KPCS: Josh Malina #18

he's he's hosting best-trained to I'm scared Oh all right I will introduce my next guest I'm very excited actually because although we've worked together on a couple of things I have always admired his work as a fellow actor and again it really is for me about hearing the life stories of how people get from there to here and when I mentioned to a number of people that after a few invites or a few attempts to land this particular guess when he said yeah Sheriff stop bugging me of course he didn't praise that way but when he said yes people around here and others I spoke to were very very excited because there's a huge fan ship for mr. Josh Malina hello how are you pal good how are you good janta pontiff I got that well okay did you like that you were so much smaller than okay well no I'm even smaller ah yeah yeah yeah yeah with a little rat hat um so yeah so how about that George Gallo Wow is he more interesting and accomplished than I I should have gone first but no not a front-loaded and finally finished with him but I enjoyed I enjoyed listening yeah you're so you're so wrong um let's see let's yeah we will and Digger is that surly let's um let's start first with uh with your early days if we may and not so back as January seventeenth nineteen whatever um thank you yeah but I want to first ask about the Orthodox school mmm sheiva days sure you attended as a very young man I am a yeshiva but I'm not outing you as being a Jew no I am okay your parents were conservative yes I always been sort of a hodgepodge of we do this we don't do that but I think if we had to we're in the continuum we thought was probably most closely conservative judaism right but we belonged to an orthodox shul and there was no conservative yeshiva nearby like the Solomon chapter of the day in nowadays and so I went to him I went to Orthodox Russia yesterday's gone in Mamaroneck New York I see I was braised reform which means we're practically Catholic sure I now go to a reconstructionist shul oh did I love and which I've been through okay well I was a fluid thing I don't one of the things I love about Judaism evolution sure reconstruct what you hide you say that reconstructionist yeah see I'm uh I'm so far through the other end of it that I'm out of it I understand if you will can I keep pulling me back in right instruction is sure that's fantastic yeah uh I wanted cuz I wrote that cuz I want to get to that I want to understand what what the hell that means I won't be able to explain it well good but so how old are you when when you go to the Orthodox first grade so right out of the chute really mm-hmm beyond kindergarten which I don't know that is true I went to kindergarten yeah public school and then into the achievement public school because you said from normal kindergarten okay yeah right and then first time which is really just Matz and you're eating Jace and yes the right way and from when I say normal I mean the way that most Americans went to kindergarten right because your first grade in unorthodox not most Americans experience yeah yeah so as a first grader is it is it obvious that things are a little more strict um with the teachings mmm you know my recollection truly even back to first grade right and mrs. Rosenblatt who was the Hebrew teacher is that ethics was a big part of what I got at school that's that's the that ethics in other words need to living a moral life yeah I remember that being sort of part of the curriculum which i think is a wonderful thing looking back and I didn't strike me as odd yes or stricter I just you know I knew on Friday mornings he had to bring a little bit of money for sadaqa for charity right and you'd line up and under mrs. Rosenblatt watchful eye you'd put a little money in the push key the little box you'd say mitzvahs olala ted sakai it's an important mitzvah' commandment to give charity at the age of six at the age of six I guess yeah yeah and and that always sat well with me it was not a lot of people have the God I hated Hebrews cool thing my labor school as a whole of the B that's true but this was this is like hardcore Hebrew schools you know have to English half-day Hebrew and Torah and Jewish Studies and I love you loved it I didn't yeah yeah well that's the important part because I mentioned on the show here a while back because we did a show on Easter Sunday and I found something at the Bed Bath & Beyond that was the ten plagues I can get you 20% off hey Kenya I have a coupon uh why don't they hand those out more freely yeah those are hard to come by they really are yet if you don't have it they won't give you the emirate really yeah I only have to go to the mail everyday in order to get one of these exactly but I have to have it and they had the ten plagues as a ten little finger puppets on a wheel my finger publisher or T slaying of the firstborn puppet right that isn't nothing yeah which is the Ted I love it yeah yes uh but I thought who's this for honey it's Boyles where you going right yes this is what you saw your second reference to the plague but I'm impressed so now I'm sure well I only learned the place on this wheel at Bed Bath and Beyond but now so I'm wondering as I'm making this joke honey as the boils come back where you're running but did very serious teachings going on because I I got to be honest with you in in public school where I attended first grade had nothing to do with ethics or the teachings of of any religion you know right so ah that's why I guess I'm so fascinated by the structure so then to hear that ethics is actually being put forth at such a young age I'm thinking this has to go for all schools because I first noticed the beginning of the end of civilization when I went into the public restroom of a restaurant and the seat was down in the men's stall where I need to urinate because I don't like a lot of looky-loos nor do i okay honest with you I can I don't need the pressure of the guy in line behind me I want to write or closed I have a little pee anxiety I'm not gonna lie to you but the seats down and there's urine all over it so this is the first sign of the civilization to me because although this is we were going on apparently in women's bathrooms for centuries this was fairly new that there was pee - pee on the seat because what that said to me in a nanosecond was the next guy I don't care I don't care in fact about anyone but myself I need to pee and I'd rather not lean down to lift the seat so ethics at age six pretty damn amazing I think so yeah and you feel as though it definitely formed you as a father now of two young uns very much then yeah yeah I would think so I mean I do a lot of the things that I learned I wake up and give me single little money in the we live and there's no excess money if he says but um yes no I definitely try to teach my kids I mean I'm raising them Jewish and and to me that that is part and parcel of trying to live a good life I'm trying to have a you know come from a moral place tikkun olam which is the idea that we help repair the world nice that we leave the world a little bit of a better place than we found in so what are the ages of these to order my daughter Isabel is 11 my son avi is 7 oh wow yeah good good older sister too obvious hmm might they be watching well um yes I mean up with all this every day is a good old I wish they got along better mm-hmm I didn't envision these the sibling strife yeah that is a frequent part of my day I have two sisters got along very well but unless perhaps I'm looking back with rose-colored glasses but my memory not is that I got along very well my sister's always what's the age difference which I sister is two and a half years older than I and Institute sisters eight years younger than yeah see you said eleven and seven accepted for yes and well I mean she was the star of the show for four or four and a half years and by the way by the time she's four and a half she understands that she's a star of the show yes exactly it's not just the older one yeah first yeah and very early on upon bringing avi home from the hospital there was a time where everything was backwards and he was sleeping during the day and he was awake all night right and we were desperately trying to lull him to a new sleep pattern and my daughter sort of extemporized a verse of this lullaby that basically was something along the lines of avi avi avi avi go to sleep now otherwise I'll have to hit you in the head with a hammer and then you'll die and I'll never forgive you and we looked at her and she said I'm not gonna do it just gonna sing it Wow but okay issues so and I but yeah hilarious not you exactly that's frente yeah so well that's the good news yes he's got ethics and can find a weapon yes um all right so so the next question I have to ask you is a way off the beaten track bring it that we've dust Lea walked LASIK music surgery yes tell me about it I've had it and uh it works what was just a miracle that but something went slightly wrong when I had it done slow down cuz this is where the plot thickens yes let's back it up sure let's leave him hanging with it there's trouble to come and let's back it up to the decision going into it and the endless