Brian Cimino Has Been A Utility Player For Both Letterman And Colbert

hi 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 I love when we have members of the crew here uh uh Brian cino's on today and um okay so so as he taught us uh the production of L show with David Letterman they had the five families and and we go through what the five families were these the different Departments of of of L with David Letterman and and Brian was part of um the camera crew uh he was a utility for for for for the camera crew and and and uh um a job where you know it was a Highwire act a lot of the time and and you'll see that very very quickly here I love the culture Within These departments uh super super super cool to talk to Brian today this will not be the last time he's on does a paints a very very nice picture uh he's the nephew of of technical director Tim Kennedy and that's how got his foot into the door uh of of of of broadcasting and and and being in the uh the world of show uh behind the camera and it's a really really cool ride one of the things that I really appreciate about Brian is that he is to this day he's still with coar uh he's one of the few that made the transition over after Late Show with David Letterman uh ended its run in May of 2015 and and to this day he's so grateful he's so grateful and he's so present about the experiences that he has got a chance to be a part of uh throughout his his his career that has a lot of very cool memories attached to them we talk about a lot of those memories here we talk a lot a lot about the process or the process uh of of uh Late Show with David Letterman from his perspective and uh just a really great dude and I appreciate him very very much um the Letterman podcast has one sponsor one sponsor only and uh that is hello dell.com if you want any late show mugs or shirts or anything like that go to hellodd deli.com the legendary rert G retired from owning the deli but not from filling your Late Show with David Letterman merchandise needs uh we'll pack your order and send it to you ASAP um it's a lot of fun doing the Letterman podcast it's a lot more fun having rert uh as a part of this as well as as our sponsor so hellodd deli.com in the meantime I hope you enjoy our conversation today with Brian simino Brian I got to ask you this straight off the cuff um Uncle Tim Tim Kennedy did you get the gig because of your Uncle Tim or was it a happen stance was it the family business or did it just was it a coincidence no absolutely because of him it's it's see he's my foot in the door and uh that's it's funny it's it's uh it's the way in this in the business I started as a freelancer I'm not currently a freelancer right now but I started as many people still are and often start as a freelancer and uh they all have somebody whether it's family member or friend that's that's got them in they all can point to somebody said this person is my in and I've in for one or two people and into the you know into certain things and unon was my uh was my was my inde definitely so he got me on uh on some lighting jobs uh just to make sure I wasn't going to flake out on their late call times or their late outs early call times and uh after that he he got uh he got me uh he got me into my first day was July 3 or no sorry I don't remember the day the day specific was July 2003 wow and uh there was an extra camera uh George the The Hulk rothweiler uh was was running a uh a handheld camera in the stairwell of the dressing rooms yeah um and he was shooting the Oakland A's pitcher Barry Zito I don't remember him I don't only know him because of this incident uh and he was standing he was across in the building across Third Street attempting to pitch a baseball and break the window that we were that we were right next to so that was first foray into what life was like in the Ed San theater and the surrounding environments it was uh it was it was pretty eye opening the first couple of days I you know I got to be there okay so you were freelancing before that and he got you the gig or like you were cold and you came kind of both at the same time it all happened like simultaneously you know there was a couple of jobs of um that he got um that he you know hooked me up with some friends of his to do like said some lighting jobs like load inss and stuff and then um I got uh and and then after I had done some you know some days there he felt confident enough to give me a shot at you know at at at being um in the in the in the theater as of fill in and you know to be fair like like it is in most other ways in the business like that's your foot in the door but it's not really how you stay in the other end of the door that's exactly it that's exactly it and I have yeah I have nobody but but um but him and and and more so once I got there Steve calman and Dan Campbell yeah um to to Really uh show me the ropes of what it's like to be there and then simultaneously I was building outside of their relationships um through uh uh people I would meet uh on the job uh and I would do Sports jobs for ESPN um so I'd go you know do Monday Wednesday or Sunday night baseball at Yankee Stadium or at that time still Shay stadium and you know show up at 6 in the morning set do the game strike leave at 3 in the morning you know those were those were the day those that's the work of the sports freelancer and a lot of the Freelancers on bigger shows that are temporary not you know so it's uh I was I got the I got the taste of everything and all camera work or or or all over the place well obviously I'm a utility so my job utility so um I'm I wasn't shooting the camera doing everything yeah else but a lot of cable running lot of monitors uh helping camera guys uh build cameras in in sports we had do that a lot um I don't really do that uh anymore because I'm a a staffer freelance I'm a staffer uh employee now so I'm not freelance anymore but um I learned a lot of angles of the business for as as everybody does that's why when we need a filling guy now or even back then you know we can just say who do you know oh I know him he's good and he's and I've worked with him on these jobs he's capable so um that's how you stay afloat and it's it's and in in the freelance World slim pickets in the beginning yeah um but you know I was lucky enough to have like I said my uncle who was the boss essentially in the tech uh side and uh and his two hand men take me under their wing without like listen I was the ne I was the boss's nephew they could have treated me any way and been rightfully so you know to to to treat me cynically let's say but neither one of them ever did that and I know everything I know because of them so you know it's funny you look at this generation now and how they have kind of I don't know about you I think you are fairly close in age I'm a 76 baby I think you're probably 75 75 there we go yeah and and and the generation now looks at our generation and and and the older ones and they talk about things like nepotism and things like that but but really at the end of the day when you look at production specifically I mean any any I got my first gig outside of high school because of my dad you know he got me on at the you know with the roofing crew that he he managed you know uh for for for the summer but broadcasting in general and and the behind the scenes of broadcasting there is a lot of second and third generation oh yeah folks in that like like a lot of them and and same with cops same with firemen same with you know it it really does become a family business in a lot of ways but like you say um that might open the door but but you being able to walk through and hang and then like you say very small-knit group uh you know where you get to know each other and whatnot and I love I love that about it I love all these uh production guys that I have talked to over this uh over this time period here uh in doing this show where they all know each other from different gigs and you know they around like the Freelancers are actually some of the most interesting ones because they spend a little bit of time here a little bit of time there and they're they're they're constantly they've got so many stories um but talk about being thrust you will use the baseball analogy just because it's the easiest way to go you you open the door for that thrust to the majors immediately thrust to the majors like this is one of the highest level Productions yeah um at the time especially 03 you think about that you know the YouTube and the internet still in its infancy in many ways right like like broadcast television at its highest level um you guys doing you know five shows a week in four days uh that's nuts that that's what your your your Proving Ground was yeah well what's funny is that I it was very it was a little bit of a trickle in the beginning because I was always a fill-in guy so um meaning that if there was an extra camera or something we were throwing something off the roof or uh there was um you know a hose Cam and something else that day then they need an extra set of hands or if Steve Dan or John Moran the other um the other staff you were taking vacation days which by that point they had accured a lot of vacation days so a lot so you know um and each passing year that got more and more and each passing year I spent more and more time there and by the time the show ended I think I had been there for almost like two straight months which was unheard of because there were times I wouldn't show up for three months yep you know and I'd be over at the CBS broadcast Center in a in the sports Studio or i' be in stadiums or somewhere you know boxing and doing the early show here and there so I I was filling in I was really making a living doing it and it was really starting to work out um and but every time I would get to come back here I would I would fil I would I would replace myself on other jobs to come and you know sometimes make less money on Letterman because there would be no overtime that there but I'd want to be there you know because I'd always want to say yes you know and Bob Fowler is our um who's who somebody you might want to talk to too he's a great guy I want to talk to Bob for sure oh you know Bob okay no I don't know him but want to talk my reputation I want to talk to him for sure okay so Bob Bob would that call will come in on my flip cell phone know you another it's funny another aspect this is curring to me now is that you know everyone outside of the business that you know also has to kind of make concessions and for the fact that you're in this business or it for me at that point I was trying to make it in this business so one of my best friends owned the law uh owns at that time owned the landscaping company I was out cutting Lawns with him but uh we could be you know uh uh in the middle of C La my phone ring and it's Bob F you know Dan Dan through his back out can you come in today and and Tommy would let me go and I would go and I would I would make my way into the city in time for the show and you know and that was my first understanding that let's not say no to Bob as as you know as as much as I can you know say yes to Bob and uh that has you know paid off because of the kind of people that that that work culture cultivates you know were you single at the time uh I was single but um I actually kind of all lines up my my wife Melissa and I have been together uh we've been married for since 2009 we've been together since about the same time I started working regularly at The Late Show so um I was single but attached yeah and uh but no kids or anything like that like you were able to I'm in my I'm in my late 20s and this is exciting this is something I want to be a part of I'm going to take my shot to see if I can entrench and and become a part of this thing exactly exactly that's what did you know and I and I took advantage of that you know my wife was always understanding about how you know this is a uh uh an unusual opportunity you know and um she at the time was in another side of the business she still does it on a freelance basis she's a media buyer so she would um so you know when CBS does it's upfront every year y that was they do it for she was spend uh another company's money on TV advertising time so she knew a little bit about what what goes on and then had this other you know the vantage point from through me so it was very easy for her to assimilate and understand that like you know if if this was going to happen I had to be out I had to be out till 3 in the morning sorry you and uh you know it it was a lot of times it puts a lot of stress on people and a lot of people bail on it because they you know well hey you're not making any money and you're gone when you are making money you're gone all the time so it's it's it's it's tough to uh some people to manage but I was lucky enough to have everybody around me pulling for so and you're a Northeastern boy right are you Jersey Boy yep Jersey yeah okay so um safe to say Letterman kind of Godlike a Godlike figure to you growing up like did you did you know it or were you detached from it uh and just enjoyed it professionally no I I was even in the NBC days when I was I was still way too young but I was would would stay up way too late and try or at least try to stay up and see let because like you know uh Carson was a little bit boring to me you know at that age and I knew there was going to be some weird stuff happening if I stayed up enough I could see something weird happening and then all of a sudden my uncle you know cool Uncle Tim Uncle Tim was always the you know the you know you know for a while he was up on a motorcycle you know you know and it was always had the jokes and the cool dog and all stuff and now he's got this job you know where even before that he would bring you know when he was working at local news this is the other the family aspect of it too he would be