Session 133: Paul W. Downs

27:13I know, I know. And I was like, oh, my God. I get it. Yep. I get it. Yep, totally. I would have to, like, crack. It started probably with, like, cracking my knuckles on one hand. I'd have to do the other one. Yep, yep. If I snapped, I had to snap. You know, it was about, like, a balance thing. Are you on meds for it? No. Are you? Yeah. Okay. 300 milligrams. Wow. Okay. Yeah. And I think that's why. Does it work? It works when I don't smoke weed. Oh, interesting. So that's why I'm like, I think I need to. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think I need to be off it. I can. Sometimes I have the compulsion not to have a compulsion, which I know sounds crazy.

27:47Wait. Because I know what you mean. Sometimes I'd be like, oh, my, because it's almost like a good luck thing. Is that why you do it? It's magical. It's magical thinking. Magical thinking. It's superstition. It's magical thinking. I used to do it like before a race when I was swimming I would have to like stretch a certain way you were a swimmer? I was yeah I was the captain of my high school team no way yeah I walked on in college for like two days and was like no this is D1 I cannot you know would you go to college again? I went to Duke okay right so it was a real deal so even though I was I was a good swimmer and I swam on club teams and in high school I was not I couldn't devote my life to it you know and in a very dorky way I couldn't do I couldn't do sketch or improv comedy if I did the team really.

28:28You can't balance. Honestly, you're doing practice in the morning, practice at night. It's like, you know. Do you not do stand-up anymore? I haven't in a long time because of, you know, because of the show. I do it occasionally. Like, Meg will ask me to do her show or, you know, like I'll do it occasionally if there's if someone's doing a XYZ person and friends. But I don't do it regularly, no. I haven't had time really to write material. So I'd be doing old material. Got it. You know. But I do miss it. I love doing it. I did it when I was in like seventh grade and I've never had the courage to do it again.

29:03What? Yeah, I don't know how to write a joke. You were a child, how did you stand up? What? That seventh grade is young. Yeah, they put me at the, my parents put me at the Gotham kids thing. No. Yes, and I. Well, you'd be great at it. I think you'd be perfect for it. I think that's why I like Meg so much because I like what she does. I like her version of stand up. Like stream of consciousness. Yeah. Like random core. That's what I would do when I was on stage. You should do it. I think you'd be great. I just don't know how to write a joke. I know that sounds so stupid. You tell them all the time.

29:33I know. But also you could do the things you do. You know? Right. Like you seeing Michelangelo's Statue of David, you could just do that in the show. You know what I mean? Right. Because it's so funny. It's so hard to... I felt so burnt out by those skits towards the end of it. I think I must have done like 200. Well, that's how I first came to know your work. Right. Because, you know, they were so funny and passed around. And Lucie would be like, have you seen this one? You know, so. I got to get back into it. It's worth it. I got to get back into it. And I think that is like a perfect little micro impression for stand-up.

30:04I know. I know. I need to see Meg at the Largo. Yes. That's what I need to see. Let's go together. Family trip. Family trip. Okay, family trip. And then Italian food. Yes. Because you guys are the most Italian people I know. We are very Italian. Yeah. I'm only half, but Lucie and Genevieve are 100%. Uh-huh. Lucie was born there. What? She was born in Italy. She came to this country without a dollar to her name, without a word of English. She was one. Okay. I was about to say. I'm always like lean into that. You got to say that. I was about to say, I did not know that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She was one.

30:32Actually, and you know what? It's so funny. One of the reasons she came, this is a callback. One of the reasons she came to this country is her mom and dad. Her mom was born in America. Her dad was born in Italy. They went back to Italy. They won a bunch of money in Monte Carlo or something when they were gambling. They decided to stay. They had her. and then her mother couldn't send photos back to her family in the states because the post office went on strike so much and she's like we got to go back i can't do this i can't do the strikes yeah and she also missed chocolate chips do they not have chocolate chips i guess they don't i guess you had to break up chocolate to make chocolate chip cookies i don't know it was like a baking thing so she needed her desserts you know i get that do you guys ever miss the east coast because lucia and genevieve are from massachusetts and you're from new jersey you know we go back enough that I don't miss it.

31:17I miss my family, but I'm not, I'm not going back to the humidity or the cold or, you know what I mean? I know it's like the weather is the reason, but it's, I don't miss it. I know. I love the people. When I'm there, I love it. And when I go to New York, I'm like, this is great. It's a great place because I've lived there. I lived there for so long that it was a great place to be when I was young doing comedy. Cause you really have to be tough. And now I'm too soft. Now I'm like, I can't. You feel like you're softer now? After being in the public eye? in some ways, yeah. In some ways I am. Tell me.

31:49But I'm also softer in terms of like creature comforts. You know what I mean? Like having a yard, you know, and having like room to move around. Sorry, that's a brag. I do have a yard. Very nice yard. Well, thanks. But you know, it's like when you're in New York, it's great to be interacting with people, but you're like, never not. You know what I mean? It's like so loud. You're always touching people. You're in the subway. It's just like, and it's like the energy. Everyone's like, I love the energy of New York. I'm like, it's possessed. The energy is possessed. People are in the East Village like walking around like zombies.

