"Best Of" Series- John Pate/Pat Paulsen- Interview, Standup Comedy, and the Almost President- Show #249

John Pate and Pat Paulsen, two respected figures in the comedy world, both have distinct perspectives on being a standup comic and the invaluable role of comedy clubs in shaping their careers. John Pate fondly remembers his performances at LAUGHS Unlimited, appreciating the vibrant atmosphere and the opportunities that the comedy club circuit provided during the golden age of comedy. He values these venues as essential spaces that supported his craft, even as his career evolved into television and academia. On the other hand, Pat Paulsen, renowned for his satirical political humor, cherished the comedy clubs for their nurturing environment and the close relationships he formed, using his sophisticated and self-aware humor to create an enduring legacy within these iconic venues.

(00:00:48) "Dynamic Connections: Comedy Club Legends and Staff"

(00:08:07) Dynamic Duo: Comedy Collaboration with Red Skelton

(00:15:45) "Red Skelton's Comedy Revitalization Phenomenon"

(00:25:08) Award-Winning Comedy Music Videos by John Pate

(00:29:21) Alternate History Novel to TV Series

(00:34:40) "Political Humor and Satire by Pat Paulson"

(00:44:02) Legacy Promotion Through Standup Comedy Shows

Transcript

Announcer: 0:04

This is another episode of Standup Comedy. Your host and emcee celebrating 40 plus.

R. Scott Edwards: 0:10

Years on the fringe of show business.

Announcer: 0:12

Stories, interviews and comedy sets from the famous and not so famous.

R. Scott Edwards: 0:17

Here's your host and emcee, Scott Edwards.

Announcer: 0:23

Hi and welcome to this week's podcast. We have a fun, fun show for you today. One of these guys that we got a chance to work with for many years and has a real interesting background and some stories to share. This comic was a regular at the club for a number of years. I think you'll enjoy what he has to share. Ladies and gentlemen, for this week's show, welcome John Pate.

John Pate: 0:48

Thank you, Scott.

Announcer: 0:50

Oh, the crowd's going crazy, John, so good to hear your voice.

John Pate: 0:54

Well, and it's good to hear you too. It's. Yeah, it's. As I've always said, that your place has always been one of my favorite places to perform. And I believe that over time I worked at every single branch of LAUGHS Unlimited that you ever had. So, yeah, it was a fun era for the golden age of comedy back then.

Announcer: 1:18

Oh, yeah, we had a lot of fun. And John, you were one of the guys that we enjoyed having come up and we're going to get into it a little later, but we also had some fun off stage. But first, let's introduce everybody to you. John, you were came to work for me, I believe, as a feature act in the mid-80s or so. What do you recollect is when we first met and you came to work for me?

John Pate: 1:42

Well, the very first week, I actually came up with a wonderful comic at the time and of course, he was doing a lot of television. Bruce Bomb. And so he had, he had recommended me to you and you guys had heard about me and so you booked me up there for the week. And the early days, it was just that particular club was packed every single night down there on Filehouse Alley. And it was just a happening, popular place back then.

Announcer: 2:14

Yeah, we really were lucky with that location. Of my several club locations, that was my favorite. And Bruce Baum, thanks for mentioning him. He is a great, great friend and longtime headliner at the club. One of the best prop comics in the business. But so Bruce brought you up with him and you had a good show and a good experience at the club. How many years did you work off and on for me?

John Pate: 2:38

Oh, my goodness, from, I GUESS it was 1983, I believe was the first time all the way up until, oh, 90, 93 or 94. And then actually I came back one time when the club moved over to of the upstairs place in Olsac. I was there one night, I was actually traveling through and you said, hey, you want to do a guest set? And so I went up and did a guest set then. So, yeah, regularly, kind of like clockwork. Two and three times a year for about 10 years.

