Adam Lorenzo bought a bar in college, faxed for Letterman, wrote for Kilborn and Raymond, then wrote a book…and so much more!

ready you're watching The Lettermen podcast with Mike chisen endorsed by the hello Deli yeah hey Mike it's Jeremy weiner just wanted to reach out and wish you in the Letterman podcast a happy one year anniversary I also want to let you know the McDonald's spicy chicken nuggets are made with tender juicy white meat chicken and come with all your favorite dipping sauces I'm contractually obligated to do that welcome once again to the Letterman podcast I am Mike Chisholm I am so excited I first thing I got to do is say thank you to everybody who has given us all the anniversary love uh with our episode with Paul last week and and Beyond we've had a lot of well wishes a lot of very cool referrals uh actually today today's episode is a referral and I love that as the community uh grows they start referring other members of the community and all sorts of different Vantage points this is actually one of them we got a faxer today I'm excited to get a faxer on here because um you know the idea of faxing jokes in to a show that people love so much and then getting your your your stuff on the air that's one thing but to actually be so proficient at it that you actually get a job as a writer on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilbourne that's our guy today his name's Adam Lorenzo that's what happened to him then he ended up writing for Everybody Loves Raymond so three pants properties uh experience and lots of things around that uh I I really became fast friends with Adam Lorenzo um I just really excited to to unleash this uh particular episode it's a lot of fun all the way from his start um with Al Franken as he start we start talking about a conversation he had with Al Franken that got him into the business all the way to you know all the way through Everybody Loves Raymond all of that to now he's an author he just released a book all I need to know I learned from my college bar see when he was in college he owned a bar not a joke he did and uh um you know all I need to uh to know I learned from my college bar uh is a very delightful uh publication it's a delightful read um lots of of nuggets of of StreetWise type wisdom with delightful illustrations it is a really really entertaining project you can get it and there's the referral part we got referred to him by Scott Ryan Scott Ryan who wrote last days of Letterman and uh you know you can get his book at Fayetteville Mafia press.com That's Scott's uh publishing company uh all sorts of books they've released a bunch of Twin Peaks books Barbra Streisand book his mood lighting book um and many many other ones this book here from Adam Lorenzo all I need to know I learned from my college bar get it it's 14.95 it makes a great gift for a student it's a delightful um insightful book highly recommended very very excited to have Adam on the on the show here he is a friend of the show and will continue to be uh we're just so grateful for what's been happening here I'm gonna stop talking now so we can hear about uh the life of a faxer and much much more Adam Lorenzo right here on the Letterman podcast so the thing that I about this like we're just talking about Paul here uh about your book the idea of going for your dreams and and that's something that the whole reason why the Letterman podcast exists is is exactly that like it was something that was I'm literally doing it to scratch and itch but it's turned into this thing and that's what happens sometimes when you follow your passions you follow the things that you want to do it turns into something that you can't even imagine and having Paul on was just like holy crap I can't believe that yeah he's he's unbelievable boy I loved him in that Netflix special a couple years ago the Christmas one oh Bill Maurice yeah yeah yeah yeah it's so great yeah well it's genius he's so respected kind of a Canadian too so it's funny as Canadians we have this we have this thing in Canada um and I even I got to I got to say it to him too which was which was which was very very cool um whenever somebody a local and by local we mean a Canadian if they just identify as a Canadian and they make good down south we're always so excited about it and um and the one thing I love about Paul is is um he hasn't shied away from his Canadian ship in fact Dave used to you know bring it out there and I mean he's received the Order of Canada he's done only all sorts of things there and and I just I'm very very excited for the fact that uh you know he's inspired me to do that I look at your story um and I find it inspiring like I I'm really excited about being able to promote your book your book is of course all I need to know I learned from my college bar um and in the the intro to the book is fantastic because you you you you you you really set the stage well of of talking about things that have I don't want to say they're things that just happened to you because you do things and then things happen and I think that's that's a real key but some of the things that you did to turn into some of the things that happened is Bonkers and and and I'm I'm very excited to talk about it it made me smile ear to ear thinking about it because I kind of feel vicariousness with what I'm doing with the Letterman podcast so this is exciting I'm excited to talk to you about this I'm excited to talk to you too and and I was most excited because when I watched the episode with your wife and I learned who you were you know I could tell you know your enthusiasm and passion for what you're doing and I really loved it because that you know before I became a writer I I was a fan just like you we were you know we were both just love and Letterman yep you know so it's it's great it's great to be here and to be talking to you and I'm so glad that you did this and I and I hope it takes off like a rocket it sounds like yeah it sounds like you have a lot of support on your side um and you know there's so many people that love Dave I was thinking you know when I was watching your show I don't know how much it's evolved since that episode which wasn't that long ago yeah but I you know you automatically my brain goes to bits yeah and I thought it would be so funny to try to find one person to say something bad about Dave you know I mean everyone loves the guy everyone loves everybody over there so it's it's true um even when you know Governor Palin and and when I met her to get that that picture signed uh you know the Letterman podcast because you know partially a joke but not really at the same time even Governor Palin at that point when we talked like she didn't have anything bad to say about him like you know it was and I mean they had a big dust up a very public dust up and she you know uh it's it's it's um he's the greatest broadcaster the greatest broadcast body of broadcasting work in history that's how I see it that's why this show exists to celebrate that and all things around it the spin-offs from it uh the the ripples in the in the in the pool so to speak um but at the end of the day um I just really really appreciate all of those who worked on team Dave because some of the culture is it's transferable like I said this to I said this to Paul as we finish off I'm like okay most of you won't take a compliment most of you minimize what you do most of you you have the says culture about you I'm super excited to talk to you about this because I've wanted to talk to a faxer quote unquote I hope that's I hope that's not a derogatory term I wanted to talk to a factor for a long time I reached out to Bill and I've been asking him hey can you give me some contact infos for some for some factors because it's a very different deal you've got somebody here who like you say understands the tone of the show because they know it so well Dave broke the fourth wall uh like nobody else did making us as viewers feel like we were a part of things um you get the the the the language down you get the voice down and all of that and suddenly you're putting in material that ends up on the show I gotta know when this happened for you and how it happened and what it felt like not just receiving your first check but when you actually heard Dave perform one of your jokes yeah I I can only imagine how that would feel yeah you know the faxing piece you know you have to realize I knew nothing about the business you know I knew nothing about writing I I didn't I hadn't written a word I was you know I was running this bar oh you said Canada earlier yeah yeah I ended up before this all happened before the transition I I it doesn't I don't talk much about this in the book but I actually bought a second one in Alexandria Bay in the thousand islands up near gananakwe you're kidding yeah so check it out so you know we had two two tilts one for Canadian money one for American money and it would go across the St Lawrence River because it was the opposite season of of um the college bar in Syracuse and I loved the Canadian people they were the they were the greatest they'd come to drink cheaper beer sure absolutely and uh you know we had the loonies and toonies and um you know a guy on Monday would come and do the exchange rate yeah I mean it was it was awesome so and I and I love Canada I've been to many uh blue jay games in Montreal games and I grew up in Buffalo so I used to oh yeah drive to Toronto to see concerts you know so I love it such a beautiful country oh that's awesome I appreciate hearing that very very much um I say everybody I run in you from Canada too super cool so I hear that we're super nice um I mean I I I I I I love I love being a Canadian um I think that there is a bit of an inferiority complex to our big brother from the south and and so that's part of the reason why we get so excited when somebody does well down there and and and uh you know and a lot of funny a lot of funny people end up we're from Canada you know uh people say it's because it's so cold and uh you know in the winter time you stand you you entertain yourselves you watch TV and you entertain yourself and you glean off the the funny but yeah I mean SCTV was I I you know the Canadian contingent like I was a big John Candy fan yeah um and yeah oh yeah and I mean and the way that um in the late 70s when in when Canadians would merge with different uh like with the SNL troupe and and those people um you know there's