The Pat McGann Show
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The Pat McGann Show
Plan B Banger: A Career & Podcast Retrospective w/ Pat McGann & Tom Bambara | Ep. 40
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40 days and 40 nights? This podcast hit 40 episodes in under a year. The Lord had other plans for our guest, so we pivoted. Consider this episode an act of faith.
For the milestone episode, producer Tom flips the script and puts Pat in the hot seat for a full career retrospective. From his first open mic at Chicago and Halsted, to hosting at Zanies, getting fired into full-time comedy, and walking out to Pearl Jam at the Ed Sullivan Theater for his Letterman debut.
The two also look back at 40 episodes of The Pat McGann Show; from a conference room to a real studio, Dwayne Kennedy's philosopher energy, Bill Rancic's pasta, and the time Lio Cundiff babysat Tom’s son after he saved a baby's life.
Here's to the next 40 — and Dave, if you're reading this, episode 80 is yours.
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EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Kelley Thornton
PRODUCER - Paula Thornton
SHOWRUNNER - Tom Bambara
VIDEO AND AUDIO EDITOR - Madeline Curless
AUDIO ENGINEER - Tommy Grant
VIDEO PRODUCER - Eddie Perez
ORGANIC CONTENT MANAGER - George Moster
It's episode 40 of the Pat McGann Show. This week, we celebrate 40 episodes of the podcast with a special interview with Pat McGann. The Pat McGann Show, as always, is brought to you by Tiege Hanley, Uncomplicated Skin Care for Men. And now, here's Pat.
SPEAKER_01Alright, for the 40th time, we are back in the Tiege Hanley studios on the west side of Chicago. I'm fired up, even though we're kind of uh rolling with it. A little pivot of an episode, had a guest booked, bailed, but that doesn't stop us. We're here. Like I mentioned, the 40th time. So we're just gonna look back a little bit. Let's do like a little bit of an autopsy on the podcast, a celebration, even though 40. I mean, I turned 50 last week or so. 40 is nothing to me. But we're gonna act like it's a milestone. 40 used to be a milestone, dude. When my parents turned 40, that was like they decorated the lawn. People came out. I mean, they didn't, but my neighbors, remember like the Lordy Lordy, look who's 40?
SPEAKER_03That was uh I turned 40 last year. That's exactly how it was. That was an accomplishment back in the day. It was very much an accomplishment last year for me.
SPEAKER_01So no, because you're young, I'm 40 now. I mean, look, you still dress like you're 20.
SPEAKER_03Sure. There's a lot of 20-year-olds wearing Gilbert Godfrey shirts out there.
SPEAKER_01I worked with Gilbert Gottfried before. I love Gilbert. I actually opened for him at Zany's. You ever see him live?
SPEAKER_03I saw him uh live at Zanies uh in 09, and then the last time I saw him was out in Aurora. He did the uh New Year's show. So I went out and saw him there. Uh he was a magnificent dude. I've met him several times. I'm sure he I'm sure he remembers you because that's his big thing. He doesn't remember he's dead. Yes, he's dead.
SPEAKER_01He's dead. All right, so I don't think he remembers much. He's gone, but I remember a joke he told. I actually just retold this joke this past weekend, so it's funny when I saw your shirt. He told a joke. He his act, like the end of his act, is just street jokes. Yeah, and he does like the dirtiest stuff, and his coming out of his voice, so much better. But he had a joke about uh his uh this guy getting, you know, had to go to the hospital because his wife was in a terrible accident, and the doctor is out there and it's just like, oh man, you're gonna your life is never gonna be the same. She's got the terrible, you know, she's never gonna be able to walk again. You're gonna have to carry her from room to room, you're gonna have to feed her, she'll never be able to feed herself again. She won't be able to talk, you have to figure out a new way to communicate with her, and this guy is just getting crushed hearing all this. And then the doctor's like, I'm fucking with you, she's dead.
SPEAKER_02I'm just kidding, she's dead.
SPEAKER_03No, he was he was absolutely the man. Um, he had this very strange proclivity. So I used to listen to his podcast, and uh I I his podcast is amazing. Um, it's called the Amaz the Gilbert Gotthard Amazing Colossal Podcast. And what it was was a celebration of old Hollywood and just old Hollywood stories that they would have like ancient people coming on telling this, you know, whatever Hollywood lore that they would have. And uh he was talking with his uh co-host Frank Santa Padre, who's a good guy, we've we've chatted over the years, and uh they were uh he Gilbert was telling him just this crazy thing that he does.
SPEAKER_02He's like, you know what, whenever I'm in like the waiting room at the dentist, and I got a people magazine, I'll take the people magazine and I'll take a Sharpie and I'll start doodling the people as Hasidic Jews, and all of a sudden I'll have a bunch of rabbis on the front of a people magazine, and I heard this, and it's insane because I was doing that in uh college myself.
SPEAKER_03I don't know what inspired me to do that, but I also would just doodle like Hasidic Jews onto these uh people magazines. So what I did when I met Gilbert was I brought a picture of the two of us that we took at Zany's in 09, and I doodled it up so that we were both like a Hasidic, like we were both rabbis, and I presented it to him. I was like, Hey Gilbert, would you mind signing this picture of me and you as Hasidic Jews? And he starts laughing, and he's just like, I can't sign that. Too Jewish, too Jewish. And every time I would see him and saw him three more times after that, I would keep bringing him uh pictures of the two of us doodled up that way. And so I've got a bunch of pictures that Gilbert signed for me over the years, and then again, the biggest compliment is the guy didn't remember anybody. I had a friend working on his podcast and he asked about it, he's like, Oh yeah, I know that guy.