research that I assume you did as a Jew yes I asked around a little bit because we were taught I asked why I've worn glasses for a long time or ahead up until that point I know actually I can't really accessorize in some ways I regret I want to start writing maybe possibly wearing prop glasses because I miss it as long as they don't so much jewelry we men can get away with it a little bit miss wearing glasses nonetheless a very poor eyesight very nearsighted and it just seemed like they have a thing where they can cut your eyes into the shape of your glasses and then you can see I don't know that's technically what they're doing but something along those lines right so I decided to do it and how much research should do it did you do prior ah I googled it no I don't know I I make a lot of lips okay to say I own a reason not a lot okay great not a lot I mean you must have watched video of the procedure or did you not want to know uh cuz it's not pretty it's not pretty that no nice away a layer of my own everything particularly can scared about it yeah and I thrive on anxiety and concern but usually I think it's now that I'm a father it's all about the kids me you would do what you want cut my eyes all you exactly so as the kids are fine and uh for those who haven't done it in an hour maybe a little let's see about it tell us about the moment that you're lying there because it's not a long moment and they've not here isotopic orange thing I think it's called a speculum but I may have made that up speculum maybe in OBGYN gone illogical yeah spec you like that not mister eyes do not resemble vaginas let's not thank my particular or just in general no I'm betting your or not brought in the case that there are endless beautiful pools what thank you wait a minute uh anyway I don't know the thing is holding my lawyers not aspect clumb thing opening you up and something is lowered and say there will be pressure and I felt a little pressure on something lowered a laser I guess whoever remembers I don't remember lasers of the knife I don't know I've locked it all I guess but yeah I guess there's no medication you're awake if there's a little xanax beforehand or valium who's not enjoying that right exactly um but so as the blade or knife or laser as the James Bond instrument comes toward you'll feel a lot of a strong pressure and I felt it okay and then he lifted it and the doctor said I need to talk to you for a moment my office really I know really I don't used to have the thing in your eye he says now he's now removed the apparatus I don't I can't remember what I could see or what I couldn't I went back to his office he said you know I've done 20,000 of these and this has happened twice before the speculum and I said isn't it an ob/gyn terms that's right but I never I can't remember what it's actually called did not hold your eye wide enough I didn't get a long enough cut and as a result you need to come back in a six month oh it has to heal yeah but the the eye has to heal oh and I'll redo it no no big medical no I'm sorry that's what I think my Weitzman shocked my like really you're still paying full price you got there's no discount no 20% and then his next question was do you want to go do the other and foolishly I felt like I don't know walk out with nothing so we went we did the other eye when fine I had to wear one contact lens for six months while it healed although it didn't hurt and you know my eyesight was fine but what's going through your mind as he's saying these things two out of 20,000 because clearly before you have the surgery done this is the concern I've done so many of these I guess I can't be I have to be honest with you I don't know what happened but I was not happy I was definitely very concerned although he laid my fears pretty quickly because you know I was worried that I'd lost my sight or something but it was clear then nothing he said most doctors would finish it do it again I'm telling you the thing to do is let it heal that I didn't have to hear twice is it fine let's I'll see in six months but then we went and did the other eye and then I remembered him to go well yes and then they you said you have to wear this date was crazy land of the lost plastic eyepiece so that you don't get hit in the eye and I said well I don't I don't normally get hit in the eye and I think it's gonna be a problem he said believe me you have to wear then I got home and we could really click lick lick lick lick lick lick oh thank God I have the plastic thing and it really freaked relieved there the one that we had done oh yeah good question why would remember he bought probably was under over both for a while you blocked out all of I have how long ago did this happen yesterday um I don't know it's been like five years Oh the end result is I wake up and I can see and it works but you're heading about I wonder if I would work more if I wear glasses though really yeah okay we're getting old and can get me the guy when I and you know we were glasses it covers up that's not really they were saying gave me the guy with the glasses so not this guy exactly that's happening no no um alright god forbid we talk about your actual work um so let's start about let's let's go to the beginning the moment that you're done with your Shiva and you're thinking I want to be an actor sure and I was by then actually literally I knew I wanted to be an actor in eighth grade when we did a Damn Yankees I played the devil at Yeshiva which i think is an accomplishment I yeah I knew I wanted to mean other than playing Hitler at Yeshiva because I think the devil is gonna be a tough one as you see sooo the hook that Lee put it yes yeah um actually I knew as a kid that I wanted to be an actor and when I was a blessing in a way uh why did you say I had cousins who were into it my dad did a little bit of producing as a kid I grew up his best friend was a guy named Manny Eisenberg who big Broadway producer and so I went to Broadway shows as a kid and I just all play saw it and I was like I want to be that including a seemed a very very early experience of seeing Robert Guillaume with whom I would later work on sports night in the all African American version of Guys and Dolls play Nathan Detroit jeez and he was fantastic course and so funny and I was like I want to do that you see how great Nathan Detroit can be oh no I know I go darn don't I've watched enough to know where you're gonna go with it ya don't see what's happening now huh don't do it I haven't seen it I sure love Oliver Platt don't yes he worked with him too he's fantastic if he weren't so brilliant I would never bring it up I only like to buy I haven't seen yeah I don't like to bust the balls of the people who have get the gift if you don't have the gift I'm gonna leave you alone because I feel bad fair enough ah on the other hand uh Craig Bierko is a revelation truly he's a funny guy as guy masters he's on a absolute revelation right here he's great okay so you're the devil in yeshiva sure not so much in a blue dress and you decide this is it for me I just knew is the thing I most enjoyed doing when you went to university I did I went to Yale as an undergraduate and my story says here you went to Yale right ahead seriously yeah I need to hear about this because I graduated from college in nine months is that right not know of which you speak class that seems even more impressive what means the other people call dropping out but it was always diploma hat yeah no I would chose the school of hard knocks oh I want to hear about yeah I well I would have the parental thing you had no choice and you made him so very it's certainly going to college exactly you want to be an actor fine they'd reconciled themselves to because I've been saying it for many many years of that point said but you got to get an education and why the hell did yell say yes that's an interesting question I don't know I've arranged something impressed them what could her mom here's what my parents think I went to a good college prep in a preparatory school in Riverdale in the Bronx called Horace Mann and I was the valedictorian of my class which normally is an academic achievement but at Horace Mann was voted on no no oh yeah we're talking about yeah and Yale didn't know that I think that's my parents to Yale didn't know you want to buy my theory is exactly that they thought you were the real and actually it was it was controversial at the time because Kenny Pollak she's Mideast scholar now who was a eventual Yale classmate of mine complains to the high school newspaper that the students had acted irresponsibly by electing me valedictorian well this is a little bit of little controversy what was this beef I think his beef or that he was much smarter than I which I acknowledge he was he probably would have been better yes he probably was he actually had I understand is your c-minus student who was voted of your ability to do more and then the Horace Mann record came to me and asked for a quote and I said well if it's a popularity contest hey it's nice to be popular headline next day then people are like he's not taking it seriously hey it's nice to be popular so that was the last time I was