The Letterman Podcast Pilgrimage To See Dave And A Bunch More Folk…Part 1

hey it's me John Beckerman and you are watching the Letterman podcast with Mike Chisum and coincidentally I am Mike Chisum that's your bit right that's your bit that's my bit doing your bit welcome once again to the Letterman podcast my name is Mike Chisum and this is Candace Chism this is Candace Chism uh thank you for putting up with my Tom Foolery at the beginning of this looking at Shey and all that that's how we start every episode of the Letterman podcast how are you I'm good how are you I'm good I'm really good good um every time I take a trip out to do some Letterman stuff uh right after you're the guest for the show I am and I started to realize that it's is that why I don't go on the trips oh no it's okay don't worry it's okay uh is that why you don't go on the trips you need that co-host you tell you tell me uh I you know what this this would have been a very different trip if uh if if we had if the fates conspired properly for us but they didn't they conspired in a different way and um it would have been a much longer trip it would have been a much longer trip yes because we would have had to take five days going down coming back because you don't stop for anything that's what I've learned and in the middle I would have done exactly what I did and you would have been at a spa somewhere yeah did you miss me while I was gone I did I missed you yeah a little bit but I I I did I missed you I I always miss you when you're gone but I do have to say it was it was quiet and it was nice and yeah should I get back was clean should I go back no we're good you yeah you can stay all right I'm used to you again 48 hours you're welcome um I haven't told you very much about this youen told me anything about this that's not true I've told you some things but there are many many many parts of the trip I've left oh for this very reason yeah um I'm actually right now doing a deep dive where I'm writing out the entire trip similar to like the letter Manifesto I haven't we haven't written in a while no the last time we really wrote was seriously was in 2021 we wrote our book yeah and so yeah I think you yeah because you wrote a little bit before that but then not since really I haven't done a ton of writing since then I've had a lot of plate spinning and things going on and all that stuff so I haven't had the opportunity to write as much and and also um you know like my uh my my my mentors have told me you know you write when you have something to say and uh you have plenty to say thank you um wait that's not a compliment is it yes oh boy okay it is um I had something to say I was really excited to to to write about this strip I'm writing about it in depth uh because I think it's important to Chronicle some of the major uh watershed moments it's a good idea of of the Letterman podcast as things uh as things progress and so uh but that being said I'm really excited to tell you all about the trip and show you some of the presents that I got and and uh you bought me presents I did buy you presents you you you got your presents what was your present uh I got a bunch of presents okay yeah no no no very simple gal to please when I go to the states and I come home what did you have a bag of sitting on the Trader Joe's a bag of Trader Joe's stuff mering and crackers and spices oh my how did I do out out of 10 when I was going through tra because you didn't know I was going to come home with it yeah no how' I do really good those oatmeal cookies yep gluten-free ones there you go so bad on the tum no there we good there good excellent excellent so yeah uh we're gonna talk about the trip here we're probably gonna break it I assume this is going to be broken into two or three episodes um because I've got a lot of footage from the trip that we're going to be inserting so I'm going to go through the trip chronologically and then I'm going to go through my pictures in video and uh through the magic of uh basic video editing will do my best to assemble one two three episodes of this thing I'm gonna do the uh I've already written 1,800 words and I've only gotten to day one um so so it's gonna be the the the the written Narrative of things is going to be very is a lot more um a lot more in depth but you and I are going to have fun doing this so um I'm excited thank you very much for coming on the L podcast again C Michael Chism you enjoy it I do okay good uh I can't wait for the next Letterman centered event that you attend with me yeah you were at the last one you didn't go to this one but the next one we're gonna have you it's like I go every other it almost is it almost is like you go to Every New York and then I did New York and then now you do la then now I do la yeah well there may that'll be the next cuz you did LA the last time the last time we did LA two years ago that was the last time so uh going down to Los Angeles I don't know if this is the Letterman podcast takes Hollywood I don't know what we're going to call it but anyway the last time that we did this we were only in our infancy we only had a few episodes out maybe three or four of them and um we went down to