Andy Carson went from Paul Shaffer’s intern to a loved TV personality

hi I'm Paul Schaefer I'm will Lee and you are watching The Lettermen podcast hey everybody Welcome to The Lettermen podcast my name is Mike Chisholm I am very excited and happy to present today's episode now before we get to the guest uh there's gonna be two more episodes I know we've had a couple little audio issues here uh sound board issues on my end the sound board that I had crapped out in and so there were times where I sounded like a chipmunk there were times where we had to compensate and the way we did it was we changed a setting uh where where it sounded like there was a ton of echo on my side I apologize to Tom Dreesen for that and a couple of the other guests that we had uh where where I wasn't as Stellar as I could be from a technical standpoint uh which is you know par for the course I'm not a technical guy at all and kind of holding this thing together with uh you know popsicle sticks and Elmer's Glue uh yeah I'm not a technical guy at one point you know what it's going to be really fun at some point if this thing turns into a thing I mean it's already a thing but if it turns into like a bigger thing where there's like you know production in value into it other than you know me buying stuff for and putting up something in my basement um or my you know I I would really like to have a place where the technical part of the show can take a gigantic step forward I think it'll happen at some point but right now it's okay kind of be in the Wayne's World of the podcast world uh talking about Letterman and Company but that being said um I sound okay right now and the reason I do is because I'm on this new soundboard but before um with Andy's episode and with uh the episode that's coming up next week Matt Roberts um I sound like I'm in a uh an echo chamber of some sort um not a social or idealistic Echo chamber I'm talking about a literal chamber where you say something and it sounds echoey so I apologize for that now that being said our guest today is fantastic name is Andy Carson you are going to see that Andy Carson and Mike Chisholm are very similar when it comes to their levels of energy optimism excitement gratefulness all of those things Andy is and I want to get the call sign right he works for Fox 12 in Oregon has so for well over two decades uh KPTV Fox 12 Oregon uh he is on a show called Good Day Oregon now he's a weatherman he also goes on different Adventures uh in a segment imaginably titled Andy's Adventures he has been doing this for a long time going all around the Pacific Northwest and uh shooting remotes of Interest this is something that in broadcast TV is a time-honored tradition it's something I hope that will continue on these localized um perhaps Statewide or county-wide programs that focus on their local area very very cool and Andy does that but he started as an intern on Late Night with David Letterman he was actually Paul Schaefer's intern for a couple of cups of coffee and he has way more of of of of a resume than that when it comes to late night he actually had a couple of moments um similar to what I had with Dave he had uh a moment where he was part of the Q a at late night and and had some stuff thrown on the air so we got a chance to share that uh that that feeling with each other and then there was another time where he showed up there and well you know what I'm gonna let Andy tell you but he had two memorable appearances on late night I love talking to people um who actually got a chance to be on the show and and whatnot and then the stories he told us being Paul's intern uh really really fun stuff again you're really gonna appreciate Andy I know I certainly did um and uh yeah just really really excited to present this episode of The Lettermen podcast with Mike Chisholm featuring Andy Carson okay Andy I am I'm so excited that you are here today um it's so much fun to hear some of the staffers from the earlier years and what they've gone on to since then and uh people get a kick out of it when other when they hear it and we're starting to assemble a community Andy Carson thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to come on the Lettermen podcast well thanks for having me I had to you know get up from my nap and uh comb my hair and come down and figure out how to work Zoom so yeah it was a pleasure to put that much effort into it you figured it out uh perfectly and I think you might have one of the classiest backgrounds uh or a class of your backgrounds from any of our guests it's very uh very contemporary you can thank Mrs Carson for that how many times do we say that in our lives right you can think oh I know for that um I uh thank you so much before we get going so uh Paul Shaver's assistant back in the day right uh I was um the intern to Chris Albers who was Paul shaffer's paid his assistant so I did it for free okay yeah yes um okay yes absolutely and we it's funny we've been on an intern streak lately um we've just had a couple Matt Larkin just came on and and he was uh part of it later on than you though I think he was further he was much further along I think probably about 10 years further than you were but uh I love talking to the interns the interns have a lot of the great stories they really really do um and I love the fact that you and I can talk about this because I'm a huge music fan and and um I I just talking about Paul and the band and things like that uh are something that uh this show really wants to do uh but let's before we get into that I want people to know what you've done since then and what you're doing now because I get a real kick out of it I love hearing it and seeing it what do you do now Andy well since then um I uh you know I finished my internship and um I thought about you know what I want to work for the show I want to work for Letterman I want to do this and I would was on the show a few times for some different things just had a blast yeah and um Chris Albers who as I mentioned earlier was uh Paul's assistant um he said give me great advice he said listen if you want to be on TV they're never gonna say um Andy Dave's not feeling well today could you film for him and uh he said so if you wanted to be on TV just go do your own thing so I went back finished up college and then um there was it was a small I grew up in a small town in southeast Kansas I went to a college uh at well finished my last part of college uh graduated from Pittsburgh State University in Pittsburg Kansas and uh what's the team there what's the team the gorillas the gorillas the gorillas the fighting gorillas excellent okay yep um and so uh there was a CBS affiliate that was like 10 miles south of there that would hire me while I was still in college to do the weather on the weekends perfect so I figured Dave did the weather they'll do the weather and then you know uh only he moved on uh so yeah I worked there doing uh so I was finishing up College I was um working on Saturday and Sunday nights during the weather making 3.35 cents an hour wow and and then I Monday through Friday I waited tables at Pizza Hut yep so um I would literally have the times when I would on Sunday night tell people to take shelter there's a tornado coming and you know go save yourself and the same person on Monday I could say do you want extra cheese on that and uh so that's uh that's how that evolves so anyway I did that uh weekends for a little bit and then they started a Morning Show there and my best friend all through uh College uh his name's Toby cook we did uh we were uh roommates and stuff like that in college we hosted a show together a Morning Show um at that koam CBS affiliate yeah and if there we both ended up going to Lynchburg Virginia and did good morning Virginia uh I was there for about a year and a half and then I came out to Portland Oregon and I've been working on Good Day Oregon this August it'll be 27 years wow Oregon so give us the format of Good Day Oregon what are we talking about here well it used to be on from six o'clock in the morning until nine o'clock in the morning um but it's involved so now good day Arkansas from 4 30 a.m until 11 A.M um oh my gosh yeah it's forever but fortunately um they don't make me do that whole time so my normal schedule is from six until uh nine and then a break from nine to ten and then I go from 10 to 11.

