Last Looks: Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan w/ Adam Pally

31:00It's you talking about your life. It's you doing bits. It's you singing songs as an homage to your parents. And it's just this incredibly interesting mix. It's kind of surrounded by this doc footage that reminded me of like the pilot episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, where you're following Larry getting ready for this big gig. We're following you. It's incredibly funny. These voicemails that you've seen throughout the show are great. And I was talking to you before we started recording. I was like, I hesitate to say anything too specific about the show for fear it is a spoiler. because from the minute it starts, you are on this journey and you don't know where it's going to end.

31:42And it's funny. And the rug is being pulled out. It's being pushed under you. You're you're you have firm control of what you're doing. I haven't seen a special like this. And I think that people who want to see some sort of an interesting, different comedy special, it's not a standup special. It's not a music special. And look, I'm going to tell you, I have a thing for comedians putting guitars on and the, and I was prone to not enjoy this. And I found myself, uh, absolutely loving it. No, it's great. I think the, the special to me highlights one of my favorite things about your comedic persona, which is that you are a deeply unreliable narrator, especially, especially as it refers to your own life.

32:27Um, and I feel like that is on display like full stop in this thing this thing is top to bottom classic pally mischief and that's that's what i like about that's what i love about you is you are a deeply committed mischief maker and then and it's the whole show is so funny but i just love how you're constantly setting up and undoing yourself and that is a delight to watch i don't know what to say i am uh uh really moved you guys are my heroes and it's wild to hear that I really like hear your guys voices in my head whenever I make something so it's really nice to hear that you liked it well it's incredibly unique in a sea of things where people are like starved for what's different how do you create something that's alive how do you create something that feels like I think what Jason and I love it's like this idea like you can't always communicate like these, these shows that we see that we love, right?

33:32Cause they're not just, they're not perfect for TV, but you created something that I think speaks to a special, but also feels incredibly intimate and yeah, incredibly unique. But it's also, it's yours. Like it, watching it and you had even, we've taught you and I've talked about it, what the show is. And in a way I was like, oh, I wish we'd hadn't talked about it only so that I could receive it. because what it like what it really is it is you yeah you know in every way it doesn't like to even be like oh there's these jokes or there's these songs or there's this this is just a pally right and that is pretty rad I again like I feel seen uh you know I was really wanted to have something I feel like you guys understand it especially coming from the world that we do it's like i need people usually i i always need people to like do what i do it's and sometimes that can be incredibly frustrating when you when you don't have access to to the people that you want you know or anybody sometimes and so i just wanted to like make something that was like felt it was like somebody's album or you know what i mean where it's like you you look at a moment in time of like a bob dylan record or something and you're like oh that's what that's what was that in that moment in time for that person incredible and part of me feels like that's what these specials should be right like or some of their version of them like they don't all have to be like that like they're the most amazing joke writers of all time but like i look at anthony jeselnik's last special and i was like really really um inspired by that like he yeah he's a joke machine but then he goes deeper and it's like you know but it's all him and it's like an again like you could put you know it's like you can visualize the jacket and you can visualize the the image and you're like oh that's that record and i i didn't i never had anything like that i just had the these moments that we've had on stage that were created to go away right yes our our chosen art form is ephemeral you know like everything we've done i mean not everything obviously we've all been on on tv and stuff like that but like the vast vast vast majority of hours logged for us are improv shows ephemeral that night only nobody's taping it nobody sees it again and that's that both of you guys like i've seen like jason i mean you jason you made me cry doing an improvised scene with jessica you know we're literally the audience is like gasping for air laughing and then the next moment hysterically like crying and holding them because of something you said you know that like caught to the point and paul like the first joke i ever saw in improv was i i can recount it to you now which is like i would say we put it up there in the hall of fame of like simpsons jokes which was the it was a respecto scene and hubel there was like this horrible thing happened in a village and hubel was running away from the village and someone put down a sign that was like don't go this way go the other way and then someone put down another sign after it that was like that last sign is a a liar go this way and then you came out and were like affordable signs to build and sell oh my gosh i mean like and that's good no i mean like the audience for both those shows probably 11 people maybe like you know and like i was there and it was like lightning and it's like genius but you don't but no one gets to they take it with them in the feet in the feeling of it and they try to recount it but it like doesn't hit the spot well this is why i love that like improv and and and different types of shows now are getting more traction like it used to just be like the only way you could go out on the road is to do a standup show.

