The Stupid Human Tricks of Chris Clark And The Experiences Of Said Tricks

all yeah I'm Paul schaer I'm will Lee and you are watching the Letterman podcast welcome once again to the Letterman podcast my name is Mike Chisum okay I'm excited about this one of course you are Mike you're excited about all of them yeah okay but this is a first this is a first uh we have a guy who was on stupid human tricks uh and it's our first and you know I didn't know I when we first started this show I got to tell you uh the the little blueprint that I kind of made as to as to the type of guests that we would have we've talked a lot about that and and and then um my predictions as to who the guests were going to be at the beginning uh were completely inaccurate I thought that this show would have a lot of community members at first and then move on to folks who were featured on the show but kind of like the the the um the every man the every woman who were featured on the show folks who uh the show touched either by uh pranking um you know or or uh encountering in the streets in everyday life that kind of a thing that people come out of the woodwork to talk about that more and and folks have they've reached out to me but uh and then of course folks featured in in stupid human or stupid pet tricks I thought that we would have a lot of those at the beginning and then we would kind of move over to some of the staffers and all of that stuff uh and then suddenly we're inundated with all of these amazing staffers and and and uh and and the Letterman podcast moved in that direction and we didn't really get a huge influx of folks who uh were touched by the show in in in those ways so today on this episode of the Letterman podcast we have somebody who was featured uh and rarely rarely it didn't happen this didn't happen that often where somebody was actually featured on stupid human tricks twice um his name is Chris Clark Chris Clark awesome guy and uh he uh you know really goes into both times that he was on um on stupid human tricks comes from a gener he's second generation or third generation performer he comes from a family of performers which is really neat you know his family worshiped you know like like the Vaudeville um Ed Sullivan type days and then of course the the The Tonight Show being the gold standard so when Chris was old enough you know a performer in his own right uh of all sorts he's like a performing entrepreneur and and you could just feel it that this guy just wants to he just wants to perform he's a wedding DJ uh but he does other things as well uh juggling and magic and he's done some standup and all sorts of stuff he just wants to perform and I certainly can um I can certainly relate uh you know when you have somebody who's just chasing their dream they're just chasing their desire that is certainly something that I can I can resol I can um um relate to and I appreciate the audience here who who puts up with you know with me as a as a determined amateur yet at the same time wanting more and I think uh in many ways I I uh can relate to Chris and and it's just it was really cool there's a moment where he talks about after the feeling after uh the first time he performed a stupid human trick um on late show and and it was in 2008 and and it was afterwards went out to have this an amazing steak meal and he just walked out into the in New York and he just felt there's no feeling like it and I certainly can relate to that it was uh watching watching him relive that experience and the emotion of it you know that's something money can't buy the feeling like that is just one of those things that just well maybe it could it would just be very expensive somehow um some sort of designer drug perhaps but no like this is this is manufactured life it's real it's it's it's a real thing uh manufactured only by by a legitimate experience that just um touches has touched him for the rest of his life he's a different person because he got to be on stupid human tricks and then he kept going for it and again in 2013 he was on again and we're gonna um show some we're not going to have the volume on them or whatever but as he's going through what his stupid human tricks were uh we've got the video that we can kind of show a couple clip uh quick video um clips of it so this might be one of those ones where the audio audience wants to jump over to the spot Spotify video or the YouTube to watch but just um a really cool guy and he's still accepting gigs by the way um you can get in contact with Chris at mrwizard magic.com so Mr mrwizard magic.com head on over and see that and uh I just am very excited to finally have some of these folks who performed on the show appeared on the show um as far as stupid human trick performers this was a really great place to start the letman podcast is proud to present human a stupid human trick uh performer two time stupid human trick performer Chris Clark Chris Clark uh this is this is this is a a momentous occasion for the Letterman podcast we have said right from the very beginning uh We've wanted to have folks who were featured in segments on the show particularly stupid pet and stupid human tricks it hasn't happened in in the 18 months or so that we've done this show it hasn't happened yet you are our very first stupid human trick uh contestant combatant perhaps for those who are wagering um and and not only did you do it once you did it twice thank you so much for for for allowing uh the reach out to happen and and us to connect and you to come on to the Letterman podcast and talk about your time on stupid human tricks it's it's great to have you here man I appreciate it I uh I'm adjusting my screen here okay yeah thanks for having me what a cool show you have and I've been watching your videos and all your guests and especially Paul schaer you know it's great to see him I are you are you aware that he wrote that song uh it's reigning men absolutely he sure did I that was something that I found out and I you know I'm a DJ as well that's what I do so I play that song and then I found out that Paul wrote that song so when you did that whole interview which is like well over like 90 minutes or whatever yeah I mean it's cool I love hearing about uh his start and how he started uh uh with that that Broadway play the magici it was a magician um yeah Gods spell they did uh they did Gods spell in up in Toronto and and that Toronto absolutely and met met everybody at that point who are still friends to this day um and Legend Show Business themselves I read in in one of the books I heard him explaining what the word gig means you know when you say the word gig Y and how back in the day it was God is good God is good and they would say I have a gig see that's what that meant so uh the I might jump around a little but like the Sullivan Theater you know is a a real bville historical place you know a lot of circus performers performed there and um back in those days of the Ed Sullivan Show they had open auditions I I have I'm a magician and a juggler and part of my background um in performing is I I grew up as an Entertainer so in a family in a family of entertainers and I've been in Show Business my whole life that's fairly common too isn't it there's a lot of folks who are like second and Third Generation Um and like I think about a guy like Jeff Alman uh his his father uh you know as well and some of these other people that are out there that's pretty common isn't it that a lot of people take on the family business of entertainment did you talk with him Jeff yeah uh yeah I've talked with him a couple times they talked to them on on on this show and on my men's mental Wellness podcast alman's fantastic I always liked him as a comedian I always liked him as and he would go on Dave and chitchat and and just I think are coming to my mind I'm going to be jumping around but uh I went to this Aspen Comedy Festival in 2005 as as just a a a guest and uh not performing but I do standup too but um not on the level like uh these guys that come on you know not like Brian rean or anything you know just comedy clubs but when I went to the Aspen Comedy Festival you remember Terry gar absolutely yeah one a Legendary Legendary guest on Letterman for sure this is an' 05 yep I went from the airplane the airport from Michigan to to this small airport which would take you over to Aspen and there she is sitting right there there she is wait going on the same plane I am over to the Aspen thing and and I was I was Star Struck I didn't really know how to talk to her uh you know and just what to say but um she was sitting right there and uh and then I thought I'm seeing somebody who was on Dumb and Dumber already she was on there yeah and uh she didn't have a huge role but she had a role on there and uh and then I went over to that Aspen Comedy Festival and I saw Jim Carrey but because that was the that was the um reason I went was because of to see him but also to try and get my foot in the door and what I was going to tell you is before uh we came on here um I wanted like somebody who who watching us right now who who's a u um just a regular person just performing wondering how they get on TV first of all I got on all these shows Letterman Leno Rachel Ray America's Got Talent with no agent but one nice thing I got to say about Dave because people are like which one did you like the best you know and you know I gotta say Dave because he first of all he brought me on twice that me he liked me he must lik me yep he gave that little door opening to the average person that if you had something unique if you had an interesting trick or uh something with your pet you know by the way though you probably already know this because you you're very well knowled you have a lot of knowledge and every all this but you know when we went to those shows me and my friend Ken he's my he was my sidekick well he turned out to be the feature guy because of his just he has that dead pan face you know what I mean Ken has a very interesting look I wanted to ask you a lot about Ken yeah in both of your appearences on stupid human tricks it's it's clearly you and and Ken and uh the the focal point certainly uh Ken has that certain something that makes him a focal point whatever you want to call it he has that thing that Dave likes that look at the look at the camera like you know you're just like you know look at at the camera and so it was kind of um nice that uh I was going to say because as you know with all these other shows they don't give that little door opening to the average person really unless they're out on the street interviewing people but um I wish they would do that more because you know back in the day uh they had uh literally I I have magician friends who are old and they oh yeah I went down an audition for Ed Sullivan and a friend of mine was a singer and he got on one time you know and um you know you're you're skilled magicians actually the The Magicians that people know of for um some some type of Fame that if you talk to most of them they were on Ed Sullivan in fact all your mtown