Becoming Shuli with Shuli Egar

Larry Samuels 0:03

Welcome to No Wrong Choices. Along with Larry Shea and Tushar Saxena, I am Larry Samuels, and this is a podcast that's all about the adventures of life. Where each episode we'll speak with inspired people who had a vision, dream, or an idea, went after it and got there or got pretty darn close. This episode features a really funny comedian, veteran of the Howard Stern show, and an old friend of ours. I'm of course referring to the great comic Shuly. Two char, you know, when I think back to our days back at Sirius, one of my favorite personalities that we would bump into in the hallways was always Shuly.

Tushar Saxena 0:42

Yeah, Shuly was just a great guy, and we got to know him obviously before he became before he became Shuly. So it was so much fun to just kind of hang out with him, get to know him a little bit, get to know him really well, actually, you know, because this was at that time, you know, he wasn't married. He was just he was getting his own feet wet in the broadcasting industry. And, you know, a lot to my surprise, a lot of us thought he was he was kind of seasoned. You know, he was a seasoned comedian. We thought he was a seasoned broadcaster as well. But the reality was he was kind of feeling his way through it. But the one thing I'll say about Shuly, and you know, as we've had a chance to speak with him and get to know him over the years, Shuly is the portrait of persistency. This was a man who had literally come up from being a caller on the Stern Show, a super fan. And he basically said to himself and said to everyone around him, one day I'm gonna be part of this program. And you know what? He did it. He really can't he followed through on that, on that wish, on that desire to do that. And I gotta tell you, he he's inspiring in that sense because for a lot of us, we wouldn't know how to do it, and we wouldn't know the we wouldn't have the blueprint on what we're going to do to do it. I gotta tell you, the one thing that always surprised me about Shuly was his ingenuity. He was really ingenious about how he made himself invaluable to that show, invaluable as a caller to that show. That's the most amazing part about it is that he one day said to himself, I'm gonna figure out a way to make myself so valuable to that show that when I'm on, they want to have me on more. And that's amazing.

Larry Shea 2:17

Yeah, you hit the key word there, persistence. You know, I think persistence, and I talk about his courageousness too. I mean, he really took the bull by the horns and and went above and beyond and made a career for himself out of pretty much nothing. So I, you know, I joke about in the beginning of this interview about, you know, kids don't try this at home, but meant try this at home because, you know, maybe it'll work. You know, we we we we are a this show is all about trying to show people the ways that you can achieve your dreams, and there's a lot of different ways to do that. And I think Shuly's just living proof that you know this is a totally different avenue, a viable avenue, a difficult road to hoe, but man, he he he made it happen, and it's um it's a phenomenal story, and we can't wait to share it with you guys for sure.

Tushar Saxena 3:06

I gotta tell you, you want to talk about unconventional ways of going about making yourself making yourself something. This is an unconventional way.

Larry Samuels 3:14

That's funny. I I think back to when all of us were were at Sirius hosting the the fellas on on Friday nights or or whenever it was. And you know, whenever we needed uh an extra spot, we we'd walk down the hall and there would be Shuly. Shuly was always around. I remember left bumping into him in the break room. He'd be over here, he'd be over there, and he was always on standby, always ready to go. And each time we brought him onto the show, he would be brilliant. You know, some of my favorite memories are of us doing football picks on Friday nights. And I know he was a huge Steelers fan, but I think he might have been a little fuzzy on the rest of the stuff, but every single segment was brilliant. So it's just uh it's been fun for me to see him develop and evolve from that guy that I would bump into in the break room way back when to this touring working comedian who's so well known at this point. Um, it's just been you know an incredible, incredible thing to follow. So um coming up, we're we're we're talking to Shuly, and and I guess the the big thing I should tease is he he works his way through you know his career, how he got in, and he also talks about some of the choices that he's made uh more recently about moving to Alabama and and moving beyond the Howard Stern show. So this is really, really interesting stuff. So all of that to say, here's Shuly. Now joining No Wrong Choices is a really funny comedian and veteran of the Howard Stern show who, much like Prince, Elvis, or Howard, only needs one name to be identified. I'm of course referring to Shuly. Shuly, thank you so much for joining us today.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Pleasure, gentlemen. Thank you for having me. And you left off one, much like Cher, I do outfit changes throughout my performances.

Larry Shea 5:08

Shuly. Uh this is a show, I I have to say this up front because I think it's important. This is a show about really how to achieve your dreams, right? How to like, you know, figure out what you want to do passionately with your life. Go out there, find it, and achieve it. I just need to say off the top, kids, don't try this one at home, what Shuly did, because it can't be be replicated, so to speak. But I remember meeting you, it had to be 2005, 2006 at Sirius XM Studios, and you had like the yellow like Hall of Fame jackets. You remember that? Yeah, the old uh Howard Coast jacket.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

Monday night foot slash century 21 real estate jackets.

Larry Shea 5:48

Exactly. So take us back to way before then because your story is amazing. And I want to take you back to you, you know, you would you adored Howard's show, you loved, you loved what Howard Stern was doing, and you somehow found a way to be an integral part of it. How did how did that happen?

SPEAKER_01 6:05

Take me through it. I mean, it's it's it's dumb luck combined with, you know, manifestation, destiny, fate, whatever, you know, the gods, whatever your thing is. Uh it's wild. You know, I I discovered Howard's uh old TV show first when I was growing up. So I was born in Israel. We came to the United States specifically to Los Angeles in 78. I was born in 74. My parents decided they had a hunch that things wouldn't mellow out in the Middle East anytime soon. And uh and and it's they seem pressing now.

Larry Samuels 6:42

Yeah, that they seem to have gotten that right.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

And so my mom, uh my uncle, who I'm named after, my dad's brother, he was killed in the Six-Day War. My mom, uh I was the youngest of of three boys, and she told my dad, they're not going to war, they're not going in the military, we're leaving Israel, and um packed up, you know, a family of five with I think 20 grand or 30 grand to their name, and came to a country where they barely knew the language, and uh created uh uh a life for us, you know, did everything for us. And comedy has always been a huge part of my life. Always loved comedy. Uh laughter to me was like every person I meet, the first thing I thought of is I gotta make them laugh because I want to hear what their laugh is. So I for at a very young age, you know, they were like snowflakes to me. Everyone was different, and I was curious about every single person's laugh. So I loved comedy, was drawn to it, uh, watched Carson, watched SNL, SCTV, um, all these great sketch shows, and then uh come across this Channel 9 show that Howard used to do, which was part interview, part jackass, part uh you know, hidden camera prank. Like it was just wild.

Tushar Saxena 8:05

That show was jackass before we ever remember.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Yeah, they're playing uh homeless Hollywood Squares and the contestants that was one of my favorites were homeless and they won a uh an empty refrigerator box. Like that was the grand prize. Remember a shopping cart of cans? A shopping cart of cans, yeah. So, you know, I'm watching this show, and this was before I even heard his radio show. He wasn't on on the West Coast yet, and then he came on on the West Coast and I started listening and drove my parents nuts because anytime we went on a road trip, I would have cassettes of of best of recorded uh and and play them for my and my dad hated it, and and my mom as well. They they didn't see the humor in it. They just liked it because he was Jewish. So uh I got away with it, and for years I listened, uh a huge fan from afar and and too scared at that point to try stand up, um, even though I had done every other crappy job known to mankind, I I was terrified of trying. And I moved to Vegas and I'm I'm working in Vegas as a um well before before I called into the show my first time, I was working in the casino. I dealt blackjack, roulette, uh pie gow, and then I ended up uh natural progression working at a souvenir liquor store on Fremont Street. A lateral career move.

