Rupert Jee and Irene Hoffman

ready you're watching The Lettermen podcast with Mike chisen endorsed by the hello Deli yeah welcome once again to the Letterman podcast this is a special episode because it has two intros it does I'm shooting this really quick one uh hopefully it'll be really quick um people who have watched the show every like yeah right Mike um but I am I'm shooting this intro here uh the intro to the intro of the Rupert G Irene Hoffman episode um very very excited uh I basically just started um a call with them and had the record button going not knowing what was going to happen what ended up happening uh was a very very nice episode of the Letterman podcast where it's three friends just talking but um we're talking with the purpose and we're and you know I asked a lot of questions to Rupert Rupert went into a whole bunch of cool insights and stories um and then it's cool hearing Irene's perspective on them as well and she talked about some of the uh times that she had visited the show as well and and had responded back to the David K episode because um lot of pieces of the puzzle were were certainly revealed when we had David on the show so it was a very cool thing I love it before we get to the show the reason that I'm shooting the second intro um is because we want to uh thank very very much the uh the gal who was on our Christmas episode Maryland Sergeant sent us one of the hymnals uh that was read out that night that Dave had at the desk um very cool thank you so much for this but this gift kept on giving because um she included with this um there's snow from the final Christmas episode of The Late Show with David Letterman afterwards after she had her poem read and all of that had a great night she waited around afterwards and she collected some of the snow she sent that to me with the uh with the joke actual asbestos from the final Christmas show uh really delighted about that and we're gonna also shout out Glenn borders who was in charge of the fake snow and had to make that happen in that theater that night and it was a Whimsical magical experience so I want to say thank you to Maryland Sergeant really appreciate you your support of the show uh this has just been so much fun we're having a blast a blast I tell you doing this show here I'm gonna finish this intro because you're about to go into another intro uh but it's real time though because very little was actually trimmed out of this episode um just a couple little continuity things were just um uh you know for so we to simplify things but other than that Rupert goes deep in talking about some of the behind the scenes of the fun with Rupert segments um specifically we talk about uh the restaurant scene um there's some insights there that are very cool and I will tell you this he tells a story that I do not believe has ever been told uh about one of their trips to California with the fun with Rupert segment it is holy cow you talk about some Monday morning quarterbacking Monday morning quarterbacking what that could have been like I'm gonna let this intro go and without further Ado uh the Letterman podcast is proud to present my conversation with my friends Rupert G and Irene Hoffman enjoy all right welcome to the Letterman podcast my name is Mike Chisholm I am starting an episode maybe this might be an episode it might not be uh my friends are about to jump on the call here with us it is uh my friends and your friends Rupert G and Irene Hoffman are about to join uh Rupert is taking a well-deserved vacation from his time in New York uh running the day-to-day operations of the hello Deli and he is down hanging out with Irene and they are about to jump on the call here I'm very excited about that and we will uh um he's got a story that he's going to tell hopefully uh this is all real time see we don't prep things here and that's very oops that's very obvious I think um if you have uh if you're a regular viewer of the Letterman podcast you see that we sometimes fly by the seat of our pets and that is what we are doing right now um but there's a story that I'm hoping that Rupert will tell we have gotten the clearances from the powers on high that it's okay that he tells this story um one thing I love about Rupert is how protective he's there's two things about Rupert he's fiercely grateful uh for Dave and Company um you know I mean obviously he became friends and family family to this crew and these uh people who worked for for Dave for so long but also Dave himself um he he will you know Rupert has said to me he'll never be able to repay the kindness um and the gratitude that he feels for Dave um and the second thing is how fiercely protective um not just Rupert but everybody is of of of Dave I love that I think that's probably come out so far as the uh Letterman podcast has um that uh has exhibited so far most people that we've had on very protective and respectful of Dave of the institution all of that stuff um and so Rupert told me a story privately and I was just like like gobsmacked for those who are listening to the audio I just kind of sat there with my mouth open a gape um and and uh does my mouth open a gape or is it just a gape I think it's probably just a gape as opposed to a grape which is something else entirely um anyway he tells me this story and I'm just like holy crap uh that's amazing and um he was like yeah I'm like we need to tell this on the podcast and he goes well I don't know if I'd ever want to tell that story uh without the permission of uh oh and look who's here let us admit into the Letterman podcast where are let's see let's see here we are Mike yeah okay but I need to know he says are you doing yeah fine good excellent I mean I need to know what are you seeing in the back because I'm trying to conceal every mess that I've got I see nothing but that's uh what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna see if I can well wait the background is wait the background is nice I I'm certain it is I'm certain it is I asked you I just asked you to start video so you need to start video okay there we go oh hey guys holy crap you got purple hair you got to make me which I shouldn't have it's brunette there's no there's zero color in my why am I purple haired I'm brunette uh no maybe a filter you gotta oh my God you've got a filter on making it look like you have purple hair how do I take the filter off I don't know but I don't think we should do it I think we should just go with it all right well you tell everybody my hair is not purple really hey everybody Irene's hair is not purple oh God don't tell me we're on I can edit whatever I can I'm I'm starting again that's the beauty of editing yeah yeah and actually I've seen some of your editing and it's really good I mean it's coming no I love the way you I just love it it's a it's a great little all right okay now what do you think of the set I love it I love it I've been seeing I've been seeing it frequently when you're on Jay's show and they flash to you or you split screen I soak it up every single time this one well you had to set on for a couple of interviews already right yeah yeah we're still we're still updating so so back here there's gonna be a Skyline probably like stainless steel with uh with LED lights in it so there'll be a building Skyline and then I'm going to actually put a window case in front of it so on this so on this wall there will be the window case and if we wanna well wait wait wait wait or whatever we can wait we've got to help the youngster out when you say window pane as in the set of The Late Show because I guarantee you he's not going to connect the two okay I'm gonna put the window pane up he's gonna go wow oh cool a window pane does won't connect the two no no but that's okay yeah that's okay if it's if it's an inside it's inside and the people who will know will know well I will say this getting him to do this has been uh I don't want to use the tried expression because I'm trying to I'm trying to get you and me because I've got to apologize for grammatical errors oh plenty oh my God mistakes oh plenty but um I don't want to use the tried expression about pulling teeth because everybody knows that one um just give me an image of tug of war or that kind of thing and and it takes it takes at least from 30 to 45 minutes before I can finally get him to go okay but he said not talking about me yes he said not in a million years would I be able to do a podcast I don't have that much in me to say I cannot talk for that duration and I'm going you got to be kidding me but anyway that you name the excuse here we go up here and then wait a minute wait a minute we've got this this over here too so okay but I I gotta say this though I mean that's the appeal like his his your rubber your segment that I watched film on the outside like a puppy dog looking in the window you know that segment was so good it came off so good but part of that has to be the fact that there's somewhere inside of you that thinks it's not turning out well that's got to be part of the secret sauce to why yeah it's so popular and that's okay hold on before we get to that Irene how happy is your dog right now he's extremely happy but we took his daddy daddy he's he was on Daddy's lap just before you started I know I saw I've watched it I've watched it okay oh you got to see it okay but the noise from you is like I don't know what they're doing so I get that a lot small animals will uh shriek and run away from the sound of my voice I get that a lot he would he went into his crate just now for safety he'll come back out say say come on come on the abrasion of chisholm's voice sends small cute animals flying through the air no it's it's anything out of the norm mother me is so rudimentary schedule you know everything's just his element and then if anything's out of his element other than Daddy it's like you know but I did I don't know if we're recording but and you can edit I am but I can edit don't don't worry about it but I thought because I've been itching to tell it was at least the t's up to the point where I didn't have to go to the stage door anymore yeah just to watch Zsa Gabor Paul Newman uh Glenn Close um Barry White you name them and we've got photographs we've got photographs of them coming out but that was my whole Late Show experience for two years I I I um before okay I want to get to like we'll get to that in one second but we're gonna put a pin in something here remind me to tell you the story uh that Robert Morton and I have been going back and forth about Zaza Gabor remind me to tell you that okay so Morty and I've been going back and forth quite quite a bit a couple of times outside that stage door so she wasn't an infrequent guest if for me for two years but we were going up you know four or five maybe six times a year but for me for us for me to haul my family at five o'clock to those um saw horses and for me to have seen her twice in those in that span she was not an infrequent guest like Tony Randall was not infrequently I love him yeah I love him too uh I I want to do some sort of a tribute to him on here because I mean he was on The Late Show so many times did you ever see him Irene oh no no I never saw him but um I was gonna say you you probably saw him quite a bit Rupert now I what he was doing by the time I was in the theater he was doing bits with um Helen Hunt she was she was planted a few rows back from us because we were in the front um he was doing bits with Tom Selleck never saw a more stunning man in my life or a more stunning mustache that mustache you could uh you could print film on that mustache that thing is and we're talking 1990 because I started getting to go with my 16 tickets I started getting to go in 1995.