32:19I'm like, it's, you know, I love New York, but I wouldn't want to live there. It's a great place to visit. And then after three days, I'm like, I'm hungover. I also eat and drink so much more there. I don't know what it is, but I'm like, you walk more. That's true. You do walk much more. I'm like in a New York kick right now. Well, you could walk. You could walk. What is it? 40 minutes. I do. I do do that. No, you don't. Yeah, I do. Well, Well, when I can't, well, I have an injury right now, so I, like, can't work out, and I, like, need to move my body or else I'll go insane. So I'll, like, walk to all the way down there.

32:46It's good for your brain. It is. Walking is really good for your brain and your body. It is. Yeah. New York energy is possessed. I've had so, well, growing up, I had, I was unmedicated and I had mental breakdowns every day. But, like, I don't have mental breakdowns here the way I had them in New York. Yes. Well, and you don't think it's the place. Well, it's weird, though, because I feel so much more isolated here. and I will never forget my mom saying that to me like because my parents are both from New York but I was born in LA raised in New York like back and forth yeah I didn't know that okay I lived in Los Feliz when I was one like oh oh wow yeah and I my mom was like I hate LA I'll never go back it's the most isolating place in the world and the example she uses is one time I threw up on the street after eating abbott's pizza and no one i like was projectile vomiting and everyone in la was just walking past on like abacani and she was like if we were in new york somebody would have asked if you were okay okay i think that's right i get that and i was like oh i guess you're right and i'll never unsee it now now i feel like when i feel lonely here it's tenfold that's okay well i'm gonna counter it do you mind please i don't want to give you rebuttal to your life experience experience that's how pretentious is that okay when we first moved here i would say the very first week we went to la poubelle we had a drink and a married couple tried to take us home and i was like okay they're friendly here oh wow and then we were online at the grocery store and this woman turned around and overheard what we were saying and engaged in like a 20 minute conversation with us as we walked to our car so i was like people here were too friendly to me in my experience i was like people are very in a way that in new york no one's a rastidi's turning around and being like, you know, I don't know.

34:26It just, it felt like a really different place. God, Chris T.D.'s is the most insane callback I've ever heard in my entire, I don't know, like literally. They're still there, right? I don't even know. There's one in 86. Okay. And between Broadway and West End. This one was on 26th. They had a great candy aisle. Yeah, I think 26th and 8th. They have a great candy aisle. Oh, you know what? Yes, that's right. There's one in the village still, I think. And there's a, I wonder, is key food still around? Must be. I don't know. I just went to a, I always say the name wrong. What is it? Fairway? Sidarella.

34:56Sidarella. I was never a Sidarella guy. Really? I was Zabars. Oh, okay, sure. Zabars was across the street from my high school. Okay. So I would go there every day. Yeah, I used the mug very often. I got the mug. The very famous mug. Yeah, we shot Broad City in there. Oh, yeah, you did. Yes, we did, yeah. God. That was iconic. That was fucking iconic. Yeah, that was fun. Talk about one of the best TV pilots of all time. Wow, you think so? I know so. We talk about it. Me, Genevieve, and Paul talk about it all the time. Wow, that's cool. Yeah. That's great. The simple act of just searching for money for a Little Wayne concert.

35:30That's right. They just need to get ticket money. That's right. Yeah. And it sets up the most, it sets up everything. You set up everything. We used to say tiny missions. Yeah. Every episode was a tiny mission. And New York made every mission impossible. And that was a great guiding light for the show. I'm like laughing, thinking about it. It's like the best show ever. Do you have a favorite Broad City moment, Louise? Oh, my God. It's like her favorite show of all time. Oh, okay. I've seen it. Oh, I didn't know that. It'll give you a Trey Solstice bow. that's so nice oh my gosh um is that the same episode where you go to the ikea no no that's working girls that's episode yeah that's like the the fourth episode or something they go oh wait a minute no episode is no i was thinking of the one where they go to costco that's working girls the one where they go to ikea abby gets a yellow hat and dates a girl for the first time yeah yeah yeah yeah and the yellow hat is a you know my favorite kangol hat what my favorite is when who loses their fucking phone um abby abby lost phone abby and the entire episode she's searching for this fucking phone yeah and she finally finds it with this girl in like a froyo shop so funny that girl i remember that girl yes she's hysterical where is that girl i don't know she was really good she but and she was like oh my god i need to i'm gonna see now i want to get high and watch broad city okay well you can do that that's safe i know watching run city is safe it's the safest there is you're not gonna have an out-of-body experience like that did you take anything you learned from filming broad city with you into hacks oh yeah and you know abby alana jen luci and i all came from that like ucb improv sketch comedy scene yeah it's a small scene you You guys all know each other.

37:12It is a really small scene. It's a very small world. And I, you know, I think Abby and Alana started Broad City as a web series. Around the same time, Lucia and I were making YouTube videos because that's how we all started. We like taught ourselves how to edit. We like did all, we held the boom mic. You know what I mean? Like we did, we just like fake it till you make it. And the reason we did that is because it was hard at the time. It was like there was a lot of, even though it was a small scene, a lot of people wanted to be on the main stage. And it was hard to get stage time. And so we all kind of did stuff outside of the system a little bit.