work at UH at uh Nightly News with Dan yep and um and I got to go in a bunch of times with him and see what it was like to be there and see where he worked and sit in Dan rather's chair and get a little you know get my name on the screen with a Chiron with my name on it stuff you know and it was it was like uh it was a weird Amusement par you know yeah so uh once to find out that he was working that he got you know in the it was 93 right so he didn't get there in 94 I must was 18 at the time yep and uh it was holy cow like there are bands that I like on that show oh yeah and he's there you know so it was really was and I remember like you know I got uh when they did the multi-city tour you know he brought back some T-shirts you know the official t-shirts with this and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world you know so and then when we go like when I got a little bit older uh you oh fish is going to be there a big fan of fish right go we dve into the city watch The Sound Check you know you and then uh and then eventually now here's full circle is that you know you know once I started there and then I had kids you know my son was born in 2011 yep and he was he was he's been there like it's his favorite place to be and my daughter thean theater yeah it's like you know and my and my and my daughter too my daughter's nine and you got you get to go to work with dad today it's like their face lights up and they want to go every you know they want to go see every nook at CR my daughter wasn't born uh during the Letterman times but yeah then you know you know one of my favorite you know videos is is is uh uh Ben sitting on Tim's lap at the at the at the uh uh at the switcher and Tim taught him to run the top 10 uh intro and he ran top 10 and he's like it's the taxi cab riding through uh it's that one with right so you know he's doing this with him he's laughing his full head off sitting at the controller and then we go around we go get snacks and then we do this and like it was like it's they grew up you know with that as a as as a part of their life it's um and they're not they're not taking it for granted because it's a rarity for them to be able to get go my son got to go for a full show for a full show day for the first time this year and you know gave him the headset and everything you got to spend the day with us do an actual work and then see the show and see rehearsal so um yeah and and so going back to where we started this thing okay would it be no no no would it be surprising at all if if if by 1718 he says to you hey Dad I think I want to get into to to production of course it wouldn't be of course any kid in that scenario I would be like like um I was just in and uh a former Letterman writer his name is Chris Harris he's now the EP on Frasier okay so while I was down in LA to see to see Dave live and and do a couple other things uh he said hey we're filming the the season premiere do you want to come down and I'm like sure and not he gave me great seats EP is EP right you know so so I got got the got the the good guy treatment but then he comes and grabs me and he says Hey and he puts me in his back pocket basically while the whole watching the whole show be produced and I was absolutely mesmerized by it it was it was so cool uh there's no feeling like it and and and and when everyone is at like the heightened vibration of showtime and and the show is happening and everybody is there at high level and performing at high level with that energy how could any kid not get Swept Away by that yeah absolutely I put him in the balcony uh during the actual show because he's only 12 you know and he's not really you know you know could be audience you know supposed to be in the audience you know we put I'll put him up with Greg the front of house engineer and he you know he was able to listen to the the gy with the director talk and how and he's talking to me and we're just you know and uh it's funny though because you know that's his perspective but the thing you're talking about happens I watch it happen almost every night when the audience comes in and and you know it kind of renews the idea that like let's not take this for granted it's like a special thing for for everybody to see everybody's face be excited just a little taste of watching the sausage get made you know what I mean that's says all the time abolutely you know you we you know they get to see uh people just randomly walking around the street trying to figure out what's going on and you know it must be really fun to do that and I I from you can lose perspective of that if you're not paying attention I you know absolutely well and and I mean I've talked to I've talked to plenty of folks some of them who have actually said this sentiment on camera where where you know one of the biggest mistakes they ever made was leaving the circus and and and thinking thinking oh yeah that show over there is going to provide this or that or whatever and then and then going oh man there because there's nothing like it there's nothing quite like what um you guys do and your perspective Brian is really neat because uh you know you've got the Letterman Proving Ground and then you've got the the the the co bear phase that you're you're seeing um almost equal time now I guess I mean pretty close anyway another another another year or two it'll be it'll be half and half um what what do you do for Co bear now uh I'm currently the head utility at coar and I also um run camera during the interviews so um it's uh there's four of us uh so it's me uh jeppi rivo who was known throughout you know uh through the city and probably the country maybe the world uh for his uh utility skills he runs with Joe deonis the uh the steady cam operator um during the show and then Jose who um recently uh um slid over and sits in the spot that Dan Campbell used to sit in at the robotic cameras yeah and then uh Roberto Lopez who we uh we got from um from SNL he comes over uh with us uh now and uh taking the empty spot that Dan left when he when he retired last year so yeah there's uh this is um it's a great crew and we have um a real good thing going here with not only just us but you know the camera crew you know in its entirety um um there's um John Hann is the one camera operator left over from the Letterman days yeah he's actually a 40 year maybe 40y year plus CBS that's another guy I want to talk to Dan Dan talked to me about him a little bit too I want to talk to him as well yeah I was gonna ask that was my next question how many folks on the crew uh currently that you know of were were with late show with David Letterman uh so there not many of you there's not many not many but not many um lighting the lighting department has uh uh maybe the most Tom oh no Tom's in construction now I think actually uh Tom Ball switch Yeah Tom bwitch yeah he's over he he's there he he's he's now at um he's a car he's with the Carpenters now Walters Jimmy pazo Kevin Casey uh Martin Van bever um is Palumbo still there uh Bill Palumbo still there yeah Bill Palo still there he's still running the uh fly uh he's still flying the uh ropes uh John tudo is our our our head Carpenter John was with the show a lot uh in lman days um Tom Gordon comes back a lot um those local one guys and then the props Department guys um actually I don't think we have anybody left once Pat retired once Pat retired which jeez that seems like a long time ago now um and Glenn Glenn borders too he was there and he retired he retired yeah uh now that was that seems like a million years ago too I I really you know time flies good people leave yeah uh that's and then on our camera crew was just John hle yeah um and then upstairs mark spot um who is the um the uh head uh uh uh sound effects oh no okay yeah yeah um I might be getting title is exact title wrong there Eric ablan he's still there yeah yeah that's right I gotta have Eric I gotta have Eric on too yeah absolutely yeah there's there's a handful um but John just John and I right now left from the camera crew um and I wasn't even you know I was always a filling guy Le so even though I was there a lot I wasn't you know I wasn't staff or you know a permalance full-time I there but were you in any of the staff photos oh yeah I actually I I always that counts did you get a jacket did you get any jackets got all the jackets see that counts you counts no no no you were you were you here's another thing about being there too is that is that I was instantly welcomed in by everybody you know and and and and and this is um a a through line that runs through I think successful shows is that because because right now you know we we I see the same thing it's it's um you have to be you have to feel like you belong there everybody wants you to be and and that's you know how I felt you know every day there you know and I I got my first jacket give me a jacket you know see Jack and now I got now they're all I got them packed away I got I think I probably have 11 or 12 yeah you would if you3 if you go of that area and that's and that's you know and it's a great thing to just hold on to and then I come across like I said that little that little the pencil yeah and I think uh maybe I might I don't know if I have it over here anymore I think I have a uh a lamp post from the oh you got one too oh yeah the lamp post from the uh from the bridge behind Dave when when they you know they threw everything out I grabbed one of the oh that's fantastic I was gonna actually that's always a question that I have is if if anybody uh this was saved and so this isy that was was that that was that was up was that um behind the monologue spot yeah if you're looking if you're watching the screen it's uh behind Dave's right shoulder it's the Verano and uh yeah oh that's cool yeah weird to see that stuff in the dumpster too like yeah yeah well and that's the other surreal part for for a few folks that uh that that that didn't get their Walkin papers basically and and and and and exit um you think about like Janice Panino when she was on you know she she was there for another three months after after and so she saw the whole thing happening in front of her and there are a few people who did yourself included what a weird thing well what's funny is that I actually I actually kind of had a little Hiatus during that period um because I was when when the when lman show ended which was a um a weird surreal and experience in and of itself um I kind of had already been preparing myself to be like all right let's dive back head first into the sports world because you can't count on this anymore you know nobody knows what's happening and there's a lot of things up in the air about who was coming from the old show and who was staying and how they were going to figure that out and who they needed and I was like I kind of felt happy to not have to be stressed by any of that and I kind of walked away thinking like you know they if I never get this call again then let's be prepared for that and then I just dove into doing a lot of sports and filling in um uh taking taking everything I get just to try to get a foot in somewhere where I maybe could get a steady thing and uh you know I found myself doing stuff like you know boxing for for for Showtime at the Barkley Center until 3 in the morning and then driving right over to the broadcast Center to do a 5:00 am at their Saturday early show and then going home and you know at you know at 10 o'clock in the in the morning and trying to stay awake I'm like this is not you know it's not really the way it's supposed to be and then uh one or two times they needed a hand doing some stuff and uh I got a call from Bob and uh and I was back with everybody and it was it was like never left you know except the theater was torn apart yeah completely different um what what a facility that I was there um oh here's a question do they okay do you know if they record the Q&A does anybody record the Q&A yeah so what happens we shoot the Q&A with Stephen or yeah with steephen no with Stephen because he and I he and I had a had a little back and forth a few months ago oh okay I yes he they record it um and they Bank you know they Bank everything and then what they do is they have interns come down with iPhones and into the audience and try to get some extra audio of the actual question because Stephen's got the yeah mic on so they do record them and they do release them on YouTube periodically like cuts of them so they cut together the good ones and I and and I'm pretty sure they released some on YouTube or maybe the I've seen on social on The Late Show social media they U which is which is another thing that's taken off in the new version of The L show social media uh I said I want to say kids social media gu guys they're uh girls they're they're they're absolutely killing it and that's another you know it's another you know aspect in of the growth in this you know in this in this medium you know uh so yeah they they I don't know how often they come out if there's any schedule for them but you know it's got to be it's really got to be thees Stephen have a great answer is really what makes the you know the question prompts it but it's Stephen's answer that's always the thing that makes it it was it was funny it was the night I was in town because it was the night before Rupert's retirement at uh at the retirement party so I was there yeah I was there the party with my kids yeah my kids were there I'm sorry we didn't connect I spoke you know funny knows you but you were always you were you were you always in the conversation with somebody and I know that you're you're Canadian right it's a long it's a long ride it's a long commute so let yeah uh oh man no I'm I'm I'm I'm grateful that we're doing this now though because I I wanted to meet everybody but like it was such a crazy evening but no the night before um it was it was uh