Brett Gelman Gets Mansplained to by Larry David and has Really Nice Shirts

0:00If you don't talk over the line, there's no joke. There's no joke. Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, no show. I'm just a social mess. I don't, most things I say are, it's not even offensive. It's just like, oh, I'd rather not. Yeah. I mean, it's one of the biggest shows ever. And it's definitely one of the biggest shows in the world right now. It's not like the biggest. I'm pretty friendly with him. I mean, I'm not going to say we're BFFs, but that's kind of cool. Yeah. I'm kind of a fan. I see him on stuff and then I ran across him. We wound up doing a commercial during COVID, right before COVID. So I definitely got to see if he remembers that.

0:48And we all mostly know him from Fleabag and Stranger Things, of course. That's Smash. One of the biggest hits in the world, yeah, Stranger Things. He's been on the last four seasons. And I think the new season's coming out this fall. Yeah. We'll ask him. So we got a lot of stuff with him. he's a super cool chill dude and uh i make fun of him a little bit but um i always do when i see him but he's a real good guy good sport he's on tiktok a lot and surprisingly uh does some really like i don't know if it's out of character in character stuff but it's pretty interesting and he's got a lot of followers over there it's gonna be exciting yeah he's a good dude and uh let's hear from him here he is ready there All right.

1:37Our guest today is Brett Gelman. From Gelman's mayonnaise. From Gelman. Are you ready for this? Gelman's over there. He doesn't understand what we're going to do. Gelman Regis. I mean, I really, but in all seriousness and through all that stress, I'm so, I'm so excited to meet you, Dana, and see you, David, and be on here. you know uh dana this is brett who's a you know business acquaintance of mine yeah we could say that right absolutely i mean i think that like we were flirting with friendship yeah and i i think we should go back to that we could start over dane is too tough but i I am available for friendship and Dana's far away.

2:31He lives too far. I'm quasi agoraphobic, antisocial, picked a weird career, but yeah. Do you ever go through that phase where like you meet someone at a club or whatever, and you're really connecting. This is dude stuff, not women. And you're like, I'll take your number. And then even text a few more times. And yeah, this guy's really funny and smart. We're having fun. And then it just stops one day. And then you don't, it's just that's it um yeah no it happens all the time that's what we did yeah i think though like that that meeting point is real like i think you're excited and then i think life and like the insanity of our own brains or neurosis starts to take over and if it doesn't take that next step soon enough it can go in the toilet it's more out of sight out of mind like i think just logistically Brent and I did a, I said Brent.

3:28That's another one you get. Did you say Brent? That happens to me all the time. That has to happen to you. That's a give up name. That's the name where at a certain point I don't correct it. Yeah. I'm Brent. Fuck it. Didn't we do a T-Mobile commercial or am I crazy? Yeah, we did a T-Mobile commercial right before the pandemic. Fucking COVID. I think we were the last things I did that was still, I think there was even whispers like, are we still going to shoot this? Yeah. Yeah. We did it. I think maybe February before March was the bad 2020 situation. And it was Brett and I in God, was it weird that we were at the, not the DMV, no unemployment office.

4:15Yeah. And you were an unemployment agent. and I was like in looking for jobs and then COVID happened. Right. So what I heard was, so we do this commercial, which was going to be on during the final four for March Madness. And it was a big commercial, maybe even 90 seconds, not just a minute. It was a long one. And so Brad, who I didn't know well or know at all, I just knew of seeing him and stuff, knew he was funny, but then we had a blast. So we do the commercial. It's funny. it roughly I don't know if I saw Rough Cup but I like the director I like the whole thing about it I was T-Mobile it was all good and then they then COVID hit so they said we're gonna push it because the final four I don't know if it's gonna happen and they started canceling fast anyway slowly eroding and then like a month later they go we're just gonna hold it right now because America's not ready for comedy and I was like I don't know if this is Saturday Night Live it's a 90 second commercial but okay so then I heard they held it more and they said oh now we can't air it because we realize it's an unemployment setting and people are losing their jobs right now and not no one's working and I'm like okay I didn't I didn't even get that part I was like oh I guess it is and then um and then later they they go we're gonna air it and it was aired as a 15 second Instagram commercial yeah it was cut down to the nub i mean for a commercial it was really good we were funny together i loved it i mean 15 we could have we we got every drop out of that 15 seconds is there any way we could find that and show it right now i mean we should because america if you can greg if not don't worry about here's my question one is i can see you're on a set and you you see another person with a kindred spirit comedian funny funny funny funny funny and then then you're just being comedian sub being really honest.

