Mike Chisholm

welcome once again to the Lettermen podcast my name is Mike Chisholm I am uh coming to you the way I normally do grateful excited humbled um about this project um yeah I just I I love being the host of the Letterman podcast this is uh a different episode this is our 30th episode uh our first episode was April 19th so at the time of this recording we are sitting at the 23rd of September May June July August September so we're five months into this thing and we've put out 30 episodes uh so and and so what I'm gonna do here today this is a bit of a different type of show at the as this show is released actually I'm in uh not to tell Tales out of school but I'm just actually coming home from Las Vegas Nevada and uh I'm down there um at a pro wrestling event uh I have alluded to the fact on the show that I have a history in the pro wrestling business um I ran uh or helped run I was one of three uh people who ran a charity wrestling promotion where I hail from in western Canada and um in that process I started out as kind of the business guy behind the scenes and then uh ended up going behind the curtain and becoming part of uh pro wrestling and it is a fascinating fascinating culture to be a part of so every uh every year there's a fraternity called the cauliflower alley club and I'll give them a little plug right now because they've been around since I believe the 50s Gorgeous George and some of these people those wrestlers and stunt and stunt performers uh this created this fraternity because they wanted to make sure that a lot of these people when they get into their older age uh they don't have health insurance they don't have um you know any any medical procedure you know at that time uh things weren't the way that they are now in both both professions actually stunt performers um with their their Union and things and also uh the pro wrestlers um the pro wrestlers of that day when they created cauliflower alley really built a um boy they they they carved a path for some of these ones that make money now because back then it was really thankless uh financially and so this the CAC the cauliflower rally Club was built and they built a benevolent fund for performers who have fallen on hard times they don't have health insurance and so uh every year these groups get together um it goes from the smallest of the small uh independent pro wrestlers that uh maybe nobody might have heard of all the way up to the very very very top um this year at the reunion Jerry The King Lawler is is there and hopefully by the time you see this I'll have uh secured him as a guest for the for the Lettermen podcast or at least at the very minimum uh gotten a little bit of Face Time and and gotten a chance to interview him and uh and anyways we've got more to come more to come on that but anyway um this episode is a special episode because we're going to do some reflection uh on the 30 episodes or the 29 episode 29 episodes that preced this one and uh I just uh it's not just a fact that I want to say thank you but I'm going to start it by saying thank you um yeah I can get emotional right now because at the end of the day when someone goes and chases their dream and I don't know if hosting the Lettermen podcast is the actual dream or if this is just a very crucial step in whatever the dream realized is but what I do know is is that I love these people I love that program I loved uh the culture that I felt a part of every night my best friend on TV to use the you know the shorthand uh and and and to be invited into this world if I continue to talk about this I'll get emotional and um and I'm emotional about it so so so I'm coming from a place of gratefulness hopefully uh those of you who have become uh have been early adopters and I think the first 29 episodes even if you came in even if this is your first Letterman podcast I think that you would consider yourself an early adopter of the show I just want to say thank you very very much for all of the words um most of them have been encouraging words um and for the critical words I thank you for those as well because that's what's going to get us better and I do want to get better at this thing um I think that we have gotten better I think if you look at episode one um and again no offense to Darren Cox c-o-x um and we'll get to that in a second here I'm going to do I'm gonna go through each episode a little bit and kind of give a an impression um but if you go from that episode to our last episode or latest episode before this one was which was the return of Eddie brill uh I think we're already seeing significant Evolution and that's going to continue uh part of the reason that this has come out here it's kind of a chapter and over the next few weeks you're going to see um our studio is going to change we've got some cool things here I'm gonna put a couple clips into this show uh this is probably a best to be watched on YouTube if you're listening to this on the Apple or audio on the Spotify or the Google podcasts or wherever it is that you listen to visiting audio you might actually want to flip over to the YouTube after finishing this episode uh you know on the platform that you're on we want to get the listen for that then of course like and share and subscribe on that platform then move over to YouTube and you can see some of the clips I've got a clip of the bridge um that we we got from The Late Show Set uh that's been fully restored now and I've got my reaction video to that that's going to become part of a different project as well but anyway I'm being a little bit confusing here saying these things this episode might be a better visual episode uh in a couple respects because we're gonna insert a couple Clips along the way uh but I've just got to start by talking about how grateful I am I am so grateful uh the second thing I'm going to say is that um at the end of the show or during the show I'm also going to mention people who haven't been on the show but behind the scenes have been in some respects crucial um I'm going to forget people okay so I'm just going to tell you that straight up I want to thank every single person from every viewer or listener to the people who are sitting on my right or left shoulder whispering in my ear counsel um positive or negative I just want to thank every single person uh for this because it is me chasing a dream and I've been accepted into this community by a great number of people in the community and those are the ones that I've met so far and and the ones I haven't met as I meet each one of them it's like a present being opened for me I I can't express that enough and I think the only way to I I wasn't I I haven't had Brian Ted on the show yet I can't wait to have him on um if you know Brian tedda's story it's it's it's it's it's one who many of us David Letterman enthusiasts would have given to ourselves if we could have uh the the it's it's it's storybook the guy loves the show shows up as an intern um works his way into the culture into the family gets these on-screen appearances and and they're fantastic by the way Brian Ted is uh creepy guy hanging out with Anton creepy guy in the eye creep just holy smokes are they they're hysterical um moves up moves up becomes this very um prominent member of the staff is a segment producer and and some of these other Adventures that he's got himself into if you want to you know I'll talk about last days of Letterman here when I get to Scott um but and then when the show ends goes and becomes the exact producer of The View like holy smokes there's so many of us who live vicariously through story that story and there are so many stories like that I think about Casey saying long and she was on I'll talk about her in a minute and and kellison and some of these people there are so many of us out there who live vicariously through that as enthusiasts and and I think that's part of the reason why Dave's um family of enthusiasts has the characteristics that we do that we stick together the way that we do and some of our characteristics are odd just like the people on the show are odd and to go back to I'm having a ball studying this and and reminiscing with these people and having the the stuff behind the scenes um the thank yous from them the sentiments the stories that won't necessarily be told here but just give me a bigger frame of reference for things uh I I can't tell you how grateful I am for that um and the show has provided that and and and so anyway that's enough of me talking about uh how grateful I am um the studio we are about to change uh I've got an announcement um maybe in our friends in America might not uh see this um as a huge deal up here in Canada it certainly is uh there's a company up here called Telus so down in the states you've got your DirecTV you've got your Comcast and I don't know is is is is Dish Network still a thing they merged with somebody I don't know I don't know how many providers you have down there but up here in Canada we've got three or four major national providers of of uh uh content Services uh you know cable shorthand um and and one of those companies is called Telus they actually merged from the old school telephone company and I think about you know um I think about the old telephone operator sketch on Saturday Night Live