Comedy saved me. Hey, welcome to Comedy Saved Me. I am your host, Lynn Hoffman. And if you're enjoying the show, first of all, thank you. And also, could you do me a quick favor, maybe drop a rating or review on iHeart, Apple, or Spotify, or wherever you listen, because it would really help us spread the word and let others know that you think the show is kind of cool, which we so much appreciate. And hopefully we can get more folks to check it out, because the more good that we can do and the more good we can spread, the better. So thank you for that. Today, I sit down with a comedian whose punch lines are like magic tricks. Boom, right between the eyes. You never see him coming until you're laughing out loud. She is the queen of the perfectly timed pause, a master of the one liner, and a trailblazer who's been making audiences crack up for decades. Get ready to walk through a sharp, witty, and wonderfully surprising world of Wendy Liebman right now on Comedy Saved Me. Wendy, welcome to Comedy Saved Me. It is so great to have you here. I love that intro. Thank you. I hope I can live up to that. You already have, and then some. And everybody knows you. You've been on every show that's possible that could feature comedians. Wendy and I were talking before we started the show about our weird thing that we have with the color black, that if you go look her up online pretty much every time you see her on stage, she's wearing black. And I thought, wow, I do the exact same thing. I went into my closet. It's all black. It's unbelievable. So we have that little kinship between us. Well, I think when I'm on stage, I don't want to distract the audience. So if I just wear black, then they're not looking at my paisley or skirt or whatever. But I did tell you that I bought a pink jacket to wear on stage the other day just because people need to change every once in a while. I don't mean change their clothes, but change, grow. So I bought a pink jacket from Macy's. And I'm going to return it tomorrow. I do it. Not me. It's not me. Who am I kidding? I do it all the time, all the time. I try to convince myself that it's going to look good. And then I always end up throwing on a black t-shirt and calling it a day. I mean, my niece once asked me, Aunt Wendy, why do you dress like a mime? And I was like, who can say? That's all you had to say with the hands. I love it. All right. Well, Wendy, I just got you here. And all of a sudden, we have to take a quick break. But we have to pay the bills somehow. So if you wouldn't mind hanging out for a second. And we'll be right back with Wendy Leibman on Comedy Saved Me. This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. Comedy saved me. And we're back. Wendy Leibman, can you share a moment when comedy truly saved you, when laughter helped you get through a really tough time in your life? You know, honestly, I think I started doing stand-up. I mean, who knows why anybody does anything. But I was very depressed. I was doing psych research. I was going to be a therapist. I was doing psych research at Harvard Medical School. I had just graduated from college. I went to Wellesley. And I thought I was going to be a therapist. And I myself was very depressed. And I took in the mail from the wrong apartment. And in the mail was a course catalog for an adult ed center, like the Learning Annex. But it was called the Adult Ed Center of Cambridge. And it was a course on how to be a stand-up comedian. And Lynn, when I read those words, it was like a light bulb went off, like Eureka. Like I heard angels singing. And even though I had never thought about being a stand-up comedian in my life, I just felt like it was a calling, basically. Like this is what I'm supposed to do. And even though I was not great for a couple of years, I just knew that this is what I am, a stand-up comedian. So it saved me in that I was less depressed. I would go to every comedy show I could. Laughter itself is very healing. And they've done studies. There's a whole study about laughter. I think it's called gelatology. And it's out of Stanford. And they show how it helps increase breath, then dopamine, and all the good things in your body. And just being around people was really good for me, too. And I decided I would rather make 100 people laugh than one person cry as a therapist or cry by myself. And I think it really, that was a long answer. But it truly was what I needed psychologically, both watching comedy I loved to laugh and being the person on stage making the audience laugh. So we are job, though, if you think about it. Like, that's what we do. It is. And it's interesting to me, when I was reading about you, graduated Wellesley College as a psychologist, which is amazing. I minored in psychology, but I kind of knew what I wanted to do. So I thought it would be helpful just to be able to communicate with people overall, just to understand people more. But you actually wanted to go full on and help people with therapy. And I'm just curious how much of that has helped you in comedy. I think a big part of being a therapist is listening. And I think I really listen to the audience. Like, I hone that skill. I am aware of the audience. Like, I realize I'm also aware, like, if I'm in an airport, I pick up on things around me. So it just honed my senses, I think, thinking that I was going to be a psychologist and then actually doing stand-up. I don't know if that answered your question, but there's some overlap. No, no, that does make sense. And it's interesting, too, that you just said that you can kind of tell what's going on with people. Is that because of your education or maybe you're sensitive? I think a little of both. Yeah. Yeah, it's hard to tell. Yeah, it is. It's very confusing. Well, you obviously picked the right career path, right? Because you've been incredibly successful. I was curious what your approach to comedy and how it evolved over the years. You've been doing this a while. And what advice you would give to your younger self, maybe, when you were just starting out? Well, I tell comedians now who ask me for advice to perform as much as humanly possible, which is what I did when I first started, even though I had a day job. I was at least one, if not three, open mics every single night in Boston. And there were a lot more venues and a lot fewer comedians. So it was a lot easier to get on stage. So I would drive all over town or through five states, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts. And then I'd be back at work the next morning. So that's the main thing, is performing as much as possible. Because you could think you're the funniest person in the world. And you might be. But until you hear the audience laughing, yeah, you need practical experience. So that's one thing I would tell myself, which I listened to. But the other thing I would tell people now, the thing that I wish people had told me, was try new material all the time. Because I would tend, and I still do, tend to hone my jokes that I have and work on them for years. And I would have a lot