uh we it was great no people on the inside or whatever we got the the VIP treatment so we got up in the balcony and uh to see Cole bear and and and so I put put my hand up and he picks me and I'm like all right let's do this and and we have a conversation and the coolest thing is I introduced myself as as me I said uh Mr coar my name's Mike Chisum I'm the host of the Letterman podcast and immediately he goes oh I know you I saw Harvey Goldberg's episode it was incredible it was this we start we start the back and forth okay so one of our guys that we know has it on his iPhone and he won't give it to me he won't give it to until until permission he has permission yeah for me to have it uh but it's around but I just didn't know if it was uh if it was recorded or not but um that reminds me Harvey Goldberg Mike meller yeah Mur they're all the audio guys that stuck around Tom Tom Herman um he recently retired same time as Dan Campbell they're from from the old show I don't want to forget those guys those they you know to Tom's history alone would would would make a head spin you know yeah I gotta talk to him as well oh there's so much more work to be done on the show thank God I'm having the time of my life doing the show and and and there's a lot of uh a lot of fun to be had still a lot of good stuff coming um so I want to I want to ask the difference between the two shows if there's one or two things that are the main differences between these two show show and then I want to dive back into some of the memories you have from from from from Late Show with Dave um but what are some of the major differences between the two shows like is there a difference in hours is there a difference in in in tone in the job itself or is the job pretty much Universal uh it's yes and no for for in a lot of ways for that um uh the call time for us was the same as it always was it just works out that way the show schedule is relatively the same um and I'm in I'm in at 11: our crew is in at 11: generally on a regular day and then we're generally out by 7 let's say on average more likely 645 yep depending whether there's music or there's extra stuff um this show we do a lot more pre-taping of guests so a lot of times we'll have a long long Monday a really short Tuesday you know and um and we don't do double shows anymore um like we used to do on the other show um technically from the technical aspect from a a job performance aspect a lot of it's the same because our job is especially as utilities on a show that does the kind of things that both shows do which were you know often um you know you know remote shoots or or you know comedy bits and other parts of the building y um we we work inside this box and we have X amount of options inside the box to give you what you need and um what's what just changes from time to time is the the specifics of what they need you know so you know if we need to shoot something on the 14th floor well then the guys and I know how to get that camera signal from the 14th floor to to Tom Carol in the control room or Bill white back there in the control room and and you know essentially it's always kind of the same thing the specifics may change how many cameras where they need these kind of monitors or whatever um and then in this world uh on with in the co Bear World um we deal with teleprompters as opposed to there being a whole qard department in the yeah so uh that's another you know so that just is another um Avenue that we have to incorporate into um into our into our daily you know thought process oh is there going to be a prompter involved in this how we get a prompter running here and that's the kind of thing that it's wonderful to have guys like jeppi um who was um from the Old Co bear report yeah um and you know you know jeppi is the guy that Stephen always calls no matter what because jeppi is Step jeppi this is not working right because that you know so um he knows well hey oh Stephen's gonna like this and he taught me all the things that Stephen likes you know what I mean you know so like uh well we want to make sure that this is done this way because this is how he expects it and you know and and that was a um you know the boss is a little more present um now than than that I came into the fold of the old Letterman show after um you know after Dave had had had you know um stopped really appearing in a lot of of bits um yeah well as he got older he had to stop doing rehearsal and he he tried to he tried to really uh maximize his energy and and and and uh and that you know leading to his longevity increasing because of things like AB that but when you showed up it was already that time it passed already and it was already in that in that era yeah yep so I never you know so you know rehearsal was very different you know um so Rosal was usually done you the monologue was done by one of the sangles or by Matt Roberts Y and um and then uh you know we' rehears all the the bits at the desk and it would still be funny you rehearsal is always fun because you're trying things out that I was gonna say um there is there is a lot of hilarity that happened during that time and I've been told some of the stories of of of the rehearsal of Late Show with David Letterman yeah uh in those years uh sometimes absolutely hysterical I mean people would always talk about we we talk a lot on the show here about about you know the rehearsal of the musical acts and things like that great of course yeah but the rehearsal of The Blocking of the show also hysterical and the fact that it's not Dave that it is one of the sangles or that it is Matt or or you know whatever else it is um or even the bits that involve the la la crew people which is one another aspect you know yep Dave loved I think Dave really loved putting that guy that that that's a carpenter in front of the camera and seeing what happens and you know a lot of these guys were game for it I mean like Jee samansky was so good Jean sansy was so he would always do the bit at the desk of the let me do a magic trip for you but he keeps messing the magic trip up feel really he played that part of you feel so bad for him yeah you know but he's like Jean and that's why it was so funny like I don't know if everybody told you one of the famous ones I remember was was Shey lighting a cigarette I don't if everybody try oh God so funny because it couldn't get yeah yeah you tell the story please tell the story I don't even remember what the bit was but the bit was like you know it was Shey acting like a cool guy or something like that he's kind of strutting up in front of the desk while Dave's there leaning on the desk and pulling out a cigarette and lighting and taking a couple of drags but like he was like like de so delicate with the cigarette like he clearly didn't know what he was doing and this was totally abnormal for him and you know having a headset on I can hear you know my my uncle whose laugh is is is you can hear it blocks away anyway and Foley and everybody in the control room just erupting because they just know this image is so and I don't think many other a lot of other people may like what's so funny about this it's a little funny I guess but like you know it's when somebody you know it's that much funnier you know absolutely George Clark in the in the in the The Boiler Room eating eating fried chicken or whatever they had me like why I don't know I don't know whose idea that was but I'll do it all right you know get a camera on it okay you know that's kind of what it is like you know and it's funny like especially with the tower drops and those kind of things my my my wife uh come home and and she'd be like what is on your shoes today I'm like I think that's mustard and I think that might some cake icing you know I almost got by a truck tire so I I could just go I the things are I could just go on and on and on because like it's it's like this is what we got paid to do you know we got paid to like document you know 20,000 ping pong balls falling off an 11 story roof you know you and the funny and the best part about all that was was was the two minutes that Dave and Pat farmer were having a conversation because she knew that it was going to be some some curveballs and Pat was unflappable yeah so you know Pat's up there ready to dump the pingpong balls I'll never forget this one and Dave goes so Pat where where do you get 20,000 pingpong balls I don't know Dave you call a guy the things over and that was it so is there is there a nicer guy out there than Pat farmer I don't know if there is he's the best you know you know that's that's Testament have was like y like I said I would show up sometimes they wouldn't show up for two or three months because they wouldn't need have any need for me it' be dark they be no need and then I show up and everybody's like Pats everybody how's the kids how's this how's this how everybody do never never without F you know and then part of the reason why we were at the roer uh send off and I brought the kids in it's because May is you know loves my kids you know and you know and I would bring my kids and they want to go let's go to Rupert's and get a bakon egg and cheese and then they would give them ice cream that they didn't need you know you know it's like you know and it was wonderful like it was such a like you know to to come into that world and be like this guy rert and may that are on TV all the time are also like you know um kind of watching over you you know you sniffled in front of me be walking back into the theater with this pungent concoction that I never was able to finish it I cut bar I said I see how it cleans youres out but I don't think I can make it through this you know and it was like you know until they're gone you don't realize that like well maybe until you're gone you don't realize that like they were going you know having this party and I said I gotta bring you know I got to bring the kids they got to say goodbye and they you know so it was it's it was pretty sentimental and it was kind of one of my first well it wasn't my first but you know was the first one that really was affected my kids which is kind of hit home you know may is an unbelievably sweet sweet presence on this Earth um just just what a sweetheart she is and and that just that's hilarious to me the idea of she's also your Chinese herbalist and you go back yeah yeah it was it was so and and it was you know and I and I I had a lot of those kind of relationships that that I'm very grateful for like you know Biff was another one like I spent a lot of time with Biff um you know I would do um the pumpkin explosion every year I would be and I would always look forward to that so when we started doing it in Coney Island on the beach uh spend all day and you know we set up and we're just hanging out and here and Biff just you know Biff got a lot of a lot of like below the surface wisdom that kind of bubbles up when you have conversations with them and it was you it was not it was not lost to me at time because again you're always kind of being reminded of where you are like like you know I was just 10 feet from Paul McCartney you know you know and and and now let me pay attention to this guy who was always you know who's been seen who's seen this and thousand things more you know um well okay you you brought up a moment that I wantan to I want to ask about because I asked Tom Ball I I I've had Tom balvich tell me his uh the story about and I haven't even had him had him on the show I need to have him on the show I take for granted that we're Budd I take for granted that we're buddies um but I asked him his Paul McCartney story every time because he always tells me the story of when Paul McCartney playing on the on the roof and and and they had this little moment and and he's saying you know uh Say It's Your Birthday like there's a really cool little story there um were you there for that moment that particular okay being utility for camera one might be stability but being utility for the Rover or for the random stuff that's where the action that's where the fun is right like you got to do some crazy stuff oh absolutely let's talk about McCartney for a second just because that's a that's a that's a that's a landmark moment what were your memories for that moment uh you know it was a big day and it was a big it was a lot leading up to that day too you know technically um you know it's a bit of a lift um in the sense that certain things have to happen very early in the morning and very quickly namely we have to get all of our cables across Broadway in the very short time that they're allowed to close Broadway and then bring a lift up to fly them over the so we have to make sure that everything we possibly need plus spares are in that and that's true for every Department that uses cables right so Lighty guys have all their stuff in there because they're they're they're they're building a a crazy thing over there too and we've got like two or three cameras I don't remember how uh across the street on lifts um we would have uh a jib I possibly two jibs on the street and that was always um there would always be John Hann would always be one of those jibs and often uh Dan flarity maybe or Karen gel was yeah Dan did a lot of that stuff absolutely yep and um and then we'd have you know uh the handhelds that were on on the actual Marquee one or two um of in alino you know that that list of those guys was Al chelino Fred jizu uh John Curtain George rothweiler uh Dan flarity and uh I don't think I'm forgetting anybody out I said they all and John Han was in that rotating um you know um uh line of guys that would two of them would be there every day and they you know they would schedule would be varied but they'd always get them for those things you know we always needed extra guys and extra cameras CU sometimes there'd be one of them on the roof of the the the dream Hotel shooting a