Tushar Saxena 9:31

That's like a lateral career move.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Well, guess who doesn't drug test in Vegas? A souvenir liquor shop in Fremont Street. So uh I I started going there and and throughout this whole journey of like trying to figure out what I'm gonna do and pushing myself to try stand-up, uh, I'm listening to Howard religiously. I'm I'm without a doubt a super fan. And uh I was uh dating this chick at the time who hated that I would stay up and listen to the live feed. In Vegas, it would start at 3 a.m. And it's Vegas. Yeah, I got off work at 1. By the time I finish my Fat Burger, it's 2.30, you know. I get I get the number ready, I get my I I I I I would listen to the show, and and even if it was best of, I would record my favorite segments, usually fights, you know, on-air fights and stuff. And I remember her yelling at me one night and she's like, I don't understand you. She's like, You listen to this show, do something with it. She's like, call, call or something, I don't know, and I'm like, whatever, you know, thinking she's an idiot. Later that night or that morning, they announced they're coming to Vegas for the first time to do a live show, and uh they're gonna make a bet at blackjack table with fans, and if any fans want to come out, and so something pops into my head where I go, I'm gonna call in and I'm gonna ask Howard a question, and then I'm gonna ask if I can make a bet at the blackjack table. And I dialed the number and like fate, destiny, whatever, it rang. Guy picks up, asks me what I want to talk to Howard about. I told him, put me on hold. Five minutes later, I'm on hold with a guy who I'd been listening to for 10 years, a god. Oh my god. Wow. And I'm I, you know, I'm I'm shitting bricks. Uh any I I want to share this with anyone and everyone. The only person I can share it with is my ex-girlfriend who's asleep and miserable and hates me. So you would just finish disappointing her?

Larry Shea 11:32

He goaded you into doing it in the first place.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

Yeah, literally. And so um I I end the call by asking, hey, I live in Vegas. You don't have to fly me anywhere, you don't have to put me up. I just want to make a bet with you guys at the table. And he's like, All right, hold on for Gary, and puts me on hold, and and there you go. Now, now the ball starts rolling. So now I look at this like, all right, I'm gonna treat calling into this show like a job. When I get off of work, I'm gonna come home, I'm gonna get a notepad out, I'm gonna come up with stuff, whether it's uh a game, whether it's questions, whether it's an impression, I'm gonna play ball with these guys and and and have fun and be a part of this now that there's a crack in the door. And that's what I did. I treated it like a job. I would come home and I'd start now here where here's where my you know uh um nuttiness and and fandom of the show came in to help me, which was all these shows that I recorded, uh best of of fights, I created a game out of it where I would take one quote from an argument and make up three other quotes. And I would call in and I would play this game with Howard. And the greatest thing about this game is that it would start these fights all over again, or new ones.

SPEAKER_05 12:53

Perfect.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

And I knew that this wasn't something that was like on their docket. Like I I had contributed something that was, you know, that that happened organically, and that that is the thing I loved the most about that show is the organic comedy of it. The the just just you never you know, they start the news and an hour and a half later they're still doing the news because they're riffing on something. So um I treat it like a job. I called in as much as possible. He got to know me, the screeners got to know me, and and you know, I had comics in Vegas giving me shit, like going, I don't get it. They don't pay you, you don't plug gigs because I wasn't good. I didn't feel comfortable going, come see me suck at uh this casino.

SPEAKER_05 13:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

Like it was hard and I wasn't good at it, and so I didn't plug my stuff. I I did it literally for the love of the game. And so then he announces he's getting ready to move to serious, and he says he's gonna give all his regulars and his whackpackers a chance to do a show. And I said, Alright, I have to learn how to do some sort of broadcasting. I I don't want to have 20 seconds of something to say and then just go, uh, for an hour. So I uh I mean two friends rented Airtime on an internet radio network. Yeah, and we did a show called Renegades of Comedy every Saturday, and it was just this wild guerrilla radio, totally, you know, we did so many illegal things on there, and and and it would nobody listened, nobody cared. Um, and uh and and I remember we ended every show the same way. I had two celebrity phone numbers in my phone, and every episode we ended with me cold calling the numbers to see if we can get one of them on on the air with us. And the two celebrities were um Kiefer Sutherland, who who I met hammered at a bar in LA once and gave me his number. That was sort of his thing. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

I walk in, I walk into a bar and I just hear, I love Boston, while Boston's playing. And I look over and it's Kiefer Sutherland, you know, with a pool cue playing guitar to more than a feeling. And I'm just like, that's awesome. This is insane. Uh and then the other one was Tommy Lasorda, which I don't remember how I got his name. Tommy Lasorda. Yeah, but sure enough, I got him on the phone one day and I asked him something about Howard.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

He cursed me out and and you know, hung up on me, and I immediately gave the audio to the show. And so I was trying, I was trying to prepare in hopes of of a chance, of an opportunity. And uh one day I get a call from this guy who says, it was a Saturday. He says, Can you be in New York by tomorrow? Now I'm making $40 a week running, you know, two open mics in Vegas. I go, uh, for what? He says, I can't talk about it on the air. Uh I can't talk about it over the phone. He says, but I just need you out here tomorrow and I'll explain everything. And right away I'm thinking this is Sal. This is somebody from the show fucking with a bit. Yeah. And I'm just like, listen, Sal, I'm not playing around. And he's like, it's not Sal. My name is Tim, Tim Sabian.

Tushar Saxena 16:16

Oh, wow, Tim Sabian.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

He says, Come to New York. If I'm lying, you can kick me square in the nuts. I go, wow, this guy sounds pretty insane.

Tushar Saxena 16:26

A true professional.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Yeah, yeah. But anybody who knows Tim's like, oh yeah, that's Tim. They know that.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

Um, and so I I literally went to my dad and I was like, Can you buy me a plane ticket to New York for this show that you hate that's uh taking a chance on me and giving me a one-week audition, which I didn't even know what I was auditioning for.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

And he bought me the plane ticket until this day he remembers the exact amount and he doesn't let me forget it. Uh $940.

Larry Shea 16:58

That's an expensive plane ticket.

Tushar Saxena 17:00

It was. It's a one-day turnaround, so come on.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

Yeah, yes, it is. So, you know, I go and I'm in New York. I'm terrified. I don't know where anything is, I don't know what I'm there for. And they bring me in my first day into this big, huge boardroom, and they introduce me to what was then called the Howard 100 news team. Oh my gosh, okay. Now, this was an i brilliant idea that Howard had to create a news team like 1010 wins or any, you know, any local AM news station you got, wherever you're listening. But all we report on is the world of Howard, the guests, the staff, the whackpack, anything and everything. Howard related, we reported on it. It was genius. It was totally genius.

Larry Shea 17:49

And this was was this the Yellow Jackets? This was the Yellow Jackets. I remember them.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

So they bring me in and they and and it's this table, you know, this room filled with people. It's about 20-something people, and they and they go, listen, these are all journalists, professional broadcasters, Emmy nominated, Emmy winning broadcasters. Ralph Howard was the lead anchor on 1010 wins for I don't know, a hundred years, and then he retired, and then they reached out to him.

Larry Samuels 18:20

Steve Langford, like uh a big personality too, like a real guy.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Steve news guy.

Tushar Saxena 18:25

Did you have you have you did you have Jackie Carl with you too?

SPEAKER_01 18:28

No, uh no, I don't think we did. We had Penny Crohn. Okay, Penny Crohn is what I'm thinking of. That's right.

Tushar Saxena 18:34

Penny Crone. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

Penny Crone, a New York uh news legend.

Tushar Saxena 18:38

Absolute. She was an absolute institution, Penny Crone.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

One of the wildest women I've ever worked with. It's like working with a drunken sailor. Oh my God. She was the best. Um, and so there's all these real deal professionals. And me, you know, I have two joints in my Marlboro light.

SPEAKER_05 18:58

What the hell am I gonna do here?