artists yep all your m artists got their their Boost from that Ed Sullivan Show you know well and it was a it was a tradition that was continued obviously with Johnny Carson and there was always a place um in in in pop culture securely in pop culture for the hidden talents of everyday Americana and and and I think that uh when you look at some of these uh segment producers whose job was I think about mine smithberg shout out to her right now and and and some of these other folks who their job was to find the folks out there who had an interesting story an interesting Talent um you know and and and you know you think about Dave having the yoders on uh or the or the bird callers I should say love or or yeah absolutely or or or the grocery Baggers or some of the folks out there who who um had a talent that wasn't necessarily going to be featured on AGT AGT does it a little bit now where you'll see people who have talents similar to what you and Ken were doing and then they'll get eliminated in the first round or whatever you know a little a little piece of it and they use it for the entertainment Factor they use it because it is entertaining they're not going to push them forward but at the same time they're gonna feature them on the show because there is entertainment in that there's the oddness the strangeness and it perfectly fit in with the culture of every real really every incarnation of David Letterman's broadcasts had a spot for the hidden talent of everyday Americana and and and you and Ken certainly fit into that um both times that you were on the show Dave did Bill you as a wedding DJ so you've been doing this a long time uh very cool that that that that you're still able to do that um were you they like they like the uh the wedding DJ Persona thing you know they want people to come on as average regular people you know not trying to promote something or whatever like you wouldn't want to go on there and go I'm an actor yeah you know trying to make it they don't want that they just want oh what do you do you work at a grocery store great you know like that it's almost the Lesser known uh uh uh known about the person the better uh because it's like okay here's a guy gonna ride a unicycle that isn't just a unicycle it's a it's it's it's a tri unicycle uh on it it's all run by Wheels there yeah yeah yeah and and and it's super interesting um and it's he's odd looking and uh we almost don't want to know anymore because it's just it adds to almost I don't know if you want to call it the Mystique or whatever but Vaudeville you're right uh these performers who would come out and do these interesting things you don't want to know the backstory it's the suspension of disbelief almost and and and there's kind of a a tone to that am I am I am I kind of right about that is that how it felt yeah and and two things one uh I think him bringing like on our segment there was two other acts one was a guy who came out in front he he did a whole circus thing where he bounced the ball and did a jump rope and and then uh the other guy that was after us he took a water bottle and drank it and smooshed it all the way up in his face and drank it like in a say but I think that's kind of a reminiscent of theed Sullivan type thing you know have the acrobats and one of the things they told us they said we want you to know this is very important segment to us stupid pet tricks and stupid human tricks are our largest uh uh watched things on Letterman that's signature pieces yeah exactly when you say she that's Maria Pope that says that to you Maria Pope was there yeah she was the first one uh and uh and then she wrote that nice thank you letter and on the Letterman letterhead Isn't that cool absolutely yeah we got some of that we got some of that back here uh so so so when you said she said that to you are you about Maria Maria said that this is hey look these signature pieces stupid pet stupid human tricks they're very important to our show they said oh these are the largest uh ratings yeah for for Letterman um the these segments like when we advertise that stupid pet tricks is coming up and we put it on or stupid human tricks yeah we have a huge huge rating so so you're a guest just like any other guest they're saying you're an important guest to us do you want me to tell you a little bit of uh what happens when you first get there before that yes I do but before that I want to know how the initial contact happened were you on other shows first or or or was Letterman your very first how did the contact with Late Show occur yeah yep it's interesting isn't it um like I said I have no agent I always looked at that little door uh little crack in the door and that gave me hope I said oh I can get on there at some point in in as you know in uh two th I'm going to base this on 2001 which was the uh the uh 911 okay 911 yeah 2000 I go out there to visit my brother who's living out there y he's just an artist and he's working odd jobs and um I said let's go see Letterman I'm going to get tickets and and I did I sent in for them and uh and we went to sit in the audience very similar to where you sat very similar seat oh let me drink with the Letterman mug here hey there you go shout out to rert g go to hellodd deli.com and get your official Late Show with David lman merchandise the only place to get hellodd deli.com is the only place and it's sold by rert G himself go to hellodd deli.com you get a mug get a hat get uh t-shirts pack Love by rert yep yep yeah cuz I love this mug I'd like to have another one yeah support rert absolutely he went out there and we got to sit in the audience for the first show when Dave came back from his operation you remember he had the heart operation oh my God you saw the Foo Fighters coming through Everlong you saw the Dave bring out his surgeons and all of his medical team you saw that's a historic late show that you got to see live I did you and I didn't talk about that beforehand that's crazy you were at that show yes yes wow so my brother said oh because my brother wasn't you know quite as big a fan but when he went in there he oh this is the coolest thing we've ever done you know we you know when you're waiting to go in there there's a lot of time and and you you really have your once they okay you uh you could just go in that little pizza place and have pizza and stuff and then just get back in line once once they have you on the list they go okay you don't have to stand here and so we had pizza we're watching the big screen TV we went in when I was sitting in that audience and and I'm like anyone else I have dreams I dreamt about being on the show and I sat there I I I had a feeling and I said to my brother I I think I'm gonna get on here I think I'm gonna get on here and maybe that was my manifest maybe that was my my um you know just uh you know your your manifest you're you're you're driven like like for America's Got Talent I stood in line with 10,000 people people man you have to have a certain amount of Drive yeah to go on there and then get picked out of 10,000 but it's the same thing with this so so uh after I went home uh that was 2000 then was 911 2001 yeah I'm trying to give you a timeline then 2002 is uh when I made the the connection uh initially they had live auditions around the country they'll send out a guy from the show uh one of the um Talent coordinator Talent that's what you mean Talent coordinator y uh do you remember who it was do you want me to give names give names if you remember who it was absolutely yeah let's do shout outs here guy a guy named Darren because because he didn't get our trick and and and then later on I saw Darren remember when Seinfield had the the documentary the comedian remember absolutely comedian was yeah yeah very much's in there when when when when Seinfeld is at is at uh the Letterman show yep Darr Darren rides the elevator I go oh there's the guy that didn't pick us you're kidding me oh that's great okay that's super cool it's okay that I'm saying of course it's history it's history it's positive it's fine yeah no problem so T coordinator named Darren yeah no you're good this is the coolest thing I've done since uh well I just did first TV commercial I I just did this year a TV commercial so that that's been my excitement that people where I'm working at um are seeing me but um this is this is not nearly as cool as a TV commercial let's not let's put this in perspective this is not the coolest thing you've done this is a thing you've done the TV commercial was way cooler than this no question um now that I I do have a question before we get to the talent part I have a question the cool your thing's the coolest thing no come on Don let me tell you how cool your thing is I I texted you uhhuh that I had to go to the store yeah and get get a power cord because my power cord just fried up on me for some reason you know how that is I do I go to I go to Best Buy and I tell them what I'm doing and I had a crowd of like five guys trying to help me that's how cool your thing is oh come on well I appreciate it those five guys um the the team of psychiatrists go to Michigan right now there's five guys who need help um so so I got asked a question about you and the audience in 2000 with your brother uh you know and and I I I understand more than anybody the idea of the the manifesting the dream and all of that kind of stuff I fully fully believe in that stuff because I I have had too many weird things happen to me that uh can be nothing except for that that energy that that thing your brother you came from a performing family yes you kind of carried on some of that family tradition it's in your jeans is it in his jeans as well or did it did he not like did he understand what you were talking about because he came from that same family oh that that desire to perform on this legendary stage my brother was a guy I'd always have to say hey can you come rehearse with me I was ready to rehearse and practice and put the time in that's why we did the trick where I through the Apple I practiced over and over and over Ken I'm gonna tell you something about Ken he's like the first violinist in Orchestra you put him on stage boom he does it I had to be the one to practice he went up there and he's like go ahead throw the Apple you I'm the one who had to uh practice hundreds and hundreds of times because I knew when I went out there the pressure that I would feel and I I didn't want to be shaking my hand to to nail that Apple but uh my brother is the same kind of way he just kind of he didn't really want to rehearse he's into Fine Arts y so like he he came to the Letterman show but it wasn't until he was there and you know you know everything about that theater is like time machine man yes you're sitting there and you were right where the band was how cool is that like where the band is and then and you know how cool it is Dave comes out and he's just kind of leaning over and you're like wait a minute wait a minute we're talking to Dave first of all there's you know he's not on TV he's right there Y and then second of all