SPEAKER_02He keeps bringing me pictures of the two of us doodled as I see them.
SPEAKER_03So really awesome dude. And uh someone that I uh absolutely admired to the end of my days, and someone I've aspired to be in my act. Yeah, I very much have modeled my act after him.
SPEAKER_01So you have seen him?
SPEAKER_03Yes, all right, multiple times.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that was uh Gilbert is a legend and a very funny dude. And um, anyway, I had a good weekend. I am happy to be back in the in the saddle here, though, with the podcast uh just to talk about this uh Great America experience I had. My daughter's in eighth grade, and you would think that she is graduating like she's getting like her third doctorate, the way they roll out the sep the celebrations for this graduation. Every day there is something. But what we went to Great America yesterday. I was a chaperone, um, and not the best at I had 10 girls in my group. I had to keep track of did you ride the rides? I went on one ride. I went on the demon, dude. The demon. This is how like pathetic I am. I went on like the nostalgic that was like the rye when I was a kid. The demon was like one of the big ones. Now it's dwarfed by you know Goliath and Viper, all these uh silly names. But uh, but anyway, the park was jammed, people were pissed off. I actually ran into Marcus Lashoc there. Shout out to Marcus Lashoc. We're always talking about WGM Morning News, but he's like a roller coaster expert, and of course he was there. He's just in Great America with his kids, and he was he was like, Man, I didn't know all these field trips were gonna be here. And then I was on a bench talking to this other woman, and I was like, Are you here with a group? This older lady, and she's like, No, I didn't know there were gonna be groups here. This sucks. Like, we're in the middle of an amusement park. Everyone seems kind of happy, you know, right across from the dippin' dot stand, and this woman was not having it. She started like asking me, like, do you think this how does the state have money to pay for all these kids being here? I'm like, You think this is like tax dollars? Yeah, right. These kids paid for this. She started a conspiracy right in front of uh in front of the eagle. But uh, dude, I had a good time. The park closes at six, which uh I was happy about it. It used to be open until like 10, 11. When I was a kid, when I was there, my eighth grade trip.
SPEAKER_03This is did you do this for uh I went so I we had Paramount's King's Dominion, so we did King's Dominion when I was.
SPEAKER_01I feel like the parks used to close later. Yeah, like eight or nine o'clock. There were a couple kids that did not show up to our bus to meet the bus 1990. They gone. They left. We left them there. The parent, you know how pissed off these parents were? Can you imagine now? Like those teachers probably be relieved of their duties. Um But in the moment it was kind of great leaving those guys there. You feel okay after riding the roller coaster? Yeah, I felt good. I liked the rides, but I was on duty. I was chaperoning. Although I did say at one point, like, because they're the the school told us they're very strict, you gotta stay right with them. And when you get there, it's like no one's watching anybody. So I just told them, go do your thing. I'm right over here. Here's my number. Text me when you're done. Yeah. If anybody asks you, tell them I'm in the bathroom, I'll be back.
SPEAKER_03Um you could get into at the amusement park, though, really.
SPEAKER_01Like well, you you could probably hop a fence and get decapitated.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01Aside from your imminent death. That's the worst. Aside from your imminent death. What's the worst trouble you could get into? Um, yeah, I mean, you you could people probably take things, steal, I don't know. It's all it's a free-for-all. It's it's 14-year-old girls.
SPEAKER_03They're just gonna be bullying each other with their words. Come on.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Anyway, we had a great day. It was it was fun, and um uh that was pretty much the weekend. I was in, where was I? I had to go to Orlando for a gig. Uh then I was in Long Island for a gig. Saw my buddy Tony Deo, funny dude. Yeah, I just had a good weekend, and uh, I'm glad to be back here. But I wanted to take a look now, 40 episodes. Where are we at, by the way? We gotta tell our listeners. What this is a growing show.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, in terms of uh like the the followers on Instagram, we are uh I think we're approaching 2,000 followers at this point. Um, I don't want to get into the the nitty-gritty here, but we keep growing each episode, each episode get gathers more and more listeners, listeners like you. And we're uh it's just crazy because like every guest that comes on, like we reach back out to the guests, it's like you were just on the most listened to episode of the Pat McGann show. And then the next week comes and it's like you were just on the most listened to episode of the Pat McGann show. So that's what you want. You want to have that, you know, conversation.
SPEAKER_01I gotta give a thank you to everyone that works here on the podcast. You know, I don't know if people even remember. If you're just tuning in, this thing started um we were in a conference room too. Yep when we when we began, which which I kind of missed. That was those were fun days, very intimate, you know. But when I met Kelly Thornton, who um is like my partner in this ride, you know, he's the CEO of Tie Chanley, and this was just an idea, um, you know, to think about where we've come and who's been through here since, and now we have this studio, and you know, it's been really cool to be a part of and getting to know you guys, you know, Tommy and and Eddie, Matty who runs Eclipse, Paul, our producer here, just great squad. And and I'm happy to be uh a part of it and I love where we're where we're headed.
SPEAKER_03I think the cool thing is that like when we first started, people were impressed when they were coming into that conference room, like, oh, look at this setup. And like to go from that, which we all were like, okay, we're in a conference room, like it's got all this is basically where where we take our analytic meetings, and now we're like in a legitimate studio that's just absolutely beautiful, and people walk in now, and I just see the difference on people's faces when they walk in. Like, they're like, Oh my god, Pat, what have you built?