37:39Then I think podcasts entered into that equation. And now I think it's expanding to bit shows, you know, uh, shows like, you know, do we're doing improv. Like the idea of doing improv on the road. I think the joke was early on in those moments where we were all doing this, like you could never take this on. There's nothing here to take on the road. Like, what are you, what are you selling? And, and it's so I think, but people just want this idea of a moment. Like we experienced something together. It's incredibly unique and no one else will get it. And I love standup. And I think it's, it doesn't take anything away from standup, but it allows you to go like, Oh, if you saw five improv shows in five different cities, it would feel like a completely different show.

38:21And that's part, and the audience makes that up. Everything makes that up. And this show that you did your, your special captures that vibe. And I think it's the intimacy of the doc crew that you have following you to get you behind the scenes of the artifice of what this even is. You know, what the special is. And then I think that that's something that I think other people have done. But you do it in a way where you are aware of that camera and making it very entertaining and not like also a naval gaze. Because I've seen that, too, like the serious version of the doc behind the thing. No, yeah, yeah.

38:56No, well, I think it's also two things. well musically and jason we talked about this a lot like you know i am a hippie like uh not even a hippie nouveau hippie of of that generation of like fish and the dead and and dave matthews and pearl jam and like that there's a feeling you get specifically or jack white to white stripes like there's a feeling you get from going to those shows where you don't know the set list before right and you know and it's like it creates a community because the people like who saw it one night are telling you this could be it and then and then they're saying this could be it and this could be it and it's all these there's a question there that's unanswered until the the lights go down and even even the best stand-up comedians that question is answered beforehand even though you're not hearing the material because of the format right because it's jokes it's one person with a microphone it's presented in this way where it's like this is my act this is this year's act and this is next year's act and this is my act and you're getting what des moines got but you might get it a little better because i learned what laughs or didn't but you're getting the same act and part of that is is like you know what we came up like i would rebel against that all the time i'd be like well i can't do that right classic classic valley but i would be like i can't even imagine myself doing that you know what i mean and then as you get older you're like oh well that's an art like that's a broadway show that's a one-man show that is a talent that is so specific those lines are memorized those emphases are are the timing is perfect it's been worked it's been rehearsed it's been figured out and and what i like about a jam band is that it's not and so you're it's like well how do i take how do i get that feeling of of con of well of what we do into that i think it's like oh i'm leaving the house and i'm paying money so why is this special because if you can go if you go pay money to see a movie it's going to be out on you can watch it at home within the course of probably three weeks so it's like why are you making me go out and and it's like well why are you making me come out to see this comedy show it's gonna be Like it's going to be, it's, and again, they're all different, obviously.

41:21Like you can go see, you know, the same material and it's done and it's fine. But it's like, but there's something about these shows that feel more alive and in a way that it's just like, oh, maybe he'll fuck up. Maybe this will go off the rails. I don't know. And I think you keep elements of that. This show feels it's only, it's shot in one day. But it, it doesn't feel crisp around the edges. Well, I was, can I, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think one of the things that I really loved about it is the special, because the special inclusive of the show and the black and white documentary scenes is what this is to me, which is a perfectly shaggy hangout special.

42:02But the idea that you cannot, because of licensing issues, show you guys actually excelling at playing the songs. Yes. Because unequivocally the thing you're there and are doing the best, playing these songs very well, clearly you've got Dave Hill there, you've got a great band there. You're not allowed to show that. So all we get access to is your fragile mind and everything. It's almost like my recollection. Right. it's like you're telling someone about the show, which is kind of brings it back to what I was saying. This is the show that so many people have talked to me about as you've been doing.

42:41Have you seen Pally's show? Oh yeah, that was great. Oh my God, he did this. He did that. Every different person, because I think it felt like, oh, he's gearing up for something. I don't know what. And, and you, in the past, you've done this too. Didn't you have like a show where you were doing like wine tasting and clothes shopping? You're like, yeah, like, you know, like, you know, so like, you know, so remind me Pally, Will you just tell us about the movie you did with Fred Armisen and Zoe Lister-Jones? Yeah, it was called Band-Aid, which Zoe wrote and directed and did everything, the music and everything.

43:10And I had to learn again. Like, I got the part by playing a song. Like, you know, it wasn't necessarily an audition process, but it was like, can you play a song and sing? And I have rudimentary guitar skills from, like, being in high school and playing, you know, in a couple bands. But because your dad did not want you to like your dad. My dad did not teach me. He did not want me to. Yeah. Like when you say that in this, it made me laugh so hard when you said like, like your dad, like your dad could have like. Yes. Given you a little something. But no. I missed that. I will say this. The part in the special where you and your dad play together is wonderful and hilarious.

