Jamie Alcroft, Bob Dubac, & Neil Hassman-"Comedy Round Table" Show #143

Another fun Comedy Round Table starring Jamie Alcroft, of "Mack & Jamie", and TV show "Comedy Break" fame, also Robert (Bob to his Friends) Dubac, standup comic, TV Actor, and master of one-man shows like "Book of Moran", "Standup Jesus" and more. Plus, Manager to the Stars, Neil Hassman. These three share stories and advice on all things comedy...a real fun and interesting interview. Listen, learn,  and enjoy!

Hosted by: R. Scott Edwards

Transcript

Announcer: 0:04

This is another episode of stand up comedy, your host and emcee, celebrating 40 plus years on the fringe of show business, stories, interviews and comedy sets from the famous and not so famous. Here's your host and MC. Scott at words.

Scott Edwards: 0:23

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Stand Up Comedy hosted MC, I'm down in Los Angeles, and I'm getting the opportunity to meet with some great old friends and today we have three of them in the room and we're gonna have a little talk about stand up comedy and I think will be fascinating for everybody. First, I settled friends but actually I just met him today but he's been in the industry as long as me and we were talking and we've done some bookings together. He is an agent to the stars down here in Los Angeles. He used to own Hasson entertainment and now he is a major partner and Hasson also nog entertainment show no we can do time anyway.

Neil Hassman: 1:01

I'm a manager agents are scum.

Scott Edwards: 1:05

Wait a minute, and my manager agents are scum got it.

Jamie Alcroft: 1:10

Feel free to say that any of us clients will tell you he's a secret agent.

Neil Hassman: 1:17

Man Hassman my Arab cousins. Don't don't use the M but I do.

Scott Edwards: 1:21

All right. Neil. Has man is in the room. Thank you. Thank you for joining us today. Finally. That's enough of that. Alright, and a good friend you've heard before in the podcast. We did a one on one interview. We've done him with his partner, Mac Dryden, ladies and gentlemen, the star of one of America's top comedy teams, Mac and Jamie. He was the one of the stars of comedy break TV show back in the 80s done tons of corporate events, and is a silversmith who does both jewelry and very nice art pieces. Ladies and gentlemen, my good friend Jaime Alcroft is in.

Jamie Alcroft: 2:02

Thank you. Thank you very much. Nice to meet you, Scott.

Scott Edwards: 2:08

And, and he's got a book out we'll talk about later. And also joining us. He's also been heard on the podcast previously on a one on one but it's so nice to see him again in person. He's done stand up comedy for years, done a lot of television. Right now he is the king of one man shows he is the star of the book and more on the male intellect. Stand up Jesus, ladies and gentlemen, it's my good friend, Bob Dubac. And the crowd goes nuts. We're all here in the room. And it's just exciting to get everybody together. But let's go back just a second to the opening because it was such an exciting way to open agent versus manager. A lot of people don't understand the difference. Why don't we explain to the novices out there, Neal, you'd be the perfect person to explain to everybody the difference between a manager and an agent

Neil Hassman: 3:00

5%.

Scott Edwards: 3:03

But wait a minute, we need the

Bob Dubac: 3:05

rimshot does isn't an agent they usually come from used car dealerships.

Unknown: 3:08

Yes. And agents used to have they don't anymore because the TA has been dead for 10 Talent Agency Act has been dead for 10 years, at the insistence of most of the big agencies who are now taking advantage of the fact that there isn't one. But agents are restricted legally by a lot of what they can do. Until a few years ago they couldn't produce Oh lions. They couldn't executive producers show they couldn't form a company to produce television or film that all went by the wayside by Mr obits at CAA before he was taken out. But managers are

Jamie Alcroft: 3:43

taken out you

Unknown: 3:45

eliminate talking Cincy business because of so many problems.

Scott Edwards: 3:51

But you as a manager, you were able to get involved in TV production,

Unknown: 3:54

I can write with my clients book with my clients, add it for my clients pitch for my clients, I can do pretty much everything an agent can do. And then all the really important stuff that you actually earn your extra five Yes, thank you for whereas an agency Thank you very

Scott Edwards: 4:09

well, we're talking percentages, we should explain. I think the agent average back in the day was 10%. So we'll say okay, so managers, it's 15 on up depending on what you're doing for the client, I've

Neil Hassman: 4:19

never taken more, I don't know 15 was actually 15.

Scott Edwards: 4:22

So it's interesting that in the 40 plus years that I've been in the business agents still make 10% managers make 15 And it goes from there.

Bob Dubac: 4:32

They've got more than one client so set on on 10 People then it's 100% of what that one person would make. So right now that's the reason why they want to have their name on production and still because they don't have to do

Neil Hassman: 4:44

anything. Yeah. And honestly over the years, when I produced something for my clients and gotten a production credit, I didn't take a commission on their acting salary or their comedy salary. I don't like double dipping it's just it's not illegal but I just

Scott Edwards: 4:58

well that probably makes you rare though because I'm Sure there's

Bob Dubac: 5:01

I've told Neil has on his forehead a tattoo that says dinosaur

Unknown: 5:07

I go back far enough we're actually a lot of guys you know he's a manager Soros even but back in the day when we had because I worked for him from management for a while even but back in the day so no one that guy's do comedy whatever his show was comedy tonight tonight if they're clients of ours, we're not going to commission their salaries.

Scott Edwards: 5:27

Interesting. So and that's

Bob Dubac: 5:29

but Mark Ilana

Scott Edwards: 5:31

Yeah Mark would be different but but Freeman,

Neil Hassman: 5:34

Todd, I like Mark much

Unknown: 5:35

more. And nobody ever gotten that nobody ever got a residual from that show.

Neil Hassman: 5:40

I know a lot of people didn't even get their first salaries.

Scott Edwards: 5:42

No kidding. You're kidding.

Neil Hassman: 5:44

Yeah. I know, tons of people who never it wasn't Bud's fault. You know, they handed the business over to one of the agencies that do payments.

Scott Edwards: 5:53

Ladies and gentlemen, we're talking about evening at the Improv one of the first and early TV shows that was focused on stand up comedy. In fact, before that, I think the only stand up show would have been the comedy shop. Right? By

Jamie Alcroft: 6:09

Well, midnight, Midnight Special and also

Unknown: 6:12

didn't die. Young comedians might have well, even before this was done versus rock concert. Yeah.

Jamie Alcroft: 6:18

That was a Bach did Christians rock concert.

Bob Dubac: 6:22

And they would always do because I was opening for rock'n'roll bands. And they would always have you don't have to buffer the bands. It was a music coach and Kershner loved comedy. Yeah,

Neil Hassman: 6:30

he loves.

Scott Edwards: 6:31

Well, I go back to the Bill Graham days, when Bill Graham was producing all the concerts and all the big rock and roll bands, yet he invested in the punch line, and would use comics to open up some of his concerts. So there was always a kind of a love for stand up comedy. So I wanted to try to pick questions that I thought would be interesting for everybody. And the first one that comes to mind is how I'm always I've written a couple books on being a stand up comic, and what's important, and one of the key features of a professional is being a consistent persistent writer of comedy. Now, Jamie, you've done. First off with Mac and Jamie, you guys did a ton of stage and corporate, and then you had the TV show comedy break? How did you guys discipline yourselves? Or what was your focus when it came to writing?