a sensibility that's there and I mean uh you know Chris guest I love his films and his humor and all of his ensembles and things you look at something like [ __ ] Creek which was a Canadian production um you know cbz production very Canadian and um so there is a there's a voice and there's a culture and usually it has to do with either humor or drinking beer I think you nailed it um would you all have something to do with that yeah well when when Paul came up uh his first major Splash in any uh Showbiz Endeavor was the production of God spell that they did in Toronto which had I think Levy was part of it but Gilda Radner was part of it um there's a whole there's a whole crew of the Marty Short of course yeah um and and so that's where a lot of the uh a lot of that fraternizing kind of started and then Saturday Night Live of course solidified a lot of that as well and they all knew each other right they all so yeah um and I talked to him a little bit I talked to I I tried to keep it as modern as possible with him but I I could have just talked about Andy Kaufman I'm such an Andy Kaufman fan and um and and I mean so we talked about that a little bit and yeah it was it was a it was a fun show um and definitely some canadiana in it um but let's get back how old are you so like I want to hear this story how this how this happened so how so how I got that first in at uh Dave's show you know just like you love Dave watch Dave every night you know never missed it and even when I was in the bar business you know I was in college yep so I would I was in school Syracuse right yeah I went to Syracuse I was attended Syracuse owned this bar uh and uh it was my life you know that's all I did every day but I'll tell you I always kept Dave on one of the TVs and back then it's VCRs I taped it now I didn't know you could make a living being a writer you know you have to just realize you have to just pretend I don't know I mean I don't know anything that I know now you know I figured maybe I'd be a a lawyer or you know get into something with politics a lot of my stuff at first was political slant yeah as a matter of fact one of the first guys I met too was Al Franken who's awesome guy too and I've seen him hit uh golf balls off the top of the Ed Sullivan Theater he was always a fun guest he's a dream guest for us I I love Senator Franken and his sensibilities and I love him and Dave how they connect Together Al Franken is amazing that's cool one of the first people you met yeah one of the first people I met and it went so well with with Al that um the day I met him we met at a Starbucks one of the producers that was creating The Late Late Show with Dave was a guy named Billy Kimball yep who's an incredible writer you know um he just won a bunch of Emmys I think for uh Veep yep on HBO and he's been on The Simpsons but he's he's an incredible and he's a really awesome man yeah um so I had met him in New York and yeah you know they liked my material they had been buying some of my stuff they were and he created The Late Late Show with Dave and he went to Harvard Billy yeah um and I had never heard of the Harvard Lampoon or anything you're talking about a guy who was running a couple bars you know while I was going to school I didn't I didn't know what was going on he said I remember it was one of the first things he said you know ran the Harvard Lampoon terrific and he would have been a little bit later he would have been a generation or two after Conan right um no he when you say a generation or two after counting you mean graduation at the Lampoon yeah like I don't know they may have crossed paths because okay I think that that they know each other okay people might know each other from from well it seems like yeah it seems like they all do like Jeff Martin was a few years ahead of Conan but like like it seems like like that Harvard group we could probably do an entire podcast just based on that Harvard group and the the spider webs that come out from that as well so so you met Billy so so I I was at Syracuse though I didn't know I didn't know all of this stuff no did you saw that he was talking about it sounded impressive though I knew it was impressive my gut was this is an impressive guy and then uh but he says you know we don't have any jobs you know we're going to start this new show in LA but we don't have any jobs now but I wanted to meet you because we bought a lot of stuff and you know we're getting started and we're looking for voices yeah and um I was kind of devastated on the way home because I you know I bought a shirt and tie for the meeting the met the the training and to New York to try Becca I remember I was sweating sweating like crazy I was so nervous he showed up like you know half hour late he was wearing ripped jeans and flip-flops but anyway so then a couple days later though to my amazement yeah my phone rings and it's Al Franken and Al says you know I'm buddies with Billy and um he gave me a bunch of your material and I'd like to meet with you so I went back into the city uh same shirt and tie but Al busted my chops for wearing the shirt and tie he said you had that for me and it went so so well at the Starbucks he said well let's you want to come back to my my house and we'll write a little we'll go over your jokes and we'll do a little writing and I went went over there I met his wife you know the dog was running around I think I met his daughter at the time and and it was yeah it really I mean for one of the first people to meet yep you can't meet a nicer guy so that but that's how I met him can I ask you about that like because that fascinates me right there um you're you're being plucked and put into something that like I mean you're a fan of of Dave and all that stuff so I mean Franklin Davis on you know I assume you would have seen him on SNL and all these things I couldn't believe it yeah and and so he's got a process because he's a hardened long-time writer at this point you really are flying by the seat of your pants like again you did stuff to make this happen but this kind of just sort of fell in your lap and this is happening were there any like learning curve stuff that was really obvious at the beginning when you went over to his house to write stuff or or was it like did it fit like a glove and you're like no I'm a fast learner and you started getting into it you know since I was a kid inexplicably you know I knew I wanted to be a writer since I was a kid for no reason I didn't know a writer but something in my heart knew I was supposed to be a comedy writer now I was always funny and stuff but when you don't grow up in an environment around entertainment you don't know you know for me it was Survival how do I how do I pay my rent how do I you know pay the bills yeah how does it transfer dreams not so when I met him I mean I still remember the day you know when I met Al in the city I remember I was really nervous I remember the mall I went to to buy my shirt and tie and new pants I remember how much I was sweating as I was walking from Grand Central Station to you know the Starbucks I got lost you know I remember you know being nervous in the the bathroom wiping off I didn't want them to see me sweat wow you know and um that's what I'm picturing that's how it would be for me too like like that yeah okay and then when we went over to his place you know I mean it was just like you know I've always been kind of a spiritual guy too yeah so I thought I've always and I just listened to his before I before he became in my life you know in this inexplicable way I just listened to his book you know that the audiobook of the um Rush Limbaugh and the big fat idiot one right yep he read it too right yeah that's right he narrated yeah so that's the fact that I just listened to it now he was here you know I just felt like everything was flowing yeah you know and and he had my material you know in his little writer's office and you know and I just thought you know I've got to just go with this here and I don't think I had enough awareness to question it you know I still have this I remember before I left he wrote his name on a a yellow Post-it with his phone number and he put it on the joke like nonchalant I'll talk to you Monday and I was like oh my God I got the post and I I still have it it's framed in my office okay we're very similar when it comes to this yeah absolutely yeah so it was a thrill um and uh you know and he he you know you mentioned the facts thing later yeah when I ended up getting the job you know Al gave me some really great guidance when I moved out to LA from New York and uh he said you know when when you transitioned because he he's the one who really encouraged me to start the transition from late night to sitcom yep said you know you really need to start writing sitcoms this is you scripted is where you belong and so um I remember he said tell everybody that you got that job um on the lately show as a staff writer by faxing because I'm pretty sure you're the last guy through the door you know I really got lucky because then it was was like crazy absolutely I don't know if it could have happened so that is you know and one of the things I I appreciate so much about Senator Franken is how you know he's brilliant like he's he's clearly like he's hilarious yeah but he's a he's a brilliant hilarious and if he wants to just turn off the hilarious and just turn up or just keep the brilliant there his his uh the way he can observe um things and and what a what a gift that he analyzed that about you analyze that about your skill set and found a way to kind of plug that into something that problems your skill set and allows you to do this like again I I haven't talked about this on the show so much but I mean I have a financial firm uh small little fledgling fighting Financial firm because I connected the dots that I was supposed to connect get a job the wife the family the all that kind of stuff right like like but this broadcaster part of me is exactly what you were talking about that writer part of you and the fact that you had somebody like that who when you were young and impressionable and just kind of getting into it yeah could could analyze what your skill set was and give you a place where you could actually do that and exercise some of those those gifts that you have and and get paid for it that is astounding that Al Franken is one of the people that could do that for you that's what a gift that