see Dave at the Netflix as a joke Comedy Festival you were there for that you saw Dave perform um with me and uh that was more centered around Disneyland well there was a lot of Disney and things in that in that trip this this trip was Walt wall Letterman that's a great point the picture up there on the wall that's where we got that signed Letterman's guy uh did us a solid and uh I got to see Letterman's guy a couple of times during this trip that was fun um but yeah this trip was wall toall Letterman I knew I wanted to drive down there um because we were going to take a road trip originally it was it was she and I taking a road trip like she said three or four days to get down there three or four days to get back kind of a thing I think you just drove down because you didn't want to leave the truck behind I oh for you oh yeah it's fine you drive so Scout have we talked about I think we've talked about Scout on the show before I know Scout is yeah I know you don't listen to the show um it's funny because it's true Scout is my Bronco which I have uh meticulously tried to convert it into like a 1979 International Scout in many ways which is what my dad had growing up um she is very I call her a her she is Scout is uh uh she is very noticeable you like driving Scout a lot I do why do you like driving Scout a lot she's Rad She is rat she makes me feel cool yeah uh you are cool automatically I need a lot of work and Scout uh really does the job in in in pulling that weight I wanted to take this she's part of our family she is very much a part of our family uh I definitely wanted to take her I've had her for just over a year and wanted to take her on a road trip very badly and um and then nice thing about being in California like I I I love being in California with a vehicle and it's not cheap to fly down to California and and rent a vehicle for an entire week while you're down there um I think it costs more being International because we are Canadian I'm not sure but anyway it was I gotta tell you it was so handy having her down there and then drive like Scout feels like she was supposed to be from California a like there was a lot of love for scout like it's it's it was like here except more and just yeah absolutely loved her every day every day multiple comments for her so that was that was that was fun and as you know I love that yeah could tell everybody she was a tribute vehicle to my dad all that sort of stuff so um but anyway so driving down um I guess we should just start so day one I left around I left here in Colona British Columbia around what 4 in the morning yeah about four I left you and and Alara Laura was Grand our granddaughter was sleeping over yeah um she was not happy that I left no she cried at 4 in the morning yeah she just was really actually do you want me to tell you you can if you want sure feel bad telling you I don't want to hurt your heart well no you've told me already you're saying can I tell the viewing audience oh well told me I've got over that's right I forgot yeah yeah no she was just really it was just really sad because she was just sort of quietly sobbing and I was like what is going on what's the matter she's like I'm just going to miss him so much it was really cute and then she was like is it Sunday yet and I'm like well yeah and she goes well then he's all his way back I'm like next Sunday no next Sunday yeah she was hoping to Time Warp but didn't work out um yeah it was hard leaving you too that morning um you're her favorite play guy I'm her favorite play guy yeah my six-year-old granddaughter is my world uh jumping in Scout though that being said and leaving at the break of dawn driving down Highway 97 I'll talk about that for a second so we in colog have a city uh that that that is uh bisected basically by a provincial Highway um our city was a sleepy little town but also a paradise town and over our lives candy and I are both born and raised here which is um kind of it's it's it's it's unusual you don't meet a lot of people who were born and raised here yeah well we're Resort town a lot of people come from other places to here because this is probably the nicest place in Canada they fall in love with it and a lot of them move here and so our population is like quadrupled in our life and and so this provincial Highway that bisects the entire city it becomes a source of frustration because people are traveling through to go to Vancouver or go to the states or whatever and they got to go through here and there's a lake and there's a bridge there's one Highway that goes over it that highway is called Highway 97 did you know Highway 97 is one of the longest north to south highways in North America I did not know that it goes all the way up to the Yukon and becomes the Alaska Highway and all the way down to California now I knew that it goes down to California because my dad I used to ask my dad Dad how long does Highway 97 go oh son it goes way deep into the states he'd say and um and I didn't know how far into the states he doesn't sound like that he doesn't sound like that what is your dad John Wayne all right Clint East what's going on that doesn't sound at all like Clint Eastwood