Announcer: 3:11

Oh, that's great. Well, I know that you were one of the regular acts that we had up, and I'm glad that you had a chance to see the new room up on Front Street. I, like I said, I always enjoyed the basement club on Firehouse Alley. But when we were forced out of that and the city helped us move up to the Front street location, we were able to design that club from the ground up. And it really did work out to being a great room. And the club is still there today. But back in those days, you coming by and doing a guest set and staying in contact, I think it really shows how there was a camaraderie between the club and the comics, and I think that's a nice thing. Now, you also had some interesting experiences you were sharing earlier. Who were some of the people you worked with?

John Pate: 3:57

Well, there I worked with. I wish I could remember all the names through the years. I believe everybody from Mark Pitta and Dana Carvey and of course Bruce Baum and George Wallace and Jay Johnson. All of these guys were huge names back then, but probably one of the most famous. And of course, when I worked with him for the whole week, we. It was a packed house every night. And I think you even had the ad shows was when Pat Paulson was there.

Announcer: 4:28

Oh, Pat Paulson, Great, great comic. Great, great man. Yeah, I really got a chance to get close to Pat before, during the comedy and before he passed. And it was an honor to have him at the club. And boy, the audience is ate that up. He was funny. If you got a chance to work with Pat, you got a chance to work with one of the classics of standup comedy.

John Pate: 4:52

Well, Pat, see, I remember, I remember the midnight bowling that in fact we jumped in the car and Pat was driving over to your midnight bowling thing after the show was over and we went over and if I can't even remember who the opening act was that week, but all three of us went over with you and the whole gang and we, we bowl several games and of course, Pat was terrible at bowling. And as we're driving back home, the. The opening act was making fun of Pat's bowling score. And Pat commented by saying, you just wait, I'm going to wreck this car. And Tomorrow morning, the headlines will read, pat Paulson and two others die in car accidents.

Announcer: 5:39

That's so funny.

John Pate: 5:40

And.

Announcer: 5:41

And you know what makes it extra funny? It's true.

John Pate: 5:45

Exactly.

Announcer: 5:46

Oh, that's a great story. Well, that's funny. Yeah, There was a lot. We were really lucky. A lot of people that were famous at the time and ended up being famous came through the club, and I'm glad you had a chance to work with them.

John Pate: 6:03

I remember back in the early days, in fact, the first comedy condo that you had was on the same floor as the governor of the state back then. And I was working with George Wallace one time, and we were over on one side of the floor, and the governor's suite was over on the other side of the floor. I believe it was George Duke Majin at the time. And we ordered pizza and invited his secret service guys over to have pizza with us one night.

Announcer: 6:34

Oh, that's cool. That's a nice thing. Yeah. A couple comics have mentioned being next door to the governor, but you're the first one to name Duke Majin who it was. But good. Good memory. And then we were talking earlier, and you mentioned you had a chance to work with Ellen at the club.

John Pate: 6:52

Oh, my goodness. That was. It was such an interesting time because there were so many people who were starting their careers back then. And I believe it was myself and Mark Pitta working there. And you came back into the green room and you said, you know, we've got this new young kid that just won the San Francisco comedy competition, and part of the prize was for her to come over and audition for us, so we're going to put her up first. And it was. It was Ellen DeGeneres. And so I have the proud distinction of saying I had Ellen DeGeneres as my opening act.

Announcer: 7:27

Yeah. That is not something that a lot of people can say.

John Pate: 7:32

Yeah.

Announcer: 7:32

And of course, no one's heard of Ellen since. Right, Exactly.

John Pate: 7:36

I wonder. I don't know what happened to her, but I hope she did. Well.

Announcer: 7:40

I don't think we have to worry. Well, that's a great story. Well, one of the things that I remember was, of course, the video we did, which is I'm going to introduce in just a few minutes. But I also had the proud honor of meeting and working with Red Skelton and the famous comic and artist, and that was all because of you. Can you share a little bit with the audience about your relationship with Mr. Skelton?

