In this special year-end episode of Zoning Out, presented by The Comedy Zone, the guys celebrate the close of 2024 with some laughs, reflections, and lively banter. Highlights include a discussion about the unique charm of live comedy shows, with a special nod to Jon Reep. Everyone shares their thoughts on the past year, touching on personal growth (don't be gross), music preferences, and the evolving landscape of comedy. From sharing Spotify Wrapped lists to debating their favorite comedians, the conversation is a mix of humor, insight, and camaraderie. Ugh, do they also write poetry about each other? This episode also features guest appearances from The Comedy Zone staff, adding behind-the-scenes perspectives and heartfelt moments. The episode ends on a high note, teasing exciting plans for 2025!
Zoning Out Presented by The Comedy Zone
Last Episode of 2024
- This is a podcast from the Queen City Podcast Network. (upbeat music) - All right, welcome to the zone and now presented by the Comedy Zone podcast. And we are here, ladies and gentlemen. We have made it to the end of 2024. - Can you believe it? - No. (laughs) - It's kinda wild. - No, I cannot believe it at all. I was looking for actually in the club. We are in the Comedy Zone. - That's right, presented by and at. - The Comedy Zone. - Comedy Zone. This is exciting. I love that we're here. This is the second time doing this. - Yeah, I think that was actually the title of one of the episodes. What I just said, presented by and at. So. - Yeah. - You call back. - You have a like habit of using the same phrases over and over. (laughs) - He's doing it, man. (laughing) - Cool, yeah, well, listen, this is a big deal. Where it says the end of 2024. We got a show, Jonathan and I are on the show tonight right here with John Reap. - That's right. That's right. The 50 Shades of White tour. (laughing) - It is, it is a white affair. - Yeah. - No, but I think it's a good line up though. 'Cause it does have like, in my opinion, a range of different ideologies. I'm guessing I know nothing about John Reap. - Experience level. - I don't know. - Experience level. - Okay. - Sure. - Don't act like you got a couple of years on me. - I do. I got a couple of years on. What's the problem? - Nothing. - I'll just picture John Reap to be like you from an alternate universe. - How so? I'm challenging this. - I just imagined like-- - Have you seen and/or met him before? - No. - Okay. (laughing) Cool, so you're-- - Probably made time wrong. (laughing) - Well, you'd have to tell me about him. I honestly don't know. This is a complete-- - Well, we can jump in. I think he's great. He's really funny. - No, he's great. - Jonathan doesn't like him. - Yeah, I am an openly anti-John Reap. No, John's awesome. - Although, one thing we do have in common is that he's like born and raised in Hickory or Hickory as he says it, sort of mountainous-ish area. And I was not born and raised, but lived in that part of the world for a few years. So I got a little bit, I got the jacket, I got a car heart jacket on, which is kind of the energy. So that's all the things that John Reap and I have in common. - Yeah, yeah, you're definitely appropriating the work culture. - Yeah, but I did live there. There were this, but no, it's fully, I'm a poser. Let's be clear. I'm gonna get that just crystal clear. We're a racing jacket the other night. I don't race. This is an ice pack if you're wondering. - Yeah, an ice pack on me. - Yeah, an ice pack on my knee. - What's wrong, sweetheart? - He ran. - And my knee doesn't like when I do anything, so. - That's great. I was literally-- - Wait, which part's great? - Oh, no, back up. - Which part's great? - 'Cause 10 minutes ago, I was complaining to Jordan about my legs being like jelly, right? - You did, yeah, that's true. That's fine. But we didn't do any of the things we said we were gonna do before the show, by the way. - No, we didn't. That's on you. - That's cut off on me, actually. - And you're being awful meta over there. - Well, we just, we wanted to bring up a lot. One that we're here, but also we've got, we got G-mails, we're now on YouTube. - Yes, yes, we are. - We are full episodes, baby. - Yeah, full episodes. - Yes, you can watch us live in 4K. (laughing) All right, not live, actually. I forgot what I'm talking about. - Yeah, stop. - But 4K is the accurate part, for sure. - That's right, it's at the Zoning Out podcast on YouTube. - Yes, yes, sir. - We got some people asked online about it, so we're giving the people what they want. - That's right, we did it just for y'all. - I had to give a way, way too long response to a comment on Instagram. I was like, well, it's only clips online, but I think that's when we realized really. Nope, needs to go up. - Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. So, you know, we listened to feedback, so make sure you give us feedback through the Instagram and the YouTube comments, of course, or, or you can call us. - That's right. - At 90-221-9293. - Right, or if you are a fragile op, and you don't prefer using your voice, you can type to us if you're Steve Lacy. - Yes, via email at. - Podcast ZoningOut@gmail. - Look at that, everybody. I mean-- - That's easy, that's so easy. -@gmail.com, thank you. - It was just fun for me to say. - In case my mom was listening. - In case you don't have her to put that. - In case you don't have her to put that. - In case you don't have her to put that. - I mean, listen. - But I know I'm after it. - Do you think everybody is like worn out from the end of the year stuff? I'm not, I'm just curious, 'cause I think we should kind of get into that. What do you think? - Do you mean just all the lists and coverage and-- - Here's what the end of the year, the whole year looked like. - I don't love it. I don't like hate it, but it's just like, I'm just kind of like, dude, I was here. (laughing) - That's the thing, I feel like we were here, but especially in this year, so many things happened. - Sometimes you forget about everything that happened this year. - I do like best of lists. I do enjoy those, like top 10. - Was there any that jumped out at Mr. Williams Comedy? - Well, yeah, I mean, just all over my Instagram is just top albums of the year. That's everything that comes up. And one of the accounts I follow, Pigeons and Plains, they voted, do you know McGee, either you guys know McGee, M-K-DOT-G-E-E. They voted his album, he's sort of like, rock pop, he's weird, he's kind of his own thing. And they put his album at number one, which I was like, dang, that's quite a statement. I think GNX was number two. - Oh, really? - Yeah, man. - And it is-- - How was that not a bigger-- - It's real for you guys. - Well, it is, no, that's what I'm saying. That's why it came to mind. And the thing is, I would put GNX at number one. Anyone who's listening to Kendrick's album, if you don't know, if you listen to the-- - I did not know he did it now. - I never heard the name. - I like that you just went with it, though, well done. - Yeah, I'm, I'm being honest. - I would put it at number one, but that album is good. It's called "Two Star and the Dream Police" or something like that, McGee's album, it's pretty great. But that jumped out. - Yeah, but you know that it did make me think, did you get your spa-fired rap or whatever streaming service you used? - Well, I use Apple, so I'm like-- - I also use Apple. - Yeah, so