SPEAKER_01Well, when my guest who called off today comes here and sees that this is actually a real show, I think he may feel bad about you know leaving us out. Hey guys, quick question. Are you washing your face with the same soap you wash your car with? Do you shower in the driveway too? It's time to step things up. That's why I like Tiege Hanley. It's a super simple skincare system made for guys. Cleanse, moisturize, exfoliate. It's all laid out so you don't have to think about it. Just a few minutes a day, and your skin actually looks better. Head to Tiege.com slash Pat for 40% off and a free gift. Start taking care of your face like an adult. That's Tiege.com slash Pat.
SPEAKER_03I wanted to uh change things up real quick. I wanted to flip the script on you, and you've been doing a lot of interviewing over 40 episodes. I thought it'd be cool if someone interviewed you and uh asked you a couple of questions about Gilbert Gottfried.
SPEAKER_01I thought you were gonna do a caricature of me.
SPEAKER_03I could if you'd like to. So we were just at the amusement park, so we're gonna just go ahead and like find your most appealing features here and we're gonna sit like this. Yeah, just hold still and I'll I'll ask a handful of questions, though. Um, so we we love having you on the show, and you're you're such a funny guy and you're such a personable guy.
SPEAKER_01When did you I feel like I really am a guest and we just met?
SPEAKER_03No, when when did you like realize that like this was kind of in your in your blood? Like, when did you realize that you were an entertainer? Was there a moment when you were uh younger man that you were just like, were you always good um like in the group with people, like leading people? Like what what made you feel like I'm the guy that's kind of kind of tastemaker? I'm the guy that's gonna kind of be able to break people up.
SPEAKER_01Oh man, I I always say this about like when people ask me, like, when did you realize you're funny or when do you think you were funny? That everybody I grew up with was funny. Yeah. And everyone that I still kind of hang out with is funny.
SPEAKER_03Do you have like a funny family? Do you have funny friends?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, my parents, very funny. Uh always storytelling, you know, and and I actually had this conversation with my kids last night. I had them outside, like on our uh deck, and I was uh you know trying to get my boys to sit up and like have a conversation. Because when they come out, they're like, Who do we have on? We had Ian Hap about the posture coach, right? Yeah, that's who I need. I need a posture coach for my guys. Kids for the boys, like they come out slouching and just letting you know, and I think it's just like sitting around with people and talking and like hearing stories, and you know, you learn so much and you know, sense of humor being part of that. That was just a big thing, you know. My my grandma, my great aunts and uncles, like they would just like talk all the time, be around the table, be in a circle, and um you know that was just kind of what I grew up with. And I think that's a big thing about being you know the neighborhood I grew up in is very Irish Catholic, and you know, storytelling and having this personality, but then there's like a line of getting on a stage, so then that that's where it shifts. So I didn't have the guts to do it. Right. Probably because you ever hear of this poppy theory? I think it's a a poppy plant theory. Okay, yeah, pop okay, that kind of poppy, got it. I it may maybe I'm wrong about the plant, but there there is a a plant that if if the if one of the flowers grows higher than the other, the other ones come around and choke it down because it's blocking the light from like the group. So they don't encourage like going and growing. Like, and that's the I've heard that this is big in Australia. This whole like if you think you're this you're like you know, getting too big for your britches, or you think that you're getting like, you know, you're the shining star, right? They'll cut you back down. And there was a little bit of that undercurrent, you know, you don't get into theater, you don't do plays, you don't do like that was kind of the vibe. So it did take a while to be like, I'm gonna try and do an open mic. I'm gonna go to the show.
SPEAKER_03Who did you see for the first time, like either on TV or in person, that made you think that I want that.
SPEAKER_01Oh man, I just always I never thought I would be doing it, but I loved watching funny people on TV, you know. I was big into Letterman, and you know, my parents would watch Johnny Carson, that was a you know part of it. Jerry Seinfeld, I remember before he had his show, my mom was a huge Seinfeld fan. Just from like his tonight show and just from his tonight show appearances and then going to New York City, they would go to clubs when they like they'd come back from New York City and be like, We went to a comedy club, we went to, you know. And um, in fact, this thing you're wearing right now, there's there's a joke my mom still references about like the chain you're wearing.
SPEAKER_03Oh, the cornicello, okay.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. So the host in New York City would be like, Hey, I like this. What is this uh Mr. T starter kit? Like, I'm just kidding. Get this guy another provolone daiquiri. Like, my mom has been quoting that line since 1987.
SPEAKER_03You know, the Irish have been shitting on the Italians since for as long as I can remember.
SPEAKER_01I love my mom's grandmother from Ireland married a guy from Italy, so okay. I think she's she's got a card, she's part Italian.
SPEAKER_03She's got a little bit of Paisan. I I like that. Um, so that's that's really cool to think about those early influences like a David Letterman. I've I I've always sort of gotten that's that's a very high compliment to give you, but I've always sort of gotten that vibe, just kind of like that irreverence that he had, you know? Just like and and he kind of can be down to earth and like chat chat with you, but also just like take the piss out of you like right away. And you definitely got that. Your first so when you do an open mic for the first time, like the advice that pretty much everyone gives you is like, okay, you just gotta get three or four minutes together, you gotta get like a handful of things that you're gonna say, and you gotta just go jump in and do it. What was your first open mic? Where it was it?