giant long shot on a long lens you know um so those were big un I also remember that we weren't allowed to say anything about it nobody knew it was going to happen right and it was a big Hush Hush thing and that's a testament to all the people that work there that that stuff gets you know um let's respect the show you know so um there was let's respect the show I like that that's um well that reminds me I'll get back touch CV again too but like um the there was also a last minute this might not happen with the McCartney thing I remember that Bloomberg didn't want to say give the okay or something like that and he needed a personal phone call from Paul McCarney or something like that everybody speculating that blueberg just wanted to get a phone call from PA mcartney monkey but who knows I don't know what the truth really is to that but I do know that we were we were we were getting the very information that this may all come down without anything happening which was super disappointing but then there was also parts of having to be like you know every time you're out there doing something somebody asks what's going on and you have to say oh and so I go to was something I learned from my buddy murf and sports is that anytime somebody asks you a question you say a man's gonna fight a bear the person go what do you mean don't wor the bear is gonna wear gloves so I was saying that a lot on Paul McCartney day but you know Paul McCartney day was was was a was you know the big one but for me like the fish play on the Marquee 2004 yeah um and I was you know you know I'm a guy that's been I've been to maybe 80 no maybe a 100 fish shows I don't know you're that guy you're the guy that travels around with fish okay this is no no no no no no no this is this is since 1994 when Uncle Tim when Uncle Tim got me tickets to uh to their first show at MSG uh through his that worked at CVS uh radio and uh and and that was my first show 1994 so be so 30 plus years yeah got just when they're in the area I don't go crazy okay but know some people do some people love I me I'm all I'm all in I'm all in for them I'm I'm a nerd but you know they're right there they're right there I'm and Al Al chelino's got the got the the the handheld on the keyboard player and the keyboard player is looking in amazement down Broadway at all these people that are here to see and I'm sitting right there with it shook all their hands as they walk down and then I met Trey two more times you know when he was on D Matthews when he was on by himself and then fish came in to do the webcast that's a whole other aspect the webcast yeah oh I love live on Letterman and and I want to do yeah I want to go down that rabbit hole big time uh no no just just even just I want to I want to do shows on on all of the different live on Letterman um specials that happened th those must have been fun overtime days yeah yeah well sometimes if if sometimes if that was the only thing that was going on I wasn't already there I would come in late for those you know but a lot of times you know you know and another Testament to the the superhuman abilities of the crew especially the local one backstage guys um is you know a lot of times those live on Letterman webcasts would happen after a double show day yeah right and sometimes they would happen after a double show day with two bands yep and that already is a huge B you know like there's no room backstage for anything to begin with let's throw another band back there let's put the audio guys through this and I know and and it got more than pulled off every time we got done expertly you know every time and uh we got we all got our our our change over from the show to the webcast um down to a sence pretty quick um on all was there a lot of was there a lot of adjustment that needed to happen oh yeah the entire stage was was the desk went away the platform and the desk totally went away yeah um they uh took away a little bit of Paul's area too some of the yeah some of the um some of the the border around the front I what they call the facade around the front of that stuff to make more room for the band the band got the whole stage and uh and got a new audience you know a new audience of their fans yeah which was huge and like and like those were like that was I can't even count on two hands how many dreams come true that was I was on stage with wil was standing there with again I was on stage with all my favorite bands I was like and I get to put the the this still happen I get to put the the the point of view the POV camera on the on the drummer so if you ever watch a musical you know a musical act on a show and they'll get a two or three second shot of the drummer from a weird kind of fish ey lens almost we were putting those up from from since since 2003 been using actually very same equipment since 2003 and I get to meet all those drummers and because they get intrigued what's going on you know so I get you know you know you know every once in a while I'm just sitting around going oh jeez the drummer from Wilco Knows My Name you know what I mean it's like yeah oh no I get that one um the cake one was one that always I love the cake one oh did they ever knocked the they all every band that was on that that did a webcast did did a great job like the standard was so high the venue was so unique Y and it was and and and um you know Harvey when he was on here he did such a good job talking about how really is the blurring of the line between a live performance but also a studio uh a studio recording because you know you did get to augment you did get to to make tweaks to it to make it even better um my dream is to is to if if pants ever uh allows this my my dream is to do a live on Letterman's podcast and literally go through some of these unique performances and maybe talk to some of the artists now you know after all this time but but yeah just that that is such a I got a question about the drums um for a second because um one of the one of Dave's uh one of the thing you know okay so yeah at the end his longest run one of his longest running jokes at the end of his run you know are those your are those your drums you know and and Dave of course would go and play the drums and whatnot all the time um any stories about that yeah it's actually it's funny because it comes a little bit for Full Circle um you know I love that bit you know like the the story of because that was again from before my time when he was be down a rehearsal and play in the drums Steve cofman tell me that all the time and I could just never picture that happening you know it just is a weird image for me um to conjure up but uh you know I've seen also the super cut of all the times him asking all the guy those your drums or those rentals oh I love those drums you know and then he would stand on the swings during the during the during the performance and he'd be asking Bill shef a whole bunch of questions about the drums you know because bill shef was like his personal encyclopedia sometimes you know Y and especially about drums and baseball so excuse me Bill so Bill will give him the inside info about the drum kid and then he go talk to the drummer and uh and then uh Dave was on recently uh well I don't even was recently J I was gonna ask you about no no this is on my list of questions today yeah let's talk about it Dave was on recently in November uh I think it was and uh and he uh he he made made a comments to the band and I asked him I asked Joe saor our current drummer said did did Dave ask you about about your drums I meant to ask you because he always asked but about the drums and you got a sparkly kit and he says he did and he goes but he's already done that he goes because he had been the Joor i' been there before as on Letterman as a drummer for another musical guest whose Name Escapes me right now I know I'm hearing it too okay it's gonna come back to me yes yes that's right and Joe said he asked me that on the show I was like ah that that that's some things are just you can always count on that you know uh okay so you brought it up I wanna I want to I want to talk about it when Dave came back um I've talked about it a lot on this show uh you know I I thought it was an absolute Grand Slam home run the fact that the fact that that night you know scrap the act one uh you know do the monologue and then we're gon to do a comic piece no no Dave's getting every segment including having his favorite band The National on um the whole show about he was there to introduce them and and and say good night to everybody um what a what a grand slam home run of a show for anybody who you know was waiting for Dave to come back to this franchise that he built uh the franchise did not exist before him and and and um you got to see it you were there before I love the symmetry of that uh that must have been an amazing night yeah I was looking forward to it uh for a long time just because it sounds weird to say to say it as a as a guy who like I was kind of excited for Dave you know what I mean you know uh you know you know it was going to be another day for us and I knew that it wasn't going to be a whole bunch of hugging and stuff like that you know it's not who Dave is well which is fine and you know I was like you know I'm GNA come away from this feeling uh like I got more than I ever expected if he says hi you know but I didn't even really cross paths to him I was standing behind the camera in the dark while he was out there in the rehearsal and you know the one time I thought that I he maybe he would see me would be that you know we do the um the shot of the upcoming guest in the in the uh in the WIS yeah in the in the commercial break uh but I we didn't do that for D that wasn't happening for some reason so uh that was the only time I would ever be kind of face to face with him and I found out a lot of the other guys went back and and said hi to him after the show but uh but I I also was kind of semi afraid he'd be like who are you again but I I don't I don't I don't I don't think that's really true I just kind of like my own fears about it but uh it was it was really excited to see him there and this then to see what happened see him see what happened to the place you know his reaction to the to how different things are and uh and and I guess I wonder how the how the same some things are yeah you know namely the people uh and everything and the guys backstage said he was he was really great when he was walking back there too and all those guys you know that you know you know he likes he got this distinct impression that he liked the regular guy you know and and while you're a guy in his position you know depending on who you are it's a funny contrast between him and Stephen that that you're super vulnerable and you're everybody wants to P you no matter what the situation is right and and I I couldn't I wouldn't be able to handle that graciously as a as as a human being who knows himself you know what I mean like so so so it's it's it's it's a marvelous in both respects that Dave being the guy he is personally could also be a performer be consistently funny and deliver to the audience and meanwhile you know Stephen just exudes performance you know Stephen is performing because that's just who his existence is a lot of times which is delightful for us too you know what I mean but you know I I say this like um I always appreciated coming to The Late Show in the Letterman days because you know of all the things we had talked about and I thought it was like a fantasy land and then I'm like how what could be as good as this and then the new thing comes in it's like oh this could be as good as that everything is okay okay so you know you know again just I I car pull with our with the our current ship operator uh weed Latz and uh and whether we're stuck in traffic or There's A Train delay or anything he says who's got it better than us he says we're gonna go in there we're gonna play with cameras you know and we're gonna listen to funny people be funny for an hour or two and I'm g go home and do it again tomorrow and uh doing it every day it's easy for that to get lost on you doing it as a filling guy it was not you know it was it was it was a little bit less you know it was a little bit more like constantly being reminded of what you know lugging camera cases up to the top Tech Yankee Stadium where I was yesterday was much better you know it's it's uh there's a couple of things here number one I think because of because of the fill in um aspect that you're talking about that probably did give you the ability to be present and grateful in these moments right now you know thata did did help with that but all of you the sentiment that I seem to it seems to be fairly Universal um is how you all have the ability there's two types of this ability number one is the the say the writer uh who has worshiped Dave um you know professionally forever and they get the job and they come in and it's the thrill of a lifetime but they have to put on this kind of cool coat where it's like it ain't no thing uh because you can't you can't be too much of a fan and work for the show at the same time even though you are inside yes so there so there's that but but for the technical people it seems to be a similar aspect but uh a slightly adjusted where it's like okay you know what um ain't no thing because here's the president of the United States or here is you know the biggest actor in the world or one of the biggest Sports athletes of the world or here's uh Jungle Jack Hannah with 15 animals uh or or or whatever you know something crazy new every day that would be exciting but we just got to do our job and we got to be it's just another day but you're another day was like all this craziness happening around you which you could give a little bit of attention to a little bit of ram could go to the awesome spectacle you were seeing yes