I'm like, I don't share it because I'm afraid I'll just get clowned for having Apple. - That's exactly why I brought this up. I got mine ready, are you ready? - I can pull it up. I can pull it up when I see yours. - Mine is a little, a little embarrassing. - Let's do top artists. - Oh, I don't think I-- - You don't listen to music? - I do, but I do it on YouTube, so I don't know if it does that. - Yeah, probably not. - All right, well, there it is. - You want me to go first? - I can tell you what it is. - I'll go first, I'll go first. Mine might be slightly surprising, probably not super surprising. - Okay, for my top artists, number five, I have Jermaine Cole. - Okay. - Okay, Jay Cole. - Okay, interesting, because if listeners will remember-- - I had a lot of stronger people. - You had some thoughts on Jay Cole. I did two, but not as strong as yours, necessarily. - It was tense. - Yeah, about his response to the disc. - To the deleted response. - Yeah, wait, the what response? - Ah, that's clever. - No, honestly, what word did you just said? - The deleted response. - Oh, the deleted response. Yeah, I meant that for sure. - You got to start running. - I didn't, well, I was truly confused. I would have run with it if I wasn't lost. - See, number four is kind of tricky because it's Metro Boomin. Okay. - Which, really, it's just future. - It's future. - Which leads to number three. - And Kendrick a little bit future. (both laughing) - Hey, hey, Stacey, it's though. - Stacey. - We're at the county, oh, there she is. - I knew you're Steve Sullbrecht. We can't put that on YouTube. - Oh, she's gonna have to come beyond it. - That was my highest set last. - That was amazing. - That's number two for me. My number two artist, Kendrick Lamar. - Number two, B. - And I'm opening myself up to criticism on this. - Oh, buddy. - Number one, winning, beating Kendrick Lamar by over 1,300 minutes. Drake. - Wow. - Yeah, Drake is still number one going on the laptop. - Wow. - Okay, and this is from someone who has, you have gone on record like Kendrick's the guy. - Yeah. - At this point by now. - Kendrick is the guy at this point. - No one in their right minds kind of saying anything else. - Yeah, yeah. - At this point. - But I will also admit, if we're looking at full catalogs, I've heard Drake. That's fair, prefer, so I think, okay. Would you say full catalogs? Are you drawing a distinction here between prefer and like objectively think? I mean, not that there's really any such thing as true objectivity, but like, are you drawing a distinction there? Are you saying that you still think full catalog to full catalog, Drake is actually better? - No, no. I would say I prefer Drake in the sense that like, I'll recognize the Pimper Butterfly was a masterpiece. - Right. - I also personally know I'm going to listen to nothing was the same over that album. - What is it? - The day of the week. - What was J. Cole's line about to Pimper Butterfly? - Something like a little... - Your second shit. - Kendrick or something like that. - Yeah. - Just when he keeps breaking the conversation. - Oh, yeah, but don't worry about it. - I'm nodding off, but that's good. - It may people fall asleep, but they gassed it. That's what it was. And people is the word I'm using. - Yeah. - Give a cuz room camera. - Of course. - Yeah, off camera, it is just joins just like stop. And I'm like, I won't. That does not happen. All right, you want to hear my top five? It's interesting, man. - Okay. - Okay. Number five, Sufion Stevens. Not a surprise to anyone who knows me. Do you know? - You just like saying his first name. - Didn't we bring this up in a previous episode? - Yeah. - What about, oh, that that was not someone you knew. - Yeah, I remember a name only because of you. - His. - At least I think, I've never, yeah. Yeah, okay, so number five, Sufion Stevens. A perennial favorite of mine, for sure. Number four, okay, who's someone that you know I love that I haven't talked about as much recently? - Frank Ocean. - I was gonna say Tyler. - Frank Ocean. - Frank Ocean. - Oh, I'm kind of ashamed that Tyler's not in my top five, actually, because Chroma Copia is, honestly, it could be his best album, dude. It's real good, I think. - You don't think so? - Call me if you get lost, is where I'm going. - I mean, call me, I don't, that's, I might agree. You know what I mean? Like, he just keeps hitting. Number three, this one I'm not proud of. There was just one song that I listened to over and over again at the beginning of the year, 'cause it brought me comfort for some reason, but it is the very Gen Z beloved pop band, the 1975. - Oh, I thought you were going to suburban carpenter. - I love 1975, though, that's not the same. - They are, I am, okay, I can admit that I'm more of a fan than I'm willing to, than I'm willing to let on. - No, I'm not there, I'm not a problem. - The album, like, Love in the internet age or whatever it's called? - That's not even close, but yeah, I do it. A brief inquiry into online relationships, I believe is what you're referring to. Yeah, I am a fan, but this is specifically 'cause one song called, with a very goofy name, it's called Jesus Christ 2005, God bless America, featuring Phoebe Bridgers. - It's a good way to bring comfort. - 'Cause that title sounds like, that's what I'm gonna play with the rap. - Yeah, that's where I heard it, for sure. Number two. - You're wearing a car heart shirt, so you gotta-- - You gotta play the part, you gotta play the part, man. - That's true, come on, man, it's tie-dye. - Well, you're not trying to have permission. - Somebody tie-dye this car, that's what I'm, no, that's what I'm going for. I'm going for down the, it's like a sort of saddle-blanket material, I don't know what you would call that, shamwalk cloth. Anyway, just stuff that's real. Number two, guy you may have heard of called Kendrick Lamar. That's number two. - Okay, so we were-- - Okay. - We were on the same page there. - Number one, do y'all have, I've talked about this person a decent amount, this year. Fair amount. - Taylor Swift? - No. I do like Taylor Swift, but I don't take any offense to her, I just, me and the number one would be, would be just unique to what we normally say. - Okay, buy over, oh my God, we're just now seeing this. This is, buy over 10,000 minutes. - Yo. - That's a lot. - I'm nervous now. - Yeah, what is it? - The goddess of this planet won Miss Casey Musgraves. (audience applauding) - I love that. - She, so this year, I can explain why too. I mean, I am other than just, I'm a fan and I think she's, I think she's like, the closest thing we got to Dolly Parton, other than Dolly Parton. - That's a great compliment. - Yeah, I do. She is an artist who like, above all else, her like, what's in her music is a pursuit and maintenance of peace, of her personal peace. And that has been the name of the freakin' game for me in the last year or so. - Oh, I like that. - So, there's just like, so I've listened to her like her whole catalog all year. - Rotted around with something sweet there. - Yeah, no, I mean, it's real, and I just, I love her. I also would marry her now, right now. I am, I am both, her music is important to me and I am just like, you know how, you know, like when you're like nine and you're, did y'all, what, who were your crushes when you were like nine? - Probably still, what's her name from Boy Meets World? - To Panga, to