93 94 we were just Stage Door people or just hanging around and that's when Dave was running out to do a remote you know he was supposed to run out of the theater and he bumped right into my husband and he said oh excuse me how you doing uh hey how you doing and my my husband is I took him to Hollywood uh two times three times my husband didn't care cared this much about celebrities yeah but he was cool with Dave he goes fine Dave how are you doing and then Dave ran back into the theater um okay I think it would be a great tease to go to start with my dream never thinking ever being realized and then two years worth of come on it's five o'clock we got to get you know it's almost five we gotta get to the theater what are we doing again just come with me come on and it was freezing cold most of the time we were frozen now I think Walter's request should be granted first and then you should take the purple off my air okay the purple's on your head that's a filter on your end I I can't I can't do anything about it but I think it looks adorable anyway okay yeah Rupert are you willing to tell the story about in L.A yeah yeah it's a it's a quick story and so it's okay so your guys uh how many times did you travel to do the gig where you had the glasses in the Hat and the disguise and you were being yeah how many times did you travel to do it um I think three or four times uh we did one and we did one in LA La yeah one in San Francisco and then one in Miami and Puerto Rico no no no they've never shot in Puerto Rico um okay so when you went to San Francisco did you meet Manny the hippie ah yeah oh I heard about him I I did not get to meet him but they had me on standby for a couple of days because finally you know they found a sensation yeah and so they were busy shooting with him so I had to hang around for an addition of two days before they we started doing you know the funnel Rupert thing that was that was the high wire act with those remotes because those remotes they didn't necessarily know what they were gonna find but then every once in a while they would fall into like yeah Manny the hippie and it's like oh this guy we got something here and then they started spanning it and doing things with it absolutely and I and I already knew that this kid was going to be an instant Star right after that oh yeah swag um yeah that so okay so you did it in San Francisco too um but the LA one um which is which is crazy that was that was the Michael Jordan that was where the Michael Jordan thing happened right and it was the that's a crazy story too like that is that's right I told Walter that story already oh yeah oh I know but that's the same trip we're talking about here though with this other story right you know I'm not sure I don't know if I shot in Los Angeles twice it might have been just one time if it was only one time then it was with with the my yeah Michael Jordan too that was great and the way Walter edited that uh where they told the story the backstory about that guy and then they said what he did and then clip not available it wasn't the FBI the feds who killed him or was it his own people it was a shootout against that with his own people yeah well that's his people for those who don't know what we're talking about go uh obviously not until you're we're done this whatever it is that we're doing here uh go to watch on the official channel uh Rupert's fun uh favorite moments segment and there's a very cool little sub story that happened one of the times where Rupert was in LA um that you know again you can't write this stuff it's just one of those things um but I remember I remember being you know back in the in the in the 90s watching and when you looked over and said big big fat white guy hey it's wearing a Michael Jordan Chicago culture Michael Jordan yeah yeah and I was told the guy usually carries a gun in that in his backpack and well you could see that so thank God he even used me as target practice Yeah you can see the strap you can see the strap and a little bit of the pouch and then it said reportedly uh he carries a gun in that pouch yeah it's crazy he seems so harmless yeah he seemed harmless he was the killer well that was the thing about you and that get up though you you seemed harmless like you didn't seem like you know and I understand that you know there were some uh there were some hijinks that happened and okay uh but but you did seem harmless when you were in that get up you know you seemed almost simple like you're just a simple man like yeah uh you know and I think I look like a wacko yeah but but a harmless wacko though yeah yeah like intimidating wacko yes but he kept speaking in Spanish and I don't I know it's probably something very simple and maybe they translated it but I didn't understand what he was saying to Rupert oh he's a system like don't bother me I know but L El idioto something like that the word they added because like you have you have closed captioning and other and Dave's Channel I believe has closed captioning and I don't want I think you can turn it on with YouTube I think well I don't watch anything without closed captioning because I can't miss a syllable you know if I do if I do I rewind it and and see it again and he kept telling Rupert several times I heard it twice two two three times where he said something to Rupert about like you know get I don't it didn't sound like get away from me it sounded like you know I don't know what it I don't know what it meant anyway that dog is so happy Rupert's in town I can't even yeah he's not my dog anymore he'll he'll listen to me call him but then he kind of looks over at Rupert and says should I pay attention to her or not so the alpha is here um so okay down in La uh Rupert told me a story at dinner uh when we when we were in New York when my wife and I were in New York uh Rupert told me a story at dinner that just gobsmacked me and I to my knowledge it hasn't ever been uh Unearthed um and we actually made sure with uh with the pants crew that it was okay that this came out and it's fine in fact one of them said hey I can't wait to hear this story come out you down in La you're in the van doing your thing um I don't know if you're in the same band with Dave or not this is the stuff I want to ask you run into or you see Jay Leno's crew I out there while you're doing your thing in the disguise finding locations is that do I have it right yeah we were shooting the funnel Rupert thing and um yeah JK was in a separate van and it was about it it was night time so that I mean we shoot long hours on that skit yeah and so you know we were driving around looking for the next uh victim and and um suddenly um the the van in the front with Dave they pull over so we all stop and I was just wondering why are we stopping here in the middle of nowhere and apparently there was some discussion going on between between the crew in in Dave's van and I later found out that well I heard from from them talking yeah they were going to let me out to bother this person who's across the street well I looked across and lo and behold it was Jay Leno who was interviewing someone else he was doing probably jaywalking right uh I is that what he does yeah one of the bits that he uh generously liberated from uh Dave was a man on the street stuff and he renamed it jaywalking at least that's my that's my kind of interpretation he was right you know at the crosswalk there and yeah the microphone and he was talking with someone so they were debating should we just send Rupert out and you know interact and you know after you know five minutes of discussions uh they decided to just move on for whatever reason but I I you know I I think of that till this day and I wondered you know I think it would have been great if they tried it I mean you know they can always edit it out anyway sure but it's a question that will never be answered because I would I would have loved to have fast talking Dave interact with them you know and um and you know how they friendly unfriendly terms how they cross blend once in a while uh late show hosts with late show hosts sure that would have been like again another first for Dave because Dave was the Trailblazer I I love what you said about he kind of borrowed lifted you know man on the street because Dave is the one who started every Trend any Trend and every Trend but wouldn't that have been something had he oh my word yeah and it would have been Dave well and and um I mean okay so first off Dave would say that he he you know took the man on the street stuff from Steve Allen that's the first thing Dave would say but I believe you're right I believe he reinvented it and reimagined it in ways that we would you know uh that have changed comedy forever but the friendliness between late night hosts now is in direct response to the lack of friendliness between Dave and Jay and the idea of Rupert getting out of that van and going over and having David Letterman in his earpiece being able to fix the letter it would have been amazing do you think that do you think that Jay Leno because you know full well that they probably both kept tabs on each other you know they're people their people do you think Jay Leno would have recognized Rupert for who he was instantly I do and I think that I would bet money that uh part of the consideration would be that Jay will audit will know exactly what's going on right away because um you know they they legendarily they would they would they would watch the the lore is or the legend is but it's it's in Bill Carter's book so they talk about this uh would be that Leto would be watching yes and Counting how many jokes would Dave would be doing in the monologue and they would be they would really be meticulous about seeing what the other show was doing um and so I believe you know my theory behind this would be that they didn't do it because it would have been instantly recognized but I don't know I don't know if that's you know that's possible yeah Rupert when you were in your van do you remember who would have been in the van with you I I would be with the sound crew yeah yeah the the people who might me up and get me ready for for the shoot the sound and video crew sometimes you had Walter in the van with you though right he was most of the times Walter would be in the other van I think okay but he would have to go and have to get releases from people after the fact right right it was either Walter or Nancy or whoever was with us at the shooting