is man like that's that's awesome I don't take any of those people for granted that you know anybody who ever said you're funny anyone who ever said you know there you should try this you know uh I remember when I you know I bartended every night you know and I would look at myself in the reflection of the front window yeah and I remember thinking like you know this is a this isn't what I want to do forever and those guys would come in who were owners of bars in their 50s and they were like really successful but I would look at them and I would think man I don't I don't want to be that guy and you know you know what those winners are like yeah well I'd be and there was a dumpster next to Maggie's you throw throw the garbage in you in the bouncers you throw it in and if you didn't close the lid the the garbage company wouldn't pick up the dumpster and empty it it was like an ordinance of the city so I'd have to jump in the dumpster at you know in the bars closed and I'm jumping to get the tires bags down and I remember you know everybody's gone it's just me in this snow and the silence and I you know that's when I was like I gotta I gotta try to figure out this writing thing you know this can't be this can't be my life and I mean that's really serious that's not an embellishment those were the moments when I was like literally in the garbage you know thinking I you know I don't care what it takes I've got to figure out how to pursue my dream man I was really young so I knew I can't you know I don't want to do this uh forever so yeah so the first thing that ever happened on uh Letterman yep you know I was really you're talking about someone with no idea so it's really interesting what the first thing was you know he did uh and I know you know and is is Rupert G still the sponsor and stuff I love absolutely there's our boy right there oh I love that hey I don't know if you know he officially announced the bar the uh the bar that I'm thinking about the bar with with the TV the deli's for sale um well yeah and it's fantastic he wants to sell to the right person like I love that about Rupert he's so he's so thoughtful and kind and everything he's a a precious friend and yeah he's the only the only sponsor of the Letterman podcast might as well say it right now uh the only place to get this story I've been in it there you go there you go I want to get him before he closes to do a uh to do a Mike Chisholm sandwich If he if he will for for the last couple months I don't know if he'll do it or not but he might he might um you know I mean so the first thing that happened you remember that Dave had a bit uh I don't know if it was Thursday night or Friday night he did the mailbag absolutely the CBS mailbag yep viewer mail at late night uh the CBS mailbag on Late Show no I'm transitioning thinking in my head I gotta get out of the bar business I want to write I've never written anything you know I I'm starting just to put my foot in the water a little and they had like a letterman uh you know this is in the embryonic stages of websites and stuff there was this Dave Letterman website yeah and I and I watched it every day I'd go watch the monologue you know I mean it was awesome I'd watch the show I'd watch the website and there was um you know like I kind of remember this I don't remember exactly but there was like a part of the site where if you if if you wanted to send a letter to Dave there was an address and it kind of gave you the format or something this is loose loose fast and loose with the facts I don't remember it exactly no no absolutely but I do remember this I wrote a letter from a fictitious name I thought oh this would make a funny bit if they if they did this on CBS mailbag yeah and I came up with this character and I sent it in and I'll be darned you know a month or two later they they do the bit so I can't believe it right I can't believe it I'm like this is this is this has got to mean do you remember what it was sure I mean I don't remember the exact thing but I don't know but that's okay you give us some context Giller will come in and he'll we'll have the clip and all that stuff yeah yeah it was one of well I would love I sure would love to see that clip actually the funny thing is I remember my dad taped it and then he taped over it so so I would love the life we grew up in folks right there that's right it's there and then it's gone forever or so you think it was this note I think I wrote it on a yellow legal the bit it was a about a guy who um he had a brother-in-law who owed him a bunch of money okay and and he stiffed them on it yep and so the the so the character said so Dave will you help me get my money back perfect so they did they did the bit and the bit was so we got a hold of Joe Smith and we brought them to New York and we put them up at the plaza and we came over you know a car and it was and it was awesome so that that that was uh that's how that first got in and now here's the funny part so now it happens I'm so green I called the show awesome I say hey I just got on CBS mail back on what am I getting paid awesome that's fantastic so this guy I have no idea who he is he's so nice he sends me two tickets to go see Letterman oh that's cool so cool so that's what you have to realize now the manifestation is happening I go you know bring my girlfriend I'm like out of my mind you know I'm waiting in line I'm pretty much pitching anybody I see the security guards anybody related to the show how do you get goosebumps right now I can put myself in your skin right now hearing that that's the child the inner child has his grubby little hands as I like to say around the wheel and and it's just yes yes absolutely I love it and they were great seats yeah and um you know being there live seeing Paul seeing Dave hearing the smashing glass you know it was Christmas and and I don't remember the guest's name but it was this woman who sang the Ave Maria and it was like Goosebumps so beautiful Regis was filling in for uh a guest who couldn't make it awesome I remember the the camera guy did a quick shot of my girlfriend and it made me so mad that you didn't take a shot of me but she got on bed we kept I kept that video too for a long time I would love to see that but anyway so you know that experience visualizing it being there putting it in my brain you know that really helped me because it made me realize I can do this you know this is possible yeah um anyway so that was that was the first thing and then you know then you know months later and you know some of this isn't exact yeah because I'm still working my tail off and you know anybody you talk to about writing they say you can't know it's it's Easter famine it's crazy you know it's mostly drug addicts as you know a lot a lot of that's true but sure but um stereotypes come from somewhere but yeah yeah and so you know one day I called the show and um I said how do you get a job on the show now I had tried that day when I was live to really get it in talking to the security guards I I you know I'm sure I talked to you know 30 people yeah uh ushers probably room for that probably pitched rumors and he's so kind he'd probably be like well maybe yeah so so I called the show and I and so finally I had the nerve to say how do you get a job on the show and whoever it was said you know you you um you need to have an agent or you know do you have an agent something like that um do you know one of the writers is that why you're calling because we have a joke list that we pay it was like 75 or 100 bucks a joke ding there okay valuable piece of information there yeah and I said no I don't know any other writers you know yep and I hung up and that was it and so that night I watched the credits and I just picked a name and of one of the writers and I called back the next day and I got a different person and I said hey I know so and so says I could be on some kind of joke list and they said yeah we we love so and so we'll send you a release and they sent me a release and then uh you know I went to the uh local CVS or drugstore it wasn't a CVS it was like whatever drugstore was nearby the next morning got the you know New York Post and um the USA Today and you know and I thought I better try to figure out what these jokes are supposed to look like you know I had a brother word processor you know it wasn't a company brother word processor so you know that prints out I'm sure I woke up every Everybody in the apartment building and and I would wait for the New York Post I'd wait in front of the store and so the guy would throw it off the truck I couldn't wait and now you know and that's the spiritual part I mean I sat down and what are these jokes you know and it just came natural you know I mean it was I didn't know what it was supposed to look like I didn't know really what I was supposed to do but I did it and the day disappeared and I'd send in you know a lot of jokes I mean a lot 10 pages 11 pages um and uh and that's and that's what I would do and then I'd be glued to the TV and then um you know and then boom you know there's a there's uh a joke and then at the same moment you know this is really incredible how it happens when I talk about it it really I can't believe it but at the same time there's you know they're they're promoting the heck out of we're starting a new show it was like um uh regular and extra crispy Dave and Kilmore yep so they're promoting the heck out of it Dave's promoting the heck out of it the commercials are and I and I'm watching Dave and then I'm watching this new show with Craig yep so again I just I don't miss a day I'm faxing passing and I fall in love with it I'm obsessed you know it's like I I mean I all day is it gonna say one of mine is he gonna say one of mine what you know what what else could I come up with you know that hope getting a CBS mailbag thing just got got me going you know and then being there live got me going and I called to try to go again by the way and they're they're like you get one set of tickets you know so but I was that that I had to do it something in my belly was like you gotta do it and um so then what happened was it went from a joke on Letterman yeah and then all of a sudden you know maybe maybe a few you know then all of a sudden Craig coborn would tell a joke of mine and I'd think is that a coincidence that did a writer write one of my I mean because you know you don't know I don't know absolutely many times one event