Jamie Alcroft: 7:19

Focus? What was our technique? Yeah,

Scott Edwards: 7:23

what would you recommend to somebody,

Jamie Alcroft: 7:24

our focus was to be funny.

Scott Edwards: 7:25

Okay, that's good to hear.

Unknown: 7:27

And our focus was to play off of each other's foibles. And our focus was to, you know, heightened, heightened the differences between our outlooks on life. And what we would do is come up with an idea for a sketch, because we kind of did small mini sketches

Scott Edwards: 7:48

where you're set your comedy says, we're like, stand up, we're gonna start

Unknown: 7:52

stand up, and then kind of pull the audience in to our moment on stage and, and the fourth wall would go up for a couple of minutes anyway. And and so the way we do it is come up with an idea. And Mac would type out a first draft, because he was the type of spent. And we would then work on it, he gave it to me, I work on it, we come together, we give it to Jamie for the punch line. You know, kind of punch it up a little bit, and then we work on it. And we both punch it up, we went through a period, when we first started off, I was such a maniac and liver, that Mac said I'm quitting. And this was oh, four months into us having great success at the comic strip in Fort Lauderdale. And going up to New York at the comic strip and having great success and catch rising star. And he's you just you're not sticking to the script. You're not. And it's very important for the timing, to stick to a script

Scott Edwards: 8:57

more so with a comedy to write on stage,

Unknown: 9:01

you're on stage, free to do anything you want me to go anywhere you want, which after you know, after a period of time, you found each other's rhythm and you were able to do a lot of foot. Well what happened was, I said, Okay, here's the deal. I don't want you to quit. I think we should keep doing this. I'll stop and living for six months. And I stopped

Scott Edwards: 9:24

Yeah, then that gave you the time to get to know each other. So then after that, I must have been the hardest

Unknown: 9:29

in show and Mac had just been catching up with it ever since.

Neil Hassman: 9:37

I know I had lunch with them last week.

Scott Edwards: 9:39

Wow. So that

Jamie Alcroft: 9:42

being Mac became very good at ad libbing.

Scott Edwards: 9:44

Right, right? He fill in the blanks. He had to learn the skill. And once

Unknown: 9:48

once he was there, we were balanced. It was so much fun on stage. And as

Scott Edwards: 9:53

Bob said, you found a rhythm that often have obviously led to a tighter scent. accuracy of the, of the chronicity. synchronicity. We hear the word guy.

Unknown: 10:05

It's a tomato tomahto. It's well, you guys with with the funny boys. You know, Neil, that was kind of the same thing. Did you

Neil Hassman: 10:11

work with them at the beginning there they were, you know, there were three funny boy that's right, originally. And then one of them. I don't even know what the background was. But anyway, it wound up being just John and Jim. And he was a love triangle. They had already known each other so well in their timing, and I gotta say I give a lot of credit to Kenny Kramer, where those guys basically would hang out at Kenny's apartment in New York. And everybody would just sit around and kibitz and John and Jim would that were part they were like the perfect duo. So from pretty much from the first time I ever saw those guys on stage they hadn't. Yeah, this was like 8283. And they were like, they were there already. They just needed to write more material, but the material they had was perfect.

Scott Edwards: 10:56

I use the funny boys to open up one of my large concerts in Sacramento for Seinfeld, and it was the funny boys was

Unknown: 11:03

open for Jerry. Yeah, that boy talk about that hallway in Manhattan Plaza. That was Jerry Kramer Larry David lived next door to to Kenny cream or actually across the hall from Kramer

Jamie Alcroft: 11:16

and they they built an apartment building and offered it to artists.

Unknown: 11:19

That's all that still to this day. And the rent is based on how much you make a year. That's amazing. And there's a dry cleaner pool gym, everything into housing, but it's all entertainment people and it's really a fantastic building. It is

Scott Edwards: 11:34

while bringing it back to writing Bob to back being the star of so many one man shows and at first you were you were very very talented, stand up comic for decades. And you kind of converted pivoted whatever I

Bob Dubac: 11:49

saw the writing on the wall. You know, when when everything went south like it looked. When we first started, there was maybe 100 of us. Were headliners and stuff and there was enough room and we were all helping each other out say I can't use this. You can use this. Yeah, that So Jimmy Brogan do a great joke the other night. And I says I've never seen it do they says oh, I've been I that was about 30 years ago. polarizer wrote it for me. Right? Yeah. But that was just the kind of camaraderie I had back then. Then when sitcoms came in, and everybody's going okay, now we're gonna lock up my little or my can't share shit. I've got to be, you know, this is my deal. And there were so many people that were started becoming comedians. And I just looked at the table to Well, yeah, yeah, but are you just you looked at the the numbers at least this is what I did. And I go, even if all of us stay the same, there's no way to sustain all of us. So I've got to go find a different direction because there's nothing that I was more of a of an actor than anything else. When I studied. I studied with Sanford Meisner, for he was he and Lee Strasberg started together and still Adler

Scott Edwards: 12:47

Well, what the question was, Bob is it it's I think it's different writing a standard set and honing it and doing the same bit night after night club after club and getting it really into the gemstone that you want. And then you went to one man shows which are basically many plays. And as Jamie was mentioning earlier, for a TV show or something, it's scripted more, so you'd probably do less ad libbing was what are your writing techniques? Or what do you do to get yourself focused that way

Bob Dubac: 13:16

the technique was basically it was based on the the acting technique that I learned from miser, everything has to come from a truthful even though it's an imaginary circumstance. So if I had a whole, you know, to do skits, like Saturday Night Live one reason why some of those when they branch them into movies, their utter failures, because there's really only a five minutes good stretch. I mean, you can only do so many dick jokes and fart jokes in you know, in a movie. It's so but the thing is it with these even though they are different segments of bits there, they kind of escalate and go up and down a little elevator and around like a roller coaster, at least things that I write. And I have to sit down every day. And even if nothing comes off the page. That's the one thing about writing. I think there's a few people who have that discipline, but you really I do. I can't. Well, I

Scott Edwards: 14:11

interviewed Karen Anderson, who wrote for The Ellen Show and she's all she does is TV show writing now when she was saying that when she went from stand up to being a television writer, that was the biggest change in her discipline is a stand up she was trying things and throwing things out on stage and then writing it down. As a writer she would have to sit down and focus and write to the voice whoever she was writing for in your case you're writing for yourself

Bob Dubac: 14:36

right but that's still a you know, the problem with us it was standups is we learned it backwards like her and I did we should have sat down and wrote things before we got on stage. But basically be honest most comedians just fucking lazy. I want to get on stage steal what comes to me Let's shove and then try to you know, and then say, Oh, let me write this and and it shouldn't be the other way around. But that takes a lot of time. You know, you're going to spend four hours a day for four minute Joe. But with Mack

Jamie Alcroft: 15:01

and I, that's what we had to do. Yeah. What do you

Unknown: 15:04

got to be really tough with the team too, because you're working two different personalities. And you got to figure out how to write for the other guy. That's more writing for narratives much television for because you have two characters, whereas, and I'll also say about the transition like Bob made into doing one man shows, that's not easy.