Panga, I'm with you on that one. Kelly from Saved by the Bell. - That's a good one. - The Princess from-- - Probably the Sephora miler we see for you. - Gina from Bard of the-- - I love the Princess from the never ending story, man. - Oh, yeah, oh, it's nice. - I was under nine. - That's a good one. That's a good one. So that level of like, kind of like, you're a child, this is sad. Like, if anything other than you're a child, you have this level of crush, that's like the kind of level of crush that I have on case of my scrapes. It's out of control. It's unhealthy. It's parasocial is a word that I learned this year. - Parasocial, I like that word. - You know what I mean? - That's like basically having a relationship with famous figures that you know-- - They don't know you. - Yeah, so it's kind of like parasite, sort of, so it's like a very one way love. - But anyway, that's where I'm at. So number one case of my scrapes. - I've got a couple, I just was pulling up, sort of, my mix, kind of, I think, what comes up. It's first-- - All right. (laughing) - With the lyrics altered. - I'm still embarrassed by the verse. - That's just Jason re-wrapping the lyrics. (laughing) - And the only word he changes is "we" to "I". - That's it, yeah. - That's so funny. We were walking out of the club when that happened. - Oh, that's the best. - 'Cause I was saying how much I liked it. And then I was like, yeah, you know, that's wrong. I'm gonna be all right. - I'm gonna be all right. When the lyrics are, we're gonna be all right. - Yeah, I kinda got it. - And it was very much about being glad. - Exactly wrong. - Okay, that's right. But no, so mine, this is, I already knew this, but like Radiohead. - I love Radiohead. - I'm on Radiohead. - They're a top 10 band for me, for sure. - And then Kings of Leon is up there. Rayla Montaigne. - I like Rayla Montaigne. - Bonnie Bear. - Bonnie Bear's great. Post Malone. - Okay. - Just his country album this year? - No. (laughing) I'm not pretty much anything he does. I'm trying to think there's anybody else here. The strokes, I've been listening to the strokes a lot. - Strokes are definitely, are a top 10 band. - Lord, here. - Lord, here, it's good. They opened four Casey Musgraves when I saw her earlier this month. - So I also pulled this up to change gears, where to go. Vulture did the top 10 comedy albums specials this year. - Nice, okay. - What should I say? There's 10, should I just run through them? - Yeah, do it. - Yeah, do it. - Let's do it. - No, I'm like quite a few of these, actually. So number 10, Ali Wong, single lady. - Okay. - It's on Netflix. Number nine, Langston Kerman, bad poetry, I have to admit, I don't know if Langston Kerman makes that. - I know both of these people haven't seen either of these specials. - Rami Youssef, more feelings. - Know the name. - Which he was just on SNL, wasn't he? That was on Max, by the way. My favorite, Kyle Canane, Dirtnap. He put that on himself on YouTube. - Oh, I did watch that one. - That was great. - I'm gonna get this name wrong. Courtney Perosa, Perosa, Vanessa 5000 is the name of it. I'm completely unfamiliar, doesn't mean anything. Jessalnick, Anthony Jessalnick, Bones and All, was on Netflix. Nikki Glazer, Glazer, Someday You'll Die, was on Max. - Like the title. - Adam Sandler, Love You, Netflix. Which I didn't, I didn't see that one. - I had no idea that game. I will watch that one. - And that was number three. I loved his last one, man. I thought that was pretty great. Number two, Jacqueline Novak. Get on your knees. That in 94 minutes. - That is too long. - Yeah, that's too much. - Yeah, and I'm not that familiar with that. - It better have more to it than just stand up for 90 minutes. That's why I'm-- - That's excessive. - And one of the best comics that I've seen live, Ollie Sadiq. - Ollie Sadiq is great. - Yes. - Domino Sadiq is part three, first day of school. - Yes. - 77 minutes on YouTube. - I have seen one of these. - Yeah, that's a lot I haven't really seen. I've been too busy doing it, I think. - Can I be honest with you guys? - Sure. - I don't watch a ton of specials. - Yeah. - I like watching clips, I like watching, but just full specials are just, I don't know, they just don't, I'm just, when I sit down to watch TV, it's usually like been a long day, like that kind of stuff. And I'm just like, let's just watch an episode of "Community I Already Know." - I think I grew that. 'Cause I kind of think it's like-- - Or a movie. - Like how athletes, like you spend so much time watching your own game tape, going to your own practices and playing your own games. It's very rare for you to like just sit down and watch someone else's game. What happens, but like-- - Yeah. - I wonder how many, how many basketball games will LeBron James go to that aren't his games a year? - Zero's or like his sons, like where there's no like-- - Where there's, all it is is just, I want to watch basketball. - Right, yeah. - Zero games. - I don't think it's a lie. - However, how often do you go watch comedy? Whether it's a show you're on or not. - Oh, well that's different, yeah. - It's funny, right? - I'll pop in here at the illustrious comedy zone. - Yeah. - And watch some shows, of course. - CLTcommezone.com. - Yeah. - Yeah, I'm at shows more nights in the week than I-- - Definitely do that before I watch. Definitely do that before I'd watch one. - Because there's also, there's like kind of a community aspect of it, right? 'Cause we know Stacy and the other Stacy, I might see other comedians here. So there's like that extra added element of-- - Total show on face. - Can drink and not be alone. - You can, yeah. - I prefer to drink alone. I don't know what you guys are talking about. - I feel like that's-- - I believe that about demonize. - It's written unnecessarily. - I agree. - Drinking alone is like, yeah, what's wrong with that? - I prefer to smoke weed alone, for sure. - Okay. - Cool. - Now that I do that. - I prefer you to smoke weed alone. - Yeah, honestly, everyone does. - You're like, you're being weird and I'm like no, I'm not. You're still an addict, even if you're around other people. - Yeah. - Yeah. - It's just like, now I'm wanting to drink alone. All right, you still have a problem. (laughing) - Wait a minute. That's like, he's coming at me. - No. - I just have an option. - I think he's saying, I think you're saying, Jason, you definitely have a problem, but that doesn't mean that other people don't too. - That's correct. - Is that kind of-- - Yeah, I'll take that translation. - You're not alone, even though you drink alone. - Yeah, that's totally fine. But I do go to a lot of shows, I think that's a big difference. And I do think, you know, for anyone who's just listening, I think live comedy is where it's at. Go see live shows no matter where they're at, especially if you don't know somebody. I think that to me is much better than the special. Specials are great, they're good timestamps, it's good like, you know, what's this person sort of, it's usually a good representation of someone's year or whatever it might be, I don't know whoever we're talking about. Jamie Foxx, for an example. But live shows are a little bit more present, they're a little more of what's happening now. In the moment, it's development of that year. So I just, there's so many aspects of it that make it better to see it live. - I think especially at clubs and theaters