SPEAKER_01 19:00

And I'm like, I'm just here for a week. Like, what do I give a shit? I'm gonna hit the stand-up clubs, is what I'm gonna do. That was my thinking was like, when this thing ends, which it will in a week, I'm gonna stay in New York and do stand-up because that's that was what I was doing before I got there. So now at least I'll be in a place where people can see me and and I don't have to, you know, write material that can compete with gambling addiction. So, you know, and and uh and so they asked me, we need you to explain the show to everybody who's who, what's what, how does it all work, and I said, okay. And and so this was like uh you ever see those mafia boards where they have like the head boss. Absolutely, sure. Yep, yep. That's literally what I did. I was just like, Howard, there's Robin, there's Gary, you know, boom, Fred, and then you know, the whackpack. And I was so excited to share, you know, my knowledge that I basically shot my wad on day one. I I had I had taught him everything.

Larry Shea 20:07

Turns out there was no one better qualified to explain the show than you, though.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

It was it was a genius part on on Tim Sabian's uh uh genius idea on Tim Sabian's part, without a doubt. But here I am day two, and I have nothing to do. And I'm like, and and that's when it hit me. I'm like, I'm not going back home. Like, I'm gonna stay here. This is it. I'm I'm planting the flag in the ground. I gotta figure some shit out. And I went and I grabbed a handheld recorder and I walked into Times Square and I started asking people questions. Are you excited Howard's coming to Sirius? He hasn't even he is he wasn't even there yet. The the news was the only Howard related broadcasting that was on months before he got there.

Larry Samuels 20:57

I didn't remember that.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

I think they were building the studio. Well, they were building a studio also contractually, he couldn't come over. Oh, there you go. So so we were there, I believe, two months before he ever broadcasted. And brilliant. And so we were it for Howard fans, we were the only thing. Um and so I walked into Times Square and I'm asking people, Are you excited about Howard coming to serious? And whatever their answer was, I was doing crowd work. I was I was doing what I know what to do, which was stand up. So, you know, a guy would say, Oh, I'm I don't like Howard, I think he's childish. And I go, and how old are you, sir? He goes, I'm 48. I go, and you're wearing a backpack. Have a good day.

SPEAKER_05 21:36

All right, talk to you later.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

And I did that for like a half hour, and I come back to the station and I give it to at the time our news director, Liz Aiello.

Tushar Saxena 21:47

Liz Aiello, oh my god, I haven't heard that name in forever. Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Yeah, and and I love her.

Tushar Saxena 21:52

Another person that just Another legendary figure in in New York.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

Another legendary figure, another person that I was blessed with. In my life, that kind of saw what I could bring to the table. It wasn't what anybody else could do. It wasn't necessarily maybe at times what they needed, but they let me do my thing. They didn't try to change me. She didn't try to, you know, she knew I was the wacky guy that would go out and come back with some funny shit. And that was my thing. I didn't want to uncover anything. I didn't want to be a reporter. I I wanted to be the goofy guy, you know, and and make stuff funny because I've driven those plumbing trucks listening to the show. I've I've done construction, I've done waiting. I know how important that show is to help you get through those shit gigs, you know. Absolutely. And so I I really, my whole thing with stories, with whatever I brought up, which was what's gonna what's gonna entertain the guy doing drywall, right? What's what's he gonna dig? What's the truck driver gonna dig? So so yeah, so she heard the audio from Times Square and she goes, This is amazing. We're putting this on the air. And immediately I see another crack in the door, and I go, Okay, and in my head I'm like, so I'm gonna do this, but I don't trust anybody to edit my shit. I gotta learn how to edit, I gotta learn how to work with this computer and how to which I didn't know any of that stuff. And I just I just did anything and everything I could to make sure if I had to clean shoes in the bathroom, that's what I would do. But I wasn't gonna leave. I I took in, I absorbed as much as I could from all these professionals around me on on how to interview, how to listen. Um, and and I just I I hung out and I did what I could do. I gravitated to things I loved, the whack pack, the back office. Uh, those were the stories that I worked on. Those were though that's the audio that I came back with, and nobody else was working with the whack pack. And so it was it was a corner that I painted myself into that uh I was stuck with for about 10 years, which I loved. Some of the greatest content, you know, I made was with those, uh, with the Wack Pack. And and in the process, that that boardroom that I walked into on day one, which was about 23 people, ended up being five people, uh, three reporters, an editor, and a news director, and I was one of them. And I made it through a year with no contract, watching everybody leave, just going, it's a matter of time. I remember being on the phone going uh to my dad going, it's a matter of time. Uh I'll be home soon. And uh the day Tim called me into his office and gave me a contract. I I was eating lunch. I was having chili. They had this barbecue cart right outside Sirius that made this chili with these. I do remember that, my guy. Oh, the huge chunks of steak. I could only eat it once a week because it killed my stomach. But I remember Tim calling, he goes, Come see me in my office, and I bring my chili and I walk in, I go, I only have a little bit left, but it's enough to throw in your face if you fire me like that. And uh yeah, and he gave me the threat worked, and he gave me uh he gave me a contract, and I ended up uh working the next 10 years with Howard 100 News, and then that went away, and then I ended up uh maybe nine years, but that went away, and then I ended up becoming a writer and producer and on-air correspondent for the show, and ended up working there 15 years total um from listening to it on the radio while my dad takes me to school and telling him I'm gonna be on this show one day. And and you know, uh unfortunately the episode was a guy bet he could guess what breed of dog the dog shit was, and if he guessed it wrong, he would eat the dog shit. Oh no, yeah, and I'm go and I go to my dad, I'm gonna be on this one day. And he goes $940 I spent. He actually looks at me and he goes, What a fantastic program this is the pride of Israel, Shuly Eat.

Larry Samuels 26:17

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:19

So I mean, it's it's wild. I was the last guy to be like, follow your dreams and all that other shit. You know, I I grew up with those parents, my mom and dad, I love them to death, but there is there's no bigger, darker sea of negativity and doom and gloom than my two Israeli parents, you know.

Larry Shea 26:39

Well, we we always talk about how there's a lot of ways to get there though. Shuli. That's why I said kids that's a way to kill.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

Don't do this at home. No, listen, dude. They are you know, they're the rock and roll express tag team of bad news, those two. They can't they can't wait to tag each other in and top the other one with horrible fucking news. Uh and it's never changed. So, so for me, for something good to happen in my life like that was insane. And and then uh and then really the big change for me was was uh my wife meeting my wife, and and she, you know, once we were married, uh she's she became such a positive person. She she had learned some shit and she implemented it and it worked for her. And she started, you know, trying to get me to do it. And at first I was, you know, all I know is doom and gloom from my parents, you know. So it's like, yeah, okay, so you just do positive things and you're a positive person, and then good things happen to you. My ass, right? But then I started doing it, and and things started changing, everything started changing. Um, but you know, you you the the only hard part was staying in our lane, staying in that pocket of like stay positive, don't worry, you know, worrying is only manifesting that stuff to a reality. And and it's a simple thing, but it's almost too simple, which is why so many people don't get it and don't want to get it. It's just like, oh, I just think positively and something drops from the sky in my lap and it's a bag of money. No, it doesn't work like that. It's not magic, it's it's an energy thing. You you you set your energy to not being disappointed, and you won't be disappointed. You said it, you know, uh when I worried about money, I was always broke, right? And and when I was worried about getting to a gig on time, there was always traffic. And when you're just like, I'm gonna hit every green light when I walk out this door and and believe it, uh, a lot of times it works that way. And if it doesn't, you're certainly not stressed about it like you would be, which only makes the situation worse. So that my wife really changed uh the game for me once I became a writer and producer. You know, there was a lot of years where I felt like I need to be on air more and I was angry about it, and the reality of it was I was my own worst enemy by by bitching about it, by being so negative about it and being like, how come I'm not in there? You know what? I I didn't I wasn't ready. Uh I wasn't I didn't have the right frame of mind for it. And the minute I stopped caring about it, not caring, but like stopped stressing about it, it all changed. And and all of a sudden, oh, do you know Shuly does an impression of Tan Mom? It's like, yeah, been doing it for seven years. I I talk to the woman every day. Her voice is stuck in my head forever.