at that time yeah um but in days man it would usually be the camera crew yep because the camera is in that van and the camera had to be on day before Steve and if Robinette was around right but you know when those bits are shown there's a lot of Dave on a walkie-talkie yeah there's Clips so you've got to have cameramen both ways on both sides yeah and then the editors do their magic and that's that's I mean as far as I'm concerned um you know the unsung heroes of of what the Lettermen magic were the editors because I mean I think I think he pioneered those those quick edits where it would just go you know you'd be saying something and instantly it would be going to the next thing or or that perfect shot of Dave on the walkie-talkie talking to Rupert they did such a good job editing those segments um that's a okay so there's a good question the famous one is the restaurant scene uh which I mean those women at that table were so bothered I can't even imagine whoever it was Walter whoever it was having to go over and get the release afterwards what that would have been like with those two who also was the one was the wheelchair on that one if I ever get him on here I gotta ask him about that like Holy says no they said no for hours it took a while to convince them to sign the reason it did okay see there you go there's the question oh no they was so pissed we're talking they did not they did not want to sign they just want to kill me we're talking hours and then and listen Mike they were invited back like a year later for some kind of fun with Rupert Reunion Show no no no they came and said no they came to the deli when they were going to show that segment that's really cool yeah but um they they still were not very happy I know the way coming you're happy no no and the way I heard it is that they were audience members it wasn't right it wasn't shot at you it wasn't shown a year later it was shown uh maybe a month later yeah so they invited they invited the girls over oh look all right I gotcha that that's very very funny to me that's a really neat little PS to that story I can I okay I can kind of see why they might not have been enthused because um you know there's footage of them showing them not necessarily in the best light no but yeah that being said who could blame them I mean the guy's putting the thumb in the water and like I mean but at the end of the day that's probably what their hesitation was yeah but I couldn't blame them I think they were spunky girls and they wouldn't want they didn't want to take from me and that's fine you know it's it's a natural reaction that they would do that they did it a little more harshly than maybe most and I'll be honest with you had I been at that table first of all I wouldn't have been as glamorous as those girls because I thought at the time they were really you know really hip pretty girls sure oh yeah absolutely but had I had that encounter and any of my family members were sitting at the table as that was happening we would be under the table with laughter Oh we would be laughing at our waiter yes yes but I think that that you're probably right I agree you know here's a couple of uh hip looking gals whether they're New Yorkers or not but they're out for a for a lunch on a patio like that kind of they're dressed up for it that that that kind of a thing uh which is the perfect as Rupert says victim you know we were very fortunate that that you know they were willing to interact with us because I I must have lost at least two or three sets of customers during the shoot I mean they would I would just piss them off and they'd just walk away this is a revelation to me so you know we lost a lot of customers did you hear that easy I did not realize that see okay I was gonna ask that that's that's another question the release question then you had said earlier uh how long some of these things take to shoot I was gonna ask at the restaurant there like would you have been there like for like four or five hours kind of a thing to get to get that couple of hours yeah and it wasn't just the girls that I bothered I mean I I was interacting with a number of you know victims and most of them just walked out I mean there was one where I think there was a party of four or five and they didn't tolerate me for more than a couple of seconds and they just walked out now they edit they edit one of the greatest segments of these two girls and I don't know exactly why but probably for sake of you know compression and getting a series called a compilation sure but at one point in the early days when they were showing this Dave said I mean and of course it's all Dave everything's Dave Dave's wit everything yeah Rupert sits down with these girls and says girls do you mind if I sit down a minute I have a lot of problems now do you understand what I was trying to say is if I were with my friends or my family we would be laughing at ridiculing the guy who's standing right there we'd be oh yeah ridiculing by our laughter like we would be looking and eyeballing each other giving the side eye like yeah what's up with this guy are you believing what you're hearing are you believing what you're seeing and of course we'd be ridiculing in m and he'd be standing right there but we would be breathless from laughter thinking what and what a weirdo is serving us at our table um I I I'm the same way like yeah like like and I would I'm the type of guy that would look at someone like that and actually start like going hey let's go like like what's going on like trying to pick the brain of that person um and I'm did you ever have that did you ever have somebody like like look at you quizzically and then start to start to ask questions back like study it like are you okay no no I think a lot of them were intimidated they just thought I was just a nut case you know but look how many places he actually went and yeah we just have Snips they edit it down to the the very best but how many places he infiltrated yeah and the reaction with that camera in his hat the reaction of oh oh my you know that was actually you talk about the edits like I think about McDonald's oh by the way my buddy and I when when the McDonald's one originally aired I believe it was the next day or two days later we went to McDonald's and we asked for a pounder uh we did like like this is you know me Mike in the 90s early 20s um and you know we were kind of hooligans too and so we we did that like the next day or two days later we went to McDonald's and said hey can I can I have a pounder and so what did they do they did they throw up well okay and this is to go to the other point that I was about to say with that what Irene just said when the clever editing when they would show uh Rupert would be doing his thing and then it would just show a really quick shot from the Hat's point of view of the clerk just looking at him going yeah like that that's the look I got like like you know we we went there and I said hey I'd like a couple of Pounders please and they but he went into a couple of elegant uh places and I just know I mean going to the flagship Ralph Lauren store as a shopper and you're at your best your hair is at your best your outfits at its best they would have escorted him out in moments in moments okay let's go back to the restaurant though how stoked was the staff that Rupert was here like the the other waiters and Busboys and stuff like that they all must have been like oh my God Rupert's here shooting a letterman bed no you know you know that was such a new skit I mean I don't think the sex scat the staff really knew who I was but they didn't mind you were there they had an arrangement well I had to go into the kitchen to get rubber gloves and everything see I always Marvel I always Marvel at that where he somehow has to let and the staff also has to say yes okay you can you just get near yeah you could kill my business my business could fold tomorrow because of it but yes okay you can film us get in here and I always Marvel that so many people said okay or didn't immediately eject him of course that's the power of Dave though like I mean you know you get one person who knows who David Letterman is chances are they're a convert like that's the thing about Dave's enthusiasts is that they're very similar to Howard Stern when you become a fan when you're uh when you're an Enthusiast or a fan of David Letterman many times it's like oh like it's it's an enthusiastic um enthusiasm for him yeah but you see I would do that in a second if he came into my financial my financial office yeah if if a producer of of Letterman's came into my financial office and said hey we want to screw around with a bunch of people here can we can we come in here I'd be like yep absolutely and I wouldn't even think about what it would do to my business I'd be just so excited about it okay yes but again he's talking about a new guy in town although it maybe David been there a year or so yeah he was an institution in New York still because the lady yes that's true and they still yeah absolutely but how on that note how hysterical it is since Dave and Regis are were fast friends from long ago yep how hysterical it is and I've been I've been I think I walked into the ABC uh uh Studios one time and did a quick turnaround you know just to go in and go out but how hysterical it is to have a goofball come in and they don't immediately eject him but there is an understanding with the man upstairs that you are going to be allowed to come up but all the stuff doesn't know or the lady who gets the bouquet of flowers take those flowers take a flower over to her and Rupert just grabbed the whole bouquet and gave it to her all these people not knowing they're not in on the joke nodding on the joke and you've got um you know security who is Vigilant and has to be careful about a quick ejection versus uh this poor guy he wandered in he's goofy okay he's gonna swim on that counter watch me and Dave goes can you get up on the counter but oh that's the broadcast the hysteria of our being in on the joke and all these people being a little bit like what do we do and then and then the Call Comes told you I was gonna see Regis suckers well okay so what you're talking about too is is is really really cool because there's so many layers that's the thing that's so genius um like we just had Gabe Abelson on and he he dissected a uh that's not even out yet but it'll be out uh as of like tomorrow um and he dissected a monologue