happens five versions of the same joke kind of show up based on it the observance yeah so this is what happens I get a call then and it happens more than once it happens times or something and then and then I start to put it together but what was confusing is kilbourne's in Los Angeles letters in New York for someone a bar owner I don't understand that that's possible that those thing yeah no idea that they could be connected but I get a call from Jim Peterson who used to be the you know run worldwide pants or VPN I think whatever whatever it was he was the nicest guy yeah and he says you know we're we're we're going to send you some checks we owe you some money we're buying some material from you and we're gonna send uh um a producer to meet you that was that was Billy and we're starting this new show and we've been giving your material to The Late Late Show and and I said you know it kind of makes sense because I've been wondering what's going on and they were cool like they I bet you they didn't let two weeks go by before I heard from them but at this point they it wasn't just like one joke or two jokes they had bought a lot of jokes and it went from one joke to the monologue to you know starting to do some bits desk chats and stuff I mean I I really took some big swings and that's how you know and then that's Adam and then I met you know and then I met Billy again he said no jobs um but we are Staffing you know we're in a staff soon in uh in L.A and I remember he said to me do you know anybody in LA and I've never been to California you know I've never I don't know anything about it and and I said no and he said that's too bad he said you know it would make it would make me feel a lot better if you had like an aunt because sometimes these jobs can be revolving doors and I remember that stayed with me to this day because I thought 13 week the whole 13-week contract thing right for writers yeah and I thought you know that guy was really looking out for me you know I mean that's a a writer who's a friend of a writer um but I was crushed on but right before we left even though he said they didn't have any jobs and this was now like you know a few days before I met Al literally said whatever you do though he said don't stop faxing oh so that's so that stayed with me and and I think there was like I kind of have a memory of it being thanksgiving-ish or something because I remember my girlfriend at the time was driving and I was in the passenger seat you know writing jokes and had to get them in you know you had to get them in by a deadline and um I later learned I don't even think they were in the office that day but but I sent them anyway they were like we came back and there were all these faxes from two days worth of jokes that no one was even here for but you know I was I was I really was obsessed and I loved it and the reward of being recognized for it and then I still you're catching me unfortunately in in my um I sold my house recently so all my stuff is in storage yeah so I have every check stub from worldwide uh pants and the other you know the company I think was trousers and I kept every check stub I kept the envelopes from worldwide pants and and they're and they're all you know they're all safely in a box um I'm I'm okay so I'm a collector and we're actually gonna have little offshoots on the left we've got one coming out next week we've got a guy who uh is just showing off a bunch of his Collectibles that he has from from from late show and and things like that so um you know I I uh I I I'm gonna have you back on when you're settled and all that and you want to gather some of your stuff you want to show it off so we're gonna we're gonna do that so so that's great so that's that's a part two coming right there that's great and you know and it was so special I was really tempted not to cash the first check these are stubs absolutely relate yep put it up on the wall yeah yeah but I I did I did cash it and it was great but I did I did keep this one Letterman thing I thought you'd like that was that's with me because I'm superstitious so I keep all my lucky stuff but for the the Everybody Loves Raymond baseball team oh that's awesome my baseball uniform still I keep on that's fantastic yeah so uh how did you guys have some game yeah we played great you know everybody on the the Raymond team were were awesome you know they were awesome ball players and and it was so you know talk about experiences you know that was the first sitcom that I was ever exposed to I went from late night I'll tell you a good story you want to hear a good story about how I got into I mean the Letterman one's good absolutely you're gonna like one of the people when um and you're gonna get you're gonna understand me a little more and why it all kind of felt natural like when I was with Al and everything one of the people who encouraged me to to um be a writer was uh my my ex-wife so when I got that gig when I got the staff writing job when Jim Peterson called and Craig called I kept that uh answering machine tape too it's in storage but I kept it we're calling to welcome you on board of The Late Late Show give us a call you know and and uh when they called they said we have good news and bad news and I said what's you know what's the what's the news and they said we're going to offer you a position uh as a staff writer on The Late Late Show great what is that what what does it mean you know I mean I only care about you know what what what are the what you know when do I have to move there how is this going to affect my life am I going to be able to do it from New York because the idea of moving to California is is not even in my head because again I'm thinking I'm sending everything to New York I'm getting paid from New York anyway so yeah so you know when they say and I I told Billy I don't know anybody this they're gonna probably let me keep just doing this and they said no it's I remember it was a Friday so they said uh the good news is we're offering it to you I said what's the bad news and they said you got to let us know by the end of the day today and you have to be here by Sunday night because you start work on Monday now here's the thing at this point I had just gotten engaged Chef's got our engagement party was that Sunday wow so I hang up the phone I'm like oh my God thank you God there's a dream come true I cannot believe this is happening yes my girlfriend comes home from work my you know she was my fiance I tell her she you know she's happy for me but but what does this mean yeah like I'm moving on Sunday right so we're at the last you know we're at the engagement party out you know I'm telling jokes to everybody what was the joke you got on last night was the thing you know and it was you know and it was a really weird situation obviously um you know I had to pursue my dream and she had this incredible family in New York you know a couple sisters and a brother and her mom was awesome and you know I didn't have any of that I had nothing to lose coming coming out here you know it was this this had to happen yep so anyway but right before that one of the people who encouraged me to be a writer was her family this this uh my ex my now ex-wife's family they had a friend who was a nun a Franciscan nun and her name was Sister Virginia and a Franciscan nun if you don't know is like the most disciplined kind of nun they they don't have uh possessions they're and they're like they're just beyond cool and I remember one time I was at a dinner like a charity dinner and the sister Virginia says you know I know you own this bar but what do you you know what do you really want to do with your life excuse me and and I said well you know Sister Virginia I really want to be a writer but I don't know what that means you know and she said uh you know you've got to pursue that you know you can always come back and be a bar owner or or um be a lawyer or you know dig ditches I remember she specifically said that um but you should go for your dream so now here's the thing and she said and she even said she said oh I know I you know I know somebody who's a writer in Los Angeles okay assistant Virginia this is in Schenectady New York you know I mean she's she lives in a Convent in Schenectady New York wow so now I move out here get my job I'd never been to California you know I move out that Sunday they pick you up at the airport they put you know the the the writer's Guild you know they send me a contracts Writers Guild and everything very cool yeah they have to pay for the move um you know I don't have a car or anything and you know so now now now I've been out here for a little bit I heard Frank Sinatra got buried at the Good Shepherd Church in Beverly Hills so I thought I'll go I'll go there for church I've I heard there was a good gym down the block uh that uh was called East and Jack go to the gym uh there was a movie theater around there and I'm walking all around L.A awesome jumps up super early you know like talk about it in the introduction of the book seeing Dan Rather get out of the helicopter yeah that was yeah so now though your office was beside a helipad it's unbelievable man basketball court and helipad so now as I as I'm getting ready though to transfer this is a couple years later or whatever I have a bunch of spec Scripts written to get into sitcom how am I going to get into sitcom and I go there's a pocket in Los Angeles called Larchmont the regular Barber I go to it's Parkinson's so I get a haircut and like you know everybody I see that day what the heck is wrong with your hair what the heck is wrong with your hair I said what are you talking about it's all crooked and everything I don't even notice so what are the one of my buddies from The Late Late Show uh I said I need a barber and he says well you gotta you know you go to Larchmont you'll love you'll love Larchmont it's like New York then I go and I find this old school barber his name was Jerry catone awesome oh that's a great Barber name isn't that great but as a Jerry catone he'll fix you right up Sicilian wait do you hear how this goes man you've already got the character so I sit down getting my hair cut fixed from the other guy yeah and there's a picture of Ray Romano on the wall and I said geez Jerry I'm trying to get in the world of sitcoms you know does Ray Romano come in here to to get his hair cut and he said no you know one of his producers does but I you know Adam I