yep and what's your look on the show um I still do the weather but then I also do a lot of other things uh they have a thing a segment called Andy's Adventures where I'll go pretty much all over the Northwest and do different Adventures from surfing to uh climbing giant trees to um uh oh I flew in the Columbia River Gorge in an open cockpit um biplane um and it just goes on and on and so that's really fun and then I do like live shots so tomorrow I'm going to be at the St Paul rodeo and I'll be goofing around with the clowns and all that you know all that stuff and then throwing the weather in there as well it sounds like you're having a ball are you having a ball I am it's uh it's just uh it's such a blast and um and I oftentimes look at how impactful just doing that internship with Letterman gave me so much confidence because I mean I'm just from a small town seven thousand people and it's kind of like if you can make it in New York you can make it anywhere and so someone's sang a song about that one's like that I think someone's saying a song about that once I think so if not they should write one that's right we should we should write it together I I uh I I get a tremendous kick out of um talking to the staffers uh because so many of them are from a small town with aspirations that are so gigantic because of the setting they grew up in they think it is absolutely not possible but the thing about Letterman and Company all the way along and don't get me wrong I mean there's a bunch of Harvard writers and people who were brought into don't get me wrong I understand that but but at the same time uh through the entire run of every incarnation of the show there are people people lots of them who have extremely similar stories um including right up to Dave himself you know being from Indiana and thinking well how in the world could this guy uh you know end up in California end up uh at The Comedy Store end up being the successor for for Johnny Carson his mentor and and and really in the blueprint of the building of these uh this franchise a lot of people who share the same story some who stayed with it some who left got into television in the back end of things some who came into the front of it ended it like you uh I love hearing that you were inspired by it now let's let's bring it back um how did you end up with this internship and what years were we talking about what years were you at the show can I show a little background before I got to the internship because whatever you like absolutely a fun story absolutely when I was in college uh I was taking a theater class and acting class and this would have been in 1988.

and they had this thing in January where we could go to New York and this was uh this school was in in Bolivar Missouri we could go to New York see 10 shows Broadway shows in 10 days and get 10 hours of credit for it and where's the downside in any of this I don't understand that sounds like the experience of a lifetime so I say to my uh the the guy that's going to lead at the uh the teacher the professor I said can I just go see the Letterman show while I'm there and he's he's like yeah you can do that and he and I'm like okay great how do I get tickets there's oh they're handing tickets out all the time they just you just walk these they'll just hand out to you I'm like sweet so so we go to New York and uh first thing I do is I go to 30 Rock and I go up and I see the First NBC information thing and I said I'd like tickets to Letterman show and they laugh at me and they said it's like two years in advance you have to ask for them and then we send them out and it's a random date you know you can't say I need two tickets for this date and I'm like ah you you're kidding me and they said we do hand out standby tickets yep and so I'm like how does that work so every morning uh that they tape that afternoon I think it was eight o'clock they would hand out like 50 standby tickets so I got there at six o'clock in the morning and I was online uh you know all the way and so I get like tickets number 36 and 37.

oh boy I go back that afternoon no go I mean they let like the first eight people in for people that didn't show up yeah so the next morning I get to get there at like six and I get tickets four and five and I go back and no standby Scotia it was impactful so the next morning I get there like at four o'clock in the morning and I'm number one number two I've got the first two tickets and I go and I'm standing there and uh sure enough I get in so I'm just I'm so excited I get up go up the elevator you know they're packing this all they were in the back you know because it's the standby and I'm sitting there they come out to warm up the audience for a little bit and Dave says are there any questions I mean he's there for 90 seconds yeah and I pop my hand up I had no idea what I was going to say and he said uh yeah you up there in the in the back and I said uh yeah I noticed that you have two chairs down there but normally just one guest so could I sit in the other chair and he goes I'm mad I gotta tell you that is fantastic you have the opportunity the pitch comes down the plate and you crank one and is it gonna go foul is it gonna go over the fence but you connect well done spur of the moment very well done thank you so then he asked me a few questions he jokes around a little bit the music starts for the open he goes around comes back out does a couple of jokes and uh it it uh you know a little lull there and he says to Paul we got a guy here from Kansas and Paul's like yeah we're really happy to have him and uh so the camera goes up there and I've got a mullet okay and I've got like this bright red shirt and I'm wearing camouflage pants and I'm just like this is great yeah I'm I'm waiting he's like he's like where are you from and he asked me the same questions I said Fort Scott he said how far away is I said 1500 miles so he says to somebody on the front row he said sir where are you from and he said Long Island and he said I'm sorry but you're gonna have to go up there and he has me come down so I walked down the stairs and I go up the guy stands up I shake his hand give him a fake kiss and I sit down and and I'm just sitting there and it's just everything is just like I'm just on cloud nine and so he does a couple more jokes and they keep coming back to me because I can see myself up on the Monitor and so while I was doing the the quick cut to you the legendary iconic which has happened to me there is no feeling like it I you know it fantastic you feel like you've arrived when that happens yes so one of the times it comes back to me and I just look over and put my arm around the guy's wife that I replaced and so then at the commercial break the woman the wife says to me would you mind to go back up there so I can sit next to my husband I'm like I don't mind at all the greatest moment of my life yeah so I go back up there he comes back down well Wendell at the commercial break is yelling up there and tells me to come back down and so I come back down and I sit down and I just look at her sorry and just watched the rest of the show from right there well Hal's probably like that's my that's now my go-to for this episode that's my go-to to cut back to when yeah yeah oh gosh so then fast so I you know I get the show's over I call I get a pay phone and I call home and I say hey Mom tell everybody you know I'm gonna be on the Letterman show tonight and so you know it's recorded So I go back after this whole ordeal and I'm like it's my pictures in the paper they've got all this stuff and there's this huge deal and so I it's it was time for me to get a new driver's license yeah and you know it's such a small little town there's somebody comes from the DMV to the junior college like twice a month so let's go in there and I'm wearing a late night with Dave Letterman on sweatshirts yeah and I'm and I want that to be in my in my picture yeah and uh so she's like it's too low and so I take it and I hold it up in my chin like that and and like she takes like five pictures and we pick the best one so that's that's in my driver's license photo so then later that year I'm a friend of mine and I decide to go to New York and uh again this is from the Midwest we get out there and um the hotel we sleep in the hallway at Rockefeller get the standby tickets and we go back in and I knew how I was gonna get back on the show again so I'm sitting there and on the way up I get my driver's license photo out of my wallets in my hand and Dave comes out warms up the audience any questions pop my hand up and he said yes because he had no memory of me from before a million things go you know no memory and I say um you know when you go to commercial break and it has something that says Late Night with David Letterman on it like a you know a Subway or whatever would you use my drivers yeah that guy the bumpers yes shout out to Mark Carson our boy Mark Carson the late night bumpers absolutely yep he inspired me so I said would you use my driver's license photo and so he's like well let me see it and it gets down there and he just starts laughing and he hands it to somebody in the front row music starts he goes around comes back out again and uh does a couple of jokes and he says who has Andy's driver's license and so he gets it and he was clever enough to block out any crucial information and shows it but then we banter