SPEAKER_01I was at Edge Comedy Club at Chicago and Halstead, and it was I kind of scouted it out. This is my advice to people when you are starting out in this, is go to an open mic as a observatory and just take it in. And that's what I did. I went to a few of them when I was kind of thinking about jumping in the pool, and I was made years ago at this point, right? Yeah, tw 20 2007, late 2007. The first time I did uh anything was September 2007, and then um going to the open mics though and seeing like the bad, the terrible, yeah, you know, there are good stuff, but you could be like, oh, I could at least do that, or like this person doesn't even have anything memorized or prepared, so that's what I always say, like to try that first. But yeah, open mics, man. If you think about that, that that is pretty wild. Just the concept of an open mic. I mean, if you're playing a guitar or you do music or anything, that a place will set up a plugged-in microphone and random people can come in and off the street and speak their mind, it's a pretty great concept.
SPEAKER_03I mean, it's there's there it's a big business. Uh there's a lot of bars that depend on people hopefully going in there and buying a handful of drinks. Do you remember your first joke?
SPEAKER_01Not really. No, good. No. I know it had something to do with like you know, there was like a historical reference to I think I had like an Abraham Lincoln reference, or I don't know. Tommy's yawning right now. When your skin looks better, you feel more confident everywhere you go. At work, out with friends, on a date, or like me at a big show. That's why I like Tiege Hanley. They make skincare simple with a routine that takes about two minutes a day. Just wash, exfoliate, moisturize, and you're done. No complicated routines or cluttered bathroom shelves. If you want to look better without overthinking it, try Tiege Hanley. Check it out at Tiege.com slash Pat and get 40% off and a free gift. That's Tiege.com slash Pat. Tiege Hanley. Put your best face forward.
SPEAKER_03As you uh as you build upon that, you go to more mics, and a lot of it is, you know, not only are you building material, but you're making friends and you're meeting people. Do you remember your first show? When was where was your first show that you actually did that somebody booked you on?
SPEAKER_01The first show I got booked on was at Walter Payton's Roundhouse by um it was a comedy club out there. Burt Borth booked me. And I um say that five times faster. I was opening up. I think Mike Toomey was headlining. Oh, that's so cool.
SPEAKER_03You know? Pat me and show legend Mike Toomey.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we've had him on. Yeah, we gotta go through some of these people that we've had on. Umys. Yeah, but we had uh that was the first time I did it. How'd that show go? Do you remember? It was not bad, you know. It wasn't the you know, that was the first place I was performing regularly, and I thought it was I didn't think anything of it, but it was actually a terrible space for comedy. Yeah, and I didn't know that. High stage, super high ceilings, bad acoustics. Um so then when I started doing zanies, and that was like when I really started working, when I showcased there, and I did um I actually got booked after uh my first showcase, which was kind of cool, but the booking was like five months out. Sure. And I just remember thinking like, what? I gotta wait till May? Because I showcased like in December, and then they went, they asked me to uh be House MC, and that's when everything really changed.
SPEAKER_03What was like the the pivotal moment of that time? Like, was there somebody that came through town that you opened for, or there was there just like a certain show that like really stuck out with you from that time that uh or I guess what were your big take on the street?
SPEAKER_01It was really just cumulative, and then the the big thing was so at this time I was hiding in my material very much like okay, I have this five minutes, eight minutes, whatever it was, I'm just gonna do that. And uh at when I was hosting at Zany's, they're like, we don't want you to do your act, we want you to welcome people, we want you to talk to them, right, find where out where they're from, find out why they're there. And I was like, What? Like, no, I can't I couldn't do that. I was very um, you know, inexperienced in that way, and doing that every night, it just like I became much more comfortable to a point where like I preferred almost that being in the moment and just talking to people, and I would go up and do like 15 minutes of that before I bring up the middle act, and then I go up again and bring out a headliner out.
SPEAKER_03It's you're almost like a point guard, like setting up a bunch of layups or setting up a bunch of passes. Because the minute that you like pull something out of an audience member, then the middle act can like go back and reference that if they were paying attention and they were watching you, or the the headliner can do the exact same thing, and it just like makes the the fluidity. Of the show, like having those kind of callbacks, or just like again, making it just this community, this environment in the show that's all very unique to that space.
SPEAKER_01I mean, obviously, like well, yeah, turn it all upside down for me. Like the guy who ran Zany's Bert Haas was like, This is your show, which is you find hard to believe because you're like, I'm just the host. Right. And hosting has a bad rep. There are well, certainly not some comics are just not good at it. They're just not host style. But hosting is is important and you can really grow in that role. A lot of people are like, I don't want to host, or you know, but really is like, you know, when you watch a late night show, when you watch Kimmel, Letterman, you know, whoever you're that's a host.
SPEAKER_03There's a hospitality.
SPEAKER_01They're starting, they're coming out cold, they're welcoming everyone, and they're running the show. So those skills translate so much more. And then to even break it down further, for like, you know, somebody taught me this was when you headline, you're actually hosting and middling again. Right. And then you have to close. So that's like that's the difference. But you're when you come out as a headliner, that first five-ten minutes, you should be welcoming in a way and talking and and acknowledging where you are, and you know, kind of like getting into that mode, and then you start going into material, which is like that middle part, and then the difference would be closing. But the hosting skill is like, and now when I'm doing corporate gigs or you know, I've gotten to host some award shows and some things like that, and now I'm hosting a podcast. You wouldn't think that though, because right now I'm a guest on my own podcast. So when I get booked for this.