37:43And I ended up being in the web series and Lucia directed some of the web series. And so it led to us, you know, doing the show. And I think a lot of what we learned doing improv, like the idea of yes and, the idea of like agreement, the idea of a mistake being something that can be woven in and actually making the thing better. A lot of that we still use now. Another thing we learned and we tried to do in Broad City and we tried to do in Hacks is that while every scene should like serve the story and tell the story, it should also have a comedic game. So there should be something else happening that's funny and repeatable, a pattern you can repeat.

38:23And that's like an improv 101 thing. And so I don't think everybody who writes necessarily has that exact way in, but it's something that we have always done. and only recently were we, they're doing a, Matt Walsh is doing a book about UCB, can I say that? I don't know. Like a oral history of it and so we were talking to him about it and we were like, oh yeah, we actually do use a lot of like those tenets of improv in our everyday life and in the making of the show now. And in Broad City, it was really scrappy. You know, it was like low budget, Comedy Central show. They like let people who had never, talk about people who've never been on TV, we'd never written TV, none of us.

39:03Chris Kelly was in the room and he had done some SNL, but none of us had written narrative TV. They let us figure it out. And we kind of had to just push through insecurity and doubt and just do it. And we still do that, you know, that we're like, can we get in the Louvre? You know, and you just have to push through and be like, we're going to do it. We'll figure it out. Like, are you susceptible to like critical reception of your work? Like, do you feel like impacted when someone doesn't like your stuff? Or are you confident enough in it that you're like, I don't care? Okay, I'll say this. Feedback about the work, like reviews, make their way to me when, honestly, when they're really good, because I don't read them.

39:45But other people do. And if someone's like, hey, they saw something in the show that I didn't even see, or this was a really insightful piece of writing about the show, I will read it. Because I'm so appreciative of people's take on it, and it does make you feel very seen if they get it, or if they get something out of it that you didn't even realize was a part of the work. So I do appreciate like good writing about work, but for me, it's more about output than input because you know, the one bad thing it's same with like a comment or a tweet, like the one bad thing will kill you. Yeah. You know what I mean?

40:20And it will stay in your brain. And I just try to let it be putting the work out and then not, because that's the thing. If you like, if you get like a big ego because you're hearing all the good things, you have to also take into account the bad things you know and that's unpleasant it's so unpleasant and hey criticism of work is really important because people find it that way it's like a really important part of the process right and yet everybody's a critic now you know and it's it's so it's that's the issue everyone's a critic yeah of everything of everything of like you know if you're if you're on if you're on social media of how you look you know what i mean people are critics of everything i would so much rather someone be so nasty about what i look like than how if i if i'm unfunny oh yeah and it's like the only thing that i think one can be more vain about than their looks is like if they're a comedian is how funny they are well yeah a piece of work the joan rivers dog she says um she's like comedians are the most insecure people on the planet yeah because you just want someone to laugh you're like laugh with me laugh at me just laugh yes yes you know i i see so much of that documentary in hacks do you guys watch that percent we did watch it um and rachel hamilton who was a great improviser and a coach of ours was a producer of it and what was really fascinating and one of the reasons we wanted to make the show was at the time there were people who were not that much younger than us pretty much our generation some of whom who had known joan rivers to just be like an e-news correspondent what they were like she's a fashion correspondent they didn't know that she almost hosted the tonight show right they didn't know that she got blackballed yeah so that did definitely impact us because we were like can you imagine being somebody who doesn't know like the path she paved for comedians especially women in comedy so that was like a big a big factor in just us being like oh no this is this is telling the story of someone whose story has not been told because nobody cared to listen is the reason we have to make this show.

42:27Yeah. I would say that it's one of the more moving pieces of comedy I've ever seen. Yeah. It's so good. Yeah. It's so good. And there's a lot of Joan and Debra. I see so much of Joan and Debra because Joan was like my idol growing up. Really? Yeah. I loved her. I loved her. She was just relentless. Have you read her books? No, I don't read. You should. Well, you can get the, you know. Holy shit, that was so painful. No, no, it's okay. It's okay, this is a safe space. Holy shit, that was, it's actually, you know what? It's funny you say that this is a safe space. It's not. But it's okay. Not everybody reads.

43:06This episode of Therapist is brought to you by Booking.com. Booking dot, yeah! I was looking at photos from Vegas the other day with all my friends, which we booked on Booking.com because it is the easiest place to book any type of group travel or any travel in general. And I was like, I really want to go on a group trip soon. So then I started thinking about Labor Day, which led me down a booking.com rabbit hole, which I find myself on very frequently, to search for places to plan a Labor Day vacation. Because the only way a trip in my friend group is happening is if we use booking.com, because it accommodates every single person's needs and finds us a place that is perfect for that.