our Telephone Company used to be bctel uh BC tell when I was growing up and bctel grew and grew and grew and Amalgamated and exploded they went across the country now just tell us and they do everything well Telus has um a community programming uh component to their uh Suite of services they provide similar to you know when you watched Wayne's World back in the day uh cable access kind of like that sort of where they will actually produce content and they will put out local content and so Telus has just uh come to me and they said hey we really like what you're doing with the Lettermen podcast we want to distribute you across the country and and it's it's going to be an on-demand thing and um they're going to take 10 of our episodes and they're going to throw them up as season one you know the way they look at it it's not really a money it's not a money thing at all uh um you know infamously I'm saving myself for for if this thing's gonna turn into a money thing I'm hoping that it's could it be because we become official um with pants but but it's just cool it's a distribution thing and and and and that right there tells me we're on to something and when I say we I mean all of us as a community um so that's a pretty cool thing now with that um my wife who is the first person I gotta thank for this because candy is um uh when Dave left um he talked about Les moonves and he talked about howless moonves um was patient and he described the idea of being able to he wrote the word down he would underline patient three or four times my wife is extremely patient with me as you can probably imagine imagine being married to this you've got to have a lot of patience and a few other things as well and and you'd think she'd have a few screws loose but she doesn't she's this amazing creature and and and uh she's very patient and the support that I've gotten from her to do this off the side of my my desk um has been astounding and so anyway uh many of you know she's building a men's mental Wellness platform called he changed it uh you go to he changed it.com for the for the for the details it's a men's mental Wellness app and we can go into that another day but I host the podcast uh for that called he cast and that's where I kind of got my podcasting chops if if I have them that's where they came from and so um one of the thoughts was wow we got a little bit of grant money coming in and we would um redo the studio so that's going to be happening here and that's one of the reasons why we're doing this episode right now is because over the next few weeks and months you're about to see and hear some changes as our technology improves and all of that and I just my mind keeps going and going okay well if we're this if we're at this level already within 30 episodes what's the next 30 going to look like and I know some of the guests that are coming up and it's like holy crap we got some good things going on and um many times you don't know where you're going unless you know where you've been and so that's what this episode is this episode is going to be a retrospective of the first 30.

uh it's going to be thank yous to people uh who who gets it on the show people behind the scenes and then we're gonna throw in some little Easter egg Clips so uh I apologize for taking as long as I did to get to that part um I'm not a very good video editor as you'll be able to see as I try and Frankenstein these clips uh that I'm going to add I think I'm going to put three clips into the show here today um please bear with me I'm getting better at this believe it or not it's incremental at uh at best but it is getting better and um we're just gonna we're just gonna go from there I'm gonna go through each of the guests that we've had on the show here and and and and talk about them hopefully it will spur um an incentive for some of you who this might be your first Letterman podcast some of you might go back and listen to the whole run or watch the whole run uh I would highly recommend doing that because every single person who has been on this show has a story uh that is worth hearing if you are an Enthusiast of of David Letterman and Company as I am every single person um a lot of folks have said to us hey you know you should put some short clips from each episode up on the YouTube and things like that and let the episodes be long form but also clips of them yes you're right we should um and and and if and when I can I'm not saying I got to get paid to do this what I'm saying is when I can devote some time and resources and stuff while we're still putting food on the table and all the stuff here at the house uh um when I can get to that skill I will get to it it's on the list we want to do that because there are a lot of three or four minute Clips in this show that are gold I look at what um I look at Conan O'Brien and what Team Coco and their facility uh their their uh their Productions are doing and it's astounding to me it's like oh little Clips Long clips and our show has so much gold in it for for enthusiasts of Letterman um I can't wait to start doing that and that is gonna happen um you know we've had a lot of uh YouTube I've had quite a few YouTube YouTubers reach out to me and and and and shouting some of them saying this is what you need to do we hear you I hear you uh we'll get there well so anyway the first show in the habit of doing so this isn't this is this is real blue card this is actually uh this is a rejection car this is a postcard that you would get from The Late Show I'll read it to you it's got the uh it's got the the the name of the dress Late Show with David Letterman it's Sullivan Theater with the address Dear Sir Madam thank you for your interest in The Late Show with David Letterman unfortunately we feel that in an appearance uh is not quite right for us at this time once again we appreciate you taking the time to write and wish you every success in the future the talent Department The Late Show with David Letterman this is a comedian rejection postcard that you could get from uh The Late Show with David Letterman if you were a comedian that didn't quite reach the standard um I just like the idea of having a blue card in front of me where I can just do this even though I'm not reading anything here um it's fun and again if you're I'm just babbling listen to me Babble but I can do it and that's part of the thing is that I can I can do this and I'm excited about that and I'm also grateful for every person that says to me that um I've got something and I can do this so thank you for that as well for those people but what I'm gonna do is we are gonna go through the folks who have uh made this show a show because it certainly isn't me as I've proven so far in this first few minutes um episode one appeared on April 19th 2022 it is uh the day of the day before uh the anniversary of Dave signing off from The Late Show for the last time that was done um intentionally serendipitously if that makes any sense whatsoever it just happened to be around that time when all this stuff bubbled to the surface and all the people behind the scenes um who told me we should do this um should do this and that was a perfect time to do it so April 19th 2022 was the very first episode airing of the uh the Letterman podcast on the show our guest was Darren Cox Cox uh Darren hosts the irritable dad syndrome podcast and is um I wanted to start the show with a Community member because the show is all about folks who work for Dave folks who had a brush with the show of some sort maybe they were on the show they were featured somewhere um had some sort of a brush with the show and then also community members and I think the third one is really important that we have community members members of the Letterman Enthusiast Community who can come on here and talk about their love for what Dave and Company did it's an extremely important part of our show it's always going to be a part of our show um I will tell you this I thought that every second episode was going to be a Community member episode like we've got a lot of community members who are kind of waiting in line or we're waiting for the timing to be right Marilyn I'm looking at you um where the timing is going to be perfect for when they come on the show but I I got to tell you I've been overwhelmed with how many staffers have been being tossed at me coming at me excited about what it is that we're doing I got goosebumps as I say that uh but we are always going to keep community members um a big part of what it is that we do because that's that's why we do what we do um so Darren uh the irritable dad syndrome podcast phenomenal phenomenal guy I just appreciate him he and I become uh we're becoming good friends if a letterman podcast Network Services are when the Letterman podcast service networks we certainly want to link arms with with his show and and and move forward um with that and I just am so grateful for him uh I'll tell you this when we had Steve Young on the second time uh having Darren make an appearance on that show that's been that is really really fun and and getting to know members of this community as we have you know favorite staffers of some of these community members being able to build a bridge for people to talk to folks who worked on the show and ask questions