controversial 25 years ago you said I'm getting out of the controversy game exactly so you're at Yale true and you're studying drama yes but your math major is my major is actually theater studies really which was for not only people who are interested in acting but for people who were academically unmotivated it seemed like an easy way to get through you well that's just it that's the thing I'm trying I'm looking down at my notes because I'm trying to remember who to give credit to but the fact that you actually was a new JMU was the j-mac who said the fact that you're actually using your master's degree not a masters be a MBA like I did not it's handed the prestigious Yale Drama School in fact I have a quick I remember um agent named David Gus somebody who worked for him saw a friend and me in a play at Yale and asked us to come meet him I think he was running the Girish agency maybe making all this up Hershey agency at the time we were like this is it yeah oh and we were on sophomores in college and we sat down with him and she introduces and said we saw I can remember what show was we did I saw them in this they're great I think you know maybe and slowly became clear but it was just dawning in him that we did not go to the Yale Drama School and he turned to resit what the am I doing here really yeah truly and we looked each other we went it's not happening and I don't know why but he was absolutely uninterested at that point he said he almost had to give him credit it was so clear it's like well sorry guys and call me in three years or whatever it was fun it was like okay he thought you were bent warding to the private jet to show business he we sure didn't yeah and we sure worked they thought yeah I I had that moment when I was 17 and I went to see rich little at the circle star theater in San Carlos California and I dressed up as lieutenant Columbo for the show and I walked down to the stage in the middle of his act I think back on it now someone did that to me bawling I would be so pissed how old were you 17 gotta walk down the stage and I had the overcoat on and the black tie and the white and I had sorry sir I don't mean to bother you I hate to be a can I ask you something and he brought me up on stage and we did a little thing unbelieving then he said come come back out for the show ladies and gentlemen lieutenant Columbo and I go sit down he's my hero and and I say to my friend who I'm with you heard him come backstage after the show he's taking me to show business this is ha ha ha this is it oh and I go backstage afterwards and there are 50 people in line to get autographs the same maniac who gets up out of a seat and walks down the stage gets in line with the 50 people no I don't walk to the front I wait my turn as I'm getting closer I see rich little doing this hi what's your name Steve nice to meet you Steve thanks come to the show I'm sorry Marilyn Marilyn nice to meet you thanks for coming on the show hey here he is what was the name hello thanks very much good to see you heartbreaking good to see you shuffled off the Buffalo why dude yeah oh that is that was my jet but I salute you for being so ballsy I was Ted I'm not balls and I was and I wasn't at 70 no I've never been balls I don't know I was controversial I told them once um let's go to the phones wait we don't have them um all right we're off to - here we go this is from it says at when they're at it's Twitter oh yeah oh I love Twitter I'm not stupid you enjoy the the Twitter yes you having a good time with it I am a little nauseous just dream completely my litter my wife 92 times a day oh my god with the Twitter she doesn't get it at all she's what is wrong with you right the family's right here talk to us yeah but you don't care what I'm doing you strangers these strangers care oh my god that's hilarious news never spec for me and I blame her yeah what kind of grown-up thing is that today but and I'm Joe I'm so bothered by the I think a fair way to gauge how you're doing as an actor is how many followers you have no no for instance you know that's been wrong our Walmart that's why I'm more of a boutique experience where I can give actually attention to each and every one of my followers all right well we we are over the questions from I will be familiar with in a guarantee at Casey flatlander know her no really thanks Aaron I know Casey when you work on a show that gets cut early like sports night cut early you mean didn't run ten years my god you run two and a half three yeah 45 episodes I've done worse how do you deal with not fully exploring your character so this person actually cares about you and not so much the success of show very sweet it's the fully exploring my paycheck that first really hurts uh-huh well let's not let's what's not you know just make fun the truth of the matter is they financially change your life when they invite you onto a television series and it's it's not to be understated of how special II if you have a family or just a what have you they they just change your life oh and you get into a groove I don't know about yourself but it's pretty easy to spend that paycheck before it comes oh yeah certainly map out what bills are going to be paid and how one's life is going yet to my financial life goes like this I'm rich I'm poor I'm rich I'm rich I'm poor I'm poor I'm rich I'm poor uh-huh and for those of you what my wife would actually say that oh they we're rich report we're rich were poor again yeah that's the way you broke it to sadly that's nice that was your way of saying I much nice been canceled honey we're poor again but that already was a good one I've had a show that ran eleven episodes I've had a show that Randall shot five and here too I've also done one that ran four years that's the most but I mean I've had I've had far worse than sports I was the first right series I booked I moved back to Los Angeles really thinking that I would be like a sitcom actor and I thought it would happen quickly yes and I thought that's I would be the comic actor that I thought I was and then just things took it you know things kind of you don't really get to choose for your courage kind of chooses you and aaron sorkin god bless him it's been very very good to me and and he had a lot I went I think seven years without getting a pilot but if thought was what I was going to move here and do and then my friend happens to be this incredibly great writer wrote me apart and gave me a job and so that was a incredibly good experience and and doing 45 so I wasn't I was very disappointed when it ended but that already was like but you already felt so blessed already there completely yeah yeah and also the quality of the work was being celebrated up and down left and right and and for God's sakes yeah fantastic experience obviously but I also did I did sit down with my good friend Hank Azaria our good friend I should say yeah and I caught a house largely on the strength of the 13-episode order and on the day I moved in the day first of my my pregnant wife with our daughter in Sacramento trick-or-treating because it was October 31st 2001 and why had they run off um because my her sister was up there exactly so we're gonna go trick or treat I was sitting in my house literally going this I'm 35 but I bought a house yeah Wow I'm looking at the kitchen where works being done it's torn apart but whatever no don't come to work tomorrow pardon yeah um and they said yeah it's not that not a big deal it's just this script and the network's not sure and so we're doing how many hundred down at that point I think we had I guess we had done five five that's all we ultimately we never went back to work oh won't live dear God so I've had yeah I've had the ups and the downs I'm during the trenches and and before we get to the monumental success of West Wing let's um with that teaser let's go to the meeting of you and aaron sorkin the incredible scribe obviously I have my own introduction better'n having worked with him after the ridiculous success of his Broadway play a few good men and I saw the that moment in his life when he went from playwright to wildly successful oh yeah a screenwriter nominated for an Oscar I want to say that a few good men let's say it yeah it's just anyone research team yeah it'll have should've dancer on that little screen there anybody 130 up designs I know the films mounted um alright so let's talk about how you met who and my research says you you guys have a cousin he grew up not far from me I grew up in Westchester New York and New Rochelle he in Scarsdale he went to high school with my cousins Rachel Stewart and Joel with whom I've always been very very close I saw Erin in high school plays so I always knew of him a little bit right they were also a little bit older than I always looked up to this incredible Scarsdale high school drama club or whatever they called it and that was part of why I wanted to be an actor right and so in classic kind of Jewish mother fashion when I got out of college my mother said you should call Aaron Sorkin um wait a second that's how I was going to become an actor to start called cold calling Jews that I knew by the way that should be the name of your first book