Scott Edwards: 15:23

No, no, here's one of the few success stories

Unknown: 15:25

because most comedians, you will just want to do and I've tried to work with a bunch, they always bail out that they try to take something from their act, and turn their act into a show, which is really just a long set. And there's no it's just hits one level and goes and doesn't give the audience a chance to find out who they are, why they're standing up there alone. And I'm not a particular fan of telling people who I am, I usually make a fictionalized character that has to go to Rome that everybody couldn't relate to. But I know there's this confessional comedy, which is very high, you know, in the in the now in our lives, let me tell you, you know, so tell us about it. But tell us more.

Scott Edwards: 16:06

So Neil, as a manager, you part of your job. And that's the difference between an agent and a manager, as well as that you're actually trying to help an act, a person a talent, get to their achieve as much success as they can? Would you suggest or guide them? Hey, you need to do so much writing or you need to do you know, take this acting class what we're as a manager, would you set guidelines for your talent?

Unknown: 16:32

Acting is a huge background for stand up. I know that sounds like it shouldn't.

Scott Edwards: 16:38

Yeah, that to me.

Unknown: 16:41

But it unless you know who you are getting up in front of 200 people and from all different backgrounds and trying to make them laugh will crush you in two minutes. If you don't have that actors mentality of okay, I need to keep going and figure out how this works, why it works, when I can make it work. It's, it's also it was really a good thing for me as a quote unquote, strictly comedy manager that in 8990, a lot of the network's would call me and say, Hey, we're doing such and such a show it stars this person, but we've got to fill out that task. We're not looking for guys who are going to come in and improv or disrupt the the taping or they didn't want Robin Williams. Yeah, they didn't want a lot of them did. Yeah, for other reasons completely. But no, they didn't. They wanted somebody who had the discipline, that that learning of how to present yourself to a crowd, even if it's not working.

Bob Dubac: 17:37

You know, what's good about Neil and in the stuff that as an accomplished managers that these guys can look and see where someone's depth is where someone can expand where someone can't what direction and that's what, you know, a really good manager does they put you in the right way and the Golka you can this is in your wheelhouse. This is not in your wheel. Yes, I lived at the end, so four or five nights a week when you have an eyeball for that. I mean, that's very valuable. That you just have to when you tell a comedian, you got to do it behind a barbed wire fence.

Neil Hassman: 18:10

I was gonna say body armor?

Scott Edwards: 18:12

Yeah. Well, I mean, in a sense, I'm a different beast. I'm a producer, but part of my job was watching a lot of young talent and growing talent. And I would give them advice and guidance, but it was more on how to make their act better, as opposed to better, right, right. Right further.

Unknown: 18:33

Well, Scott, you re ally helpedMack & I when you suggested two microphones. Brilliant suggestion.

Scott Edwards: 18:42

Genius, genius. All right, I'm gonna take on the next question I had you guys have all been involved in television. But I think a lot of the listening audience it you know, we turn on the TV and boom, there's a show there for half an hour an hour. And if it's a half hour comedy sitcom, The entertainers run the script, but they're being funny, and we think of them as comics. But what I would like to share if we could in short versions. Jamie, you guys did comedy break back in the 80s. You and Matt, what was it, you know, share with the audience what it's like preparing for what might be a half hour TV show because it's not just a half hour. There's writing there's rehearsals, I mean, it spends days weeks, right.

Unknown: 19:27

We would get scripts, probably on Monday, and Tuesday, we do a table reading and Wednesday we would rehearse and Thursday and Friday. We would shoot six shows

Scott Edwards: 19:44

really shoot three shorter segments, right?

Unknown: 19:48

We shot our show was done on wagons. We had three wagons, and the guys would go in with black electrical tape, and they would make the doors and the windows and the Presidential seal For the Oval Office, and then Kevin Pollack and I would, well we'd come in and do dueling Reagan's. And well, I'd be shooting their Shambu. And Kevin would come in and get. So we do about six of the dueling rage Reagan sketches. Oh, wow, we

Bob Dubac: 20:18

were doing that. Sorry. You put those in the camera.

Unknown: 20:20

Yeah. And they were putting the camera. While we were doing that. They were over there with black electrical tape making a bedroom for Mack and Jan Hooks to have a bedroom scene.

Bob Dubac: 20:31

I thought Reagan, Reagan and Reagan Reagan together didn't Reagan and Reagan do their only baby

Unknown: 20:36

only had will we even call oral sex. Sex. Oh Clinton was involved in this is where I invented the Clinton doctrine, or doctrine, as we call it. In the in the Oval Office.

Scott Edwards: 20:54

Guys are funny. Well,

Unknown: 20:57

I wonder why. Well, I was that's, that's how we did our show. And boom, boom, boom. And it was just, you wanted to know how we did. Six shows a week. That's how we did it when we would air five the next week and put one in the can. Soon, boom, boom,

Scott Edwards: 21:14

wow. But that's a lot of work.

Unknown: 21:16

But that's a very interesting and a different dynamic, as opposed to a system where the sets are already built, and you're only doing one show a week, or every two weeks is much different than yours is more like a film where you say okay, we're gonna we got this location, we got it for four. Exactly. We have to shoot all the things. You gotta write 12 skits, we're gonna have 12 exactly one from this room. There's

Jamie Alcroft: 21:34

your costume. You're in costume. You're gonna stay with us. We'll be right back.

Scott Edwards: 21:42

Hey, regular listeners to this podcast. Before we start this week's special show, I wanted to let you know on a new program. It's a subscription service that allows you access to all the early episodes, the first 100 shows, along with all the bonus shows, it'll be lots of fun. Seriously, it's just a way to help support the show and help me cover the cost of this entertainment format. I hope you're enjoying listening to it as much as I am enjoying creating it. Of course, if you have any comments or questions, be sure to email me direct at Scotts comedy stuff@gmail.com Scott's comedy stuff@gmail.com. But in the meantime, if you enjoy a lot of the quality content interviews and stand up comedy sets, become a subscriber. And we'll make sure to have some extra fun stuff for you. All right, here comes this week show. Yeah, interesting. Well, Bob, you've done a lot of TV. I wanted to share with the audience and I know that you're one man shows or more theater type. But you've done a lot of television where you were a guest on a show. So let's say you're doing the tonight show or or some talk show and you're the guest. What is it like in that half hour hour before you go on TV? What's the preparation like?

Unknown: 23:06

Well, it's you know, it's you are to me, you're already prepared. I mean, you know, you've done this set for 1000 times, it's five minutes for me. And if it was the Tonight Show, you had to go three or four months until Macaulay had corrected every single solitary word. Yeah. And you hadn't

Bob Dubac: 23:24

already corrected when he was so drunk. He would

Neil Hassman: 23:27

never do would not remember.