of their own and all of that I am super stoked about that that is really really cool uh being able to make somebody's day um and and uh Darren certainly makes mine and he's had me as a guest on his podcast as well and I just appreciate him so much so that was our very first episode I thought it was a good one uh I thought they were all good episodes um but uh it was it was a great start to the show um and I remember his reaction afterwards my reaction afterwards were like oh this is this good there's something here um so this is this is a cool way to start the show episode two was Mark Carson uh Mark Carson oh my gosh here's a guy who by the way we should this is when we can have little YouTube clips by the way and and and mini episodes and things like that Mark's a guy who we I need to do this with him more and and quickly you want to talk about intentions versus the realities of life and all of that if my intentions were correct this guy would have been um if my intentions were realized he would have been on the show four or five more times we would have gone through um the Letterman bumpers book by the way get the Letterman bumpers book oh my goodness it's so good lettermanbumpers.com I believe is the website um Mark uh you know the the Late Night with David Letterman bumpers um were were so intentionally masterfully clever and and so intentionally made and and um there are little works of art themselves you know the insertion of the Late Night with David Letterman in all sorts of different settings and times and places and and I just um Mark is such a good guy and the fact that he came on episode two uh not only did it give us some credibility but I just appreciate him so much and and we wanna I wanna have more videos of him going through bumpers that we can just throw up those will be YouTube exclusives again there's ideas here right we just gotta we just gotta let it evolve we just got to let it happen or organically but there's so many ideas here um and things that we want to do so so Mark I love you I appreciate you thank you so much uh episode three and episode 29 uh Eddie Brill Eddie um you as well took a chance on us from the very beginning you didn't know me from Adam I hadn't built hardly any um you know public inroads with with with the the pants Community or the Lettermen Community um you know your family um at that point and and and and you just you took a chance and said yeah and and US bonding over hockey right away uh coincidental when there are no coincidences we all know there's no coincidences but but at the end of the day um I just appreciate the friendship the fact uh you know Candy and I are going to New York here um I'll be a week or so after this episode uh airs and we've got a lot of cool things happening when we come to New York and one of the things is um hopefully the first thing with Eddie said hey when are you coming out uh I told him he's like oh I think I'm in California that way no but it looks like he'll be back so I can't wait to to to to either break bread with you or go to The Cellar or something with you um I just appreciate your friendship so Eddie Brill um phenomenal guest uh been on twice um and I'm so excited about that uh episode four was Rob Cates and Rob Cates again here's one another one of those guys that I just appreciate so much in the Lettermen Enthusiast Community he runs I don't know how many Facebook pages devoted to uh Americana entertainment in Americana uh the Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack page that that he runs um on Facebook I think it's got 40 50 000 members something like that or he's a part of uh the Lettermen fans page comedy in America um there's I think is the late night television as well he's got all these Pages he's a part of but he's also in the television business one of the things that I love Darren Cox can be like Cox can be said the same thing you know he's in the television business I think for some reason um actually it's not some reason I think I know the reason Letterman's Productions have always tickled the fancy of many folks who work in television or broadcasting or production and I think it's because he destroyed the fourth wall and made those people part of the show and I mean it tickles me and I'm not even a part of production so I can only imagine how it makes these people feel and so we've got a lot of folks here who are involved in production um that that love uh for for a living and and they love uh that community and and everything that Dave did that Dave and Company did and so Rob I just appreciate you so much you promote every single show that we put out there we've done zero marketing for the show everybody and and we're organically growing and it's fun to do that uh I know there are little tricks and things that can be done but and we will potentially go down that path but we're just letting it unfold organically well this guy here has been a booster for us so Rob Cates thank you so so much and uh anything that we can do for you um you obviously obviously know that uh we're happy to um support anything you're doing we appreciate it um let's see episode five Mark malkov host of the Carson podcast and you know a personality uh I don't want to type cast Mark and just say oh all he did was host the Carson podcast no uh personality unto himself I just I adore Mark Mark and I think the same way we both have unbridled enthusiasm and we also have um a certain level of tenacity where we will go and and attempt to um when we want something we go for it and we ask for it and I think that is a secret to life I I think that uh that is something where it would serve people who if you have a burning desire tell somebody about it whatever it is uh you know as long as it's it's it's it's ethical legal all that kind of stuff of course but if you have a dream a pure dream inside uh something one of those childhood dreams um or even a Whimsical notion that's the thing I love about Mark Mark has a Whimsical notion and he goes for it he'll go live in Ikea for a week or however long it was he'll go you know he he does these amazing um antic stunts I always said he's like a he's like a Whimsical or positive really positive Andy Kaufman and and some of the things that he does but him hosting the Carson podcast behind the scenes he's been a guy that's given me some really good advice about this uh insights all sorts of stuff I can't wait to have more back see that's another guy we've had Eddie back on I need to get mark back on I know Mark I love you I appreciate you so much thank you very very much for um everything that you've done for us so far uh episode six was Rusty a Shackleford um there was another Letterman podcast out there it's I mean it's still technically out there uh wake the kids phone the neighbors I don't know where it's at right now I I certainly know if and when the Lettermen podcast network uh materializes the way that we hope it's going to they have a standing invite to be part of it I don't know I think they're kind of on Hiatus a little bit right now but Rusty is just a phenomenal phenomenal guy the King of the Hill podcast that he's also a part of is um really good he Rusty came on we did the post-mortem of Kevin Durant episode where we talked about uh Kevin Durant guesting on my next guest and and we kind of dissected that episode that was a really neat uh that's a fun way to get community members involved so if you out there uh would ever want to be on the show potentially to talk about one of the my next guest episodes the postmortem is a way that we involve community members in this show uh in the Letterman podcast so uh Rusty is a buddy of mine I appreciate him so much he's got a beautiful heart uh an incredible work ethic and um and and you talk about a guy who's who's looking for moving towards his dreams as opposed to working you know construction all that kind of stuff yeah but he's he's busting his butt to try and get out of that to work towards his dreams which is very similar to the dream that I have to be uh to be a broadcaster and again all thanks to Dave for showing us that example that you know sometimes it's really worth chasing your dreams uh so Rusty and I link on a whole bunch of things so grateful that he was here okay so episode seven and eight Tom [ __ ] threesome um I I I I don't know what to say about Tom Dreesen um other than uh holy smokes I I have said when I met Tom and he came on this show and I basically that all happened in one day ladies and gentlemen uh Tom and I connected we had a quick phone call um in that phone call he and I connected really well he said yes he'll come on the show we had the phone call and then after and and then in the middle of the phone call he said you know what I want to come on the show I'm sure it's going to be okay but I I have to get Dave's permission first because he heard about what the show was and he realized and he said okay I just want to make sure that it's okay with Dave which the uh level of anxiety that hit me at that point because I mean I'm online meeting a guy that I have literally watched as a comrade of David Letterman from when I was like I 10 years old nine years old and and it's like oh that's Dave's buddy I've always known him as Dave's buddy and funny as hell like I I always think