SPEAKER_03I like to think of um like when you're just starting out, the the thing that I there's two ways that you can kind of describe this. One is Spider-Man Peter Parker, and that's like if you're if you're gigging, if you're like riding your bike to deliver things and your pizza delivery guy or like whatever, and then you do stand-up at night. Or if you're like the more corporate route that I've taken, it's like Batman Bruce Wayne. So I'm assuming you had kind of a Batman Bruce Wayne type of mentality at the beginning, like you had your day job, which was paying the bills, and then you're doing stand-up at night. What was it like when you were able to basically fire uh Bruce Wayne and become Batman full time? Because you had that moment, right, where you had to I got fired by somebody else, actually.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. That was basically uh I had a but I I didn't feel bad about it because I had a commission sales job, and slowly like my commissions were just like dwindling, you know. And this was like coinciding with like the internet came out and like everything kind of shifted in the business, it wasn't even fun anymore. People were just not buying on relationships at all. It was just like the you know, I had clients that were like, Man, I'd love to keep working with you, but I got a better price from this other person. It didn't even matter if you like had a relationship. And so anyway, things started dying down, and I was putting a lot more time and I was hiding it because my the company I worked for was headquartered in Texas, it was very small, and the guy I worked with here in Chicago, he knew what I was doing, but no one I didn't really broadcast it. And um the my boss called me and I was about to get married actually, and he was like, Man, I don't even know how you're living off of this, you know, because you were doing well like last year. Like, do you have another job? Are you doing anything else? And I'm like, I didn't really say anything, you know. We just decided to part ways, and then I was like, Alright, then I had to get a different second job. That's when I worked for uh Let Us Entertain You, and I was like um stock in a liquor room at Studio Paris, you know? So I did that for almost a year, and then I was able to just do stand-ups. So it was kind of more of a gradual exit from it as opposed to say.
SPEAKER_03Tell me about the moment that you got late night.
SPEAKER_01Late night for oh for what uh when I did Letterman?
SPEAKER_03When you got when you actually started talking about David Letterman's like when you actually got to go to New York, go to the Ed Sullivan Theater. You met Dave before or did you not meet Dave until after you were done?
SPEAKER_01I uh I yeah, just met him. The only time I was near him, both times I did it, was at the end of the set. I shook his hand and we like stood next to him as we went to commercial.
SPEAKER_03And you know, that was it like a real the truly surreal experience to do anymore. Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01The first time I did it, I was um I had submitted I was close to getting on uh like a year before Eddie Brill, who was the warm-up act, he also booked the stand-ups, and then that's changed. Eddie wasn't the booker anymore, so it's like, oh man, I had thought I was gonna so I um I actually worked with a comic, Nick Griffin. Nick Griffin, very funny dude, and at that time he was like Letterman's favorite he comic, he'd been on 12 times or something, and I worked with him in Columbus, Ohio at the Funny Bone, and he said, um he asked me, like, have you submitted for Letterman? You should I think he'd like you. You should send him a tape. I'll put a word in for you. And I knew that Letterman loved him, so I was like, Yeah, I'll do that Monday. I had a set already, you know. So that kind of like fast-tracked me, I think. And it happened fairly quickly after that.
SPEAKER_03Would you say that he's like because they say they say this in entertainment that like there are certain angels that like really help you because they're people that pull you up.
SPEAKER_01That is the best thing about that is the best thing. I try to help people because of the situations like that. That is it, that's the cycle of it, you know, and and that is the best thing about stand-up. I mean, I think about sometimes like you know, Sebastian, when he took me out on the road and then he produced a special, right? Like to put his name on like that's a lot to do for someone to put your name on someone else's content and say, you know, I support this and I'm gonna share my platform, I'm gonna, you know, lift someone up. Um and uh you know, that's definitely what Nick did for me. And uh that's the thing I love about comedy. What I was trying to say is like it's a great environment. Most of the time, like there's only a few people that you can recall being like jerks or thinking like, you know, I don't want to be like that person. Um so I've gotten to meet a lot of great people, and I think comics help each other out because we all know how brutal it can be.
SPEAKER_03You do your Letterman set, you're spit out onto Broadway at like whatever that is, like 5 30. 'Cause late night gets shot in the afternoon, right? Do you have do you go watch it? Do you obviously went and watched it on TV, or do you like watch it with friends or I can't remember if I watch it, but I had a bunch of people come out. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like it was fun. Like I had some Southsiders come out. Uh my buddy from Boston came down, my family. Um it was yeah, it was great, man. And you know, one of the cool like little things you get to do when you do that uh Letterman is you get to pick your walkout song, you know. I did um State of Love and Trust Pearl Jam.
SPEAKER_03Okay, cool.
SPEAKER_01And uh, you know, that was just really you know, to hear Paul Schaefer and them like play and when you go out there, it's tight. So like my first experience of David Letterman is hearing him laugh at a joke of mine, and when I heard him laugh at a joke of mine, I was derailed. Of course, and I almost blanked out, like I almost had a moment, and I'd had this moment on stage before where I forgot everything. And there is a moment in that set I did where I'm like, Can you see it when you're I can see it? I don't think other people could probably see it. And um it I did miss like a tag, like half of a joke. I didn't finish this thing, but then I luckily recovered.
SPEAKER_00Teege Hanley has changed my life. My skin has been amazing.
SPEAKER_03Uh, we're the number one men's skincare routine in America.
SPEAKER_01When I got here, they go, uh, we're just waiting for the podcast guest. We know you're here for pictures. I thought you were a model? Yeah, you guys, he's glowing. In fact, Ape Burgati was like, your skin's awesome. Just like I look forward to like, I'm washing my face before I go to sleep. I think we haven't had any 40-year-olds on the podcast, and I said, I'm 50, and everyone goes, What? T Sh Hanley. It's the way we face the day.