joke uh that was that had Dave doubled over in laughter and and it was so funny that they actually had the writer dissect the entire joke and it shows how many layers there were in this one funny it was a Jerry Springer line and it was one line but then the layers of why that line was funny uh we talked about it your sketch um that that you would do your ongoing sketch that you would do for Dave had layers to it and and I think we've talked about a couple of them here like like one of them was exactly what you're talking about the boss of an establishment maybe being in on something that was going on but the staff members not right then there's the customer so there's then all that aspect that aspect of it then there's one other aspect of it I believe that part of the humor of what you guys did was Dave getting a kick out of making Rupert go and solve a problem of some sort like go get rubber gloves or go you know go go swim like he had a task for you that you kind of had to figure your way to getting done and that's a layer of humor too because he's also you know seeing what you can do and you have the jobs for it you did it for decades did you hear me it only worked because I mean Dave is just so fast yeah he's just he's a genius he's so spontaneous but did you hear Dave go like this to Rupert Rupert and and Rupert and typical style goes mm-hmm you think you can go in the kitchen and find some gloves that's exactly what I'm talking about that's exactly it right there the little conversations that they would have where he would go and make group problem solve and it was you're right Rupert it's his razor sharp wit thinking on many levels you know interacting with the people but also interacting with the environment also having a little side conversation with you at the same time right but well remote like he's in a van but calm mild-mannered uh-huh do you think you can go get some gloves uh okay you know I just thought that was great now there's another element going into an establishment where the manager the restaurant with you skinny son of a um with that with that waiter and the managers forget the melon ranchers who are sitting over at this other table I'm gonna buy those melon ranchers I've seen them oh he doesn't remember and like the Fruit Stand wow yeah over and over again but a manager coming out right away and trying to talk about problem solved trying to get this man from not disturbing my restaurant and this is a manager who's unaware yep you know I mean oh was that about the time when I pulled the tablecloth yes yes yes yes yeah yes and and and another time when well I thought mayor McGee's was oh God I thought he was extremely diplomatic with Rupert you know you can't be bothering the customers what's it to you what's it to you it just it was hysterical it's Dave but but I study these skits now visually Rupert's timing and his facial expressions I I would put him in a category of good acting of course but but the thing is it's it's it's improv though it's good improv it's just you and your delivery like your delivery is unflappable like like like like how you doing you son of a like the way that you would say son of a even is just it's it's funny it's it's not expressionless it has expression to it but it's just so unique and you seem so unflappable about things you're a huge Jets fan when you're watching the Jets and they go down they return for a touchdown or so they come back or something like that like are you are you the guy that gets animated or are you do you just kind of smile about it no I get when it comes to football I get animated he's animated but but Mike nobody in the van told him to go like this with the golf club nobody told Rupert to do that and that to me is good acting it's instincts because he could have just said boom boom but he picks up his hands and pantom Minds boom boom I I look at it frequently and I he's really Rupert's really good at the responsiveness and Dave Rupert can tell you Dave did not want Rupert to say what did you say can you say that again uh oh so the hearing was really important not a yeah very yeah and quite often we had problems with the feed okay you know because you're shooting out in the streets so there's a lot of interference yeah and so you know I spent a lot most of my time just concentrating on what Dave has to say yeah yeah that makes sense um I asked him how many times did he actually ask Dave to repeat himself because I know Dave would not be a fan of that yeah well you don't want to interrupt the flow of what's happening right yeah but he said he said maybe only a couple times he goes I concentrated very hard yeah I can I can imagine that's a huge part of it but just like at the under your breath stuff to Dave too like so far Dave um I don't have any money like he told me I asked him I needed the ending of that story and he said the girls in the van somebody a girl in a van in the van came and supplied the money that needed to go because I always want to know what's the end what happened me too oh me that's that's where you and I Bond Irene um you know we want to know the story behind the story behind the story like we want to know all of that stuff and we're fascinated by it they pay for it yeah somebody in the van came up with the money and paid the paid the bill that's the thing that's where that's where I get curious about this stuff Dave's uh famous uh for being such a good interviewer because of his Natural Curiosity he's so curious about that my curiosity about this stuff like I want to know who's in the van with Rupert I want to know who's like how the the mechanics of the whole thing worked and I'm endlessly fascinated by it all so well you heard something I've never heard before what's that which is which is there were many uh participants who stopped being participants pretty damn quickly yeah meaning I can imagine I can imagine there are a lot of people who were like no not doing this today I thought they were successful on every uh every outing interaction yeah with every person oh no as a matter of fact I I dare say the success rate was crowd probably 10 or 28 at most I mean you know we're shooting out there for hours at a clip I I'd say that first time we shot we we were shooting for eight hours yeah we were all all right around for eight hours how many skits did you pull out no no how many minutes do you pull get out all right no no I want interactions oh no I just said it's a it's a 10 to 20 success rate most people would ignore you or or it would turn into nothing but um for example we would shoot for eight hours and I think we're lucky if we get two to three minutes Worth showing yeah and Dave uh famously we talked about this with with some of the folks um it might have been Tommy ruprecht actually he talks about how they would shoot these remotes that were hilarious and they'd be like four and a half minutes long and the whole thing was good and Dave would be like no let's trip it down to two and a half or three like like he loved good economy on things and and I think I mean I again we talk about this show too a lot about the stuff that ends up on The Cutting Room floor The Cutting Room floor of your stuff must be laced with hilarity like I can't even imagine the stuff that uh you know was oh yeah it's almost good enough but not quite which is still yeah are you kidding Mike Mike get real a second I need you to get real all right they're saying you're proposing to him to imagine how many bits and pieces of his uh whatever ended up hilarity ended up on The Cutting Room floor yes and he did not perceive that the stuff that got put on was hilarity so you're talking to a person who's like I don't know yes but that's part of Rupert's charm in my opinion Rupert that's part of your charm is that you you just you don't see what the big deal is right um which is part of what you bring to the to the equation and and again that's the the irony and if Dave is in anything you know ironic is one of the the Mainstays of all of Dave's stuff um you know that's an ironic element that's added to it it's um you know and I mean we're not going to mention any names or anything like that but there were some folks who well you know we can mention you know Manny the hippie well why did Manny the hippie last three decades you know and it's it's it's because there are many people who wanted to get the spotlight they wanted to leverage they wanted to turn it into something else I think Rupert one of your things is that you just stayed you the entire time whether cameras were on you or whether it was a staff member ordering a bowl of soup in the in the deli you're just you um I would submit that that uh you just you would not know what Jewels were on the dining room floor please well we've talked about this too some of the celebrities who've come into the to the to the deli where and it's not like celebrities should be treated any differently but sometimes when you run into somebody who is like yeah you know Uber famous it trips you up a little bit it didn't matter who was coming into the deli you treated everybody the exact same like and he didn't know well okay okay Talking Dead the kid Hardwick Chris Hardwick yep okay my sister-in-law she gets because she knows everybody from Walking Dead personally she's a groupie um so she gets super excited one day and she says Irene Irene you've got to look at YouTube um uh Talking Dead whatever the whatever the thing was he's tried he shot that selfie with me in the background okay so I so I look at it I look at it and I thought I had no idea I thought that was so pleasant and I said thank you for sharing this so immediately after work I said Rupert you were on The Walking Dead uh you know you were one Walking Dead thing today yeah he posted it on Facebook I think it doesn't matter it was under the banner of Walking Dead and like and he said he said what and I said the guy the guy who does talking dead he goes I don't know what Talking Dead is or Walking Dead what are you talking about I said you took a picture with him today he said no I didn't no I didn't and I said okay well then let me just send you this he had zilt idea do you know how many times that happens you already know the uh Rolling Stones one so okay I know that story but nobody else knows that story the Rolling Stones what Rolling Stones okay yeah look at look at question mark Rolling Stones so a guy comes in for coffee and um later on the guy comes back in for coffee oh okay so