he's in plain clothes and he's just kind of like y hey how you guys doing what's going on with the microphone like and that's the thing you know everything that you said absolutely and him just being there with the microphone in his hand and and he commented about that how he liked messing around with the crowd and talking to the crowd beforehand in fact near the end of the run that was the thing he liked one of the most no jacket on comes out and he's just he's he's he's bsing with the crowd playing with the crowd like like a cat with a rubber ball almost and just having so much fun and when you have you know if you're one of those people that have the affection for Dave like millions of people do and you're in that audience and you can do exactly what you just said get really present in that moment and it's such a beautiful feeling you got to experience that being on the stage with him so I want to keep going back to that to how this happened oh heck yeah man you see Darren uh Darren says no to you at first what happened after that I try to tell people yeah in entertainment yep remember you keep pushing forward do the same thing push forward those other people are going to change you're going to get a new you're going to get a new producer you're going to get someone who gets it's it's all about Darren did not get us yeah Ryan the second guy which wasn't until 2008 six years later wow we did the live audition 2002 here in Michigan yep they record it Darren and then by the way just to show you how much of a pursuer of things I am I called the studio about six to eight months later hey guys we haven't heard from you you know good for you he gave me the whole uh I got got Darren on the phone no kidding yeah and he goes oh well we got you on file we got you on file and I knew that was a rejection there so I just told Ken uh and you know Ken is Ken is the most fun person he's my best friend by the way and still is to this day still oh yeah if I were to get married if I were to find my bride I'm still looking you know I'm still looking for my bride I'm looking for someone to marry but I have a feeling right now she's sleeping with somebody else I have a feeling she's not ready yet I have a feeling she's involved with someone else she doesn't know I'm supposed to be with her but anyway that's a joke I have a feeling she's cheating on me right now yeah okay one could look at it that way that son of a but anyway anyway it is amazing that in 2002 we had the audition and and we did we thought hey this is going to go through because 9911 was last year this is good luck we're going to lift our Spirits they didn't pick us um but uh I did call got Darren Darren said you're on file so now we're in this period of you know we had actually rehearsed in front of our our juggling buddies our unicycle buddies we're auditioning for Letterman they're like oh yeah good luck with that you know oh the dream Steelers oh the dream Steelers I love showing them wrong I love I love proving the dream Stealers the best feeling in the world yeah okay proven him wrong I have and so um then in 2018 my buddy Ken he goes Chris I just saw a commercial and I recorded this commercial for Rachel Ray having a contest in Detroit for the Detroit Auto Show there we go uh contest and you make a video I said well let me see what this is he says you're so good at the videos because I have app apple and you you edit it and and burn it on a disc remember burning things on a disc yeah sure do sure do you say burn something on a disc to a kid today he doesn't know what you're talking about no they think it's some sort of a drug reference anyway um so so I made the video I sent it into the local channel 4 for the Rachel Ray contest uh everything was last minute Ken tells me on Sunday I make the video Monday turn it in on Tuesday a day goes by uh and then they they they say Thursday uh you're one of our winners for the Rachel Ray contest come in Friday yeah come in Friday so I get there and we make a segment at the local channel 4 and then they go oh by the way we're going to shuttle you guys over to the auto show and you're going to get to see the auto show before the black taii event which is Friday night okayy I gotta ask a question here because this is this is the Detroit Auto Show big one yeah the interal thank you okay because like if we're talking to people who are Regional and and and and also the auto show today is very different than the auto show of 10 years ago very different than the auto show of when we were kids the Detroit Auto Show this is a this a big deal like that is a that's a that's a major major major event in the city that back then that was kind of the city to be in when it comes to American uh Motor Vehicles correct and it still is man there you go a lot of people don't even realize we've got a Stones throw away from me the the Chrysler headquarters which I've been in I've performed in they they hired me to do the minivan anniversary and I juggled steering wheels for that and they gave away a van right in there and then Ford for you know Ford they never took any uh assistance money they're all their that family is tight I'll tell you this I I have a Ford vehicle I got this year it's the first time I bought an American vehicle in almost 20 years I've been European all to this point but I fell in love with the new Bronco and I had a twoo uh beautiful twoo Bronco on on order forever the Michigan the proudly assembled in Michigan sticker I still have it up in the windshield and I will not take that sticker out I love that I have an American-made uh Michigan made Ford Bronco yeah yeah yeah yeah I think that you have a Ford is awesome because I have a Ford van a Transit Connect and and by the way I'll just throw this out there if you want to come to one of the coolest classic car uh like it's a 20 mile back and forth so you go from Detroit 20 miles out to like Pontiac okay it's called the Woodward Cruise look it up on uh uh um the internet yeah Woodward Cruz Jay Leno comes Jay Leno and and it's a and and so does Tim Allen Tim Allen you know he's real big in cars big car guys there you go yes and and and they're always the so if you're interested in something like that once a year it's in August it's called the Woodward Cruise I'm not a a paid person to promote them but you know no no no no no part part of my heart if it that will show you right there this is the birthplace of you know absolutely and and so that was an aside but but to show that you're you're in a segment with Rachel Ray is one thing a Rachel Ray at the Detroit Auto Show I think we've painted the picture that's that's a big deal and so they're shuttling you over there what was the act that you did for that was it one of the same Acts Letterman or was it something different oh you're going to laugh so this is my first national television thing and it's the rules are tell us how you use your car for your business or your career how do you use your car well the funny thing at the time I did not have a van I couldn't get a van at the time MoneyWise you know so I was using my um uh I had a Pontiac Grand Dam okay and I would fill the back of it with speakers and all so it was very interesting to show what I did is I made a video in the driveway and I said hi Rachel Ray uh I'm Chris Clark and this is how I used my car for my career I DJ weddings and and by the way that was a key thing that I could show on uh my website Rachel Ray approved right for because she you know she was just starting her show this is an ' 07 this is an '0 so um they made a really nice slow-mo or they recorded me loading all this equipment out of the car like here's the car and then and then they speed it up so I'm doing this doing this doing this set it off and just a ton of equipment yeah I would pull up to weddings and the bride would be like well where's your van I go oh I have it all in my car you have it all in your car and they were always amazed but so that was a unique thing and and that got me on this segment she was basically doing a segment about the auto show she had had me and two other winners follow her while she took the tour of the auto show and there was a lady from the car company explaining all the cars and you know the prototypes and all that stuff Y and um and guess what Halland oats was warming up so I got to meet them I got to took yes yes fantastic I took a picture took a picture with John Oats you know with oats oh that's perfect because a lot of folks would go for Hall uh you went the other way a lot of folks go for you went for Garfunkle you went for oats that's fantastic yeah yeah oats one of the one of the best mustaches in music um that's fantastic that you I have the photo but not not with me but I got no no that's cool you got ra okay so show us oh look at that just reflect okay can you see it look at that smile and guess which one I'm talking about get rid of that reflection okay there you go no no no it's gorgeous what a gorgeous picture so what did you do for the performance um that it was it was a that was the it was it was was their their contest that that I did I that was just it so you didn't even perform like okay I got you I didn't I didn't do any magic or although I did tell her about my actually I was trying to plug myself for her show sure I gave her a gift set of juggling balls I said if you if you're ever wanting someone to come on your show you know because you're doing so many things on your show it's like you're a juggler I said hey I could come on with these and I gave her a set of juggling bags and uh she never called yeah jugle some of her cookware some of her cookware here's the yeah and here's the new Rachel Ray Cookware Set actually you know what not for nothing my wife and I have a set of Rachel Ray Cookware we actually have that our the orange stuff upstairs right now I could go get it and prove it but I'm not going to um so you okay so you have this experience that helps to keep the fire burning obviously these little things and sometimes that's all you need sometimes you just need a little spark to keep that fire burning um I can certainly relate yeah can certainly relate to that uh this is an ' 07 is Letterman the next thing or did you do one of the other shows next 08 was Letterman yep so this is the next big event was Letterman how did how did this springboard to that or was it just the confidence alone it was keep you going okay I got you I gotta so how did Letterman happen and and what was the first the first performance you're gonna love this you're gonna love this I already do my friend this is fun I I know man and and I'm I'm emotional here for you to have me on here I appreciate it's a blast I think I was gonna say I you're probably Indiana Jones fan you remember when the light came through and he was in the he was in the cave with the you man that was you right there you had the light coming down you were Indiana Jones oh good Heavens that light shined on you so you may have some very good things coming up in the future who knows maybe you'll you know a national maybe you'll be on National