but not very much of it because the rest of it was it's just another day absolutely and and especially for the camera guys right because listen you got to keep them in frame and in focus and yeah for the camera guys yeah and that and that tiger is only 10 feet away you know what I mean like and I'm standing behind that camera guy scared my wits because that's a tiger right and they got a chain on the tiger right and like you okay but like who's got the trank gun or whatever like what happens when the tiger is pulling that Shain because Jungle Jack Hannah was the youngest of gu is what I right I don't know who's holding that tiger still so yeah listen I was I there is a lot of that and and and and there is an aspect one the longer you're in here of I've seen it all right yeah so you know you know and I think of it like the Paul McCartney thing all the time I've several times stood within you know spinning distance of Paul McCartney you know so Justin Bieber is like uh all right you know Can Dance right but it's it's it's I gotta catch myself because I do that all the time I don't want to be the cynical old guy you know because we don't work in the cynical old guy business anymore you know so so I don't want to be you know it's fun listen it's fun on headset it's poke fun at some weird stuff that you see on stage you know what I mean it's fun to to to joke with the camera guys and it's fun to try to get Jim to laugh at something that you know what I mean you know that's the it's great to have that ability but at the same time like you know while we just we had Chapel ran on uh you know and I'm familiar with she was on uh maybe mon two ago and um so was catchy and I was and she she was dressed like pancake makeup Victorian kind of thing and it's easy to just poo poo that and write it off as some spectacle but the you know I'm humming the song all the way home you know what I mean you know I get exposed to a lot of things I'm exposed to a lot of things I never would have heard of for working on this show you know so like you know I'm a big fan of Andrew Bird from Chicago yeah he was on I was there the day he was on I'm like what's this guy doing let me go out and buy that CD was still buying CD I've got I've got a I've got a list of them um for me the top of the list is a band called The Heavy out of the play that again right play that again twice he did it twice he did it he did it when they did how How You Like Me Now and the next time they were on they did the followup uh and the song was um what makes a good man and they brought the horns in and they did an amazing it's to this day it's my favorite arrangement of that song If that song was on Apple music I would I I would listen to that version of it that you know the one at the Eds theater where they performed it and then when they finished it Dave was like oh that was great can you play How You Like Me Now and they play course you got to be ready you got to know da you know there's a b who wasn't ready I don't one The Orwells you remember the or oh and the band and that's where Paul yes like oh yeah we figure this one out already we'll do it you know you were there for that yeah uh yeah I think I was there for that yes because I you know what I was there for that because I remember the guitar player broke the strings on his guitar that's right like yeah it's funny because like you know I actually got really lucky to be there for a lot of the weird things that happened because there would be a lot of quiet times too where it was just kind of you know well I wasn't a TR you know a plot or anything it was like you know it was just a normal day but I happen to be there on Walkin Phoenix day and Y weird the weird Paris Hilton day there that I mean listen the snowboarder falling day I don't know if you ever heard about that oh yeah Bill Palumbo told me about that because he built the jump yeah so and yeah oh yeah that that was a that was crazy so I was with the camera operator Kay Parker who now currently directs the uh eternally directs local news Y and uh he was um he was the camera guy at the the ramp was a was a a giant like a Jay right the launch ramp and um we were at the curve at the bottom of the Jay there where she was you know we'd watch her come by and launch up to our left and I don't know if Bill probably maybe touched on this when I had come in by 11 o'clock that was built I might have come in a little earlier because we had to Brak some cameras and stuff outside so so he told that story off camera by the way we haven't told that story on the show anyway so so yeah no want to say it was big it was it was huge R like all all inspiring how big it was in the middle of 53rd Street and the sun was kind of beating on it you know and it was full of snow already and the this was before this while the rosand was still there so a short building it was Street got a lot more sun all day long and the sun was I guess melting a top sheet and then freezing it when the when it went down again so she when she had done a rehearsal I believe it was kind of path to mushy snow right in the snow and then by the time we did the show at a over that was a double show day and Clay is on a ladder and I'm underneath the ladder just holding the ladder uh and um you know watching out for him and I have my headset on so I can hear what's going on and and Tara is at the top of the ramp and Dave goes uh you know through the whole thing what are you gonna do BL oh don't you think you should have a helmet for this and she's like probably and then she goes down and she goes down and I hear her go and and she caught an edge yep on the side and she went sharply off the side of the ramp and the flat part of the snowboard hit the lens of Clay's handheld camera which thinking back means that it was pretty close to to clocking them right in the head yeah and and she flew over my head and landed behind me on the opposite side of 53rd Street and she landed on the snowboard and then her uh her her rear end fell down and then she landed on her back and instantly Dan Campbell was upon her uh with his EMT background uh uh making sure everything was all right making sure she was stable till the actual EMTs got there and um and it was a shock at first I don't even know what we do and Clay doesn't know if he's supposed to shoot this or not or or or what and next thing you know Dave's walking out the side door and Dave and a a group of people around him are walking out he's kind of overseeing the situation I think CU he feels some kind of responsibility for it and then uh he went back in and uh ended the show and canceled the second show Y and and something I don't know if that had ever been done before and he just I remember he pretty much said like you know I honestly don't know what to do here and I think what the right thing to do is to not continue to have a show while this person is you know potentially injured so uh she came back like a week later Bruce tailbone or whatever like super lucky super lucky um but it never really slowed down the crazy things that happened on the street after that Travis Pastrana flipping motorcycles uh whim were the other night reg just crashed the vesa Dave bottom no I did not I was not no I was not there sounds like hilarious to me though I it I think it was it was one of reg's last performance last appearances there and Dave gave him a vesa uh as a goodbye present of some sort and we just go we just could drive this and he goes out and and he starts to and he starts to roll down the street and then suddenly no and he dumps it and yeah well it's funny that was this a planned Regis appearance or a Regis saving everybody's butt again no it was a planed it was a this was a planned one it was one of his last appearances for sure somebody bails and then it's called Regis and Regis was always he's another guy that was always like just you know you could just tell he was he he got to where he was for being a pleasant not a pleasant but because he's not he's energy but like a really nice guy you know you know running in and out I remember trying to fix something in the Green Room he's like you know doing the reg voice you guys are all over the place you're in you're out you're do oh he's this is real this is real but yeah I I I I say it's like you know um they I got War you know like we get warnings not warnings but like you know Steve like Listen by the way you know you know this guest he comes on you know let's not you know you and it's not to get too specific about things but like it's like these little things that that you learn about being on a crew that allow you to like function successfully in this you know that professional invisibility that you need to learn yeah and it comes from like I said before it comes from car that's that's say about Stevie is that um uh from Steve and Dan who were you know AB absolutely my fullon mentors in this whole situation along with Tim um Steve really made it obvious that we were supposed to care about the show because these were our friends you know what I mean so like so like you know we want Tom rupe's bit to go over because Tom's funny and we like Tom you know we're friends with Tom and Tom you know treats us as a friend you know and there wasn't a above the line below the line distinction of like we don't talk to those people on the stage or whatever it's not not how it was because you know they needed us and we needed them and and and we wanted to give them what they needed so that they could keep doing what we were doing you know and and uh that was interwoven inside of in between all of the different departments you know Foley would talk about how every time something came down from upstairs that we had to do we would have to consult the five families you know so you know ceras audio lights uh props and cars right it has not been referred to that on the show yet this is the first time that that that we've heard that little uh that was fism yeah and uh that was a fism five families five he would say it a lot the first time I heard him say it was was was at uh Tom Richards uh Tom Richards the head electrician that passed away um yeah now Josh a long time ago yeah that was a real rough one for for everybody there I I hadn't been there that long and he was super kind to me when I was but um he was FY was you know just saying kind words on stage about him and talk about you know talk about having consult him as Consulting one of the five families every time we had to do something so is a uh you know it's it's it's another person I was lucky enough to be around as much as I was because um I know there's uh a special type of intelligence that that you need to have to be that guy Jerry fo you know you know in that position dealing with my families and dealing with whatever's going on upstairs and and also caring about everybody and you know and being you know being everybody's friend Isis and it's a it's a quality you need to have that you know Jim huskins has the same a lot of the same qualities you know um you know you're juggling a lot of pressure there you know and you're trying to uh spin plates and make this thing land on its feet every day and while a lot of it is rope you know you know the words you're saying and the processes you're doing there's curveballs every day especially with Dave that was his favorite thing to do was like try to love the Cur yeah love the curve ball yep he did that to me one of my um one of the one of the procedures pre-show you might remember this is um you know one of us utilities would be sitting on the on the snars of the stage waiting for Eddie BR to come out and do the warm up we hand him the microphone he would do his his deal he'd hand the microphone to Dave and then we'd go take the microp from Dave yep so I had been there for a while and Danny Campbell was like why don't you do the warm-up today and I was like oh okay okay he's like Dave knows you Dave seen you he's not going to be he's not going to be you know taken back by a new face there so I'm sitting there I'm doing it you know it's great all right all right I'm doing it all right now it's time to get the bik from DAV go up there I walk up to the stage he looks at me he holds the mic he just he drops it he lets him slide down so I go like this and it's scrambling like I know he probably thought it was hilarious you know watch me get this guy you know so I don't you know and and and it's just the way he did things like you kind of like you can't get mad at that his dat you know oh absolutely not it's it's it's it's it's Charming as I'll get out like yeah like my moment where I had my I think you've heard this I've had my Q&A I had my Q&A with Dave in that moment and um moment up in the the picture there yeah and I can't believe that that moment got captured like why mine out of all the of them that picture no no no it was um it wasn't John it was uh it was a month before the retire before the show went off the air and the New York Times was there and they happened to be they happened to be shooting behind the scenes stuff so it was one of the very few times that Pho other someone other than Pho was allowed to be there taking pictures and they wanted a picture of the warm-up that night and of course by that point it's only a month before Dave's done by that point the uh the warm-up now is going as long as Dave wants it to go as opposed to as opposed to you know right on time everything everything went the way Dave wanted wanted to go especially with war yeah and so in in our Q&A I was a bit of a brat and and and Dave started in on me a little bit in a in a in a happy way in a good way you know hey Paul check out these Canadians are supposed to be you know the audience is laughing at me and stuff and people asked me about well what was it like to have this guy that you love so much make fun of you and I said it was one of the greatest honors of my entire life it