Shadowing Practice: STAYING ALIVE: Sean Hayes! - Learn English Speaking with Video

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What are you doing?

How are you staying alive?

That's a good question.

You know, you'd think I would have prepared for this, but...

It is the only question, so...

How am I staying alive?

Well, I'm going to tell you right now.

I got my blood work done, I don't know, like a month ago, and it was really bad.

It was like I had creme brulee for blood.

Like I had, it was just sugar and fat all the way through.

But your diet is infamously, you eat what you want, you eat what you want.

All the time.

For like my, all 76 years, I've been eating what I want.

Hey, SmartList listeners, this is Adam Pally.

And John Gabrus.

Oh, we're all up in your feet.

That's right.

We're the hosts of the Staying Alive podcast, and we're so pumped to give you guys our Sean Hayes episode.

We hear, as subscribers of SmartList, you might be a fan of the man.

And if you're a fan of this episode and you liked us, come check out our podcast called Staying Alive.

We have a ton of episodes right now, including...

We just had

Heather McMahon on last week man on last week ron funch is on next week

we've had will arnett in the past oh yeah

it's a show about fitness hosted by two guys who are not fit yeah it's a health

and wellness podcast hosted by physically unhealthy

and mentally unwell guys that's a great is that was that what

that cue card says yeah i don't know devin's been waving in our face

this whole that's why i can't read it put it down

we love our bosses yeah we love our horrible bosses all right sean hayes

isn't it crazy that we've union busted television so much

that like theoretically this what we're doing now we could sell to netflix i mean it's

and probably will yeah i mean it's like wild like there's no production the production value i have was

that i clicked like blurry on my background yeah mine is

that i moved a pile of crocs and sperry's out of the fucking frame

so i looked like i cleaned up here oh my god

i got a story about crocs should we start with that

or no yeah let it rip i was doing this i was hi guys it's

so good to see you by the way i was doing this show um promises promises on broadway years

and years and years ago

and this this very um conservative looking family uh was there with their kids

and one of the the girl was like in a dress

and that guy and the little boy she was like 10

and he was like nine

and he had crocs on his shoes right on his feet he's wearing crocs as part of his like suit

it was really really cool

and uh but i was in like joke mode after the show

so you know when you're just like you're in the zone you can't stop

because i just performed it so the adrenaline's still going i got off stage

and the whole fan their whole family's there i don't remember what it was

and uh and i was like hey how was

that uh what's your name little girl

and she's like sue i'm like what a tsunami of a performance like just bad jokes like

but you can't stop your brain

and then the kid goes kid goes um he takes his shoe off

and he said will you sign my crock i go thank god there's an r in

that okay let's and they and they

and the parents were like grabbed their kids like i think we're i think we're okay i think we're good

and then whoa and scotty my husband grabbed my arm he's like thank you

so nice to meet you and he just pulled me yeah exactly

sean is this awesome to improvise with you you are one of the funniest people likewise hero of We got a fucking,

we got one of our bosses on the line here, dude.

I know.

And it's so cool to have like hero bosses too.

It's like, you know, it's nice.

How do you look so good at 74?

Yeah, since you were on TV when I was young, how are you look the way you look now?

And I know the three of you, because Jason's the oldest, right?

He's like, just hit 80.

That's correct.

And then you're 74.

And then Will, shockingly, is 65, right?

He's the youngest.

But he's got to stop six.

But he's got to have work he's in the work well he smokes

so it keeps him yeah then he smokes yeah yeah nicotine is now coming back yeah

you know you thought yeah what are you doing how are you staying alive what uh

that's a good question you know you think i would have prepared for this

but um it is the only question so no the um how am i staying alive it's a well

I'm just going to tell you right now, I got my blood work done, I don't know, like a month ago.

Well, first of all, I got it done like four or five months ago.

And it was really bad.

It was like I had creme brulee for blood.

Like it was just sugar and fat all the way through.

But your diet is infamously, you eat what you want, you eat what you want.

All the time.

For like my, for all 76 years, I've been eating what I want.

No, no Barry White, you're added to.

Yeah.

and so and so what i did was when i got those numbers back it was like such a shocker because

they were bad like the i've always had super high triglycerides like really bad

and then the cholesterol and whatever but i would

so this is kind of what hit me

so you know the haagen -dazs ice cream like you know like the little tiny pints yes yeah

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which is my favorite ice cream i think it's probably the best out

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there i'm a huge fan i think mass cookies production mass production wise

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if you're not in a small town and there's not like a right you know a mom -and -pop

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place i think haagen -dazs is the is like way better than ben

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and jerry's no no shame well look

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but by the way you look at the back of haagen -dazs

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i'm no joke the vanilla ingredients that's it it's eggs milk sugar

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and something else

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and lard no i don't know what it is no

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it's all four of my blood types yeah quick does anybody have lard not blood

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we had a heart attack again yeah a lard blood transfusion uh

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but anyway so um but yeah

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so i look at the back of it by the way

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i've been eating those things like hey i was good today

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i can just have a whole it's like this big

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but finally for the first time in my life i looked at the sugar content

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and i was like oh wow it says like half of a cup has like 25 grams of sugar yeah

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and there's like i don't know how many cups in there

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so it's probably like 80 to 100 grams of sugar

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which is insane in one sitting so i'd be eating

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that three times a week for the last 50 years at

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night all the anytime like it doesn't matter up your sleep

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can we do a side zoom about that well

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because my sleep is horrible i it's horrible

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i get up at three o 'clock every morning oh three o 'clock would be a dream

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if i can make it at three really i mean sometimes i i don't know

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if i've ever slept i like the only stoner i know pally

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that doesn't sleep i think that's what it is do you take gummies