John Pate: 8:07

Well, it was such an interest. Like I say, it was the golden age of comedy. And Comics were working everywhere. I was actually performing at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, and across the street, they had a gallery at the Hilton Hotel, and the gallery had all of Rhett Skelton's artwork. And so I was over there one day admiring it. We didn't have anything to do during the daytime. In fact, I think I was working Vegas with the Bruce bomb again. And so we were just walking around over there, and the owner came out and he said, are you a Red Skelton fan? I said, oh, my goodness. I got into business because I just wanted to meet the guy. And he said, well, we. Yeah, he says, I have all of this stuff here, and we're doing a show with Red Skelton pretty soon. And of course, Bruce and I invited him over to the show at the. At the Riviera Hotel. He came over that night, and then he came back after the show was over, and he said, would you like to be on the show with Red? And I said, are you kidding me? And so he booked me on the show with Red. It was at the Stardust Hotel. And then after the show was over, Red and his wife pulled me aside and talked to me for probably 15 minutes. And he. I really appreciate the fact that he admired my act because it was a clean act. And he said that, do you want to work with me again? And then, of course, I jumped at the chance. And from that point on, for the next six years, a total of seven years, I got to perform with Red, both in Las Vegas and in Reno and up in Sparks, Nevada, and a couple of places like that. And at one of those shows, you were able to come up to the show and meet him. And I was just really excited about that fact that I got to work with him for so long. It was just the best time ever for my comedy career.

Announcer: 10:09

Wow, that's a great story. And you got a chance. I didn't know you worked with him for so many years. What a great honor. And again, thanks for including me. Yes. You invited me up to a special show at Reno, and my memory was, it was celebrating Red's 100th birthday. And this is a guy that we all respected because long before the 80s or 90s, what we call the golden age of standup, Red Skelton was one of those premier comics from the 40s and the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, the 80s. I mean, he just kept going. And from his TV show to all his stage appearances, he was one of the hallmark comics in the history of this country. And when you Got a chance to work with him and then turn around and invite me up to his 100th birthday. It was so like you said, it was an honor and still awe inspiring moment for me. It was extra special because in celebrating his 100th birthday, they surprised him and they had 100 clowns. Now, for those of you that don't know, Red Skelton is very famous also as a painter and his subject was clowns. I'm a proud owner of three of the copy pieces. I know John's about to tell you he owns some of the originals. Bastard. But what was really cool, and I have a photo. I wish I could share it with the audience. Maybe I'll get it on my comedy treasures on the website. But I was backstage during the Red Skelton birthday celebration with these hundred different clowns, including Ronald McDonald, by the way. And I got a picture with me surrounded by all these clowns. It was once in a lifetime opportunity. I'll never forget it. It's edged in my memory as one of the best nights of my life. So thank you, John, for including us. And I'm gonna share one more story. I know this is about you, but I wanna get this out. We've talked before about how standup comedy has a magic adrenaline that whether you're sick, you don't feel well, whatever the situation, the energy and the electricity of the audience lights up a person. And there's nobody that points that out better than Red Skelton's 100th birthday. Because it was so sad. We were in the audience, we were like in the front row, thanks to you, by the way, John, of his birthday celebration. And they wheeled him out and he. I'm sorry, he was 100 years old. He looked like death warmed over. He was slumped over in the wheelchair. He was brought out, rolled up to the microphone. They did a few speeches and a couple things and then he was introduced and he. They helped him stand up. And the minute he touched the microphone, you would have thought life was surging through this guy. All of a sudden, Red Skelton was like 30 years younger. He was moving around the stage, he was telling stories, he was funny. It was electric. It was one of those moments that you just will never forget because here's this guy that's near death on one moment, and the next moment he's entertaining, you know, several hundred people in this small room. And it was incredible. And he was funny and he was amazing. And then what was fascinating was he put the mic down and when he sat down, you would have thought he died. I mean, he looked like death warmed over again. But the magic of him being on stage was a sight to be seen. Do you remember it that way?

John Pate: 13:58

Yes. And here's the thing. His adrenaline. In fact, he told me several times that comedy kept him alive. And it was so interesting when. When they were talking about doing the celebration, the interesting thing about that particular event, it was held on his 80th birthday. They were calling it his hundredth birthday because he joked about the fact that he didn't know if he was going to live to be 100, so he better celebrate it now.

Announcer: 14:29

And what an idiot I was. I fell for it. I thought he was 100.