now I'm gonna throw it back all right well anyway okay sorry anyway um so I have always wanted to take Highway 97 down to see how far it would go and um the the the faster way to go to California from where I'm from is to go down to Vancouver and take the I5 down to Seattle down to Portland that used to be my concert route growing up but I just have always wanted to see I was a nostalgic trip and so I wanted to go down and I I mapped it out and it added about an hour to the journey but I'm like okay I want to go down and see how far Highway 97 goes for reference the journey is like 23 hours 21 hours from here to the hotel I stayed at uh the VIP Hotel in Hollywood by the way why are you laughing okay not a hotel Mrs Chism would stay in uh but a hotel that I have no problem staying with on a road trip candy and I have very different standards when it comes to road tripping um I was willing to sleep in Scout which she didn't let me which is pretty pretty cute but um we'll talk about the trip down there so I drove uh you know from 4 in the morning straight down uh 97 I saw the beautiful Cascade Mountains in Washington as I I've seen before I love it and it's absolutely gorgeous um and uh then down into uh Oregon the Rolling Hills just an absolute absolute beautiful country um and it was neat being on 97 rather than the I5 because it's a completely different experience uh you're going through these towns and um the I5 is you know it's a Concrete Highway that that that just goes and goes and goes and goes and goes 97 was a little bit different and it was really cool culminating um around 6:00 in the evening in a place called Weed California and that's where Highway 997 ends it goes from Weed California all the way up to Alaska and I thought it was Charming that it ended in a place called weed when I were on the phone when it happened yeah I was the guy in the chair you were the guy in the chair okay so so um okay as I was driving down there one of the things Candace became more and more aware of because she knew I would do this is that uh I I was like I don't she's like where are you gonna stay the first night like I have no idea I'm just going to go and I'm going to keep going and another vast difference between you and I absolutely and I'm like when I get tired I'll find a place and I'll sleep in Scout and be murdered see she didn't like that very much and so around 7 o'clockish um she gets on the phone with me and is like hey maybe you should consider stop I was hoping to get like to Northern California which I guess weed would be yeah um but but I kept going I kept going going going I actually made it to Sacramento in one day and I was that was that was pretty good um which was what like 18 hours I don't know n less than that but anyway it was it was uh it was it was a it was a great great run um and uh so in Sacramento uh candy kept uh uh referring me to hotels uh hotels she wouldn't sleep in mind you uh $59 a night hotels that there's no way you would sleep in these hotels but you you you thought it was a better option than getting murdered in your car okay so uh I did that murdered in room is totally different at least I can find you um and probably get scale back um yeah the blood splatter would have been hard to get out so I stayed in Sacramento um I went to In-N-Out burger or just outside Sacramento I went to in- andout Burger for my first time you know that I love I love In-N-Out burger and this is where the Letterman stuff begins and I don't know how long we've been recording already here but uh but boy if you've hung in this long to waiting for the Letterman stuff to begin you're a trooper well done um but that's what this is this is the recounting of the trip and there's lots of Letterman stuff lots and lots and lots of it but it began in the Inn Out burger just outside Sacramento that I uh had two lovely double doubles and um and as that was happening it was time for me to start firming up plans to start hanging out with some of these Letterman Alum that I had uh uh tentatively made plans with but I didn't know my timetable but now was a little bit more strict and the first one on the list was uh John Beckerman now John Beckerman uh one of my favorite episodes of the Letterman podcast ever um co-creator of the show Ed and uh I just I adore that show wish it would be on streaming um and his new show Meet the Parents is on Amazon free um I can't wait till we get up here in Canada I I don't know if it's up here now I checked just before we left still not up here in Canada from everything I've heard from my American Brethren who've watched Meet the Parents it's absolutely hysterical all 10 episodes are out now um feel free to watch them so Beckerman and I start going back and forth in the In-N-Out hey you want to meet tomorrow yeah let's do it 1:00 okay he's like come down to a place called Culver City I'm like all right and I've heard of Culver City before um but it's near Universal right is uh somewhat somewhat it's the home of Sony pictur Studios and many other Studios and that'll come into play here in a second day one I wake up just outside Sacramento that was good I'm glad you woke up and uh jumped on the road