back and forth for probably 90 seconds on his show and it was just like and you know one of the things he's he said is like uh where are you staying and I said um just around pound and he's like a thousand dollars he's living in that chair right up there so uh bathroom they give me little sponges that will that you know and the collapsible cup says Letterman they give me that the people next to us were so excited that I got that I Bartered some of that to get to go to their hotel and take a shower oh my God so then that was that was all you know been in the in 1990s so that was in the late 80s 1990s I had been trying to get an internship I kept sending uh a resume and then I'd call and they'd say no we're booked no we're books so finally I was uh visiting a friend in Ohio and um I just thought oh then a a girl that I was dating at the time was a page in DC and she says my aunt and uncle are going to New York um they're opening up a restaurant in Joplin Missouri but they're going to get the little things the whole the little sugar packets they're looking at art they're looking for all this stuff and so they're going I'm gonna fly up there and meet them if you can get yourself to New York we'll take care of you uh for the week and I'm like great great so I uh I thought while I'm there I'll just I'll call the Lettermen people so I called and said hey are we still in Ohio and I said um I'm going to be in New York on Friday um I'm hoping to do an internship you have my resume is it okay if I swing by and they're like yeah that's fine okay so I the only way I could time it was an 18-hour Greyhound bus ride overnight yep on and I get to I get to New York on Thursday evening and I've got like 50 bucks yep and um so I know the whole routine of sleeping in the hallway at Rockefeller so I uh I go to Hurley's you know the the restaurant they used to refer to went there and had had a dinner blew through my 50 bucks and then I went up and it was like it was like 7 30 8 o'clock at night I go to that hallway and I sit down a couple hours later a couple girls came in and they had an extra pillow I slept there and um got my standby ticket get up and I'm like okay now I'm gonna go to the hotel where we're staying get freshened up and go to my interview uh which was at three o'clock and side note we stayed at the Waldorf Astoria what yeah I'm pretty sure I'm the only guy in the Greyhound bus that then spent a week at the Waldorf so uh I go and they're like no sir you can't check in until three o'clock and I'm like oh my gosh so I I sit around on the lobby of the hotel until it gets to be close to time and then I go so I'm exhausted I've ridden on the bus I need to shave I've done the best I can with my hair I did have a sports jacket and um I'm losing my voice and I go in and I talk to him for like five minutes and they're like yeah you'll be fine uh when can you start do you remember who you talked to um I forget the name uh Jill mentioned to her when she also interned so you just interviewed Jill that was Pauline Colette I think yep and um so yeah so it was like super laid back and they're like okay yeah it's gonna start at such and such a time so that preparation all that build up all of this stuff and then just the quickest meeting ever yeah later when I'm there I find out towards the end of our term they're like all right if anybody calls about internships send them through otherwise tell them we're booked so it's just it was a timing thing is all it was and so I think I'm gonna be doing you know something I don't even know what I'm going to do but yeah to be there and I get there and they're like um you're gonna be um an assistant to Paul Shaffer and his paid assistant and I'm like I know nothing about music they said don't worry about it it doesn't matter and so I I go and um I work and Paul was so gracious and so I I had friends come out and he would always meet them and and be very kind and talk to them and and then of course Chris Albers was such a such a great guy and just a a real Mentor so to speak on on certain things and since then he's still been very very nice so it's it's been great that's excellent okay so I gotta ask you before we kind of get into the job itself you this Whirlwind happens um you right now I believe I'm a big personal development guy and I believe that that stories like this inspire people to chase dreams and I love that I'm doing that by doing the show chasing a dream I I I just love it so much you have a couple brushes with the show you feel the excitement you feel the energy and it just Spurs you on it doesn't detract you a lot of people they get satisfied okay well I had that I had my moment where the camera cut to me no you're gonna go and do something even more the driver's license thing you evolve it that much more and and you keep going and going and going um young people need to do that I I just chasing dreams as far as I'm concerned is one of those things where you just never know what might happen and this story is just such a beautiful example of that um you get the gig how long between they say yes and uh you start working your first day what are we talking here for a time frame of prep it was probably less than a month okay so less than a month you got to figure out a way to get to New York to have accommodation in New York to because you're not getting paid right um and and and and to start working at what I imagined would be is there a is there more of a dream gig that could have been for for for your young life because Dave Dave was really um like my my main uh motivation and in fact later when I worked in TV I had an agent and he said okay you don't need to try to do Dave Letterman jokes she needed yeah your own stuff which was great advice but it was really something that that helped me uh go into that and kind of uh think outside the box so to speak from what other people were doing sure and but also the Lettermen Enthusiast in you uh what a compliment for someone to say something like that like oh that's a letterman word or that's a letterman turn a phrase or something like that uh because his dialogue is like I mean I catch myself all the time saying phrase like I say I don't know what that means I say that all the time to people somebody will say something you know whatever and I'll and I'll insert that phrase of course that's a davism and there's so many of them if somebody calls me on it I take that as the greatest compliment in the world um well it was it was funny because you know I I get in there and I had these other two appearances and I talked to Chris Albers and I told him about those appearances and he goes keep that to yourself because they'll think you're one of the nut jobs yeah yeah that's one thing that I've been I I was worried about that I think I'm kind of past it now uh with Japan with the pants people we gotta we've got I I'm happy to say we've got a friendly relationship with the pants people here at the Lettermen podcast I'm happy with that uh but I was very very concerned about that at first because there were like I mean you know obviously the famous one of the gal who uh you know can break into Dave's house but but yes a lot of extremely enthusiastic fans that kind of went over the line and and weren't excited about it in a professional way and just wanting to be a part of it but you know it was the the Fanboy versus the I want to be a part of something here right um and that's a that's a tough line I can see why Chris said that to you now that being said do you have the clips of you on the show I do have the the driver's license one um and I can send that to you um and then I had there were two times that I was on uh a couple of Dave's remotes and I've got I've got the clips from that so I can but you're actually working for the show when I was working for the show but the original one switching places with the audience remember you don't have that one I can't find it okay I can't find it it's somewhere I'll see if we can somehow help you with that yeah it's on a VHS in a storage room somewhere I don't know where uh well we may have a digital version of it somewhere and we'll see okay if we can find that for you uh we'll talk about that off air um you uh okay so you get the gig uh you move to New York where do you move how do you where where are you staying how do you make this work um I uh I I'm just this you know boy from the country I mean I drive a pickup truck and Subways scared me I mean just I didn't I didn't know how to negotiate all that stuff and so I I found a place in Midtown yeah so it was just Off-Broadway um and it was a fairly new um apartment complex and um I had a friend that wanted to move to New York as well uh just you know just like they were just kind of like one to do so we rented a studio apartment so there was just one and we had two air mattresses on the hardwood floor I kept my clothes in the kitchen cabinets um and he had the closet and um what was kind of fun it was it was a nice building but I mean we it was the absolute cheapest one that they had yeah and have a bathroom it did have a bathroom its own bathroom yeah I mean there was a there was a concierge uh doorman all that kind of stuff well um but I could walk to and from uh Rockefeller from there so it was it was very nice and a fun side note Chris Farley also lived in that building no kidding yes yes lived in that building 88 89 this was 90 or 90.