43:42Because as we like to say, as long as we have a roof over our head, we can basically do anything. Booking.com gets that sorted for us so we can plan the rest of the trip. Like it takes the hardest part of the trip planning away so we can then plan the rest of the trip. Also, my friend group, as you can imagine, is like everyone has a different opinion on where they want to stay. Everyone has a different opinion on what they need. And so Booking.com is able to consolidate all of that and find us the best place possible to stay for a vacation. And it also has incredible rates. Like it has places we might not have found before.

44:13Like Booking.com just is our go-to. I mean, as you guys know, I used it on tour all the time. We would pull up to a city, no hotel in sight, and Matt would book on Booking.com and he would find the perfect hotel every time. You know, there's so many hotel options in Vegas and it's sometimes just hard to pick one and Booking.com really helps narrow down the facts of what each hotel has so it makes it easier for us to end up deciding on one. We're a very indecisive group and Booking.com helps us become more decisive. Go on, book that trip. It's easy. Booking.com Booking. Yeah Should we do the Tell Me What's Wrongs?

44:50You don't know what the Tell Me What's Wrongs are Let me tell you what the Tell Me What's Wrongs are Pussy's right in and they tell us what's wrong Okay And Yes I've seen Yes I know Okay I forgot my husband and I's fifth year anniversary There's like seven eyes I feel horrible and he's been so sweet telling me how truly okay it is But I don't believe him for a second especially since we've helped each other be more intentional thoughtful people Okay, they're in couples. They're in couples. Okay. Right. Wait, what'd you say? They're in couples. Therapy, maybe. Oh, it seems. Intentional. I know she's using words.

45:22Yeah, yeah, yeah. How, how, how do I make this up to him? Please, I'm too guilty to think of anything cute. I forget my dad's birthday every year. You do? Every year. You know, it's hard. You know, it's hard. Keeping track of dates is really hard, especially if you have ADD. I don't know if you do. I do. I do too. What does she do? We're very similar. I know. We're Scorpios from the tri-state area with OCD and ADD. Okay. Right? Twin flames. Right? A little bit. Uh-huh, uh-huh, yeah. What does she do? I think it's forgivable to miss an anniversary. I guess he must not have missed it. He must have done something really nice for her.

46:00Right. I would just say you've got to pamper him. You've got to treat him well. What does he really like? What does he really like that he doesn't get a lot? Right. You know? I'm picking up. Okay. Well, I'm putting down. Well, you're putting down. Yeah, I don't know. Just do something. Do something nice. I mean, he clearly doesn't give that much of a fuck. I don't think he's going to divorce you because of that. Right. It's okay to miss a fifth anniversary. Well, I'd be so mad. I guess fifth is like a nice round number, but. I'd be so mad. Would you? If my husband missed my anniversary. Oh, I would never let him forget it.

46:30It's so funny. I wouldn't care. Really? Well, that's because you're in real love. Is that why? Because the love is real. The love is real. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Your husband is so in love with you. He could give less of a shit. Yeah, don't worry about it. It's okay. I think don't, just move forward. Right. Just move forward. Yeah. I have a severe spending problem. Shit. I feel this. I might not be able to help. Okay. No, I have the worst. Do you? It's really out of control. Oh, I'm very frugal. Oh, I used to be. Hmm. I don't like to spend. I don't like to spend, and yet you leave the house, it's$100.

47:02Don't you find this? I have like a, like lately, like I've been like clothes have been my thing. Oh, yeah. Anything. Yes. Well, fashionista. Yeah. I know. I'm seeing you at Dior. We hung out all night at Dior. I know. That was fun. Very fun. Very Hollywood. Very Hollywood. Very cool. We made it. I have a severe spending problem. I'm in college and have to pay for school and want to save for all the important things in my life, like a wedding and buying a home. Okay. Interesting. Very heteronormative. Okay. But we don't know what kind of wedding. Maybe it's a same-sex wedding. We don't know. But that is a good point.

47:33It's interesting. Okay. Sorry. Sorry to editorialize. No. Editorialize away. Okay. But I just can't stop spending money on materialistic items like clothes, shoes, and so much more. I just don't know how to stop and actually save my money. Please help. Okay. Well, you can't take it with you. And I think if it brings you joy, do it. You got to be responsible. But I think just go for it. I don't know. She wants help, though, to save. My idea is like if you're saving all this money for a wedding and then you're not buying the things you actually want to buy in real time, then the wedding is going to be far less enjoyable because the pressure on it will be so much higher.

48:06That's so true. Because you had saved for so long. And the wedding is one night. I give low-key good advice. That's really good advice. Honestly, it's not low-key. That's high-key. That's good. Thank you. I think if you put it all on the wedding, not only is there a lot of pressure, but it's one night. Right. It's one night. Yeah, you're going to have photos. But how often are you going to look at the photos? But you want to buy that pair of shoes? Think about cost per wear. Well, that's my thing. Think about cost per wear. I would so much rather spend money on something I'd wear every day or can sell in the future.