John Pate: 14:36

And so.

Announcer: 14:37

Well, thanks for pointing that out, John.

John Pate: 14:38

By the way, it was his 80th birthday. And so when they were talking about this hundredth celebration, they had 100 clowns. There were probably 1200 people in the audience, if I remember correctly, because the convention room was completely sold out. But you are correct, when he stood up on that stage and he got the microphone in his hand, he immediately took over that audience because they were standing and applauding. And there were six of us standing down by the stairway. And he waited for the audience to get quiet. And he looked down at the six of us, and of course, we all had on tuxedos. And he looked at the six of us standing by each side of the stairway, and he said, would a couple of you mind sitting down? You look like pallbearers down there. And his electricity, it was so vibrant. Every single person he talked to afterward, and you're right, backstage, when they had the hundred clowns back, there, he was. He would talk to every single one of them, and he thanked them for keeping the art of clowning alive. And, I mean, even all the way to our trip to the airport and getting on the plane. In fact, the pilots of the plane coming back from Reno to Southern California, they talked to the audience or they talked to the passengers, and they said, we have a special guest on the plane tonight. It's his 80th birthday. We want to wish Red Skeleton a happy birthday. And of course, the whole plane applauded. And then the pilot said, and we just passed two of your friends, Gertrude and Heathcliff. They said, happy birthday, too. And the red turned to me, and he said, isn't that nice? And, I mean, it was almost like the. Once again, that adrenaline and that energy kicked in. And for a few more moments, he was. He was very vibrant and happy. And the whole time that we were flying back he was. He had his sketch pad out, and he was. Had his pastel pencils and his coloring pencils and stuff. And so he was doing a painting on the plane of one of the flight attendants. And then at the end of it, I said, red, that is really good. And he said, I'm giving this one to you. And he signed it to me and he framed it, autographed it, framed it. I still have it here at home. And it's one of my prize pieces, along with about like. Kind of like you just mentioned, along with about nine other originals that I have. But the other originals are the big artworks, his oils on canvas. And so I have always appreciated and admired his artwork. And in fact, for a while I had a couple more. But one of the original artworks I sold on the TV show Pawn Stars on the History Channel about four years. Four or five years ago. And that one is now hanging at the Red Skelton Museum in Vincennes, Indiana.

Announcer: 17:57

Wow. What a great relationship to build with such a unique and special man and to be able to share those experiences. John, that's awesome.

John Pate: 18:08

Well, it was. Again, it was a fun time in history, and all of those things were just simply made possible by comedy and especially venues like Laugh and Yours. But just keeping it was motivating to comics to be able to come and perform there because, again, comedy with golden and those clubs, every single one of them, were vital for our career. And you don't know how much we appreciate you or just even offering us the opportunity to perform there.

Announcer: 18:42

Well, thanks, John. Well, I gotta tell you, that's a great story about Red Skelton, and thank you so much for including me in it. It was very memorable for me, although apparently I was quite gullible and thought he was actually 100. But I'm glad he was there. And it's too bad that he looked the way he did at 80, but still, what a great opportunity and a great memory. So thank you to you. Now, going back to you and comedy, one of the things that was really a joy for me and my staff was back in the mid-80s, we were producing television shows. We had a TV series called Live at Laughs. And part of that series was we featured funny videos that we and other comics had made, which was interesting because this was long before America's Funniest Videos or any of those kind of shows. We kind of premiered it, not that anybody noticed. One of the videos we did is that you had written a country song One Day. Here's the song title. One Day. When you Swing that skillet My face ain't gonna be there and exactly. It was a really funny song. And you would perform it on stage almost every night as part of your set, kind of your closer. And we decided to create a video. And we had so much fun running around Old Sacramento. Lynn was dressed up as your hag wife and whacking you with a skillet at every possible moment while you did this kind of music video of this song, this country song. You remember doing that, of course, and hopefully it was fun for you.