can't get involved I've been you know he's an old guy he said yeah one of like you know the rules of being a barber is you got to let everything stay private you know I wouldn't be able to cut hair yep but I have my Late Late Show worldwide Pam's business cards with my name on I carry them everywhere I give them to everybody I see you know I mean the guy gives me coffee boom yeah I'm giving my cards outside legitimacy I have a couple of those left too so when I get my stuff out of storage I'll show you that absolutely stationary they give you stationary too so I have Late Show stationary this is the Late Show pencil that I'm using right now like I oh no you're you're preaching to the choir man like a guy I love it I've got one of these the double-ended ones you know like oh God you're preaching to the choir man this bridge from the set like I'm I'm you're preaching to the choir that's awesome and it also just reminded me of another good story you're going to love after this about the set so anyway so so I go into Barber I say the Ray Romano he says no uh producer does I give him a letterman card anyway I said well I I worked for Dave he moved me on here and he says okay and uh and he's pretty firm don't don't bring it up again he scares me a little good haircut and it was you know cheap so I keep going I go back to get the haircut and a few months later uh you know I couldn't believe it he says you know I don't know what it is about you he said I've never done it before he said I gave your card to that producer and I vouched for you oh my gosh exactly brother exactly so so he says but look the show's done it's in its last season the guy specifically told me to tell you that they don't buy outside scripts there's no chance they're getting ready to close up shop yeah and he said maybe he will call you to go see a show I said you know thank you so much I was so grateful I don't know what to tell you you know I mean that was the nicest thing yeah this guy calls me he said I've been you know I've been going to this I've been going to Jerry to get my hair cut for a long time he's never done anything like this he said so come come to this come to a show do not bring me any scripts it's against every rule yeah I had I had written I still remember I'd written like 18 spec scripts by now I'd run out of popular shows you know you write a spec script of popular shows to show you can you can do it yeah at that time that was the thing yeah and so I had written every Bernie Mac and you know whatever show that was a King of Queens whatever show was on I wrote a spec script for yep and and I sent it to every person I met you know and um so I bring three scripts with me to the taping of course and and I meet the guy and he says you know I told you not to bring any scripts I said I got what you know I gotta take the shot and he said how about I take the top one awesome and I and I had written out of all modern ones so I wrote a Dick Van Dyke because I loved old Dick Van Dyke and stuff like that I'd go to the you know so the way I learned how to do right jokes was just I wrote them I didn't you know I didn't know what they look like or format or anything so the same thing with sitcoms and then I'd go to the uh TV Museum in Los Angeles in Beverly Hills and on Thursdays they'd stay open late and I'd watch old shows I'd bring a stopwatch and a legal pad and I would Time Each scene each scene is like this long this you know a joke every so many seconds and that's what you know that's what I was doing yep so I they had a lot of Dick Van Dyke so I do that never missed it you know never missed watching it did it and he took it and I watched the show and it was awesome if I could interject something here what you were doing yeah it didn't feel for a second like work did it not today you know to this day like you know I jump out of bed practically in the morning to write I mean you know I love it I love what I do so much and you know and I feel like it's a gift and it's a blessing and uh you know we're talking about I got that gig on The Late Late Show in 1999 it's 2023.

you know I don't think I've ever gone a a day or two without writing all day I mean it's like air to me you know so you know when people say go on vacation or we went to vocation you know on vacation somewhere or something I love La it's the best you know it's just the best I'm a Yankees fan and I'm from Back East but I love both I love both as well they're two of my favorite American cities New York and La for different reasons I'm a gigantic Kings fan first and foremost so my life is I do what I love yeah la is so so yeah so I get so he takes the top script yep after the show this is where the story gets good so the say he comes to me and he says look he said uh you know you happen to do there was a Dick Van Dyke the creator of the show Phil Rosenthal who you know might be the nicest guy in all of Hollywood if not the world you know he says it happens to be uh Phil's one of Phil's favorite shows Dick Van Dyke so this this is good so great and he says you know there's something about you I think Rey would like you Ray Romano he said so why don't you hang out we're gonna have to come up to the dressing room after uh and meet him because you because they were giving me respect because I worked for Dave yeah in The Late Late Show well you're a pants you know a fellow pants alumni in that regard yeah again though it was like the day I met Al I don't know what's happening it's the first time I'm on a sitcom set first time I'm on a a a a stage lot you know nervous is all hack oh take me up to the Green Room you know raise their all these guys that have won all these Emmys Lou Schneider uh you know Mike Scully who ran the Simpsons The Simpsons yeah holy cow all these guys and Ray you know oh so you're funny guy let's see how funny you are let's write it you know let's play Let's we're punching up a script let's see what you got you know and I remember the the light was kind of dim and we were you know we just sat there and you know I was throwing some jokes out and you know it was the time of my life like I couldn't even believe it wow so they walked me to my car this producer watching my car and you know and he says take take care I'm sorry we don't have any jobs but it was really really nice to meet you and I hope you had a good time and you know don't stop writing and just so encouraging and kind and uh you know when I drive home and it's you know I'm in Los Angeles I'm driving home from the Warner Brothers lot from the you know it was like probably the number one or certainly the top three comedies at the time back then they would be like 18 19 million people that would watch I mean it was yeah that was a gigantic show unbelievable you know thank you thank you thank you now the producer calls me a few days later he says Adam really strange question for you do you know a nun back East named sister Virginia got up sister Virginia from Schenectady because yeah come to me she's she encouraged me to be a writer and he says well you're never going to believe this man he goes but uh me and Ray were doing stand-up in uh Upstate New York I don't you know some some of this I don't remember exactly but they were doing stand-up and they went to go get cannoli after the stand-up and they go into a bakery called malozi's Bakery and to get some cannoli and then they you know fly back to LA and something again I don't know the exact details but Ray becomes friends with the guy in Schenectady milosi's Bakery guy and Ray or the producer Tom I'm not sure who was but they would exchange notes and I think even the the bakery guy would FedEx reaganally Frozen cannoli on tape day or something there were some really cool story but one day there was a note in there from a Nun Sister Virginia who knew the baker and she says I know a guy who just moved to LA named Adam Lorenzo and if you ever run into this guy will you please give him a meaning and there's a business card in it so he says so the producer says to me he says so when you leave the office the other night after the taping Friday night Ray says is there any chance that that guy is the guy that that baker said the nun vouch for you know it goes so we looked and they they had the letter still because it was from a nun and they go and they said and we we found your business card in there she sister Virginia had sent them my Late Late Show uh business card wow right wow Goosebumps I know so anyway so uh so they said so this is what you know we'll call you back so they caught they called back and they said we're gonna we're gonna have you come in and Pitch you know don't expect anything and they're in the last year at this point in the last year they're ready to close up shop and they say yeah you know I mean this it ended up going another year or two okay okay yeah I'm told or what I remember is yeah yeah and you know that I think they did that a couple times during negotiations you know yes for sure and then okay we'll give everybody 100 million dollars an episode okay we'll do another year yeah all the big sitcoms all the biggest sitcoms from cheers all the way down Seinfeld friends all of that ended up doing an extra two years after the fact that they were done because of stuff like that so and Raymond is one of those sitcoms and that's how I got in you know they they set up the pitch I had never pitched before um and it was cool you know because I I actually when I was when I was a boy I had really bad OCD horrible OCD I would I would touch food to my chin before I ate it it was the craziest thing I got bullied mercilessly as a result of it um but I had noticed that one of the characters did something like that Robert you know uh played by Brad Garrett absolutely yeah I'd watched every episode you know when I went to I watched every episode so I knew what I was talking about before the pitch I don't know how many there were maybe 187 200 or something but I remember this producer this guy who was so nice he got his assistant to get me a copy of every episode so I had this box of every episode and I would sit I mean I watched that in like a week every I mean it was that's all I thought about you know and um and you know like and I just like with joke writing I thought I'm gonna do the same thing I'm gonna go in with a you know they're gonna this is the number one comedy in the world how I'm they're gonna have to drag me out of the room they're gonna have to call