Unknown: 23:29

Let me tell you something. We were doing our second tonight shot with Johnny Carson. We were standing behind the gold curtain waiting to be introduced and Macaulay changes one of our bits. He said don't he said do the Reagan bit don't do the phone call. So but that's you know, an unusual call. He was a power hungry guy. I get it. I forget the name of the guy who was before him who wrote the book on Carson and terrible. I'll remember he was well, he was he was

Neil Hassman: 24:02

he was actually good at what he did.

Scott Edwards: 24:04

So the challenge material wise is that you have an hour set you have to hone it down to three or five minutes but even if you have that in your head before the show for the audience it's never been involved in TV like all of us have there's that all

Bob Dubac: 24:17

been involved in cocaine

Scott Edwards: 24:21

Well, it was the 80s but no no no my

Unknown: 24:24

you didn't necessarily memorize your lines you did your life.

Scott Edwards: 24:27

Right. But that those moments before, then yeah, like you're saying you're standing behind the goal. He mentioned that you're standing behind that's unusual

Bob Dubac: 24:35

because that was only with McCauley. I don't think any of the other I mean I

Unknown: 24:38

know that. Most of the guys on the other shows were pretty laid back they'd come to the club guests say okay, I need you to clean that up a little bit. They wouldn't give you very specific

Scott Edwards: 24:48

second well, before he went on, but I

Unknown: 24:52

recall you know I've to Bobby Kelton once said to me, Bobby Kelton must have done Carson is hilarious, hilarious. One. The funniest guy was working at the time. And he came off he was with our management company in, like 8788. And he came off one night and he said to me, the scariest 15 seconds I've ever spent my life was watching McCauley paced behind me before they opened. I believed him.

Bob Dubac: 25:18

Yeah, so that was I mean,

Scott Edwards: 25:19

but that was unique to the Tonight Show. was unique. Yeah.

Bob Dubac: 25:25

So you're prepared. I mean, some guys are fair, some guys are. I mean, I always

Unknown: 25:29

was. But first, the civilians out there. I think what you're asking is, how are you feeling? How do you prepare? And I think speaking for me, I was never but the question was for me, I was never. I was never.

Scott Edwards: 25:42

Yeah, because you know, your stuff, you had the confidence. Yeah. And we've talked a lot about the one of the amazing things about stand up comedy is that once you have the confidence in who you are in your material, you really could go into any situation, whether it's a bar with a bunch of drunks, or the Tonight Show, and have the confidence that you're going to pull off your material.

Unknown: 26:00

You know, what helped me more with the confidence than it was more of an acting technique where you had to be in the moment because when you're on in a studio is much different than a club, and there's different types of responses. And there's, you've got to kind of take all that in, and that's what really throw a lot of people that first.

Scott Edwards: 26:16

And I don't want to throw him under the bus because he's a terrific friend and a great guy. And he just started his own bark podcast, but Mark Schiff is one of the funniest guys. One of the funniest guys out in New York and throw him under the bus by saying that yeah, because I'm going to say that one of the reasons I think he didn't go farther was he had a bit of stage fright when a camera went on. I saw him so natural on stage, and he would do his special or do a set somewhere. And it was like a different person. That maybe that was just me. I thought,

Unknown: 26:50

you mark, you did have stage fright. It was pretty much one of the only places I ever saw shift comfortable on stage. He has opened for Jerry for so many years. He's such a wonderful man. He's so funny. He knew this Sherry was coming up afterwards. So yeah, it really didn't cushions well. And plus, he knew the audience was really kind of only paying half attention to the opening act in a big giant rock show.

Bob Dubac: 27:17

Yeah. Mark on the phone, I

Scott Edwards: 27:18

think no, no, no, no.

Unknown: 27:20

It's like preventing said, You're the pickle that comes with the sandwich, you know, that people came for the sandwich, not the pickle. Yeah. You know, we did that when you open for Dinah Ross for six years and was the same thing? Well, I

Scott Edwards: 27:32

just meant that. I think that what Bob was saying it's different on stage in a comedy club to when you're on a TV set,

Bob Dubac: 27:40

and you know, anything on camera, and you know, but being

Scott Edwards: 27:42

prepared. Being confident is so important. But I'll throw out a really innocuous reason I mentioned it, that on a comedy club, you're not getting into makeup. You're not having to make sure your attire is appropriate or not

Unknown: 27:55

talking about women at all, of course, get into makeup, and I know some guys who

Jamie Alcroft: 27:59

got it you got to make sure your flights actually gonna make sure your flies up.

Scott Edwards: 28:02

Yeah. Well, Larry Miller, actually who was a huge actor, plus a stand up comic, wore makeup at the club. And I think in my 40 years doing stage work with comedy clubs. I was the only guy that would put on pancake before he went on a stage club, but he was an actor. Nobody said anything and respected it. But in TV, I think everybody does no thing. Yeah,

Unknown: 28:26

I mean, I can remember you know, you, you would go in and you'd sit you sit in a chair. Right? They make it look, you know,

Neil Hassman: 28:32

what's the makeup room chair was part of the whole thing. Because everybody would come into the makeup room before you like chit chat loosen you up. It was almost like an extension

Unknown: 28:46

of the greenroom. Host you always come in and yeah. Oh, really? I was doing Ferguson or Griffin or anything now. They would always pick in their head. Hey, You doing alright, look forward to it. And that was

Jamie Alcroft: 28:55

fun. Yeah.

Scott Edwards: 28:56

Well, that's interesting. I didn't realize that. Well, Neil is a manager when you are prepping somebody for a TV shot, especially a comedian. Would you give him any special advice? Or hey, just you know, you know, your ship, go do it. Yeah,

Neil Hassman: 29:09

that basically the worst thing, in my opinion, you can ever do to somebody who's getting ready to go out for a national spot on television, is to give them advice. You don't want to get in their head. That's the last thing I ever wanted to do was to get comics are tough. You don't want to get in their head. Because it'll literally change the whole set. The words will stay the same, but the attitude will change.

Bob Dubac: 29:32

You guys forget to that. A lot of us would go and support our friends. Yep. So we already got the vibe we already understood before we got our shot. We were there with other shanling until

Jamie Alcroft: 29:44

it wasn't Tonight Show with you. Yeah.

Bob Dubac: 29:46

So it wasn't it wasn't brand new. It wasn't like, you know,

Scott Edwards: 29:49

well, that's interesting. No, but but having your friends I mean, there was especially in the 80s and it faded in the 90s I think but there really was. And I think Bob You mentioned in a sense of community with People that were at a certain level headliners, let's say that that interacted and shared experiences and that I think made it easier for people, much like at a San Francisco being an early hub for comedy. Back in the holy city zoo days, those people working together and supporting each other, I think help them develop.

Unknown: 30:19

That's the only thing I really miss about it, because it's just doesn't seem to have it. I mark it. I have a date. I think it was the early 89 when Brandon Tartikoff got promoted from comedy to head of all of NBC. All of comedy changed at that point. He Brandon was this incredibly warm, personable guy. He'd make the rounds of the clubs during the week, he talked to comics when they came off stage, just talk to them, not criticize them, given them anything. And then when he read reached out to them or or recommended them to do one of the NBC shows, people were very comfortable. And then he left comedy and they brought in somebody who moved up the ranks on I remember her name, but she didn't know anything.