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or smoke it oh i mean at this point at this point already snorted

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i have it i have it piped into my brown

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i get my cbd iv every night yeah well the actually the air conditioning guy just came

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and changed our weed filter so

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we're we're good i sleep like a rock what do you guys are waking up

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you do yeah i know i know adam drinking yeah well drinking is

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that is the undoing yeah but if yeah but

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if you drink you know and you get a little buzz

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and then you go to sleep you'll never sleep because the sugar

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and the alcohol keep you up right you know exactly

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so i'm wondering if the if the ice cream because that's

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so much sugar i don't know but i've had sleep problems my whole life

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but wait let's get back to sleep i want to finish the thing

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so they got the thing like so i got the ice cream i would eat

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that and then i figured you know then the doctor's like you this is out of control like

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Like, you know, your blood is, like, your cholesterol, everything's horrible.

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I started forming soft plaque and all this stuff.

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So that's what's keeping me alive is I completely, I didn't cut out sugar, but I've never, ever learned balance in my entire life.

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So now it's just like, so two days ago, three days ago for dinner, I had spaghetti, meatballs, and a milkshake, okay?

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Then the next day, I can't do any of that.

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So I have, like, turkey on Ezekiel bread and fruit, like, just really boring shit.

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you're preaching to your direct choir here

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because all we talk about is trying to learn balance

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because we're not going to stop drinking a bottle of Japanese whiskey together

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so we have to on the days when we don't do

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that just swing the pendulum the other way

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but it does lead me to a question Sean if you don't mind quickly

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to be fair if you're only listening to the pod Sean is on the red carpet

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and we stopped him we're doing a full podcast part of my costume

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and has the wall of my home and that's very he's got a sniff

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and repeat with his own info on it very bjork sia i would love

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that yeah yeah uh no i was gonna say like as a kid like you know

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we're part of we talk a lot about being like clean plate kids we're like yeah yeah

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when you when you grow up in a house

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that doesn't have a ton of money right

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and your parents are cooking yeah

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there's this sort of like mental thing where it's like the plate needs to be clean

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you know from for the kids in africa that's right

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that you're wasting my money i just brought this up the other day and

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so your brain goes right i know where you're going your brain goes well

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i have to feed i have to eat it

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and then you become you get these habits and finish that

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and i think i just equated this the other day to working out we're just like

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because i i have a trainer otherwise i wouldn't go and

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so i go uh it's my incentive to go

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if i'm paying somebody i'm like paying somebody i have to go

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so so i go there

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and i'm like dude we don't have to work out for an hour

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it's the clean plate thing it's like just

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because everybody's like an hour it's like no i work out till i get sweaty

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and i'm tired and it hurts which is like 15 minutes I pay him for the hour, I work out for 18 minutes,

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and then I lay around and complain for the rest of the day.

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Do you think Jason's cutting me off too much?

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Yeah, exactly.

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35 -40 minutes, I'm out.

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And right in the middle of like a rep, I go, I'm out.

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And I walk out of the gym.

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But it's the same concept as the clean plate thing, it's like all these ideas that we grew up with that are embedded,

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like you have to work out an hour, you have to clean your plate, you have to do, I don't know what the fuck else,

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but it's different now, like, right?

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But it's like, remember the pyramid of the food groups?

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It's like, no one should eat eight pounds of bread a day, or whatever it is.

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You should have 12 bowls of pasta a day, two pieces of fruit, and venison, like there's always a picture of like raw mutton,

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you know? have a big old mutton chop like you're a video game character picking

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it up right right exactly no

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but i was i was i was wondering about this idea

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because for someone who who works so hard and is in

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so in so many different facets like including being being on broadway

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which is like what it's insane you is the most i mean i i'd say it all the time

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when i was when i did it i've never drank more

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or eaten worse in my entire life yeah because because

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because you're just finishing you're yeah you're just finished and you're like

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and and and the only thing that you can like

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because you haven't eaten before the show and then you're starving

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and you're like the only thing

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that can like quiet you down is a bottle of red wine

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and pasta right there are no other options there's no other way to be on broadway yeah

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and like they don't let you back in the stage unless you know truly

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they would they check you they they check the receipt from last night

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if you don't have an 11 p .m reservation

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that has 2600 calories loaded to go but it's but it's true

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because you lose i don't know what you were doing

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but like was it a big part

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or big show it was a two -hander

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so it was like say no more yeah

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it was a six -month two -hander oh god six months eight shows a week uh eight shows a week

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and you're drenched in sweat after you get off doing everything you're doing

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and it's like you're it's the whole it's one of those whole gamut plays yeah let me tell you something

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and totally yeah i read for it i'm still

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i'm still waiting to hear i read for your part it's okay they've recast me after a six -month run

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so but but to that point is like i when you're doing

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that many shows you're

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and you're drenched in sweat you don't know you're just going to refill your body any way you can yeah

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and you're like

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and there's something about the like social aspect of like you're like you're saying before

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you're you're like you're yeah you're like you're all revved up

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and it's like a victory every night that's right

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there's this mental need to pop a bottle of champagne absolutely

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i survived i did it i didn't go up on a line

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it's like totally like i yeah this is my this is my treat no

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that can't be healthy you have to know

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but i was going equate it to sports

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because that's what i was gonna say is um

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when i'm like watching whatever like there's a football game on

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and or somebody's getting i just watched rocky

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that movie rocky again yeah you know

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that movie rocky yeah yeah familiar sean familiar have you seen

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this film someone said there's a two three four five six seven

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and eight but i don't know if it's true but anyway

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so and they're like or whatever i'm watching a football game and whatever the guys is like the PT guys, the physical therapist guys, right?