to go down to Culver City uh first stop by the time I get there it's 11:00 am first stop is a car wash because it appeared that Scout murdered many species of bugs on the way down she was uh her front end was not uh was not in pretty shape and and and I wanted to um uh get her nice and clean and so I went to now car washes are a different thing in La did I take you did I send you pictures from the car wash okay so the car wash was and I'm talking like it was an operation like probably 30 or 40 um you know workers all of them Hispanic and all of them caring very deeply on how Vehicles come out of this out of these bays and I mean um you know they they got Scout you would never know that she had just traveled over a thousand miles um they she was so SP and span they waxed her the tires Were Gleaming I could see myself in the tires um it was it was uh it was absolutely beautiful um that's awesome yeah and then uh that does not happen up here uh no it's very very different the car culture up here is very different the car culture down there like it was um and I knew she'd be clean for days um so after that and so I'm going to be putting pictures in over top of this okay um of things I don't got pictures of the car wash and I'll put those in um so if you're listening on the audio um you might want to jump onto the Spotify video or the YouTube yeah and check out the video version of this because there's lots of video in uh in this episode of the Letterman podcast so I was really excited to go and meet with John Beckerman because he is one of he is he is one of the if you could combine quirky and cool into one word and I'm not talking like Zoe desel like I'm going way higher than that you've got John Beckerman he is so smart uh Harvard Alum the Lampoon um um you know writer headwriter for Letterman and then and then of course um on on on you know worked on so many other amazing projects I just really really love John and and and uh uh we met at a coffee shop called go get them tiger uh just right near the Sony lot it was like a block away from the Sony lot and uh he's like hey let's just walk around and I'm like okay that's sounds good and so we start walking and talking and just kind of catching up a little bit and it's fun like you've experienced this a little bit um where you've been around when I first meet some of these Alum who have been on the show and I meet them face to face for the first time that's a neat experience yeah yeah I always um yeah I think well the first time I saw that happen was in New York when you were at Rupert's retirement and uh I I thought it was just really sweet no was before that the first time was when we went to stepen lores for the first time I think oh yeah I guess sorry I was just thinking of some of the ones that you had met for the first time Walter you there when I met Walter for the first time that was true too like that that trip right I have a memory of an aunt so um but yeah anyways I always thought it was really cute because I thought I think it or not cute maybe oh whatever inter cute because it's just it you can see the mutual admiration that you guys all have or that you have for them and then how they sort of developed this kind of love for you I I know the the admiration definitely goes from my side um some of them are flat out scared Were You There When I met barbar games for the first time oh yeah I was okay so yeah like you know well I saw the back of her she was running away I swooned uh as she put it which is pretty darn accurate No so seeing John it was like it was cool because there's this moment of okay I recognize you from across the camera but now I'm seeing your actual dimensions in real time and and and it's like cool okay great and immediately though we start talking and it was fun and and most of these conversations by the way I'm going to leave like between us uh that for for for that for the majority of them but just talking about hanging out with him and and and and possibilities and all sorts of uh neat things I'm so proud of him for for Meet the Parents it is really hard to get a project made in entertainment these days it's it was already a tremendously difficult Endeavor and making it happen now in today's environment is even more so and you'd think it'd be easier with all of the different services and things available but it's actually not why I don't know it's it's it's um like things have changed like for example here's an example um how things have changed uh many times there used to be like a pilot season and I'm it's probably still there but not nearly what it once was so a show like John's which is based on a on a British show uh Meet the Parents is is is um it was built and green lit without a pilot they actually it was based on a pitch and um good for him absolutely I'm so so happy for him because you know you can make a living in development for these places um and never get anything made you just keep continually uh you know getting projects to a certain point getting paid while doing so which is good I guess because you're feeding your family but but but but it's nice to see something come to fruition yeah if you're a creative you want to create