6:11Uh, you know, I have diarrhea or whatever it is. And then do you kind of tell each other or wink at each other? What are you getting paid to do this commercial? Did you tell each other that? No, because I knew that David was probably getting paid way more than I was. And he probably knew that too. Well, we don't bring up such things on sets. I didn't bring it up during grownups. That's for sure. Right. I was, I was like, Adam, this is all favored nations, right? Right. Wait, do you bring that up, Dana, when you're on set? Do you find out what? Oh, I don't know. I'm you know, it's almost like a taboo.

6:47It's like a word you shouldn't say. But like a celebrity net worth is something I check once in a while. I don't take it seriously. But, you know, the monetary aspect of the magic of show business, the way people perceive it is kind of interesting and how it ebbs and flows. Where you were in 2020, you'd broken through. You became a star. So I just thought maybe it'd be fairly close, but I can't tell. David would be the veteran in that scenario. That was the bummer is that Brett was doing great, and he's very funny, and we did a funny commercial. And it's sad because I go, he and I in a commercial, this would have been a good one, I thought.

7:26So I was sad to see it go. Sometimes I shoot stuff, and it goes away, and I go, okay. It was just kind of work. No, but that was fun. Jody Hill directed it. Oh, is that? That's right. That's right. Like from, you know, the whole Danny McBride, David Gordon Green crew, you know, uh, co-creator of all those shows. So he, he was great, but he like also just like was very loose and cool and let us do our thing too. And we just cool glasses on too. I wanted to get those glasses and, uh, these glasses. Well, we'll have to get the band back together. Not those. You look cool in glasses though. You got a kind of a cool vibe going.

8:04Thanks. Thanks. Likewise. You know, I work at it. It's one of the things I work at. Yeah. Vibes are, you know, you can change your vibe. You can make vibes better. You can change. I had a shirt like that once, but then my mom got a job. Jesus, crowd work. That was really big. I won't say the label. It's like kind of a, no, it's like, it's a fancy label. Jason Kelsey kind of look. It's very comfortable. It's very oversized though. Yeah. Yeah. I don't mind it though. It's very tent-like. It's expensive, I think. Very expensive. Very. No, I dumped so much money into this shirt. It was crazy. That was your big investment?

8:57It is an investment. they know you take out it it appreciates over time i know right now and this sounds like a weird thing but they are doing uh i saw a guy on listen it's no bullshit it was on tiktok and he was taking out uh clothes on layaway but really blingy expensive not necessities like check this shit out and he had all this stuff but clothes on layaway has been a while since i've heard that i could see if you're stuck but this guy wasn't stuck he's just like i'm gonna blow this shit up with this outfit i thought whoa now you're getting in debt with clothes that's tough that is tough no i mean not the right call i don't think no that's like an ad there's always that when you buy some an expensive article of clothing there's always that stress that i don't think ever leaves you we were like oh man did i just like it's just just so stupid and irresponsible that I just bought this article of clothing.

9:56But the stress of putting that on layaway. Yeah. The thing about clothes, I have obviously nice clothing. Obviously, Dana has. And if I get so excited, let's say, about a shirt, let's just say a shirt. Or 300 shirts. And I bring it home and I keep it on a hanger and I'm all excited. I'm not going to wear it here. I'll wear it here. Do all that rigmarole. Then I find out like a year and a half later, I'm in a clothing store trying on a new shirt I like. And the one I liked is stuffed on the floor going, I'm like, who gives a shit about this? Look at this new shirt. And I'm like, oh, this is the same feeling I had about that one.