Tushar Saxena 29:39

So, yeah. Uh truly, I was gonna say, I mean, first of all, I had a whole bunch of questions I wanted to ask, which you've obviously answered 25 fold. You mentioned a moment ago this notion of manifesting manifesting positivity, right? Yeah. And I was gonna kind of mention a moment ago that this idea like dream boarding, like you know, oh the vision boards, right? Yeah, vision boarding. Vision boarding. Um and not that, and not that this is what you did, but obviously you you said you treated you treated your time uh calling into the calling into the stern show as an actual career, right? That was your job. That was my job. That was your second job. Maybe even your first job after your actual job.

SPEAKER_01 30:20

Listen, I put more effort and energy into that job. I would say, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, it it's from it's all the mentality of how you approach it, uh I feel, you know, a hundred percent. Um if if you're if if you're passionate about look, everything I've loved growing up, uh, I've somehow made money in the future with it. You know, comedy, radio, uh wrestling, big wrestling fan. I've I've gotten to do roasts, I've gotten to go to events and meet and appearances with people. I mean, all this stuff that I've just like I've never given up on. I've never felt like, all right, I'm in my forties now, I gotta move on, I gotta do you know, passion is passion, man. And and and if you're passionate about something and you truly love it, and as long as you're I feel like as long as you're trying your best to be as good as you possibly can to yourself, to the people in your life, to strangers, it all comes back to you tenfold, you know. I've lived the other way. I could tell you, right, you know, growing up in my house, you know, with my parents, they would call me. I could tell from the ring it was them. And this was before you could set, you know, I could just tell. And I would pick up and I'd and I'd usually be stoned. I'd be like, hey, and my mom's opening line, every conversation is the same. She goes, Oh, you remember we are still alive. That was her that was her hello every time.

Larry Samuels 31:53

As somebody who was raised Jewish, I have received many of those phone calls.

SPEAKER_01 31:57

Oh, yeah. I go, How are you doing? Better than your nephew. He's in the hospital with intestinal issues.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

I'm like, what are you guys bothering me for?

SPEAKER_01 32:07

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

Don't you have something fun to say?

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Has anything good ever happened in your vicinity?

Tushar Saxena 32:14

Hey, Shule, I mean, I remember I I think you and I might have met just uh right before the three of us kind of all met together, all met together. So I can honestly say that I was impressed. I actually thought you were you were an actual broadcast professional after hearing the story when you started with Howard News, because you didn't give off that air to me as like somebody who was kind of learning the ropes. I actually did think you knew what you were doing, but uh it's just super impressive to me that like you kind of learned how to become a broadcaster literally on the fly. To me, that is unbelievably impressive. I mean, it's I'm still learning and I've been doing it for 30 years.

SPEAKER_01 32:53

Yeah, and and some people would tell you opposite that they don't see me now or then as a broadcaster, but you know, and it and it wasn't just Howard, like I was blessed to run into people along the way that that opened their door for me to come on their show, no questions asked. One of them, uh sports great Scott Pharrell, um who I'd never seen anybody do forget sports radio. I'd never seen anybody do radio like like Scotty Pharrell. Um, and I just remember watching him one day dancing to the stones and doing his Mick Jagger impression, and you know, with that voice singing along, Star Fucker, Star Fucker, that's what you want, taking it. You know, and it and I'm just like, how is this guy not on every TV station? Like, this is insane. Yeah.

Tushar Saxena 33:43

Yeah, like he is the antithesis of like the guy that should be on the radio, but he's so awesome.

SPEAKER_01 33:48

He's amazing. And and he's the best, he's the best, he's the absolute best. Much like Howard, he's an original. Nobody can do what he does. And so, and and so that's my second like legend of broadcasting that I work with. And he was a guy who taught me to work without a net. There was nothing scripted that we ever did, there was nothing that that that I led him. My whole goal was to get him to to laugh, that fucking awful laugh of his. Yep. And and that's what my goal was. That was the finish line.

Tushar Saxena 34:22

Cheese grater laugh, boy.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

Oh my god. And once he would start laughing, I would lose my shit. And it and it felt like old school Carson, old school Carol Burnett, my favorite stuff. And then the the third guy that was uh I would say maybe the most instrumental was Jay Thomas. Uh Jay Jay uh was on the radio when I was going to school in LA. Uh his you know, I've known of him for years as a radio guy. And when when we met up at Sirius, I went and interviewed him for he had Richard Simmons on his show one day. And and Richard and Sal from the Stern show prank called uh Richard Simmons on Jay's show. And I went to interview Jay for Howard 100 News to get his side of things on the prank. And I remember going, uh, what are your thoughts on uh Richard and Sal pranking your guest? And Jay just looks at me and he goes, You know it's all bullshit over there, right?

SPEAKER_05 35:23

Oh, geez.

SPEAKER_01 35:26

I go, I'm sorry? He goes, Ah, that whole thing over, it's all wrestling, it's all bullshit. He goes, I don't buy into any of that shit. You tell that fucker Richard and Sal if they want to come to my studio, I'll knock their goddamn teeth down their throat. And I shut the mouth. And I shut the recorder off. He looks at me and he goes, How do you think that'll go over, huh?

Larry Samuels 35:50

Jay was just stirred the pot, just quite great.

SPEAKER_01 35:53

Jay was one of the most underrated actors. Uh he was so and he was so good at turning nothing into something. He was nobody could do the show. His his ISDN line went out one day, and and his board op goes, You want me to run a best stuff? He goes, No, I'm gonna call in from my cell phone. And he I remember that show. He called in from his cell phone, he picked up a hitchhiker at one point. That's right. And then he went and got his tires fixed and he picked up his dry cleaning all while interviewing a woman who had a pickle farm that marinated her pickles in Kool-Aid. That's Jay. And that was Jay. And Jay, uh, you know, Jay got an opportunity to do not only did he do his show during the week on one of the stations on Sirius, but every Friday he would do a morning show on Howard's uh channel, 101, and I got to be the the sidekick for it. And you know, the amount of stuff I learned from him and and the just the the you just you it's like NASCAR. I feel like I'm just sitting in the stands watching half the time, you know, because he would come in with all the newspapers cut up. His desk is just covered in in c articles cut out, and like and uh you know, I'm showing up again with a joint in my cigarette pack. Like I'm I'm not the prepared co-host. But uh but we worked great together, and he was a guy. The first time we ever we ever worked together, uh, he said to me, Now listen, I don't want you going up there and saying pussy, okay? I know you come from that world. I don't need you going up on my air saying pussy. You understand? And I go, Yes, sir. He goes, I want you to say something that makes a listener think of a pussy. You understand that? And I go, not really, but I will try it. And and he was he was just uh a brilliant, brilliant guy, uh one of the best storytellers ever.

Tushar Saxena 37:59

Was a great storyteller, yes, absolutely.

Larry Shea 38:01

Yeah, and made you laugh every day. You know, Jay would come into the office and just make you laugh every single day.