called collagen but being the good Jewish boy that I am I do whatever my mother says so I called hi I'm gonna bring her a check on a regular basis now for that xqf quarter gesture it was not a bad suggestion um Wow that's why I kind of touch base with him he invited me over we became fast friends over a like sometimes two or three times a week a poker game he would have it as hounds I don't think I even knew he was a writer at the time and you know I thought what age are we um I was it was I was just out of college in 88 so I was about 22 and he's a few years older than I okay and I think casually he just he mentioned to me at one point you know I wrote this play that they're doing on Broadway and really and do you want to audition for it and I auditioned and I think largely due to is pushing for me to be cast in the show which part did you audition for that's a good question which I should have an accurate and probably stop asking questions I have anything to do with your past yeah I'm not I am a little sketchy in the past I've some practice not just me me I know I know George gallows life down cold I really did were highlighted I think I entered the role of corporal Howard which is a small comic role and I ultimately was one of five young guys cast to understudy we played we all played small roles and I understated three of the leads and I understood heed mark Nelson who played Sam Weinberg the role that you would essay on film I understood it a PFC Downey was one of the two guys on trial for murder and then I understood corporal Howard and boom you know in one phone call dream come true you know Erin's like you're going to Broadway yeah your cast you got the job you're under studying these three guys you're in the play and so the very first time that you go from understudy to cast member on the boards of Broadway tell us about that well so I was always in it but I you know from from the get-go I was a blast to play but you know we like move chairs around a lot and we had a few lines here and there and the first time I actually went on you know as an understudy you have very little prep time maybe you rehearse once a week and it's really not about the understudies it's just your job you better know these three roles and the first time I had to go on I had very little warning and I remember walking by the stage door and thinking I could just walk out of it give up acting don't be late yeah I was across I absolutely did I was dying inside so completely unprepared of them I can't believe this is going to happen yeah I really thought this but I guess I'm not an actor because I want to go out to the door Bullis question how old were you at that I was about 23 this was almost almost right after college that's where I worked as a TA and a movie and then next thing I knew Aaron had gotten me a job on Broadway and did you in fact like am asking a question in front of a jury and did you in fact first job in films as a PA on Fletch live Lech lives that is true first of all Fletch lives and it wasn't your first thought after saying the movie uh and he shouldn't a Fletch instant classic sure right and we don't remember fun flex lips all I know is I was chubby in fleshly Chevy was in Fletch literally yes and I remember you know he used to have aliases he was Irwin M Fletcher I guess and he every time he gave his name the M would be would stand for something else everybody walked by once and I undoubtedly was getting somebody coffee because it's largely what I did as a PA and he goes Malina give me a funny M name and I went Mahatma you know I like and then he went out and he used it I was like I'm a professional writer yes fantastic that would sadly turn out to be the sum total of my professional writing bang besides in the move out you really you couldn't follow lead you couldn't volley oh no I didn't I failed to capitalize on the momentum met right immediately have already printed um alright show you're 23 you're on stage on Broadway and the run was what eventually 500 shot it ran for like 15 months it probably was about 500 shows I would I had heard I would then ultimately do another like 250 on the road in the in the touring company and it wasn't until you were in that national touring company that one performance in particular you portrayed the role of Sam one that is true and this was actually another time I should have learned my lesson but I had not because when they called to offer me one of the roles I'd understudied in the tour I was delighted I was going to play the Corporal Howard role which is largely one big funny scene at the end of which everybody claps because it's written so well if you just say the lines in the right order ha ha ha and applause or you also get it from the standing he started yourself as you angry which I think I learned from Geoffrey nafse who originated the role but they called me offered me the role and I was delighted then they call me back like five minutes later and said what would you think about understood Sam and I said I'd rather not I'd rather take the call from five minutes ago when you offered me just that thing like you know a new understanding was a nightmare I didn't want to add I wanted to go out cross country and have the yeah have fun right and they understood that the general manager then called me and said literally yeah if your understudy Sam you'd get an additional 33 dollars a week how do you feel I said Stewart I feel 33 dollars a week better what do you what do you really know how do I feel that's not a huge entitle to week like that down per day and very very quickly it turned into if you want to be in the play you're under studying Sam so my small revolt was that the one time week that we would have understudy where's looks I was so pissed at having understudy I would do him as The Elephant Man there Shambu quotes and the other actors did not appreciate that but that was my leg I'm phoning it in I'm never gonna play this part the tour or whatever and then of course one day came and Michael countryman was terrific in the role was like I got a wedding I was like oh god no God no I'm doing really I had to go memorize the role for Wednesday and I was hardly unprepared having played it only as the Elephant Man and but I did altum Utley go on for the one single performance and Michael O'Keefe who was playing the lead I remember everything me up and holding me aloft like an Oscar yeah at the curtain call which I thought was sweet because I had survived it but I probably wasn't very good well it's interesting you should say that because we happen to have a clip of it and I run that plays clip of what yep a viewed no I'm kidding oh darn it sorry that was a bad joke you know I would ultimately appear in the film I don't know if you know I'm in the film too well of course I know you're in the film five words three of them yes to them sir like myself a writing career an auspicious beginning yeah but exciting nonetheless yes no I know that we co-starred first co-starred yes in in that particular opus um alright let's um I love including them and I get a lot of afterwards for not doing it enough I've got a tweet five for you buddy bring it right um or do I am I looking I'm looking back god I'm such a now you refill George's water yeah yeah I'm sorry while I'm refilling the water can you you're such a go hose you know I did what other host does that you know the truth of the matter is no other hosts is is silly enough to you were raised well well speaks well of you and your folks and my lack of yeshiva nonetheless you're a moral man who does not let a man thirst at his table tweet five they've rolled so far not a fair question but there it is favorite role so far off the time I had I think would have to say Jeremy Goodwin for a variety of reasons but it's just in sports night just a golden a fantastic character created for me by a friend who's an unbelievable writer and this really golden time in my life yeah I think it's a perfect choice left or right that's a question left is that how do i ah left I think I'm a southpaw even though I know the guys even though I we all know the answer this now most used word I um that was it um Wow I don't know I say utterly a lot but you know what the answer what what isn't no no I was kidding oh I think it's a ridiculous question oh I like it actually utterly I think I say a lot uh Turley mmm that's utterly weird a four fave chips flavor barbeque nice nicely done blondes or brunettes brilliant people ruined that yeah one in protect yes I think she's a brunette my brunette likes the answer of that question uh okay yeah I I didn't want to forget this one because I found this one nest oh by the way that tweet five came from at old Raghu all Drake ooh a LDR aku and Rayleigh with his work say you've got fans reaching beyond okay is a tree broke Aaron's ribs while performing the Heimlich maneuver that is actually true is it that one comes from at bendy sweets sure I actually early on we used to participate in the Broadway bowling league of course which was essentially the good folks of A Chorus Line bowling against the good folks of hew good Ben you know once a week we'd go they I think the Port Authority like bowling lanes