10:32But now that one's run through the ringer and we've lost something. We've lost some of the love for it. Yeah. You got to get rid of stuff. You got to get rid of stuff. You got to clean out the closet. I mean, you know, of course you have those choice things that you keep forever, but then certain things you got to be like, once you start seeing it, is it's too much through the ringer. No, you got to get rid of it. When you lose your love. I do agree with that woman that holds up and goes, you still, what does she say? She goes, spark joy. She holds it up. Does this spark joy? And you feel it and you go, I really like this.

11:08Good memories. Keep it. This one, dead air. Nope. Out. This is nothing. I'm holding onto this. Clothes are like people. Like you can have an unneeded obligation with an article of clothing that is being micro-corrosive to your psyche. Heavy. Heavy duty. I think about this way too much. Yeah, I'm going to think about it from now on. Just because you can afford it doesn't mean you should have it. I once bought a jacket, I think at Barney's, for$1 ,000. And I could have got the same thing at Target for$88. I mean, literally the same. And for years, I referred to it as the$1 ,000 jacket. I felt ashamed of it.

11:55I eventually threw it out in anger. But there is kind of a disease when you first get a little extra money. And I would ask you, you kind of buy, did you have a very silly purchase? Did you get a Porsche? Did you have any, when you first got extra, extra?

12:13No, I don't think so. I'm always afraid that everything is a silly purchase. You know? That's smart. I definitely have, again, splurged on clothing where I'm just like, ooh, that's not good. One silly purchase was I found out it wasn't a purchase. This guy that I knew, he had a GoFundMe, and it was for his dog. and what I thought it said was my dog needs surgery or it's going to die I thought it was like the dog needs surgery so it's like oh I'm going to put a you know I had just gotten a big paycheck I think I'm like I'm going to put a good amount of money into this dog surgery to save this dog I love dogs but then after I found out the dog had already had surgery and he just needed money because he had paid for his dog's surgery.

13:19Oh, I see. Which is a completely different thing. Yeah. And this guy wasn't that good of a friend. Now I might even consider him an enemy in a way. Like I really don't like him anymore. It's heading that way. Yeah. You know what he should have put? He should have called it a go fund me. And then you just, I just want to have fun. Yeah. But I think that's great. Yeah. No, I mean. That's, that's like a curb your enthusiasm episode. Yeah. That's right. It really is. The dog was already fine. The dog was healed. He took my money. If it was a curb episode, I'd go up to him. I'd be like, Hey, uh, what are you doing?

14:06Like, I thought your dog needed the surgery. If I started getting the surgery, I'd ask for the money back. And he would go, I got the surgery, so it's your money. I put it in the surgery, so I'm filling that hole back. So it's basically the surgery money. And then the guy would be mad. The guy would be mad that you're asking for it back. What do you want the money back for? Right. That's my best Larry David. And then, no, I love it.

14:57We'll see you next time.

15:06copyfire.de slash recorder. Didn't you do Curb? What did you do on Curb? You did? Yeah, I did a short thing on Curb where I was the pig Parker and the whole bit, it was a scene where I parked slightly over the line and he got really mad at me for that. But it was sort of like, I love it. my experience on it was like, kind of like a Curb episode. because at first he thought I was like a total moron. Yeah. Because in the rehearsal, I parked, it was a huge car. I couldn't see over the hood, so I couldn't see the lines. So I park and I see him walking towards the car and he's shaking his head. And I'm like, okay, here we go.

15:54Dream come true, you know? I'm like, doing this with one of my heroes. And then he's like walking. She's like, no, no, no, no, no, no. you see you parked perfectly in the space and i'm and i look and i'm like oh no and and he's like see the whole thing is you park a little outside of the space pig parker yeah and then that affects everybody else who parks and that's why i get mad at you i'm like no no no i promise i'm not stupid no you knew that i like he restates the whole thing that you thought you didn't get at all You thought you didn't get the joke. You thought, because I didn't audition.