was one of the greatest moments yeah ever yeah ever to have feels when Don Rickles did it to him you know what I mean absolutely yeah it it's it's like a little playful ribbon from the boss I guess you know and then you know near the end of the show funny things would happen where like you know we'd be coming back from commercial and Stage manager wouldn't be able to find him you know Eddie would be running around like I don't know where he went and and you be standing behind bones in the in the in the in the horn section because like I we got a week left what are you gonna do fire me you know you know that's is uh that's that that's so uh that's the that's the whole situation we would be sitting right on those stairs yeah while that happened and you know it's funny too you know because our whole job is is is really the equipment you know um so you know these lenses are are you know and and these especially the lenses the c p hundreds hundreds thousands of dollars worth of equipment just in one camera configuration yep I don't know if you ever saw the lens of camera 2 but Dave would come out with that mic and first he take the mic and beat it on his on on his on his hip and then he pound the lens and it was like somebody would take a little needle and stick it in you know in my arm every time you would hit that lens you know and the other guys were okay with asses he's gonna do that like I'm I'm in a I'm conditioned to like and uh you know the tally light that was built it was had falling inside the lens you know it was it was dis Then Pete P one day uh the St head to on the stage changed the windscreen on the mic because it was so beat up yeah made him fish it out of the garbage and put it back on so guess it's like the way it is you know and and that camera like never took a hit it never it never like malfunction despite the fact that they've brutalized that thing on a daily basis that's the exact opposite way of things that the way things are supposed to be treated like that you know it's more especially in your world especially in your world in your world that stuff that's that that's your job is to make sure that stuff gets taken care of properly now to be fair it is kind of resilient for what it is I mean like if you think about how a baseball game works you know that that camera compliment that is shooting the baseball game you're watching was on the truck 10 hours ago on a freeway you know underneath on the underside of a truck so you know they're in cases and stuff when they're traveling but uh they definitely are not meant to be beat with a microphone did you shoot a lot of stuff you must have shot a lot of stuff at ruperts oh yeah that was a that was a lot of yeah yeah we'll find we find out sometime you know you know right before lunch or right after lunch I we're going to Rupert's today and uh it was a it was a easy you know that was another s correcting the or filling in the blanks from Tim's Tech on stage we had um we had three what we call hard P know pedestal cameras yeah uh that's camera one two three and that was uh Jack young Dave Dorsett and then eventually Alina when Dave retired and uh Karen gazella on three and then Karen would jump to camera uh six which was um with the jib on that one side of the stage and then on the other side of the stage Camera 7 then four and five were the handhelds that would um and that was those were the two positions that would be the rotating crew of camera guys would come come in so all those those guys I mentioned before it' be two of those guys and um they each you know every camera kind of has an assignment that you know um that it lived inside of loosely right you're you're extensively this is what you're here to do on this side of the stage but anything could happen you know Dave decides wants to talk about the poster or how hot it is or how cold it is or whatever we got to be able to run outside so a lot of times my feeling as a feeling I would be with camera five on the um on the uh stage left camera right side of the stage and um something would happen where we'd have to run all the way up around the back of the house and then out the back door and we'd be on 53rd Street y shooting the the the poster or shooting this and or um you know one time Dave was doing the toy demo remember the the the Dan FL is on camera four over by in front of the band and he's kind of getting a different angle of Dave playing with the toys and Dave decides that he's going to take this riding toy and go right out the back door with it the 53rd Street so I had to run across the stage and duck under the camera that was on the line so I didn't get on TV and they get this cable out the door and then uh and then find then to be a Dave spotter I had to find where Dave had disappeared to he was all the way down the end of the block and then he decided he was coming back and I had find camera guy and it was like you know like how do I tell somebody what I did this is what I did today you know yeah exactly Chase Chase the TV host around on a on a toy you know um you bring up a you bring up something that a neat tradition and and we can talk about other tradition too but the toys the toys was always fun um there's a one of the famous shots in all the montages that seem to be around about later uh Late Show stuff was Dave driving around in a cupcake that was from that that was from that uh that seg right every year the G would come with the new toys for Christmas and the yes her name she same was the same lady year I know I forget too I don't I remember seeing the cupcake I can't remember I don't think I was there for the for the cupcake uh but I love the traditions and I love being there for for them and I and I and it worked out favorably for me a lot that there was always a need for extra stuff during those times the meatball on top of the Christmas tree you took the words out of my mouth I was going to ask about the J Thomas night I was gonna ask if uh if that was a tradition you got to see a few times I love it we love it and my favorite thing was coming in and watching The Meatball get grosser and grosser every every couple of days that I would come back you know and it was like a meat locker in there so it took a while but but you know um yeah it was I forget what the the story about it the orig the original was that Vinnie Testa verie was supposed to show up but he didn't and then they asked Thomas to throw the football is that it was Yeah well yeah and then he would tell the Lone Ranger story and and and then they would throw footballs at the at the tree that's exactly right yeah and and so then it became the tradition of of it was almost like it was almost like oh you know we're ready for it you know in the way that you know that's another interesting thing about how the sausage is made let's say we know that's happening and we know that when that happens X Y and Z has to happen on the stage in order for us to cover it this way so by the fourth or fifth time that the same thing happens we're like oh we're doing the we're doing the the meatball in the tree move the Jay Thomas move we know where every little piece of wi who has to go under whose table and stuff like that so um so every time there was a kis in the in the rundown so know your current events yep was our every time that showed up in the in the schedule um we'd have to make a move across the stage because he would be he would go go from from stage left uh um upstage where his desk is to down stage right into the aisle um so Dave would have to walk and we'd have to get all these cabled pieces of equipment into new positions kind of at the same time without tripping the host yeah you know among other things right so um in that specific move was the few times we employed the boom mic on the stage I don't know if you ever saw that big piece of equipment it it mostly like a table for most of the time but uh it was there for like emergencies and somebody's lavalier Mike went out then Al Norwood another 46 years I think he was he was before way before he retired jump up on there and you reel out that old style boom mike and put it right above the outside frame of the shot and pick up ver we' use that for the know your current events and that would uh you know sometimes it would be my job to roll that over with Al on top of it so talk about nerve-wracking like the first time that happens it's like oh okay let's get this thing how does this thing steer again and what does this lever do and like you know and it's pretty I move the thing all day long and it's like you know the there's a little bit of like performance pressure there too which is something that that you all can't forget about when you're talking about camera guys too like you know you got to get that you got to get that shot because it's not happening again sometimes that's not falling off the roof again you know what I mean like so so this is one of those things uh people ask me about hosting this show and and and and it's it's it's an odd thing to say um you know I host the Letterman podcast and people who who aren't who don't get it necessarily they don't understand they're like okay so like how often do you do these things I'm like well at least one a week so do you have David Letterman on weekly no you don't understand you don't understand the thing about Dave is is is is he surrounded himself with people who were exemplary in every single Department that you could think of about things I don't think that there would be an where someone would have ever said to any of the crews you're talking about did we get that shot did we get that like that just no of course you got it and and and you guys did what it that conversation might happen between two people in the same in in you know on the same Endeavor Jerry in process to make sure that it was happening but but it wasn't going to be you know there wasn't ever going to be Dave at the end of the show going well how how did you miss that like of course you guys got it and and and just like the writers high high high standards everybody from the audience coordinators the interns all the way up to head riter um you know everybody was at the highest level of what they they they wanted to do if they stayed there for a long for a long period of time and that's that's why we do the show is to talk about that stuff like the Highwire Act of what you did yeah and you did it night after night after night after night the technical end is is often is is is not overlooked but it's not you know if we're doing our jobs right we're not on camera right you know course yeah so so you know we're we're we're there to give you the the the visuals and not be part of the show unless we're supposed to right um so the the the history of each of these individuals that I've been talking about is like we do an hour on each of them you know um and I plan to by the way the things that they the things that they've done just talk about the camera guys alone the things that they've done the things that you see and this goes this holds true for Co bear too uh you in a in a in a in a very varied way too you know um these guys that you're watching shoot the monologue have shot things that you can't even you're like oh my God you were there for that yeah they were there for everything you know uh you know how many Super Bowls you know John how's been to you know all those guys they've all shot every hard thing you could so to put them on so to put them on the stage and say put this guy's head in the Box yep sure of course they're but also but also this truck tires falling off a building keep it in frame it and focus be ready for anything yeah yeah because they were just following a golf ball against the background of a of a cloudy sky at you know at a gusta last week so you know that that kind of stuff kind of goes flies under the radar I think with most people's awareness about ac across the board television you know like these are not um just guys off the street you know what I mean absolutely and and I mean you know you just defined why we do what we do here because uh again you did it and then you we we could go like this and congratulate ourselves but we can't because there's another show or another shot or another segment or a double show or whatever we got to just keep going and we can't time to reflect on I got G tomorrow I gotta do you know I gotta do the Yankee game tomorrow I gotta do the Tony's tomorrow or or whatever you know jepi has been on some of the biggest shows you could think of you know like you remember when do you remember when uh Hugh Jackman uh complimented the steady cam operator the in during his opening number of the Tony I think it was yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah ji was behind that steady cam operator making sure he didn't trip over his you know while he's running backwards and stuff you know that's you know and this is It's weirdly incestuous that's that operator was Tory Livia who you know um used to work on the old coar report yeah and you know and it and and you know is is um you know closely you know connected to our current jib operator and you know these all these guys are all you know all together and the reason is because they're reliable and they do it right you know and and they get you what you want every time so to be able to to be amongst those guys and to be uh you know for them to count on me for things is is you know it's an it's kind of like an honor you know in a lot of ways because you know because that's you know I don't know if you know you hear the story of um the camera operator who got hit with the Stray ball at the Yankee game last last year or two years ago no I don't think so well you know he got you know he's uh he he was in the camera well and there was this errant throw and happened to hit him right right right in the eye that guy is Pete stendel and that guy is known by everybody who's ever held a camera in New York you say that name and then now I know Pete right well everybody knows Pete and you know Pete because Pete shows you every SL Lomo uh uh replay on the NFL game you're watching on NBC you know what I mean he's on the aame and he's on the sideline and he's the go-to camera you know and um Nobody Does it like he does you know what I mean but you I could say that for so many you know it's it's a it's a it's a trade and it's a craft and I learned so much just from being in the presence of these guys you know strange Alina once told me oh you're doing Cera on I was doing I got a book today doing operating camera at the sports studio and alino I remember Alo and my and John Curtain found out like listen and this may sound like a dumb thing to say but if the director says pan left take a second to make sure you remember which way is left and I'm like it's like I'm 35 years old of course I'm doing it and that happened I'm like in a minute it was like our first time you get those nerves you're like oh this is why they say it because you know they're who they are you know so you take that moment um you've just done a very very good job of of summing up exactly exactly why we do this show like that is that is I I appreciate Brian how much um the care that you call it a craft yes it is absolutely a craft there's no no question in my mind about it um I assume one of the major differences between uh Late Show and The Late Show with stepen Co um coming in 11: a.m.