about his joke uh you know I hear you're dating a homeless woman and Tom says yeah it's great after we're finished I could drop her off anywhere and I mean I'm butchering the joke but I think about that joke and it makes me laugh every single time so much so that I can't even say it right it just I butcher it uh but but I Tom so I'm meeting him and it's the high of beating him online exchanging holy crap I'm talking to Tom reason that's like hey give me a call and now I'm talking to top recent on the phone so the high and then suddenly oh I think I gotta call Dave before I come on the show click okay and then it's like oh my gosh the panic and as much as I love talking to Tom it's like oh crap now I might not get a chance to talk to Tom the way I want to talk to him which is on camera asking him all these questions for the benefit of myself but also everybody else out there who have these these questions and thankfully the universe uh only played with me my heart my emotions for about 40 minutes because about 40 minutes later he calls me back he said oh yeah Dave said it's fine and even had an idea that we you know we might do it in the future so I'm not gonna I'm not gonna spoil it here but but and then talking to him like I asked for 45 minutes he gave me two and hours plus plus plus like it ended up being two episodes and I gotta tell you um the shorthand that I have said about meeting Tom Dreesen was that uh it's like meeting uh your favorite uncle for the very first time so so uh you know sorry Uncle Gary I apologize I I loved you you know we had all these memories my whole life when I met Tom it's like holy smokes this guy and you know Uncle Gary understands um he Tom has been so kind and generous to me to other folks in the in the in the Letterman Enthusiast Community um he is exactly what you saw on the show and then some because the kindness and warmth and and his desire to help others um he has given me advice that I'm not going to go into here it's weird that my show our show has inside baseball you know I always talk about how I'm not gonna We're not gonna talk about Scandal or gospel inside baseball about in the Letterman Community that's not what the show's about it's interesting that my show now has that a little bit um nothing salacious or bad it's just you got to know what Lily had to step on and which one to avoid um and Tom has helped with that and and I just appreciate him so much in the leadership that he has given me um I love you Tom reason I thank you so much for being you uh then we got uh episode nine uh Scott Ryan I will never not talk about this book um if you want to read a celebration of a piece of television history that in my my opinion the greatest six weeks of broadcasting history is the last six weeks of The Late Show um an incredible finish to an incredible career with all sorts of stuff uh behind the scenes because it's the family if there is any project that inspired this podcast in its tone in what it's going to be about it was this book I love Bill Carter's books again I I fully anticipate now at some point uh Crossing pass with Bill Carter I certainly hope that's the case please let that be the case sooner than later uh but Scott Ryan's book the last days of Letterman is a phenomenal read That's where Brian tedda's story is in there and and and countless others uh from people on the staff um folks who have been on the show um and you know what this is where because I can't forget him I'm not gonna forget him I I would not know uh Rick sheckman I wouldn't know shecky if it wasn't for for Scott and this book uh Scott Ryan and I became friends he's been on he cast a couple times um he and I have gone back and forth uh I the very Incarnation for those of you and there's been a couple people who have mentioned hey I saw something on on YouTube called Tales From The Late Show yeah okay uh that was kind of the the Genesis of this thing was the Tales From The Late Show interview that I did with with art and Scott and and and um and that was before he cast that was before anything and so uh Scott and I became acquainted online and then became friends um way before the Letterman podcast and I just can't tell you the feeling of reaching out to somebody whose work you admire and then them coming back and realizing oh there's a Twin Peaks connection and oh there's a kindness connection where we look at life a little bit differently um than say some other people that are out there and kindness is something that we bonded over and and and and Scott is just an incredible human being uh Scott ryanproductions.com to check out all of the different books that he does his Moonlighting book is incredible we got it over there um and and his twin peaks books and um all sorts of amazing things uh please please check out Scott Ryan stuff and I just Scott I [ __ ] love you you're amazing um episode 10 uh was and uh she was on episode 10 and also episode 17.

um Irene Hoffman now Irene Hoffman I'm gonna talk about Rupert here because um Irene Hoffman is um uh did we do yeah we did oh you know what we haven't done the okay I missed an episode I missed episode um I missed episode there's a bonus episode in there and we'll talk about that in a second here but uh actually you know what I'll talk about it right now um in between episodes four and five there was an extra episode uh and that was called the letter Manifesto and the letter Manifesto was me telling the story of there the Q a with Dave and I I'll get to that in a second here I got a couple I got a couple versions of the picture I'm gonna show um but that story The Narrative in many respects wouldn't be here or this podcast wouldn't be here were it not for that that night in New York that story um Irene who was an English teacher uh retired now but she was one of those teachers she was one of those teachers that you know when you you think about think about the teachers that impacted you most in your life okay there's a whole bunch of people who I read would be at the top of that list she's just an incredible person and um she read my story and it's a raw raw raw form and she said okay not Rah Rara like a cheerleader but like raw um uh unedited unbridled um a mess really and and but she saw the joy in it and she shared that Joy the way that all of us as enthusiasts um share uh just in our own different way and and she said hey this is amazing um and I'm Rupert G's girlfriend uh you've just inspired me I went and saw the show x amount of times and and she and I bonded we became friends and then that led to the friendship with Rupert and this is all before the podcast came out and and she helped me edit the document and I've read that document so so there's a bonus episode in there that isn't really considered into the Canon of the Letterman podcast but it's there in the in the YouTube channel it's called the letter Manifesto and that's me reading that out um so Irene edited that document for me and helped make it better um so I appreciate that about her uh that she spent hours with me because I think the document has 12 000 words or something it's like two chapters in a book that's how long the document is me chronicling the story of of of of that picture um and the picture of me behind Dave's desk um a month before the show ended so Irene and I became friends and and um so another Community member but also Rupert G's girlfriend so that kind of puts her into a different category like we're all unique on our own with our own stories but she is um and her enthusiasm is amazing and I just appreciate her she's been on twice um the second episode where she was uh showing from from the uh the family house that she has over in Greece um as well um Rupert has said to me so many times oh you gotta show this you gotta like we would love to do an episode in Greece when you know and and yeah a few days after and I don't think I'm telling Tails out of school because we're okay now a few days after that episode was shot uh was shot and and and um released Irene took a major fall um in in Greece and and I don't want to tell Tales out of school but the injury was severe um and uh she's still healing so I just want to say Irene we love you um we're so grateful for you and I haven't been public about it until now uh because you know we wanted to see how things um shaked out and we want to respect privacy and all of that stuff but um the sentence that I'm about to say there's a whole bunch of people and I'm gonna go back to shacky in a second here there's a whole bunch of people who this podcast would not exist if it wasn't for them and it can be said for many many many people okay that's how I know this thing is supposed to be done because there's so many people who if they didn't do or say what they did when they did this podcast wouldn't exist Irene is one of them Rupert G is one of them is one of them shecky um I don't know that I'll ever have shaky on um but the fact is uh I don't know if I should say this out loud or not Rick sheckman is my no you know what um there was a conversation that I had with him and I said look okay so Rick scheckman and I um there's a legendary radio guy named Alex Bennett Alex Bennett was WABC but also legendary in San Francisco and and and for Old School New York radio fans you will understand the statement