Larry Samuels 38:07

Uh Shuly, was there a like I think back to when you used to come on our show? Like we used to do football picks on on Friday nights, and you know, we we'd we'd convince you to come in. And I think you used to you know preface it with, Well, I know my Steelers, but beyond that, I I don't know what I'm gonna be able to offer. But it wound up being the most brilliant half an hour in radio because you just for our show. Well, yeah, yeah, for our show, but you just had you know a one-liner after another after another. And I remember being so incredibly impressed by it, meaning it it's an art, it's a skill, it's something that this guy clearly has worked at to be doing what he's doing. Like, was there a moment when you kind of realized that you got it and you crossed a threshold where you're like, okay, you know what? I got this now. I'm good now. Like, did you reach a point where where you started to take off? I I as far as like on air, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:02

Yeah. Uh but it didn't come till much later where I was uh where I was I was in there doing impressions and you know I I grew up listening to this guy with guys like Billy West, the old school show with Billy West, who did uh the Jackie Puppet and did so many voices. Um and and I listened to this guy, Billy, crack Howard up to a point where nobody I've never heard him laugh like that. And again, circling back to the beginning of this whole story, laughter to me is super important. And that's my finish line, much like with Scott Pharrell, is to get Howard laughing. And luckily for me, I starting stand-up in Vegas, I have experiences with very small amounts of people and making them laugh. Uh, you know, the the casino I worked at, we you know, we played to twelve of people a night. Um it was not fun. But if you can get 12 people to laugh in a room that holds a hundred, then a hundred people ain't shit, right? And so for me, it was like I remember one day I was in there doing I was doing uh I was talking to him about how I annoy my family with all the whackpack voices I do around the house because my kids will ask me something and I just answer them as Jeff the Drunk or High Pitch Eric or Tan Mom. And and I said, you know, in the shower, uh sometimes I'll sing as them. And he was like, Well, what now none of this was planned. He didn't know I was gonna bring this up, and he's like, Uh, can you do a little of that? And so in my head, I'm like, Oh shit, he's giving me a shot, right? Like, this is Carson calling somebody over to the couch. Like, this is this is a big fucking deal. So, you know you can't you can't go back now. I just I just get ready and I just start singing um which a song I didn't sing in the shower uh because I knew he was a big Crosby Stills Nash guy. I did uh helplessly hoping as different whackpack, you know. And and at one point his head is just pointed straight up at the ceiling and his mouth is wide open, and he's laughing so hard. And I just remember thinking, all right, I got this fucker now, I got this. Like and after that, you know, if I had something to add with a whackpacker or with a staffer, I could just go to Gary and I go, I got something on this. And Gary would just go, go in. He wouldn't say, What is it, who's it about, what there was a trust there. There was that's trust, boy. That's trust. And that was something that uh I'll never forget, and it and it took a long time to get there. And again, a lot of it was my fault, you know. Uh I'd say all of it was probably my fault. So, you know, the fact that it got there, and I definitely noticed it and and paid, you know, I I took that that that will be burned in into my head forever, that moment. Absolutely.

Larry Shea 42:16

I mean, you you all these stories, Shuly, are up are about courage, really. I mean, you really had a lot of courage to do all the shit that you that you did. Um, I love there's a little fake it till you make it, yeah, right, with the news stuff. I mean, these are all things that you can do to chase your dream, though. But I think the biggest thing you did was you took that leap of faith, man. You know what I mean? And you kind of trusted in yourself, even if you knew you couldn't do it in the moment. You knew you had enough resources to learn and grow and keep grinding. And I think that's the greatest thing. What's the worst misstep you ever did? The the the thing that you just wish you could turn back time and be like, man, I messed that one up.

SPEAKER_01 42:53

There was uh okay, so there was um years ago, this kid came on the show. A kid, he was like in 1920, came on the show, and he was he was going through cancer treatment and he was a huge fan, and I think Artie got him tickets to his Carnegie Hall show, and then after the show, Sal and Richard called me and they go, Hey, Artie's inviting a bunch of us over to Del Frisco's, which was right next door, to go have lunch. Yep. And and he's in and you're invited, and I'm like, okay, great. And so I go over there, and it's a bunch, it's the Howard TV crew, it's me, it's it's uh, you know, but I'm the only one there from the news. Everybody else is from the show. I wasn't working on the show at that time. And I'm sitting there having a great meal, the cancer kid's there, you know, everybody's there. And then uh we come back to the office and uh they go, where were you? And I go, Oh, I just went to Del Frisco's, already took everybody out to lunch. They go, Oh, yeah. I go, Yeah, the cancer kid was there. I go, it was great, already made a tough. It was really sweet. And Liz Ayello, sweet Lisa Liz Ayello, I'll never forget she just goes. Did you bring your recorder?

Tushar Saxena 44:09

Oh that's a broadcast professional right there.

SPEAKER_01 44:15

And I go, Oh no, I didn't think to bring it. It was just lunch. And she she like I've never been in the military, but if I've ever if your worst fear of a drill sergeant, that's what she turned into in front of everybody and just laid into me. And I was like, oh fuck. I'm like, this is not good. I will not make this mistake again. Although there was another quick one, uh, the transit strike, when uh the the subways and buses stopped working, that everybody went on strike. We had the Howard 100 news van, right? We had this little skinny narrow box van that you put like stripper advertising on.

SPEAKER_05 45:03

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 45:04

And and it was the Howard, and it was a picture of Howard that said the Howard 100 news team. And I don't know if I suggest somebody, I don't know who suggested it, but I definitely said I would do it. Somebody goes, we should ask people if they want rides in the Howard 100 news van and give them rides. And I go, Yeah, I'll do that. And they go, perfect. Shuly's the wacky guy, he'll pick them up. Great. They go, here's the garage ticket, go get go get the car. I go get the van. Now I'm sitting behind the wheel and I realize I don't know any directions in New York. I don't know anything. But I said, fuck it. I have my recorder, I pull up, I pick somebody up, I go, hey, where are you going? They go, Lower East Side. I go, how about four blocks this way?

SPEAKER_00 45:48

I go, I said, I gotta keep in this radius uh so I can get back to work. I don't know my way around here too well. And I felt bad because these people were so happy at first, and then when I told them, when I told them, I go, Howard 100 News is here to help you. They go, Great. I need to get to uh younger. And I'm like, no, I can't take you anywhere. Not that kind of it's all it's all a facade, man. I'm just gonna drop you off at the next block. Have a good day.

Tushar Saxena 46:21

Hey, Jules, so like what was it, what was it like for you then when you took over more uh a larger role on the show? And I don't mean and I don't mean uh, you know, more of your news role, but when you took over more like uh more of the con the comedic role when when Artie left the show and you were brought in more to do a lot more comedy stuff on the show itself. What was that moment like for you?

SPEAKER_01 46:42

I mean that was awesome. That was another Tim thing, you know, before Tim left, uh b before they you know made a regime flip over there, he he uh called me up and he's like, Hey, I'm I'm recommending you to to be a writer and producer for the show because the news was getting ready to wrap up. They they it had run its course, and luckily, you know, the stuff, the content that I had been creating for all those years kind of um helped me I mean it it helped me be an option, right? Uh the the rest was kind of up to me and and just the opportunity was I mean that's the MO of this whole story with me is that crack in the door. That's all I needed to see every time was if if you you know if a guy like Tim uh has trust enough in me to give me a shot, I can't fuck that up. You know, I I gotta do whatever it takes because the the list of people that truly support and get you and wish the best for you is a very small list, ladies and gentlemen. It's usually one hand, you know, but it doesn't need to be a big one, it just needs to be the right ones. Much like my audiences. They don't need to be big, they just need to be right.

Larry Samuels 48:00

You know, uh Shuly, w with what you're doing now, you know, pivoting away from you know the serious days, you're now on the road doing comedy, doing stand-up. You know, tell us tell us about that and and give us a little bit more insight into just your stand-up world.

SPEAKER_01 48:16

Well, a lot's changed, you know, uh two two years ago during the pandemic. Um, you know, everything kind of I knew when they sent us home we were never going back in that studio again. Uh I just you know, Howard's a germ phobe on a good day uh without a pandemic. So That's true. I didn't even think of that. So uh, you know, then the area around us uh changed significantly. Um and I you know, and I've I'm a father too. I got two little girls, uh, and and the neighborhood just you know, I tell people all the time the the breaking point was uh I walk out of the apartment with the girls and there's a guy taking a shit behind my car on the street. Oh, jeez. And he's not wearing a mask. Can you believe that?

Tushar Saxena 49:02

Thank you. Come on, people, nerve of that guy. Come on, people.