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And they're doing the back and the thing.

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And when you do a play on Broadway, I'm always like, yeah, everybody's an athlete because you're doing the same movements over and over,

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and your body and your muscles get really...

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So, yeah, you're just looking to refuel them.

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I just wanted to equate

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Broadway to sports.

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People think that's ridiculous.

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I hope you know I'm going to have to give you a wedgie now.

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Another one?

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Sorry, theater nerd.

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More than the one you showed up with.

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well gabrus is starting a multicam in like two weeks are you really you're you're a multicam king

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and so when you say to me like broadway is broadway is like sports multicam to me is like um

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uh hitting slots well yeah well i hope for i hope for gabrus it is yeah yeah well i mean I mean,

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anytime I did, I did a multicam for, for one season and it felt like hitting a slot because you're like,

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oh, this is - It's a great job.

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The hours are amazing.

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I clock in, I clock out, and I'm still doing funny things.

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It's like, it's the best.

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I would, so we had the great James Burroughs direct

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Will and Grace, right?

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He drank it every episode of Cheers, every episode of Will and Grace, and Friends and Two and a Half Men and everything else.

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And, and he, we would get to work at 10 and we'd been done at two,

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four hours a day that's it oh and so one of the writers

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because he works so fast and then

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when i hosted saturday night live they're like is this going too fast

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i'm like are you kidding like i was i've been spoiled like this pace is incredible to me yeah

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and so so the

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because it's all about the writing

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it's not on the writing what are we rehearsing what are we over rehearsing for you know what i mean

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and so i'm excited what is it gayrus

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that you're doing it's called it's awesome sean it's with uh marta kaufman

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and it's a my god yeah yeah she's pretty excited um what's

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it called it's called dinks double income no kids uh paul sheer

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and june diane raphael play like a married couple amazing rebuilding a house

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and i play like their weird nephew who moves in

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and that's great is it a pilot a series picked up

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it's a series uh yeah we shot the pilot a couple years ago

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we're doing six episodes for amazing yeah for amazon

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this is exciting yeah it's very exciting

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it's probably my you know 20 years in the biz my first series regular i'm really congrats man this is

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so exciting is it um and it's with an audience and everything with a live studio audience and

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improvised not fully scripted no way yeah yeah

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which sounds amazing brilliant yeah yeah it's gonna be it should be pretty fucking exciting yeah that's amazing

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and then what do they just cut around the the improv

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that doesn't work yeah i guess they trim it up there yeah

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or like in the pilot we like redid a scene here

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and there of like oh let's tighten this up let's lose

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that chunk and let's just get through

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because like you can cut together between takes uh well they have is brilliant at improvising anyway.

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Is everybody really great at it?

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Yeah, Paul Scheer was my level two teacher in 2004.

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No way!

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Yeah, and June is fantastic.

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And then I'm assuming our guest stars will be people of a similar caliber.

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That's really exciting.

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Yeah.

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Equating sports to performing, I want to get back into that for a second, because we treat ourselves like ultra marathoners.

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You're like refueling in between scenes and stuff

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and it's like it does feel like that emotionally

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but then at the end of the day you're like i did have four buffalo chicken wraps

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and maybe burned 80 calories performing

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but like in your head you're like i need this emotionally

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you do feel like each after each stop down

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you're like i earned it let me refuel like squeezing the gel into your mouth like you're doing a

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danger danger do you go over there sean

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you do do you uh go over there trolling for truffles yeah yeah still no

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we we had our craft service lady

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which she would make um she was from the south

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so she'd just make uh you know brisket and fucking hamburgers

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and like cake and like mac

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and cheese it was crazy her name was sandy sandy my last show shot in chicago and it was like

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you would literally like you'd walk in

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and they'd be like you look

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you look a little peaked what do you say what do you say

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we do a pierogi bar at lunch yeah that's a good accent

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and you'd be like a pierogi bar at lunch like

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or pre -lunch i don't care just to get you some sustenance

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pierogies yeah i gained like 30 pounds in

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that shoot like i look back on that

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and there's a scene where i'm like running in my underwear in a car

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and i was like oh god i hit that pierogi bar yeah

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but but i think for your sitcom it's gonna you know i'm very passionate about what makes

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certain ones work and what makes other ones don't and i think if

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if you remember the scripts used to be called teleplays yeah

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you wouldn't be called scripts did you get the teleplay for whatever yeah i mean

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and so that's because they were plays and

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so you were it's almost like the audience at home like i love lucy

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or will and grace or cheers

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if you watch cheers i still watch cheers all the time the best

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it's like you're watching a best pilot ever and

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so the actors are incredible like your cast you just said sounds incredible

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they're all acting in the scene they're not performing for the audience right and that

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because that's what you do in a play you're in the scene with somebody looking in their eyes

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and and it doesn't matter who's watching no matter

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if the entire audience is watching or nobody's watching you're in the scene with somebody

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and that draws us in and so many sitcoms

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because they're overly lit and overly edited

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and overly the sound like the sound is in your face back then you could hear the crew walking around

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and you can feel the audience through the sound of everybody watching this play

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and i think that's what's missing i feel real passionate about it

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and um hopefully yeah uh that sounds you just reminded me of something

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when i saw august osage county amazing one of the best uh plays

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i've ever seen that's my boy amazing

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that's the dinner sequence yeah where four people are facing directly away from the audience yes

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and you're like that's a weird uh setting

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and then all of a sudden it feels like what you're talking about

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that you are watching a family you're like looking through a window at them

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and it was like it blew my mind open for like this exact thing

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you're talking about yeah i just could not believe

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i'm like that's crazy from improv you know we're you're like sit open to the crowd

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so everyone knows what you're doing and then you watch this

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and i'm like oh man i feel like i'm like but

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when you're standing in the kitchen watching them totally but when you said improvise.