and we'd bow and and we were there bowling with the cast and Aaron in a typically generous gesture but like a giant tray of hamburgers for everybody and then he picked one up and took an enormous bite for humor yeah exactly I think this has been funny and yeah and then he started to choke and it was a like Shawn thing where we thought he was doing a stick and then Lawson his eyes were kind of bulging out of his head and he fell to the ground and we looked at each other like this this is real and Jesus I don't know how good I normally am in a crisis but part of me just went well I kind of picked him up and I got behind them and I didn't know really what I was doing but I had a vague memory not cause your blood format broke what I've been told subsequently that if you do it correctly that does sometimes happen all I know is I was doing it really hard and I was pulling it up and pulling it up by the memory of kind of a poster in a restaurant that one-two-three thing and I did it oh it seemed like a really long I did not have a flash of that memory I did oh that's absolutely did Pat and I did over and over and over and finally this giant wad of hamburger shot out saved a man's life uh I guess so I saved a man's life Sports Night I see the oh yeah exactly I think there many people would think yes it's not so much so he thinks I'm a good actor and I just like to have me around when he's eating but that did it but it actually happened it was and it was very very weird how scary how many then I remember the I don't recall but it was a lot and I know that we all had this weird moment of life that was weird and then he got up and wanted he's I you know he was going to continue to bowl they got I think literally and you ran up and he went whoop and fell on his back and I got everything you know actually I think I gotta go home early look like Fred Flintstone thing or something it was just like yeah we're not gonna keep bowling something weird happen Wow uh well you didn't break ass tournament I think that's that shows that you knew that you were doing and he subsequently thanked me because it somehow bought him more time with some sort of writing deadline maybe for the screenplay of a few good men really my ribs are cracked you oh that's fantastic it gave the man a wonderful excuse um alright so thanks for that question from Bend from at bendy sweets that sounds good by the way some bendy so we got this and right sure who doesn't want bendy sweets uh all right so let's get there then enough of the stalling walk me through the The West Wing beginning in middle west wing I think subsequent to the Hank Azaria debacle because I remember American president uh was a night one of my absolute favorite romantic comedies by the way and I remember you standing out very much in my mind and and Aaron gave me a very good I'm having lunch at the Kremlin he always gives me like a lioness in the trailer it makes it seem like I have a bigger role right and gave me this great punchline that was in fact in the trailer became my like you know where's the beef people be like Kremlin Lee yes um so yeah that was a great experience Aaron just so Aaron took me along and has taken me along pretty much every step of the way right well you saved his life listen uh there is that exactly I wish I hadn't given that away but so West Wing West Wing I I should be ashamed to admit but I'm not I lobbied for a little bit I read in the trades something about Rob Lowe considering leaving the show after only a couple of years yeah and I fired off an email to Aaron and actually had been out of touch with him for a little while and iced it was something along lines of I'm just pitching but what about using a less good-looking less accomplished actor who would charge you less money sincerely Josh utterly shameless you did not say that oh I did oh I did I didn't remember my wife as like sin did we do this she was extent for the love of God send it was that shameless and you know - ding I heard back very quickly and he says something along the lines of Tommy salami executive producer and director a guy with whom I had worked on sports night Tommy and I had actually already been I don't even know if it's true he said something like Tommy and I had already been talking about you and I think this might happen well by the time you're reading something in the trades this is better yes I'm sure Danny already really Rob was was going to go yeah and then the next thing I knew I was meeting Aaron at the four seasons and he was telling me about Benjamin Beatty which was the name of the character that would become will Bailey I think when Warren Beatty said I don't want you to name him Benjamin yeah I think so he's like no don't name the character after I've given my last name I don't know if it was an objection to me or to who you know specifically yet I want to have it but Aaron kind of described the six episode arc he had in mind dangling that should Rob in fact leave and if everything was working out it might become something more permanent right and then he got kind of serious for a minute and said I I do have to tell you the the character is not going to be Jewish I was like are you kidding me do you think that's going to be a problem I cannot play a non Jew well joking me he knew your lovably she actually you actually threw that in like here's the here's the catch I was like it's okay right not a problem I can ride a horse yeah and and I got my car called my wife like oh my god I think this isn't happening and I've been a big fan of the show already so I stepped onto a moving train hit of a show yes that I loved already and got to ride it for the next four years yeah for you which is extraordinary run and much celebrated television show but the actual working the day in process of doing a drama of that stature or any stature for that matter the amount of hours that goes into the hours are brutal where that being said big ensemble so maybe you only work three days away exactly those days might be 16 17 hour days but then you got three days off to hang out with your kids and go be on the field trip and you know am I not a bad job I often say I'm not even sure it's a job the acting in general just just in terms of yeah there's long hours that come and go but yeah I don't complain about any of that right ever yeah it's ridiculous um but real stellar work and and part of a cast that's its nominated for a SAG Award like Oh everything I always say when Allison Janney and I work together that's five Emmy Awards right there there you go and in fairness all of them hers but between us five it ya know it was like I have credibly great actors and incredibly nice workplace but also to step up to the plate a situation where I mean I I felt like which I've joked about many times of my act Where's Waldo in the cast of a few good men because I'm surrounded by deep ball hitters and I was the only one really in them in the lead cast that the audience was thinking who's discovered everyone else ridiculously famous fetes true and I imagine stepping into a show like that that's been a huge monstrous hit for two years it is similar and then the next experience I had which was shocking was how everyone treated me like an equal an absolute equal there was no pecking order and I don't know if that's what your experience was absolutely was yeah that's how the first read-through which already if in fact they did read-through is was like a just a cinch it because things are so busy half the time there's no time for read-through right but they really took the time to read it and let our and hear it and it was like a big party atmosphere and John Spencer many recipes came out to me said I'll wife I loved your work on sports night and I thought that's a classy guy yeah yeah boy do I feel welcome like going out of his way to say something nice to me and and hit the ground running everybody was incredibly nice yeah from the get-go from the get-go and and a lot of people said you know was it intimidating to join that group or to try to replace Rob Lowe this night whatever like to me it was the easiest thing in the world yeah and I've great actors great writing I think when they're treating you like you belong there already that's what makes it not intimidate yeah and that's that was a thing that I found the notion going into it was I hope I don't throw up on anybody and then because they put you at ease so quickly you all that just flies out the window yeah absolutely and you forget all the very first day of shooting was a press conference and that was I just remember theme you just kind of in my lines like it's a question question boom answered boom boom boom and I remember actually sweating it out a little bit just cuz it was my very first day and it was very dialog heavy and it was just all on me but once I got that out of the way and my friend Alex Graves who is a great director made me feel very comfortable in that day but I didn't remember feeling a little bit and all obviously nervous that first day Co how can you not you bring up an interesting point which is a dialogue heavy the the way that Erin works and the way that he writes whether it's a movie over a television show