security you know I mean I'm I am not going down without swinging so I brought in like 18 pages of uh you know 18 19 pages of uh material to pitch for stories I've always been super prolific you know and um again that's I think that's uh not me I think that's a gift you know other worldly higher power stuff well and when you're not when you're not feeling like it's work and you're and you're in the pocket of your passion yeah it's it it's it's a there's a uh like Elizabeth Gilbert talks about that in her book big magic she talks about how you're you're in a flow state or you watch the watch the movie um uh Soul you know the Pixar movie Soul you get into that zone and it's this different place right like yeah you're absolutely right that's exactly that's exactly what it is and and you know and I love everybody who gets in that place you know I you see it with athletes with you know I can tell you you do what you're I mean I'm in it right now Adam like this is my this is my happy place right now what's going on so so yes I can I can see it you know and I can hear it and and I respect it with everybody no matter what what it is you know it wasn't long ago I remember I got this uh flat tire it was like Christmas Eve and it was really you know it was like I love La every part of it but it was a weird part of town I was on my way somewhere and I got the flat tire and that guy and the guy who comes to you know from roadside assistance he gets out of his truck he's like the happiest guy in the world whistling and I thought if I was that guy right now I would kill myself yeah that's right I think I don't know UPS drivers UPS drivers I'm like I could never do that yes I know exactly what you're talking about but he's got something different they're supposed to do and probably if you told the guy who was changing my tire you know what you have to do tomorrow you gotta sit at a desk and you gotta write all day he'd say I'm gonna kill myself yep so anyway so so yeah so I go in and pitch and I and I pitched a bunch of stuff and uh to Raymond and one of the stories I pitch is about when I was a kid I had really bad uh OCD in this crazy chin thing that got bullied and right before I went in Rey and and um a couple of the other guys who were like you know they couldn't have been nicer to me yeah you know they were like oh it was your first pitch yeah we'll give you know I remember Lou Schneider coming up to me this is you know this just be yourself and uh here's a piece of advice you know if uh if if everybody all the writers start talking after you pitch something just don't say anything it's good news if they like your idea because they're they're they're the brainstorming is going on now if it's fertile ground yeah yeah there you go so you know and it really was such a thrill you know I'm there in this office you know it's the first time through a gate like that and the Warner Brothers is spectacular and you know and they treat you I've never seen all this stuff and you know and they've got all the awards and and uh it really was something and I go in and you know it's a big conference room and it's very intimidating and Phil's at the head of the table and he's super kind and you know uh and I sit down and I pitch and it was probably the second or third one you know I pitched this story about the uh touching the food to the chin and what it meant and what that would mean for this character and what that story would be and Phil starts talking you know so I know immediately to be quiet and they talk for a little while and then Phil sees my stack of ideas you know and he says I see you did your homework over there and he says uh I'll let you decide you could continue to pitch us or you could uh think about what we all just said and leave now whatever you feel more comfortable doing and I and I just remembered that advice so I thought I think I think I better leave because they were talking for a while so I said I I feel hopeful and um you know and I laughed and I didn't hear anything for a long time you know like a month a month oh man this is this is before cell phones man I would be I would be at pay phones all over La checking my messages come on I felt so good about that picture because you know like just checking please be a message I still remember it every day three four times a day I'd pull over put the money in the Payphone and call my you know call my thing and then one day you know there was a message this is uh you know from Raymond and we're you know we're gonna uh give you an offer on your your uh your script idea about the OCD and the chin call us and so that was it you know that was that was my break into the world of scripted TV and it was a spectacular experience I was so honored yeah to work with those uh men and women on that show and they treated me so nice you know and being there at the taping and yeah you know I still remember this was this was really cool you know the night of the taping um tons of people hung out after the show to get autographs on their program from yeah and I remember the producers that never never happens they don't wait for like this for and it just felt so good to and then and then the honor of honors you know Phil ended up uh submitting that episode for any consideration you know one of the three or four that year and um you know I mean look you can't you know I don't take any of it for granted I worked hard to get there and I and I know that I earned it but I also know that it was a blessing and I know that I was very lucky to get it and um you know and that's that's so that's this and that was the second time I worked for Dave you know which was very special uh so anyway that's how I got in and then and then I was cooking you know after that and um it was a very special experience I love I loved it and and the episode was called crazy chin and um you know I'm very proud of it it was great I I so I got the story credit and then the teleplay credit was uh from Mike Royce and Tom coltibiano yeah and uh you know and I got to work with those guys on it and and they were you know really nice to me and before I left you know the show they all asked you know are there people making calls for you you know do you need anything you know I mean what do you say right how good does that feel yeah what do you say that's like the the next now I try what's really cool is I try to take those examples that I was given early on with that kind of behavior yep you know and I try to do that you know I try to pay that forward when I can and absolutely and then oh this is a cool fact too so years later I ended up working on um uh Everybody Hates Chris which was based on Chris Rock's life I was gonna ask you about that because I know a couple people who worked there as well yeah matter of fact Frank Sebastiano huge Leatherman guy oh man okay there's a guy I'd like to connect with uh Jay and Nicole Ryan do you know Jay Ryan or Nicole Ryan no Nicole did press for uh she was uh um Chris rocks um she was in his promotions I may know her and Jay and Jay actually worked I believe I believe Jay worked on the production but I I think we'll be able to connect a couple people for sure with it with them they're good friends of mine but I think I'm the only only person the only writer who's got that Everybody Loves Raymond and everybody Everybody Hates Chris I think I'm that and you know Chris allegedly came up with that name as a joke yeah that's that's what I had heard that was pretty cool for me too to think that those dots you know connected down the line and that show was uh you know co-created by Chris Rock and Ollie Leroy who's you know all he's probably uh Thai uh as the nicest guy in Hollywood with with Phil you know Ollie's like I mean he's unbelievable and he's so funny and great and he hired me on that show and um then he hired me on are We There Yet yeah which is with Terry Crews and Ice Cube and that was one of those 90s you know where you shoot 100 in a year so anyway so that's that's can I ask you a question though about what you said earlier um because I think a lot of our our our our viewers and whatnot one of the things that uh we're we're trying to teach the public a little bit about the entertainment business uh I'll give you a good example yeah Glenn borders on the other day we're having Pat farmer come on soon oh yeah talk about like the union stuff right like you know because if this is a mug that you drink out of okay or it's a prop and and those places can't you know there's a there's I don't want to call it politics but like it's a little bit there's a system there and you don't want to get outside of it as you mentioned with the credits yeah um so you come up with a script and whatnot you don't necessarily get written by but you might get Story by then there's the teleplay and then there's all these different things uh what was your sweet spot like what credit like when you had a script was there a goal for that script that you would get or did it don't just all kind of work out in the wash as to how it would work out as to what kind of credit you would get on there you know I was I was just trying to get in right you're just trying to get in and so when you get something and then you know that bridge everybody I don't know if this still exists today but everyone was like you can't get into sitcoms right you're a late night writer that's where you stay it's late night you know and it's like and I believe in them yeah until I heard no don't listen to them you can make you can make the break but it takes time and so when you know when they call and they say hey it doesn't you know it's a guild job yeah it goes towards your pension it goes towards your health uh you get residuals on it it you know it makes you more established you know it's just like thank you thank you thank you thank you and sometimes you know you're in writers rooms where everybody kind of breaks the stories and writes them together and you know yeah everybody gets it written by credit and then other time sometimes you know there are shows where you know I remember in um for the finale of Everybody Hates Chris we all pitched and uh so I got the story credit for the finale and then it was written by one of my favorite writers of all time Don Rio I mean he's unbelievable um and uh you know he started in like mash and stuff oh that's he's just so cool and he created Blossom and my wife and kids and he's just cool yeah he's uh he's awesome