okay was he working for seven he wasn't working for Saturday he would have been yeah of course he would have yeah wow in fact after after my first week um working on Letterman uh the interns got invited to the um SNL party afterwards um one of one of the other interns I don't know who it was ruined it for us because they went up to I think it was Rico Kasich was the guest and wanted this picture taken with him and you know there's this kind of this invisible line you don't cross over that yeah he went over there to get his picture taken with him with Rick and his girlfriend and uh so that was the last that we got to go to the SNL party however while I was there at the party um Chris Farley comes out on David Spade's back piggyback sweating like and talk and I go hey Chris uh I hear we live in the same building and he goes we should go hot tubbing together and then went on yeah yeah that's great I love it um I asked Jill if she ever saw this because I know that her uh her office when she worked for Saturday Night Live was was how what a sweetheart Jill is I just adore him oh yeah um first of all I need to point out Jill um you know she was Dave's intern only it was more than an internship it was absolutely absolutely when I was with Paul so we were known as the king and queen of the interns that's what she said yeah and we've just we've we've kept in touch throughout all the years and um thanks to her for connecting us and then also um when Dave had his when he retired um she invited me to the retirement party and I would have never gotten there without Jill so I mean big big shout out to her she is she is tremendous I I adore her um and and I asked her when she was working for Saturday Night Live because her office was right near Spades and Farley's the legendary stories of of of Farley wearing Spades jacket and you know the fat guy had a little jacket like um I just I I love that I love that that's my cast of SNL the cast you're talking about they're the ones I was in high school and I I just absolutely adored them my word the fact that you had that experience I mean 18 years doing what you love that's great but I can see you going back into that time and still just it's a it's a pot of joy that you're just pulling a cup of it out of I can just see it happening um that is tremendous you get the so you you know the small apartment in New York but you're in Midtown location location um tell me about the first actually Dave's parking garage was on my way uh to the Rockefeller so every once in a while he would uh Park his car and I would follow him and he would walk and we would just kind of walk through the way uh to the office I didn't I didn't go up and talk to him because I didn't want to make that kind of thing yeah I didn't want to cross that line yeah yeah um first day first day like you go there let's can we go back to that does any memories of the actual first date so I I do remember going in um it was in August so I was in shorts short sleeves hot you know New York City and um I go in and part of my job was um when they would do rehearsal uh especially for music rehearsal I would go into the uh studio and I would sit up there with Paul just so he had his uh his organ and and piano and all of his keyboards and I'd stand there and if he needed something I could run go get it for him so we were on standby yeah and rarely did he need anything um but uh I would I would just so I got to see these these performers come in and they do once one practice and then they would do a camera practice and uh what I remember is first day it was so freaking cold in the studio yeah because Dave wanted it so and I'm just like ah so I mean I brought brought a coat from there on out um but the other than that and the specifics of day one that's the main thing I remember from day one is just how cold it was and how old it was yeah it got fixed up for that um and that was before they did the crew jackets the crew jackets is more CBS thing there were late night jackets at NBC but they weren't the the institution that they became on on on CBS so so you're wearing it you're wearing it keeps the comedy fresh is the standard Letterman line uh okay so you you get there uh again it's this Stranger in a Strange Land did you take to it quick or was it like I guess you had to take to it quick because of the pace right yeah I did and I mean it was uh but it was so much fun because you know I was working um late morning so I probably got to work 10 or 11 at more in the morning and then I was done after the show finished well actually after the show was done um we'd go back up the offices and sometimes they would book a guest last minute for the next day and the bank and would more than likely take off so I would uh Chris would find the song they were going to do and then he would um record it onto cassette tapes and I would then get a car like a town car from the you know NBC had and uh that NBC paid for and I would go to Anton's house and to um will leave department and sometimes the Paul Schaefer's place and take the tapes to him because there was you know no internet so they couldn't just look at me so I take the tape to him and I think Sydney Guinness lives so far out that they'd said don't worry about it he'll he'll figure it out so wait a second you hear uh I don't know give me an example you know your Boy George is coming tomorrow night we need a cup we need a copy of Karma Chameleon for everybody so you can like kind of like that is that what we're talking about yeah it was like oh yeah and so then they would just listen to it a few times and then come in and then they would rehearse and then um they'd do the camera rehearsing and one time Hal Gurney said hey Andy um go sit at Dave's desk uh and introduce the band so that so that we can do the camera rehearsal and it was just how just being just such a nice guy yeah and he said all right Andy we need to do a camera check raise your right hand raise your left hand yep camera's working it's just like so then they would perform and then I would take that band um back to the um sound guy and he would say do you like the way it sounds and they're like yeah yeah or a little more of this a little more of that and then he'd say okay and then he'd switch a button and he'd be a square little speaker he said this is what most people are going to hear because that was even before very few people had stereo television absolutely so it's like how does that sound so it was that was kind of a fun little thing to do that yeah there's some very uh I love I love talking about this time and and when people take the time to talk about the the difference in technology at that point um every show on NBC you know they would throw a stereo sound on like it was a big deal when these things when this this happened back then uh This is Gonna how it's gonna sound on that is very interesting so what they would adjust the sound because of uh of the band like that's that's something a sound person would do to make sure that it was optimal for as many people as possible people yeah and the sound guy I wish I remember his name super nice everybody was happy he's like yeah that sounds good we're good and uh that would be it well the pleasure of doing this show is is is the uh you know of course it's like I call it like it's like a family the pants land it's it's like a family right and families I don't know about yours but with mine uh lots of ups and downs lots of crazy things going on but at the same time you know you take a bullet for each other and and many if not most of the folks who uh had uh extended periods or even even uh you know brief periods with that family seem to all have some similar uh similarities in in these areas um okay so I love this so much this is so I love when people and it seems like almost everybody was the gratefulness that you had to be there yeah you know um so you're doing this I want to know were you a music like you didn't know anything about music but were you like uh from from a technical standpoint but did you enjoy music oh yeah I love music I mean I would have the radio on and all that kind of stuff okay but one of the things that I noticed was when these people would come on and sometimes I had never heard of them yeah I would see them rehearse and I'm like okay I can there's something more to this person to their performance and what they can do and I was blown away at the consistency of that yeah and how you know it's just like yep you deserve to be here and so that was one of the things that stood out to me and another thing that stood out to me all the different um musicians that we had on there in the rehearsal you know people are walking up and down the side and outside and all that kind of stuff yeah there were two different artists that they stopped in their tracks and came and watched Steve Vibe guitarist yeah if you if you couldn't hear just to watch the way he played the guitar yeah was crazy people stopped and just like in awe a master at work and the other one everybody stop Dolly Parton oh that that warms my heart that Delights me so much kindness in a little package of blonde and just just kind and fun and just delightful oh that's that's fantastic I um I'm curious did you get introduced to any music that uh that you wouldn't have known beforehand that is still with you today are there any is there anything that uh your heart is kind of attached to one of the things that I I kind of uh came about was um I you know I grew