Rupert's customer Rupert oh a kid comes when he he orders a cup of coffee he's a really skinny and then this other kid from outside he comes in as he he asks me was that Mick Jagger I know I don't know look alike I have no idea I would not swear that's Mick Jack Mike it was it fits exactly the time frame oh yeah the Rolling Stones were doing their gig at Late Show okay oh absolutely but again what we're do what we're seeing here is we're seeing the appeal like and and showing the appeal of Rupert though and that's that's to say in 2015 when I talk about my story you know uh that my my uh night that changed my life uh you know seeing him a month the day before a month he retired before he retired going and seeing Rupert beforehand before we got our picture behind the desk before we had that really cool exchange I had that exchange with Rupert and I was just as stoked and excited about that because Rupert made me feel like I was the same on the same level as one of these celebrities because I am with you like like that's that's the beautiful thing and I think that's one of the reasons why uh so many people want to come in and they're so excited to see you and take selfies with you and hear you tell the same story over and over and over again like I I've said you must be one of the most especially from New Yorkers you must be the most patient New Yorker there is because you get the same questions from people for decades do you know what he told me one time and I want you to answer what he told me one time he came to the hotel after work and he just was being again in his casual conversation not knowing that I would be sparked by just the littlest of weirdness that he says and he goes I said I was today how was work today he goes it was good it was busy I'm really tired of smiling oh my he goes my mouth yeah the cheeks probably hurting I can imagine my cheeks hurt a lie because I was smiling all day yeah you were gonna say something about coming after work and smiling the same the same question over and over and over again you were uh you know yeah I felt like a broken record yeah yeah um what about May because that that's something that I'm really curious about too because May was shown on camera I would say sparsely I would throw that out there you know I mean she was there but um and I think part of part of the appeal too was the mystery as well they didn't know ever if May was one of your employees or if you guys were connected or they people didn't know and I certainly yeah people would have thought that um you know was did did May ever get sick of of all the attention or was it always just no we're business partners this is really good for business yeah no she always enjoyed it because it was good for business but so but um you know I just got lucky because in the beginning May was still running the Garment side of the business yes and and so she was not always at the deli and I was handling the deli most of the time and so when the camera came in I just happened to be happened to be there I mean if May was working she probably would it would have been the star yeah Minnie's got a different disposition and they did kind of they kind that Dave mentions me he was always polite he's polite and friendly with me absolutely I I do believe that the selection was extremely careful about this cartoon here and he doesn't yeah I think I think you're right I think if if Rupert was on the Garment side and may was the one doing the day-to-day operation operations of the deli um I don't think May would have ended up in a van uh would they fly across the country and all that kind of stuff but I do think that that you know there would have been something there it just would have evolved different very differently right um you know I think that would that would be the case I uh um one day like this is this is going to be a great podcast by the way but this is kind of more of the unofficial one if ever we do sit down Rupert and talk about the idea you know where you came from and all of that stuff because I love that story too um but there is one element that I I just if we never do this again I you know I I want to get this out there like you talk about serendipity and and I mean you know because Dave moved over in 93 was when all that that kind of stuff happened but it was 91 that you got the store right right so like and and you you had been in business and you were uh you you always had the idea of having a soup and sandwich shop and and you like the idea of that model correct me if I'm putting words in your mouth but the way that I the way that I I remember it um like okay the Ed Sullivan Theater at that point there was no inkling of anything happening with that theater um yeah how did you guys end up with that location and I mean in your wildest dreams you never would have thought what happened in 93 would have happened uh but how did you end up at that location well you know back then we were full time into the Garment trade yeah and but you know it was it was always my dream because you know ever since I was a kid I love sandwiches I dreamed of sandwiches for you know and so okay one day you know I was just thinking wouldn't it be nice if I could just play around with the deli to me it's a dream come true and so I told me you know why don't we just look for something to just bat around with you know and so we picked up the times and back then there was no internet so we picked up the New York Times and we found this one one shop that was for sale and so we we we drove over to have a look at it and I I fell in love with it immediately it was not very big it had a good Frontage to it and at that time I didn't even know it was part of the yet Sullivan Theater oh really yeah so but apparently this guy was going belly up anyway because he he was not running it properly and so I said you know me this is giving them give them an offer and see what happens because I said I I think I could turn it around and so you know we we literally bought it from him for 30 grand so so you know I thought it's going to be a part you know uh just a part-time gig you know and I would fix it up and flip it so the you know I I it was to me it was a dream come true for the first two years I ran it on you know with a crew and by myself and um who would have known two years later that they would move into the neighborhood and that just changed the whole you know outcome of the running belly it became a full-time Endeavor well and it turned into a blessing a massive massive that that we're still talking about that's you're still running like I mean you're on vacation from it right now down in Florida you're still running you're still there yeah it's been 30 years 30 years um when okay so you're there you're getting your feet under you you know in 91 that kind of a thing when do you start to hear Rumblings that there might be doing something with the theater oh yeah well uh within a few weeks of the show and and um I remember by then I got to know a lot of the writers right including Robert Edge and but when I when I first heard that they were visiting you know taking turns visiting the neighborhood yeah that freaked me out because I again as you know I I just did not feel comfortable being on television I did not like being in front of an audience and it I was really getting very nervous and so I told the writers you know you guys can just go visit the other neighbors you don't have to visit me because I'm definitely afraid of being on and and of course Robinette said okay yeah don't worry don't worry but anyway you know it was inevitable it happens and um yeah who would who would have known you didn't know after the copy or you thought they were going to scare the copy machine place oh well yeah yeah that night I I I I I I I heard that they were gonna visit the copy machine Center right and and so when I heard that I briefed a sigh of relief because I said oh they're not coming over but then what this is the neighbor segment right yeah and what happened was okay instead of just sticking with the copy center Dave said let's go around the corner and then I almost freaked out I almost fainted um and and I mean you know one other footnote that I just want to throw out there uh because again that's how my nerdy brain works um the the the the reinvention um and the renovation of that theater was nothing short of amazing you must have gotten just a boom from the construction workers you must have got a boom in business while they were doing the renovation of the theater it was crazy when we first moved in the the building was in such bad shape I mean you believe it rats in the basement um it was just horrible yep and um yeah it was just a wreck and of course you know and it was a big undertaking because it was a landmark and so they had to make sure that that the original fixtures were were there yeah and they couldn't do a lot of changes they just had to restore what was there and so I mean yeah business business literally tripled yeah well showing the Montage of all the workers in there and I can imagine you know a very high percentage of them if they're going to get a coffee or a lunch or whatever they're just going to the deli attached to that like oh yeah oh it was non-stop it was non-stop yeah from breakfast to lunch it was just non-stop speaking of landmark um actually this is good that we're getting this out of the way too because earlier this year you became a landmark the hello Deli became a landmark right yeah well we we you know hello daily is part of the Ed Sullivan Theater sure but there was a ceremony this year that was focusing on you guys wasn't there oh yes it was uh uh the mayor's what was it a mayor's Proclamation uh to celebrate our 30 years uh serving the people of New York Paul came down Paul came yeah it was it was it was really flattering that Paul showed up along with Bill Chef Pat farmer and Brian teda who was who was the executive producer of The View yeah oh yeah we're trying to get Brian on the show Brian I keep going back and forth I'm gonna try we're trying to get him uh great guy he's he's in the big leagues now and I'm sorry absolutely um and our friend Don Giller was there as well of course he was down there for that that event as well um that's right Don killer and a number of other people I yeah I mean it's amazing I want to add something at the time and I'm very sad and I haven't been back because of all the things that have happened to me um and covid but um