is as snappy and interesting of a banter especially on the west wing of like Philadelphia Story I mean there's no stopping to pick up passengers that is true that is a super train and you either get on board to get the out of the way and so my question is you've been singing those rhythms for a number of years in various machinations but I well I had Joe Montana on to speak Mamet I just had to know what that experience was like and that education is like and to him it was I don't understand why people have this problem at the moment language I talk like that a sorkin language yeah it's not to feel I wish I could claim just to talk like that I'm clearly not that articulate but that being said well no one is there's a human yeah exactly their ability to think wiser than anyone and speak it beautifully yeah that is true but that being said if you say Aaron's words in the correct order you look like a good actor okay I got I feel like that's the story of my career like you know I get out of the way of the dialogue and just say it and I feel like that ultimately that and the saving of his life but hopefully in part the I think I speak for whatever reason I speak his dialogue the way the way he hears it you know he'll talk about his own dialogue being kind of like music he hears it a certain way it is um yeah and I just feel like if you kind of I don't try to embellish ever as an actor but particularly with Aaron when the material is that good you don't have to add to it well that was my feeling working and saying yeah it was a matter of well for me it was a sense that it was it was not snappy banter very much but um it really is one of those opportunities where you feel like just just get out of the way and and let it fly actually and I think there is an action a Mamet Sorkin connection because uh well I don't agree with everything that says about acting is this great you kook called true or false I think you can and he talks about the character the character is the person who says the lines that are in the script you don't have to make up what he had for breakfast that morning if it was important I would have written it in and he says you know an actor trying to embellish the character is like being on an airplane and going like this to try to help keep it a lot it's unnecessary and that is that sort of is my my approach to to acting it's like you know yeah the characters the guy who says this stuff yeah I will say like what research did you do I memorize the script well that's what I've been saying my whole career honestly you know it's never about how to be a Navy lawyer it's about the person and just making them as real as possible and when the script is written well you can just get out of the way unfortunately for the Mamet's of the world a lot of scripts need embellishment yes now that is not a character actor intuitively it's when the dialog is bad that acting is difficult yeah when the material is great acting is easy it's its own trying to make bad material work yeah Joe which sadly the most actors are called upon to do at one time or another that's when it's a drag in a chore and difficult yeah are you ready for another tweet 500 som they're gonna get harder no more eyes on girls no more fat balls I've kind of had it with the softballs I'll be honest with you I think we've been really easy on you so I'm not a cocaine addict I feel like it's something in my nose do I look okay you have nothing dangling from your no okay thank this bin it's not gonna enjoy interview it's not really yeah that's what that's been yeah okay because I was wondering why you weren't enjoying it thank you ready yes first who's it from I'm shredding that guy eight five eight so many new people in my life I'm excited just saying but it's rapid-fire spoon to cup down oh yeah that's very good ik favor you - word garnished I do it all the time home agent really garnished don't know Oreos or Chips Ahoy Oreo toldja is done around favorite movie of 2008 I'm AB - Fat Albert or was that three years ago I don't know no honestly uh-oh 2008 last year just looking for last year I don't know nothing I can't name it a movie I so I'm dogs are won Best Picture uh that was fantastic yeah let's leave it at that thank you though dogs or cats dogs it's too bad that I'm low you know what I have owned more dog I've owned more cats than dogs by a large measure I currently have no cats but I have a dog okay she's listening what am I going to say cats if that would be where you don't want in your shoes exactly you see your mac and back now please why we even talk with an artist all right I'm that one well I do that here comes another one oh I'll let you have a sip at Doreen at DMS she put on at in the middle of it I think you she added a mat and all right ready yes Bartlett or Obama all right Obama uh I prefer the real president as opposed to the fine art and Sheen but yes better than I I think yes sure homemade ice cream more Baskin and Robbins interesting homemade ice cream made it day before yesterday peach ice cream that being said baskin-robbins is my favorite not homemade you made homemade ice cream did Wow yeah peach so and then my kids both wanted a drumstick you didn't have any those lying around no we did oh I was like really homemade peach ice cream you don't want to throw two hours I spent on oh my god go get a drumstick there that's why they're there to remind exactly maybe you don't try so hard uh biological or illogical is logical nice I don't even want the question well you know but I answered quickly Star Trek Terminator Salvation have you seen either these two movies they're bright no not this but by the way going back to the movie thing I love going to the movies and with children yeah so may I go to kids movies and that's fine I'll stare any flickering image on a screen to our break and popcorn and candy is utter delight and tried to get my kids to watch just last weekend and we said Star Trek or Hannah Montana either my wife and I Melissa and I would have been delighted to go see their and neither had interest in either Wow and my kid is up my boy would love Star Trek he would but he no I don't know he saw one of the old ones and he's little yeah I said no this is young guys non-stop action and you like it this is young guys this is not your father's exact right by the way when I'm watching the show and you do that weird thing I think it's like not buffering it's a fantastic bit because I'm like Wyatt oh if I can connection like no he's doing yeah oh he's yes I think it's why I'm sure Ustream would never that problem but that's what I think I think it shows not buffering in my caucus and I remember oh you never got me again that never even dawned on brilliant it's not Shatner that's that's all me I swear I'm not doing shadow when I pause for now it loves applause it works um wow that was I was really good I haven't uh all right you guys are working my chat rocket you're working so hard I don't want to forget them I don't see it all right so give me some new stuff chat jockeys there's something there what have we got I'm talking about his Twitter game total pen Tuesday ah this is something that really hasn't taken off now is your chance I had great I can pitch it up right I had great hopes for this you know I'm a people got their little chicks that they do on Twitter and they've created finally Friday we're doing exactly follow Friday there's pun day there right Benson like them tried to start one like Benson's fantastic every time I look he's doing the movie game that he made up and everyone's enjoying themselves I was thinking all the celebrities on here I'm going to to total pan Tuesday right you wake up god bless you because you want to participate it you wake up and you post your worst reviews your worst review this is a great idea because it allows celebrities or alleged celebrities to show a human side of themselves but I think which is to come up with a a review that they may have found troubling when they read it the first it's freeing but embrace the head true poker players you remember which hands more the hands on you the horrible losses the loss I would love to discuss my worst the worst hand if I may I don't know that's coming next okay yeah yeah I'm only got another hour and a half to do fair enough I am um so I wish I checked in way to oh yeah I didn't really agree we're full bulge this is about the GT asked my father to grab the suet I didn't notice I didn't realize we were gts-r at that two shots never years not good yeah we headed that right yeah later on you yeah unfortunately we don't at it oh that's right though that's the other great thing about the show so says me um all right so let's let's get to it let's get to our mutual love I've held it off as much as I possibly could it's called poker and we can't get enough Sui Worricker during my early days of going from seven stud which I played for a hundred years sure against the pros in the casinos of the Las Vegas area I remember the transition to Texas Holdem being very very costly it's a hell of an education and it costs a great deal if not more than Yale and I remember playing in an at Mark Thompson's game yeah I think was the first time