebrity fights.
joe rogan
Yeah, they're still doing those.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, and I remember they'd have it with, you know...
Danny Bonaduce, I think the guy who was Screech was in one, Donny Osmond, everything.
And you'd go, this is like, you know, the Roman Coliseum.
joe rogan
They just did one recently that Aaron Carter...
gilbert gottfried
Oh, that's right.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
And Lamar Odom.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Pro basketball player, Lamar Odom and Aaron Carter.
And it was one of the worst ones I've ever seen.
Because Aaron Carter had no business fighting anybody.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like he had no idea what he was doing.
And it's not like Lamar Odom is like a skilled boxer, but he beat the shit out of him.
But it was sad.
It was because he was so much smaller than him, first of all.
And then also, like, flailing wildly, like, really shouldn't have been there.
gilbert gottfried
And you'd see the fighters, they'd zoom in on them after the fight, where, like, one eye is the size of a baseball, and, like, blood's coming down their face.
joe rogan
You have no interest in celebrity boxing matches, is that what you're saying?
gilbert gottfried
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
joe rogan
Who would you fight if you had to fight someone in celebrity boxing?
gilbert gottfried
Maybe Betty White.
joe rogan
What if you lost, though?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, I could see her kicking my ass.
joe rogan
That would be a real issue.
gilbert gottfried
I could get my ass kicked by Stephen Hawking.
joe rogan
Not anymore.
You outlived?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
How old are you now, Gilbert?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, God, I'm old.
joe rogan
How old are you?
gilbert gottfried
Uh, 66. You look good.
Yeah.
joe rogan
You look good for 66. Yeah.
Yeah.
Something about having fun, laughing.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
How long do you think you're going to do stand-up till?
Have you ever thought about it?
gilbert gottfried
Oh, God.
joe rogan
You're just going to do it like Carlin did to the end?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, I don't know.
It's like...
I say it and it's true.
When I'm waiting backstage before I'm about to go on, I'm always thinking...
Oh God, wouldn't it be great if the manager of the club came back and said, there's a fire or a flood and here's your check, go home.
So I always dream about that.
But I think as long as they offer me a check, I'm going to be going, all right.
joe rogan
But once you're on stage and you're killing, you still love it.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, more so than being backstage.
It's kind of like...
Being backstage about to go on is like being, you know, either at the beach or by a swimming pool and you're dipping your toe into the water and going, oh, that's horrible.
That's freezing.
And then when you actually are in it, then it's fine when you're in it.
joe rogan
Yeah, you adjust.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
It's...
It's a weird way to make a living, man.
It's totally alien to most people to be the center of attention like that and to also be eliciting a response out of people.
You have to make them laugh.
You have to figure out what's funny.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's a weird way to live.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, it definitely is.
And the other thing, show business in general, and well, particularly comics, and that's that it's definitely two personalities.
That get you into the business.
One of them is, you know, I'm great.
I'm great and the world is going to know how fucking great I am.
And the other part is like, oh, oh, please, they have to love me.
They have to love me.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
So it's both.
joe rogan
And it's some people that fucking hate themselves.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
They hate themselves, and then they get on stage, and they get just a little bit of life support just out of getting that laugh, and then they get off stage to hate themselves even more.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, absolutely.
And then so many.
It's your parents.
You still want to get approval from your parents.
So they're not there, so the audience is your parents.
joe rogan
What is your writing process like?
gilbert gottfried
Oh God, I'm terrible.
Most of the bits I've come up with have all been like on stage.
I start ad-libbing something and I do it.
But this whole thing like, you know, where you hear Jerry Seinfeld talk and it's like, Oh, well, I wake up at 2 o'clock in the morning, and I type 5,000 pages, and then I try not at night.
And yeah, no, I'm terrible as far as sitting down writing.
joe rogan
Do you ever do it?
Do you ever sit down and write?
gilbert gottfried
Not anything from my act.
joe rogan
So most of the stuff that you say came from just performing a lot.
Yeah.
But you do write stuff that's not in your act?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
I mean, I wrote a bunch of articles in National Lampoon.
unidentified
Oh.
gilbert gottfried
And like a handful for Playboy.
joe rogan
Oh, really?
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
And there's another thing.