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I've never seen that before.

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And I think that'll help a lot.

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Yeah, we won't have like marks to hit and shit like that.

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It should feel a little crazy.

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And I only did like 13 episodes, but in my brief experience of it,

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the part that is the hardest to keep fresh is when something doesn't work.

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And you go back to the instinct.

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And the writers come out and they're like, let's do this and that.

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And it's like, it's not anyone's fault.

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The audience has seen it.

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They've seen, you know what I mean?

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So they're not, you can't milk them.

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Yeah.

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Like they know I'm going to bounce through that door.

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So it's like now we're hoping that the next line is funny.

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It's like, it's hard to kind of get that energy.

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But I feel like to mix the energy of no script in

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that will kind of cure that in a way that it almost feels like Saturday Night Live, like you were saying.

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Yeah, for sure.

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It could fuck up.

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Yeah.

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It was pretty crazy shooting the pilot

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it i know the audience is trained for this i've been watching tv my whole life right

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but i open the door

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and get like the huge applause

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they don't know who i am it's not like oh fuck the nephews here like they're just like no

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they're supposed to do it and i've never felt

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so like electrified in my entire life yeah

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i was like i'll fucking kill anybody i'm like indestructible i've never felt

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that i got like the kramer reaction and i'm like undeserved fully coached

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i was like yeah and then when you're done taping you're on such a high

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that night i i would drive for hours listening to music

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because i was so amped up it was like a rock concert every single show it was crazy

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and especially you guys were like yeah you guys were like touching the moon

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you know what i mean like crazy where people were waiting

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i mean i remember as a kid waiting for the next will

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and grace thanks you know because you're like you there were no

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and then it never came are we are we off are we you know what i mean

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i one day it started to stop coming but they all

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That was back in the day when you didn't know the programming schedules

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and it wasn't easy to find out without a TV guide, so you'd kind of just be like, sitting there, I'd be like,

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I think it's Thursdays at 8 .30 or 9 .00, you just have to be planted in front of the TV and be like,

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have we seen this one?

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I don't know, is this a new one?

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Is this a rerun?

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And you're just excited to be there.

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Remember, I don't know if you guys are too young, but remember, they'd supersize the episodes.

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Yes, I remember those.

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Five minutes longer, just so they could make more ad dollars, but I was too young to know that.

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Yeah, yeah, totally.

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Post -Super Bowl is the spot.

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Super extended episode of your favorite show, and it's just four extra minutes of the characters talking in the living room set,

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and you're like, oh, okay.

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I kind of wish I would do the other way.

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I wish I didn't do single cam first.

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I feel like single cam, like by the time I got to multi -cam, I was like,

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it's the way that like uh you know i was like

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when are we taking a break right

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you know what i mean right right right like i yeah

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i would have liked to switch it well the hours on a single camera are extraordinarily longer yeah

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but anyway back to the show staying alive

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so the uh thank you sorry sorry about

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that no please do yeah we usually do that in an edit

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but great job but um yeah so i so my blood was

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so bad all the shit i was eating it finally caught up with me just this year

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and so i started to balance by eating a little better

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but i'm on these are the things i'm on metformin

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which i hear is great they might what's

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that the metformin not the george foreman

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you're your doctor in 2026 is like i'm gonna need you to start using the george foreman

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I think I need to find another doctor

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I'm just standing up there grilling I'm looking at your numbers

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someone is clearly not tilting you gotta tilt it pal you gotta grill on an angle pal

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yeah that's hysterical so you got metformin so metformin my thyroid stuff

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which I've been on for years just a little love and then

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oh I'm on a statin which I really wish I wasn't but I have

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you're on Staten Island with us right now welcome to Pete Davidson

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I'm on you bought a boat do you have the receipt?

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no just like

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Pete and Colin we're stuck with our lipidore yeah exactly

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so those are the things and they've helped but by the way exercise

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if fucking hate it but I forced myself to go

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because you have to and now I'm now I've lost a lot of weight

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because I've cut back sugar a lot

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and I've cut out a lot of white right flour

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and rice and whatever and so I'll eat like Ezekiel bread

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which is really low what is it called oh yeah

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and I was insulin resistant I was like no I'm not on those

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but I was pre pre diabetes

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and that's what metformin will help with yeah right it regulates sugar in your blood

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because we both we both are on glp ones oh you are

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and yes and you've noticed the difference obviously i have not noticed a huge difference

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because i'm what

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if you just started throwing up i have not noticed a huge difference

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you're you are recording from it i haven't noticed a difference in my look

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i've noticed a difference in the way i feel no

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i am no i i my father is a is a physician

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and he he uh has been prescribing it to a lot of his patients over 45 because what

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which one a job all of them just based on your blood work uh whichever one fits you yeah

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because he believes that it does prevent like stroke and heart attack

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and even some cancers wow and he's like his big crusade is that like if it wasn't

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i hate using this word

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but kardashified early yeah yeah right right a lot of people would still be alive

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if it wasn't hollywood hollywood fight and like all about like shallow looking right right

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because i'll describe it as this like we talked about clean plate club i grew up

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every girlfriend's parents loved me because i ate all the food

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and i got like rewarded you know right

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when i was married my in -laws would be like this boy can eat we love you thank you

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so much and i'm like people like me because i eat their food

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and then i just and i never i guess it wasn't until i started zet bound

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that i experienced what being satiated

463

or full was like i only had like two things yeah where it's hungry

464

that's your job sean you know what sean

465

that's your job get us some ads here brother you get us the codes we'll promo them

466

but for real after being on zetbound for a couple of months i now will eat a meal

467

and go like i can't believe

468

that was enough food like yeah i don't need an appetizer

469

and an entree and entree is enough and it's like it's really changed i had never experienced this like it's crazy

470

And then I bet, I don't want to, I'm not a doctor, I bet if you got off it, which, you know, there's no need to,

471

you would, your brain is now changed to be like, I don't need, and like, if there's like a burger and I'm starving,

472

I will eat half and be like, I'm actually full.