something yeah and and and so um and John is you know one of the foremost creators out there he's he's fantastic and and so it's really really gratifying um to see this thing happen so please watch Meet the Parents everybody do well I'm just going to say this okay so dinner with the parents just came out yes and uh we're what episode three's about to drop no Four's about to drop there are now Eight Episodes out and as this coming Thursday there will be all 10 there we go season one that's exciting yes watch it God damn it based on a British show yes based on uh the British show Friday night dinner but with all new characters and all new stories and uh very proud of it a lot of fun to make Michaela Watkins is in the show Dan badal Carol Kane Henry Hall uh John Glazer Daniel Thrasher and they're all fantastic and uh if you need something to make you laugh and take your mind off this horrible planet we live on watch getner with the parents please like the office a little bit of a slow burn and then suddenly it ignites that's what that's what that's what we're hoping for here yeah that'd be great yeah let's do that let's do that yeah thanks John yeah thank you um he gave me some great advice um we shot a couple little videos we shot a video for Rupert and Irene cuz rert and Irene love him okay so you know Rupert's original shtick right where Letterman would send him out and and okay that was originally gonna be John Beckerman oh it was called fun with Phil and then uh they they put rert in at the last minute and it became Rupert's thing or whatever but John beckerman's the guy who oh spe spearheaded that yeah cool hey yeah there you go fun fact TR and more proof that my wife does not watch the show anyway uh I listen uhhuh I gave him a copy of our book oh so there you go uh no it was it was it was a really really good time I appreciate John like crazy uh quirky and cool to the highest level I say that with the with the um the most uh high regards that I can muster so you spent Monday morning with him I'm G to keep on track here no one oock thank you one o'clock is when we met oh okay my um spent a couple hours and then um I was like okay I guess time to go check in at the hotel so I go check in at the hotel and it's like five o'clock and and as you and I discussed there was a chance that I wasn't going to be getting into La till like8 at night in the original plan right so I'm like this is bonus time well yeah because they gave you time to scrub the chalk outline off the carpet so um da okay come on you gotta like admit what like you stay in some sketchy places like I'm actually not even joking when I say that like I mean it's it was I don't even was it a one star it was fine it was fine the Hollywood VIP Hotel check it out if uh Hollywood everybody's got a dream what's your dream what's your dream stay alive um the Hollywood VIP Hotel I would recommend it if you're on a budget and you want to stay in the heart of Hollywood it literally backs on to the Dolby Theater and Dave was performing at the cardo monobond theater how cool is that and by the way yes there was a point where someone said rich Corinthian leather uh it's on night three of Letterman but yes Ricardo montoon Fantasy Island and and many many many other things has a theater that's cool it is super cool I should have bought a shirt I didn't end up the third night that I was there when I was planning on buying a shirt a little bit flustered uh with Don KY we'll get to that so it was that's the theater he was at for the all three nights okay Monday night Tuesday night Wednesday night and uh he was hosting a show called The Gods of Comedy it's come out now who the three guests have been night one was Nate bergi night two was Sarah Silverman and night three was uh Tim Robinson I was there for nights one and three uh but that wasn't the original plan the original plan we didn't know when we were getting there so um I get there and I get checked in it's like okay well now what and uh I decide to go well I guess I might as well go down Hollywood Boulevard oh you know what I'm going to track my I'm going to track to see how far a walk it is from here to the montabon theater and it's like 5:00 how far a walk was it it was about an uh I think it was about a 15minute walk that's not bad no it wasn't bad at all oh it was fine and walking by all sorts of crazy things on Hollywood Boulevard I was taking pictures of was taking pictures of stars it's fine it was fine um taking pictures of stars uh that are Letterman related and I'll throw them into the episode here um or or just show biz related that you know uh tangent perhaps um and and and I decide to just just on a lark message one of Dave's producers um that I'm that tolerates me and um and I message I message this person and I say hey uh I'm in town earlier than I thought I was going to be um I'm G to go walk by the theater to the box office see if there's any uh single tickets available and If there are you know giddy up I'm in um and he they message me back and they say uh okay um I'll check for you or something like that I was like all right that's cool I get stoked anytime um you know these people message me back or whatever