16:33So you thought I was just some stupid, annoying actor that didn't understand comedy at all. It is exactly a curve episode for him to walk up. Then he's explaining this show to you. And you're like, no, I know. I just can't see. If you don't park over the line, there's no joke. There's no joke, Gary. Gary. No show. And then I had this too, then like after the first tape, you know, I mean, he's laughing. So you're immediately put at ease because you're like, oh my God, he's like, he's loving it. And then we do like two takes. The second take goes even better and we're laughing together. And I'm like, holy shit, I'm sharing a laugh with him right now.

17:18And then he, and then I'm like, oh my God, it's so crazy. It's like we're literally arguing about nothing. And it's like nothing was written, like a cartoon, like coming out of my mouth. And I was trying to grab it before it reached his ears. Because it's like, that's the stupidest, cheesiest fucking thing I could say right now. And he looks at me, he goes, yeah. Stops laughing and he's like, yeah. It's pretty much the basis of my whole career. Yeah. I'm nothing. This wasn't clever. This was just nothing. That's why Larry, who's so sweet, we had him on this show. Yeah. But he's kind of intimidating because his whole comic genius is seen through everybody and everything into the minutia of what's really happening.

18:10So it kind of can get in your head a little bit sometimes. Absolutely. No. My whole thing is I am a person to constantly be seen through. i'm just like i'm just a social mess i don't like most things i say are uh it's not even offensive it's just like oh i'd rather not i feel like oh text regret is big i mean text regret in the moment i'm sending it and then you look back and you go holy shit that comes off so terrible Oh, text regret every single day. I hate it. I hate texting so much. I really do love talking on the phone. Texting gives me so much anxiety. And I mostly text because people don't want to talk on the phone as we know.

19:00You know, Brett, have you ever gotten to the thing where you are texting? First of all, I can't spell that well, so I do voice notes. But if you're texting and you're going back and forth with someone, it's funny and you're just laughing. and you spell two things wrong and you've got to go back. And I'm like, I'm not as quick now because they think I'm thinking of this joke this whole time. And then I see them starting to talk again. I'm like, no, I'm just fixing the joke. And I send it. They're like, oh, yeah, that's funny now. But it would have been funny 30 seconds ago. Right. Right. It's terrible.

19:34Yeah, it's horrible. It's so much stress. And the ghosty thing means they're reading your last text, right? So that makes it more urgent. Holy shit. That means they're starting to type. No, they're typing. Yeah. Well, that's the dots. The dots are fucking on your ass. They're coming for you. I know. They're so fast. Yeah. It's really not good for taking each other in and listening. I mean, I know this is a cliche thing to say. You know, it's been said millions of times for the last, what, like 10 years. But like, it's not good for communication. That's why I like, I love your voice notes. I think that's a better way.

20:09That's fun. definitely yeah dana gets too much he gets diluted with them i got him on him now too i know i missed that i was getting that it was was i not replying enough was that a thing no you were good i think i think our problem with our dating was you were geographically far from me and it was hard to coordinate a dinner or something in los angeles yeah okay well i'll come to you Were you Echo Park or something? Yeah. And then it was also COVID. So it was like hard to, I mean, I think you can tell I have medium to a lot of germs. And I think that threw you a little bit. Maybe. Maybe. Like maybe.

20:56Brett, let me ask you this based on you feeling like you're a social mess. besides the tragedy of the of covid was there anything about the quietness of the pandemic that calmed your brain down because i was curious just what show business shut down everything shut down and you just gotta like in the in the beginning it was that thing of like you ever get like you know you get the flu or you get a really bad cold and there's almost like something that's a relief about it you're like oh my god i don't have to do anything i can just like it gives you the excuse to just fuck yeah no one expects anything either yeah you're like i can take this time and that's what covid was at times at first it was also like oh is the world ending this is terrifying but um but at first it was like okay yeah it was just me and my now wife and our dogs and it was it was calming but then it became isolating that i mean you say you're an agoraphobe dana is that is that calming to you to be alone sometimes does it go between calming and isolating no i i'm just calming really uh there's so much stimulus uh you know World War II documentaries on YouTube.