473

Right.

474

Like, there's no, and by the way, this is the other thing people don't talk about.

475

We don't need to eat three meals a day because we're not growing anymore.

476

The reason why you need to eat three meals is

477

because you're constantly fucking growing and you need fuel your bones are extended everything's growing

478

and then once you reach your height and whatever

479

and your age you're like well i'm not growing anymore

480

so i don't need to eat 85 000 pounds of food a day yeah man

481

that's why the rock is constantly like eating a lake's worth of cod is

482

because it's trying to grow you know

483

if you're like okay would you like a salmon sushi no just all the cod

484

you have no i only one kind god the smaller the bottom feeder

485

he just goes in like a fucking whale like open mouth bites into the ocean

486

and then strains the water out between his gums like his

487

right like gollum yeah fish heads oh my god how did you get in there i would be mad

488

if this didn't come up on this episode yeah uh we'll get back to health in a second sean

489

you had a production i have a production company hazy mills had um

490

and you produced a really strange game show

491

that took place in a salon right that's right

492

i hosted hair jack for true tv for one season yeah god

493

that was so long ago that was so long ago

494

and now here we are working together i know i love

495

it by the way you were fucking great you were

496

so great it was cash cab in a hair salon by the way still a great idea still

497

i had a blast loser loser of the game had to get a fucked up haircut yeah

498

it was awesome wait

499

but sean you had a couple hits with hazy mills didn't

500

you yeah we had hot in cleveland we had grim yeah

501

we had a history of comedy on cnn yeah those are like that's like three on the air

502

that's huge yeah we had we had more

503

but um that's that's like they don't have the name recognition

504

of hair jacked yeah hair jacked is good by the way

505

that's still a really good idea i we should do it bring it back i'm

506

No tech avail, bro.

507

You shoot 13 episodes?

508

Six episodes.

509

Six episodes.

510

And you start next week?

511

You start in two weeks, yeah.

512

In two weeks.

513

Wow.

514

Pal, what do you got going on?

515

I'm finishing.

516

I got another six, seven weeks on The Beatles.

517

I'm an idiot.

518

What is

519

that? it's a movie about the beatles

520

it's sam mendes making four four movies one about each beetle yeah yeah is

521

that oh really yeah yeah that's amazing i was in a couple of them as the man

522

and one of the managers that's incredible there's four movies he's doing four movies yeah

523

and you play the same character in each movie

524

and i do different well you play sean hayes yet there you're integral to the you don't know this

525

but did you say i'm an indigo i'm an indigo girl

526

you're an indigo girl you're playing you're playing the indigo girl yes

527

and actually there's a big lawsuit closer to fine yeah

528

what do you do for what do you do for lines

529

to how do you guys memorize lines like do you have a designated spot in your in your house

530

or your apartment or whatever that you like you

531

that is just for that or do you get somebody to run with you

532

or i need a pa i need a pa

533

and i need to do it like repetitiously cold where it's literally like over

534

and over again each line what did i miss what did i get wrong i gotta say it again

535

and then i gotta put that sentence with the next one

536

and i gotta put that with the next one

537

and then i gotta put it all together until i have the whole play

538

so you don't have to think about it yeah yes

539

i do it i i have to write it i have to write it the first time oh you do

540

when i'm trying to go off book off book i have to write all my lines out

541

and then i kind of like write the my lines of the script on a sheet of paper

542

and then run it a bunch but then i'll always just every once in a

543

while go back to my lines like their poems

544

and just like right right that's great yeah it ends up being like a song yeah

545

and like writing it is i think a holdover from like being a kid and just being like

546

taking notes in class and it hitting in a different way than memorizing it that way yeah for sure

547

what about what do you do i just did um um

548

i don't i just decided not to i just don't memorize it you just go up there wide -eyed

549

and people are just clapping

550

because you're sean i saw one of your plays from sean hayes yeah yeah no no

551

i just i just say whatever i feel that i get to

552

that level no um no i just did a one like they call them solo plays

553

but a one -man show called the unknown where i played 10 different characters it was a thriller

554

and it was really fucked up it was incredibly written

555

but memorizing i just did kind of what adam you said just by

556

i have a place in my room in a corner with thing

557

and i just started it's like it's an hour

558

and 10 minutes monologue and so you just start memorizing it

559

and one time like show i've said this story before

560

but one time like show 60 70 i don't know after you do it for

561

so long there's this character larry and of course i play all the parts

562

and the line is um you know i go i go to his apartment i buzz the door larry answers

563

and larry kind of just talks you know like that and

564

so i go i buzz the door and larry answers

565

and i waited for whoever was playing larry to say their line

566

and i was like because i was so on autopilot i was like waiting

567

and why isn't oh shit that's me too god bless i play larry too

568

and that's like dreaming in another language yeah totally you know where you're like i i sort of know spanish

569

and then you're like in your dream you know spanish

570

and you're like whoa yeah you know that's what that

571

that is like i couldn't imagine doing like a hour -long

572

uh word perfect one person show would you could do it

573

you guys could do it i'm gonna have stress diarrhea just imagining

574

that I bet I could do it but I bet I could do it

575

because I did the other one

576

but it would just take the same length of time

577

and effort to like make it song yeah like you just make it like a song

578

that you people are like how you memorize all those nights like you memorize an album