SPEAKER_01 49:07

You know, I got a I got a compromised immune system, dude. If you're gonna if you're gonna shit on the street, I'm not taking that away from you. Just be a decent human being and wear a mask. It's all a mask. Cover your freaking cover your mouth. Uh no, but it but in all seriousness, uh, you know, we had some attempted break-ins into our building, and and the area itself was not great, and the and the cops were like, well, you know, we're not doing anything because every time we do, they want to fucking kill us. So everybody kind of just let shit. It was like Lord of the Flies.

Larry Shea 49:40

And it makes us feel better that we all still live here, Shuly, by the way. So thanks for I don't know what that says about us.

SPEAKER_01 49:46

God bless. All the best to you guys. Have fun driving down.

Tushar Saxena 49:50

How are we broken people?

SPEAKER_01 49:52

Have fun driving down Fury Road to work every day.

Tushar Saxena 49:56

Excellent. I'm the king of New York, a number one.

SPEAKER_00 49:59

Yeah, please.

SPEAKER_01 50:00

You're looking at a at the first sign of trouble. This Jew's out the door, one foot in the aisle.

Larry Shea 50:06

Seriously. You're you're describing your neighborhood like it was Bay Ridge. You know what I mean? The height of the room.

SPEAKER_01 50:12

Compared to what it was, I mean, it wasn't far from it. You know, you got people launching uh empty fucking Jack Daniels bottles off of balconies from you know what neighborhood were you in?

Larry Samuels 50:24

Where were you? We were in we were in Astoria.

SPEAKER_00 50:26

I'm in Brooklyn, dude. Come on. Where are you? We were in Astoria. We were in Aboriginal.

Tushar Saxena 50:31

He was on Park Avenue with 36th. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 50:33

That's right.

Larry Shea 50:34

Gramercy Park.

SPEAKER_01 50:36

We were in Astoria. We were in a really nice part of Astoria. We used to always be out and about and and just uh and then and then that was it. Everything fucking went down. Everything flipped, man. So we started looking, you know. I talked to management as far as like, well, we're gonna be working from home for a while. It doesn't matter where home is. No, it doesn't. I said, okay. So then we started looking at what we can afford for what we got. And on the East Coast, wasn't a ton. Um then we started looking down south. I have uh a couple friends down south, one of them has been telling me to get property in this spot called Huntsville, Alabama for about five years now. And he's, you know, as he explains it, there's Huntsville and then there's Alabama. And Huntsville has the uh Space Center down here, they have uh Google, they have uh military uh installations down, they got they got FBI. I mean, places banging. There's so many uh like smart people out here, technology people, you know. Uh I got a guy across the street from me who works for the Department of Defense. I got another guy who's you know, seven, seven uh tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, uh bombs disposal expert. So like I'm praying for the shit hit to hit the fan. I'm surrounded by all the people you want to be next to. It's all these guys have been waiting for. I mean, it's uh but but so we we start looking at places and we find um really great options down south here in Huntsville. And but none of us know about the south. We don't know anything about this town. And, you know, uh in the middle of the night, one night, we sneak out in the summer and we drive 14 hours, the whole family, to Huntsville to check it out. And we love the vibe, we loved, you know, people were following rules here, but people were also living life. They weren't locked in their homes, they weren't they they they I can't explain, it felt like the shit that we were going through wasn't happening over here. And and also I just started looking at it from my kids' point of view and from my parents' point of view, which is like they did whatever they had to do for us. And this whole move, I don't give a fuck if I hate it here. If I can see my kid ride her bike to a friend's house and then come back or have a sleepover down the street or whatever, be a kid, like okay, I'll I'll swallow that shit sandwich for a while for for that, because they haven't been able to be kids the last you know twelve years, and so especially the last two, and so for for us it was just about finding a place. We found one, we got it, we made the move out here, we had peace of mind uh where we were living, and uh and then for me it was just work kind of changed. I I wasn't uh I wasn't feeling the new flow of the show, and especially with you know his um obsession on COVID and politics, you know, those were two things that I was avoiding religiously because again, we go back to the energy, right? Which is like if if I'm worried about COVID 24-7, guess what I'm gonna fucking get? Right. You know, if I'm worried about you know it's about getting out of your lane, and worrying takes you out of your lane, and I can't afford to worry about Trump or Biden or any fucking buddy because I don't have the power to change anything these guys are doing. Uh I don't buy into anyone and what they're saying they're going to do. And my immediate concern is my family, my world, and and the stuff that I can affect and and make happen. And so that to me was a real it was like I was just sitting there every morning going, Jesus Christ, I don't want to hear this anymore. And and that organic love, uh, that organic comedy I felt went away, and and I just wasn't enjoying my job anymore. And they were great to me, and I love them, and and you know, uh I'm I'm grateful for the opportunities that they gave me. I learned so much. I got a family out of that deal. Like, I love it, but but I'm I'm a guy who's not gonna stay and do something that he's not enjoying. And and I don't want to take a fucking paycheck from something that that I'm not giving my all to.

Larry Samuels 55:22

Absolutely not.

SPEAKER_01 55:23

And and uh lastly, you know, Jay Thomas before he passed away, one of the last things, you know, one of the last conversations we had was he was like, you you gotta do your own thing. You gotta, you gotta you gotta do it.

Larry Samuels 55:36

You know, it's interesting that you say that. You know, I look at my career, I worked in business for a real long time, and you know, I had a a degree of success, and and I reached a certain point where it's like, okay, is this making me happy? Yeah, you know, is this what I want to be spending my time doing? And you know, I I still will engage with different projects here and there with friends and whatnot, but you know, it's not what I want to be doing with all of my time. Um, it's we've only got one life.

SPEAKER_01 56:02

And and so I totally and with kids like now, uh you know, I had 15 years of the greatest experiences of my life. If I need to go rent cars at Enterprise for eight hours a day, all right, whatever. I don't give a shit. I can do that, you know. Like I can live off those dreams and keep but I don't have to, and I'm not going to. But either way, uh, you know, the opportunities and and the experiences I got doing that, the people I got to work with and meet who I'm still friendly with, guys like you, uh you three who are, you know, years down the road, we still can connect again. You know, it's it's a beautiful thing, man. I I I'm so grateful for it. And I'm loving doing my own thing now. I'm loving Well, that's it.

Larry Shea 56:46

Your dreams are still coming true. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:48

I mean, that's we all keep the changing of all my my whole podcast is all about organic and and just I don't know, you know, what the fuck's gonna happen, but something's gonna happen. I I come into it with a plan. It isn't a shit show. Uh don't don't go by all the reviews you read. Um But it's but it's fun. I'm enjoying it. I I come up with an idea the night before and I do it the next day. I don't have to write emails to people and I don't have to elaborate and write a fourth version of a fucking script, and it's like, Jesus, what what happened to just being funny? What happened to just you know, let's take a chance. If it doesn't work, then we'll goof on it and we'll make that funny. Like that's uh so so now I'm doing uh the Shuly Show, which is my podcast. It's available on all platforms and YouTube, and there's a Patreon page if you want to support it. I do another podcast with a bunch of comics we used to do back at on 101 called The Miserable Men Show. Um myself You still doing Miserable Men? Yeah, yeah, myself, the Reverend Bob Levy. Oh my gosh. Um Brent Hatley, former producer on the Stern Show, is now uh miserable man with us. Mike Morse, who uh comedian, roast writer for releasing a lampinelli, and Mark Burns, uh the the the almost original cast, uh with the exception of Florentine, who uh started the show. But that was another weird thing where it was like Tim, Tim was such a great boss because you could trick him into giving you opportunities too. Um he was giving so many auditions to people on 101 for shows that Bob Levy says to me one day, hey, when you see Tim today, tell him we're ready for our show next Tuesday. And I go, I go, but he didn't he didn't give us a show next Tuesday. He goes, doesn't matter, just tell him. I said, okay. I walk by, I go, I go, Tim, we're ready for the show next Tuesday. Good, good. Uh yeah. So you're good? You guys are all set? Yep, we're all set. Okay, great. And that show, and another thing with Tim is that show went from one hour on Sunday nights, and he eventually kept giving us more and more time. We ended up being a four-hour show. We ended up covering for Pharrell. There was no other show that went from one hour to four hours, and that and uh again, Tim Sabian seeing the uh the the genius of it. Um so I'm doing we're doing that again. That unfortunately, we we're just on Patreon. So far, it's the only place that hasn't thrown us off yet. So if you want to check out the Miserable Men's Show, go to Patreon, The Miserable Men's Show. And then the last podcast I'm doing uh as of today uh is a sh is a podcast where we interview comics about bombing, their worst bombing stories. Uh oh, that's a great one.