48:34Okay. Like, you know what I mean? I got to get your Grailed Link, your private Grailed Link. Okay. Right? Oh my God, Grailed. Yeah. Oh no. I know what I'm doing this afternoon. I forgot that website existed. Oh, you're kidding. No, I literally forgot. I do a lot of, actually, you know what's a good hack? Gem. G-E-M. It searches, like if you want to search something, it searches Grailed, Depop, eBay, Etsy. It searches like all these like resale sites. Uh-huh. So you can find the thing you want. Ooh, I would prescribe Confessions of a Shopaholic, the best movie of all time. for this person yeah oh that's pretty good oh my god have you seen that movie where she puts the credit card in the freezer and the ice and she's oh that's good yeah she's in the kitchen like slamming on the it's the best movie it's what is it the green scarf the green scarf yeah I am cultured you are you don't need to read a freaking book yeah who needs books no just rewatch Hacks don't read anything what was your season you're most proud of this one this one I think the final season is the best season I mean season one was great because it was new and we got to make it you know there was so many things about it that were great but I don't know I think this season but it's also hard to choose I think my favorite moment and I'm sure others would agree with me in the entire show is I would wouldn't you so not a Jimmy Cala moment well my favorite Jimmy Cala moment is Is, I told you, the bat mitzvah.

50:06Oh, yes. That was fun. When she wears the lingerie in the hotel room. Classic. Or when, bitch, I love you, bitch. Oh, my God. Bitch, you got this, bitch. Yeah. Oh, my God. She's funny. Yes, no, I would, wouldn't you. That was really fun. Was that scripted? That whole thing? Yes, that was scripted. And we figured that out, I think, on day one of that season. Because we knew that we were getting to her getting the show and then not getting the late night thing. But then, or not getting the head writer job. But I think it was day one of the writer's room that we were like, she takes it. So baller.

50:43So it was really fun. So unlike Ava too. I know, but so like Debra. So like, yeah. And Debra gave her these lessons. Yeah, that was a fun. And that was actually the first day back from the strike. Oh. We went on strike and, you know, the industry went on strike. and then our first day back was that, which was like such a big scene. And I think even Hannah was like, geez, I have to do this like huge scene right now. And it's interesting. Like in the moment, sometimes you're like, I don't think we knew even in the moment how great that would feel until we watched the edit and we were like, that feels so good.

51:13I'll never forget. I was literally sitting on my couch over there with all my friends and we were like, we just witnessed great television. Wow, that's cool. Yeah. We just witnessed great television and you went and had me for it. Yeah, that was cool. Yeah. Well, thanks for group watching it. That's nice. Oh, I always group watch Hacks. Really? All my friends watch it. Everyone watches it. That's great. Everyone watches Hacks. So did you watch the finale with people? I watched it with my best friend Charlie last night. Oh, that's great. Oh, I know Charlie. Yeah. That's cool. Oh, my God, you bet it's you.

51:39Yes, yeah. Yes, I totally forgot about this. We watched it last night. Oh, good. And we were like, damn. You cried? I mean, that scene. Yeah, I cried when they were dancing in the club. That's when Lucia is most impacted. I don't know why. Me, it's the church right after that, that I'm like a mess. oh yeah yeah when she lights the candle yeah and also when that song there's that lyric true love that comes in in that song and i'm like oh it just really gets me it's when a when ava's accepting what happens yeah and it's like also when um deborah goes to write a joke realizing she wants to live oh my god like yeah and then charlie looks at me and goes oh she doesn't want to die yeah she goes to write the joke yeah and in that moment i saw joan rivers oh in that moment i saw joan with her book because joan talks about her her book and she in the in her documentary a piece of work she points to an empty page and she goes this this is the scariest thing the scariest thing on planet earth yeah and in that moment when jean goes to write the joke and she realizes that she's not she's dying charlie's like oh she's gonna live i mean i mean there's also so much that's I'm going to kill myself.

52:52And she's like, you say you want to kill yourself all the time. And Hannah's like, I don't mean it. Yeah. She doesn't want to kill herself. She just wants to die. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, my first ever research paper in eighth grade was on euthanasia. You're kidding. Swear. Really? Yeah. Love it. Wow. Love it. Love it. Love it. I do. It's great. Charlie and I were like, yeah, that's the shit right there. Well, this is like a talk about a tone shift, but I am like, it does feel like the thing in Haxie we would investigate is like this right to life thing and like dying with dignity. And it feels like Ava would so be on the side of, yeah, you should be able to end your life.

53:28Yeah. Except when it comes to someone you love. It's so hard to walk the walk when it comes to someone you love, you know? Yeah. Because that would be something that Ava would be like, this is great. And Debra would be like, no. Yeah. So interesting. But Debra loves control. She does love control. Yes. Yeah. you know who made me crack the fuck up during my episode was what's her name she was the the HR person that was required oh my gosh um Michaela Watkins the funniest person I've ever so funny did you not know her before that no I knew her yeah she's so funny but she kept every single time she would do something different and it was just like same with Meg yeah she would be like in the one air Meg would go fuck him raw yeah oh my god I'm so good I'm gonna miss it I know but I'm so excited to see what you come up with next me too me too very excited well and I can't wait to see your I need your show to come out like tomorrow tomorrow I do need today's the last day of hacks I need it tomorrow I need you to hurry up I'm so excited to just take what I've learned from like a set like hacks and bring that to the set that Genevieve Paul Alec Amy and I are gonna create it's gonna be great because I was like oh my god everyone's friends on this set everyone everyone Hannah was friends with everything I was watching Hannah like a hawk my first day she knew every single person everyone was best friends honestly you should use that crew that crew is the best friend in the world they're so is that how that works well yeah I mean like if you hire a department head usually they hire a lot of the same people and our all the departments were so not only talented but so devoted and good and cared so much and also were good people we were it was like lightning in a bottle that we got like decent good people you know So you pitched it in 2019 And you shot it in 2021 We saw it in 2020 Shut up It was pre-vaccine pandemic So we wore two masks and a shield Jean used to be like what?