579

or your favorite album completely I still have though I wonder

580

if you still have this I still have especially

581

when I don't sleep that much

582

but I do have a recurring stress stream where i'm about it's like i'm in the theater

583

i'm at second stage i'm in the theater

584

and i'm like in my dressing room in the the costume

585

and the the pa

586

and sometimes it's a pa sometimes it's someone i know manager yeah sometimes it's like that changes

587

but there's sometimes it's mcgruff the crime dog you know

588

it's green it's sometimes it's sometimes it's animated ted it's like it

589

but they're like you know

590

you you got to go on you got to like you're late you're late yeah you're late you know

591

and i'm like what yeah i've been in here the whole time

592

and then like yeah it's the worst and then i get on stage

593

and i don't know the play anymore yeah it's like i don't know

594

that play anymore like i don't even know the first line of it

595

and i'm just looking at the audience and i

596

and then it goes like your mind goes to like you skip the

597

that part and then you you're after the show

598

and people are like what happened and like now that's part of your dream

599

and you're like oh my god right right right a nightmare

600

but but you know what i think is crazy is the eight shows a week like who started

601

that well obviously producers did to make money

602

because the more shows you do the more money

603

but it's like i think it's inhuman

604

and like people like no it's it makes it not fun after six months

605

or five months

606

or four months you know it's like i have to i still do eight

607

it's something like 80 shows you're like no i shouldn't be doing this play 80 times in a row

608

and it's got a a matinee the magic up with

609

that shit has got to be fucking hard as hell

610

so especially at eight o 'clock every night you can't have a headache

611

you can't have a stomach ache you can't be upset at your partner

612

you can't be you can't feel anything other than being the show must go on yeah it's just fucking awful

613

and great by the way when you're when you're in And...

614

When you're in a deep like that, are you changing any of your normal behaviors?

615

Are you like when you're because traditionally doctor 25 ,000 times during your infamous hypochondriac?

616

You had a podcast about it.

617

You're also super healthy.

618

Those things are actually I mean, you are probably tied together in a way.

619

Well, I think I'm finally getting on the road to being healthy

620

but now but um because i i i think i ate for a different podcast about psychological reasons

621

but that's for a different show but um

622

but yeah i i to to to keep

623

that up you know on uh doing a show like

624

that i do i i i go to the vocal coach a lot like a vocal doctor

625

because i was like i i'm screaming a lot in the show can i make sure

626

that i'm not blowing my vocal cords out

627

and then it'll stick the fucking camera and the tube down there and like you know you just

628

that just gave me like

629

and there's the camera he's like say i how can you talk i get the cameras on my throat

630

but um and so that that's that'll freak me out that

631

and then just staying healthy

632

because of the guilt of people buying tickets to come see you from all over the world

633

you know it's like oh god i don't want like you know you know it's the pressure is like crazy what's that

634

You got a lot of Catholic guilt.

635

Duh, believe me.

636

Couple that with the gay, the Catholic gay.

637

Oh, my God.

638

Yeah, Jesus Christ.

639

Literally.

640

You got way more to worry about than the people that bought the tickets.

641

Yeah, brother, you have hell coming up.

642

What are you stressed about them?

643

Yeah, it's called the matinee.

644

That's the hell.

645

These blue hairs don't know what I do.

646

I got a hell coming up.

647

It's brilliant.

648

so this is what we're talking about like we're athletes that's

649

when you're in season like traditionally our careers are maybe a little every day is a little different yeah

650

but then when you get into that you have to lock in

651

and are you like are you like i got to exercise at noon

652

i eat i yeah i got to eat this meal at three

653

i can't have a coffee after two like that's right yes what are you locking into this is good

654

that's the thing because before like let's my shows were at seven

655

because i'm like

656

when we were doing the contract i was like i'm not doing eight

657

i'm doing seven o 'clock oh hell yeah and i'm only doing seven a week because eight means you're out at 11.

658

yeah seven means i'm home at a decent hour yeah like

659

and i wish it was a six so

660

that you could do the show and then eat well

661

because it's all about eating

662

so john that's that's exactly right six show would be better

663

for the audience by the way after by the way i'll one better you let's do five

664

while we're talking about it let's do five o 'clock no one works anymore five is perfect get there perfect

665

but i'm still at work not my problem that's

666

when the tickets are answer the email in the intermission yeah

667

and the cat on the way over yeah yes totally

668

we i i think we're gonna take do my next play to we work

669

that's why not at a podcast studio

670

but it is all about food johnny it's like it's like you know you eat at um

671

so so you got to make sure you eat lunch at the right time

672

so it digests so you don't have acid reflux to give you phlegm

673

so you can't speak or yell or do your lines

674

so then you're starving by the end of the show so

675

when it gets out at 9 10 11 whatever it is you're like well it's too late to eat now

676

because now i'm going to lay flat

677

and all the acid reflux from the food

678

so it's hard really fucking hard to figure out

679

when you're going to eat or you get off stage

680

and you got to like shake hands with like your six cousins

681

that came to see you

682

and you're just like i need to get fucking pasta asap asap

683

and i need to go to bed

684

because it's all about sleep like everything is about sleep

685

if you if you're tired

686

and you have to perform

687

you can't open your throat to make your vocal cords make sound

688

you know what i mean like this guy's definitely going to hell talking about your throat and shit

689

no but it's exactly it's exactly it is really hard

690

and was it like that was it like that

691

when you were on the multi -cam no i didn't think about it

692

which is probably just like out there

693

and then yeah i was just fucking drunk every night yeah yeah oh no

694

we talk about all the time we would film we were on a single cam

695

but when happy endings was over we had a standing table at the sunset marquee

696

that like was used probably forever for like 75 episodes isn't

697

that great yeah it was the best time of life like it was awesome

698

i wish my whole thing would be if forgive me

699

but would be about pooping i'd be like i need to make sure i get like figure

700

that out i wouldn't want to have to feel like I had one on deck on stage.