Television I I already think you're you're a very good uh uh personality and you have you're a sweetheart for saying so you know I I um I think passion goes a long way with things and and one of the things that I'm passionate about is connecting with people conversation and I love um you know with the other podcast that I do uh the men's mental Wellness podcast the whole Genesis of this show was because of that and and and it's it's a little bit of what you're talking about um you know I'm interviewing all of these uh my wife's building a men's mental Wellness app called he changed it and and and I asked her one day you know how can I help you do this and and because of my love uh for broadcasting my love for Dave really and and and other broadcasters as well um I always I knew that I kind of wasn't doing I wasn't living the life that um I wasn't scratching the itch that was inside of me and and that itch was to communicate to broadcast whatever whatever you want to call it um and so I said to her I said well would you ever want a podcast for he Chang it and she goes yeah absolutely amend mental Wellness podcast and I said okay well I'll learn how to do it and I'll do it and so I start doing the show and and and I'm having all of these uh everybody from you know up in Canada there's a program called Hockey Night in Canada Detroit you know Michigan big hockey state with the Red Wings and all that Ron mlan is probably one of the most well-known uh hockey broadcasters in Canada had him on had uh you know filmmakers but also a of counselors coaches life coaches um uh psychologists um men who have stories and and and there was one thing that kind of resonated and and it was that there are a lot of men in their 40s and 50s um the reason my wife is starting this this this app and this uh this movement that she started called he changed it is because there are so many men who are middle-aged or beyond that that um are feeling lost or empty and I mean you look at I mean the suicide number is horrible it's like seven out of 10 men suicides are middle-aged men um you've got uh uh never mind the heart attacks and the cancers and The Strokes and the the domestic violence and all that stuff and and and there's a lot of people out there who say it's because a lot of these guys aren't they aren't scratching a itch inside they're not living a purpose whatever you may not be able to go join the NHL but if you want to be a hockey player go find a beer league you may not be able to play on stage for thousands of people but if you've got that musical thing inside you get a guitar learn 20 cords and go crazy and start scratching these itches and and at simultaneously I'm a gigantic podcast fan I'm a letterman um Enthusiast of a very unique ilk uh in the sense of the things that I've kind of learned I made friends with a couple of these people who worked for the show for a long time Rick sheckman being chief of them I always shout out Rick when I can um rest in peace buddy um and uh and I thought you know what I'm going to start the Letterman podcast because otherwise I'm a hypocrite hosting this podcast hearing all of these stories hearing all of these things and that's why the Letterman podcast started I did it without any outcome whatsoever and forgive me for those who have listened or heard the show uh enough and heard me tell the story enough but I think it's I think it really does relate to this because I really feel a kinship to you um you know you you wouldn't take no for an answer in the sense of I'm going to do this for me regardless of the outcome and I'm gonna die try man there it is there it is and and and I think that there is something cool about that and there is a satisfaction that comes with that and that's what this show is a is a is a Living Testament if the show was living I guess not it's a it's it's an artificial Testament to that fact and and so thank you for I appreciate the words you're saying I appreciate the words very very much and and I very much want to hear what I I love hearing the similarities with you because you're sitting there in the audience looking at that iconic stage and six years later you're on that stage and and and that is just or eight years later inv back invited back and then invited back so your mind so let's talk about that let's get to the first time that you're on then we're going to get to the second time that you're on um and talk about after Rachel Ray yep I said Ken we're gonna get on Letterman that's the next thing we're gonna do we're gonna get on Letterman and now I have to make a video of him and I doing this trick which we've been doing this trick uh him on the unicycle and me throwing all kinds of vegetables when when I would do it I would always think of Dave throwing the vegetables off the off the building yeah so our original video we send in uh I sent a email first uh Ryan was the uh The New Guy and um I think at the time he had only been doing uh that job about a year he ended up being there several years but so he got us right away like I said he got us in the the email like he hadn't even seen the video I said hey got I got uh me and my buddy Ken we he gets up on a unicycle with a fork in his mouth and the the uh sharp Parts sticking out of his mouth and he's up8 foot in the air and I'm throwing a a apple and then we go to a kiwi and then we go to a strawberry oh gosh you did a strawberry holy oh that's really impressive because you hit first one you get down to the kiwi and then the strawberry we send that into to him yep um it's a matter of a couple of days after he received it y call on the phone call on the phone so I get the call on the phone and uh basically he's like uh you know uh okay so we've got this and uh we'll we'll let you know and and as soon as he's saying you know he called me I come home you remember the days of answering machines absolutely answering machines absolutely I see the the lights on and I I listen and you know this is the Late Show first when he said this is the Late Show David Letterman I just went what you pass out yep yeah I get you yeah so I said to Ken I said Ken now listen to me we are going to be on because they're calling us that's how it is in entertainment I'm GNA tell you you have to be invited see people say to me how did you get on Letterman how'd you get on Letterman I'll say I was just like you I just kept trying and trying but then they invited me see yeah that's the whole thing they have to choose you and be you're invited so so so then uh let's forward to uh so Rachel Ray was 07 let's forward to uh uh September of uh 2008 okay yep um I get a call on a Friday okay we want you to ship everything out on Saturday cause cause because remember this is the time where Homeland Security and everything you can't just like bring unicycle you can't even have the fork you have to have it all shipped so he says would you believe these are some cool things you're GNA love yeah here's here's the David Letterman credit card number just go to your local FedEx give them our credit card they give me the credit card number the David Letterman CBS credit card number I have it I go to the FedEx I go now okay you're not going to believe this but this is the day Letterman show credit card number and and they said just ship whatever you need to ship and charge it to this credit card and the guy's like okay and and I guess that's how they do it with FedEx and stuff a lot you know W yeah so that blew my mind so that's the process yeah that's a surprising process you wouldn't you wouldn't think of it being that way okay that's a cool tidbit we yeah we Shi the the unicycle everything out like overnight and it's there by Monday yeah it's all there like Ry Ryan's like yeah we got it all you know because I we had to uh another little tidbit um Ken says to me because Ken is a on stage he he's kind of like um uh Tommy Smothers you know from the Smothers Brothers rest in peace Tommy you don't think he's that you don't think he's real smart or anything but the guy's a genius yeah Ken says to me I have to deflate the tires and I have to ship a pump because if they're inflated while they're on an airplane the pressure will break the tires you don't even think about stuff like that you don't even think of stuff like that so we we Shi the the unicycle the pump the apples everything I just got the apples at a local market and Dave made the joke about oh they swiped apples I'm like no I just went in but anyway we had a I had a bunch of apples but but um uh and they said we're just going to do the Apple we're not going to do the uh we don't have enough time for to the uh kiwi and the strawberry the segment we did now this highlight this it we had four minutes everyone else had two minutes we had four minutes yeah um when we came back to do the second time the go ahead yeah yeah yeah finish that and then I got a question I had to get more time out of them because because the the cotton candy machine yeah but what I I'm trying to highlight is that these segments are only a couple minutes well also let's go to rehearsal okay because they they they uh you don't even realize you are now also in a position where you don't know if you're going to get picked and and because because uh we see three maybe four stupid human tricks on on the segment Depending on time and all of that but they actually uh rehearse more don't they they book five yeah and they they picked three for your show yep the both times I was on but I remember back in the early days uh when he was at NBC they did do sometimes four I remember yeah yeah so but but you're probably you and Ken are thinking oh we're on the show we're on the show and then suddenly oh we we may not be on the show can I just show you this cool picture absolutely absolutely Ken and I I'll try to can you see us with the limo and absolutely you see it says Dream Hotel yep you see that but yeah can you see that picture I absolutely yeah no no we can see it we can see it and you'll send it to you'll send it to me and then I can put it up uh over top as well so yeah picture of you and Ken in front of the limo outside the little uh story so so they call us Friday we go from not not even knowing we're gonna be on now Friday I gotta get Ken Ken you on board with me yeah he's on board okay because he's got to tell his work because he actually does work at a grocery store uh pushing shopping carts I love that I love that part yep they loved it too they loved it because you know Dave did grocery stuff early on in his childhood so uh he gets approved to get the time off we fly out on Tuesday yeah and I had the lady who booked the flights book us early in the morning so we're there early we can spend some time in New York check in the room we check in with Ryan you know and Ryan's like okay you're going to come Wednesday morning and we'll uh be having our rehearsal like by 1:00 but you'll come in a couple hours early we'll talk about everything I never told Ken that we had to re audition because I wasn't sure he'd be on board he's a guy who like what do you mean you know he like what do you mean we got a re audition so so I never told him yeah and I just acted like I didn't know about it you know and so uh we passed it you know he had uh oh Dave's up in his office watching the whole thing on a monitor he's watching the whole so so so you guys are actually on stage so you so let me let me make sure I have it right you go there around 10: a.m.