and places where comedy is what's happening in the room. You know, you go to brewery shows and stuff, those are fun, but like, it's a brewery. Like this is this place where at right now is not centered around comedy, even if it's like a bigger comedy night. Like there's always some sort of-- - They'll go to those shows. - Yeah, no, oh definitely pleat, yeah, go to any live comedy ever, go, but like clubs, it's special. - Especially this club, this club is like-- - Truly. - We hear about it all the time that people are, you know, comics run different podcasts, they bring up this club about it being one of us. - It's beloved and rightfully so. - It's like that, again, I don't know how often we talk about it, low ceilings, the lights are good, it's great sound, it's dark, it's cold. It's literally what you want for you to stand up club to be. - Not too cold, you can-- - Well, yeah. - You can bring a sweater, you'll be fine, and then there's lots of people in here. Like don't not go 'cause it's cold. It's dark and it's cold is not a great advertisement on paper, even though it is-- - We're experts, they should be listening to us, Joe. - But what I'm saying is, if I'm not a like, ultra avid comedy fan-- - Oh, I was wondering what he was doing. - That what that was. - Yeah, honestly, I thought it was like a lower back stretch. - I just, you know, there's some ages. - No, no, I'm looking at people who are coming here in January, David Tell is gonna be here. Chad and JT, I don't really know them. Bruce Bruce, you guys see Bruce Bruce? - Yeah, I have not seen him live. - One of the best shows you ever gonna see live. - Yeah, February six. - All right, I believe it's gonna not be true. - And then, Derek kind of stracy, I think is all you say your name, January 9th. Anyway, I just bring it up, I wasn't, I was like blowing you off, but in a funny way, not in a real way. - Thanks, man. - Yeah, it's cool, bring a coat. Get your face, it's fine, it's fine. - It's good, don't let dark and cold. 'Cause just think about it, just on paper, that doesn't sound great, but it is good for comedy. - It is good, it is very, very good. We have, what do you think? You guys wanna, should we take a break, come back and do some games, or we wanna get into something else? - They'll get any good Christmas presents? - Oh, let's not Christmas presents, oh my God. - I just wanted to totally under here. - Yeah, I love that. - But also it's fun. - I got a car heart jacket. - This is why you wanted to introduce the tattoo. - We were already talking about it, I think we were talking about it more. - Oh, yeah. - And it's been tie-died, got it at a adventure shop. I assume it was not made this way. I think someone bought it and tie-died it, and I got that from my brothers, although I picked it out in person. - I got to meet his brothers, the other. - You did? - For the first, well I met, I've known Preston. - You've met Preston, but you've not met him, and certainly not together. - Yeah. - You got to see the train wreck? - The train wreck that is our, the train wreck that we love every moment. - Oh my God, of course. - Yeah, that experience was not dissimilar at all to me hanging out with my brothers and my sister. - Yeah. - It is, everyone's loud, and cutting up, and ripping on each other, and teaming up at one moment, the next moment you're ripping on. So it's great, dude, they're good dudes. - And it was fun, too, hanging out with you. And Ashley was there? - Yes, we had a special surprise visit, Ashley. - Totally had no idea. She just was around and didn't tell any of us. - And if people who don't know, Ashley was the other co-host of the show for a better part of this year. - Yes. - Speaking of recapping 2024. - Yes. - That started this year, all of us. - Yeah, yeah. - That was like summer, late summer maybe. - No, it was still cold outside, dude. - I thought it was like January, I thought. - Maybe. - It was still cold outside. - Maybe it was. - Oh, yeah, it wasn't until late August that Ashley left, right? - Oh, I know why I'm thinking of that, is because it was like the previous August or something when we were talking about it. - That's probably fair, yeah, 'cause Kevin left the end of last year. - Yeah, that's right, that's right. - So yeah, talking about a recap. It was great to see Ashley. She's doing very, very well out there in Nashville. And with the zany's crowd, and she's teamed up with the court, McCown, another, we had him here in Charlotte for a while, and he took off, he left us. It's fine, court. (laughing) - I was supposed to process that motion. - So no, it was really nice to see her. She's doing great. She will be here, we're doing the new material night, January 20th. - Oh, she's gonna be here. - Yes, that's right. - That's right. - We'll be right here on this stage. We'll be doing new material night. There'll be, I think, eight comics, doing about eight or nine minutes of new material. It's a show that I host. - You guys are always on it, of course. - Hell yeah. - Come out and see us if you're in Charlotte for that. - Yeah. - What'd you guys get? - Oh, you're really willing to, okay, fine. - Yeah, I got some new headphones. I'm like, the biggest technology nerd that doesn't know anything about technology. - Okay. - I keep asking for these advanced things, and I'll use like 50% of their maximum capacity. (laughing) So I got-- - That, yeah, that's very accurate of you. - Yeah, let 'em think about it, that's 100% me. So yeah, I got some new headphones. I got like the Beats Fit Pro, so they're like-- - Are those like the ones that are like Apple, they're like extra Apple compatible, you know what I mean? Like they have all the connections that-- - Yeah, they are app 'cause I mean Apple owns that brand. - Oh, I did, yeah, so yeah, they have a lot of that connectivity, so that works pretty good. But I got those just for like, you know, running, going to a gym, whatever. Got some new running sneakers. - Same. - And some other stuff that I'm just, I'm blanking on. - Oh, I thought it was like-- - No, I knew what you were going to do. - The look on your face was like in some other stuff, don't worry about it. - No, no, no, I'm blanking. I got like, yeah, oh no, man. I'm sure I got something. (laughing) - You're talking about like, you know, like side of the bedroom drawer kind of stuff? - Yeah, that's what it sounded like. - That's what it sounded like. - Yeah, you didn't hear that. No, little gifts to both of you. - I do not, no, no, no, no, no, those points, that kind of toys, no, no, no. - It's disappointing. - Yeah, I'm trying to think of what I got. I got some, what did I get? I got this juggling thing 'cause I want to learn how to juggle. - Oh my God. - Okay. - That's a real, that's real. - Like, no, I believe that it's real. - You want this? - And I really, I have so many questions. - I have, I'm on a kick where I'm trying to-- - Are you a palma circus player? - Yeah, what are you doing? - I want to be a real jester, guys. That's what I want to be. - That's what it sounds like. - I am, so I'm reading atomic habits. Again, and I'm trying to do, I want to learn a new skill, kind of every year, juggling. - Of all that happens to build, that's the one you need. - Honestly. - That's the one you're opening between to a five year. - So what, I mean, like, trying to take this seriously. (laughing) - What? - Why? - I love it. - Like, why that? Just 