701

I feel like it would affect me as an actor. But that's the thing.

702

During a run of a show, my poops are fucking great because all the anxiety and all this stuff makes it go right through.

703

You're like locked the fuck in.

704

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

705

Every time, same place.

706

Usually.

707

Yeah, usually.

708

But when I'm not doing it, it's like all of it.

709

85 % of the time, it's in the toilet.

710

Yeah.

711

But you want to make sure of that.

712

But on the one -man show, the unknown I just did, I would dope, but my stomach would get rumbly,

713

and I would just be me standing behind the curtain waiting for places, right, which are already in my place.

714

And the stage manager would walk by every single night and be like, great, you ready?

715

I'm like, great, I'm ready.

716

But a lot of the times I would let one rip right before she walked by and that because I couldn't

717

Well, I didn't want to do it during the stage because then everybody would hear it.

718

So she'd be like be ready now I am Every single night and people say we're holding for Sean's part.

719

We're holding for Sean's part.

720

Has he farted yet?

721

Like everyone's over the wall.

722

Exactly.

723

It's interesting because people say people say of the Will

724

and Grace cast you were one of the easiest to work with That's an interesting story

725

yeah yeah yeah sure sure i'll corroborate that

726

i can corroborate

727

that yeah just to talk fitness for a sec yeah go ahead before

728

you get out of here uh you said like you go to the trainer

729

and you hate it but you continue to do it

730

because you are a explain to us are you seeing results are you

731

because one thing we and adam talk about a lot is like

732

when you were younger you didn't believe anyone who said like

733

if i don't exercise i feel crazy right

734

that sounds stupid now i do feel

735

that i get depressed after day four of not i do i agree

736

and it's like you know just i'm

737

and this is you guys are catching me like this is just in the past like two months

738

or months i'm like actually look forward a little bit like i fucking hate it

739

but when i'm there i'm so glad i went and knowing

740

that feeling makes me go back it's like the results yeah

741

i am feeling results for the first time in a long time

742

and mentally is just as important yeah for sure

743

and you get back to you know your physique

744

that you used to have

745

when you were a little bit younger you know what i mean

746

and you're like oh this is like i'm looking you know

747

when you take your shirt off you're not

748

so depressed anymore oh god you know what i mean i look forward to

749

that day yeah i'm still a melted candle i'm bad melted candle sorry i got super depressed

750

and I had to shut my camera off.

751

I'm a pregnant cow.

752

I didn't take my shirt off.

753

I'm a fucking like.

754

No, but aren't you guys, don't you guys feel like you're on your way to like getting back into like what you used to look like?

755

Yeah.

756

I feel better in the last, since we started getting our lives together with this podcast, I feel a ton better.

757

I don't know if I look a ton better.

758

Like I, I've been saying a lot, like, I feel like I work so hard to look like shit

759

that it's like it's it's truly frustrating but that may just be

760

that may be okay as long as i'm here uh -huh

761

i've been saying i'm aging like a fine toilet wine do

762

you do your wait john do you have a girlfriend uh no i'm uh post -divorced in the streets

763

and i guess yeah okay got it i was gonna say

764

so so adam this is for you i'm married and i have a girlfriend right right okay wonderful

765

that's perfect okay let me ask you do both of them

766

care about enough to to to to give you notes about how you look before you leave the house

767

or are you just like no i don't want to hear it i'm just wearing a t -shirt

768

and this is what my hair looks like

769

and i'm this is i don't care oh no no the the first

770

you have you have to put yourself together yeah i can't

771

and if even

772

if i like take a swing yeah yeah like the other day

773

i i bought this like uh green t -shirt right it's not

774

it's not wild there's no white girlfriend there's no logo on it there's no it's just like not white

775

and not black it's it's green it's like mint green yeah and i wore it downstairs at like

776

seven in the morning on the way to take the kids to school

777

and my wife goes you're going to that meeting like

778

that right and i was like what

779

and she's like i thought you had a meeting later i was like i do

780

and she's like and you're wearing what is

781

that t -shirt i was like i what i just got this she's like you just got

782

that i was like okay okay like

783

and then you have to change yeah i have to change

784

because then the whole day

785

i'll be like is this t -shirt really bad yeah yeah like really bad

786

you can say you can tell i'm divorced yeah

787

because i have a fucking oh that's a great t -shirt kids cartoon shirt yeah yeah what is

788

that from there's this designer named wizard of barge who does these really cool kind of yeah that's cool yeah

789

and you can tell i'm married

790

because my mother -in -law sleeps in my office is

791

that your office is that true yeah yeah oh that's why you've been

792

so quiet this whole time because she's sleeping right now yeah

793

but she's actually awake but the aids the hearing aids are down

794

is that is that the girl when you said wife and girlfriend buddy one of them

795

uh anyway wow sean thank you

796

so much for coming on thank you yeah pal thank you yeah

797

this is awesome you guys are awesome you're doing such a great job

798

i you know you're two of the funniest people on the

799

face of the planet well we'll see you at the next people magazine sexiest uh men of the year uh

800

i'm on my way now i'm wearing this t -shirt sexy you're wearing

801

that the t -shirt

802

that's the t -shirt yeah why what just letting out a big fart next to jason before

803

you go to take your photo momoa you want to get pasta momoa i'm not drinking that much anymore so yeah

804

balance dude that's all about balance he's like what hey jack i'm trying to work on my lines yeah

805

exactly all right dude thank you so much guys

806

man that was fun i do like he's such a pro podcaster like i think three times he's like

807

so my nutrition plan is well

808

he was definitely like checking my watch at one time

809

i think he leaned in to look at my watch

810

he said he said i feel bad you guys are going long

811

i was like hint dakin brother yeah

812

i did want to get into a little bit more of his weed intake

813

but yeah i know well

814

now we have a new goal is to get high with the boss with johnny yeah we got it

815

because like i've done that with will

816

and his version is like eating ice cream in sag harbor now hey

817

that sounds like a it's fine

818

but it's like i want to get stoned yeah

819

i want to get high with sean i I think I would fucking laugh to the point of cheeks hurting, hanging out with him.