43:50Oh, yeah. I love it. I love that moment. And I love the moment after where I'm yelling at him and then it gets like a little tense. is like one of my favorite moments in the special uh but um but yeah no i i i had to learn again how to do it and then i had to learn how to play in a band and then we did these shows these like big shows and that was this was like 10 years ago and it was like really eye-opening because i was like oh i i like this and and and i've i've always been embarrassed that i play guitar and and because of paul like what you said like i'm the most hyper critical of every comedian on the planet right i i anything that is foreign to me i immediately don't like i'm like you know what i mean like it's like i need to be warmed up and so i've all had that thought a million times where i'm like what am i gonna do go out on stage and play guitar like like that's not comedy that's you know what a crutch yeah you know and like um and i think i i i changed on that view because of like exactly we were saying before it's like well who cares right you know and if this is part of the premise of what i'm doing then you gotta pick up a guitar yeah and and that was kind of And it was kind of like, I don't know.

45:16It was kind of like being like, yeah, I am one of these guys. Well, now let me ask you this. I don't want to put you on the spot here, but you did workshop this primarily at the Rihad Comedy Festival. Now, I do want to give you a moment to just talk about why you went there. You know, just get that off your chest. You know, I want to I want to I want to just hear it from you. Well, I went there for money. I went there for money. no no he's Adam is not I have not I'm hesitant even to make a joke like I don't even Paul you did say you had three gotchas for Pat I got two more two more coming up two more coming up don't worry I space them out so again comfortable again you did talk about my headset tattoos that's just because you did like the Fox News show you talk about being uncomfortable and I will tell you that one of the things that has caused so much drama in my household is a show that you are currently on right now, The Great American Baking Show, the Celebrity Halloween Edition.

46:20It's you, Patton Oswalt, Leslie Jones, and Rachel Dratch, hosted by our friend, friend of the show, Casey Wilson and Andrew Rannells. Now, June, I think we will be the first to say this show gave her like a full-on panic attack, nervous breakdown, so much so that we have not watched it. We're not allowed to watch it nor has june's come out oh yes it's that june's came out they warned me about june yeah see on roku yeah june i was first of all i was i wear this with a badge of honor people brought june's name up to me behavior wise many times see i like i like they hadn't seen my sort of behavior since june so i wear that well that makes me now want to watch this because i'm not allowed to watch the other one so you can watch that on the roku channel and what a great crew because you have pat and leslie and drach on there that was so fun and so stressful like i will i do empathize with june like it is stressful like you think it's going to be casual and you think it's going to be but then they're extremely harsh about the judging which hurts no matter what right like and the judges are the same as it's still hollywood improve right but it's not like celebrity jeopardy where the questions are toned down it's like the same thing it's not easy like what ike barren holds has to do on yeah no i see those questions didn't graduate high school you're telling me illuminati uh but yeah like it was totally so i was i was totally stressed out there's so many rules there's so many b's you're cooking outside for god knows why reason right like i i don't understand why they do that like and it's just production is hell there's like hay fever like british hay fever everyone's like sniffling and being like right we're doing this in the worst possible time well then why why do this we don't need the tent isn't part of the show So anyway, that is like, again, that is out on Roku.

48:23And your podcast with Gabrus has been a delight to listen to. You two together. I love Gabrus. I love you. He's the funniest. Thank you. And you guys, it's called Staying Alive. And it's basically you're talking to some wellness experts. You're also talking to some people about how they stay, how to stay healthy. You're getting to a certain age. there's a, there's a moment where you're just kind of, I was listening to Flanny talk about this, uh, Flanny who runs Largo was on Mark Marin. It's a great listen. If you've not heard that it's awesome. Uh, but just like you get to a certain age and you start to worry about these, these things, like, what do I have?

49:00What do I try to get? What am I trying to get rid of? And how do I do better? You know? Uh, and I love the podcast cause it, it, it's one of these podcasts. I think you can take away valuable things from without it being like, Oh my God, I'm about to die or I'm or I'm so freaked out that I'm changing everything in my life. Well, it's got that thing, which is it's a great it's about health and wellness and all that kind of stuff in that space. But it's hosted by you two dummies. Yeah. Which is all I really want to hear is you and Gabrus chopping it up. Sometimes it's with a scientist or a doctor or an expert.