John Pate: 20:28

Oh, well. And that was a time again. And I kind of attribute this back to my working with. With Bruce Baum, because I was actually doing just a joke in my act. And he said, you need to actually go ahead and perform that song. So we actually recorded it. He told me how to get the record pressed and everything, because he had an album out at the time, and it ended up winning an Academy of Country Music Songwriting Award for best Novelty song of the year back in 1985.

Announcer: 20:59

I did not know that. That is awesome, John.

John Pate: 21:03

Yes. And. And then when. When it started getting some traction on the radio, you and Bob very, very graciously invited me to do the video up there. And of course you guys planned it out. We found all the places to run around Old Sacramento to do it. And all of a sudden we had a wonderful video. And the audience, the audience response from just standing in the back of the room and watching them, it was the song. The video was so silly and so fun. It was a mixture of disbelief and hilarity. And the two of them mixed together, it just caused the audience to just really roar. And I loved it.

Announcer: 21:46

Well, tell you what, we had a blast making the video when sadly, we can't do that on a podcast, but we can hear your award winning song. So, ladies and gentlemen, sit back and enjoy the comedy music of John Pate in his award winning comedy song. One day when you swing that skillet My face ain't gonna be there Hit it.

R. Scott Edwards: 22:14

Well, everybody knows I love my wife she's as sweet as she can be oh, but she's got a knack for getting her way that don't feel so good to well, honey, I'm tired and I can't take no more I'm black and blue and my head is sore Things go dark and I hit the floor and you don't feel sorry for me One day when you swing that skin My bass ain't gonna be there One day when you throw that rolling pin it ain't gonna part my hair well, you can throw a tantrum, throw a fit and when you throw that toaster it's time to quit. One day when you swing that skiller My face ain't gonna be there. Well now I don't mind the little lover spat I guess it's only fair but when she goes into her wind up boys it's time for me to care yeah, her face turns just as red as a beat Things fly through the air I got to remember for her next birthday to buy her some Tupperware. One day when you swing that skinner they say gonna be there One day when you throw that Roman pin It ain't gonna part my hair. Well, you can throw a tantrum, throw a bit but when you throw that toaster it's time to quit. One day when you swing that skiller My face ain't gonna be there. Now I ain't talking about a divorce. Cause I got to keep her guessing yeah, one of these days I'm gonna up and die Maybe that'll teach her a lesson. Cause when I'm gone this pain will cease and I can finally rest in peace. No more pans or a face full of grease and then she'll finally see. One day when you swing that skillet My face ain't gonna be there. One day when you throw that rodent pin it ain't gonna part my hair. Well, you can throw a tantrum, Throw a bit but when you throw that toaster. Hey, I quit. One day when you swing that skillet My face ain't gonna be there. Well, you can yell and scream as loud as thunder but it won't bother me six feet under. One day my face ain't gonna be there.

Announcer: 24:42

Oh, man, I remember that song like it was yesterday. And doing that video with and Lynn Stobiner is such a genius comedienne. When she dressed up as your wife and was chasing you around with that skillet, it was so funny. I wish we. You know what? People go to YouTube and if you look up, I think search John Pate or the title of the song. What's the best way to find it, John? Because I know it's on YouTube.

John Pate: 25:08

Both of those.

Announcer: 25:09

Okay.

John Pate: 25:10

If you put in either the name or the title of the song, it'll pop right up there.

Announcer: 25:14

Oh, you guys get a chance, go to YouTube and watch the video. Because the song's funny, but the video takes it to an extra level. Well, thanks for showing, sharing that with us, John. Now, it's been several years. We haven't had a chance to work together. In a long time. What have you been up to in the last 15, 20 years?

John Pate: 25:32

Well, I actually was able to transition when the kind of the comedy boom was at its zenith. Also, a lot of sitcoms in Hollywood were going strong and I was one of the fortunate people to be invited to do warm ups for TV shows. And so I had two shows. I had Designing Women at Evening Shade, and both of those were kind of hip CBS shows. So I would do one warm up on Tuesday night and one warm up on Thursday night. But the problem was that kept me in town, so I had to get off the road and during the day I didn't have anything to do. So I went back to college at Cal State la, and got my graduate degree and started teaching communication and public speaking and performance and eventually became the chair of the communication department at California Baptist University in Riverside, California. And so I've been doing that for the past 20 years.