820

Dude, he reminds me so much of like, there are certain guys that you meet.

821

I feel like we've, we brought this name up all the time, but like Tim Meadows, or there are just certain guys like that.

822

Like we could make a list of in our lives, in our collective, like career and lives that they just make you laugh.

823

Like you could just sit with them and say something and whatever they say back will make you laugh.

824

And I feel like Sean Hayes, Tim Meadows, like that's the top of that list.

825

Yeah.

826

Oh, man, this is going to be fucking, I'm like, I'm pretending like it actually is happening.

827

I'm like, oh, man, it's going to be so fun.

828

Yeah.

829

We should have a Staying Alive rap party.

830

We should make and put together a Staying Alive rap party.

831

That would be so good.

832

No one would show up.

833

I know.

834

Stay alive.

835

Fuck.

836

You have been listening to Staying Alive with John Gabrus and Adam Pally, a SmartList media production in association with SiriusXM.

837

Produced by Devin Torrey Bryant and Ann Harris Engineered and edited by Devin Torrey Bryant Who also wrote the music

838

Associate producer and video producer is Maddie McCann Social media producer,

839

Tommy Galgano Assistant engineer, Kyle McGraw Special thanks to Jared O 'Connell at SiriusXM Executive producers are John Gabrus Ooh, me Adam Pally Ooh, you

840

Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Richard Corson, and Bernie Kaminsky do us a favor just rate

841

and review the podcast it actually helps just

842

so everyone knows we do not have a discord don't reach

843

out to us see us on the street walk the other way or you'll catch hands

844

i like we should create a mystique around jason now

845

that he's the only boss that hasn't done it

846

that like he's kind of uh he's like he's our uh

847

we have beef with him well i emailed jason to come on

848

and he said he won't come on until we put a full blue tint on the video

849

he says make it go make it go ozark for me yeah he needs it to be more ozark

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “STAYING ALIVE: Sean Hayes!”. This video has 849 sentences and 9672 words to shadow. The speech runs for 48:48. The speaker talks fast, about 198 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
podcast noun	/ˈpɑdˌkæst/	A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on…
clock noun	/klɑk/	A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day.
broadway noun	/ˈbɹɔːdweɪ/	An esplanade.
producer noun	/pɹəˈdjuːsə/	An individual or organization that creates goods and services.
meal noun	/ˈmiːl/	Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity.
horrible adjective	/ˈhɔɹ.ɪ.bəl/	Causing horror; terrible; shocking.
script noun	/skɹɪpt/	A writing; a written document.
vocal adjective	/ˈvoʊ̯.kəl/	Of, pertaining to, or resembling the human voice or speech.
cheers	/t͡ʃɪəz/	A common toast used when drinking in company.
pasta noun	/ˈpɑ.stə/	Dough made from wheat and water and sometimes mixed with egg and formed into various shapes; often sold in dried form and typically boiled for eating.
theater noun	/ˈθi(ə)tɚ/	A place or building, consisting of a stage and seating, in which an audience gathers to watch plays, musical performances, public ceremonies, and so on.
edit verb	/ˈɛdɪt/	To change a text, or a document.
throat noun	/ˈθɹoʊt/	The front part of the neck.
rocky adjective	/ˈɹɑki/	Abounding in, or full of, rocks; consisting of rocks.
depressed adjective	/dɪˈpɹɛst/	Unhappy; despondent.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
get off verb		To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it.
get back to verb		Return to (an activity)
come up verb		To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly.
cut out verb		To refrain from (doing something, using something etc.), to stop or cease (doing something).
go back to verb		To stem from; to originate in.
go over verb		To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze.
work out verb	/ˌwɝk ˈaʊt/	To calculate.
book off verb		To call off from work.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

How are you staying alive?
How am I staying alive?
They've seen, you know what I mean?
I don't know, is this a new one?
I'm on you bought a boat do you have the receipt?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	I've been eating · devin's been waving · i've been watching
“Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true	used to be · used to have · used to look
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	we've had · i've always had · i've ever slept
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	are embedded · been done · i've been spoiled

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 405 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: theater /ˈθi(ə)tɚ/, throat /ˈθɹoʊt/, athlete /ˈæθ.liːt/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: passionate /ˈpæʃənɪt/, traditionally /tɹəˈdɪʃ.ə.nə.li/, emotionally /ɪˈməʊʃənəli/, recognition /ˌɹɛkəɡˈnɪʃ(ə)n/, sheet /ʃit/
Long words — get the stress right: traditionally /tɹəˈdɪʃ.ə.nə.li/, emotionally /ɪˈməʊʃənəli/, cholesterol /kəˈlɛstəɹɒl/, recognition /ˌɹɛkəɡˈnɪʃ(ə)n/, ridiculous /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like podcast, clock, broadway.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: STAYING ALIVE: Sean Hayes! - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?