SPEAKER_03When you is when you're like kind of in in the zone and you're and everything's flowing, like, do you are though those moments where you can I I hate to call it going on autopilot, but like you know your material so well, you kind of know what comes next. Like it's almost like there's um a little bit of uh your mouth is doing what your your brain is telling it to do because you know where it's supposed to go. Like are there those moments where you can kind of like I won't say zone out or blackout, but like just kind of like auto? Yeah, like go a little bit autopilot and like you know, maybe you're not thinking too hard on your feet, or like you're I don't know. And there are those moments where all of a sudden shit, it just stops. Or you get thinking about something else, like you get neurotic and start thinking about something else that's going on.
SPEAKER_01When I get into that place, I'm usually thinking about what I want to do after. Right. Yeah. So I'll like go into something that I know really well and I know kind of works, it's almost like and that happens often, right? You know, because I don't have a whole lot of uh structure. I mean, I have a general idea when I go out there what I'm gonna do. Like when I'm doing my own set, I'm talking about when I'm doing like an hour on my own. When you're doing 45 draw an hour, I could just go and then but if I'm if I don't love what's going on, I'm always like ahead. So you always like usually you're thinking about the next bit, the next like where you're gonna go. So there's a lot going on in your mind. It's great to be present and and in the moment, and you can be at the same time too. That helps with like act outs and and actually like performing the bit, which which gets you a little bit further, I think.
SPEAKER_03I have a final question in the Pat McGann, this is your comedy uh section of this interview. Uh you have uh you've done big theaters, you've done uh so many different comedy clubs, you've done independent shows like here in Chicago, you've done a ton of independent shows. What's your favorite place to perform? Is it in an intimate setting? Is it in a more like the club setting? A club, yeah, yeah. So like what's the ideal size of a club like Rosemont or of the Zanies?
SPEAKER_01Rosemont is I think the best setup and a great size. It's about 250, you know, and that's that's great on a Friday, Saturday night. That's gonna be a lot of fun. Smaller crowds, I enjoy too when they're tight and like you're going down to uh CYSK, Timothy O'Toole's. Yes, yeah, they're on top of you. Like I like when they're right there. Denver Comedy Works Downtown Club, they're sitting on the stage, basically. Right. And they are almost you're you're almost in the round, literally surrounded. Um and and I always say that too when I do these private gigs or a corporate gig, like get these people as close to the stage as possible. You know, I did one the other night and they they had like a dance floor and then the stage, and then I just I did like 10 minutes up there and then I went down, and and I'm like, I'm coming down here, guys. I want to be right here with you because we're not really connecting as well as we could be.
SPEAKER_03When you open for Sebastian, you're doing stadiums?
SPEAKER_01Uh arenas arenas, yeah.
SPEAKER_03So like was there like a gladiator moment where you're like where you walk out there and you just kinda like fucking look around?
SPEAKER_01It's like whoa Dude, I had a moment one time and I did uh the garden in Boston, T D garden, opening for Sebastian, and I did about five minutes, you know, I was like five minutes in, and then all of a sudden I started hearing from my back left, so you're in the round, and it was like one end of the court, you know, behind it was imagine like behind the basket, like this whole side started chanting, we can't hear you. So like the sound went out, like the speakers went out in that part of the arena.
SPEAKER_03Oh shit.
SPEAKER_01And you start when you and this is 20,000 people, and five thousand of them can't hear you start chanting in unison, it builds like you I felt it, and it was like, what is going on? And then I heard it, you know, and and in retrospect, that was like pretty cool because like you think about what an athlete feels. Oh yeah, and you know, when you're shaking and everybody's yelling flopper, flopper, and you hear that coming out like the it's directed at you, it's like going through you. There's a power and then I had like to adjust to that. And I think I was like, You guys can't hear me, and they responded like yeah, like clapping. And I was like, Well, you heard that, you know, and finally they got it, you know, up to the technology figured out. But yeah, that was uh that was a moment that that sticks with you. But those arenas are um surprisingly really fun to perform in front of it. People say, like, oh man, comedy and arena, I don't know about that. But and especially that last tour I did opening for him, the uh he had a stage low, like we were like right in with people, it was triangular, so it like went into the the crowd, it felt like, and um you know, in the round, you got a lot in the screens too. These screens help a ton. Because I've gone up in the rafters and watched some of these shows just to what are these people feeling? What are they experiencing? And you can really, you know, with that with the screen, you feel a lot closer. The podcast. The podcast. So we've done How did I come up with a name? Great question.
SPEAKER_03I was on that email, Fred. Um we've done uh 39 proper of the and you know what? I'll I'll even say like with the bonus episodes. Is this not proper? This is a non-proper episode. We've done 39 proper and then this and then whatever the fuck with the whatever you want to call this one. Um I'd say we had a bonus. We've done a few bonuses, so I'd say like a combined we've done like 40, 41 shows at this point. Um who uh besides besides Dwayne, besides like Maggie, like who who stands out uh for you in terms of like I'm I can't believe I got to like interview them, or I just had so much fun interviewing them.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I like to think I have fun every week and uh good cover. Who did you have the most fun interviewing? I'm thinking. That's that's me, that's me thinking. I'm trying to uh consider, I want to consider like it's a lot of people when you think about it. I love that you know we have all these pictures on the wall, and you you know, coming in every time I I glance at that and it's always like wow man, this is but this is fun. It's like always somebody different and all different walks of life. I feel like we're having different walks of life, and that's the other thing. This podcast, man, this is taking on, and this is what happens when you start a project, it takes on a different life than you think it's going to, and it may pull you in a different direction. Originally, I didn't know we were gonna have a guest, or I didn't think that we were gonna have a guest every week, you know. We talked about maybe and we played around with things, and then we found that I think you know, having somebody who's just more enjoyable and kind of built it out, you know.