because um it's nice to be tolerated and uh so I went down there and and and um you know mosied on there because I had no agenda I had no real expectation of anything so I get there and um the security person they're just setting up because the show starts at 7:30 and so they're just sort of setting things up and what not and the security person says hey you got tickets you're a little early I'm like actually I don't uh but so and so I talked to so and so and they said that um you know there might be something here for me can I just interrupt to ask ask a question when so were people lining not lining up already because when we went two years ago you made me go down at 2 o'clock in the afternoon for an 8 o'clock show and there was so many people there no we weren't there that early all right we were there we were there probably 90 minutes early and there were a lot of people already yeah not this time no this time they started lining up about an hour early okay about an hour that's when the lineup started um how was the theater compared to the one we were at because we were in the Fonda theat the Fonda theater was where we saw them two years saw him two years ago and that was that was fine I would say I would say the experience is very similar um I liked this one a little better did you yeah a little better um but but both were both were fine sorry I didn't no no no no this is this is good this is good uh so anyway um and so the person said to me okay well who who what and I said well I named the person and they said okay and they brought their supervisor over and as they brought their supervisor over Letterman's producer starts W comes up he's walking down the street I'm like oh hey how's it going he shake hands and all that stuff and he's like um good and uh they said to the security they said to the security person um this guy's okay he's a he's he's a he's he's a Super Fan the super fan and then well yeah oh sorry that's okay on you see I did tell her a little bit about the trip see I did listen ah and then he said um actually may be the Super Fan in at what which case I was thinking Eat Your Heart Out Don Giller um but no I didn't no I didn't think that of course not I bow to the supremacy of Don Giller always and you know this but when when this person said that I was like that's funny but no my my goal actually uh wasn't just that it's like okay over the next couple years I'm going to confound that cuz I'm more than a Super Fan it's different as far as I'm concerned I'm contributing to the legacy of of of of letter and and and there's there's other things other than phandom there's there's there's a little bit different there's a couple different dimensions to it but for the good shorthand of telling the head of security or the head of whatever uh who I was okay fine um but within about 15 minutes I get a message you're covered talk to them at roll call and sure enough um so for in this instance being a Super Fan was just fine just fine just fine so thank you very much for that and I got a chance to see Letterman twice instead of just once and that was uh really really sweet of him to uh to do that um and it was uh it was it was very cool um and so I sent a message to Walter I'm like hey so and so just caught me a ticket to the show and I got a really awesome message back from him and it was wait where are you I'm like over here or whatever and suddenly from outside from behind the stage out the curtain there's Walter big wave a yeah I was very happy about that I if if I could change anything about the trip it would have been that I would have been able to take him out for lunch or something like that and hang out with Walter for a little while I I just love being in the same space as him he's got such a great energy he a good person he's a good person I love Walter and so uh but anyway so yeah so Monday night um I see uh Letterman interview Nate bergi it was an awesome example of what Dave is just a master at they had uh the the the narrative to the audience is that the two of them had never met before they had never met and Nate of course um you know he's selling out Arenas and things like that uh for his standup comedy notoriously clean uh comic and and and um um you know just just just a wholesome you know he he wants families to be able to come and see his show would you would he have been somebody that you because I mean I know you didn't know who it was ahead of time but was would he have been somebody that you would have guessed I had a list and none of the people on my list were the people that were included and and it's interesting because I thought Matt R was gonna be there re performed on the same night that Letterman performed on the third night with Tim Robinson he performed at the Hollywood Bowl um and when I went to In-N-Out burger after Letterman's third performance spoiler um uh the uh the Matt R crowd was coming into that same In-N-Out Burger yeah and so I talked to a bunch of people uh who who just came from the r show um p a pin in that I want to know more oh sure absolutely um so maybe I'll start them at R podcast will you no well you're his demo anyway um what so um he does like older women