Roseland you had said on our previous podcast with me yeah um you had said about configuration now this is before even before um our friend um David K came on the scene yes oh yeah you and I are going to definitely talk since the day because you've watched David calebs wasn't that a fantastic episode it was more than fantastic and it put a lot of pieces of the puzzle together for me as an audience member always seeing David K he said yes he would be in the theater if he wasn't remote but I saw him frequently and now add it down to a science he did oh he sure did yeah yeah and Rupert has not seen so much of the David K podcast he started watching it but I put a wiper on it okay but the thing I appreciate it like share subscribe everybody yeah yeah but what I wanted to tell you is that crazy configuration stuff started even before David K and the time that I went in for lobster bisque to try to escape the cold by the time they had us lined up and again I had to be first in line you see it it was important so I got the I got the person who acknowledged that I was first in line to let me sneak off and get some Lobster Biz because for the warmth well by the time lineup starts it could have been like 95 96 95 96 yeah um when lineup started I was really frustrated because they took the entire line and this is not just once but this was the verse my first experience and he had a role to play in this later they took us over to Roseland that they had access to and it was just a beautiful smelled like old old beer and dancing you know dance hall it was just wonderful but it was old and they took us and configured us into at least 12 funky lines and my party had not arrived remember I was a designated driver and I had told them specifically about what it says about arrival and lineup and they were all floating around New York neighborhoods close by but not there yeah and they put us in these lines that made me feel like I was no longer the Flippin first person there yeah it wasn't nearly as organized back then it was or no no it was highly organized highly organized to not let you really know what's up oh I see okay they did not want any audience member really to know what's up this is before my fair I met my fairy Godmother who asked me about the people in front of me this is before that yeah and but I was frustrated because I was put in a line I was first in that line but it we had like 12 different funky crisscross type of lines with a lot of people monitoring us young folks that I now know or interns Pages whoever they were but later not that time and of course my people arrived late and they were gonna put my people in some funky remote area not with me and yes yeah and so I went up to the doorway when I saw them told the person behind me at a great risk mind you because you when they line you up in these lines you're not supposed to be casual and you know have freedom yeah but my people arrived in the doorway and the first thing I did was I said I hate you I hate you and I hate you because they messed up the whole dang thing and the tall tall lanky uh intern slash page said looks down because he's very tall looks down at them and says I think I guess you could say she hates you and so I said so I said please there my party can they can they be with me the answer was no and then and what happened the answer was no and that's like when David K would talk about how people would like it'd be years before they'd hear back or or you know they they spent all this money to go there and then the experience like wasn't you're you're basically showing and I mean we're not trying to uh you know we're not trying to bury anybody here talking about this the reason they brought David in was because they had problems like this at the momentum of the show was that of a freight train it was just this massive massive thing it was and they brought him in because of things like what you're talking about here it was very well controlled but it needed to be streamlined yeah and it was chaotic yeah so again I was very fearful of losing my place in this lineup that seemed so odd and then my people come and the answer is no they cannot stand with you okay and my girlfriend made a big mistake we're from out of state we're all here to see The Late Show together but we can't sit here together even though you have acknowledged it like like that's that's yeah yeah that's some Growing Pains that need to be fixed for sure my girlfriend made a huge mistake she was put in some obscure crisscross line yep away from the other two in my party who were placed elsewhere and my girlfriend who's kind of like me um we are we speak up she gets out of her line I can see her at a distance in this Roseland Ballroom she gets out of line and she um approaches the girl who's managing my line yeah and this girl was not an intern or a page she was an employee and I know that because of her strong Authority yeah and my girlfriend goes like this I'll give you twenty dollars if you let me stand next to my friend and this is the answer now you're really pissing me off if you don't get back into the line where you were going to be asked to leave yeah and I was petrified and she was kind of too not not as much as I was and she had to return to her obscure place but eventually they softened and we were all allowed to be together but we got the fir where there were four of us yeah and we we got the first three seats I got that one that's right right in front of Dave's desk and that's when the script fell and I handed it to a tall lanky guy that I came to know as Pat farmer uh a script for the evening is that the first time you met Pat yes but there was no formal introductions I met him eventually through Rupert but I had talked to him uh frequently outside of the theater because by then he was starting to get sorry hold on um do you remember who's on the show that night yeah oh yeah we had a lecture oh no no we had we had a stern lecture and it was somebody got up on the stage at the Roseland and said tonight is a controversial show every person is entitled to his or her opinion but we expect for you to be respectful of both now my first experience was Al Gore and wait a minute not Al Gore who's the other one who's the one who has the uh problem with his arm the pin he had a problem with his armies are you talking about Bob Dole Bob Dole sorry wow okay hold on Bob Dole and Marilyn Manson okay holy smokes okay so there's a one-two punch do you want to talk about uh um you know both ends of the of the spectrum here correct um Bob Dole and Marilyn Manson that was your first that that was your that wasn't your first one very first one holy smokes what a show and that's why we got this this lecture but irony of ironies hey I'm also going to throw something out there just to the you know to the staff that night perhaps that's why the staff when it came to the lineups and things like that were a little bit more on alert um that might that might be it you know we've got I don't know if he would have been a senator maybe a president I think he was no he was a Senator at that time yeah uh but it isn't it isn't exactly that way simply because I lined up at Roseland maybe three or four more times now that night was more strict than the other two times lining up at Roseland yeah but because of the controversial of the guess but the musician if I'm not mistaken my very first time in addition because Marilyn Manson was Hawking a book he it was not performing he didn't perform yeah no he was and when I finished watching the whole show I said this is a very smart young man who's uh doing publicity for his book and again 1995 where it's free internet and even pre-cell phone uh you know widespread use of cell phones sure but this kid was there to promote a book and if I'm not mistaken and it is in our yearbook um I don't know which yes I'm not sure which performance um exactly is in our yearbook but all night and I'm almost positive it was this very first time I ever went all night long was the wonderful young man who plays with Blues Traveler John popper and I could be it could have been my second show because he had his band uh at one time you know at one point but that he himself played with Paul Schaefer yeah all night long and if you want to talk about an experience and a half no back to the inclusion of Rupert who's coming hold on he was also John popper was also uh with the band uh that week in San Francisco that we were talking about as well and I didn't realize that and I when I look in the yearbook I'm trying to remember if it was you know when I was there or not all I know is it makes I I didn't know who Blues Traveler was really I'm not going to be honest with you yeah yeah but it made such an impression on me that I was over the moon with with pleasure uh because the music I didn't realize we were really in a Sound Studio now back to Rose Lynn Rupert was the provider of hot cocoa to 461 people in Roseland so that is that is that the first time you met Rupert no I didn't know okay yeah no and I don't think Rupert was the actual deliverer right he just made the chocolate he said he was so it wasn't my very first um appearance or my very first participation in the audience that um that the hot chocolate was provided us um but additional times when I went it it was provided by Rupert and he said he was the actual dispenser of the hot cocoa and I don't recall it I don't recall it but I did want to tell you about come on back he's checking his phone messages okay I want um I did want to tell you that the wild configurations started before David K got there um and it and I Only Could surmise that they really didn't want people to get a clear grasp of where they were going to be how they were gonna you know it was that part of that breaking you down building you back up business and but what was kind of cool was I retained my first seat position and the three in my party were let out of jail and were allowed we're allowed to accompany me as person two three and four so that made me happy because you know why because I was there at 11 A.M and I froze I froze and that's this lobster bisque thing going in and all that okay so that's funny though that's 11 A.M like you think about that um and how it's still there are shows that are still like that where they where they you know you gotta you're basically you're donating your entire day sometimes just for the chance to see the show my first time that I saw the show live it was in 05.