Tushar Saxena 59:33

Oh my god, I gotta go.

SPEAKER_01 59:34

Yeah, this is my my comedy brother from Vegas, uh James Mattern, phenomenal New York comic, one of the best hosts in the city, he's all over, every club, the seller, you name it. Uh him and I started together, and in Vegas, like I said, we played to twelve of people. And when one of us would host and bring up the other one, as we're shaking hands on stage, we would have a code phrase that we would say to the other one to let the other comic know, you're about to bomb your ass off with this crap. And and the code phrase was he would shake my hand and he'd look at me and he'd go, Thanks for coming out. That's what he would say. And and that's when I knew, all right, this 10-minute set's gonna suck. And so that's the name of the show. Thanks for coming out, a podcast about bombing. Uh, we got about 10 episodes, it's available everywhere and on Patreon, and we review, we got a special thing where we review bombing videos and awkward videos on Patreon as well. Our own stuff, uh, you know, it's uh it's a thing you never get past as a comic. Yep. Uh which is which makes it such a great thing. You know, it you talk about coming back down to earth, that will always ground your ass. A hot one. That'll always humble you. That'll always humble you, yeah.

Larry Shea 1:00:46

Taking a hot one is it is well that's everyone's biggest fear, right? Is standing up there naked and just bombing.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:56

I mean, it used to be my biggest fear until I heard the album that changed it all for me, which was uh this is available on Spotify, so you know, for any Jews listening, you don't have to pay for it. Uh this called The Day the Laughter Died. Uh there it's part one and part two, and it's by Andrew Dice Clay. And the story behind it is he goes into Dangerfields at like a Sunday at 1 a.m. not advertised, not promoted, not his crowd, and proceeds to do an hour and a half bombing. Bombing. It is one of the funniest fucking listens you will. At one point, like 40 minutes into bombing, he just goes, Great, you can hear the air conditioner. He goes, This whole album's ruined now. Now, now it's ruined. He was, I mean, one album ends with him threatening to fight someone in the audience, like it's and and Rick Rubin produced it, by the way. The the Oh my god, the great Rick Rubin. So this and I always tell new comics, you have to listen to this is a comedy Bible. This is this is uh a part of comedy that nobody will tell you that bombing isn't the worst thing. You just gotta kind of lean into it and embrace you're not, you know, you try to get out of it, but there's a point we all hit where we're like, yeah, I'm not getting them back. And so in that case, you just go for it. You just lean into fuck it. Fuck it at that point, right? You just fuck it. He just he go he goes, uh at one point there's joke bombs, and he just goes, Oh, I'll read from my notes. And uh, and then he and then he reads the notes. He goes, I want someone to do the black guy handshake on my prick. And that's one of his notes. Just a total non-sequitur, and people are just going, What the fuck did he just say? What? And he moves on to the next note, you know?

Tushar Saxena 1:03:07

Oh my god. I just wrote that down. I mean, obviously it you sound happy. I mean, the it kind of kind of goes without saying that you sound very happy. Um, but I guess my question is, at this point in your career, are you satisfied? Or uh maybe maybe even that's the wrong way to say it, but are you are you satisfied with everything that you've done thus far? Uh if you were to if you were to leave the business tomorrow, would you say that you are satisfied with everything?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:34

No, uh no. I I I'm I'm entering a world now uh which is uh for actual TV shows, putting together um a couple different things. I got uh an animated show I'm working on with the great Tim Stack from uh Son of the Beach and uh Up All Night with Dick Dietrich, I think, or late night with Dick Dietrich. He's a comedy legend, a brilliant writer, and he's a huge fan of Tan Mom, and him and I have put together an animated show based on the life of Tan Mom, which I will be doing the voice for. Oh, that's one course. Yes. And so we've worked on that. We're we're you know in the process of working with a company on that, so that's moving forward. There's um a reality show I'm working on that that's looking real good. There's another script that I wrote about a uh blue state family moving to a red state. Imagine that. Where did I come up with that idea?

Larry Samuels 1:04:35

My gosh. Right what you know. Yeah. How are you sourcing material for that?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:39

Yeah, and um, and then lastly, is another world that I'm a huge fan of is gaming. And I I have a TV show that I'm that I'm working on that uh has to do with gaming. And so these are all things that uh that that I've they've taken their time, which again, you know, I have so many friends in the industry that that put together scripts and and they all say the same thing, and you go, uh they go, yeah, I'm sending out scripts this week. He goes, It's probably not gonna do anything. But and and I always sit there and I go, that's why. That's exactly why. You fucking chop your feet out from under you the minute you haven't even started. You haven't even sent it out, and you're already saying it's gonna be rejected. That to me is insanity. I never once believed any of these ideas wouldn't take uh take flight. And some of them are four years old. But I never I never gave up. I'd go back, I'd tweak this, I'd reach out, I'd send an email to this guy, touch base here and there. I'm not obsessing on it, but I but I'm certainly not giving up on it. Uh uh you know my dad my dad, yeah.

Tushar Saxena 1:05:46

I think look, man, in especially in this day and age, there are so many outlets for things. This notion of like the one and done, the one and done idea, it doesn't exist. It it sh it certainly does not exist anymore. Not to mention the places you can shop it too. That's what I'm saying. There's so many places you can go to.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:02

Yeah. Listen, I I teach my kids uh one phrase over and over again. I always tell them, Hope is for suckers. Okay? I tell 'em belief. Belief is everything. You gotta see it, you gotta believe it, and then you will achieve it. And it's different from the saying my dad used to tell me when I would try and stay up late, watch Carson, and I'd hear him coming down the hall, and I would pretend I was asleep, and he would stand by my head, and in Hebrew he would tell me, You can't scare a hooker with a dick. And I and I would always start laughing, and that's how he would catch me. So so uh yeah, I I I just try to uh implement what my wife taught me, which is you know, stay on stay on the right side of the tracks and and try your best to stay on it because there's so much shit that tries to take us off. You know, that was a big issue with you know folk hyper focusing on COVID and politics. I was like, this is just taking me off course, man. And and I can do that. I don't need anybody's help, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:19

That's right. That's exactly right.

Larry Samuels 1:07:20

Well, Shuly, clearly, you know, we've had a we've had a really good seat to watch the the Shuly show, so to show, so to speak, in terms of you coming into Sirius and your development and all the different things that that you've done. And you know, you were always very gracious to us way back when, with our show coming on and and always killing, so to speak. So I think all of us have been just like now. Um, so you know, we've all been fans and we've watched this journey that you've been on. And uh, you know, it's it's been really fun for us to see. And I don't know if sharing is the right way, but uh right word, but as a fan, um, we're certainly supporting you. So thank you, you know, so much for coming on today. You know, we're we're really, really enjoying watching everything you're doing.

Tushar Saxena 1:08:07

Come back, come back again. Make sure you come back.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:09

Anytime, anytime you guys want me. And thank you guys so much for reaching out. It's great talking to you guys again. You great to yeah, great to hear from you again, man.