Alex Bennett paved the road that Howard Stern drove over I was talking about the pro wrestlers earlier the pro wrestlers of the 60s and 70s uh made it so Hulk Hogan could blow the industry up and I'm being I'm truncating but you understand the example Alex Bennett was uh uh a bit of a brat on the radio before any of these other people and inspired many of these folks um and so I do a Facebook show every week and check he's on it check he invited me to be on it and I'll tell you this um a year and a half ago on that show we were just talking about what was going on I'm just a panelist on the show and and I try and contribute where I can and and and Alex and Jackie are really good friends and Alex said to check hey what are you doing today and check he goes oh I'm going on um uh some guy is doing uh a podcast devoted to David Letterman and immediately my heart exploded in my chest and I'm sitting there on panel of the smile on my face and if you go back and watch the moment uh you actually kind of see my heart drying up a little bit because doing this was always something like I was always waiting for the Letterman podcast to come out I was waiting for it and I would consume it voraciously it's ironic I don't like watching or listening to myself back it's ironic that the content in this show is something that I'm a part of because it's frustrating to watch it but I have to watch it because what the guests say is so the conversations to me are so compelling but anyway so at that point check he said I'm going to go on this show and um and my heart broke and I said to Jackie oh hey that's you just described my dream job someone who's doing a podcast about a daily letter you just described my my dream job and and check he was like oh okay well all right and uh and so anyway we got through the show or whatever and a few hours later I get a message from check he goes oh oh just so you know I just did that podcast I was talking about he goes yeah it was the it was the Carson podcast with Mark malkov which of course I knew about and had watched so many of them and it was like oh my God suddenly my dream is back alive again suddenly the Letterman podcast is back on the table and um so anyway a few months later go by a few months go by and and Alan Coulter passed away and it's like okay are you [ __ ] kidding me here's a guy who would have gone on the Letterman podcast whoever hosted it the one that kind of goes and gets The credibility and gets all those things there's a guy who would have gone on that show multiple times because he just is a kind sweet man who loves talking about this stuff and he passed away and it's like okay well if someone's not gonna do it I gotta I gotta do it and it is my dream job like this is my dream job and so I I had a conversation with shecky and I'm only gonna I'm not gonna say the exact analogy that we used and all that but I said I said what do you think and he again this podcast would not exist if it wasn't for Rick scheckman so um shecky I [ __ ] love you I'm thinking about you right now especially right now at the time of this recording um thank you for everything that you have done uh I'm not going to get into the inside baseball of things but and again just like with Tom you've given me some really uh well-crafted uh Council and I just appreciate that so much so anyway shacky there's your thanks right there um Rupert uh and Irene so grateful for you guys uh I can't wait for we got some more to come with some things with uh with these two characters um and I just appreciate the fact that uh so many of Irene's students have reached out since she's been on this this show so there's a couple right there that uh we'll throw out um I have no idea how much time has gone by but we're just gonna keep on plugging through the next guest was Jeff Altman and just like Tom Dreesen many of the things could be said saw him as Dave's buddy from when I was a kid uh highly recommend this the Jeff Altman episode I mean and Tom Dreesen I mean if you want insights into into into Davis um these gentlemen certainly um talk about that uh you know in such a a different way um than maybe people who worked with Dave and and talking about The Comedy Store and the stories coming up and all that stuff Jeff Altman is ridiculous he is so funny I can't believe I haven't gotten to do creepy baby for me yet uh but he uh but but I have him in my telephone as Jeff butt steak Altman uh for those who remember the butt stake him coming on and just talking about a butt steak and the voice that he used and I just I am so he's my friend now he's been on my men's mental Wellness podcast that episode just dropped last week um I may take some of them and throw them into the into the Facebook group you know we've had Scott Ryan on that episode Jay Ryan's been on that episode uh on that show um Jeff Altman as well so I may throw the links up to those because they are kind of insightful um from a letterman perspective just second second hand um so let me throw those on but Jeff Jeff was just um our second or third phone call he he he flat out he you know and Jeff will break into a voice he'll break into a character he'll say crazy things uh what you see on screen is what you get when you are our buds with with Jeff Altman and and he said to me maybe our second or third call he was Mike just so you know we're friends you don't have to I'm a guy that encourages anyway and I and I talk about when I talk to people that I'm grateful for I will say it but he said to me he just went to reassure me he goes just so you know you don't have to say how grateful you are for me or whatever we're friends now you can just treat me like a friend and I'm like well this is how I treat my friends but but holy [ __ ] you just made me feel uh 10 stories bigger than I actually am and so I just appreciate Jeff so so much and he's also given me some some of that uh advice um in the background so I appreciate that um we're up to 12 Daniel Callison I so the Madonna story and the Drew Barrymore story and the and the um um my peter O'Toole's story those stories are worth it right there but more so you talk about a guy who gets plucked and and and gets to go after his dream and now gets to kind of live his dream um Daniel kellison is just I'm so grateful for him he was helped on the way up um and and and he helps people like like a [ __ ] he helps people and I just appreciate Mr kellison so so much uh I hope I'm gonna throw this out to the universe right now I hope we got some projects together that we can maybe work on I mean maybe it doesn't happen but if it does oh man how fun could this be working with some of these folks um in a way where we can all kind of be creative be ourselves but also really talk about uh our enthusiasm for everything when it comes to Dave and Company and and I mean talking about Norm Macdonald with him and and and uh we haven't talked Kimmel yet but that'll that'll come too and and there's there's things that are happening and I can't wait to have him back can't wait to have him back on the show but again so grateful for Daniel kellison uh for a variety of reasons Daniel you know what you've done for us and I just want to say thank you for that as well um next episode art Kelly oh man so this is another guy this is again the show would not exist where not for art Kelly period it just is um uh we tell the story about my first uh pants jacket that I got uh where he gave me a note that said welcome to the family I got again I can't focus on that or I will weep I will literally weep um and and I just art just uh recently had a stroke uh there still might be a GoFundMe out there for art and I just he's fine he's he's doing okay he's he's stroking along as he likes to say which I just appreciate um art I love you and I'm so grateful for you we're grateful for you here on the show and uh just again you talk about interesting characters that worked for pants and and Dave and Company and uh art certainly is is an interesting character uh I appreciate you so so much art um Jay Ryan okay so Jay Ryan again this podcast does not exist if it's not for Jay Ryan Jay Ryan's the guy who uh he's got David Letterman's massive pieces of David Letterman set on his show uh he has got a set for a show called cars and comedy he's got the late night place at the late night place that is one of Dave's old desks um in my opinion the quintessential Dave's desk if there was any of Dave's desks that I want other than maybe the last one with the lights in it and everything and uh that one there has a special place in my heart I believe that's at Ball State right now um but he's got the deaths that Drew Barrymore danced on that Bill Murray wrote Dave on the first Late Show desk he's got that he's got Dave's microphone um well you know having him on our show um was incredible but the fact that I have a relationship with Jay where he and I are brothers there's no and if you've got if you if you are a brother um with another brother you know that that is a unique relationship um Jay's an only child but but he's got a whole bunch of siblings all over the place where the relationship is just really unique and and Jay and I have that and and I just appreciate him to no end uh originally when I when I when I talked about this show when I was