yeah a little bit more routine with Co bear than it was with Letterman with Letterman there was probably a lot of Randomness that was that was kind of attached to it um you know colar kind of keeps things on the rails and there's lots of remotes lots of video pieces less remotes I should say lots of video piece type stuff yeah uh whereas Letterman you kind of never knew where you were going to go and what was going to happen that way that was one of the major differences I would think yeah absolutely and in fact it's um you know however you still got to be your toast because things change a lot during the day especially with the with the show like like like the way Stephen likes to do the show being so close to The Cutting Edge of the news of the day sometimes you know the the rewrite goes you know beyond and their process is um is is slightly different um in this in the specifics but you know but in the end it's it's it's it's relatively the same um I had a point I was going to make but escap me for a minute random things that with Dave like random so so um the a good example of this is um a story that Jim hoskinson tells is the the near the end run of the of the Letterman show um Jim came to watch a show he came to sit in the audience because he was gonna have a meeting with Jerry or whatever um fully after that and um and at that show somebody stood up during the during the the warm-up talking to David and says how come you never throw anything off the roof anymore and soon as that person asked that question Steve and I as we always would do when we were in this situation where we across the stage like okay let's go and look at Dan we're gone I'm downstairs to get the handheld Steve's in the other room to get the cable somebody's calling to make sure that the that that the the hatch is open and by act two we got a a camera on the roof and they've also got lights props to throw off the roof and people to do it in 25 minutes let's call it so that happened and um this is we heard this story first from Jerry Foley um was that the way Jerry told that afterwards he was talking to Jim Jim goes by the way that was that was in the script right that was that was on the run that was planned right he's like J's like no no we we we had to do it in the moment I mean that's what he's been doing to us for 23 years he was say you know so so what did you what did you throw off the building do you remember what you threw off that oh I don't I honestly don't um we got figure that out it was near the end though it was near the end yeah it was definitely near the it was I don't know it was the last week but it was really close okay okay yeah it was definitely after it was obviously after the announcement that coar will be taken over so it was very close um I don't remember the specifics but there were some really that's amazing like just that even alone and then of course you know the signature shot of the and that was the other beautiful thing you you raised two really cool points here too as well number one is you didn't really know everything looked spontaneous and you didn't know what was spontaneous and what wasn't right that was that's one of them and then the second one is is and then it brings it around to the fact that with Letterman and it happened a little bit with coar the night I went and saw him I I there was a little bit of that Spirit as well and and I assume that that that will continue to to kind of grow I mean God Dave had this this third 30-year run so yeah you know and you saw him near the tail end of it so the inside jokes the idea where Dave would actually be doing the show inside the show for the theater itself or the show inside the show for the crew and and and the stuff that was going on there were many layers to it it was what the audience saw at home but then also yeah you know and so they throw the thing off the roof and and this happened during the Q&A so of course Jerry's gonna okay let's and they show the person in the audience there you go you know yeah exactly you know because while that's happening somebody's you know got a camera on that guy and then instinctively you know even if it was not something as obvious as the throwing the thing off the roof but an off-hand remark you know this happens a lot I remember specif it happened two weeks ago um somebody said something oh people from Italy were in were in the audience and they asked a question and you know Stephen had an opportunity to mention Italy and right away uh we on the JY was on that person yep as soon as the Italy was in the air you know yes and that's kind of like what I also learned you know from Stevie specifically because I do this job that Stevie used to do before he uh passed so uh kind of tragically for everybody um he does he would do uh Cameron 9 Cameron 9 on this show is um just gets the uh the holdups at the desk so when there's a picture that Stephen says oh this this is you yeah I want the Met Gala and there's a closeup of that and you know I watch Steve do it and then when Steve would be out I'd do it um and it was a little bit nerve-wracking to do but taught me all the tricks of how to make sure you're you know you're in focus when the thing you know when the picture comes out and um so you know uh I think I forgot where I was going with this no no no no no no no it's it's it's the random shot of the not the random shot you guys had to be so the idea that like so now I've learned to to watch what's going on in Stephen's body language and you know Stephen's talking to somebody like this and he kind of goes a little bit like this and I see his arm go already going in right because I want to be I want to be because I'm maintaining a twoot in case the director needs to cut to it in an edit or something like that it's it's always there but then when that that that's another Testament Stephen puts that in the same spot every time so if T didn't put it in the same spot I'd be racking Focus trying to find the focus but I find my focus beforehand on a little tiny spot on the table that I know because I know that's where he's gonna put it Y and that's something I learned from Steve right away first thing he taught me right and that's the you know and that's the difference about some people like he never feared that I was going to take his job you know what I mean and there's a lot of places in this business where guys will be like yeah that guy you know you know gave me the cold shoulder because he you know because he does want to tell me what he knows right away it's like no we want this to go well we want you to do well you this so like that's um that's why this whole thing is successful that's why the other show was successful too yep um God we've done 90 minutes it doesn't even feel like we hard hardly started okay so so I I'm I'm grateful to hear this um okay so here's how the kind of the onew punch works or how I see it happening like for example we had Dan on and Dan and I went two hours and it was great and he's like oh I can't wait to come back because we barely scratched the surface just like so so there's always the get to know you stuff and now Dan's got five or six things that we didn't talk about that were amazing memories that we're gonna we'll we'll we'll cover those the next time he comes on so so that's going to happen with you and I like that that's going to be great having you on again but that being said uh uh you're at a party or at a at a function of some sort and it comes out um that you used to work for Letterman and then there's somebody like me at the function going oh I love Letterman hey and they walk up to you and they say okay tell me some of your top two or three moments that you just loved from that show uh what are your go-tos what are the what are the top of the list when when when when when Layman come up to you and ask oh what were some of those moments that you loved um fish on the Marquee yeah definitely it's hard to not make them all musical moments to be honest make them all musical moments I love music I love that yeah no no make it all music that personally was was a huge thing and for my my my wife who was my girlfriend at the time you know it was one of it's one of my one of the times I got to really uh um use my my my literal standing meaning that I was standing on the stage there was there was three you know I don't know if you know a fish operates but but the fans are a little bit nuts and uh you know once they found out this was happening the band tried to get ahead of it and was like listen everybody this doesn't start until 6 so don't show up until like 3 please but 8 in the morning they were there you know so streets got I'd say between 54th 5 maybe even almost 55th right 55th and then maybe 52nd Street y with a mob of people on the opposite side of Broadway it was and my my wife my girlfriend time was at um working on 57th uh like 5ifth and I said you know come on down come on down and she couldn't get and I said you can go sit in the camera area you know like where we have the lift and all that stuff you you don't have to be the crowd and the cop wouldn't let her through doing his job because she's just a person yeah so she she I'm like so I'm happen to be on the Marquee doing something and I said just point him at me Point him at me she she I could see her down in the corner of 53rd pointing up at me and I'm waving to the cop and the cop sees me and he waves me and then he lets her through I was like my magic is this magic is this you're the man BR that was it right there in that moment you were the man that was it another thing when you say you're at a function and somebody asks you these questions it's really you know it's been fun for my friends too you know what I mean like like you know it's it's it's um it's it's great to be able to kind of spread the joy and not step on anybody's toes while you do it so like you know when we do the webcast I have some friends that were huge Queens of the Stone Age fans and oh that was that was another yes that Rock and Another drummer that I got to make friends with one of my favorite drummers ever John Theodore I got to make friends with him because I put that put POV camera on him uh last year so he knows my name too it's like that's like great so my buddies are in the front my buddies are in the front row because Vinnie because I told Vinnie uh you know I asked Vinnie security guard I have two buddies coming can we get a spot for him he like yeah and he puts them right up in the front you know and same thing you know Ryan Adams is like they're right up in the front you know and you know even now you know this this production Department this entire um production and of stuff makes things so easy for us like I fill out a Google form and you know somebody that wants tickets from me everybody goes oh can I get can I is it can I they they some people gingerly approach you say said can you get tickets and I yeah what you want when do you want them let's do it right now because like it's like you know it's they make it so easy yeah um because they they like us you know what I mean and and and that's not lost on us and that's why it's like it's that it's like that reciprocation again we're like you know they clearly care about us so let's care care about them you know and that's you know I got that from Steve in day day one you know I got a CO bear question a moment from Co bear and you may not have been part of this at all but my I have one very my very favorite moment my very top moment other than when Dave came back to the Ed San theater that's my coar moment now but up until that point I have one moment that is my very favorite uh Late Show with Stephen Kar moment and it was when Spike Jones was on and uh Spike Jones shot they shot an alternate opening to the show that night um and I don't know SP Jones or the Daniels it was it was Spike Jones they brought they brought Gro Grover was in it oh yes yes yes yes yes and and and and and they had John create this really somber melon collie version of the theme it was it's it was like I it was jaw-dropping to me and I much I bet you I've watched it 50 times i' that stuff happens all the time on this show like I I GNA tell you on this current show the stuff that we shoot is so um it's like hilarious premises but also the the the the work that goes into the Productions the things I don't you seen have you seen the shower witch oh yeah yeah oh yeah you