Announcer: 26:31

Wow. I'm going to backstep. Just a minute for our audience listeners. Let me explain that every time you watch a comedy sitcom from the 80s 90s, but even to today's dates like Modern Family and Big Bang Theory, a lot of people don't realize that those shows have live audiences, not very big audiences, but there might be 50 to 150 people. And they would use comics to do warmups for the shows. How much time would you do, John? It's only like five, ten minutes, right?

John Pate: 27:04

Yeah. You go up before the show starts and you actually just warm up the audience. You kind of tell them and explain what the show is all about. That their laughter is vitally important because those particular places are the places that make the show work. And then you introduce the show. They start filming the scenes, but then during the scene breaks you'll come out and you'll do another five or ten minutes while they change the set or change the costumes and that goes on. The show is usually filmed within about two to two and a half hours. Most of the time. We'd begin filming a show at 7pm and would be out before 9, 30 or 10pm but my portion of it was probably less than 30 minutes overall.

Announcer: 27:50

Yeah, but you were doing a very important role in that. You were filling the gaps while they're changing camera angles or changing sets and you're explaining to the audience how TV production works while entertaining them. I think that's an awesome job. I actually know several comics that have done this, but you're the first one I've interviewed to explain it. So I wanted the audience to understand that's really awesome, John. I bet you enjoyed that. And you got paid, right?

John Pate: 28:16

Oh, my goodness. We got paid the same as whomever was guest star. We got paid SAG scale and all we had to do is come in and work a half hour and they had to be there the whole week rehearsing. So it was pretty good deal.

Announcer: 28:30

Well, that's awesome. Thanks for sharing that. And then as you explained, while you were doing that, you got your degree in communications and you've gone on and you're still working in that field, right?

John Pate: 28:42

Yes, I still am the chair of the communication department in Riverside at Cal Baptist University. And we've just, the university has really grown and so I've actually made that my second career. Comedy was my first career and now education and academics have been my second career and I'm venturing into my third career with a little bit of writing. So that's, that's been the most recent things that I've been dabbling in.

Announcer: 29:12

Yeah, I know that you've written a novel, it came out a while back called Tears of the Duhav. Am I saying that right?

John Pate: 29:18

Yeah, Tears of the Duhav. Yes.

Announcer: 29:21

Great. Tell us a little bit about your novel and what's happening with it.

John Pate: 29:25

Well, it's a novel, it's kind of an alternate history version of the Civil War and a plantation family and slavery at the time and of course, the whole struggle with the Civil War and the mystery of what happened to the Confederate gold after the war was over.

Announcer: 29:43

Oh, yeah, that there's still people looking for that.

John Pate: 29:47

Oh, exactly. And it was at least compelling enough that one of the people that they got it and read it and loved it was the same executive producer that did the TV show for HBO about 10 years ago, Rome. And so he does a lot of miniseries and limited series on tv. Well, they liked the book enough that they said, we want to make this into a limited series. And so he, he bought the shopping agreement and optioned it for me and. Or he's optioning it for me. And so we have a deal, an 18 month deal for him to develop it and hopefully put it on TV with eight episodes.

Announcer: 30:30

Oh, that'd be exciting, John. Now, what year did you write the novel?

John Pate: 30:33

That was in 2017, I think.

Announcer: 30:36

It came out 2018, and that is available on Amazon. Everybody, if you want to read an interesting book, how would you describe the pace of the book? Is it more historical, documentary, Is it an adventure?

John Pate: 30:50

Well, all three of those, because it actually starts out during the Civil War with the Battle of Chattanooga and then progresses through the historical side into the story side, because you are very correct, nobody really knows what happened to the Confederate gold. And I had heard all of the different stories, having grown up in the south for probably the first 20 years of my life about where the Civil War gold ended up and where the Confederate gold was buried, and nobody ever knew and nobody ever found it. And so just based on the stories that I heard from my father and my grandfather and all of the kind of the neighborhood older men, I decided I'm going to take all of those stories and put them together in one narrative and see if it's compelling. And so it's kind of that story of what potentially could have happened to it after the Civil War was over and then just taking it from that point of view and making it a great adventure and a great, just kind of a narrative that people can determine and hopefully people will look at and say, wow, I wonder if this really did happen.