uh Jim Carrey was the guest uh I can't wait Pat and I keep going back and forth I want to tell them the story Pat farmer yelled at me at that episode uh not not outside of the the theater um and you know he he obviously wouldn't remember or whatever but I was standing on a dumpster because I wanted to see Jim Carrey um and he told me to to get off the dumpster which I was I was more delighted by Pat farmer saying hey get off that dumpster uh then I was seeing Jim Carrey like I was just so delighted by that but but going into the theater when I the first time I went no five I remember it being like watch like Precision you know I never saw that that chaos it was very you know you they were like no no don't show up until until three I didn't want you to they didn't want you there at that point and by you know and then and then even the week um the last the last month you know I was there for April 20th you were there for the last one um even that was fairly organized um it is you know so it just shows the mark of what David K did and again it's one of those we've had so many people reach out to us Thanking us for the David K episode uh you know because it explained a lot of stuff I mean all the pieces of the puzzles started to come together and I thought you know because I have so many stories to tell you but David k um would clap his hands when the music would start along with his interns and Pages who were posted where they were supposed to be kind of leading the enthusiasm leading the the well this is the irony David K is a kind of a very rigid straight laced kind of guy he's a he's a uh he's a scientist yeah so but when you are an audience member because this same first trip that I the first legitimate ticket that I used to get in um I had asked outside I have a pair of theater binoculars um would it be okay and actually you know what I'm messing up here because I said that that was the first appearance being lined up in Roseland that is incorrect my but the first time that I went it was anyway now it's horrible how I'm getting things kind of confused between the first and the second time but the fact that you have seen the show so many times that they all blurred together and these details blur together as astounding anything would envy that being able to say that because I mean you saw it so many times I want to know about the theater binoculars what do they say about that do they look okay so I'm I'm outside and I'm already sufficiently scared and this is free David gay and that and it leads to David gigg so I'm already sufficiently scared simply because of the rigid lineup and all this and uh I at that time when you showed up at 11 .

um there were enough people to not do that there were people like me who did that and then eventually the numbers started to grow yeah and they sh and they shoved us away and I would just walk around the block and come right back yeah oh he it was very difficult to make me leave and they said we can't block the streets when people started to congregate the streets cannot be blocked so that's where I sat on that fire hydrant which was not comfortable but you know I I was I was tucked out of the way I was tucked out of the way and I squatted on the fire hydrant and that was a great place to be because I was right there my dad used to punish me by telling me to go sit on a fire hydrant I mean I don't know it's not it's not comfortable so I'm just kidding dad so I asked I said I had a jack I had a Blazer on and I said may I may I not having been in the theater that's why that's why this story is important and and why I was wrong when I said the four of us in the party that was our first time no Marilyn Manson and Bob Dole were the guests at on that time okay and our configuration in the Roseland and our speech being made about Everyone's entitled history check this probably anyway so if we get any answer guess wrong or whatever which happens all the time happens to writers they they swear like like Steve Weiner said that uh uh don Giller is his actual memory and he's the guy that contradicts the thing that that goes on in his head because he's got it all lined up I know I know for a fact about Bob Dole and Marilyn Manson and the lecture and getting lined up in Roseland know that very clearly sure sure it's the time it it was my very first time not having been in the theater right but still insisting you know my mom's got that in her like I'm gonna be the first one there and that's that and everybody behind me better know that I'm first okay but I still had an air of kind of you know I wanted to behave simply because they Foster that air of you better behave yeah oh yeah I asked politely I said I've got theater binoculars am I allowed to have them and they said looked at them and said sure why not I was a young man who said that stage is so close not really quite sure why you want them but if you want to take them okay I'm thinking it's a theater sure even though I did sneak in and tell my principal that it was small when the audience was leaving I did sneak in and I said the audience was small uh okay so I'm on that again I'm at that seat yep you know that seat yeah unobstructed right in front of Dave's desk how much closer would you want to actually be and I pulled the binoculars out the binoculars out at that seat and bug fighting ring going on in the other room yeah because okay because a dog next door barked and mine is protecting the household well done he's a peanut okay he's a peanut okay so anyway um I pull I pulled the binoculars out you want to see what kind of shoes Eddie Brill is wearing no I wanted to look up Dave's left nostril I wanted to see the nostril hairs of Dave that's what I was thinking to myself that that I can see I could see him that closely if I just have these binoculars there were three people on me in a micro oh wow microsecond and I I took them away from my eyes I tilted them to show that they were binoculars about a camera yeah yeah or something else I don't know so I never the thought of a camera never dawned on me if they I I the way they swooped on me you would have thought that I had a machete and so um as soon as they saw that they were binoculars they backed up they didn't turn around and walk away they they paced backward but truly Mike how ridiculous having that seat and you just took a glance at your photograph yeah so you you know the proximity yeah you were sitting where Oregon that's the other guy who the night I asked my question was the other guy you were right near where Oregon was no darling I wasn't no go go to the extreme right of your row if you're on the front row yeah go go to the extreme right where Dave's desk is yeah there's only three chairs there's only three seats and you are right at Dave's desk yeah you have no box that rolls in front of you and you have no human being standing in front of you how many times did you sit in that see I want to let you guys go because I know Rupert's on vacation right now and I I love hanging with you guys but um uh so I want to be very cognizant of your time too um and by the way for saying that we couldn't do a podcast we've done an entire episode by the way right I'll tell you but Mike you and I both knew the outcome if I could just get Rupert to sit down next to me you and I both knew what would happen but he um hold on a second let me call you back I'm doing a podcast okay I'll call you right back okay so anyway I'm leaving that in and is my daughter and it's my daughter Okay so and it's my daughter all right so so um okay well were we talking oh how many times how many times did you sit in that seat I would say more than 10.