Bob Dubac: 31:00

was because she gave me a pilot.

Neil Hassman: 31:02

Really could be Oh, Jaime Torres.

Scott Edwards: 31:05

Hey, go. Well, now it's all well, that's interesting.

Unknown: 31:08

And she went on, by the way to produce some incredibly great, great,

Scott Edwards: 31:12

just different than Brandon.

Unknown: 31:13

And Jamie Tarsus was the daughter of Jay, TARS J. Who were comedy team Patchett and tarsha.

Scott Edwards: 31:21

Wow, that's really going back. Well, that's a mystery. Well, the reason I mentioned it was I solved a mystery. No, but I recently interviewed arch Barker, who's now you know, a pretty big name in Australia as a comic. And in our one on one discussion, he was saying that what he misses the most was those early days when he would bomb and other people would he would they were there was this really tight. You know, you're hitting all the little clubs all around Northern California. And you were, you know, bombing there was tough rooms and easy, but it was a he goes we were just having fun. He goes I kind of miss that. looseness that if you didn't have a great show, it wasn't the end of the world. You know, now, you know, he's got a 2000 seat theater filled to see him he can't you know, he still can't mess around. He can't afford to bomb anymore. Right? And he was saying how fun it is. He what he misses is that, that time in your life when you're just having fun. That's your

Bob Dubac: 32:23

next project. He is just a bunch of comics who bomb. All the ones that I really miss bomb.

Unknown: 32:30

Best for bomb handling I've ever seen in my life was one night at the Comedy Store where I literally had to wear dark glasses because Mitzi and Bud did not like each other. But I got an opportunity to go see prior and he wasn't doing well, no, no. He, but the guy handled bombs. He was better when he was bombing almost than he was when he was acing his set straight through. He could put a person in the audience in their place, and they'd be laughing. And the rest of the audience would be going I wouldn't be laughing at that.

Scott Edwards: 33:05

Well, I think that it's been said before on the podcast, and I think you guys will all agree it's true that we all learn something from bombing as much as we learn from having a great set,

Bob Dubac: 33:15

or I just bumped two weeks ago, I didn't know

Scott Edwards: 33:17

or No, I mean, I don't believe that bomb. I

Jamie Alcroft: 33:19

believe that we never bond.

Scott Edwards: 33:22

Well, let me let me pivot the question again. So we talked about television. But now let's move forward. I know that Neil's managed some people that have done this, but I'm gonna bring it back to Jamie, you guys shifted to doing a lot of corporate now corporate is really a different beast from stand up and TV was a difficult or how would you say the transition took its place?

Unknown: 33:46

It was really great for us because it made comedy so much more fun. And we were you know, it was always going into these clubs. And it really was the to Mike thing you go. We need to Mike's. Seriously. God Oh, really, you know, it was a big deal for improv was the Comedy Store. I mean, you know, it was it was that was kind of crazy to me. But anyway, so with corporate, we would send out a client questionnaire. And they would answer these questions that would give us so much fodder for comedy, and that we write a show especially for them, whoever it was Alcon or, or General Motors, or whoever it was, we ran a show targeted to them and We'd note we created characters targeted to them. And we were you know, all of a sudden getting $10,000 A night and then I think finally their dark top price. We got it up to about $60,000 a night. Wow. That was for an hour in Mecca. 10 grand.

Scott Edwards: 34:55

Yeah, okay. It was fair division.

Jamie Alcroft: 34:57

You crazy But I know I would have quit a long time ago,

Scott Edwards: 35:03

but that you bring up an important point is that also in advance you, you're setting the parameters of the event, you're saying there has to be this kind of lighting, there has to be two mics. We have to have this much room to work.

Bob Dubac: 35:15

We had a writer, but but

Unknown: 35:17

the technical writer, one of the most, what was your, it was an easy writer. But it you know, we, you know, we say the audience has to be seated directly in front of us. They have to be darker. Oh, Bob. No, no, I'm

Scott Edwards: 35:32

not surprised. Oh, no, I went to one huge dance when I

Unknown: 35:35

hear it out loud. And I because I read something or my writer that says something like that, you know, the orchestra pit has to be covered. Can't you just wonder, why doesn't it nobody realizes that these little things?

Jamie Alcroft: 35:46

Little things? I mean, there was there were many things to

Bob Dubac: 35:50

the desert already taken off.

Unknown: 35:52

But no kidding. No key. We're not working to the staff. You know, but it was it God bless the staff. Because without them, we'd be nothing. You know, that. If any staff are listening out, they're not just coming. I just want to cover my ass. Exactly. I don't I don't have that for the rest of my life. But it was it was, it was great. Because you could control it. You could you could say we need this. We need that, just like you said, but we also could target the audience. And that's why we got our price up. Right. And we get good credit for 20

Scott Edwards: 36:26

years. Yeah, I mean, that's really a third career after stand up and tell

Unknown: 36:31

it let me say this, unlike Bob's one man shows where he's present in the community. Mack and Jamie basically disappeared from the comedy community. We were raising our families. We were making corporate money. We were doing two or three gigs a month. And, and happy.

Scott Edwards: 36:47

That's all you needed. Yeah. Well, Bob, you did go into corporate you've done some corporate

Unknown: 36:53

corporate material is much different. Oh, boy. Yeah. I mean, it's not that. Well, stuff I'm doing now as

Scott Edwards: 37:05

we mentioned stand up Jesus,

Jamie Alcroft: 37:07

you can maybe do the Bates casket company.

Bob Dubac: 37:11

Record right out of that. Yeah. But I'm

Jamie Alcroft: 37:15

the guy who just come up with,

Bob Dubac: 37:18

with corporate stuff. I mean, there's a it's almost television oriented, where you know, and tonight show and talk show stuff where in the material, you're in a whole different arena, you're in a ballroom, or you know, or and you're you have people that it's, I guess they bring their kids. Yeah, sometimes they bring their kids

Neil Hassman: 37:40

or they're sitting there with notebooks in front of them because they've had a morning of training a launch and then a training session

Bob Dubac: 37:47

I ever did with any success in corporate was I would come in as a ringer. I would like I did some stuff for AT and T ones when they were firing everybody left and right. So I said, Okay, well make me myself gave me this fake name of some, you know, corporate hatchet guy who lived in the Northwest, and he's flying in and he's to get up and, and everybody had heard that there was going to be people going to get canned. So I would get and I was just as stern and started out as just throw a little joke about something in and another little well, that's genius, though. Beautiful. They love that until they, you know, didn't get fired everybody, including me.