22:21I mean, there's a lot of stuff that's really interesting. I watch it calming. I like that. But I would just say I'm an introverted extrovert on some scale. I wouldn't say it's dramatic, but when I go out there in a social situation, I lose energy after a time and want to get quiet. And other people get energy from parties and things like that. Because when I do stand up, it's so extroverted, so much energy that it sort of makes me tired, but I do love it. Yeah. I think when I'm extroverted, being really extroverted, and it goes well, like I do a performance or have a day on set that goes well, or even like I go to a party and I do social, I have a good time.

23:06Then I have more energy and I actually have to come down from it. I have to come down from it. I have a lot of energy. I have an annoying amount of energy. energy when you're shooting and you're giving it 70 are you tired yes yes did you work with swartzen what'd you do on pretend time what'd you do there we'll get to your we'll get to your other stuff stranger things right now you're going why aren't you asking me what the fans are begging the season premiere of oh my god five the date is just it's all over the web it's wild it's why stranger things scared me the show itself or like the idea i watched i was watching it the first season and i was like is this a scary show i thought there was kids and i thought it was like et or something yeah i know it's like it's i my it is really scary i mean my mother took a while to watch it and i was like no you should watch it she's like is it scary though i was like It's not that scary.

24:11It's not that scary. And then a couple days later, she called me at 3 in the morning and left a voicemail. I missed her call. And she's like, Brad, it's 3 in the morning here. I'm watching the show. You said this was not that scary, Brad. This show is very scary. But I can't stop watching it. It's well done. That's the thing. I mean, those kids like get the shit beat out of them sometimes by demons. By demons. Yeah. Yeah. A demon will just like, boom, to like a little girl. It's like very intensely violent. But like, I think it's got to be in order to have integrity, I think. Have you ever met Millie Bobby Brown?

25:00Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I have. I don't know how sets work. I don't know how it works over there. No, no. I guess I could have worked out where I didn't. Like I haven't had like, have I had, I've had like, not even like a scene with her necessarily. But no, I've met her. Yeah, I know Melody. And those three dudes are the four. How many, there's four dudes, three dudes? There's four guys, four main guys. I think I ran into them all at something and they were all pretty cool. I like them. They're all really cool. Those kids do have, they're a good, good heads on their shoulders absolutely very tough it's such a monster hit that it's probably you're at least somewhat in the business for a while where you can kind of had highs and lows and you probably i'm guessing just appreciate it and it's harder to keep your feet on the ground when it's the first thing you do is like so big yeah i think like the it's always seems to me when i'm like talking to them is that they they're either naturally that way or they've worked at making sure they stay grounded and they have people around them to keep them grounded.

26:10And they like all, the thing is like, I think too, it was kind of like their school, I think. I know I'm speaking for them, but I think they helped keep each other grounded because they were in this, you know. Yeah. They're all about the same age. They're all kind of hanging out. Yeah. The outside world is, but you know, to leave that, I always compared like friends is like when your first thing works so well, It's really hard to have everything stay in balls in the air the rest of your showbiz, right? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, because for me, the shows are real high after some other highs, but mostly lows.

26:53And also, we all have things that we loved that we really believed in and meant a lot to us that didn't do well. So you go through that, too. and you learn well not every and then we were all in things that maybe did well that we didn't really dig that much so we've had like that whole all those colors of experiences where we can stay right in that like and to keep your confidence level just throughout it all like you're still good at it or you're still a good person it's just and people look at you differently and then they pay attention and they don't pay that's that's for younger i mean as an adult it's hard So if you're younger, I know.