having my um imposter syndrome stuff really hit me uh I didn't think I should be the guy to host this show I didn't think I could be the guy I was I was I was I was eligible to be the guy um and I said Jay you should host the show and I can help you and he just he goes no you should Host this show and he gave me uh you know what I gave Jay a good listening to and uh I at this point here we're going to show some breaks because I'm gonna we're gonna break it up a little bit we're gonna show a couple of those clips um when I actually went down to California uh to see Dave live but also to be on um the late night Playset for that show uh with my wife candy um Jay the thought that Jay puts into things is astounding he's got a beautiful heart and an amazing mind and um when you look at his uh story and the cars in comedy and uh the legacy of the late night playset and where it's come from and where it's going and what it's all about with his wife Nicole who's a beautiful beautiful soul um you know in the throes of Ms right now and and just watching what they're doing um the the the lemonade they're making with the lemons that they've been given is just um astounding to me and uh I just Jay I love you and I'm so grateful for you and uh we're gonna show a couple clips of candy and I coming onto the late night Playset for the first time which Jay had the forethought to record and they haven't been really shown very much Jay showed my reaction a little bit Candy's hasn't been shown at all so we're gonna take a break right now and we're going to show our reactions to uh when we came on The Late Night Playset for the very first time you were supposed to record Mike but you're how are you doing like nothing I've seen before I don't even know what to say I don't think you're the coolest [ __ ] I've ever seen I'm I'm I'm what are you listening right now I'm looking at one of the most openest artifacts in broadcasting history right now what's up this one David Letterman's microphone for a long time and it was a microphone for somebody else for a long time and I don't know what that history is but this was Dave's microphone from late night and it moved over to the Late Show this is an artifact it's hooked up pal Bill Murray wrote Dave across this desk the very first night of the Late Show who Barrymore danced on this desk right here and showed Dave her Todd Thomas but she said happy birthday and said happy birthday okay uh I hope you like those clips those of you listening to this thing audio wise um sorry watch the Youtube after hopefully you got a flavor for the excitement that we had uh Jay I love you the show wouldn't exist without you thank you um the postmortem of Jerry Seinfeld uh Rob Cates came back on we talked about that Rob Cates love you appreciate you episode 16 Tommy ruprecht Tom ruprecht is an amazing Letterman writer I think personally that he's also an Entertainer but he's also got a family and he's trying to jiggle everything and find where he is going next in the in the entertainment world I I just really appreciate him Great Moments in presidential speeches that's him the George Bush uh President George Bush um a segment that would be done on Late Show I would say a different time when when presidents are talked about in late night now um very different tone than when President Bush was talked about uh and even President Clinton for that for that matter Baba on The Late Show um Tommy I just appreciate Tommy so much he wrote a book about uh about uh the foreign president as well Tommy is one of the smartest writers I've ever met um and and and he again another guy who didn't really know me from Adam and took a chance and I can't wait to have him back on the show um again when we talk about Eddie Brill our second episode was very different than our first episode because Rapport was built and all of that um I just appreciate Tommy so so much and uh anytime Tommy has a project uh you know Tom if you're listening and or watching why would you be but if you if you know if anybody who knows Tommy tell him anytime there's a project coming out get it to us we will promote it as much as we can and that promotion arm is starting to get a little stronger it's starting to get a little stronger and we're I'm excited about that um as the Letterman podcast network uh becomes a thing we want to be able to be our dream is to be in a place where we can help Shepherd um projects of any former staff or anybody in the family or or or or whatnot we're excited about the idea of that and and I'll just throw it out there publicly right now uh I would love to see Tommy do something and and be a part of it somehow he's just a really really cool human being and I just appreciate him so much um the next two episodes Steve O'Donnell having Steve O'Donnell on this show um so many it was such a long episode there was a power outage in the middle and I had a lot of questions about that episode was any of that staged what what exactly happened there part it was almost creepy and and and then going into the second episode it was so it just I've had a lot of folks ask about that episode everything about that episode was 100 um organic we didn't edit anything out of it other than the power outage and and that just broke between the two episodes um and and the the the if our show is going to have a cliffhanger it's going to be how did Steve O'Donnell meet shecky for the first time that's a pretty funny Cliffhanger like to me um I don't know if it's funny anybody else but anyway it's it's it's I kellison talked about how Steve O'Donnell gave him a helping hand Steve Young talked about how Stephen Donald gave him a helping hand there have been others behind the scenes who have told me how much Steve O'Donnell has given them given them a helping hand I just we're going to New York in a couple weeks and he offered to serve my wife and I canapes um which just it's funny on so many levels and and um uh pedophores and and and and all of the all of the little gifts that I've gotten from Steve O'Donnell um along the way here I just can't thank him enough for uh the support the legitimacy that he has given this show um our show had a major major uptake in momentum after Steve O'Donnell appeared on it um and I'm not just talking numbers the numbers are the numbers but but also in folks who have reached out to me and and and who um I've reached out to uh with a much easier result having Steve on the show never mind the fact he is a genius uh legitimate comedy writing genius or talks about Norm Macdonald by the way I'm a huge fan of the cartoon Space Ghost Coast to Coast and and the fact that he was a part of that uh we didn't talk about it the first time like there's a lot left on the table as Steve O'Donnell obviously there's a lot left on the table with all of these people anyway uh Steve I love you I appreciate you thank you for who you are and I look forward to any um and all future uh projects encounters whatever it is that we're doing here um episode 20 was Tom bones Malone now we've only had one member of the band on here I'm working on a couple other ones but Tom uh is a hell of a guy if we only have one member on of the band on the show uh ever this is the a phenomenal phenomenal offering uh Tom's episode was fantastic uh of an amazing talent I can't wait to help uh to have him on again to promote some of the stuff that he's got going on as well I just appreciate him fellow trombone player uh if you want to call what I did that um he is a an absolute Gem of a man and musical genius at the same time I just appreciate him so so much um then we go back into another writer Steve Weiner oh man I love Steve Winer and uh and and the people who come with him um the people he's attached to he is an original quintessential um creator of the original late night he was there at the very beginning as a writer uh you know the shorthand as we talk about the glass breaking gag and how that was um him yes it was but so much more and again he and Carl comedy writing team uh discovered Calvert De Forest yes great um but the insights and talking about him and and in in his Further Adventures with Robert Klein with the Mickey Mouse Club and and just where he's gone and and a friendship has developed uh as well here and I he's an awesome guy and I just appreciate him so much uh I wish he had a podcast I would watch it or listen to it um I love Steve and and the people who are attached with him so uh and hopefully more to come with him as well then we get to another Steve Holy Smoke Steve Young been on twice already he was on uh his own featured episode and then also um when we uh did an entire two-hour Deep dive into his documentary bathtubs Over Broadway uh his and deva's uh documentary that they they put out about industrial musicals phenomenal phenomenal episode uh in its own right and um I hope that the bathtubs Over Broadway Community because it is a call it's already a cult classic and and and the thing about cult classics is many times uh when someone discovers it they go out and tell 10 people about it and and I don't think the story of bathtubs Over Broadway is even close to being done yet I think that people are still discovering it if you haven't watched it go watch it I don't know where it's on streaming I just went to the iTunes store