Scott Edwards: 38:25

But you know, you used your acting skills to pull that off. Right. Not every standup could do that. Listen, I

Unknown: 38:31

got a client who has been doing corporate for John mashita Jr. Fast talk. Oh, yeah. John's been my clients since the FedEx commercial. And this is a guy who's made his his life on corporate money. And he does that, does he? We talked to the buyer in advance, you know, a perfect example. And this works so amazingly well, every time because people don't really recognize him on the street. Not anymore. And well, this has been going on since literally the FedEx commercial was air every commercial oh my god, since I still thought he gets up on stage. He's in a shirt and ties got his hair combed back. Like some we the bet the plan that always worked the best with John was one of the big corporate officers would get up and he'd be given his little spiel. And he'd just be droning. And John would be planted in the audience for since the lunch break or whatever. And he'd be kibitzing with the guys next to him and stuff. And then the guy up on stage would get so slow and so bad. John would duck down and scream out, come on, spit it up. We want a dinner. And then the guy is that guy would know about it and say, Hey, if you think you could do it better come on up here. John would run up the aisle and he'd start and they'd put the tape up and then the tape would start getting faster and John would keep up with it and then and the visuals would and then the audience caught on. Yeah, they start. Once they catch on once they catch on he Hey, you would have the best time plus he wrote for a lot of comedy shows in the early days

Scott Edwards: 39:56

and you have the audience in your palmier Best Buy

Unknown: 40:00

we ever got from that I forgot what the airline was one of the one of the Japanese airlines, one of the airlines that went to Asia hire John to do the tape that they play about putting yourselves up and see Phil tabula and he'd get going really fast and stewardesses would tell us, excuse me, the flight attendants would tell us that they would look around and all the Asian passengers going home. They'd be like, they had no clue what was going on when John was giving the safety instructions.

Scott Edwards: 40:32

Oh, that's hilarious. I was like, All right. Well, Neil, as a manager, would you guide your talent, your comedy talent towards corporate? And if you did, did you give me any advice? Was this something that you explored as a manager?

Unknown: 40:45

Yeah, I got asked. I also handled a couple of really brilliant impressionists, Joe Alaskey, John Ruark. Joe got a lot of offers to do corporate stuff. But Joe was like, Joe was like Mark Cuban Joe really didn't like he was timid stage. He was, he wasn't timid, he was just such a nice and naturally modest person, that he couldn't understand that people were applauding and laughing for him. He never got that never the his whole life. But we get it, I get it. And I would never say no to stuff like that, if it was a situation that I thought one of my comics could do well, in. And Joe happened to be one of those guys, I don't think he ever said a dirty word on stage. And so he was perfect for corporate.

Scott Edwards: 41:28

Yeah. And then in that has been said several times. And it's so important, not just anybody can go into corporate work, you have to be a headliner, you have to be clean, you have to have enough material, whether they want 15 minutes or an hour, you have to, it's like doing a speech only humorously, you have to be ready.

Bob Dubac: 41:46

So that, you know, objective type of humor and observational, because you know, when you start getting up, they're telling your life story in a corporate setting and orgy and it's just, they don't want to hear it,

Neil Hassman: 41:59

but you're gonna want to tailor it to it.

Unknown: 42:03

And a lot of guys considered it to be a little too. I mean, I think it's not off base to say people thought it was underneath under them beneath them to do corporate because oh, now I got to do my airline jokes in my, yeah, they didn't want to change. I finally got it across a few clients who did them on a regular basis. I would use John machine as the perfect example. Hey, this guy has been doing this for only two and a half years. He's making 4050 grand to go out on a Friday afternoon. Come come back on Saturday afternoon with a champion his pocket for 40 grand. How are you? How do you say no to that? Yeah, making $20 for a spot at the end? Well,

Scott Edwards: 42:40

Jamie mentioned

Jamie Alcroft: 42:41

dollars. That's how much they make nowadays.

Scott Edwards: 42:45

But Jamie made a good point earlier is that I probably

Unknown: 42:48

did I probably. Well, what made him points and I'd like I'd like you to bring it up again. Like, okay,

Scott Edwards: 42:55

you were so successful because you and Mac were able to write to the company that you are performing for. And I think you know, Bob's done it in his own way. And in the people Neil's managed has done it in their own way. But I think it is an important point of doing corporate is you have to understand who the client is in not just go up and do your normal stand up club act, you have to kind of mold your act, or at least make an effort to put it around the country.

Bob Dubac: 43:23

You know, Wayne Carter, does, he does or doesn't. Ross Shafer, these guys, Ross Shafer is great. And you know, Ross is like Jamie, you know, he'll write books about it. So.

Unknown: 43:34

And the other thing too, the guys who were road warriors, and who really worked the road, they knew that different cities would accept different things. So they understood how to tailor for where they were going. A lot like a corporate show, you have to tailor whatever material you're going to deliver to what the client is or what their product is. And I think the Road Warriors got that. Yeah. To do that with corporate stuff. It's fun too, because you get to golf tournaments, like that, and events, and you know, like ski events and celebrity ski tournaments and stuff like that. It's it's really cool. Yeah, it's family alive. We have meetings, we're able to become celebrities. Yeah, no kidding. No, no, no, no, because you were you and you say I'm a headliner. That's about it. But but we did one with Clint, Clint Eastwood once up at his club, and he introduces his players please welcome Mack and Jamie. So we went up and I said, What a nice guy he was. And of course, all his friends were in the audience. It was a golf tournament. And Max said, yeah, he really is a people person. He really is. He's he said to me just for the show. He said, Jamie, Jamie, I feel if I can just touch one person every day. I don't have to touch myself quite so frequently. And so Tony Shalhoub and Jim wood and all these guys that are buddies he is cracking up in the audience just dying. So after the show, he comes up Jimmy's you guys were funny again lot tonight. And he said, it was really good. He said, But you know, for the rest of my life whenever I touched myself I'm gonna think

Scott Edwards: 45:13

that's hilarious. Well, I It's funny, you brought that up because I interviewed Tom Driessen recently, and he was saying that one of the, and he's done a million golf tournaments in and he would always get invited to the celebrity tournaments. But many times he'd be standing on the tee with a couple guys and going, oh, man, my friends with Clint Eastwood or my friends was some famous actor. I wonder who our celebrity is. Tom goes, it's me.

Unknown: 45:39

mean, don't inhale deep enough, they would have smelled Sinatra all over.

Scott Edwards: 45:44

Exactly. Hey, I wanted to kind of start wrapping this up. But I have such a great depth of wisdom and talent in this room. And thank you so much guys for doing this. But let's

Jamie Alcroft: 45:56

wonder are they coming on? Really? Soon.

Scott Edwards: 45:59

But, Jamie, you have been in this industry and all the various facets from TV to stage to corporate and you've written a book, the Tin Man, we want to make sure we get that out there. You've you've gone through heart replacement surgery you're doing and look great. Not hitting on you are married. But what would you at this tender young age? advice would you give Jamie out craft when he was 2223? What? What do you feel you've brought in learned over these decades?

Unknown: 46:35

Well, at 23 I didn't have a job. I would tell myself to get a job. I was living on 23 I was living on a horse ranch in Colorado, actually.

Scott Edwards: 46:44

Well, let's jump it to 30. What would I tell

Bob Dubac: 46:48

on that ranch? Yeah, man, I

Unknown: 46:50

tell him I say you know what I told myself, I tell myself what I told myself enjoy every second of this buddy. Enjoy every second in you. If you enjoy the bombing, you enjoy the, you know, when you get when the promoter thinks you're a black comedy team. And he gets you to open for Gil Scott Heron at a Black Panther rally in New York City. Right, right. When we've been together for six months. Right? Oh, wow. So you know, you enjoy that book. And even when it was happening, I knew I'm gonna I'm going to talk about this. I'm gonna think about this. Enjoy everything. Even when I was laying on the table waiting for you and a heart transplant. I thought, hey, how lucky am I getting our transplant? I'm gonna enjoy every second of this. And the book is the Tin Man diaries. Alright, well, that's what that's all right. Because it was a diary I wrote when I was in the hospital, waiting for my change of heart.