whatever you're in Ryan's office in the Ed Sullivan Theater building or you're not in the theater at this in the building yeah the whole time in the building okay so so you go over what's gonna happen um but the cameras are live like in almost in most of the offices there are or a lot of the offices there are feeds of what's going on on stage at that very moment and and and you know many staffers have been on talked about yeah yeah yeah yeah um did mik everything it's miked yeah everything it's it's it's all live so so as you're rehearsing uh a number of the producers and perhaps perhaps even Dave himself could be watching what's happening got careful what you say because you don't want to be Uninvited you were and okay were you actually told like that's common sense and that's what I would but you were told okay you were told that as well what you say everyone can hear you yeah um you know we're we're glad to have you here but you know you don't want to be Uninvited because you know you're here sense but but not necessarily common sense to some so so that's uh yeah okay uh did you was there a musical act that night and did you watch them rehearse as well um the the first show that we did was Russell Brand as the guest yep was the guest and then um the musical guest was someone I didn't I didn't know it was a that I didn't I wasn't so and we'll be able to find that out no problem at all we we if it was if it was someone like you know you know like you said Simon and carfun I'd be like yeah was Simon and carfun yeah time the second time was Alicia Keys the night before whoa they invited us to come sit in the audience I said Ken let's go sit in the audience we can watch the show uh before the you know the day of the recording he didn't want to go he wanted to go to Time Square I said come on we can go watch Alicia Keys he wasn't intoa Keys can't you do both Ken what the hell uh time four blocks away oh my goodness okay anyway yeah I had to keep in my I felt like one of those guys like Ken was my star I got to keep him happy because he's gotta catch he's gota pull this trick off you see what I'm saying like I felt like I was the agent you know like I felt like Letterman show they liked me and they're appreciative of me but they really wanted Ken so I treated Ken I said Ken you are the guy that's getting the big laughs I you know I said if you want to go down there we'll go down there you know so so anyway uh so you're you're you're there for rehearsal now at this point here you're on your best behavior yeah yeah you're seeing some of these people on stage hey there's Pat farmer there's Biff there's all these people that must have been really cool to see it from that perspective walking in the door walking in the stage door was crazy that my name was on the list yeah Biff the second time we came out Biff was like you guys are back again how did that feel like that what that felt awesome and um you know the Barbara gain show you know the woman that's on there with her with the dark care she's a producer man are you talking about Mary yeah she was at the second yeah I remember her the second one not the first one because I know Mary absolutely oh you know her yeah she was like oh I really liked you guys trick and oh good for you I'm terrified of her that's fantastic that you had you know that's really great yeah no Mary's Mary's awesome uh so you got a you got a mar bar uh encounter that's cool and um and Maria Pope was the first one that was 08 yep and then um and then so so the so we we we're in there and then they below the Ed Sullivan stage there's um where the guy does the sound effects yes his studio is underneath the stage that's where his whole studio is y and then um uh got to go in there he showed us in there and then um we're just hanging out there they had like some refreshments for us and stuff and so they picked Ken and I uh um a girl who did something with her eyeball she was really pretty blonde girl and then uh she made her eyeballs she pulled her eyelids and then they had and they and they had two women who played the piano with their noses before we came out so we were in the middle I think strategically in the midle you know and and and then we did our when when Ken caught the Apple yeah um the tension like are they going to be able to do this yeah so you know tense yeah even Dave even Dave I thought he looked a little like are they gonna pull this off you know exactly yes oh and then when we when we did it Dave gave Ken a um uh ATT a boy ATT a boy Ken he there you'll hear him ad a boy Ken and uh uh and then and then the the amount of noise cheering for us when we did it you popped the crowd for sure it was it was silent trying to figure it out okay okay and then there was the you know him getting on it and and and uh we are I'm gonna take uh I'm gonna I'm gonna you know I'm I'm going to uh throw caution to the wind and I'm gonna put the video of this over top I believe I'm not stepping on toes so over top of the what I'm talking right now the video is going to go and and and so the audience who watches YouTube or Spotify video will see it um but but you won't be able to hear it I'm not going to put the audio on there so go back and watch the clip hopefully we can get the clip uh you know to resurface and put in a public place um but but uh uh The Silence of you guys doing this and throwing the Apple up and when it gets caught the pop is huge you popped the audience for sure and and uh and and and Dave as well like you said it was a it and I think that that right there that moment that moment encapsulates exactly what stupid human tricks is it's it's it's it's threading that needle um and when it does go when the when the when the weird um trick that also looks nearly impossible or improbable happens um the there the the experience the communal experience of the audience enjoying that moment is wonderful you as a second or third generation performer must have felt amazing in that moment and we went we went to that Ruth Chris Steakhouse down the Street and got got uh you know big thick stakes and we were crying in there I was I was crying in there Chris you're breaking my heart I love it I love it after I walked out the door yeah the stage door when it was all over for that and walking out the door and I'm like yep the excitement is still good because tonight we get to watch it on TV and then I look up at the buildings and I start thinking Start Spreading the News yeah the magic of New York if you can do it here you can do it anywhere I can make it here I can make it anywhere absolutely and I said to I said to Ken we did that song we did New York New York that song and so we went down to the steakhouse that's how that's how it felt man it it it was like let me tell you something I grew up in a performing family since I was six years old performing I'll be 56 this year wow and uh 50 years and my entire life all I heard was as as growing up because we sang and everything you remind us of the osmin when are you going to be on Johnny Carson or whatever yeah and I always thought well they would say Johnny Carson like it was that easy to get on and I was like well this was my Johnny Carson moment I said I finally it was like Braveheart putting the flag in the ground this is my land you know Freedom you know that's the feeling I'm telling you this is you know this is the feeling so so uh back to uh some little things from getting getting on there so so they eliminated now we've got just the three axe okay yeah but you would bump into the two people that got didn't get picked you know yeah and uh do you remember what they did do you remember the the the road not taken that night yeah uh one girl was there with her husband actually she flew out there with her husband and their infant baby she was so excited to be there and she took uh some food or I would just say like an Eminem or something put it on her nose and then she could reach her tongue up and pull it off and eat it wow lucky guy that's fantastic um that not the road not taken what was the other one um the other one was UN yeah it was a guy uh who he seemed a little little strange you know he had some kind of a t-shirt on with yeah I thought I hope he doesn't wear that shirt on the show because it was kind of some drug related thing oh boy like some you know marijuana thing or what I don't know sure maybe they eliminated him for that but he was on a treadmill yeah um and he was doing the treadmill and juggling and he was singing and and and so anyway it was entertaining I mean it was odd yeah and uh and so so he was eliminated and that girl so then like I said we had the two women who were very nice yep uh who played the piano with their nose and that was that was very Dave you know oh yeah thing and uh he he he joked around about you know you're putting your nose on the piano and this and that and what are you doing what do you do the one girl was a a really cute college girl she's just a student and then the other lady sold uh she sold like some type of a tupperware thing and he was getting all into that saying oh we should get together later and and and do some cooking or whatever you know how he does the cooking and so uh and then and then they had us and then the um the uh the act after us now I'm blanking out a little on oh the girl eyelids uh she owned a family bowling alley and and so she had this this trick and she was real pretty and stuff so I thought I thought yeah she's great closer you know really good looking and uh and so um I stayed with in touch with her for a little bit on Facebook and uh oh good yeah and I I lost touch though but um but uh uh so then yeah so then we went over in the hotel uh the Dream hotel is where we stayed and uh later on after we had stayed there I was looking in a magazine and I saw Paris Hilton just coming out of whatever thing she was doing at the Dream Hotel in New York and there she is standing in front of the Dream hotel where we stayed Paris Silton I I think that might be one of theirs they have some some that are um chain you know the Hilton and then yep the dream I looked it up I think it's connected so one of their one of their other brands within the same uh within the same company family yeah um you can see the theater from there you can see it out window it's like down the street a little bit and then um uh so then once once we were done uh they shipped everything back to us yeah and then um then the fun part was everyone who saw it you know and I've had those videos to show what I've accomplished and that's helped me get bookings you know for my that's amazing I I that's that's the next question is is um you know and I mean when we were kids um I think that uh before the internet