SPEAKER_03And uh definitely found its groove in that respect. I mean, because yeah, like I remember having early conversations with you about like what's the season gonna look like or how's this gonna take shape, and then it kind of did its own thing organically in a really you know positive way, where um you know, whenever we would have DK sitting in here and like you guys have such great chemistry, and like it's yeah, I got one too, and I and I know you said besides Dwayne and Maggie, because they probably have been on more than anybody.
SPEAKER_01Dwayne is our most uh I want to really uh love on Dwayne for a minute because he is phenomenal and uh we are really good friends, and he's he's just such a great person, too, on top of being so just funny. Not only is he such a good dude and such a uh brilliant comic, but he's like a um philosopher in a way. Absolutely, he's prolific uh writer, and uh yeah, so much respect for Dwayne. And we've had a lot of people come through here, a lot of people that I have known and and have tapped into a lot of relationships that I've built um through the years, and it's great that these people are willing to come on. Um you know, I think about this show in kind of like two ways. I think about the conference room days for some reason, and I think about being here in the studio. It it seems like that first front end. I remember having Robin Baumgarten in, and I had never really talked to Robin like that. You know, I go on such a sweetheart. I go on their show and they're interviewing me, I'm the guest, so it's kind of different when I'm you know, it's like this right now, you know, it's like a switch. Uh so having to ask her stuff and to hear more about her, because I think she's fairly private too, you know. So that was great that she came on, she was comfortable. I thought she really opened up. It was like you never know how open these people are gonna be when they come in. And that's what you want because that's what I think people respond to or connect with, you know.
SPEAKER_03I'll take a swing and tell you that my and we've had a lot of great people come through here and uh, you know, people I'm so excited to meet, people I know that I'm catching up with again. Um, I gotta tell you, man, Mark Gian Greco was probably the highlight for me. That guy was such a Raycon tour. He had a story for everything. Like, you know, he would wreck he'd see something on your shirt and he'd be like, oh yeah, that, and then he would go off for like half an hour. And I could, I swear to God, I'm Italian, he's Italian. Like, I he I I took to him pretty instantly, and like I could have he told me that I reminded me him of one of his nephews. Like, I could have gone out for a beer with that guy and probably just like listened to him talk for another five or six hours. Like, I didn't want that to stop.
SPEAKER_01He's phenomenal, he's such a great dude, and uh again, a guy that I watched growing up, um, and was aware that he went to Dayton. I was aware that you know he was uh uh just a part of you know, you watch The Last Dance, he's all over the last dance, he's like embedded in and and when I booked him and I remember having Mark G and Greco, I heard from a lot of people, like, dude, you have G and Greco? Like that that like you know, that's great. How'd you get him? And when I um first was talking to Kelly about this podcast, I reached out to Mark to host it with me.
SPEAKER_03Oh wow.
SPEAKER_01To be like to do it together, to do it together. And um he took a w uh a little bit to think about it. And as you said, when he was here, he likes to travel, he's retired, he's got you know, so you know, I think we'll have him back on as a guest. Obviously, he didn't want to he wasn't able to commit to hosting, but that's how highly I think of him, and you know, I I I he brings so much he's so well rounded, you know. He's got he's funny on top of all this other stuff.
SPEAKER_03I just like him to come over for dinner because I I just want to hang out with him.
SPEAKER_01A lot of guys already trust Tiege Hanley. They've shipped over three million boxes and have more than 24,000 reviews, averaging 4.7 stars. In fact, 91% of customers say they'd recommend it to a friend. People only talk like that when a product works. If you're ready to upgrade your routine, check out Tiege Hanley and face the day with confidence. Head to Tiege.com slash pat for 40% off and a free gift. That's teach.com slash pat. Uh, you gotta make him uh Bill Rancick.
SPEAKER_03So we okay, so here's a little BTS for you. So uh Bill Rancic brought us all the De Pandy uh products. So he brought a for for Pat, and Pat generously shared with the rest of us. So we had a bunch of pastas, we had a bunch of sauce, um, so everybody got to go home with a little bit of something. I went home with the Bucettini, and I went to Mariano's, my my Mariano's uh at uh Roscoe and Western, and I I found the DePandy sauce, and I went home and I made the uh Bucettini Pomodoro for my uh my wife and my son, and we just had an amazing, amazing dinner. And the stuff is like it's good. It is really good. It is really good.
SPEAKER_01I made it for uh, well, actually, Kim and I had it one night. We had the the the dish he told me to do was cut up this salami in there with the pomodoro sauce, and and then I had it with my my kids as well because I you know had like leftovers, everybody loved it. I'm gonna get I'm gonna get some of that stuff at the store. I need to actually uh tell him um because he was like, when you have this, let me know.
SPEAKER_03He just like is very good. Another great guest. He was one of the kind of people where you meet him, and I don't I'm not saying that like he changed my life, but it's just like, man, I want to be more like that guy in terms of just like he had such a positive energy that was an atmosphere around him. Like every handshake, every bit of eye contact, you know, it just felt like oh man, this guy is radiating such brilliant sunshine. I want to do that for people. Yeah, he's dynamic, dude.
SPEAKER_01Let's brought his uh brought the first pet we've had. On the show, right? That was the first animal.