Announcer: 32:11

Wow. Well, that is interesting and exciting. And as I just mentioned, listeners, if you want to go to Amazon and look for the novel Tears of the Duhav, Tears of the Duhab, I want to make sure I get that right on Amazon. It's still available. We'll have to keep an eye out for a few years from now or next year maybe this series coming out. But John, you have had such an interesting life, from standup comic to your relationship with Red Skelton in the world of art and then now education and novelist. It's so exciting. And thanks for sharing the story with us today.

John Pate: 32:52

Well, and thank you for being such a huge part of that. Just in the early days, I, I think that every entertainer and everybody wants to achieve as much as they can in entertainment. And I was one of those guys who just by sitting in the back of the club and listening to famous comics tell the jokes and, and watching every single one of them and going, gee, I wish I could do that, and then being able to make it a reality because of places like yours.

Announcer: 33:20

Well, it was a real pleasure and I was mentioning all your successes. I forgot to reiterate. Award winning song writer and performer. So you've really done it all. We'll tell you what, I thank you for joining us on the podcast today. You mentioned that you had a chance early on to work with some of the more famous and bigger names in comedy, and one of them was Pat Paulson. So I always like to have a comedy set on every show. So besides your very funny song coming up in just a minute, I'm going to play a set from Pat Paulson, who was a regular at the club, and I'll talk about him more in a minute. But right now, John, I wanted to say thank you so much for doing this podcast. It's been great being having a relationship with you. And thanks to you, not only did we get great good clean comedy, you mentioned it, but you are one of the cleanest acts ever. But also you gave me the opportunity to interact with one of my heroes, Red Skelton. And as I mentioned, I'm a proud owner of several of his pieces. And it's all because of you in that party we went to for his 80th, even though I was totally skunked by his age, it was an experience that I'll never forget. So thank you for all of that and thank you for being a part of today's podcast.

John Pate: 34:40

Well, thank you for having me. I really had fun. I enjoyed. We will keep this comedy legacy going.

Announcer: 34:47

Exactly. And hopefully people enjoy these podcasts and keeps everything alive. Ladies and gentlemen, thanks to John Pate. And right now, to celebrate everything that he's had happen in his life and getting a chance to work with Mr. Pat Paulson, the perennial presidential candidate, let's listen to a really funny set from Pat Paulson. Ladies and gentlemen, Kicking off his 1988 campaign, the almost President of the United States, the honorable Pat Paulson.