you appear on Letterman uh local news is doing a story on you no matter how you appear on there whether I remember uh one of the there's a gal from from our city who got picked for I don't know if it was no year cuts of meat or what was one of those segments in the audience of of of of Letterman of late show and it's before the Internet it's before the internet had kind of become what it's become and and she's it's it's on our 5:00 news locally uh so obviously it's a different time and a different place but you said it yourself you got bookings and stuff from it when you were featured on stupid human tricks what was the your the local reaction in your community for that Chris well um we got a story on uh CBS uh news local affiliate yeah if you Google them things will come up that I think are still uh you might even find find a local news thing that remember when we did the live audition they took pictures of us for that oh there you go so they're kind of connecting dots yeah and and same with what you're saying and um uh yeah they they were they were like uh some local you know they some local entertainers uh get to meet Dave you know those kind of things you know like little little things but they didn't um bring us in the studio or or any kind of big thing yeah maybe it would be bigger out where you are even maybe because I saw you got on uh the BBC didn't you you got on CBC yeah that was a cool thing I have a real soft spot for the CBC uh the Canadian broadcast Corporation for those who don't it said BBC I'm sorry no no oh no no that's okay um it's one letter off and and Britain and Canada broadcast yeah no no the there's the BBC as well but uh that was cool um that was after being at rert retirement thing they they I don't even know how they found out about it but they they found out and they reached out to me um and that's a that's that was a that was a very cool uh a thing and and and when you like I think about Ken like and don't get me wrong the new stuff is neat I'm glad you got bookings out of it that's really cool that you can't get better advertising that especially Dave saying to you oh you're a wedding DJ how's that going and all of that kind of stuff that's great uh but the part of me that loves Letterman so much uh and the and the the just the esess of the show which I just adore is the idea of Ken at Kroger the next day and I just wonder about Ken and if there were people going wait a second you were the guy they still do they still do yeah oh known as the guy from Letterman and works at Kroger this is how funny Ken is okay and by the way Ken is so obsessed with this little BN of Fame every time I see him every time I see him he brings it up every time and I love it he'll say Chris didn't we do Letterman together I go yeah we and you know his voice he's like you got us on didn't you you got us on Chris even more amazing than than me catching the Apple was you getting us booked on there that was more amazing well never mind his unicycle writing skills okay so that's the first time that's the first time let's go to the second time I've got about just so you know got about 30 minutes left so that's plenty of time to go through some of the other stuff we want to talk about um so 08 is your first time um you are one of the few go well I was gonna say you are one of the few acts that have been on the show uh that actually got invited back to do stupid human tricks twice um I want to know what happened in between if any of your other television appearances happened in between and and how did you get invited back how did that happen did you that that that trick it felt like you guys were like okay we are going to tailor make a trick that will be perfect for the sensibility of stupid human tricks as the viewer that's what I see for the second trick is that the case the second trick I created yeah okay you've never seen anyone do it even you know how great cir do solle is they never had a guy put their head in anything it's it's Oddball uh and I actually thought I could remember watching it that night I can remember it when I saw it and I you saw it before you knew me I saw every Late Show I saw every L every yeah I it was my constant in my life like there was I I had them all DVR and there was at a certain point I would have gone through all of them for sure uh most of them I did watch the evening of it was how I finished my day uh I I specifically remember that trick and I can specifically remember as a viewer watching wondering if the if Dave was gonna do it there was a part of me that wondered if Dave was actually gonna put his head in the cotton candy thing and actually do it that's how close the sensibility of the trick was to the show I understand why he wouldn't have done it but I also remember specifically wondering oh God is Letterman gonna do it now so anyway that was that was as a viewer that was my reaction back in the day watching that trick so it's not surprising to me at all that that's the trick that that that you Taylor Made that trick for late show it sense I said to Ken because there's some other uh there's some other stupid um tric friends of ours who were on there oh okay they got they got on twice and and so I said to Ken we you gotta connect me with those people too Chris you were always our first but we got to get Mark Hayward I don't markward we'll get connected we should have them on actually that's exactly where I'm going with that but anyway so yeah him and his buddy did uh he's the one that uh do you remember remember the the trick where he he uh did something with shooting a marshmallow with a mouse trap and he oh a blow that's what he did he shot a blow dart and he hit a mous trap and the mouse trap flinged a marshmallow at him and he caught the marshmallow absolutely fantastic Fantastic's aing buddy of ours he's a juggling and then he and he so we were impressed with we looked at him like he was a celebrity and and and and we and we would and then that's where same town he's from the same town as you no no I don't know where he lives okay okay no he's part of the community of the American juggling Association so I see okay gotcha yeah we we know him from the conventions and stuff gotcha gotcha it's magicians and jugglers it's all small group we all know each other pretty much especially on the internet now and from what I've heard nobody parties like magicians and jugglers that's what I've heard I don't know if that's true or not and I know that you guys have a secret code so we'll move on but I've heard that that is the case um you know yeah anyway anyway they got on twice so I said we this is like you know Detroit Pistons back-to-back Champions we got to go on oh by the way lions lions we got some time travel going on here uh we're recording this before the Lions playoff game and we want to go on record right now saying that talk about manifesting we are manifesting the Lions win every football game in between the recording of this and the Airing of this episode so let's see got go to the Super Bowl Super bow let's see what happens so I'm a real detroiter by the way folks I was born in the city of Detroit yeah okay I grew up spent most of my life in Detroit now I'm out in the Bloomfield area which is a suburb but I'm a detroiter my whole life but anyway so long story short I love cotton candy anything that has to do with cotton candy I love and I created a little science show the science of cotton candy I do it at schools and I make cotton candy I give every kid a Ziploc bag of cotton candy as a gift at the end but I explain to them the whole process of how cotton candy uh uh is created through the Heat and the you know uh you know the the science part of it you know the the chemistry of cotton candy well done and so I don't want to get into that but but anyway I said to Ken that's a show un to itself Chris yes and maybe maybe you'd like to talk to Ken sometime he's hilarious but anyway um I said Ken now I'm juggling cotton candy in my show with the cotton candy I'll make balls of cotton candy and juggle them and stuff I said this is entertaining you know I'm I think I'm the only guy juggling cotton candy I said come over my house let's put some cotton candy on your head and make you a cotton candy wig so so we didn't put his head in there yet I I I was basically it almost looked like a colonial wig with the c cany I thought that would be funny you know and uh can you make it more of a stunt can you make it more of a stunt they said and I said well like like what put his head in the machine or something like that yeah yeah but you know if it's too dangerous don't you know I go well I'll work on the technical part Ken says they who's they is that the Letterman people saying this to you Ryan yeah and so okay so because he was the only one that really talked and we email and and and I said Ken now look they want us if they don't want you they're not communicating if they have any communication with you they want you yeah so so I go we're gonna be on again we're gonna be on again I sent the same trick to Leno the cotton candy trick okay when I'm backstage in The Green Room the guy Letterman at Letterman Letterman the guy who does the ball and the jump rope I want to get this in there because this is funny he calls the producer over at Leno because it's a friend of his he has him on the phone and he goes don't tell me you're doing the cotton candy trick on Letterman I had to pinch myself I'm in the green room talking to the producer of Leno show I'm at Letterman and these guys are like wanting the trick I said too late we're over here we're doing it over here you see how connected those shows are you see how connected that that's really special and as a as an Enthusiast of Letterman longtime Enthusiast of Letterman um you know that is a really cool little moment for you and and and I can understand I think a lot of uh folks who who enjoy this show first off what's wrong with you second off they would understand exactly what you're talking about that is a that's a cool surreal unique to that moment feeling that is like you're in the Green Room at the Ed Sullivan Theater and you're talking to someone at Leno and they're uh you know uh uh admonishing you for not doing the trick on their show but doing it on on Letterman that is that is super super fun I said you snooze you lose man you snooze you lose I said I said but we got other things but but I got to squeeze this in because of time I don't forget this okay this we're we're still good for a while yeah we're good oh we're good we're good we got another 20 minutes well then okay I'll build up to it but don't let me forget to tell you how the machine almost didn't work okay yeah absolutely and I fixed it um but anyway so uh uh I said to Ken I said listen cotton candy puts smile on people's faces if we can figure out a trick with cotton candy we're on there no doubt soon as I told him the trick was called I told Ryan this is called cotton candy to pay now you tell the trick is called Kandy to tupe to Dave you know it's G to be kaching yeah they G they gave me a a