'cause? - A little bit, just because, like, it was sort of offered. And I was like, oh my God, this is gonna be, I'm gonna make it. - Someone offered you like three balls? Like, what do you mean? - It was like, there was like a, it's like a-- (laughing) - No, well, there's-- - Someone offered you three balls! - Actually, I think there's five, I think there's five. And it's like a kid, and it tells you, like, gives you, like, step by step. - Actually, there's five, everything about this. It's just getting better and better. - Yes, and it's like, will I bring this on stage one day? Probably. - You're better now. - Yeah. - Absolutely. - Oh, you know it. - Why not? I'm gonna bring my guitar on stage at some point. - That I need to get back into. - And I'm gonna juggle, just for a minute. How funny with that thing? Can you imagine? Be like, no one will see that coming. - You should, in the middle of your set, say, "Okay, I'm gonna juggle now, just for a minute." - And then I'll juggle. - And then just juggle? - Yes. - And be like, that was a minute. - And then stop juggling, and then just go back to the jokes. - Yeah. - How funny would that be? - Jason, here's-- - I'll tell you what I see at the rest. - What's your best thoughts? - Yeah, I do, 'cause you are so influential in the Charlotte Comedy scene. - I don't know. - You are going to, like, raise a new crop of prop comics if you do this. (laughing) - For the sake of Charlotte Comedy. I think there was a time when you were at it. - For those balls there. - Yeah, maybe not more. I will say that it's a little bit of a joke to do it on stage, but it is like, I want to learn a skill. So I got a friend of mine, he kind of does this all the time. He's like, every year he's just a brilliant guy, and he usually picks something new every year and does it, and it could be anything. Like I taught himself piano, photography, he's taking photography lessons, cooking, like, all this, like, it's always something new. I find that to be very interesting, and to me that was like something that sort of showed itself, and I was like, all right, I'll try to joke it. - But again, how did it show itself, Jason? - Like in a gift, like it was a gift. - So someone did give you five. - Who is this? - Someone, who is my mom? - Terrible, wonderful lady. - Yeah, there you go. - Who offered you this awesome thing? - It was my mom, and she was the, I don't think, I think she was like, it'll be cute and fun. I was like, no, no, no, this is awesome. - Oh, she thought it was like sort of like a joke gift. - Not a joke. - That, we do little silly stocking stuffers in my face. - I don't think it was a joke gift. I think it was, I think it would be like, this would be cute if you did this here. And, you know, we got other stuff, but it was like, that to me was like, that's amazing. I'm gonna, I'm gonna do this. So hopefully you like-- - Did anyone else get you like an awesome, like, $500 gift that they're right now? Just like, what? - I know, it's the juggling set. - No, and it's like, for our family, it's all, it's like kids and stuff. Like, we me and my brothers and sisters don't really get it each other much. You know what I mean? - I forgot me something this year, it was like, you know, I got her like a gift card to a whitewater center, 'cause we hiked my sister and I. - Oh my. - So things like that, we've gone around, but nothing big, I didn't get. - We all just bought each other jackets from that one vintage. - Really? - That's what my, what my-- - That's gonna be it. - We got one for Nora and she hates it. She hates it so bad. - Really? She hates it now. - Well, she hates it to the point that she was crying because she felt bad. She was like, oh man, she was like, but y'all bought it for me. - Oh my gosh. - Sorry, I don't like it. Like she felt so bad. And so I was like, okay, here's what we'll do. We'll just put it in your closet and it'll be there. And that way you don't have to feel bad 'cause you didn't get rid of it. And if you end up liking it, hey, it's there. - 'Cause therefore you solved it. - Dad of the year. - I'm pretty sure not. But yeah, good for you. - True. - Good for you. That's nice. - She's wrong, by the way, it's dope. - Yeah, you're not as wrong as it. - All right. I'll give you that. - But she's also like the age where she's not gonna like much, you know? - Ah, yeah. - About to turn 11. - Yeah. I did get her a Taylor Swift sweatshirt or sweater in the middle and a Taylor Swift necklace, which what makes that Taylor Swift is that one little part of the necklace has a little TS on it. - Look at that. - And it was overpriced. - She make a course. - She makes a million. - Actually, I gotta say both of those things cost significantly less than I would have guessed. I went on the official Taylor Swift like merch website just like, all right, let's just look, but definitely not. - Yeah. - And I was like, all right, that's like normal concert merch prices. So, I've just bored myself. - Yeah. - That felt, that was a lot. - What we did do, I still, I stand by this then this, I'm gonna be cheesy for a second, but spending time with family, I think is, it's somewhat, it's funny, I remember being a kid, looking at my like parents and their friends hanging out and sitting and talking and being like, why are they doing that? That looks so boring. - Right, yeah, yeah. - They're just gonna talk, ah, that sucks, but now I'm like, we have a big party every year, we have a lobster party, lobster and steak part, my brother and my sister. They're amazing cooks. - Wow, okay. - Yes, we buy lobsters and everybody buys a round and they have this big spreads. That's my favorite thing, like of the year, it's that. - Nice. - Everybody gets together and we just drink and eat lobsters and like. - Cook up, okay. - Yeah, man, that's something else I wanna do is I wanna cook up better. Didn't you just say you said cook up? - Well, I did, but I could do it in our craft more, yeah, just, or heroin. - It's a spoon, yeah. Anyway, yeah, that was my, I had a great holiday season, man. Kickin' it off, or I should say, and what's the word I'm looking for? Finishing that you're strong with the show tonight. - You're strong, there you go, yeah. - Yeah. Let's take a break, 'cause we gotta get off the stage at some point. - Yeah, we do. - Let's take a break, come back, play some games. - All right, sounds perfect, all right. All right, we'll be back with something else. - C-L-T first, that's spelled C-L-T-1-S-T. It's a refreshing new podcast of Charlotte people, by Charlotte people, for Charlotte people. - No bots, no AI, just real human voices. - We call it news for people who are so over local news. - We work with natural allies, all locally owned, like the Charlotte Ledger, Queen City Nerve, Charlotte Post, and many others. - We're all about local, local, local, with minimal murder and mayhem. Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Instagram. - Change your morning routine with us. - C-L-T first. - QueenCityPodcastNetwork.com. (upbeat music) - Hey everybody, welcome back to Zoning Out, present by the Comedy Zone. And we are still here, it is still New Year's Eve, there hasn't been a time jump, or anything like that, nothing's happened to you. - I knew it, maybe, that's what I know about. But, you know, as Zoning Out tradition, we couldn't end this episode without doing at least one game. - Yeah. - Right? - I think the games really make it so we learn something about each other. I think that's why the games are fun. - It helps us bond. - We're not presenting the information we choose to present, we're presenting information that is revealing that we don't get to. Go ahead. - How about, say, the juggling thing was pretty revealing? - It's pretty revealing. - That's a good point, that's a good point. - You guys are really surprised by juggling. - Yes, that was. - Okay. - You guys don't like jugglers? (laughing) - I mean, they don't take us any-- - There's mental capacity. - There it is, there it is. Yeah, it's not bad, it's just, it is, like, not in a bad way, but it is, like, silly and corny. - Which is fun, which is fine. - Totally correct. - But, but also-- - But it's awesome. - It's also, yeah. - So we'll get comedy, if you wanna-- - Yeah, I'm sure I'm gonna get a lot of pushback on that. - The juggling community is the time after you did. - Honestly, views are views. (laughing) But, yeah, it's just not, it's, I'm with you. It's just not something that I ever think about. - Yeah, not at all. - Except my brother took a juggling class in college. - Whoa, wait a minute. - Wait a minute. - But he's a-- - He ran away from me. - He was a theater major. - Yeah, I'm not a theater guy, too. I mean, I'm a benefited guy from it. - Well, I mean, I also ridiculed him mercilessly about it. - Listen, let's not pretend I'm not a dork. - Yeah, he brought the guy a weird class. Why is he-- (laughing) - Excited one. Certified juggler. Okay, all right, all right, games. Would you rather-- - Would you-- - Certified juggle balls. All right, go ahead. - Would you say certified juggle ball? - Yeah, well, that's for not like us. - That was a stretch. All right, cool. - It was, but it had the, go ahead. Would you rather lose all your memories from the past year or not be able to make any new memories for the upcoming year? I'm leaning towards not being able to make any new ones for the upcoming year 'cause I'm pretty, like last year was just like a good year for me. Like it was like a good, just like this is like a serious answer kind of like, it was just like a year of, well, but like, whatever, but a year of like, I don't know, just like healing, to be honest. - Okay. - A lot, like 2023 was tough. - Yeah. - It was not a fun one for me and left some like residual like scars and stuff, you know? And 24 was a year, largely of healing. So it's, that would be tough. I would really be sad to let go of all the things I learned. - Do you lose something if you lose the memories? Like do you lose the values of that year? - No, I don't think you necessarily lose the values of that year, but I guess it would be like a little jarring. - Yeah. - 'Cause I mean, who knows like what all has happened that you can't remember? Like now you wake up and like your partner's there and maybe y'all just got together and it's like, what was there? - I don't, I don't know if that, I think that premise is slightly flawed though because I think that memory is a lot of what is inherently part of like thing of what you've gained. Like as part of the values as part. So I don't, so whatever you would keep intact would be, I think, severely diminished if you lose, if you lose the memories and steps. - Yeah, I kind of, that's a little YS, I think. - Yeah. - Yeah, so based a little bit on your answer was, if I lose those memories, I've lost some of the value of what you've learned and how you felt as a redemption year for you to only four weeks of redemption. - And it would be, so this one's, this one's I think may be kind of an easy answer for me. At least it's so far in the conversation. - I will. - The idea of not making new memories as you go forward is, I guess there's-- - It is pretty rough though. - Yeah, I mean, there's a way to look at that and say, okay, then I can do whatever I want, it's freeing. I can go and make some, like, make some really sketchy decisions. (laughing) - And then, okay, and then you can plead, you can essentially plead insanity if you think about it. - Okay, now you're not saying you're right. - And then, I don't think of it like that. - How about this, I have a terrible memory and it has gotten me out of a lot of primes. (laughing) I mean, it's a real thing. - Man, it's a different side that I wasn't thinking of, but I kind of-- - Yeah. - On your point. - I'm not even kidding. Like, I got hit in the face with a baseball bat when I was a little kid, and I, and I think that it's-- - Were you juggling that too? - No, did a 20 bird. - I'd go around here. - Yeah, it was like that. Like, you guys know that scar, man, that's like a real-- - I'm actually not, that's like a real thing, man. - That little, my brother hit me with a face with a, with a aluminum bat, when I was like five years old. Just, boy, just doing stuff. - You know, listen, you play with fire. - Yeah. - You know what I mean? You're gonna get burned. - Yeah, yeah, so that happened, and I remember-- - Blamed himself. I don't know if you just caught that. - Yeah. - Self-victim blaming. - I'm sure I was a-- - Yeah, I'm-- - We're getting hit in the head with-- - No, my brother's a monster. He was a monster. Thanks, Russ. Yeah, hit me, yeah, hit me in the head. It was like a huge deal. Neurosurgeons, I had work inside. - No idea. - Wow. - Yeah, it was pretty nasty. So, I do think I have, I haven't been diagnosed with this, but I think my short-term memory is like really not great. That's part of overcoming that to be a stand-up comic was a big deal for me. - Oh, man. - Just remembering stuff. - Remembering jokes. - And so, for me, in like relationships, I'd be like, I don't remember, we'd never talked about that. Be like, yeah, we did. I'd be like, I don't know. - The thing, yeah. - I don't know. I don't know. - Point at the scar. - That's pretty good, okay? It's your Harry Potter power. - Multiple episodes of the same thing, and be like, I don't remember this one. Like, that's a real thing. - I like it. - I think for me, man, I always try to, like, make the next year better than the previous one. At least in terms of comedy, 'cause obviously, there's a lot of stuff, even comedy, you don't have control over 100%, but like, I always try to like strive and accomplish more, so I'd rather take the gamble on being able to remember next year and forgetting this year, in hopes that like, I'll outdo whatever this year was. Anyway, so-- - Do you feel like you've done that every year? - Every year? No. But like, most years. - Yeah, most years, for sure. - Specifically, stand up. - Yeah, specifically, stand up. Most years. - Okay. - Yeah, I think I've, I think like, when I first started comedy, I was just kind of like, going through the motions for the first two, three years or whatever, and then I had that year off and I went to business school. - Yeah. - John doesn't love that year in Charlotte. - Yeah. - It was nice. - Yeah, he did, he did. (laughing) But then I came back, and then I kind of took it more seriously after that, and then from then on, I felt like I've kept like going up since then, so. - Yeah, I think I would be hard pressed to say that every year was just significantly better. I feel like I had probably a three, year, three, four plateau where I maybe similarly was like, all right, I gotta, I gotta press. You gotta get back to it, you know, get reinvigorated. I'm kind of shooting from the hip with