and bought it or to the Apple uh TV store and bought it uh highly recommend it I would recommend doing that as well and I don't have it down here God damn it I wish I was a professional um also everything's coming up profits his book um he's still got a few copies left go to Steve youngworld.com if you want to check that out uh I've got I bought a copy off of him and he the the the the inscription that he gave to me was amazing and I just want to say what a beautiful piece of of uh of artistic uh literature that was created with that book as well um check out the Steve Young episodes uh and I appreciate I I appreciate Steve very very much and again more to come um Gerard Mulligan Jerry Mulligan I man what a great episode what a great guy and there's a guy that I really want to connect with more if possible we had a blast on our episode um you know and we're getting to the point now we're we're almost current now we're getting there's only a few left before getting us to the place that we are now legend legend was there writing monologue jokes for when David Letterman guest hosted The Tonight Show which was one of the things that leveraged his ability to have the morning show which leveraged late night are he was there right from the start he and I hit the tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg and and had so much fun doing it and I can't wait to have him back on again um and again being able to throw in questions to him from the Letterman Community uh the chicken the whole cicada thing happened because of someone else in the Letterman community and and I'm just so grateful for that as well um so Jerry Mulligan I love you thank you so much for being on on the Letterman podcast that was a great episode uh Vinnie favali okay so far more to come but also you got a couple of people who have very similar energies to each other Vinnie and I I don't know who can out Enthusiast the other one uh we both have incredible enthusiasm and uh when we come to New York if that's a guy that I really want to connect with I want to make sure I connect with him if possible um because whoa man did they ever pick the right Network executive I think about I think about the legacy of network Executives for late night okay and and and and and the way that Dave um use them as devices very difficult because Vinnie was the late the the executive uh liaison between CBS and Late Show really hard for Dave to to use Vinnie as a device other than on the show and when he's on the show was fantastic it was great but very very hard for him to you if any ain't no Pinhead he ain't no weasel he's not that guy he's like flat out team Dave working for CBS which is amazing then the Howard Stern connection as well and there's just it's so Kismet storybook whatever you want to call it he was the perfect guy and and I mean again I'll tell you this one of my very favorite moments in the entire ligament Letterman history was the John McCain moment and and he was the perfect guy to talk about that's John McCain moment with um just love him love him love him love him uh thank you Vinnie Casey Saint Ong oh man did I ever love that episode uh first off Billy Busy Phillips is doing her best that's the podcast that Casey is on please go and and watch and listen especially um uh you know there's so many good episodes for Rosie episode early on her David Letterman episode early on her Merrell Marco uh or or okay so this is a this is the thing in the episode that Casey and I did she pronounced mural Marco and I was like really and I don't I just think it might be the fancy way of saying Merle Marco but Muriel Marco oh that well okay then uh you want to talk about Merrell dream guest for us of course Casey's had her on her podcast uh phenomenal episode um but Casey and I had an incredible conversation and this is another person who I hope down the line it's 11 podcast Network grows and whatnot hopefully there's some sort of uh parallel lines that can be drawn um that that can connect us um but this is a buddy of mine now as far as I'm concerned I appreciate her to no end and her episode is incredible she came on uh resume pulled out of the reject pile by David Letterman himself he had a funny name you know becomes his assistant at the most incredible time in broadcast history when The Late Show began and within three years a writer moves over to Rosie writes writer the whole time and moved up moved up moved up moved up became a showrunner for busy Phillips's show before it was it was canceled and and wrongfully canceled in my opinion um just an incredible story and and I just appreciate her so much and she has insights as to what I think are very important insights as to the future of what late night is going to look like not to show the genre and uh can't wait to talk to her more about that but Casey is just an amazing person um George Schweitzer holy smokes was that ever fun hey I'm gonna I'm gonna bet you something you want to make a bet that a marketing executive can make an amazing podcast guest well I'll win the bat because George came on our show and we talked about all sorts of stuff he was a he was a legend in in being a late night executive and and George is um I'm so appreciative that he took a chance to come on because he didn't really know what he was getting into he didn't know how his memory was going to be and and he and I had a conversation I can't wait to have the next conversation with him as well because we can go deeper on some things uh talking about all of the Antics from from from the the moving over from NBC to CBS uh and all of that he was in charge of that entire marketing campaign um to you know Dave's big number three in late night billboard oh my God he he you know Green lit that and and and you know the Super Bowl commercial and all the things that we talked about um but more so the little story stories that he threw in there the little details that he threw in there a phenomenal I use the word phenomenal a lot I apologize but that was a really really great episode um and then that brings us to uh you know Jody Ebert the fu guy and I believe with the trajectory trajectory of our show um moving into the next phase the next 30 episodes the next 60 90 whatever however many episodes I I hope it's a thousand um episodes that we do um having Jody on the guy who would come in and scream [ __ ] you to Alan Coulter and then Paul Shaffer and then David Letterman oh my God talking to him about that is is it was so much fun and and getting his insights as to some of the behind the scenes um stories about that incredible he and I are becoming buds now as well it just that's just what happens I guess when you have these uh hour and a half two hour conversations with people they're kind of bonding and and I oh I'll take more of it more of it more of it that's fantastic uh we're gonna do some contests here he's got a cameo account if you search up uh Jody Ebert no relation to uh Roger Ebert that we know of that's a joke that people who are you know below 35 just will not understand uh but anyway no relation to Roger that we know of um having Jody on the show was so much fun he's got a cameo uh account that uh you know so you can hire him to uh give a message to somebody we're gonna have a contest here uh at the Letterman podcast soon and Jody's gonna be involved in that that's going to be a lot of fun um that's been our guests so far we've talked about a few of the people behind the scenes that have uh haven't been on the show necessarily Rupert and I are going to do some stuff when we go to New York just so you know everyone's I've been asked if there's a question I've been asked more than anything well if Rupert's a sponsor on the show how come you haven't had him on the show it's coming okay and our version of it is going to come obviously we want to make every guest as comfortable as they possibly can be you know and and so we want to be very very mindful of that uh with everybody plus we want to do some fun things as well and with Rupert there's some really fun things that are coming um okay so we're gonna finish up here soon um I'm gonna okay I wasn't sure if I was gonna do this there's two gentlemen I want to thank one is Dave and the other one is Dave's guy and that's all I'm gonna say Dave's guy uh Dave's guy I just want to say thank you very very very much for um I met you in California when we were going to see Dave record uh that's my time with David Letterman um and and I know that many times you have to make very quick decisions and and Impressions and and your instinct has to serve you in many things at least that's my perception of things it certainly was that night um and that night while I didn't get a chance to get in front of Dave and of course not he's in between shows Netflix has given him notes he's doing wardrobe changes and all that and I get it totally get it uh that photo which was taken that night um you took two copies of it from me and uh this is pen to paper from David Letterman if it wouldn't for Dave's guy that's uh to Mike nice seat David Letterman and I actually had two copies of the photo with me because I was gonna actually give one to a gift for somebody else and that person said you know what don't worry about it get two for yourself and so yeah Dave's guy actually got Dave