27:34And you're already dealing with like that type of shit as a kid or as a teenager. That's just so socially crazy. Yeah. Then you add on showbiz. How many followers you have? How many? Who's more famous on the set? Gross. I mean, it's sickening. I know. It's crazy. Shobiz Dana says it's rough out there. I just call it an emotionally violent sport. No, it's fucking really rough. It's really crazy. Well, we all do it. I think I don't want to interrupt. Sorry, but I mean, you did so much before this. You know, I watched researching, you know, with Adult Swim and Comedy Central and shows. You did something with Chris Elliott and all this stuff.

28:25and and you're you're doing well but nothing is popping and then you get this thing which i guess is the biggest show by numbers or in the last eight years no absolutely yeah i mean it's one of the biggest shows ever and it's definitely one of the biggest shows in the world right now if not like the biggest and no you really it's pretty tripped out to like be in other countries and people really know who you are and to also be like, oh, this is like kind of the equivalent of what Star Wars was, the original Star Wars was. Yeah. You know, and what those actors were seen as and that like you're seen as like a part of people's family in a way.

29:15Like it's pretty wild. I mean, like it was this and like Fleabag. Fleabag, yeah. Fleabag was like. Jumped you up there. In the industry that made me. Fleabag was a real industry one. Everyone's like, yes. Worshipped it. Awards bait. Yeah, for sure. Like that, Emmys and Golden Globes. It was like all eyes on her. All eyes on her. Everybody, no matter how big they were. Everybody was just like, when you were sitting at the table or you're sitting in the seats, you could feel people, everybody in the room watching her. It was wild. yeah so after all this time in the show business you got these one two huge critics brilliant and then stranger things so did you have absolute gratitude were you I mean how do you process or are you angry about it why didn't people see how brilliant I was 10 years ago oh yeah that's right you know fuck Stranger Things no

30:23I'm so grateful I have nothing but gratitude for it you know Stranger Things is also looked at as sort of a very interesting I mean I think that gets a lot of praise too for being such a cool you know it's not like the fleabag type of show but it's just different lens you see it and go shit they know what they're doing oh yeah no I mean I think I think it is artistically, you know, one of the best things I've ever been a part of and one of the best things out. Uh, yeah, I'm really proud to be a part of it. Yeah. I mean, you know, if it was big and it was bad, I wouldn't, I don't know if I would have the gratitude I have.

31:04I think the gratitude mostly comes from that. I get to be on a really awesome show. And then on top of that, it's those rare moments where the thing that's really good is also really successful right and it looks like you're having a blast i was looking at some clips just having a lot a lot of fun it's really fun it's like i mean playing that character is really like a character i grew up loving you know like watching like danny devito and like romancing the stone that's a great one i mean like just comedic the comedic relief and the in the big action or sci-fi thing and and that he's kind of a prick and he's grouchy and you know he's the he's the you know the truth sayer in a way but that nobody likes or wants to be like and uh yeah i mean it's just like such a kid fantasy of wanting to do this and that being one of the types of things i wanted to do you do like a year you shoot for a while and then it takes a while to come on and then people like woof it down and like in like three days and then you go god damn all that work and it's like okay what next i think they watch it like a lot of times though i think like yeah i think that's like re-watch it a lot it's kind of interesting because good in a way you have that break because people just go back and cram it over and over no it's wild it's wild i mean like people are really like when's it coming like the fans are like pissed yeah they're pissed like they're like i need it i need it yeah and uh well i you know i did this show they're gonna get a little appetizer because in this sort i did this show like i shot it like two and a half years ago and it was with the fleabag producers actually and we shot it in the UK.

33:03It's called Entitled and it's like this really crazy gothic horror comedy show and Netflix just bought it and so it's coming out. Oh, that's great. Entitled, July 15th. If someone said to you the phrase, when it rains, it pours, would you relate to that? No. Now you have another show. You got Fleabag. He's out of control He's had enough I'm greedy I want more Will it go away Is this the peak Do you have agents and managers that go Listen kid Because they're older than you We gotta plan your next move But you've already written and produced You're already a self-creative You know how to do all that Entity You're not just an actor for hire You have this massive resume Of creating your own stuff Thank you You have leverage now though Leverage They're going to be happy to see you in the room or they have been for a while.