know what what a what a huge lift for the art Department to build that upside down room and then with the spinning camera and it was like and then we just did um spend 24 hours in a well for mother's day did you see that one no I didn't you know what I've got I've got the last couple weeks on the PVR I've only watched them finally so okay I'll watch that one the mother the premise is that you're you know all mom wants for Mother's Day to spent 24 hours at the bottom of the well where nobody will bother her and and uh and the art Department uh made this well like it was like a half you know thing that we could shoot into and they had been working on it for like a week it was backstage and would just take up it would have things would be added on to it every day had moss and had had this weird glaze on it made it look wet you know I like these these people are geniuses and things that they can do and the work that they're willing to put in you know for for and and this is a a phrase that comes up a lot on this show because it's comes from Stephen when he really likes something he says that's dumb that's really dumb that's what he says when he really likes something so um We Come Away with a lot of things this is really dumb but it's GNA be a hit because that's why you know so that that's um that's another like the list of favorite things I think is a reminding me now the um Bob BB berson remember those remember those oh Tim tomerson are you kidding me I I I'm still trying to get Tom had some he had he had a reason that he couldn't come on the show last I'm trying to get him on I'm trying to get Alman to thank you yes I love Tim tomerson because because we come back from lunch ready to like kind of shoot this tailes from the old west yep and it's yeah tailes from the old west and the backdrop it's like stunning it like what is this beautiful and like just they made this thing it's like it looks like they're on a campfire from The Three Amigos and and then I know it's just it's just a vehicle for like Johnny dark to turn to the camera and say something ridiculous right and and we like how much did this cost does it matter right that's what the money is for you know what I mean like to do stupid stuff you know and and and sometimes it's hard to to get a handle on like Jesus this is real this is work you know this is the work there people's sweat went into this absolutely okay so now we gota okay so we we we had some tender moments about Steve coffin I'm glad about that about uh about Foley I'm glad about that that's great um any any uh anything to say about Alan calter oh God yeah um you shoot a lot of stuff with him or is it just seeing him shooting the backstage yeah I often was on the side his funny thing about Alan Cur is I was Al often just feet away from him yep when he would do those creepy camera turns you know you know he look down at the low camera right so that's another thing you know we'd find out we we get this this ties into the kind of process of things too is that like at some point we' we'd see that okay there's an Alan culter turn tonight in the in the monel in the act two or whatever so we got to get this camera configuration set up it's got to be on a little high hat and it's got to be on the stage and we have to have an extra camera there I can't remember it was an extra or if it was just camter five but we'd have to move the boom out of the way and this monitor would have to be here and this would have to be there and it was this was just the Allan calter on camera configuration right yeah but Alan calter was and along with guys like bones yeah um they were like there's like this weird thing that happens in showus you've probably seen it you you probably noticed it like let's say Stephen or Dave well mostly Stephen too like we'll introduce somebody and they'll come out and they'll shake hands and it's good to see you it's good to see you well you we just saw them 10 minutes right you know so so to there's a lot of um on stage performance that goes on on F and a lot of that is not really performance it's just performance between me and you like we had thing right so Alan cter before he knew my name I would always wear a yane hat he would call me Yankee all the time right so every day he' come out and I was there he'd have to shake my hand say hey what's up Yankee it's just a thing right you know and and um that is an endearing thing whenever you're doing the warm up and um and Eddie BR is calling the band out Name by name and Bones runs out and looks you right in the high points right at you in front of everybody it makes you feel like you know absolutely that's my buddy bones you know you guysbody see that it's my friend you know what I mean so so like that's um that's kind of guy Alan culture was uh also like viciously hilarious yeah oh yeah his warmup at the end would because after Allan cter ended up doing the warm-up yeah yeah and it was fantastic yeah he he he it was really his moment to shine I think uh because uh that's his element you know and he they talking to people is you know and he would be the guy that was kind of hanging out talking to people afterwards you know to he was a totally approachable totally accessible and really genuine nice guy and really there's something to be said for somebody who's willing to put themselves out like that and make your persona your whole public Persona the creepy guy yeah absolutely or the guy that loses he yeah walking off through the blue doors my favorite part about all that was not was was yeah was the one punch you know you old whatever he calls you know Dave a really great name that the writers came up with and then my favorite thing is that he's still on Mike as he's walking he's off camera is through the door but you still hear him cursing Dave you know that's another thing too is that like you know that's another parallel too it's like it's fun it's always it's always a winner to make fun of the host yeah oh yeah to the host's face you know Sue home turns to to David says I'm gonna cut you you know it's just the same way that when The Writers come out and do this B at the desk with Stephen they call him Steve because nobody calls him Steve you know but the joke is that you know he's our boss and and we're supposed to know that his name is Stephen but we just call him Steve you know that's amazing you know so I have that you have that show business or I shouldn't say show business but in the on a cruise you have that with everybody Eddie Vault has a thing with everybody you know yeah like you know and that's another thing that makes these people great personalities to be around is that you know want to see Eddie which is rare these days unfortunately but I did see Eddie and it's like it's like oh yes all the old jokes all the old things all the old bits you know what I mean you know even and it persists to this day you know in the in the when Stephen runs out and to um to meet the crowd for the warm-up um that's when JPI and Joe deonis come down from the back of the house with their state with their steady Cam and I have to take my flashlight and I have to flash my flashlight twice on top of the SE that they rest the steady cam on or in my mind the building's gonna fall down you know what I mean we're gonna have a bad show yeah yeah it's it's it's like don't don't step on the on the first Baseline you jump over the first you've got that you got that stuff going on too yeah you know don't don't shoot clown that's what they used to say in sports I don't know if anybody actually did that but the idea is like if he's a clown in the audience and you get him on camera that means there's going to be Extra Innings or overtime you're going to Beck you know or or you know I I take as a joke once to jepe while and Joe while they were walking backstage to start to the shot uh the opening shot I said uh from The Wire the the the uh the the chief used to send them out every day and say don't get captured and that's what so I said that to just sty once and he thought it was funny and now I got to say it every day so you know and I'm not a superstitious person you know what I mean and any other aspect of my life like I don't have lucky socks or anything like that but like if I don't put that flashlight on the thing and when there's a fill in guy there a guy that's filling in for Jee and I do I have to explain to him oh yeah sorry dude I got to do that oh that's fantastic I love that it continues on if jeppy's not there that's that's that's great for me God damn Bri this has been so much fun and I I I hate the fact that it's GNA yeah no this is this is Absol Ely awesome this is your first appearance it's not going to be your last uh what what um is there anything else that you wanted to to make sure we got out there today um on this your first appear before we close her up I'm sure as soon as I hang up this thing a thousand things are gonna come write please do me a favor write them down I said the same thing to flarity and he did and I'm very grateful that he did so anything this week that pops up um you know what we I I I uh I do the close off and I say I I say please wait um you know because I'm going to do the intro or the outro and then we'll say I privately but as part of that though I talk about our one and only sponsor our one and only sponsor of the Letterman podcast is hellodd deli.com rert doesn't own the deli anymore but Dave gave rert the the the license to sell Late Show with David Letterman merchandise after he retired which is the most amazing thing again it's just a testament to the to the quirkiness and generosity um it's such a cool thing and yeah and and hello hellodd deli.com rert G still you know trekking on anybody wants to Late Show with David Letterman mugs or shirts or hats or anything go to hellodd deli.com Let's uh I know he he gets a kick out of whenever anybody on the show that he loves uh and knows um that was a part of the show says something to him what do you think about rert and uh and any messages for him there Bri go on forever just like just like just like Biff one uh you know I spend a lot of time with rert on bits not uh not thankfully not on the one where he got threatened with a knife I was not there for that one but um I was there for one of my first big ones was rert water ski and the Hudson River I no kidding awesome I tell you right then and there I was like this guy is something else what a champ like holy cow that's the Hudson River and it was choppy that day and he had never water skied in his life you know and it's like okay I'll do it you know and and he's out there trying his darnest to water ski you know and listen the guy said everything Dave told him to say which is dangerous thing to do in public sometimes you know so yeah I I think Rupert um for his uh you know just I just grateful that he was there and that may was there you know you know also and that we got to experience that relationship and like good for him that you know that he could you know the show could boost him you know a guy owns a little Deli and on 50 thirst strey that ain't easy you know and uh and to be open to this while also being clearly a not a greatly outspoken person he's not you know he's he's a kind of a reserved guy just takes a lot of Courage man you know and and uh and I sure don't think he was in it for like the money or anything you know what I mean like you just love to and you know I like going there and like I said my kids the kids love ruber you know when they found out the H Deli was closing it was uh they were they were like kind of they were upset you know and it's like and it it just shows you how um much of a stamp on on on your person uh that corner of New York City can just leave on you you know what I mean it's um it's it's it's it's it's just astounding you know it's just I I like I said it's it's I have to constantly remind myself to not get used to so and rert and may were a huge part of that you know no doubt you know there's a new Hello Del there yep uh you know you give them the benefit of Doubt but they got they got a they got a little bit to live up to yeah you know and also I think it was good also to in a weird way that the new show didn't try to pick that up where it left off because nobody can't match that relationship and Stephen's a different kind of guy and the other thing is too is that like you know our show is on a script and Dave Dave if you gave Dave a script he would probably laugh at you you know what I mean so you know so the rert um worked perfectly with that old show and then just worked perfectly as our friend after that so yeah very very very well said um Brian I can't thank you enough for taking time out of your day to come on the Letterman podcast today uh yeah just sit say hang tight and I uh I'll say goodbye privately but uh thank you so so so much for taking time to come on the letter you you appreciate the opportunity thank you oh man um I say it every time this is why we do the show this is why we do the show it's it's it's so cool to take some of these stories that that that some of them have may have been uh heard um a little bit in part or whatever and many of them never never told and it's it's really cool to organize this and to help uh start anecdotally archiving yeah I I hope you get more uh more stories from more people because uh there's a treasure Trove there that is untouched right now I mean this is just my experience and I'm just one guy so totally agree thank you very much for that and uh again and Dan Dan has sent people to me and and whatnot anybody who needs to come on this show let's get them on the show let get these let's get these stories archived um it's just a such a pleasure to do this I love it so much this has been another episode of the Letterman podcast with Mike Chism coincidentally I am Mike Chism thank you and good night going a drive going a drive overcoat and Underpants