49:35And then sometimes it's with Mike Mitchell from Doughboys or Carl Tartt or people that you guys know and hang out with, but nonetheless are still going to talk about their, their, you know, like how, how, um, how in shape they are or whatever, you know, whatever version of their health journey. And that's, what's fun is to hear it through your guys lens. Absolutely. Thank you. Yeah. Like, well, we don't know what we're doing and we don't, we're not, you know, I feel like the average person is just trying to swim like swim through a sea of ads and recommendations and you know doctors prescriptions and non-doctor prescriptions it's like the the and and everyone just wants everyone's just scared of dying which is so empathetic like you know it's just that's that's all it is everyone's just so scared of dropping dead and so we'll we'll do anything to like prolong that and i the same and so talking about that thing is kind of freeing in a way because we're all walking around with our little medicine bags you know with our little routines but we don't want oh you mean my am pm pill case that now sits on my kitchen cabinet oh my god you should see my i i take pills as the amount of pills that i take daily it i should be sitting in a nursing home with a bike helmet on.

50:56But like, I just don't want to keel over yet. Yes. Part of the problem is our, the, the, the, the, we're so focused on billionaires and extreme wealth and all of this kind of stuff. And all of those people believe that their money is going to keep them alive forever. And what everybody should instead be recognizing is we are all gonna die. And we should i wish all the billionaires were like let me instead demonstrate how to live a full life and how to die responsibly yeah wouldn't that be great well and by the other way the other thing is like hey look i guess i'm gonna live a a forever and i will be so fucking miserable because my days are spent not enjoying anything it doesn't seem like there's any joy in their life it's like just to live like and i've seen a lot of older people uh so cool you've seen a lot of older people that's awesome oh i mean i well i pay for it i pay for it um and i'm and i get great footage i get exclusive stuff but like yeah the truth is is like well what good are you if you're alive and none of your friends are right like it's like it's like it's progressively more and more lonely it's not like oh i don't want to die today of course you don't want to die today but uh you know at a certain point you're like well i think i think i've done my time here i've figured it out i'm ready to go do you remember the scene in white lotus where the last one where like there's a party going on and the dude is just like sitting in the house in thailand the older guy and he's like watching and and he knows that his that his like young french wife is off with the boys and like that reminds me of like the jeff bezos wedding yeah right right right yeah what i mean where it's just like he's 40 years older than every guest at that wedding and they're just like partying and spending money and i doubt he has like more than like one or two close friends The rest are just like celebrities or billionaires or whatever that like interact with him transactionally and stuff like that.

52:51But there, no matter how full the night was, there was a moment where he was sitting there alone and he was like, holy shit, I'm going to die. You know, it used to be that it took a show like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous or something to give us access to the extreme wealth to pull the curtain behind. Like, you know, it used to be when you got to be that rich or wealthy, it meant that you could retreat from society. You could retreat from you could buy a private island. You could retire. It was gauche. It was gauche to show people your house. And now to not just not just is it like so in fashion to demonstrate so outrageously your wealth demonstrably show it all the time on social media or whatever.

53:37it's also weird that all these billionaires now that they are so wealthy all they want to do now is be so popular yeah they just want to be loved they want to be loved across the board and immortal and they want to live they and because it's like every and they want to be funny because i think they think they're out running their old selves in a lot of ways it's like the longer i stay around the less people remember what i was and this is who i am now and i'm not even that person anymore a lot of them are so delusional you know what i mean like so i i that's the the one of the most fun things about the podcast is like finding out that a lot of the health industry is like snake oily yeah well it's always been i mean much of it i mean it's like this idea of like this the diets the diets that are going to change everything you know and it's and i always think like whenever i see somebody do it i'm like well at the end of the day just like exercise a little just try to have a little restraint.

54:33They don't have to go full on anything, but people are like, no, no, now my whole life is only this. And then that lasts for six, eight months or two weeks or whatever it is. And then you go, you fall back. It's built to kind of pull you back in. Yeah. One of the things I like about the podcast too is again, you guys are just, it's one of the things that's on display so much is the same thing that I loved about 101 places to party before you die. Oh my gosh. The travel show that you and Gabrus also did for, I believe is maybe now on HBO Max. Yeah, HBO. Okay. I cannot recommend it enough. I've recommended it on this show before.