no I would say I only got that seat for maybe five times and don't forget I and I'm really itching to tell you how I went from just yearning at the saw horses to finally getting into that theater but um later I would say 2006 2007 um I was again surprised Beyond be Beyond where I got a visit in line and the Velvet Rope came up and said have you ever been to a rehearsal and I said I said no and from that point because then that involves Jennifer yeah Ray whom uh David K said he couldn't do without yep um and again that solves some pieces of the puzzle for me about her but anyway I was treated by my fairy Godmother to a rehearsal with Marianne faithful and it just was it was delightful Yes the band is amazing really oh yeah I I said this to Will and I've been going back and forth with Felicia um a little bit and and I said I you know when if and when you know if we get the stamp and and we can do some really cool bigger things I want to do a separate podcast about the music of Letterman yeah you know and and call it live on Letterman just like they used to call it like like I because the band itself like will and I we did over 90 minutes and we were we didn't even scratch the surface right of anecdotes and memories and things about the music on the show um like you talk about the rehearsals when bands would do extra songs just for the audience oh that kind of a thing Marianne faithful that is seeing her rehearsal like that that's that's amazing that you got a chance one hour one hour um Christy my principal and I I want to say who's the one who's saying American Pie not John Mayer John Mayer yeah for one hour that night was it that night no never night okay it was a different night because I you asked me about how many times I got to seat in that sit in that prized seat but but for one hour when we were allowed to be seated as soon as we checked in we watched John Mayer we were his only audience he played to us he knew we were watching him rehearse and he rehearsed for one hour and it was not just American Pie you name it You Name It We heard it and it was a private concert now oh my gosh oh my gosh talk about vibrating inside you all right so at the end of this magical thing that I didn't know was coming uh getting a a couple of CBS pencils also getting to see some family photographs yep yes Yes siree Bob I didn't know I was gonna get those and also I did not know that I was gonna get to see some family photos and that met my fairy godmothers and others yeah on their photographs yeah and then she asks me do you want to sit upstairs or do you want to sit down here and I pointed to the magic seat to your seat yeah I said do you mind if I sit right there and she said no not at all now that conversation was separate from the audience's coordinator's knowledge right and thank goodness my fairy Godmother was still present when I took that prize seat and was approached by a theater coordinator yeah good audience they would know they're just doing their thing an audience coordinator who immediately instructed me otherwise yep and I said but and I was about to say my fairy Godmother's name but my fairy Godmother uh said I could oh oh oh okay all right oh all right but you have to be an enthusiastic audience member I said no no problem there no need to tell me that Rupert has there ever been a problem with Irene's enthusiasm oh no never mind my wife would say this thing by the way well for sure you but I was also I was also asked not to participate in audience q a since I was technically a guest of CBS and it was reserved for those as I told you the people from Nebraska who really did everything they were supposed to do yeah and you know try to get that ticket the way and I wasn't doing that anymore I wasn't doing that anymore now I'm going to close out for me by saying and I would I just am getting over being very sick but I'm gonna close out by saying I cannot wait to tell you the transition of a desperate fan me dragging her family at five o'clock to the saw horses just to catch a glimpse and we got great photographs Paul Newman and all the string of celebrities I told you about wow yeah going from that point thinking that's the best you're going to get because I did call the theater and they said sometimes it's years before tickets are are sent and so I was deflated in 1993 94 I was deflated yep with that with that knowledge so I thought the best I'm ever gonna get is just to sit at the state stand at the stage door be there first you know the guests don't usually come out until 5 30 unless one's you know and be there first yep and then we get to see them whisked off and for two years at least four times a year least we were doing that and that's what I thought was going to be my whole Late Show life and then things changed but well just kind of like when Rupert bought the uh the little sandwich shop in this old derelict theater that you know really had a you know got a great deal on it little did he know that suddenly this would become uh once again lit up with the uh with the celebration of Show Business the way that it has uh just like yourself like I mean hey I've collected a lot of cool Late Show stuff uh I think you take the cake for all the things that you have collected because you collected Rupert T along the way as well I did I did but I do want to ask you and I'll do it on air and you decide how you uh leave it in or not sure um would I be I mean the statute of limitations you said has expired okay so my days at the saw horses looking at Celebrities to actually going and getting in that sacred line and getting in that sacred hallowed theater it involved you know behavior that the statute of limitations is over now so can I you're gonna have to finish this thought because people are going to be making assumptions so what are you talking about what kind of behavior are we talking about Irene Rupert's looking what's going on okay you know you you know how you know how I got you do know how I got in correctly yep correct well it was as David K said snail mail yep and you know what I did correct yes what did I do Mike with the postcards of how many different addresses that you sent in from and all of the you guys how I warned every family member yeah that if an envelope should come that has you weren't alone in doing that there were lots of people back then who were so hell-bent on seeing the show that if they sent their little request in from their house they didn't feel it was enough to get them in and so they would send from their brother or their sister or whatever you took it to a different level you you went I sent eight postcards in different penmanship different penmanship yep it's at expressly the letter expressly asked you not to do that yes and and additionally back then the the talk about David gay is wanting to pin pin you down to you know this is a real thing yeah um every 16 tickets and every ticket had a date yep and I would have had to go eight times in a row because the dates were October 10th 11th 12th I mean yeah you hit the mother lode you hit the mother load and this is again pre-dated K right like that's the stuff that he came to organize this is a really good companion episode to his episode actually well that's why one of the things that being able to organize and figure out immediately I got excited because I did correspond with a girl named Janice yeah and um you know because I had 16 tickets I couldn't go eight days in a row and so they were gracious enough to let me spread those tickets out and then at that point we ran out of tickets and for some odd reason I had one legit ticket left gave it to my sister and Christy and I had to buy for the standby tickets and got bumped but it was a year one year almost to the date that I had met my fairy Godmother who was an intern she was at that time the year before was an intern the year after and we were bumped and I was like a little bratty kid on the curb because we didn't get in and and my sister said I I know he was going to come to me for know your cuts of meat and immediately because I got nauseous she said and put my head down uh and like you do in class you stay at put your hand over your forehead like this to the signaling to the teacher don't call on me and my sister was enjoying the show we were out on the curb and here comes my fairy Godmother walking that and that's the rest is history so uh the statute of limitations has indeed uh has indeed of course expired um you know people have asked I've actually had people ask me uh how did she see the show 40 48 times 40 40 how many times how did she how did she do that and so you kind of uh shed some light on that and I appreciate that very very much you doing that I I love you guys so much I'm you've taken time out of Rupert's vacation to do this with me I appreciate that like crazy um I want to finish with Rupert because you are the sponsor of the Letterman podcast right there there it is oh nice for the audio for the audio folks uh I'm I'm I've opened up my jacket and I'm showing that I'm wearing my Rupert hello Deli t-shirt um by the way Rupert Kelowna British Columbia Canada um I get I get comments on this shirt all the time people oh hey Rupert right on that's awesome that you have that when you know it's it's it's it's very cool so uh obviously if you want to get Late Show merchandise Late Show with David Letterman merchandise uh go to hellodashdaily.com if you're in the New York area go to the Ed Sullivan Theater check out the sweetest soup and sandwich shop that you'll ever see um right at the stage doors of the Ed Sullivan Theater on 53rd Street um Rupert the fact that it's so beautiful to me it's one of my favorite things about this show is that you I get to say every single show we have one sponsor that sponsor is the hello Deli thank you so much for that thank you for being you um it's my pleasure Mike really God man in my 20s going and ordering a pounder because of something you said on TV the night before like I you know it's you can't you can't you know I know it just kind of oozes out of me how much how grateful I am but um that's where I want to finish with you really quick I don't want to you know necessarily get into the the heartfelt all that this sort of stuff one thing about you I remember you saying it in o5 when I met you the very first time and I remember you saying the same word When I Met You in uh 2015 and you've used it many times in our conversations uh since and this is a cool kind of way to finish off this episode um you use the word blessed you've used that word a lot and and and how blessed you have been and I know you've expressed many sentiments to me um and I just want to throw this out there how grateful and how blessed are you to David Letterman oh forever grateful I mean you can't quantify it I mean it's not just the money part of it it's the emotions uh you know the whole interaction the memories I mean it's it's Priceless you really can't put a number on it and he didn't watch the episodes where Dave said you'll meet the nicest guy in town if you go around the corner and get a cup of coffee Rupert never saw those episodes and we you and I did oh yeah when I saw how loving he was to him and he the Rupert's I love that I love that at dinner we experienced this at dinner when you and I get going Irene I love when Rupert looks over and go how do you guys remember that like because he he never bought his own hype he never bought your own hype but at the same time and so you never watch the show in that regard um I mean obviously you've seen things and things like that but it wasn't it wasn't the same and I think part of that gratefulness is just fact that like that makes the gratefulness that you feel even more special because it wasn't about the notoriety on TV even a little bit it was just it was about this relationship and and I know how grateful you are for that and I will tell you this other thing Rupert hopefully this is a gift for you I have talked to some of them on air already we've done 40 something episodes uh but many folks that I've talked to off the air that haven't been on the show yet or maybe might be coming on the show that kind of a thing and when I mention your name um two things number one instant credibility for me so thank you for that I appreciate that very very much but second the people who worked for that show adore you and I'm certain you know that because you have this relationship with them and in many ways you were you know they're you not only fed them but you were their counselor that when they needed it or you were just this the affection for you from these people that I've talked to again you can't really quantify it so I just want to let you know that and I think you do know that in your heart already but I'm just telling you that as well Rupert Rupert would not understand that word but he did say something very special it was oh wait yeah no no the feelings are always Mutual with all the all of those people it really was yeah um I'm so grateful for this hopefully this isn't the last time we do this uh for this show but this is very special to me thank you so much um I that that that's it you know what I'm just gonna end it right now that's another episode of The Lettermen podcast with Mike Chisholm coincidentally my name is Mike Chisholm uh that's Irene Hoffman that's Rupert G the legend the man the myth the legend Rupert G uh thank you thank you and good night always a pleasure Mike