I saw you at a friend's game play we had done the the celebrity Poker Showdown would someone asked about and I'm still trying to block that out so I know we will talk about that so um but I remember watching you play at marks and thinking okay that's that's the level that I need to get to before I start stop losing they didn't hear that and start winning yeah yeah yeah in fact you had such moves at that game and that game was pretty cocky before you sat down I remember watching almost every stinker tighten at the table and it got to the point where you could pretty much take two remember any of the blondes you wanted by just making to move it was like he's got a good hand I'm gonna take a powder it was pretty impressive when I and it dawned on me oh yeah of course she does not a good hand he's realized that he can make a move and everyone's getting the aggressors game yeah it is an aggressors game right yeah you just have to be willing to lose that's apt that absolutely is true yeah yeah and you got else you got to move the chips around right if you know if you're only waiting for when you got to get a hand you know there's only so much you're gonna what are the percentages of those who wait for only waiting for good hands I don't know what that means well if you are one of those people that says I'm only you're gonna do well in the nights when you get good cards and you're not going to do well in the nights when you don't get good cards and I guess that's going to roughly even out I mean and that's just the best show than poker yeah I mean you know they're gonna be nights were that are disastrous that you can't avoid when you're just you know a card dead the entire night and on those notice are those not the nights to make the moves and forget about what you have because I always heard the best players didn't even have to look at their cards and I don't think it's myth because you play the player not the cards and if that's in fact the case I've certainly heard tell of that I mean I can't claim to that you've got a level of spot to the a Jedi level of Poker play but yeah I think it is about playing the other player and betting patterns and what you're picking up and on that but that being said I don't know if I can lay claim to that but uh I've been playing hold him for a long like 20 years way before because I got into a game in New York with a guy named Scott Ziegler who from the Atlantic Theatre Company we used to play on their stage and he kind of schooled us all and then I guess we played pot limit at the time hold him right and then ultimately No Limit but how do you feel about tournaments because I hate him I actually enjoy playing tournaments I don't have the bankroll to play the big ones or the time the giant time commitment relative to any what you're likely to make yeah but that being said I have my biggest win ever it was like a year ago I went $11,000 at a tournament coming in six out of 1191 people oh my god yeah and it was like such a rush and such an achievement that I'm desperate to I wish I could take a year off and just play tournament so I actually I do like playing tournaments a bit curious to see whether I could make more than 11 grand yeah exactly that's unbelievably impressive oh if it was a fantastic night well see the thing that kills me is is I'm eight hours into a tournament that started with nine eight hundred and something players uh I've been playing for seven hours unbelievably patient and smart I'm on I'm so very very pleased with the way things have gone I've been able to represent quite the presence at the table in terms of my play and I've earned a position of respect from my fellow opponents and I'm able to make some moves when I feel it's the time and then after eight hours of that brilliance I get into a hand that I belong in and play it absolutely perfectly and somebody sucks out and it's over half the rate hour extremely frustrating yeah well at a live game you go back into your your reload what's yeah exactly thousand yeah grandmother is your restricted only by the amount of money that you have or can borrow or can write a check for whereas in a tournament and so it's a different skill set in a different mind frame because in any one hand if you're out chipped you can you can lose it all yeah so I mean I've played in as frustrating total of eight tournaments in final table than three well that's bad but beyond not bad why I wish I could claim to but those stats over the number of they were like 1,200 people no but whatever you know but are the two tables and the final table three of it but just for me the five of the eight that I didn't it was tortures because didn't matter how well I play or an action guy I understand just all those great pots and all those great moves and what do I have to show for it after eight hours Bob garnished yeah vanished you're not wrong alright now I want to play poker all right had fairness though before we talked about it I also wanted to play member even why it's a constant yes a celebrity Poker Showdown my research tells me came from playing in Hank Azaria's game which I very much enjoy on a weekly basis and haven't seen you at in a long time that's after children yes the children yeah let's say that bat game has gotten big that's an interesting game I was the only person ever to have been tossed albeit temporarily out of that game let's do tell didn't know it was possible perhaps fifteen years ago I can't even remember who brought me in I have a whole group of friends I know through that game don't really undermine alone Andrew Hill Newman sure I don't really remember though how he it it may have been he let's just say it was lets why not after the LASIK surgery okay and II know what brings me to this game Batangas area obviously know him and it was work and I'm excited to be playing these people and excuse me it was a very small stakes game right and it was a kind of thing where you'd play two hands and everyone would get a sandwich and then you play three hands and everyone get up at a drink oh my god and I was always sitting at the dealer going for the love of God whose deal is it yeah and probably that didn't sit well with some people since I was the new guy and I mean had called me at home and so this is awkward I've asked you to stop coming to the game you're you're very serious about the poker we're not so serious and some people really not enjoying you I was utterly mortified and I had like a six month suspension and eventually was brought back in with the steaks I've got only knows one and two dollar and crazy games and shifting sands and this is wild and follow the Queen it was like a ridiculous game off uh and I think you can make the argument that at that type of game you don't sit there and go come on yeah I've been out of line I gotta tell you I got a similar phone call not the thematic but I got the Hank phone call really yeah based on my my my personality at the game so my god what you speak yeah that this I did not man well it said it's different and less good for me so maybe I don't go in do tell all right well no the first year I played in his game arm I sized up everybody in such a way that I was able or I you know you don't get lucky for a year straight so I'm not going to give all luck I'm not gonna give all the credit to luck and took a sizable amount of money from the game over that year the next year unfolds and same players and same player and I have like six bad week six bed weeks of the game in a row and most I think gifted card players are not terribly fond of losing that's a rule lightly as I can put it and the hardest thing is to take a loss well which I've learned as a child in sports and then quite the fair play all about nice nice game nice game nice game and also have seen the passive aggressive nice answer nice hand sir yeah that's a lot of that who can't can't shut up when he's lost a hand and the only way he's not gonna rip your eyes out is to just try to make you feel bad about beating him by saying good hand sir good hand I'm not gonna name any names I think you know might know who I'm talking about so rather than saying good hand sir I would say me really you proud you a little suck out I said and that's not how I see the problem yeah better appreciate it sure no no no that's not appreciated after well six weeks of it and Hank said listen I gotta tell you this some guys have been in the game 18 years you know everybody loves you and loves your play and you're funny at the game but the not losing Wells is a little bit of a problem and I said look I hear you I'm well aware of it I'm surprised a call didn't come earlier and it's easier for me not to do it instead of thinking that it's okay to get away with it but I do know that interesting so we've had that we've bookended because now it's a serious high-stakes game yeah I mean actually I haven't played in a while it's $1,000 buy-in which for a lot of people are very very rare to be won and $2.00 I mean that that's that's real money it's five in one version five ten in them and you should definitely come back I would like to would only get as all I'm saying you would own it in a heartbeat um at jesh a chioma now that is a