Scott Edwards: 47:44

Yeah, yeah. Well, and it's available, right?

Unknown: 47:47

My heart. No, your book? Oh, yes, yes, it's available. It's on Amazon,

Scott Edwards: 47:51

your heart is quite full. By the way, you have a very successful family. I saw the pictures recently, your daughter, and congratulations not only in your professional, but your personal success. They're very happy. They're very happy people well, and they have the father and husband that has led the way. And congratulations on everything you've accomplished. And then being able to go through the trauma that you have with your heart and coming out of it with even a stronger sense of humor in your book. And all that you've shared is really a gift to everybody that sees those challenges. So thank you for that. Hey, thanks,

Jamie Alcroft: 48:28

man. That's really nice. I appreciate Oh, and

Scott Edwards: 48:30

let's let's touch on real quick. Your silver smithing.

Jamie Alcroft: 48:34

It's just simple silver by Jamie.

Scott Edwards: 48:36

Silver by Jamie. If you guys get a chance on google it, check it out. He does great jewelry. Recently, you've shifted to art pieces. Yeah,

Unknown: 48:43

abstract pieces. I had a gallery show in Key West in November. And it went very well. And it encouraged me to get a show in LA. So I just had a gallery show last month in LA and it'll start up again in September.

Scott Edwards: 48:56

Oh, congratulations. I'll

Unknown: 48:57

tell you firsthand, I went. I've known this guy for two years more. I was blown away. I mean that the pieces you see pictures of them, and then you see them in person. And they're only this big excuse. Yeah, sorry. Sorry. identify that. Yeah. Just you know, you could I kept going back and looking at different. They were really good. It was just real. It's

Scott Edwards: 49:23

true art. And like you say art has to be seen from different perspectives. And the fact that you're working in silver makes you unique in that you have all this creative juices as a comedian and writer and performer and then being able to transfer that in being an artist is just incredible in real tribute to what you are.

Jamie Alcroft: 49:46

And I'm still friends with Mac. Oh, no, I

Scott Edwards: 49:48

know. I know. I know. I

Jamie Alcroft: 49:50

think that's an accomplishment too. For a comedy team, no

Scott Edwards: 49:54

Mac is a very dear friend. He's helped me a lot. We communicate almost weekly in a terrific guy. You And you were lucky to have all those years with him. The two of you guys were a great team. Mr. Dewback, you've had so much success. You've you've pivoted, as we talked about to your one man shows which are still performing, check out his website. You can see he's performing all over. In fact, Europe in my area, I'm going to try to catch the show soon. But yeah, Martinez, you're in a theater in Martinez or somewhere in the East Bay? Well, maybe I've heard

Jamie Alcroft: 50:25

about Well, anyway, shows tonight, but

Scott Edwards: 50:30

you had several decades of entertainment success. it this time, if you were to run into the younger road comic starting off in comedy, would there be advice or wisdom that you would pass on?

Bob Dubac: 50:44

Stay away from Jamie alcara? But I'm bumped? No, Jamie and I are real good friends. We are friends for

Unknown: 50:52

you know, best friends. Yeah, years. When I was younger, I would probably say I should have had more discipline in writing at an earlier age. I kind of waited until, but what because when I was acting? Yeah, we'd get the scripts. You know, I was on a soap opera for a number of years, but similar type of things and television and film. But then when I realized I had to generate this on my own, I started writing but it wasn't till I was like in my to really sit down and hone in four hours a day. It wasn't till I was in my mid 30s. I should have been doing that when I was in my 20s. Well,

Scott Edwards: 51:30

that's why I brought up what my first question was about writing. Because I realize how important being persistent and consistent as a writer can be to the success of any entertainer, whether it's an actor, or a comic, or whatever you're doing. So you would say that have success in that. Now you're doing your one man shows we have the book of moron, you have the male intellect. Stand up Jesus, what's happy Ville? How are you involved in that?

Bob Dubac: 51:57

So earlier when I was saying that, I've worked with some comedians who've wanted to do this, that and usually bail out because it isn't a lot work. I mean, it's not like, we're talking

Scott Edwards: 52:07

about one man theater shows. Yeah.

Jamie Alcroft: 52:09

Now it's incredible amount of memorization. Well, yes,

Bob Dubac: 52:12

that but I mean, even though the structure and the writing has to be different, whereas you know, you can't just put five minute bits together to show so sure, one friend of mine out of Denver, who does a lot of physical comedy, he and I wrote his show together. Because some of the shows that I've written for myself, I've had other actors do when they gotten so popular, basically hire and

Scott Edwards: 52:37

testament writer did that with the caveman series, he built it up and then sold it off for Pat Hazel

Jamie Alcroft: 52:43

did it with the wonderbread years. Yeah, okay.

Unknown: 52:46

So if it's, and that's the testament to the writing, if the writing is good enough, then anybody can do it, right? Whereas you usually don't want to get anybody to do it. Because if they don't do it, well, you want to blame them. But it's really you gotta blame yourself, because the writing is not there. So once and that's what's really hard, because it's real minutia that you have to kind of edit and rewrite and rewrite. And this one friend of mine named Dave Shirley, who, his idea, the sub, the show heavy bill, he and I wrote it together. So I A lot of times, like he and I are doing a series of solo series in Fort Collins and in Charlotte, where I'll do two or three of my shows, and he'll do his show. And we have a couple other people have solo shows

Scott Edwards: 53:30

sooner and actually producing you are a co writer, and you've kind of just working together to support each other.

Bob Dubac: 53:36

Yeah. And you know, it's, it's I directed a show, so

Scott Edwards: 53:38

Okay, well, that's, that's what I was getting at it was that I saw it on the website, and it looked like something you had produced or which were being directed. Yeah. But you also helped write it. And

Unknown: 53:50

one thing I have learned is how to help what not to do. In these things. There's,

Neil Hassman: 53:54

I mean, this is really what the most important part of production is knowing what not. I

Unknown: 53:59

mean, as William Goldman says, nobody knows what the fuck they're doing. Those of us who can actually sell it that then we can, you know, well, you get away with

Scott Edwards: 54:09

Mr. Houseman, you have had great success. You You've managed lots of people. I didn't realize you were totally focused on comics or comedy. Haven't been for a long time. Okay. And you've been involved in film and TV and all the art forms that comedy touches. What advice I don't want to take you back to what advice you would give yourself. But if you're meeting a new young entertainer, in their early 20s, and they're just starting to hit the clubs, and maybe they have aspirations of reaching what Mac and Jamie did or Bob Dewback has reached, what advice what guidance as a manager would you share with them?