that's well thanks for explaining the joke yes that's that's exp that you sure did nice job it's that men's mental Wellness uh app that you're building right really working for me it is I talked about that a lot to people while I was down there um so anyway uh he interviewing Nate was a master class in in in simultaneously uh getting to know him um and and and and you had that first kind of five minutes of maybe a little bit of awkwardness or feeling each other out but then it just turned into this unbelievable narrative and of course Dave like he always does has done you know meticulous research he had clips of of of Nate performing and and and um it was interesting though uh very little monologue other than Dave just kind of talking to the audience and messing around with the audience he announced himself out there was no announcer oh that I know oh because that's your dream job that's I would love to bring David let him on stage one day I would love to bring David Letter if if if I was given the opportunity to come out and mess with around around with the audience a little bit and and then bring Dave on stage uh that would be that would be a kick hey Netflix if you're watching well I don't know I think that's probably Dave and hey Dave if yeah Dave's watching never mind um but anyway no so but it was funny like all three nights he introduced himself and it was and it was and it was it was really good the first night was minimal uh uh from a from a production perspective the third night a lot of production you can tell Walter had done a lot of cool stuff while he was down there we'll get to that in a minute it's interesting yeah I'll get to that in a minute it was it was it was neat it was neat to see the the contrast of two shows um very neat actually because they were very different in tone wow they're very very different in tone I don't know is right here and he's an enormous man very nice he comes up to me and listen to this this is where it gets intriguing this is where my ears really perk up the guy says Dave I said oh yeah he says I'm Larry Johnson I said oh hi hi Larry he says to me do you think that Steve Martin changed the way the world looks at things what do you what are you going to say to that no I think he's a phone I think he's counterfeit a complete jerk no you're of course you're going to say do I think Steve Martin changed the way the world looks at things of course I was just in the middle of this FunFest I want to be a part of it so I say yeah I do think Steve Martin Chang the way people and he said I'm glad to hear you say that so now you know what I'm thinking I'm thinking oh maybe he's going to say Dave I think you also that's right this is what I got in mind this is why I drove into the City and he says um I'm glad to hear you say that da because I'm currently working on a project about about somebody who also changed the way we look at things well now I'm thinking feature film something having to do with me and I said I played D I said oh yeah Larry who are you thinking about and he says it's the man who discovered the X-ray I liting um but yeah watching him with Nate was really fun um you know there's a there Nate has a has a thing where his dad comes on tour with him and and and Nate loves his father very very very much and that was that touched me for as as you know I'm going through some stuff with Dad and and um so that touched me in it was really touching there was a moment or two where I actually sort of teared up a little bit and then Dave um expertly of course as the emotion starts to get a little starts to CR he pulls it right back and makes it funny and does all these things uh very very very goodd me um David uh experience and performance and I don't know how many times I'm going to get a chance to see him live again and I'm really grateful for both of these times that night was really good now as the evening was ending after after he left the stage and whatnot I got approached by these three guys who recognized uh who recognized me and how does that feel what's that being recognized like for something other than your mug shot oh it does it doesn't happen very it's a one-off it's good it's it's NE feel like don't you don't have to be self-deprecating like how does it feel I like when folks who like Letterman like this show yeah um I I like that very very much now these guys here were wearing pants jackets oh fun yeah and so so it was neat like I'm like oh hey how'd you get those how'd you get those pant jackets and and they had been part of in 2015 or 2014 they had been some sort of part of some sort of fundraiser where they donated some money to something and I forget what it cause is I wrote it down I've got the guy's contact info he wants to come on the show I actually I'd like to have him on the show and and talk about it because he was really touched by the whole thing and uh he's in the um he's in the theater business the movie theater business and I forget how many screens he has but uh he and his between he and his buddy I think they have like 500 screens exhibitors yeah and I mean you know it was fascinating to kind of talk from California from California and and uh um it