up in a Small Town Country so I didn't want to be associated with country music you know it was all you know because you want to be something else yep and um Dwight Yoakam came on and um he was and I'm like oh my gosh this is great I and I forget if it was guitars and Cadillacs or something like that but it was you know one of his his uh Classics and then it's like okay and then I started listening to country music I'm like you're romanticizing my life okay I like country music and so that that's probably one of the things that brought it in another cool thing that Paul Schaefer did one time that um the Texas tornadoes were coming yep um to perform and they were playing at a bar the night before and Paul and Anton were going to it and Paul knew it was in my neighborhood and so he said Annie come on over you know just go tell them you're with me and uh so I go to this place long line I walk right past it and I said um I'm here with Paul Schaefer and they took me right in and took me around and I sat there and so that was a tremendous phenomenal thing oh man this is uh this is very very cool hearing some of these things these are special moments and I mean you're talking about them some 30 something years later yeah um that is that's tremendous back to the music a little bit I keep I keep bubbling up a story please do no that's this is what the show's all about absolutely so Paul had had gotten married earlier in the year and they had a wedding reception later in the year it was in the in the fall and so he sent out all these RSVPs and uh and then they didn't all get back to them and so they had me calling different people to see if they were going to come to the uh to the reception or not Brian Doyle Murray was the biggest one I remember calling and um left a message but anyway I got to go to the wedding reception and um really that's amazing so I got to go there and it was at this private club and they had um like Go-Go girls up in cages that were dancing and they had the Tower of Power playing and um that and The Young Rascals they were the featured band and then of course Paul was up there playing with them as well as uh uh will Lee was playing and I think Anton was and then Phoebe Snow you know Phoebe Snow Yeah I do she came in and she did this song that brought the place down it's one of two legitimate standing ovations to where we won't stop clapping until you sing another song it's it's not going to happen and so she had only planned to do one and she goes back and her second song was rocking pneumonia Boogie Woogie flu and and again brought the place down and I think was within one or two weeks she was on the show on Letterman uh performing yeah oh that's amazing I uh I I love how much Paul loves old show business you know um I I just adore that and and and that sounds like a reception uh fit for one of the you know the greatest band leader uh that we've ever seen and uh you know I I I'm certain that it must tickle you uh to see what Paul ended up doing outside of Letterman you know everything from the the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to up here in Canada you know he's received the Order of Canada he's he's a hero up here um and and all of that stuff an absolute genius but kind oh yeah super kind and and uh that that that's beautiful um okay so I want to just talk for a second I don't know that we've ever really talked about this on the show so much late night versus Late Show on Late Night artists would come into play with the world's most dangerous band more often than a group would be featuring their latest single that sort of thing late when I went to late show it was kind of the opposite mostly it was groups coming in doing their own thing and sometimes the band would supplement um did you ever remember any times where uh there was anybody who who didn't Jive or they had a moment to try and fix something because you know the artist wasn't playing with their normal band or or were they just so good that that didn't happen hardly at all if at all they were they were so good I never saw that happen I I did see where Paul I think it was I think it was Iggy Pop or somebody like that was on and he he wanted to sing this song and I was like we can't sing that on TV um and so but no it they really did they just all could could work together and um it was it was unbelievable what they could accomplish in such a short amount of rehearsal I mean two times they go through it and then they're good to go yeah that is that is astounding to me um obviously you would watch uh walk-up music rehearsals and things like that as well is that something that you'd be you'd be seeing what was that again uh walk up music like walkout music although a lot of the guests that time at late night didn't get walkout music uh but it was it was becoming a thing at that point where the band be rehearsing other things and and yeah they would they would uh just uh rehearse the uh you know the actual thing I think a lot of times Paul last second would decide what song to play when they came out like real time now once they would when the show was about to start I would go out there and sit with Paul and they would play as they'd warm up the audience and so they would play and then they'd introduce Dave and then as Dave came out that was when I exited I didn't want to but I had to exit and then I'd stand out there in the hallway and chat with the pages and um the limo drivers in fact I became friends with the limo drivers please like candy well we're needing some people to drive on the weekends you know yeah well your way around New York City I'm like sure yeah I do I fortunately decided not to take the stretch limo job not knowing how to get anywhere in New York besides to my apartment back the guy who's afraid of the subway not sure at it yeah no that that probably that probably would have resulted in some stories I just don't know well I did I did drive one time um when I was in New York and it it was um and you touched a little bit on this uh when you talked to Jill about she can't drive stick shift yeah and so they they came to me and and it was Lori diamond and she's like Andy I I need you to you can't you could drive stick shift right like yeah I can he's like okay Dave's car and and it was um it was a car that NBC leased for him okay so um it was a Fiero GT awesome Yep yeah and she said there's like the little side light a light bulb was out and um she said and the cops loved to pull him over I mean it's a minor thing but we've got to get it fixed or they'll and so she tells me where to go um and she sends me she has a bag full a sack full of shirts that say Letterman and hats and all this kind of stuff just to the rim and she's like I don't have an appointment but try to get us in there and so I drive and I'm in I'm in this hero and I'm like all right I'm going on just all out because you you kind of have to one and two I figured it's a car that they leased for him so if there is an incident he'll probably make fun of it on TV oh good for you but I didn't want to purposely do something no of course not I drove it and so I get to the garage where she said and I walk in and there was this woman at the front and she says what are you doing here and I said I'm I've got Dave Letterman's car here no we I already told them we don't have any openings and I'm like but it's Dave's car and he really needs no we're not going to do it and I said what can I speak to uh the the owner the owner's in a meeting and I said that's okay I'll I'll just wait and she was just very mad so she and so I walk around and I'm handing out to the mechanics and everybody's shirts and hats and all this kind of stuff and I call Lori and I'm like they're not wanting to do it she goes well just wait and see if you can talk to the owner like okay so I'm sitting there pretty soon the owner comes walking down the stairs wearing a late night with David Letterman hat and he said don't worry kid we'll have it ready by five oh that's I love that and okay I so you and I are are like brothers from another mother when it comes to tenacity I I totally 100 believe that um you know if you want something bad enough keep going and keep going and keep going as respectfully as you can right you know but but yes uh don't you know sometimes taking no for an answer uh can can can be the lead to to some really cool stuff not happening and and I just I love this about you um I can certainly certainly relate uh with that boldness and that is uh oh that's that's that's delightful Dave's Fiero GT what color was that do you remember it was red there's a red one of K yeah um okay so let's go back to um you know the daily The Daily Grind of what it is that you would do lots of sitting there at the beck and call waiting uh listening to music you know waiting um some of the strangest things you've had you had to do um so on Mondays um that's when NBC would uh like in the main when the elevator banks open up to the late night floor they'd have all the sodas and stuff like that that they've provided so I would go grab those sodas as many as I could and fill the refrigerator in Paul's office so we were always stopped and then Paul always wanted Royal Crown um uh South Curry sours things little candies a little hard candy yeah and we're all chewing gum so I go to the drugstore and I'd buy the Chris gave me the credit card and I would I would go get that and um it was just that was one of the things I did every week um one of the