Pat Paulsen: 35:56

The time has come for us to sit down and reason together. Too often serious world problems are discussed in an environment full of passion and unraging anger. But the day when a fiery arter could influence an audience with vehement tirades has long since passed. In this age of sophisticated political awareness, let us then communicate with each other on a civilized level. Even President Reagan disdains the impassioned appeal to the emotional sensibilities of his cattle people. Not for me, the Rabble Rogers scorching indictment. It is true that some leaders have made progress with recalcitrant people through the use of demagogic emotional displays. That is to be expected when dealing with a great bulk of the lower and middle class peasants who are easily swayed by pyrotechnic performances. If I were your president, I would lead this nation forward to a position of preeminence throughout the world. I believe it is our manifest destiny to dominate the oceans of the world and to bring the white man's burden to the underprivileged nations of the earth, for they are better accustomed to carrying such loads than we are. And further, I say, the dominance of this country and World trade and military power shall be enhanced and enlarged to the point where entire nations will bow down and grovel in the dust at our feet. Wait a minute. Wait, whoa. Hold. Hold it here. I got the wrong speech. Wait, wait, wait. Here's the right one. I'm very excited to be in Sacramento. Gateway to enchanting Lodi. Now, I know you're all saying, where has Pat Paulson been? The rest of you are saying, who the hell is Pat Paulson? 1972, I lost the presidential election of Richard Nixon. That's when you people thought that he would make a better president than me. Cedar program here. Hey, you guys can leave. They look pretty good. Just go check the car. I saw somebody fruit on the car. Now, I have prepared a short speech for you here in the Sacramento area entitled how to Survive the Next Four Years. A two year plan. Now, where did our problems start? They started in the 70s with Nixon. I called the former president when he was in the White House. Well, I didn't call him, actually. What I did, I rented a room at the Watergate and spoke into the urinal. I will be running myself again. People have asked me, you gonna run? They keep bothering me. I'm gonna do it. I'm going into Iowa, test the waters, do the Iowa caucus. I probably caucus all over Iowa. I don't know about. Probably a couple of time in Des Moines at the Chaldean. I suspect. I don't caucus in California because it's not a good idea to caucus where you live. You know, I used to caucus three or four times a day, but I've gotten older now, about once a month. All I can do. I would imagine that the Reverend Jackson has a larger caucus than me. Probably, I don't know, stereotype. Somebody asked me what I'm going to run as. Well, last time I ran as a Republican. This time I'll run as a Democrat. Now, what's the difference between these two organizations? Well, I'll tell you what I think it is. A Democrat will meet a lady, he'll take her to dinner, take her to a movie, and he'll take her to bed. A Republican meets a lady, he takes her to dinner, takes her to a movie and a chauffeur takes her to bed. The average Democrat belongs to the Lions Club and the average Republican belongs to the country club. There's a connection between these organizations. The drainage system from the country club is the water supply for the Lions Club. Now, you can give a cow to a Democrat, he'll milk that cow. Keep some for Himself. Give the rest to poor people. Give that same cow to a Republican. He'll hire a Democrat to milk it at less than living wage. Then he'll suggest there's a milk shortage and sell it at inflated prices. This enables him to buy a bull. With this bull, he makes a lot more cows, which he hires a lot more Democrats to milk less than living wage. So you can see that the Republican does to the Democrat what the bull did to the cow. So I'd like to close this. My segment of this show with this thought. I know in my heart, ladies and gentlemen, that for centuries to come, years will pass. No, no.

Announcer: 41:19

Okay.

Pat Paulsen: 41:23

No, I'd like to close with this thought. I know in my. I said that. Redundant. Redundant. Okay. I feel privileged to live in a land where even our national product is gross. I'd like to close with the thoughts of former Attorney General John Mitchell, who said, when things get tough, the tough get things. Well, I'll close on my philosophy of life. And it goes like this. Well, the wind blew and the shit flew, and you're only here for a day or two.

Announcer: 42:06

Big round of applause, pat Paulson for 1988. Why not? Paulson? Pat Paulson. What an honor to have him in our life and on our stage. I gotta tell you, Pat really appreciated the fact that we were such fans of his comedy over all the decades, you know, going back to TV and stuff. And it started with my father, who was a big fan of Mr. Paulson. But when Pat started coming up to the club and he worked for me many times, we became really close friends to the point where a couple times I was invited to his ranch and vineyard in the Napa area and spent a couple weekends at his ranch, hung out with his family, got to know his family. Pat was always appreciative of our love of him and his comedy, and he gave back many, many ways. So we're sorry that, of course, he is long past, but it was a real honor to work with Mr. Paulson and we hope you enjoyed his set. Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for listening to this week's show. We hope you enjoyed the stories and music of John Pate and the comedy of Pat Paulson. Don't forget, we have a new show each and every Sunday, so be sure to listen, share, and if you get a chance, become a. Thanks for listening. And don't forget to. We have a new show every week, so be sure to listen, share, and if you get a chance, go to the website, check it out and comment. Thanks for listening to this week's show. Bye.

R. Scott Edwards: 44:02

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Stand Up Comedy.

Announcer: 44:05

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R. Scott Edwards: 44:06

For information on the show, merchandise and our sponsors, or to send comments to Scott, visit our website at www.standupyourhost and mc.com. look for more episodes soon and enjoy.

Announcer: 44:20

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