Unknown: 54:51

My perspective is different because I was a performer from the time I was 12 till I was 30. I was a touring studio, a backup musician so hear oh wow, keyboards, bass a few other things,

Scott Edwards: 55:02

I should interrupt myself on the podcast and say I tried researching this guy before the interview and couldn't find anything. I know very little

Jamie Alcroft: 55:13

to have a lot of what's scrubbed getting to

Bob Dubac: 55:16

know Neil

Neil Hassman: 55:18

by as the reason I even got asked by friends who were comedians, hey, we know you're fed up with being on the road right now my, my eldest daughter had been born, I really didn't like to travel anymore. And I got a call from phony boys who were out here, their girlfriends were managing them, they were catching on like crazy. And we know you've done all your own contracts, since you were 20 years old. I grew up my dad was in the textile business, and I loved the business part of the business. So I always did all my own contracts, touring and everything. And for me, it was the perfect transition, I can sit in one place tell other people had to write their contracts. And, and it worked. So the advice I would give myself is probably waste a lot less a lot, probably waste less time trying to be the star and spend more time helping other people be with us. I did that. And it was the easiest, most natural thing in the world. For me. Also a lot of it because I had that perspective of having been there. Booker's producers hire those people all tried to screw everybody every chance they got.

Unknown: 56:27

And don't you think though, that that's really as much of the right advice to everybody who's younger, I don't care if you're a comedian, an Actor, a Musician learn, nobody knows about the business learn. They don't know how to get screwed. They just think, Oh, well, it'll take care of it. And I'll be such, that's part of why I said earlier that I think acting classes make such a huge difference. Because a lot of the really good acting teachers when they get newbies, they'll talk about the first, you know, cut, I'm trying to think of the guy's name he died a few years ago. But he spent the first two classes telling people this is what you can expect in the business, how they're going to try and screw you what you should look for in your contract, what you should do to choose an agent, the business aspect of it. Now it tears a lot of people down, they start getting a little successful and realize everybody's taking from them.

Scott Edwards: 57:16

Yeah, I've written two books on being a stand up comic, and each has a chapter on, learn the business. Because when you're a comedian, you're you're basically self employed. So you're a company. So you have to learn marketing, you have to learn contracts, you have to look book, learn booking for yourself. And so so many don't ever grasp that business side. And it is, I think, so important to encompass in your early career. But let's say having a manager though, kneel, it makes a huge difference, because they can help support that

Neil Hassman: 57:50

not only helps support it, but it takes a lot of weight off the performer. If they have somebody they can trust, be doing all that stuff, making sure they're not going to get screwed, making sure everything's going to be in place for the solo gigs and, and make it makes it much easier for the performer much. So you need to know enough about the business. You know, I've seen too many guys go down in flames when they started to get really big, because they'd argue with their agents and their managers and stuff. Well, why do I need to do that? Why do I need to do that? Because you want to save your own life? Just do it? Yeah, just do it.

Scott Edwards: 58:24

Well, it's hard sometimes for people to listen to experts when when they think they're the expert. You know,

Bob Dubac: 58:32

they're an expert in their world. They're an expert in their field.

Unknown: 58:35

And they have to understand and that's one thing, comedians, hate criticism. We all do so, but you have to be open to that you do. Otherwise, it's just going to be I mean, it's basically the business. That's what killed Garry Shandling. I mean, he was treated so bad. Yeah, with everything. It was just it broke his heart.

Scott Edwards: 58:55

Just like, I am not aware of that story. But that will map to a whole nother whole nother show. To our it is sad because Gary was a close friend work for me a lot. In fact, it's been mentioned, but he was the very first act hit my stage. I was just talking to Mark derivates. And we were rehashing some history. And I was in Bob from the that was going to be here today, Bob Fisher from the Ice House and we're in he was talking about his first act was Ramsey's the third, he went back so far in comedy. And I mentioned that Gary at 150 bucks a week had just come out from Phoenix and was the opening act when I opened my club in 1980. And we worked a lot after that. But that sounds like there's a story there. Before we go, Neil, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your insights. You're still operating as a manager. If anybody wants to reach out do you want to share if you're interested or not, you're done.

Unknown: 59:58

Yeah. Test submissions, the bobble submissions, and Hassman Tilston OG E and t.or. Actually, I think we have a H t.com. Maybe. Can we orange? My first name and my last name.com? Yeah, let's run Tilston agar across the bottom of the screen. So perfect.

Scott Edwards: 1:00:24

But if anyone listening,

Unknown: 1:00:26

I take submissions. I get 100 submissions a month. Nope. Right, right. Just because it's been going on for so long.

Scott Edwards: 1:00:32

Well, I was bringing it up because as a old retired producer, it having somebody that has your length and depth of experience on the management side, could have lots of wisdom to share with others. And if there was a way to reach out to you, I just wanted to see if it was possible. It's possible. So reach out through the Googler has

Unknown: 1:00:58

Hassman neil@hassman.com There you go. It'll come to the submission. Portal. Perfect.

Scott Edwards: 1:01:02

Perfect. Jamie, I know you're doing your silver smithing, you got some shows happening. I know that comedically speaking you're retired. But what's what's fun besides just living with your new 45 year old heart?

Unknown: 1:01:16

Well, I you know, when it's not 45 years old anymore, it's 50. Now Oh, and so I have a 50 year old heart in the body of a 73 year old man. And I'm so conflicted. I don't know, I am I don't know whether I have a midlife crisis, or get a reverse mortgage. It's just, it's stunning. And you learn so much. You'll learn so much, anybody and Edie. You know, I wrote this book The 10 Man diaries, because I was just trying to alleviate the kind of the pressure of the situation. I was trying to keep everything happy and and Bob and his wife Lauren, were bringing crap up to me and some great sneaking good food into the hospital from Earth and it was great, great food. The only thing that kept me alive. And you know, I just tried to inject humor into it. But anybody who tells you that laughter is the best medicine has never had a morphine drip of. I will Garen fucking

Scott Edwards: 1:02:14

Okay, well, we learned in something there. Bob, you have shows coming up all around the country, you continue to work. And you're supporting and in directing happy Ville, which is a new addition to your world of entertainment. Anyway, if people want to reach out or find out about you your website,

Unknown: 1:02:33

sure. It's Robert dewback.com. I mean, I used to work, Robert. Friends call me Bob. But when somebody yells Bob and I they're not my friend. It's hard.

Scott Edwards: 1:02:43

So Roberts dewback.com. Robert, I know

Jamie Alcroft: 1:02:46

they're not your money. Yeah,

Scott Edwards: 1:02:48

well, but forgive us guy five for people that like to see one of your great shows, as I mentioned. Yeah, book a moron in the mail and elect in stand up. Jesus is the newest one. Yes. Go to Robert dewback.com. Right. Good. Good, good. Well, ladies and gentlemen, this has been such an honor to have

Unknown: 1:03:06

him say, ladies, stop right. There was a bit of a gap. Ladies

Jamie Alcroft: 1:03:11

and gentlemen.

Scott Edwards: 1:03:15

It's all about timing for joining us today. Neil. Jamie, Bob, thank you so much. You got to run in my stock. We'll see you next Sunday. We'll have another great show. Thanks for joining us.

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