other things is Paul wanted a uh we wanted a new uh like boom box that had a CD player in it because they didn't have that so they could actually put a CD in and listen to the music there um beforehand and so Chris sends me to this place and it's something like I'm gonna get the numbers wrong but it's 47th Street photo on 52nd Street oh boy so it's you know you know what I'm talking about you're gonna flip it yeah or something yeah yeah it whichever one it was yeah the name was on one street but it was located on another Street and I go there and it's in and it's run by Orthodox Jews and it's you you go in there and there's no like display you go through this catalog and you find what you want and then you take that to line and then you pay for it and then you go down the street to another place where they bring it out to you yep and and so I go through all of this and I mean it was it was I mean it was uh they were they were a bit Gruff you know and kind of and I wasn't exactly sure what they wanted so I'd go through and I get this Boombox and I make it back and Paul's like it's too big I can't see anything over it and so so um and we've lost the receipts and Chris said you need to take it back and get a smaller one I'm like please and then I finally said this was Paul Schaefer's and they're like okay so they switch it out for a week and get me a smaller one but the Jewish connection strikes again thank goodness for that yes um um okay so that that's those are yeah some interesting things that you did um man I I just wanna you were the king and queen of the interns one of the things that Jill said was that um you know it was kind of almost like not people that were were standoffish to her but she had to kind of be in the bubble and stay in the bubble with Dave especially and I mean we all know you know with Dave's uh Dave's nature he's so shy and and whatnot I imagine it wouldn't have quite been the same thing for you in your spot or or was it was it that you kind of had to be because well that's one of the principles of the show oh no Paul was way more approachable yeah I mean people would come in and talk to Paul all the time I mean it was and it was fine and I'd have friendship out of town and he you know he would talk to them I introduced them and he was a super super kind and just it was just very easy going and laid back so um it wasn't that kind of thing there was one day I did get to hang out with Dave and it was uh a it was a remote that we did yeah and they did this several times I think it was Phil Simms uh or Paul Sims Paul Sims yeah that um it was kind of his thing where Dave starts to do something um and he's like you know what that's not such a great idea and then he hangs out with models for the rest of the day and so this one it was where they went out and asked little kids what they wanted for Christmas right so they had two actors um that they had on separately that were little kids and then they brought me into the shot and you know I I had been there this was at the end of the year so I hadn't had a haircut the entire time I was there and just it was kind of you know and that wardrobe provided an outfit for me and uh and we just kind of made it up and Dave made it up he's like so what I want you to do is uh my line was uh I go up and Dave's like what do you want for Christmas and I'm gonna say well the Suzuki 125 CC and um and then he said then just stare at the camera for a while and say is this gonna be on the news and and it was at that point at that point Dave says I've got a better idea and then he goes and hangs out with the models so we shot this in the morning and it was in downtown New York and so I rode with the whole crew and we go down there Larry Bud Millman was along so it was I got to talk to Calvert to Forest for a while and uh so we we go down and we shoot this scene and then we're done and uh they said all right that's all we need and I didn't have cab fare or anything to get back to Midtown and so I'm like are you sure you don't need any help with anything and how Gurney goes yeah yeah we'll probably use you yeah we just hang out and so um I just hung out and so then when Dave would go around do different things I was just kind of this loner in the background that would kind of be the the kind of the Breakaway point and they uh they used it um a little bit but then it didn't really evolve that much but I was in a little bit more but regardless I was hanging out with them all day so much fun yeah and so I'm there with the with Dave and uh and Paul or with the Paul Sims and the different people and as they're setting stuff up we're just kind of standing there when we get back to Rockefeller color and they're doing this thing with the models where they're gonna put a uh necklace on Dave yep so it was a close-up and uh Andy go up to Diamond and get my tooth and I'm like what just go go to time to get my tooth I'm like okay so apparently he's got he had like a tooth that was out and um so I go I run up there and and I say Lori Dave needs his tooth and she was like okay and she runs over and she grabs this thing and then the glue and runs it and I'm in the elevator and I'm like funny to say to everybody in the elevator I've got Dave's tooth right here so so we get down and uh he was like thanks and he puts it back in there and that was it well then later there was an article written by um oh who were the guys that would the critique thumbs up thumbs down assistant yeah one of them wrote an article about Dave and how he was so busy he didn't even have time to get his tooth a misting tooth in there permanently and how and I'm like oh my gosh that's what he's talking about that's the tooth that I went up and got from Lori and put down there so that's the first time that's come up on this show that's uh that's that's Whimsical that's delightful I love I love that story um who are some of the people that uh that you hung out with who are some contemporaries that were on the staff that that you kind of buddied up with as uh as you had your tenure there well honestly I mean Chris was the main one that I would kind of hang out with on a regular basis and then Jill and then beyond that I mean we I think the interns all got together one time at somebody's place um but I haven't kept up with any of them except for Jill since yeah she talked about that she said how YouTube like that's one of the things she said and that's what I was asking like you know Paul's more approachable but you two were kind of kind of isolated from the rest of the pool of interns that ended up sometimes coming on the show uh or being being you know get hired on that kind of a thing that's what I'm curious about how long did your internship last it went um it was just the fall semester so from August through December so everything that we're talking about here is within a five month period basically right right so so then just to kind of a kind of a weird little turn from that um after I did that last piece where I was uh you know hanging out uh with the you know this could be on the news yeah the um Jill calls me I I'm back in Kansas she calls me and she's like Dave's asking for you he thought he didn't know I was just an intern and they wanted to use that character as a bit and I'm like really and she's like yeah and so I'm like she's like get out here so within 24 hours I'm back because um I had a I had a plane ticket back then it seems like you could only buy a round trip yeah so Southwest I flew from there back to Kansas I had the other way so I just went went back up there and I go into the into the hallway and I got up there and there like ah Dave was asking about you and they gave it to somebody else and so it was actually Chris Albers that it then took it and actually Chris did a much better job than I would have done with that character um but uh so then I'm in New York and I was like okay so now what so I stayed there um through the uh spring into early summer just to save up money and and then you know to get myself back to uh back to Kansas and then go on with my life but uh that was a little weird piece do you ever Miss New York um you know I've been back a few times and um I do and I don't yeah you know there are things about it that are so fun and so exciting um but you know from there I uh I married three kids and um I think it would have been a challenge to try to do that while I was there and so I just feel very fortunate where I am and when I went back out there for the um a retirement party um I talk with a lot of people and either they were pretty good fakers or they they did remember who I was Madeline smithberg uh which one um and Daniel Callison yeah and Spike Ferris and I actually talked to spike a few times um when he was doing his late night show on Fox yeah the cross promotion thing so I talked to spike there and um they were even Biff Henderson talked to Biff at the party and um when I told them what I was doing they thought that was really cool they they didn't think like yep yep staying in the small time it wasn't like well you didn't make it back to you know Network did you everybody was really nice about it that's the thing I think that there's a lot of folks there who just have a love of of broadcasting the love of Television I love I was just talking about Pat Farmer on the phone uh 45 minutes ago and and we were talking about that we got kind of lost in in talking about some of this stuff that that it's it's the Love of the Game like and