good friend of mine okay bring it I don't want to go for a mood what do you got ask him about his poker career and a fundraiser thing he just did so we've talked about the poker and I was talking about the fundraiser thing you just did yeah I could be there is a cure Duchesne a wonderful cause to help cure the disease do Shane stand a it's a version of muscular dystrophy could have been the OC hillel I play a lot of that's my big ad if it's like a charity tournament like honey honey OC hillo um that being said is you know Dino it's not like playing a real tournament um so I don't know I don't know which one she's talking the fundraiser thing he just did let's say the last one what was the last one perhaps OC hello I don't know all I remember is at that one last year uh I'm moneyed in it I think I came in fourth um my remembers a couple hundred maybe it was a nice thing and they have you know they have a little trophies the last celebrity standing and I knocked my good friend Dule Hill out to win that oh that's hard to do yes and I didn't take it well and mocked me mercilessly not mock me but it was just unhappy about and so this year he announces as everyone's being seated for the table okay a $300 bounty on my head that's not cool yeah anyone who knocks me out not cool before he's knocked out which of course I responded you better hurry because delay he's gonna last about 20 minutes um and which he did to my great delight oh man he was not paid but uh I didn't do too well this year I mean I lasted for a while but we didn't see it I didn't mine Hanks thing just a couple of weekends like that was painful I expected was that and you sent me an email and it was 15 minutes from my house it was a free roll for what would have been a $2,500 buy-in fantastic cause that's the day we're having my my son's birthday party a giant inflatable water slow does she get off I what was he thinking that damn kid ears that was it that was painful can I tell you the prize I picked up that / - no sure I finished in the prize did you get them in the top 20 did well um dinner for 30 you know 30 people like to have dinner what I don't it's Bennet know what I don't know ten people I'd like that then Alyssa be honest with you dinner for 30 we're here it's not important I'm not happy about it so to give them many surprises Barry right I wouldn't I don't have 20 it's a place in the Santa Monica that makes a nice day called the galley bring some Twitter friends will you come we bring the whole family I don't know how to fill out there but I encourage you to do it oh man that's funny um somebody else has said president this is this a five okay from Atlee Christa know her all right and she heard your question - she's - dad - today she got - I'm watching right I'm not gonna send two CDs by the way you can forget about that by the way all the winners all the people you know this is a prize thing I've got CDs for you to participate just Hastur yeah give us your your add mailing address or one that we can ship to contact at Kevin Pollak's chat show calm all right Atlee Christa president Shepherd or Bartlet Wow no now I know I must choose fictional I got to go Shepherd I'm really knocking Martin Sheen left her right here yeah um because he was the that's the other surprise I have for you Marty he's here no no um I often see him actually in Malibu and I think I'm gonna have to explain Who I am really I'm sure be vaguely you have a sense that we work together but yeah the choosing between him and he's to call Allison Janney the tall one nice favorite movie genre aa comedy nicely done flight delayed or luggage lost flight delivery buddies my stuff Pepsi or coke coke wrong we're done oh uh you don't like the sweeter things in life is that what I do really good Pepsi please do it I'm a diet soda guy anyway well we're talking about diet oh right like like a coke hey perhaps I'm wrong no no it's not a pity not a pass-fail not a right wrong always lose or never play oh that's a good question so I know what it's not a hard one for you never play because I'm there to win oh yeah yeah I chose live I think that's hell yeah I think that would be awful I'd rather never play would be difficult but if always lose is the alternative right um like I joy playing poker but the number one goal for me is to leave with more money than I arrived with I gotta be yeah well I played well but I lost a fortune honey no one wants to hear that ya know uh if you if you're feeling of mine Martha underscore ass has got a tweet v for you as well Mariah I try this aisle or window oh I'll me too yeah I don't I I go to the bathroom you're right party party I don't want to go I want immediate access to undo I don't understand superpower invisibility or flight invisibility in the visibility I think I'd be scared flying not George Gallo scared I was scared you can fly and I have the ability to fly and I haven't in 30 years because once a good dog yeah sailboat or speedboat hmm not as easy as you think Oh speedboat and good for you thank you cuz what sailing is not for the Jinna fat when we gonna get the crossword oku crossword yeah I even the mildly difficult that cannot finish in the Sudoku I was very for very brief time I was intrigued and then I not good at them it's weird the Jews was not like a numbers game I know exactly that's a saying lose sight or lose hearing why I like that question cuz it implied it's a good thing like just keep knocking wood yeah it will happen um I don't think Jews knock wood don't knock the wood that's a cross thing oh yeah you're Shiva yeah you want to knock wood knock wood Who am I to say um but do I have to choose one I will uh thanks lose hearing I'm halfway there yeah just take the other hand to guaran I have like an old man hearing you're ready it's behalf my day go uh right is it the children that I had to fast well it's a combination of the children talking too fast my body failing me as I age and getting slapped doing a scene in college by a B Genco a wonderful woman and actress but you know kind of popped over my ear and I have a I have a constant ringing in my ear I have tinnitus you do have senator a company by some slight hearing and we have heard of thank for this yes the site that I named her this smells like a lawsuit she's a lovely lovely person oh no it was just one of those bad timing thing I would swap a lawsuit I think the answer is don't add a slap to June you know Antony Cleopatra it was sick it literally was it was like I don't remember what it was but it was some Shakespeare scene where they like you can do a paper or act the scene we're like we're acting a scene and we added a slap to whatever Shakespeare thing it was and that's when it since then I don't embellish my rules I just when it Shakespeare just today the words get credit for the paper um do you feel like you've been here an hour and 20 I don't have been that long Oh fun that's what's so that's what's so special about less you know you're gonna come just under the record of Matthew Perry which I think was we haven't shown Eclipse 90 Barry who refuses to tell people to follow me really David Pressman at de Preston now I've said it he'll get more followers but sure at you press me know he'll pimp that account but he will not yeah you're not hung up at all on this no no yeah not on he you reminding me of how often he mentioned Jon Hamm it's not important um are you prepared for the Larry King not really but I'll give it a shot that's all we ask right to it again not pass/fail I haven't had a full erection since the Eisenhower administration new fell support Connecticut goat night and bring it home bring it home nicely done sir thank you very much for sharing all of that this was fun yeah right I don't want to go I have to go now that's how this work that's reaction I want from all my guests yes we'll take you to dinner but I think there's a family waiting for you so so thank you very much don't move while I do my my wrapper I'll bring it home because it'll be awkward for everyone um thank you for watching those of you who have watched after the fact don't forget to give it a try every now and then a Sunday 5:00 p.m. your Pacific time to watch a stream live it's not crucial as you're clearly enjoying this now but it sure is nice to know you're here when we're doing the damn thing so give that a shot otherwise I want to thank the crew Mahalo studios here in Santa Monica the crew that would take a shot and give yourselves a little bow there but they got the video monkey and the j-mac the doctor Chen the a-team and here in the studio the crew we at Sam Levine is still on his way back from Cannes so we have Rahman is it at Rahman no there's more than that at Mike Rodman right and then there's that Jamie underscore Fox who of course is head writer chat jockey and love of my life all right thanks for watching and as Doug Benson told me to say get out of my face No oh he's true diesel he's hosting their strange again me scared Oh

Channel: kevinpollakschatshow

Views: 7,608

Rating: 4.7377048 out of 5

Keywords: josh malina, kevin pollak, west wing, comedy

Id: vqlGd7Dx71k

Length: 78min 41sec (4721 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 27 2013