that, but I kind of feel like that happened. You're just like worse every year, right? - So basically, you know, just kind of-- - It seems like it, I don't know. - Tell me if I'm wrong. - I don't know, man. - That's my real answer, I don't know. (laughing) I don't know. I just keep doing it. - Maybe that explains some of what's going on with you. Maybe that's it right there where you just kind of-- - It's fair. - Just aloof and unsure about the world around you. No notes. (laughing) - Yeah, I'll say, that's the opposite. - That's really awesome. - That's really awesome. - Five stars, man, you nailed it. - Yeah, you're like, I'll just, I'll just go. I'm just gonna go show up. - Yeah, it's good to be. - Kinda. - All right, you got another one? - I do have another one if we have time, but I will give you all the option. Do you want another New Year's themed one, or do you want like a regular one? Whichever one seems like it's gonna be more fun to you. - Okay. - Would you rather have $10,000 instantly right now? Or-- - I love the money ones, by the way. - Yeah, the money ones are good. They speak about revealing. Or, karma becomes real for politicians. - Oh, shit. - Wait, $10,000? - Should we up it? - Karma becomes real for politicians. - All right, all right, all right. - I love it. - I'm probably gonna get $10,000 pretty quick at some point with-- - Okay. - 50,000. - Yeah. - I'm still with the politicians. - Dude, it's gonna have to be a high number, 'cause I think the world for everybody who's not already in a stupid good position gets better, including all three of us. You know, like, if karma becomes real for politicians. That would cause chaos initially, though, because so many terrible things would happen to so many people who deserve it. - Yeah, I'm the karma all the way. - You don't want the karma? - Yeah, the money-- - It's gonna have to be a big ass number for it not to be the karma. - The excitement, do we all get to witness these karma, do we get to-- - Of course, yeah. - Yeah, dude, I mean-- - Of course we'll see it. - And I'm not even, like, just bipartisan, just anyone who's been a shit. - Yeah, no, absolutely. - They have to eat their words. - We'll get basically a fresh start, I think. - I think so. - For better or worse, I guess. - I feel, we're not being specific, but I feel like it's gotten worse. I feel like politics-- - Oh, there's less and less karma. - No, no, no, I mean-- - I'm just talking about politically in general. It's to absolute shit show, no matter where you're looking, no matter what direction you go in. I just think it's pretty terrible. Hey, Ted, you wanna come on the show? (laughing) - As shocking, no, from Ted. Everyone thought for sure he would wanna do it. - Oh, man, he shook his head. I think he gave me the finger. I don't know, I can't tell you-- - Timmy's heart, he did. - Yeah, absolutely. - Oh, there it is. - Did he use a thumb on that one? - I think he did. - That's the gangster way to do it. You put a thumb out. - But got back to, like, I think karma, that would be exhilarating for so many people. - Yeah. - Right, like, can you imagine? - I think it's kind of the right answer. - Yeah, no, I think it is the right answer. And I am going to pay my student loans off and watch the world part. - Well, here's the thing, no. Here's the thing, no, Jordan. If karma happens to politicians, I'm pretty sure your student loans are gone. - Wow. - It's at some point in the near future. - Maybe. - That is the greatest answer, man. - Or I can guarantee they're gone. But that also, that also-- - Put myself some problems. - Or that answer drives home how correct the other answer is. - If that makes sense. - Yeah. - Because what is the thing you want to get rid of? The thing that politicians have made a problem. - Yeah. - Yeah, I agree. - That's fair. - That's really, really fun. Let's leave there. - I do love it, though. - We're at the zone here. - Speaking of the politicians. - Ooh, here's-- (laughing) - Actually, I'm over away. - Honestly, karma, eventually. - Freaking avenge. - We've been waiting. - We have been waiting. - Here is a question. I don't know if it'll change my answer, but does karma continue to happen for politicians? - Yeah, of course. - Of course, it's gonna be a one-time thing. - Yeah, the world's gonna get way better if that happens. - Come here, Bobby. - Yeah. - He said no, too. Everyone's starting to show, I'm sorry. I'm like, I'm all distracted 'cause everyone's starting to show up for the show. - Yeah, yeah. - So I'm waving, I'm trying to get people to come up. - I already said no. - We're having the Stacy. - Yeah, Stacy over here. - Hey, Stacy. - Stacy. - Come be on the show. - Come on. - All right, here we go. - No, she's gonna come. She's gonna come. All right, so people who don't know. Stacy has, she is the rock. She's always here, she's doing the hard work. - It's an open invitation, by the way. - Yeah. - Not just Stacy. - Come on up. - She's gonna come be on the show for a sec. - It's the end of the year. - Come this way, come this way. - Yeah, go around that side. So Stacy, yeah, you've been here one of the longest here? Yeah? - Yeah, good times. - Say hi to everybody. - That's what it look like. - Hello, everybody. - Get up on that mic. - This is the guy you'll find. - No, Andy. - How you doing? - Hello. - I'm good, how about you? - I'm a lot of color on tonight. - ASMR for you. - Anyway, say that louder. (laughs) - I'm gonna stick it on my jacket. - It's festive. - Wait, is it, is it homemade? - It's fabulous. - Yeah, but it's, I got an advantage store. So like, somebody did that. Somebody did this and then I liked it. - No, probably recently. - Yeah. (indistinct chatter) - States come over here, come over here. Tell me, what is your, what's your favorite part about working at the Comedy Zone here? - The staff. The staff. - Oh, that's such a cop-out answer. - No, it's not. Nope, that's literally the only reason. - Yeah, y'all are soldiers. - Oh, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa. - 'Cause there's way more not fun local comedians than there is fun. That's the only reason. - There it is. - I'll go thank you. - I'll go thank you. - Okay, same answer for you. - Yes, I love my goal. - That's beautiful. I love that. - Which of these favorites? - The local comedians. (laughing) - Or is it also the staff? - Squeezing through the tables. - Yeah, okay. - Yeah, I can see it here. - Yeah, yeah, all of this. (laughing) It's quite tight in here. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - I don't know, I don't know. - You don't know. - I'm really happy. - All right, you usually do the green room. How's the house with working in a comedy club for the comics? And I mostly remember to tip you. (laughing) - No, you've been getting so much better about tipping. - Thank you. - No, thank you. - That's a great thing. Comics, if you're out of club. - Tipps, tipps. - It just would be clear, my shittiness tipping is my memory, my memory, my brain, not my. - Yeah. - Yeah, I am better now, be consistent. - It's not the Hendrix and Tonic, not that at all. (laughing) It's not that. - No, definitely not. - And for people, it's awesome. I usually wait on the same comedians over and over and we have bonded and I know what they drink and what they want and we know how their show is gonna go down. Or you wait on the same comedian so many times that you're like, yeah, I'm never doing that again. (laughing) - Never. - Name, names, names, names, names. (laughing) - I'm just so happy I'm gonna be out of town that week so I don't have to do it anymore. - Yeah. - Name, names. - Yeah. - I mean, I feel like I've been here long enough that I don't have to take abuse from comedians anymore. - Right, yeah, yeah. - That's good. - But I mean, I don't know if I really ever did, but. - You don't seem like that's up to you. - She's a sassy pants. - A little bit. - Yeah, oh yeah. - She's a sassy pants. - Yeah, that's exactly how I would describe myself. - Say that really clearly. How would you describe Stacey? (laughing) - Sassy pants. - No, I'm not. - Sassy pants. Just wanted to get a clean in the mic. - I'm not a sassy. I'm a nice lady. (laughing) - People who know me know him a nice lady. - If you could snap, if you could snap your fingers, what would you change about clubs in general or this club? - This club, I would change it to its own stand-alone place. - Oh, with parking. - With parking. - And a kitchen and just not in this factory. - Not depending on how tough it is before. - Yes. - Honestly, I feel like we would do so much more better if we had our own kitchen, if we had our own parking lot. I mean, people don't like to pay parking. Tickets are not expensive, but I mean-- - It's expensive, I would argue. - I mean, depending on what your spending limit is. - Sure. - You can come to the Comedy Zone and have a $20 ticket and still have a good time. - Sure. - You can go outside and you have to pay $20 parking. - Right. - Sure. - You know? - Yeah, exactly. - I really believe that having its own stand-alone, it would-- - Yes, that would be my favorite thing. - How about this favorite comic? Do you have a favorite comic that comes through over the years? - Yeah, I have a bunch. Craig Ferguson. - Same, love Craig. - I really like John. He's cool, John Reap. - John Reap. - He's the man. - Always, Dave. He's coming in January. - Joe is a staff favorite. - Joe Dobrowski. - Yes, we love Mr. Dave. - Do you like the one with him? - No, but David's health. - He's wild. - He's the nicest. Staff-wise. Like, he actually talks to us and, you know, whereas some people-- - It's a fact girl, he brings us candy and that makes me very happy. He's a happy guy. - I want candy too, what do you mean, right? - I love candy. - There's a new generation of comedies who are coming who don't even know that they should be tipping. - Oof. - So, there's that. - Please tip your servers. We go out and get your stuff that you ask-- - That you don't pay for. - Right. - You know, we have to tip out the bartender for every drink that you drink. So, if you don't tip us, we essentially pay to serve you. - That's crazy. - Dang, I didn't know that. - Oh, I didn't know that. - That's what I mean. - I didn't know that one specific. - Yeah. - So, like, everything that-- - Gotcha. - I gotta go. - Yeah, that was it. She's so mad at you guys now. - Well, we do tip though. We do tip. - I know. We pay basically to know. - Right, yeah, I didn't, I did not know that. - It could be dollars. - Sure. - I didn't know that. - Is it a pool? - Oh, I had no idea. - Is it pooled? Like, like-- - Are tips? No, no. - Okay. - So, one of the big lessons here, which I realized is that so the servers tip out everybody else, the full staff. So, like you just said, if you don't tip, then you're putting it on them. They're like, they're paying-- - I need to do some math. - That's wild. - I'll see if I need to do more. Good Lord. - Yeah. - Interesting. All right. Yolani, did you give us a favorite comic that you've worked with? That I've personally worked with? TI? - Yeah. (laughing) Love TI. - Love TI. - Oh, that's so cool. - It's my, just, I mean, TI, DC Young Fly, like, they're some of my favorite favorite, just human beings, as in general. But, I mean, honestly, I love working with all three of you as well. - Aw. - Yeah, you're very swipe wise. - I mean-- - Likewise. - There is something to be said about people you get to work with, maybe more often, and we get to know each other, family, and friends, yeah. - You know, like Stacey said, taking care of the same green room, year after year after year, you build a rapport, like, taking care of Tommy Davidson for years. - Right. - So, like, don't give these, and all of these names, I like, and then if you had got me 10 years ago and told me that you were gonna be taking care of these people, I wouldn't like your life. - Right. - You were shooting me. And never, like, this place has made my wildest dreams come true, and that's why I can just walk away from the conference. - Yeah. That's one of the things that I heard a couple headliners were talking about this. The accessibility of comics and comedians is different than any other sort of business and entertainment business. Like, actors are, they are so kept away from everybody else, oftentimes even the crew. Same thing with musicians. You don't get this sort of, even kind of, you know, what do they call it, back, not behind the curtain, whatever the word is, back of the house, folks. - I think comedians are much more just accessible, easy to get a whole year of interactions. It's just greater, I think. Which is cool. I think it's cool. - I love my job. - Yeah. - Wouldn't change a thing besides, you know, what we talked about. - The things. (laughing) - All right, we're gonna close that out. Yolanda, thanks for saying hi. You're awesome. - Thank you, thank you. - Laundy. (laughing) - That's great, I'm glad. This is exactly what we wanted to get some of the staff out here. Stacy was really biting her tongue, though. She had thoughts. (laughing) - She was biting, she was usually, she'll yell at you. - She actually punched me in the face. It wasn't on Mike, I don't know if you all heard it. (laughing) You all saw it and you were quiet, like you should, in fact, I'm gonna pay for this. I'm saying it. - Yeah. - That sounds bad. - Well, guys, I'm just gonna say my goodbyes, however we're gonna do this, but I think this has been amazing. You guys know how good of friends I've been with Kevin Shimko. He's one of my favorite human beings, and the idea of kind of walking away from the commies only was a real possibility, but getting you guys here involved has been amazing, so I'm been really psyched about this. - It's my favorite part of the week, man. - Yeah, I love it. - Yeah, same, yeah. - You guys are funny and professional and friends, and this is awesome. - Yeah. - Glad you guys decided to do it. - Shucks. (laughing) - I take it all back, and I'm gonna... - Why, 'cause I sincerely said a 1950s... - Yes. - Thanks, sound. - Take it back. - I think, sound, all right. (laughing) I'm not good at words. - Yeah, I know. - All right, well, ladies and gentlemen, that has been zoning out for 2024. We will be back in the new year with new shows, new hot takes from Jonathan. - We got some stuff coming up. - Yeah, we did. - We got some stuff-- - Some surprises in store. - Yeah, so please keep up with us. Follow us on socials. Again, the Zoning Out podcast on Instagram, emails, the Zoning Out podcast said Gmail. - It's a podcast zoning out at Gmail. - Right, yeah, of course. You can call us as well. We'll try to get that in the show notes other than that. Happy new year, probably. - Happy new year, everybody. - Happy new year. (upbeat music) - QueenCityPodcastNetwork.com. (logo chiming)