to sign the second one too and it was two Mike my best friend David Letterman uh I have been assured um from folks inside the camp that Dave actually did sign it there are legends in the Lettermen lore that certain members of his staff had his autograph down to a t um but this one here was actually signed uh from Dave so that's mean Dave that was great watch the litter Manifesto if you want to know about that story um but Dave's guy uh I appreciate you and I I'm gonna tell you why I appreciate you I'm gonna tell the audience why I appreciate you um when Al Franken when Senator Al Franken came on uh his last appearance on The Late Show he playfully and thank goodness um incorrectly predicted that David Letterman was going to retire and become an eccentric recluse um uh and and we we all thought that was funny because Johnny Carson when he retired we never really heard from him again in fact if you look at um the very last microphone that Mr Carson used uh on a television broadcast is the one that's sitting on Jay Ryan's desk right now and and Johnny retired and that was and that was when he appeared on Letterman's uh Late Show in California so there was a lot of us out there who thought that that was going to happen to Dave that on April 20th or May 20th I should say um by the way our first episode it was uh the day before that picture was taken sorry it wasn't when Dave left Dave left a month later I just wanted to correct that real quick um there's a lot of folks that thought after May 20th we'd never see Dave again and the reason I'm thanking Dave's guy right now is because um because of him and other people around it's not just him but we've seen a lot of Dave and he's a big part of that and also the fact that I can very carefully every once in a while bug him uh Dave's guy thank you for being Dave's guy okay um the other guy I got to thank of course is David Letterman um I don't know that I'll ever have Dave on the show I know he know that knows that we exist and that gives me a certain kind of delight um when Scott wrote this book he didn't get Dave in the book now he has done many things since then including um have a panel with folks that are featured in the book monitored by Bill Carter of all people holy crap and and somebody uh let Dave let Scott know that Dave appreciated the book very very much did indeed receive his copy of it and was delighted that this book was based on the staff which makes sense to me um in everything that I know about Dave um that makes a lot of sense to me um we're trying to do that here as a living project and and I just want to say I hope I'm doing right I hope we're doing right by you by this project um I just want to say thank you Dave for inspiring me you jumping in that pickup truck and saying you wanted more in life and you wanted to shoot for what you were looking for and maybe it was a writing job at the time because you just the dream was so big that you couldn't even fathom it I've gone through imposter syndrome we've got a project coming out that's going to talk about that called the unlikely host of The Lettermen podcast I'm going to show a clip from that actually to finish this episode here we've got uh the bridge I'm looking at it over there oh it's so beautiful I've got a restored Bridge from uh from The Late Show set and we're gonna show that clip here to finish this episode that's how we're going to finish it um but you jumping in that truck and doing that I didn't have my moment knowing my moment might be communications class I didn't have my moment uh when I was in high school but I had it a few years ago where I realized this is what I've my heart's desire is and um having watched and wanting to be part of what it was that you guys did for so long and then going back and knowing that you jumped in a truck and took a chance and what it led to and I just uh with the ups and the downs and all of that stuff and and also the character of who you've become um and your growth has inspired uh I just want to say thank you to David Letterman for doing what you've done for being as kind and as generous as as you have been with all the ups and the downs and and and and um eccentricities of all of the characters involved yours but also everybody around you and and all of that stuff um I just want to say thank you very much for inspiring things and uh we talk about more to come there's a lot more to come from the Lettermen podcast especially if we have something to say about it we got nothing to lose just let's throw it out there uh thank you as well for not just uh hitting the red button and say let's shut these guys down thank you for that and thank you to Dave's guide to other people who are involved there as well there's other people behind the scenes that I want to thank um I'm going to thank Walter Kim as well you're doing a masterful job um and then uh I don't want to exploit anything or tell any Tales out of school thank you for being you because you've inspired me believe it or not you have inspired me just as much as David Letterman so don um thank you for everything that you are and I'm just going to leave that at that uh okay that is the 30th episode of the Letterman podcast we're going to finish it off by showing another video here um this is my reaction to seeing the restored Bridge the Verrazano Bridge by the way from the David Letter From The Late Show with David Letterman set that was saved on D-Day dumpster day May 21st when everything was being um callously thrown away and so many of us who are enthusiasts of Letterman and Company were devastated watching this um this bridge was saved uh it was stored and made its way into uh what's going to be our renovated Studios uh grubby little hands and um we had a very very painstakingly um uh restored by a friend and neighbor of mine and uh we're about to finish the show by looking towards the future by showing my reaction uh to this bridge uh this has been a very long episode 30th episode uh for those of you who have hung around the whole way wow well done um for those of you this is your first episode don't worry they get a lot better because the guests are way better than I am uh obviously um please don't let this episode be something that detracts you from watching future ones because every single guest who is on the show deserves to have their story told and I'm doing my very best I will continue to do better um as as good as I possibly can um please join the Facebook group The Lettermen podcast Facebook group let's build this community to thousands and thousands of members lots of these postcards I've got scripts uh I've got a little take on giving away a letterman a late show jacket I'm going to give away a late show jacket um cannot wait for the reaction to that what I just said uh because it's gonna be pretty I think it's gonna be pretty funny but that's just me uh we're gonna give away a late show jacket um and uh peace and love and again I finished the way that I started um out of a spirit of gratefulness uh so we're gonna show this video at the end here but that has been another episode of The Lettermen podcast with Mike Chisholm coincidentally uh I am Mike Chisholm thank you and my neighbor Ty his Workshop I am uh very very excited he has uh he and Ally right Ty correct did uh the restoration of the David Letterman Bridge and uh oh my God it is like it's brand new dude holy crap okay so this is gonna be the backdrop uh in the new studio for the Lettermen podcast and uh I am just so darn grateful so um I have a down payment for this restoration work it is a bottle of Canadian whiskey called bear face uh highly recommend it and uh an envelope full of cash and that's our down payment and we'll talk about the rest of it after this is unbelievable thank you you're very welcome are you still are you still rolling I I am but I can stop it here no no real quick real quick so uh let me talk about the things that I notice and then if I miss anything you can let me know true okay clean clean is a whistle holy was that difficult uh it did we had to strip it all down we ended up polishing the Plexiglas the best we could there was tons of pitting and uh yeah residual paints and I'm not even sure what else was on there um so we took all the the pinstriping off um the paint and then we ended up um repainting it and uh re-pin striping it as close as we could um yeah put some more LEDs on there and the LEDs of course I mean that's the next so the sharpness of the lines the definition it looks so good and it's so clear and then of course the lights the working LED lights is this is this on or off or are there settings for the lights yeah so there's the remote there actually by your left hand um so you're able to control it so there's a few different settings modes brightnesses um and then there was extra lighting so if you wanted to run some of it uh in the rest of your studio you could just on the right hand side you can see the spool of it oh my gosh guys oh there's the uh there's the seizure one yeah I like this one the one that fades in and out yeah oh I think this is gonna be the background I think we're gonna try this one this will be the first episode of the Letterman podcast and uh thank you hey very happy to help oh my gosh thank you and we're Mario Kart buddies now perfect laughs