55:09It's fantastic because it's a travel show. And of course, I love a travel show. But really what I loved about it is it is a show about male friendship. We talk all the time right now about like, oh, loneliness epidemic. Men have no friends. Men don't know how to have friends. the you and Gabrus are so effortlessly demonstrating male friendship in a way that is so fun and also so funny on that show and I feel like that comes through into the podcast as well but also then is in service of you know talking to experts and talking to doctors and all this other stuff but in a way that's so much more approachable than if you just were to dial up a another interview with that same, if you were like, I want to talk to a sleep doc, I want to hear a podcast with a sleep doctor because I'm having trouble sleeping.

55:59I'm the version of it that you guys do incredible, you know? Um, because that's, you know, I want to hear two regular guys try to parse this out for themselves, you know, truly no joke, truly no fricking joke. Like one of the hardest things to crack uh and i feel like true uh an american struggle like i know it happens around the world but they're but like we are not addressing like people dying in their sleep yeah no it's crazy but you know and that's those are the kind of conversations that i think are necessarily especially for middle-aged guys like us but boy is it fun to listen to you and gabris chop it up with people i'm obsessed with it i just want what we talk about it's what whenever I see a friend and they look good, I'm like, what are you doing?

56:46What's going on over there? You know what I mean? It's normalizing that kind of conversation that I think especially men don't have. I don't want to generalize it too much, but I think that that's, it's a good thing out there. And it's one of many good things, Adam, because right now we can watch your special. We can listen to your podcast. We can watch you bake on the level of June, which makes me more excited than anything. Well, I don't know how bake. Behave. Behave. Okay, got it, got it. Well, I am so happy. Dude, thank you so much. I'm sorry I cried again. I feel like every time you guys have me on, I cry, but it's really caught me off guard, and I...

57:25The show is great. You are fantastic. Always doing such great, great stuff. You're the best, buddy. Love you. Thank you. Love you, buddy. Thank you, Jason and Adam, for just chatting with me. But now it's finally time to announce our next movie. Next week, we'll be going from a Jason in Manhattan to a Jason on Mars. Wait, what are we doing? Freddy in Space? Oh, no, no, no. We're doing Jason Statham on Mars because we're watching the 2001 film John Carpenter's Ghost of Mars starring Jason Statham, Ice Cube, Natasha Hendritch, Clea Duvall and Pam Greer. I've never seen this movie and I am so excited.

58:08Here's IMDb's breakdown of the plot. 200 years in the future, a Martian police unit is dispatched to transport a dangerous prisoner. But when the team arrives, they find the town deserted and the remaining inhabitants possessed. Oh, hell yes. Oh, well, now, oh, hell no, because I just saw that Rotten Tomatoes gives this film a 23 score on the tomato meter. And Bruce Fetz from Entertainment Weekly said it's disheartening to see the master of horror bringing himself to both write and direct a film with such a prepubescent understanding of horror. Ooh, Bruce, that one hits low. Don't do that to John Carpenter.

58:48He demands your respect. By the way, I had a friend saw him in concert. That dude is the best. Ever seen him just smoke cigarettes and just play video games and talk to Robert Rodriguez? He's the coolest motherfucker of all time. I love John Carpenter and I will not have anyone speaking ill of him, but we will speak ill of this movie. You can stream Ghost of Mars on the Roku channel, but don't just stream it yet. Why don't you get a little taste of it by listening to the trailer? It was supposed to be a routine prisoner transport. Williams was arrested on the suspicion of murdering six rail workers.

59:23The bodies were hung and decapitated. But here, a million miles from home. hello

59:34they're about to discover nothing is what it seems the hell is going on out there whatever used to live here we woke it up it takes us I'm talking about a kind of possession go get out of here John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars alright now the Ghosts of Mars is not just available on the Roku app It's also available on, get this, the Criterion Channel. Yes, and Apple TV as well as Amazon Prime. In addition, I encourage you to check out Hoopla, Canopy, and Libby. Oh, I love Libby, which are digital media services offered by your local public library that allow you to consume movies, TV, music, audiobooks, e-books, and comics for free.

1:00:17All right, that is it for Last Looks. If you listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please remember to rate and review us. Please rate and review us. It makes this show go higher. and the algorithm, and that's important nowadays. Also, make sure you're following us so you have automatic downloads turned on, and that allows you to not miss a damn thing. You can follow us on social media and see what our brand new social media master, Zoe Applebaum, is doing. And a big thank you to our producers, Scott Sonny, Molly Reynolds, and our movie-picking producer, Averill Halley, as well as our engineer, Casey Holford, and our brand new intern, Quinn Jennings, who worked tirelessly on this episode.

1:00:57We'll see you next week for John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars. Wow, it's hard to do two plurals back to back. All right, next week. Bye for now.