conference call they called me out of the blue it was a conference call Ryan you could hear because it was on a speaker phone Dave's there and I can hear him but he doesn't think I hear him but he likes to stay behind the scene he does like I was telling you he's even like that with his celebrity guests he'll meet him on the show and then the only one he's going out with to hang out with with be Regis yeah or um or uh or or Rickles or someone like that read my mind so so so uh so he's he's whispering to Ryan what to to ask me so he they they gave me a conference call one they they wanted to make sure that if they uh and I thought that was nice you know if if they did any kind of joke towards Ken would he be offended you know uh love because they like they didn't want to hurt his feelings okay okay now that you're saying this okay like like I sorry I got to stop you there because again when Ken is on the stage uh call it a Persona call it that unique look that he has whatever right yeah you think okay oh they're make they're gonna make fun of Ken for being the look that he has or whatever um I I just want to point out what you're saying here is very very important to me that that that that that consideration is made like is Kenan on the joke with this and and that is a very cool little piece of trivia on that I I love hearing that I'm glad that you said this Chris yeah and he he said his F you know how Dave says what's the deal with this or what's the deal with that and I knew that was Dave I knew ask him what's the deal with Ken is Ken okay with blah blah blah and I go what's the deal with Ken oh Dave Dave's right there like so right so so basically I said uh I said um you know you can see how genius he is with his skills and he's a circus uh histor you know he reads a lot of circus stuff Ken is in on it he he loves being there for the for the uh uh whole edivan experience and uh we get Dave we like Dave nothing Dave will do will offend us we're just glad to be there you know and they were cool with that and then um never mind the cheap plug for Kroger um oh yeah and and and so so so you get this Logistics you want to know the logistics of the trick how dangerous was it and and and then I I practic doing the um by the way to the viewers uh I had my friend Ken put his bald head in a cotton candy machine which is very dangerous yep I came up with the idea instead of you know you spin the cotton candy around like that I would just turn the pan yeah would that work and then we had to figure out how is it going to stick to skin well it turned out water was the best thing you spray spray his head and then just like with uh a stick of cotton candy yeah um if you spray that stick and get it moist it'll work better so yep so he does actually the funny thing is he does actually burn his he singes his head just a little bit on the first part I put the liner in there now I know later on I didn't have to have that liner in there but the the liner in the pan is what kept the cotton candy in the pan and I was afraid if I didn't put it in there it would be blowing everywhere sure and because the theater was very cold you know how they always say his theater's cold it we can almost see your breath that's how cold it is right yep we can do this trick but we'll have to have four minutes like the last time and Ryan's like four minutes I can't give you four minutes yeah here's it here's a hook line in Sinker are you ready for this absolutely Dave cancels the top 10 list to give us more time there you go you bumped you bumped an institution off the show look at that that amazing yep so Ryan comes in okay and you still had to pass you you still had to be the top three out of five too right so you still had to go P that who rehearsed it with you do you remember who rehearsed it who rehearsed the trick with you do you remember that I don't know the guy's name um but he was one of stage manager type guys he was Dave like the guy that would keep going to Dave and um and then he ended up working at The View and stuff like he got other after it was Brian Teta was the guy who ABS okay yeah okay great you know him yes yes yes you know all these guys H well that's it's cool that it's Brian I just yeah that's great yeah yeah so so uh what was the question I'm sorry no no no no no no no so so you the second time you were there what was the date again oh that was in 2013 and just a month before I was on America's Got tal right okay so so I want to go back to that as well but we're we're gonna do that after we finish the second Letterman thing because that's the most important part of this we'll we'll dovetail it to AG Letterman's the most important absolutely so so um you know again you're back five years later you've tailor made this trick with the cotton candy it's fantastic we'll put some video over top of this as well so for those who are the audio you might want to jump on the YouTube or the Spotify for this uh because it is really funny uh you put the cotton candy I would have called it a hairpiece by the way not for nothing not that I mean anything I would have called it a cotton candy hairpiece but that was just me um you had five acts and you had to be in the top three again right we did the audition but I knew I knew we were we were already on it it was it was it was perfect it was we were already on it they had to go through the process and they picked the uh who F I'm still um um in touch with um and he did the the jump rope and uh and and bouncing the ball yes and and then and then us and then the guy did the the water but here here's here's what happened um same thing they call us like on a Friday fly out on uh get all ready uh Tuesday we're there and and that the day do you want to come watch Alicia Keys and NOP we don't get to because Ken wants to go but okay so I'm just all relaxed I said oh this is so much easier than trying to do the juggling trick we just go in there do the cotton candy thing get there for the rehearsal the cotton candy machine is not working it's not spinning and this is your machine you shipped out there or did they rent one I wanted to ship mine out there because I knew you know how to use it and I didn't know if would be too small for his head or whatever you know yeah so so I said to them do you mind if I just no we don't mind it's very expensive to ship back and forth and um and once again Letterman credit card same deal same yeah same process okay so so it's not working we're at the dress rehearsal it's not working and uh we have to have it working for the dress rehearsal because we have to do the trick so Dave can see it and so that was the defining moment um I can see the electric going in and there's that little needle that shows okay I said now there's electric electricity going in here but why is it not working I was nervous as heck Ken was being really funny and supportive and he was like Chris don't worry at least we got a free trip to New York I said but I want to be on the show man yeah no no the performer needs to get out yep we're in the Green Room Ryan comes in he goes Chris like it's all on me now yeah forget about Ken they they on me you have seven minutes to figure out how to get the cotton candy machine working I go seven minutes you mean like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire like can I call home like what you know and I go he goes exactly I go well that would be my only thing now is to call somebody so I call in Michigan uh Detroit Popcorn Company they handle cotton candy and popcorn the guy answers the phone who sometimes isn't even there the guy answers the phone that repairs the cotton candy machines wow so his name was Mike now I gota explain Mike okay powerful name well done Y Park the magician I do cotton candy okay I have a trick I'm actually in New York right now in the Letterman the you know svin theater gonna do Letterman we're seven minutes away the Kon candy machine's not going is there a breaker switch on it he goes yeah there is I go there is is he goes yeah it's a teeny little like little white dot underneath the machine he goes you have the deluxe worldwind he's like talking by he says I remember yours it's the deluxe world win it's like 1970 whatever I go yeah and he goes okay I go how about if I just you're on the phone with me while I try to do this I go okay I flip the C ging machine over there's the little Dot and I'm I'm like please let this be the thing that fixes it I push it it's all plugged in I push it it fires up and it works and he goes when that was shipped probably it got knocked around yeah yeah makes sense you plug it in needs a reset needs a reset and uh oh the relief in that theater I could feel the relief because Dave wanted this trick man yeah yeah Dave wanted Dave's been probably talking about cotton candy trick all week you know he's like oh this is going to be great for the for the um for the segment because nobody has done head in the cotton candy machine before me and go ahead and try to show me yep it hasn't happened I created this trick after we did it guess what Family Guy Family Guy they did a segment you can find it just uh go on YouTube or something type in Family Guy Trump cotton candy machine oh you're kidding me and they take Trump you know with his funny hair and uh because Dave in our segment he goes is some kind of a combover or something like he said as one but uh they had a segment with the Trump cartoon and they they stuck his head in the cot candy machine so as that happened as that happened Dave did say that I happened to notice in the in reviewing it again before the show here um there's an inside joke with hairpieces and d and and Paul and the band specifically if youve listened to the Paul Schaefer episode or watch that you you you know what I'm talking about and or or will or Felicia now that I think about it Dave looks over at Paul a couple of times and and and Paul used to have this he had this knack for knowing if somebody came out with a hairpiece or a weave or something and and it was a kind of an inside joke for for the band and whatnot yeah and I swear to God you see Dave kind of look at Paul a couple times and and there's something going on there um and at least in it's happening in my mind and and I would like to think that that's what it is but yes there was particular Delight um when Ken pulls head out and he's got the he's got the uh the cotton candy toupe it was uh it was fantastic it was a great moment oh yeah yeah yeah it was perfect it was under all that pressure and the and the liner you saw how I pulled the liner out to try to fix it you know and I think kind of like that that it was like almost not working you know sure oh yeah that's there's a there's a little Delight to stupid human tricks with the is it going to work is it not going to work it looks kind of low budget are we and then woo it does work and that makes it even better when it does work so so so that uh that's what made it unique on both of those tricks the first one too he uh he said my heart was palpitating or something like that you know like this is heart stopping