55:30She's like honey I can't hear you Because we're talking through a shield and two masks It was crazy And if somebody had tested positive for COVID Anyone they interacted with For like two weeks before that Also had to then take like two weeks off It was a crazy way to Talk about misery in New York I was in New York for the pandemic That's really rough That's really Rough doesn't even cover it Yeah I was sharing a room with my brother Wow I would be on FaceTime till 3am Every single night My brother would say Shut the fuck up And I was like Oh my god I'm 20 years old I'm in a room with my brother And I leave the house every day With gloves and two masks Yeah I'm in hell Yeah This must be hell Well especially in New York It feels like I don't know At least here there was like a little bit more space in nature.

56:15I flew back. I ended up coming back here. You did. Yeah. Yeah. And I started working and I was like, okay, whatever. And is that when you started like doing more videos? I started doing videos when the place I was working for was like, you need to finish college before you start with us full time. Oh. And then I started making videos. Cool. And I was literally just reviewing Octopus with my best friends. Yes. And that was, and then the skits started and everything just kind of like after that. Wow. I know. Now we're here. On Therapist. Love it. I fear I've been labeled the pretentious one of the friend group.

56:45Oh. This gives me the ick for myself. Like, it's not my fault I like good TV shows and music. I don't even go around flaunting this. I almost feel like my group might be projecting insecurities. They are. Absolutely. Now, my question is, was that pretentious? I really need a reality check. No. Absolutely not. I don't think you're pretentious at all. No. In fact, I think one should own the term pretentious and the term snob. What does snob mean? It means you care about things and you care about things that are good. There's a difference between being pretentious for the sake of being pretentious.

57:20Right. But if you love it. I fall into that sometimes. It's hard to avoid. It's very hard. Yeah. That's okay. Like mama loves the label. Okay. Right, right, right. Yes. That's the thing. You can't just love the label. You've got to also love the thing. That's what Louise tells me every day. Okay. But that's right. But guess what? If you like, there is, some people argue, there's no difference between a$3 bottle of wine and a$300 bottle. And it's like, no, there is. There is. Actually, there is. The way that it's made, the way that it's processed, the way that it tastes, it is different. So I think if you are someone who likes something like that, that's okay.

57:51Don't be ashamed of that. Yes. You know? As long as you're not doing it for like, oh, I like this because this is the cool thing to like. Like, don't curate in that way. You've got to be authentic to what you like. If you're authentically you and you're authentically a snob, it's okay. Just live with that. The only place that I am authentically a snob is television. I know good TV. I've seen enough TV where I know good television. You put in your 10 ,000 hours, you know. Yes. You're an expert. Oh my God, it's so funny you say 10 ,000 hours. The place I used to work at was called 10K Projects. Really?

58:21Because of the 10 ,000 hour. Yes. Yeah. Well, I'm the same way. I care about good TV and good movies. But it doesn't mean it has to be one that's like critically acclaimed. Right. You know what I mean? I can just be like, this is really good. There were certain things that had been canceled after a season, and I'm like, that was so good. What do you think you have? I thought English Teacher was really good. English Teacher was great. And had two seasons, but I thought that was really good. I mean, talk about one of the funniest moments in television history when, I don't know her name, but do you remember when they're talking about Stonehead on the school bus?

58:51Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Have you seen this? No, but I've heard. It's really good. She goes, they go, and who's the, who is she? And she says, everyone. do you know what I'm talking about? It is one of the funniest line deliveries of all time. Yeah, it is good. There are so many great shows that just, you know, either don't, I don't know why, but they don't continue. Oh my God. You want to know what I'm thinking of is the OA. Oh yeah. Have you ever seen it? I didn't see the OA. Holy fuck. I can't make a judgment on the OA. It is fantastic. Okay. It's the same person who did Murder at the End of the World or Murder at the whatever it's called.

59:23She is fantastic. I really like her. And she stars in the OA. Yes. At first you're watching and you're like, what the fuck is going on? and then by the end of it, you're so invested and you're so moved by it. It's just excellent. And I love television and like bends time. Oh, really? It's my favorite genre. Have you seen Time Traveling Bong? No. You're kidding me. What's Time Traveling Bong? It's a prestige miniseries about me and Alana Glazer smoking a bong that brings us back in time. You have to watch it. We also go to the future. And I think that we sadly predicted that Trump would be president.