again I can see I can see how much you love what you're doing now and I mean I I live in a very similar area to you you know I'm in British Columbia Canada um I've come down to you know your neck of the woods a bunch of times all sorts of stuff for Twin Peaks things and stuff you go down oh yeah you know down into and down to Oregon is absolutely beautiful it's God's country like we live the Pacific Northwest western Canada it's absolute God's country there is this magnet that is New York with all the things that go on in it and whatnot it seems like you did a pretty good job of scratching the itch and yet still being inspired to to stay in television and to and to and to move forward move in front of the camera what um you started we started the conversation talking about things that you learned doing that and how it was kind of the kick off to a what seems to be a very fun career Andy um what are some of the things that you learned and that you took with you uh and that maybe you used it today every day well I think part of it was um it's you know just keep working to get the job done to no matter how much work it takes even for a small little thing because I remember they did something um that required it was for a tiny like 10 second punch line and they drug a thousand feet of cable all through hallways stairways and all that kind of stuff to get it and um I remember just uh especially early on um in in TV when you know it was just my co-host and I and there were just a handful of people and we had to do all this work and it was just like it was worth it it was just you to do an amazing amount of stuff just to get one shot but it can be worth it yeah that's a fantastic lesson and and certainly I I think that's the thing that that one of the things that Letterman's uh Productions right from the beginning did was they would do all sorts of things for what seemed to be a teeny tiny payoff but you could kind of feel the quality in the bones of the piece whatever it is like wow they went through a lot of effort to do this and and um sometimes that's where the joke was and sometimes that's just you know the getting the job done that's really cool and it could be a small little thing that can be impactful to the viewer and that could be the thing that sticks out more than anything else yes um I love that how's your uh how's your the the crew that you work with it's similar is it a similar teamwork mentality and then it's uh like it seems like a lot of Television Crews that I've run into that that do a show for a long period of time have that well my photographer that I work with um so he's the one that when I go out and do a live shot or I go out and shoot in Andy's Adventures or whatever it is I'm doing um we've only worked together for 25 years you know so for well over 20 years and in fact I'm gonna send you some clips yes uh when I was on the show um I went to him do you know where these so he finds them he has it all set up on his computer even though we didn't know each other um but he's done that and then what's what's become weird for me is you know being at Letterman and for the first many many years and to be I was the youngest one and I always had that young look well now I'm older than my bosses you know and and there's I'm one of the oldest people that are there and there's you know there's a lot of turnover in news and stuff like that but a certain number of us that have been there for well over 20 years um the guy that does the traffic he's been there just the same as amount as I have yeah that 27 years this um August um but then there's other people that come in and out but yeah I mean there's a lot of times that we'll get together and in fact um one of the co-anchors that I work with she lives just down the street um and she and her husband and my wife and I go to dinner almost every Thursday night um my wife's out of town she's um off at the uh some book club so her husband and I are gonna grab a bite to eat tonight and then another co-anchor that I work with um she is um she lives out in the country she's married to a legitimate uh Cowboy he was in the rodeo circuit uh four years and we're all going to the Saint Paul rodeo and we're all sitting together uh for the rodeo tomorrow night and so it's just uh you know it there's a lot of stuff where we all get together and do a lot of stuff together I love that so much I can't speak for the rest of uh of America I love that Oregon uh has this in some of the some of the networks there I can I growing up my CBS uh CBS NBC ABC Affiliates are all from Seattle and they still are you know so those are those are those are our Affiliates here and I mean some of those news teams are still together and I mean you know the person who replaced Gene Anderson is still working for for for King five NBC affiliate in in Seattle and I love that how some of these Regional Regional groups it is a family just it doesn't matter how big the antenna is the uh the love of the team and and and the craft and doing what you're doing um you know because you guys at the end of the day you know time crunches and all of the scheduling and how many things have to come together you guys are called Foxhole buddies together you really are and it's cool to hear that one of the neatest stories that that I've felt from working here for so long is I always at Like Home Depot or something and coming out and this guy comes up to me and introduces himself to me and he said um I I've been watching you since I was a kid which you know that always um but he had gotten uh into a little bit of trouble and ended up in jail for a short amount of time and he was out on in Pendleton Oregon in jail and I'm not sure for how long but he said I was young and lonely and scared but they had your show up on the TV in there and I would watch you and I would feel connected to my family because we we always watch your show every morning and he he said I'm out I know I got out I'm all cleaned up and he runs he has his own small business and um it was just one of those neat things that you think ah you're just this goofball doing the weather and you know just messing around on TV but you know in some weird way you can kind of be people's family members so to speak the connection uh through the airwaves yeah through the digital the ones and zeros now um you know don't underestimate that I think and I think that's the reason you know that's the reason why it's certainly why we do this show um you know because we there's a there's a group of people that feel such a connection you know to that show you were a part of for for one semester but can still articulate it like like I can't believe it you can articulate it like you were there for for a decade and and and um and then it took you and inspired you to go in your own Direction I love that I love this story uh how are things in Oregon right now um depends on where you go yeah yeah I I think they're they're working on things uh it's it's a work in progress right now um it was uh uh uh uh trying time there um for a bit and it it's not completely fixed yet but they're working on it so it's glad to hear that because because it makes it makes you know National or International I mean you know I mean you know we hear about these things and it's like okay you know the Growing Pains of of of of of things uh unprecedented times um a very interesting time to be in media and and the fact that you have done it for so long um and and are continually inspired by it even during all these crazy different times unprecedented times that we're in um it's commendable that you can do that I I had asked you I don't know if you if you found anything or not but I asked you if you kept anything from the show if there were any Souvenirs of any sort did you end up keeping any souvenirs from your time at Late Night with David Letterman I did most of it is in storage somewhere and we've moved um we downsized the kids and we've moved so many times but um my son is in a rock band and so he uh I gave him this and he told me I could go get it and it's an autographed drum head from Anton fig G fantastic yeah two Andy Rock on Anton's big yeah yeah you know no offense to Mrs Carson but one of those things on the wall could come off pretty easily and that drum skin could go on there I think yeah there we go see if she notices yeah there you go let's see um I saw Paul a few weeks ago at uh when I was in New York for for Rick's Memorial Rick scheckman from Memorial um Rick sheckman just you know I always every time I mention his name the show would not exist if it wasn't for Rick I appreciate him and his friendship so much um and and uh it's the first time I met Paul In the Flesh when I had him on the show it was like I thought I was okay I thought I was great and and tight and ready to go that's how I normally am with these things I don't get Star Struck Unfortunately The Moment I Saw Paul Schaefer is in the waiting room something happened it was fine it was good but I can't wait for the next time he comes on um when I met him live the kindness that came out of that guy and it's not just because we're both Canadian not just because he's been on my show because I watched five people who he had never met before walk up to him after his performance and and the attention that he gave them and the kindness that he gave them and he tried to make them laugh and he was just what a god um when was the last time you talked to Paul was it at the Friars Club there and 15.