and uh and uh and the same with the cotton candy one I didn't think the cotton candy one was gonna was going to uh have that Crescendo you know as big as it was but I'm telling you the amount of laughter it was it was the kind of laughter like you would you'd have that uncontrollable kind of laughing when you would see The Three Stooges do some kind of a yes a thing it was a three stoe kind of a thing really y you absolutely it was uh yeah different kind of laughter and a different kind of pop at the audience than the first time you were on uh again very cool so you finish up same similar feeling similar Euphoria um you know same thing you know have a nice dinner go back to the hotel watch the show on TV was it the similar similar experience Ryan Ryan comes in speechless produc you know yeah segment producer just speechless comes into the Green Room teda is just a nice guy huh T is just a nice guy oh K oh Brian Teta Bri t no but Bri Brian teda the segment producer is such a nice guy though too oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah so yeah they're real nice we had little cupcakes back there and and hug just hug no no words a hug like as we're leaving you know uh the other people Biff y you guys did a great trick on that you did oh Dave liked you I go did did Dave like it well we know when Dave likes somebody you know we know the whole we you know they like I think they want to do a good job for Dave they want to see Dave happy they know Dave takes everything seriously you've heard Dave talk about how seriously he takes a show He he'll go home and feel bad if it's not if he didn't think and and when when you have something like what we did both times we were in key with what Dave likes you know I was just communicating with someone online and and they talked about I have this thing about um when people say that Dave was mean I I I many times not many times sometimes I'll actually just take exception and I will I don't try and take comment bait or be baited by comments I should say but there are times where especially with Dave being mean uh I I'll I'll kind of correct a little bit and say you know what Dave is high level and he had a show at the highest level and and and his show of choice when he was uh when he was growing up his show of choice the top of the Heap was the top show which is The Tonight Show he wanted to emulate The Tonight Show that is the highest level and he expect people who came on the to bring high level with them and if they didn't bring high level we're talking from the celebrities who would show up even if they were plugging a movie they bring high level if they can um the segment producers need to get that high level out of those people and that includes the talent acts who come on the show if the tone is going to be goofy and and off-kilter and weird it's going to be a highlevel version of it and the standard is really high and and and when people didn't bring that high level um I know how I feel if if it's in my business and and maybe I hire somebody to help somebody in my business or whatever and they don't bring their aame I know how I feel about that in regular life um it's kind of natural that if you want a show of high level and and somebody doesn't bring that it's going to perturb not just Dave but the people who put the show on and and and so um you know clearly what you guys brought to it you wouldn't have been brought back they wouldn't have kept in contact with you like I think that's a perfect I I that a nice little clue to how the show works and how they did stay in contact with Friends of the show safe to say man Chris you're a you you were a friend of the show yeah that was a great feeling that was a really good feeling and and uh it's the best moments of my life really I mean like you said how you get emotional yeah you know it's the best moments of my life uh I'll tell certain people the story and I really enjoy talking to you cuz I know you're really interested in it sometimes I'll try to tell a relative or a friend and they just are like okay can I watch my program now you know it's like you know you you're really like you're get when I'm watching your show when I yeah you get it when I'm watching your show and we're just when we're simply just talking about Letterman it's like it's alive still it really is it is absolutely well that's that's the purpose of this show to keep it alive the purpose of this show is to transfer the knowledge of of how big a deal this show was to the culture um at the time now we got about five minutes I want to uh make sure that we talk about anything else that we want to talk about here uh AGT real quick was it you and Ken on AGT and what did you do on America's Got Talent before I do that yeah yes sir can I can I give my website oh that was the how I wanted to finish it let's do it now like absolutely no no no give your website give your website absolutely how can people get in touch with you because I know you're you're out in uh Canada western western Canada I love to visit out there sometime but beautiful country if anyone ever wants to be in touch with me for any performing reasons or any kind of appearances or I just did my first TV commercial I've done Letterman twice Leno Rachel Ray America's Got Talent I have a personality never mind the Detroit Auto Show yeah Rachel Ray I'm looking for a good Agent I'm always putting that out there because it's so hard to get an agent you never know a legitimate agent who who would take me serious I got the little Michael J fox look you know but but uh especially when I was younger but um my website is uh I I have Mr wizard magic mrwizard magic.com nice and um and yeah if you just Google me you'll find me I'm in Michigan you know Chris Clark is my name or Christopher Clark yep and I'm currently for a living mostly on weekends doing we have a lot of people who you know the country clubs the the Banquets I do weddings I'm a I am a wedding DJ yep um and then I do uh magic shows juggling I do I have about 10 different uh School assemblies one of them is the cotton candy science show I do a dinosaur show I do uh puppetry and um so I have a that's what I do this is on the internet Chris Clark in Michigan Mr Wizard magic.com I'll put it in the intro too I'm gonna shoot a separate intro for this and I'll put it at the front of the show as well so just so you're aware I don't have anything else like I'm not on any sitcoms um I would love to be you know you love to perform and and and you have that in the desire from within to perform and and you feel like you're being you when you are per performing safe to say yes and you know I my home comedy club is the magic I mean um Comedy Castle here in Royal Oak Michigan that's the uh uh place where uh Tim Allen and um the guy uh Dave kuer from uh oh wow Full House yeah yeah yeah and they came up through that that Comedy Castle yeah I've I've been a able to uh like I'm a friend of The Comedy Castle and uh I have a whole line of comedians that I'm friends with who some of them were working with with Tim Allen when he was not a big star you know and they're still friends with him and they open for him and um I've I've done standup comedy and I've enjoyed it I haven't made a living at standup but I have all those those tools and um if I had a good Agent out there who took me seriously because a lot of times they won't pick you because they already want somebody who's Big already you know yeah uh you know like National sure and some will take somebody but um anyway what was the other question I'm sorry no no no so and and let me let me say this Chris from one guy who's Indie but doing what he loves um to another person who's Indie doing what they love um I I salute you for it and and I'm really grateful that you are scratching that itch and you are letting it out and you are not listening to the dream Steelers out there uh that's a that's a really cool example um you know I my wife and I have this this this saying uh within our within our Dynamic grateful in the grind you know while we're grinding it out we're just grateful for the actual process of things that are happening within the grind as she's building her nearly impossible business to build she's grateful as she's doing that as as as I'm kind of throwing this out there I'm grateful just for the process of it and and uh one thing that has been um you know remarkably clear uh we could talk about AGT the next time you come on the show I think we should finish off on this um the thing that I love about you and I appreciate invting me again oh absolutely absolutely um I think I think I think one day we need to have you and Ken on uh first and foremost I think that needs to happen and you're the guy that facilit Ken you're his Handler so we'll do it that way um but but but one thing I got to say is that I can feel in you uh that you are grateful in your grind you're super super grateful you love it uh it energizes you you have a passion for it that just comes from within and and you'll do it on any level because the process is more important than the outcome I love hearing that it's so cool I feel like you're a brother from another mother when it comes to this particular aspect of life um and go Lions right that's what're cheering for we're cheering for the Lions is that the deal we're playing Tampa Bay Buccaneers this weekend hopefully we'll go straight to the Super Bowl okay and uh and we'll let history be the judge if we are uh uh uh manifesting this or not because this will come out a few weeks after um Chris thank you so much for taking time out of your day to be on the Letterman podcast I'm gonna do a quick outro and then we'll say our goodbye privately is that all right absolutely thanks for having me of course of course uh there it is right there like this has been uh if there was a an episode of the Letterman podcast that was a prototype that was a blueprint for what we want to do in the show that is it right there because yes we want the people who were part of the show made the show all of that stuff of course we want that we want you know some of the the people who are featured on the show as celebrities whatnot of course we want that but at the end of the day of the people featured on David Letterman um clearly Letterman what he did was a time honored tradition with stupid pet tricks stupid human tricks uh Merill all hail Merill as well Merill Marco for creating these concepts of of something that was classic like Chris said on Ed Sullivan put with a letterman twist to it and Stupid humor tricks was certainly that we want to have more folks who uh were a part of the show uh on stupid human tricks as well and I think this is a really good example of how folks who were a part of that segment how it changed their lives seeing Chris talk about this with the passion that he did was absolutely uh inspiring to me I love it so much uh clearly there's a kinship with all of what we're doing here that has been another episode of the Letterman podcast with Mike Chisum coincidentally I am Mike Chisum thank you and good night over coat and