SPEAKER_03We had a dog. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Zeus. He was he was phenomenal. Bill was great. I think about having Coach Holtman on here. Oh man, head coach at DePaul. I'm a big basketball fan. And um when he was like, Yeah, I'll do it. I'll come on. I was really flattered, and he was great to talk to, very interesting dude, funny guy, you know. And uh, you know, having Ian Hap last week. I mean, I got a little shit from that for some of my buddies because I'm a White Sox fan. But this guy is just a real deal. And by the way, the Cubs have not won since he's been on the podcast. They have not won a game. So my plan is working. Working again. The plan is working. Uh I felt bad about that. I because thank God he said he wasn't superstitious, because I could only imagine, like, you know, never going on that show again.
SPEAKER_03So uh years ago, and this is very I I I really appreciate you letting me do this because I I used to host my own uh late night talk show. And years ago, I when I was hosting my show uh out with my buddies in Los Angeles, uh, we had this thing which we had like a dream guest that we wanted to get on uh the the show, and I'll give my friend Paul Walter Hauser credit with this because he came up with it, but it was called the Bill Murray uh the what was it? The it's the Bill Murray pool. So like essentially we had like things that we would give away if you could give us Bill Murray's private number because Bill Murray very famously doesn't have an agent, he just has like a phone number, you call, you leave a voice message, and then he'll call you back if he wants to do it. So we wanted to book Bill Murray desperately on the show. So we always had like you're gonna get like a six-pack, and you're gonna get this DVD of Ghostbusters, and you're gonna get this. Like basically, it just kept growing and kept growing and kept growing. Um, I'm not saying that Bill Murray is the dream guest of the Pat McGann show, but who is the dream guest of the Pat McGann show?
SPEAKER_01Oh man, I'll say Letterman.
SPEAKER_03David Letterman. If we can get old David Letterman, Santa Claus Letterman to come in here, man. I I will give you my salary for a year. My Letterman intrigue David Letterman sitting in the chair I'm in right now, dude.
SPEAKER_01My Letterman intrigue is back to a high level. I saw him on uh one of the last Colbert. On Colbert, yeah. And he went on like just reminding me about all of his contributions. And he's still very relevant. He does a um The show he does on Netflix.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, my my next guest is Yeah, he's he's great. I would love to have my guest my next guest needs no introduction. That's the show. Uh when he and Colbert were throwing stuff off the roof, it just reminded me of all the funny things that he was do all over the years. Like he just had that stupid segment where it was like, Will it float? And he yeah, he would just he'd bring out something. He's like, Hey, uh Paul, is this is gonna float? And he just drop like whatever into a tub and if it floats or not, so stupid.
SPEAKER_01Tom, thank you for you kind of turned the tables on me, made me the the the focus. Sure. Appreciate that, and uh, and I appreciate everyone that's been listening to this podcast. Uh I always say, check them out. Some of these back, you know, the the previous episodes, they're pretty evergreen. We've had a lot of tremendous guests, and uh, I appreciate every one of them. I'm actually doing something with Jeff Morrow this weekend. Love Jeff. He's doing a show for a funny dude. Um, and then we got uh someone else mentioned Jared Payton. That was a that was a banger. How about we had uh when we had Leo Cundiff on?
SPEAKER_03Leo Cundiff just babysat my child.
SPEAKER_01He did?
SPEAKER_03Babysitter ever babysat my child. I went to my wife and I went to the Bruno Mars concert, and uh Leo came over and watched Leo. We had a Leo Leo that night.
SPEAKER_01That's fantastic.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Who's more qualified than that?
SPEAKER_03That's what my wife said.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and we had him on like just a couple days after he saved a baby.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01All right, but really, thank you for uh rolling with today. Of course. We're gonna be back on track. Next week we have Mitch Rosen. This is an exciting guest for me. This guy actually lives on uh the South Side, but he is such a contributor here to uh and he's a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame. He's a program director for WXRT, which is I think one of the best stations in the city. I think it's the best. That's all I listen to, to be honest with you. And then the score. When I'm listening to sports radio, I'm always on listening to that. Uh so Mitch is gonna join us. We got O's Pearlman coming up. Uh we have some really good guests lined up. Uh so I hope people are tuning in. We want some uh reviews though, and we'd love for you guys to interact with us online. As always, we have the uh promo code t.com slash pat. You didn't ask me about my skincare. Get yourself some skincare. I'll talk about my skincare. Okay, I've been using it daily. Tell me. Um I don't know. I just I like the stuff, man. I'm into the wash now. I use that in the shower, the face wash. It's got a great odor, great scent, great scent. I don't want to say odor.
SPEAKER_03Every single day is a wash and a moisturizer day for sure. Just doing those two basic things are gonna change your life. But if you can work that PM in and you can work the scrub in also, like you gotta just it it's not that hard. Like, it's two minutes of your day.
SPEAKER_01I was at Great America all day yesterday in the sun. I would normally probably have been a burnt burn up, but I had my uh my AM on with the SPF.
SPEAKER_03Gives you a nice even tone.
SPEAKER_01And my look good drops. That's the only tan I'm getting these days. Alright, you guys, we're uh fired up to keep this thing rolling, but thanks for hanging us with the first 40. We're gonna keep going. Thanks, Tom. Always. All right, you guys, have a good week. We'll be back with the regularly scheduled Pat McGann show next week. Bye.
SPEAKER_03The Pat McGann Show is brought to you by the Pat McGann Show team. Producer Paula Thornton, showrunner Tom Bambera, audio engineer Tommy Grant, video production Eddie Perez, video and audio editor Madeline Curlis, organic content manager George Master. Recorded at Tiege Hanley Studios in Chicago, Illinois.