59:57Yeah. Really? Yeah. Like an idiocracy? Kind of basically. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we weren't the first, but yes. But anyway, how did you guys like, what happens that you, do you predict that Trump, we go to the future and essentially, I think because of citizens United, um, it, what happens in the future is that we have been, because of our debt to China, we're basically like subsumed. And so it's like America has become China kind of, and you know, the environment, there's a lot of environmental. So were you a stoner? Was I a stoner? I did smoke weed in college. and after. I don't know that I would say that I was a stoner though.

1:00:33I wasn't like, like, I think Ilana would, would proudly claim that she's a stoner. I don't know if I would say I was a stoner. I would say that I was a, you know, a weed smoker, but not a stoner. I think I, I think I have been a stoner. Yeah. And I think, and my hot take is in 20 years, people will talk about it the same as alcoholism. Oh, you think? I think so. I think it's way less dangerous than alcoholism. Very, very much less dangerous but it's really addicting you think i know so oh wow okay like i know so because i feel it like when i like had to stop when i stopped smoking for nine months that first week i was irritable i was miserable i was like sweating i couldn't sleep like i was going through like real withdrawal is that because you smoke a lot i smoke i right now i smoke every single day okay so that's that's frequent and every day i say i'm gonna stop but like literally talking you right now.

1:01:23I'm like, I'm definitely going to smoke after this. I think that's okay. I don't know. I think it's different than, it's certainly different than drinking. It's way different than drinking. Yeah. Because I'm present and in my body sometimes. Yeah. And you can, yeah, you can function if you, even if you've had a lot, right? Or no. Can you not function? Kind of. Okay. Can I say something I just realized? Please. This might be one of my favorite therapist episodes I've ever recorded. Don't cut that. I'm not. Keep that in. I really, I feel so locked in with you right now. Ditto. Yeah. I do feel very connected to you and I mean that.

1:01:53I'm like, it's so heartwarming to me that like literally, I know it's weird to be like, you're part of the family because you're working with my sister-in-law because you're on Hacks, but you are. I feel so honored every time you say that. I feel so cool. It's literally true. Anyway. Yeah. I gave up coffee, you know, and it was. When? I couldn't drive. When did you give up coffee? I couldn't drive. I gave up coffee last summer for a couple weeks. I was doing blood work and, this is TMI, I was doing blood work and my doctor was like, don't have this before. And he's like, actually, if you can have, if you not have coffee and a couple other things before for a while, that's good.

1:02:26Two weeks would be great. The first day and the second day, I could not drive. The headache was so bad. I was like, this is crazy. So I stayed off coffee for like the whole summer because I was like, I can never, this, this is fucking me up so much. I don't think I can ever go back. And then my friend was like, oh, my dad gave up coffee for like 30 years, but he went back on. And I was like, oh, what was his experience? And she was like, he said he was tired for 30 years. And I was like, what? I was like, all right, I'm not doing that. And I'm already tired like all the time. I'm tired every moment.

1:02:55Every single day. I'm tired. I'm exhausted. I could fall asleep right here. I could fall asleep on the ground right here. Always. I walk into the gym. They go, are you tired? Yes. Me too. I say, yes, I am tired. I know. I know. What is that? It's just like life. It's just life. Yeah. It's like probably gluten. Gluten. Yeah. I think it's, I don't know. I am like, I don't know. I don't need a lot of gluten. That's why I'm saying I don't know. Hi, Jake. You're looking so ripped and fabulous these days. Thank you. Just wanted to note that I need advice Oh So is that separate I live in North Carolina right now But I've always wanted to live in New York And my lease ends in three months Okay Oh my god So I'm so obsessed with the fact that like The rip thing was so separate from the other questions So thank you so much I know that's sweet But I've always wanted to live in New York Could have been cut out But I'm glad we didn't I'm glad we kept it We're gonna keep that one That's good producing Well that's it Nolan But I've always wanted to live in New York And my lease ends in three months I hate my job I want to quit so bad My issue is that My boyfriend lives here and some of my best friends from college.

1:03:51I am so sad already at the thought of leaving them but don't want to put off my dream of living there. What should I do? You gotta go. I think you gotta go too. You gotta go. You gotta go. Listen to Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson. Perfect. Listen to Breakaway, get in the car, go. I mean, of course it's sad. Endings are sad. Endings are sad. Saying goodbye is sad, but you gotta push through that. And especially, I think, if it's a dream of yours, you should absolutely do it. And it's better to do it now than to do it later. I mean, imagine being like, what if yeah you can't you don't want that regret also you might imagine trying to do it when you're 50 again i i'm sorry it's too hard and new york isn't a hard place to make friends i would say i think it's actually it is way easier to be connected to people because you don't want to honestly you don't want to be in your apartment right unless you like have unless you're super rich and have an amazing apartment i'm like you want to be out because everything's a tissue box everything's like so tiny and everyone wants to make friends in new york i've made so many random friends on a night out.

1:04:45Totally. I do think IRL, like meeting people is so much easier. It is. In LA, it's almost impossible. If you were telling me you were moving to LA, I'd be like, okay, I get your anxiety. Right. It is, it can be hard. I'm thinking about starting a podcast. Well, me and my coworker, I'm here doing research. Me and my coworker who want to do what are stuck between two topics. One is just us hanging out, but we don't want to do that without an audience already. Two is a TV show review slash walk through, watch through pod. but that also seems a little broad. Any advice from me and amazing guests, of course.