Tushar Saxena 1:08:15

It's been a long, long time.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:16

And listen, back in those days, you know, I was so hungry for airtime anywhere and everywhere, and and not everybody was game to giving it to me. You guys were, and uh, you know, I don't forget that, so I appreciate it very much. Hey, we had a lot of time to fill.

Larry Samuels 1:08:31

Yeah, a lot of laughs. A lot of laughs. Those are always good hours. That was to our benefit, Julie. We would sit back and let you go, man. Our number of number of listeners went from eight to sixteen in those hours.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:45

Well, listen. Julie, thank you so much. You guys went to an hour format and you and you still called me up, so that's a good sign.

Larry Samuels 1:08:53

We're learning. We're learning.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:55

Uh, listen, boys, thank you. Anytime you need anything, let me know. All right, and all the best. Thanks, Julie. Julie, thank you so much for all you got it, boys.

Larry Samuels 1:09:02

Wow, what what an interesting guy. It's so wonderful to hear his voice again after all these years. Although I guess I have been hearing it on the radio, he just hasn't been talking to me. Um, but uh, you know, what a wonderful opportunity to to catch up with Julie and just to hear what he's up to.

Larry Shea 1:09:20

Yeah, and I I want to talk a little bit about the the auditioning aspect because a lot of what he had to do was, you know, perform and be good enough that they kept him around, you know. And I I've I've done some acting work, so there's a lot of auditioning that goes into that kind of work. And it's it's a it's a theater of rejection, is what it really is. So, you know, when Shuly talks about his positivity, I think that's super important when you're talking about, you know, dreams where you have to audition for a role, a part, you know, a a seat, um, and and and how much you have to just kind of embrace the rejection aspect because it's a tough, it's a tough road, you know. I I I have a very strange connection with Shuly um in regards to this interview in that I auditioned for the the Jay Thomas Haha seat before he ultimately got the seat. And so talk about theater of rejection. I mean, I was in that seat a couple weeks prior and I completely spit the bit. I totally failed. I seized up that day. I loved the show, and I think I got caught a little bit on the sidelines being a fan instead of actually being the guy who was making people laugh and setting Jay up and so forth. So it's fascinating to hear him talk about working with Jay Thomas and work up and work that audition, you know, that he had auditioned for Howard Stern and he had auditioned for Jay Thomas. And that's a tough, tough road. And I just want people out there to know that it's okay that you don't get the gig, you know, no wrong choices is what the name of the show is. You know, sometimes you don't get the gig, and it is what it is. And maybe if I get that Jay Thomas gig, who knows? I don't meet my wife, I don't, you know, do something. Who knows where my road goes from there? But it was interesting to hear him talk about the performance aspect. It's like an athlete, right? If you're not performing, you're not gonna get the job. So same thing with everything Shuly just talked about. Boy, what an unconventional road, like you said, T. So fascinating stuff.

Tushar Saxena 1:11:23

I I I'll say this too, is that he he's right in that no in that notion that every once in a while you just gotta kind of say, fuck it, and just kind of go all out, right? I mean, you at some point you just kind of have to say to yourself, I don't I don't care about the consequences. And I and you almost have to say that to everybody in your life, right? Because you know, you're gonna have people gonna be like, you know what, what you should do is be a bit more conservative. No, no, no. What you should do is try this and try that. At some point, you just kind of have to tune all of that out. Tell all these people they don't know what they're talking about and listen to yourself. And that's what he did. He focused in on one goal. I'm gonna be on this show and I'm gonna make myself invaluable to it. And that's what he did. And and that, and that is an attitude very few of us have, and very few of us can hone that fuck it type of attitude.

Larry Shea 1:12:08

In the positivity. I love that he talked about positivity, right? And he didn't find that until he met his wife, really, which is pretty fascinating. So, in a in a career path that has him putting himself out there for judgment, you know, comedian, Howard Stern stuff, the Jay Thomas stuff. He's literally putting himself out there to be judged. And it's easy to get super down on yourself if you don't book the job, get the gig, like I didn't get the gig, you know, whatever the case may be. And his positivity, I think, is what allows him to carry on, be confident in his abilities, good, you know, confident in his stuff, and to take that next step to get that other gig. Man, I got beat down a lot. So I could have used this interview a couple of years ago when I just had to leave the business because I was getting rejected. The value we're providing. So yeah, it's I really do think there's a there's a service here that we're providing that someone like Shuly can make me feel more positive at the end of this interview about trying again, getting back on that horse. And it's okay to be rejected. Maybe it just wasn't the right fit for you, you know, and that's okay.

Tushar Saxena 1:13:17

The one thing I I also took away from from Shuly is that every single opportunity he was given, he used as a learning experience. Obviously, with Stir with the Stern show. And then I also had the opportunity to work with him a little bit over at the Pharrell show. Uh, you know, I was brought in every once in a while to be another one of the voices on that program, got to know Shuly there as well. But every single step along the way, he used as a learning experience, and he used the and he used each one of those hosts that he was with, whether it be Jay Thomas, Howard Stern, or Scott Pharrell, to learn to pull an aspect from their broadcasting careers, the best of their broadcasting careers, obviously, and incorporate it into his own journey. That was amazing to me.

Larry Samuels 1:14:01

Absolutely. And, you know, I'll build upon all of that uh with the idea of relationships. You know, I've said many times before that I was successful in my career because of the relationships that I was able to build along the way in terms of trust and just genuine friendships. And uh, you know, when you look at Shuly's path, the people that he met along the way, the people who took care of him, the projects that he's now engaged with, he has built up a wonderful network of folks that have helped pull him along. Um, and that says a lot about the person. You know, I think about um us doing this interview. We were really excited to talk to our old friend Shuly. We were laughing, we were smiling, we were joking, like it was a whole thing, like, oh my goodness, we're gonna get to talk to Shuly because we genuinely like the guy. And we would when we talk about him, we smile and we smile, you know, it it's not bullshit. Like, like we're actually smiling because we're looking forward to to talking and hanging out with Shuly.

Tushar Saxena 1:15:03

Yeah, he's a good guy and he's our good friend. So, yeah, of course we want to talk to him.

Larry Shea 1:15:06

But isn't it funny that he made his own path? You know what I mean? Like he Absolutely because we do a lot of these interviews where it is all about a relationship where somebody, a friend of a friend, tells you about a gig, you know, and you have an in because they're already in, and that's how you get it, and so forth. And here with Shuly, imagine if he doesn't get goaded by his girlfriend to call the show. Oh, I forgot about that. And he didn't, you know what it just sat there like every other night and listened to the show and didn't call, you know. Like what path, what path is his career right now? Does he have a career? Is he, you know, selling to dealer in Las Vegas? Yeah, yeah, working working at a working at a liquor store in Vegas. That's right. That's exactly liquor warehouse. So it's just fascinating. Most of these interviews we do are about our relationships, and here he liter the nicest guy in the in the world who has all these relationships now, made his own path, not by that way at all, but by just having some gumption to dig in and get some material and make it happen. Yeah, the guts. Just having straight guts. It's like building a building from scratch without a design. I mean, Jesus, I don't know how he did it. It's amazing.

Larry Samuels 1:16:17

Well, he did, and you're right, it's pretty darn amazing. So, with that, uh, we're thankful and appreciative that Shuly was able to join this episode of No Wrong Choices. Make sure to check out his stuff. Three podcasts of note. There's the Miserable Men Show, which can be found on Patreon, the Shuly Show, and a podcast about bombing called Thanks for Coming Out, which sounds really, really funny. You can also visit his website at shalomshuly.com where he lists a lot of his live upcoming dates, and there's a bunch of other content on there as well. Our thanks also go out to you for joining this episode of No Wrong Choices. We post about once a week, so please follow us here or on social media at thefellas NWC. You can also learn more about the fellas by visiting our website at Norongchoices.com.