yeah yeah it was at the at the retirement party was the last time so okay so uh that being said uh I'm about to send him an email um okay you know if you have it I'm gonna send him Tidings from you and of course and let him know that I'm gonna send the show to him as well actually and let him know that uh uh how much you appreciated working with him um I I find I don't know about you but like the guy who was in prison and came up to you and talked to you uh like when we connect with somebody it's always good for that person to know that we connected with them if that person can find that out and and hearing the fact that uh I think I think Paul will get quite the kick knowing um that you've become what you've become and and we're inspired by you know by this this show they did in New York City I would love if you uh passed that on to him that would that would be great you can give him my number if you want absolutely we can call and hang out um so uh if I can throw in one more thing so I did this small little more Morning Show in southeast Kansas and um we uh my co-host and I Toby uh they sent us to New York to interview um uh uh Harry Smith and Mark McEwen they were doing CBS This Morning wow and it was kind of a cross-promotion thing to do that and so we went there and and did that and it was fun well then we're in New York for a little while and I still had to get in at that point to get past security you had a little pink card that said NBC across and had your name well it had long expired but you just opened his wallet they see the top of it and so we just go on in and that's exactly what I would do that's not boldness I'm talking about I love that we go in and um I go right up to the offices and I go in and I see Paul and I'm wearing a jacket that's from our station it's komb uh I think that was it was uh anyway I was wearing something I think komv was a radio station I worked at it said that and he kept saying comb home what's up with the comb no it was koam home and then we we actually went in to the studio when you know nothing was going on and we went in and I got to sit at Dave's desk and Toby sat in the um guest chair and I think it was Biff Henderson took a bunch of pictures for us uh on the you know Old school camera oh that is a fantastic memory um I can't thank you enough for doing this today thank you I love to tell my stories my wife's sick of him she's heard him so many times so I get to say that my story so somebody new I know the feeling um you know I I uh well you know what will Sarah goodbye privately I just want to uh oh you know what I'll do a quick sponsor plug uh okay yeah we have one sponsor one sponsor only here at the Letterman podcast and that is Rupert G in the hello Deli go to go to hellodashdaily.com you want a late show with David Letterman mug You Want To Late Show with David Letterman hat um shirts Rupert shirts get a Rupert shirt while you're there for God's sakes the place is for sale very soon the hello Deli is going to take on a new ownership and we should buy it that's called professionalism right there and a call back and attention to detail that's why you're one of the best in the business Andy Carson thank you so much for being on the Lettermen podcast today I'll hit stop and we'll see our goodbye privately okay wasn't I correct about the uh uh the the the the similar energy that Andy and I share just this wonderful wonderful guy I just appreciate so much um you know who he is uh his enthusiasm for life and and what he does his gratefulness for being in broadcasting and his role in in that uh very very very cool talking to him um I'll give you one little footnote see many times in these episodes and right then the the record button stops uh I talk with these people many times sometimes for like hours after the episode is actually finished I'm gonna shoot the bull and and and have a good old time and uh Andy gave me a little anecdote I'm not gonna say who who did it uh but this is something that didn't make the episode here and I just think it's really Charming um he told me so obviously his name is Andy Carson and maybe some of you might have even asked this question yourself because people on the staff as he mentioned you know he was in a pretty high profile spot in his spot on the staff being Paul's intern and so there were people who didn't um you know ask questions that they may have asked if he didn't have that uh spot of prominence um and and one of the questions that uh um that someone came up to him and said to him was hey uh and it was somebody who was actually Superior to him and they said hey um are you by any chance related to Johnny Carson and he's not now that being said this person when he told him that uh he was not related to Johnny Carson the person said well there's some people on the staff who think that might be the case and uh maybe you should just keep that fact quiet I just thought that was absolutely Charming that a person named Carson ends up on the Lettermen shows in some capacity and other staff members are like oh that's Johnny's you know whatever that's Johnny's uh nephew from the first marriage or something I don't know um but anyway yeah I I just uh I just really appreciated that uh anecdote from him uh got some great stuff coming up some great guests I haven't recorded yet um shot the bull with a couple of very cool uh you know long time Letterman staffers in the past couple weeks here and we're gonna do something in the future next week's gonna be Matt Roberts the very last head writer for Late Show with David Letterman uh very excited about that that is an incredible episode um I didn't get to even half of what I wanted to ask him because we just kind of went off on tangents and talked about some amazing things that episode's coming up next Friday I just want to say thank you once again to everybody who have uh been early adopters of this thing uh go to the Facebook group uh we're on threads now we got a threads thing I don't even know how to use it I better know how to use the Twitter but we have that there um the Facebook group is where kind of the most activity is so search for the Letterman podcast group on uh the Facebook hello Deli hello hello.com go as soon as you can um talking to Rupert this week Duff is in motion not gonna say anything else other than that but the deli is for sale and uh stuff is happening right now and and things are being drawn up and terms and all that kind of good stuff but heartbreaking stuff because you know this feels good knowing the hello Deli is is there in New York City but that being said you can go to Hello deli.com and get yourself some Late Show with David Letterman merchandise uh that has been another episode of the Letterman podcast with Mike Chisholm coincidentally I am Mike Chisholm thank you and good night overcoat and Underpants