and uh and then Ollie directed The the finale so it was the three of us and it was like oh baby I mean that was just that was so cool yeah and so you just go with it you know and every and every everybody who creates the show or the showrunner or whatever you know you just go with it if you get a story on this one you just trust that the next one it'll work out the other way or whatever and sometimes maybe you didn't write it you know there are there are episodes where you shouldn't write if you don't they say write what you know yes you know I I knew that crazy chin because it you know and luckily someone told me early on you know you the most personal stories are the most universal you know so well what's the most personal that was the most personal thing I could think of that I could turn into funny yeah you know so Stephen King talks about that his book on writing is one of my favorite um I love when when a genius or somebody who's super prolific can for lack of a better term dumb it down so I can understand it I love when uh you know if they can make it so I can understand it clearly they are a very good communicator of such Concepts I mentioned Elizabeth Gilbert earlier too talking about these big you know Concepts like inspiration and understanding it but when when King talked about that you write what you know like that is such a beautiful simple piece of advice that so many people try and stretch themselves into places that they're not maybe they're stretching themselves into places that they want to be whatever when really at the end of the day it comes down to what you know and I want to get to the book I want to talk about the book here because you're going to come back I'm demanding it I'm not asking I'm demanding because I feel the Synergy and I just love this so much um you know but we got to talk about the book now first and foremost my boy Scott Ryan is the one who uh set this up I love Scott uh talk about a guy who loves pay it forward a guy who loves kind like kindness uh Scott is that guy and then he wrote in my opinion it's my favorite I love Carter's book I love zinnamon's book but this book talking about the last six weeks uh you know it's my favorite run of any television show ever is the last six weeks of Late Show um it was a magic magic moment great idea for a book oh it was so good and in the oral history Scott kind of kept out of it he didn't write very much of it at all it was all just quotes from the people who were there um so he moved turned me on to uh you and the book and all that and he set this up and I just appreciate Scott shout out to Scott um so I yeah I I I want to know about the book because clearly all of these things that you're talking about um including the chase your dreams part like I I just appreciate anybody who gets the message out there to go after what it is that you're passionate about I host a men's mental Wellness podcast as well my wife's building a men's mental Wellness app and that's where I got my podcasting chops if I have any um and it there are so many men who are in their middle age right now who don't they don't go for what they want uh the reason this podcast is it exists is that very reason I want to talk about this book for sure because um you know I think that that book is an extension of this concept an extension of you and I'm very excited for you this is your first book right yeah first book and um and talk about right what you know right I mean all I need you know I learned from my college bar and uh I took the Segway I didn't know if you were leaving it as low hanging fruit or not but I thought this is the perfect segue way to move it and it's like you write what you know right that's right and that and that's exactly what I came now you know this is something I always wanted to do you know I wanted I always wanted to write a book I always you know wanted this that story which is so unique but it you know my story but it never felt like the right time and then the pandemic hit you know and and I thought this is a good time and so you know I put it together you know any in each page is like a piece of advice that I learned and and you know that Cathedral of knowledge known as a college bar and it is relatable everywhere yep and you know and it was also you know it was just fun to to relive you know that time was such a special time College bars are such a special place yes they're also crazy and for someone in Hollywood to say something's crazy what always used to get me you know I mean I worked in that bar every night you know I mean you know I'm in the dumpster I mean the thing and and but what always get me is like Monday night anywhere else in the world at 11 o'clock the lights are out everybody's asleep 11 o'clock on a Monday it doesn't have to be a holiday in a College of Art you cannot get in you know and and somehow all of the it always used to get mad look around and everybody's you know really having a great time and people from all over the world there's a million different you know nationalities and every kind of person people that do not mix yeah they're in there no one's getting hurt everybody's a friend everybody's there for the same reason how do how do we have the most fun and and drink for the least amount of money yep and and you know what's cool too is because you know it was on the campus so no one's driving everybody's walking everybody's just having you know a good time and uh yeah ours was called the well that's the bar that's that's our College bar where was that uh at Kelowna British Columbia uh so west coast of Canada yeah I love that the Well everybody's got one yep so this was this was Maggie's and um yeah and you know it was really fun to put together the ideas the idea you know and and what this was was really fun for me it's a perfect China you know going full circle here with our conversation the book really each page is like a joke that's what I loved about writing it it's like joke writing so when I was doing it I was like my God I love this you know because you don't you don't do that anymore I mean now in scripted you know I write TV series and movies and stuff and you've got to have the joke muscle if you're gonna write comedy but it's not Joker and the book was a lot like that it's a lesson plus stuff and then um you know I had the idea of putting an illustration on uh each page and I'm not an illustrator I can't illustrate so I put together a book with like clip art like a storyboarded kind of like the yeah yeah rough ideas like you know I'm a lefty I can't you can't you could hardly read my penmanship me too yep same thing oh my most of my best friends are lefties so that I mean that's why we're getting along so there it is so yeah so I put together the clip art and then I was introduced to this really great um uh illustrator in New York actually she's an agent for illustrators which I didn't even know existed her name is Ella Lupo and um she owns a company called Purple Rain illustrators now I put together the book but it didn't even have illustrations it was just like descriptions of what each thing would be clipart and uh you know and she introduced me to some people and um you know we found this illustrator Antonio uh Pina who was in Italy and he just did such a great job you know I mean he worked so hard you know you're talking about you know a joke writer English is the second language but he really he had such a great sense of humor he had to be the guy he got he he got the jokes and I loved there was something so cool about this I think you'll get it and I think anybody would understand there was something so fun for me to send my English page to him with my description of what I was thinking with my clip art and to see what he ended up you know with and and they're very different kind of you know cool illustration and he's a really talented guy and uh his stuff's in the New Yorker you know and he sent me his stuff from the you know Ella sent me his stuff from The New Yorker or his site I mean he's funny really and China is great yeah so it was such a fun process with the time frame I'd send him something you know like at the end of the work day and when I'd wake up in the morning I'd have a few drafts of what it was supposed to look like so yeah and the book came together really nicely and it was a blast and um you know my goal with it too is not only to you know in that intro I talk about pursuing new dreams and applying those lessons that I learned into my life now yep but but also you know I think the book has a lot of heart and I think that um you know the for the graduation I I love Dr Seuss love it too lovely Places You'll Go love doctor but I thought I mean is it we need a new all the Places You'll Go we need a new graduation gift you know a new thing so like like that you know modern day lessons and that's why you know that's that was another thing in my head you know so there's some what a beautiful concept that is a really beautiful idea um and it would make it make a great gift for that kind of a thing it's whimsical it's got Whimsy to it and Whimsy is such a beautiful thing but it's based all out of anecdotes right that's right and it doesn't take long to read it's funny it's got yeah I've got that stuff and that was the idea and these guys at uh Fayetteville Mafia press you know Scott um they got it immediately yeah and supported it and supported me and um you know I I you know one of our first conversations or our first conversation they they said how much they loved Dave and know I saw his book of course and um and how much they back writers and you know that's proven to be true so it was a good it was a great match and uh yeah and it's a lot and it's a lot of fun you know just dropped and I've been doing a lot of press for it and you know it's cool to see it online everywhere and uh in in La you know I just saw it for the first time in a I don't know if you have I don't know if you have kitchen stores in New York City anymore but there's a kitchen in my neighborhood which is like a a cool gift shop kind of place yep I saw it in the window I took a picture you know we tomorrow in the the the paper here the the piece is going to be out about it and you know it's just been crazy fun I'm having a blast doing it and it's been different you know I've never done it had a book out there before and um I love doing a new thing too while I'm doing the other stuff so it's uh it's it's such a fun experience