Remember when Playboy, you know, Naked Girls, that was Playboy.
joe rogan
Yeah.
gilbert gottfried
You know, it wasn't anywhere else.
That's where you saw naked girls was Playboy.
joe rogan
Well, Playboy tried for like a couple of months to not have naked girls.
unidentified
Which is a real smart idea.
joe rogan
It's the dumbest shit I've ever heard in my life.
They're like, we're going to be progressive and evolve.
gilbert gottfried
because our, you know, our articles on how to get the perfect shave.
unidentified
That's a little...
gilbert gottfried
And they still...
Magazines and shows will still do that.
The perfect shave.
And I'll go...
uh throw some water on your face put on shaving cream and run the razor over that that's uh that there's no secret yeah you don't have to go to a barber shop and trust a guy with a straight edge near your neck too that's that's bizarre have you ever gone to a barber shop for a shave what the are you talking about how goddamn easy it is to shave and i i remember and they talk about the perfect one what's how much better is one from the other And one time I was at a radio
show and some guys were there with girls plugging there.
They had like a barber shop where you could get a shave from a girl.
And, you know, the thought of it sounds great because you're thinking, oh, like a cute girl, like she's shaving me like I'm the king and everything.
And so I thought, all right, I'll have one of them shave me.
And it wasn't one of those big grandpa shaves.
No one knows big.
It was a small razor.
And afterwards, when I got back to the hotel, I had to shave again because they're just patches.
She didn't know what the fuck she was doing.
joe rogan
She was just hot.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's hilarious.
Yeah, the hot girls doing thing.
There was a place that was near me when I lived in California that had girls in bikinis that would cut hair.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah.
So yeah.
joe rogan
They would have like bikini tops and booty shorts and they would cut hair.
gilbert gottfried
So if it didn't give a fuck if they'd never cut hair before ever, you know, it's like, oh, hot looking girl.
joe rogan
You know, one thing Playboy did that was interesting, they had good interviews.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
They used to have a compilation book that I owned for a while.
I don't know where I left it.
But it was like all old interviews in Playboy magazine over the years that were very interesting.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like one of them was Sinatra.
And I remember reading the interview.
I'm like, wow, he's a surprisingly...
Intelligent guy.
Yeah.
And some of the...
Just they were good interviews.
They were good at that.
Like, it wasn't...
There was no stigma attached to a woman being naked in a magazine.
Yeah.
And it was always the joke, I buy it for the articles.
gilbert gottfried
Oh, yes, yes.
joe rogan
Right.
But then they tried to sell just the articles, and people were like, get the fuck out of that.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
unidentified
Give me some tits.
joe rogan
I'm lying.
unidentified
Yeah.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Well, listen, Gilbert, it's been a real pleasure.
It's been a treat to meet you.
I appreciate you coming in here.
And Skankfest.
That's where Gilbert will be this weekend.
Skankfest.
And then Cameo.
gilbert gottfried
Cameo.com.
joe rogan
You can get a shout-out to Gilbert.
gilbert gottfried
Cameo.com slash Gilbert Gottfried.
joe rogan
And then use the promo code JOEROGAN and you get 25% off.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
And this is the website, gilbertgodfried.com.
It'll have his tour dates, clips, cameo, the podcast, store, everything.
gilbert gottfried
Yeah, Gilbert Gottfried's amazing, colossal podcast.
And yeah, use promo code JOEROGAN. Forgot your name there.
No!
No, I promo-chode.
See, I'm having a stroke in front of you.
Don't do that.
Not after that third jab.
Promo code Joe Rogan.
And get 25% off, and it's Cameo.com slash Gilbert.
joe rogan
And again, today is November 3rd that we're filming this, but this weekend you'll be at Skankfest in Houston.
So if you're hearing this and you're in Texas or you want to go to Texas and see Gilbert, Skankfest South, November 4th and 5th.
So it'll start tomorrow.
So you'll be there tomorrow.
gilbert gottfried
Yes.
joe rogan
So when you hear this, if you hear it, the day comes out, Gilbert's at Skankfest.
Thank you, sir.
gilbert gottfried
Thank you.
Now I have to pee.
joe rogan
Very much.
unidentified
All right.
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