1:05:19Okay. My advice would be to go into it with zero expectations. That's good. Like my manager told me like you don't expect to see any growth for two years. So I didn't. And then I was happily surprised when I did. Okay. That's good. And you kind of just have to like, I don't know. I would clip it. This is like actual advice. I would clip it and I would not expect to see any type of growth for like at least 20, 30 episodes. Like really build a community. Now, do you think in terms of the question about should it be a rewatch? Like do you think this person needs an in, like a hook? Or is it just like you can just talk to your friend?

1:05:54A little. Okay. I think there's too many of just talking. Yeah. I think you need like something to anchor you down. Right. So for this podcast, it was this. Right. The tell me what's wrong is we're always the anchor of this. That was always, but then we always got somewhere else. Right. But you need that anchor of just a topic or like a niche to fall into. Right. I think. Yeah. And there are, the rewatch ones are successful. I love Girls Rewatch podcast. Me too. They did Broad City. They did. Yes, I know. Yeah. Were you on that? I was. Yeah. They're lovely. Yes. They're great. They're lovely. They're great.

1:06:25I want them to do hacks. They should do hacks. Now that it's over, now that it's over, they can. They will do hacks. I hope they do. They will do hacks. I hope. But yeah, I think you should just do whatever you're like, you're into enough that you're like, you're an expert. You know what I mean? That's the thing. Like they can speak about girls so well or Broad City so well because they've seen it. And I am like whatever her hook is or his hook is. It's just like you have to really love the thing. Yeah. And want to talk about it a lot. You know. For me, that's TV. So that's why I always. I thought about doing.

1:06:54They did it because they did Broad City. But Darcy Carden and I used to joke about doing something called Locker Room Talk because we both worked at the gym on the show. Yeah. And it was just us talking about Broad City essentially. But then other things. Never did it. We never did it. Did you like ever go to Swill Cycle for research purposes for that show? Well, Abby and I both went to Equinox in New York. And so it was kind of based on her lived experience, which was, I think to get a membership, she would hand out flyers for Equinox. So I think she like, quote unquote, like worked for them to get a free membership.

1:07:26Right. and then we both took a class that was like a class called intensati which was like a like a cardio mixed martial art aerobic thing and i don't know that's how she in the pilot she worked actually initially in a coffee shop and the feedback was that feels kind of unspecific which was correct and then she was like well i did work at equinox and it was kind of a crazy scene and so then for the for the series um solstice was born solstice based on equinox i need to watch broad city this is like making me want to re-watch broad city tell me how if it holds up i haven't seen it i promise you it does some things i didn't watch it some things don't well i didn't watch it at the time it was on television oh you didn't you're too young is that why no it was when did what was the year it came out uh i think i think the pilot was shot in 2012 yeah i think it came In 2013, you were too young.

1:08:19That's cool. I was too young. But I watched Girls. I couldn't like - Well, Girls was the same era, you know? But Broad City was kind of like, if you know, you know, when it first started. It was like, if you know comedy, you know Broad City's good. Yeah, Girls was much more - Broad City's like developed this cult. I feel like - Yeah, totally. It slow burned its way into like - The collective consciousness. Yeah. That's true. That's true. Did you feel a resurgence of Broad City during COVID on TikTok? I did. And still recently things will come up. Like in the club, we're all fam or whatever. That was recent.

1:08:53In the club, we all fam. Lucia wrote that. She did? Yeah, she did. I know. I hope she got a good check out of TikTok for that one. I don't think there is that, right? Yeah. I don't know. There isn't. I don't know. There isn't. No. I don't even know why. But that was cool when it pops back up. Yeah. And I'm almost like, how and why? And that was everywhere, by the way. Sabrina Carpenter used that sound. I think... Kamala did it yeah everyone did it everyone did it my boyfriend of two years and I haven't said I love you yet that's way I know I feel that way but I've been so hurt before oh well now I feel bad for being the first to show emotion that I held it in I've also had the mentality that I don't want to jinx it I get that he is amazing and my literal dream man and treats me like a princess I fear that he's picking up the vibes from me to not say it but I totally know he feels the same way what should I do say it yeah absolutely say it if he's picking up the vibes from you you say it first Oh my gosh.

1:09:48You should watch Gossip Girl. And watch Gossip Girl. What is it? Original or new? Three words, eight letters, and I'm yours. Okay, that's one I missed. You didn't? Didn't watch Gossip Girl. Paul. I'm sorry. Well, Paul, what did we learn today? We learned that we're family. We are family. We learned that it's okay to be pretentious. Yes. We learned to be authentically yourself and to say I love you. And to be unafraid of that. And I love you. And I love you too. And congratulations on five incredible seasons of Hacks. Thank you for being a part of it. Thank you for having me. It's my honor. The series finale of Hacks is out now.

1:10:23Paul Downey. Check it out. Solstice bow. Hi, pussies.