was neat talking to them about the movie business and whatnot but they were really really excited to talk about Dave they actually wanted to meet Mary um because they wanted to thank her for the experience that they got when they got the jackets and and and they showed they got a couple pictures that they had printed out did they get to me uh not there but what we're going to do is I'm G to have him uh I I would like to have him on the show and then they could say the message that they want to say and then we'll make sure it gets there gets there um and and and and go from there they were really really touched they were really happy um and then another bonus happened so so it's was good talking to those guys and as that's happening and where was that that was in the theater still we hadn't even made it out of the theater yet okay and as that was happening I got a message from Adam nidi Adam nidi is the game show historian who who's been on he's been on the show and and he's part of the Letterman fan community and and and has done he's the guy that took uh Letterman's final Montage tra uh and broke it down um and and and was featured in Rolling Stone about it or whatever and so I get a message from him going you're here he didn't know that I was there that night nobody did because I didn't know I was going to be there that night and it turns out Adam had just been at the show and when he found out I was there he came back I was like oh my God and so Adam and I hugged and hung out and we went out for pizza okay wait how did he know you were there because I put a Facebook post up I put a Facebook post up of Letterman and Nate's chair before they came out and it and and the post caption was nice legs um and I was really just really excited to see Letterman's chairs there right the the chairs for it and so I put nice legs because I thought that was that was kind of cute and clever clearly it wasn't um I I don't think were friends on Facebook you and I yeah that joke get a little bit of a Highwire act what do you mean I was gonna say I don't I don't see that post oh okay I thought that's why you were asking me if I saw that post oh no I was just saying that's what I Nate no no Adam you asked me how Adam saw me I know I but you I thought you were like saying well didn't you see the post to me no oh no it was a joke with two a picture of two chairs and the caption has nice legs gotcha no no I don't now you got to check your Facebook that's okay uh so no that's how he's that's how he he he found out I was there and so Adam and I went out for pizza and and talked for I know an hour or two um which was amazing and and it was so cool seeing him there in the flesh and again it's one of those another one of those chance meetings where it's like oh my God you know and uh that is he from California Adam is from California yeah he's in the game show business so Adam again for if if if ever you want to know about uh the history of game shows um Adam's written a bunch of books uh The Gong Show book is his most recent one and there's a really cool you know what I'll leave that for Adam to talk about um is he com there's some cool uh maybe but there's some cool um his Gong Show book is incredible and I highly recommend it uh but he came on the show here and talked about Letterman's history with game shows including the game show Robert uh also was developing all of that sort of stuff and and um he is actually a guy who I kind of look towards and go okay he has taken his P passion and and and kind of turned it into a career uh the Museum of game shows has him on retainer doing things he's also working actively in the game show business um you know how sometimes during a game show uh somebody answers a question and the host goes judges he's one of the judges he's one of the guys that that that helps with that stuff plus he's a he's a game show historian and a writer and all these things so he's working in the business and so yeah he's in California um doing that and and and uh he and I yeah just it Adam and I can get together and we can talk for hours about everything and uh so that was really cool and it was a great surprise so the Monday which could have been a throwaway day ended up with Beckerman Letterman and Adam NV and it was just uh it was a really cool experience so that was Monday very cool sounds good for our first day right very good first day and you've been up like pretty much 48 hours probably by then uh yeah you know well no because I did sleep the night before that comfort in yeah I mean CU you left really early in the morning I did leave in the early in the morning to get to get there though you're worried about getting to LA in time I wanted to make sure that I was more than in time for John yeah um and but and no that was a great first day and considering it was potentially a throwaway day um there was so so so much that happened now I don't know if we're breaking this episode up into multiple episodes or not uh but we're going to go to day two right now and uh take it from there so um any questions so far about day one no sounds like a good day okay I don't think I missed anything off of that uh day two overcoat and Underpants