my wife and I wrote a book a couple years ago and it it's it's it's surreal it is a very different thing um and and getting out and talking about it um let me ask you this what did you learn in the process of writing the book and putting it together and stuff at the end we certainly uh learned a lot of lessons between the first day where we knew what was happening we were putting pen to paper and then it was released at the end and we could kind of look at it back what were some of the things that you learned personally about that about the the writing the book anything anything yeah what's the title of your book by the way uh it's called she changed me one ordeal two perspectives um my beautiful granddaughter it's it's not a downer book she's okay everything's good uh when when my granddaughter was 18 months old uh my wife actually my granddaughter is like everything to me like um she slept over at our house at least one night a week week since she was two weeks old she's four years old now I take her to MMA twice a week she sleeps over still one night a week after this I get to go spend my day with it that's like my Best Day Ever these two conversations you Paul and then you and then hanging out with Elara is like it's my best day ever so uh she's okay but we thought we were going to BC Children's Hospital to get a tumor removed or a cyst removed uh it turns out it was a tumor turns out we left Kelowna didn't come back from Vancouver for five months um she's okay she's cancer-free everything's good now but um the book is a flip book I wish I had it down here a copy of it down here it's a flip it's one ordeal two perspectives by Mike Chisholm uh you start it by the time you get to the center of the book where all the pictures are the beautiful little girl uh and everything's good happy ending it's all the lessons I learned through that experience if you flip the book it's she changed me one of the other two perspectives my my wife Candace Chisholm and it's the lessons that she learned and they're completely different lessons and we wanted to take a negative turn into a positive when one put something out in the world that would be a um uh a resource for grandparents because there's not a lot out there for grandparents who have um you know potentially mortally ill uh grandchild and so um a lot of crazy stories so anyway there's in a nutshell that's that's our book and it's a very it ended up being a very happy book uh we learn a lot about ourselves and so that's why I'm curious like uh that's beautiful thanks thanks for sharing that with me it's beautiful thanks for asking I'm sorry I'm sorry you had to go through it it's okay but she's okay on the other side turned out really really good on the other side so it was really good and I was actually you know Rick scheckman um May rest in peace I missed shecky every single day he worked for a day for 32 years um that was actually something that he and I bonded over he he literate podcast there's a whole bunch of lily pads why this thing exists shecky is a big one and um and and he and I bonded over what I just got back from BC Children's Hospital during the pandemic that's when he and I got to know each other because he had a child in his life that had been affected so it's all full so everything everything there are no coincidences I'm a complete believer in that and a lot of these little things add up but writing of the book I got to know myself in a whole bunch of different ways because you're constantly internalizing as you're coming up with the perfect words the perfect sentences the perfect feelings you're trying to convey what's inside on on the page um I imagine in going through this you did the same yeah that's beautiful that story you just told it's a beautiful story and um yeah you know the thing I learned is it just reiterated what I knew you know which is just to always go with my gut and do what I love you know right right what I want to read write what you know I want to see you know what is fun for me yeah that always seems to be the thing that works you know the thing you can't get out of your head and I think that's probably with every creative Endeavor or or every Endeavor you know I mean because I came from business and I have you know such a business brain too in addition to the creative side you know that's why I was man last night I was watching a documentary about uh space acts yeah I love I love space and yeah I mean I love you know you see you see what you know what what uh Elon did you know just pursuing his passion was it the one on Paramount the three-part one no it was on Netflix it was um I think it was it's called return to space I've watched that one too I I'm fascinated by it yeah love I love that guy takes his first 100 million or whatever it was to do the Rockets and you know he obviously Embraces failure because everything keeps crashing somehow and I know I know everything about space I mean I love space because he gets every any kind of concern down here see him come on are you kidding me we're on a planet we're spinning and then it's nuts we can't curling through the Galaxy at 50 miles 50 000 miles an hour like yeah absolutely the traffic stinks today yeah but guess what we're on a planet I mean it's crazy so uh yes I was watching it last night and you know and you just think my God that's so cool that he that he did that and you can tell he has a passion for for that kind of stuff and you know all and you think about those astronauts you know they're going on the ship and there's bad weather so they get off of the ship it's just like what these guys gotta love it yeah so yeah I love anybody who goes goes for what they love uh it's very clear I love that uh I I've used this phrase far too many times but a fisherman can always recognize another fisherman I certainly see and hear and recognize you uh okay so all I need to know I learned in my college bar yes where is the best do you have a picture like for the thumbnail and all that you got a picture of you holding the book if not grab the book right now there it is here it is yeah you know I learned from my college bar and where can you get it yeah so the you know your buddy Scott they're the and David they own Fayetteville Mafia press yep you can get it they're they're directly uh from them and I'm pretty sure it's available you know everywhere else too like Amazon yeah you can find on the Amazons but sometimes it's better to write direct oh direct yeah yeah and um for effortless you know like to make make it easy for our buddy Scott because we both love them yeah and then uh you know and just these are the you know the types of really great illustrations uh in book that are black and white and you know the guy the guy crushed them the guy yeah okay such funny stuff so I appreciate you letting me hold it up and and I I loved being on the show this was this was so cool and I can't wait to show you my check stubs next time we're gonna do a Collectibles episode for sure and and yeah like please I'm glad that we know each other now and I can't wait to connect more um and and I'm a big collaborator I just love that I love I I believe I'm a huge believer that collaboration kicks the crap out of competition anytime I just love collaboration and I certainly feel that with you today um and I can't wait too but so before the next episode as well I would love to get if you get a couple ideas of of bits or things that were um that you wrote and had on the show Maybe by that point we'll have we've had a we've had permission from Pats to show a few Clips here and there but we certainly Don dealer um I don't know if you know Don Giller or not but the the biggest Letterman historian that the world has ever seen he's a part of this show as well and he does so if you can describe some of the things that you did and you want Clips we'll get them for you we'll be done but this is unbelievable but you know so I come out here in The Late Late Show I get in the sitcom do all that The Late Late Show needs a new host right they're gonna Craig believes they're going to find a new house yeah so I tell the guy uh they had five people they tried out right they tried out a bunch of different people yeah one of the guys who's the producer that brought me into Raymond I say to him I said you know I used to write on that show you should be the host let's do this together and he got Ray to call uh Peter LaSalle probably that's the guy yeah just a couple times loved him so I couldn't even believe when I met him because he's Carson right you know Sally is like I I want to talk about Peter LaSalle anybody who will talk about him we had Bill Carter on a few weeks ago and I got him to talk about Peter LaSalle a gentleman talk about kind but also expert yes absolutely when I was in his own you know like I couldn't believe I was in his office absolutely so anyway but so show shockingly years later now from that Late Late Show gig I'm in another you know I'm in scripted now me and that guy get this the studio the late late just do it for like a week to rehearse he was one of the guys so I'm in there late at night or only with no one else it's just and I think holy cow I cannot believe this happened again that is awesome well Jeffrey Peterson the guy who played Jeffrey Peterson's coming on in a couple weeks he's coming on the letter Letterman podcast so lots of yeah anything pants anything pants is all about the Letterman podcast is all about that uh again brother from another mother yes no doubt about it I hope you take off you know oh thanks man I appreciate that so I've already won I the dreams have already come true the things are already that's already happened everything else is cake uh but I mean I I can eat some cake I have no problem with that iron higher you're gonna go higher and higher oh Adam you're a sweetheart wife I said hi too Candy's awesome I appreciate that well and the next time we're down in La we're doing something uh we'll do lunch we'll do whatever like thank you so much okay Adam Lorenzo all I need to know I learned from my college bar uh available Fayetteville uh Mafia press um we'll send links in the description when we put the show out and all that in the comments and all that um thank you very much that has been another episode I'm gonna just I'll cut it off right here uh that's been another episode of The Lettermen podcast with Mike Chisholm coincidentally I am Mike Chisholm thank you and good night