more material and a few more specials if I had taken chances and trusted the audience enough to or trusted myself to feel comfortable trying out new material. I write all the time. I just don't try it out all the time. Well, wouldn't you say that that would be, that's incredibly interesting, but very familiar, as I work with a lot of producers. And I see that happen a lot where they get in their own way, because it's not done yet, but it's only subjective to you. But then it's like a birthing, because then you have to put it out there to be judged by everybody, so you want to make sure it's perfect. So that's kind of hard. Exactly. And I was with a few comedians the other night. I produced a benefit for reproductive rights. And I performed last year, and they asked me to produce it this year. And I had some of the best talent out there. I had Rita Rudner, who was one of my idols, and Kathy Griffin, and Kathy Ladman, and Stephanie Blum. And we were talking backstage about using jokes that we wrote 30 years ago. And not that any of us is Bruce Springsteen, but I said Bruce Springsteen still sings Born to Run every show. So if it works, it works. So, yeah, if your jokes aren't topical or seem out of context or ridiculous, they work. So why not use them? Anyway, but yes, I would tell my former self to just take a million chances and be fearless, be fearless. Yeah. A part of what makes me do or made me do stand up was an insecurity of that I would sit in or get along. And I've I've been heckled a few times and I've been and I've bombed not many times. I mean, I'm not bragging, but. Like I I've bombed in the last 10 years. But I haven't bombed like where it was just painful. Where the cane came out and like dragged you off. But in those times when I have bombed, I felt the same way that I felt before I did stand up, which was very alone, very misunderstood, panicky and depressed. But that that has to ring true with so many people, what you just said. It happens to me all the time. It's amazing. You think you get 10 steps ahead. And then one thing happens and then you're right back where you were before you learned that lesson. Well, I did a show the other night. It was like a private club in Beverly Hills and it was 30 year old somethings and it wasn't my audience. Let's put it that way. It wasn't my audience. And I had to work like really work like they didn't know me at all. And I was reminded that, yeah, this is my this is a job. What's my point? My point is every time I get on stage, it's a new audience and you never know. Like I have done it so many times for the past 40 something years that I know that I could get a laugh with a certain joke, but there's never any guarantee. Forty years, man, you have not even aged a second since the first time I saw you. You look amazing. It's the filter. Yeah, that's right. Everything looks better on the camera. Your punchlines are famous for their subtle, shall I say, misdirection. How did you develop that signature style of yours and what challenges sort of came with it? I think that's just the way my brain works. And but I think any quote unquote artist, if I can call myself that, is influenced by the people that they grow up with, that they start their art with. And I was in Boston in the 80s and I would watch a comedian, Jonathan Katz, comedian Brian Kiley, who's my favorite Joe Grader. I would watch Laura Kytlinger, Don Gavin, Steve Sweeney and Kevin Meany. And I would see them on Bill Broaddus. And I would see them and see what worked with them. And I remember watching Kevin Meany one night, the late great Kevin Meany, and he was on a roll. Like there was never any lag. And I thought, that's what I want to do. I do not want silence. I so I kept adding taglines. So it it was an evolution. Like that's all I can say. It was like I learned from watching and listening. And now in my 60s, I appreciate the silence more because I think there's actually my husband for our 22nd anniversary gave me a book called The Power of Silence. That's just a joke. Was he trying to tell you something? I should have been getting that book too. So I do like the silence now. I take my time now on stage. Yeah, that's weird. I always felt my whole life. I had to fill the silence. I'm so nervous. Like if it's too quiet, it gets weird, right? But now it's like very powerful. I feel the exact same way. And I realized recently that it was about being around my mother who had to fill all the silence too. Like we could never have any lag time in our conversation because then it meant something else might happen. Oh my God. And not to get too not to get too heady and psychological about it. But I think that's where it comes from for me. Yeah. So I find myself with people probably like you trying to make them feel comfortable and fill the gaps. I've been talking to my husband's cousin. She's a wellness coach. And at the beginning of our zooms, we take breaths and so we have to be quiet. Oh God, that must be so weird. So we can do that. I know. Oh, I know it is. What is a common misunderstanding, Wendy, that audiences have about comedians and stand-up comedy? Ooh. Maybe that we're funny all the time. And I have to say I know some comedians who are always on. And then I know a lot of comedians who are like the opposite of funny when they're on. I mean, when they're not on. In my situation, my husband is the funny one. For real? And for real, he's so funny, my husband, but he's also really shy. Like he would never do stand-up. But he said, if I do stand up, I'm just going to be on stage and I'm going to wet my pants. Hey, it might get a laugh. Right. And I'll say that's my time. But he always has some really creative, funny thing to say about every day. Wow. Well, he's a writer. He wrote on a sitcom called Boy Meets World. Oh, I remember that. Yes. And he's also the son of a songwriter who wrote a lot of the music for Disney. Wow. They wrote Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Oh my gosh. The music, yeah. They wrote the song, It's a Small World. So you're like your own little entertainment mecca empire right there. Just the two of you. Wow. So it's just funny. Yeah, my husband inspired the song Spoonful of Sugar. No way. And listen, Gojahn, yes, he came home from school and his dad said, what did you do today? And he said, we got the stulk vaccine or the vaccine for polio. And my father-in-law said, you let them give you a shot. He was seven. And he, my husband said, no, they put it on a sugar cube and the sugar cube was on a spoon and we just ate it. Oh my god. I have goosebumps. I can't believe that's such a fun fact that no one would ever know. Right. And so my father-in-law like twiddled his thumbs and called his brother, who was his writing partner. And the next day they wrote, Spoonful of Sugar helps medicine go down. In the most delightful way. Exactly. Wow. Wow. You heard it here first. That is very cool. Unless you must, you must have told that story before. I'm sure once or a billion times. What's the funniest or most memorable show that you've had and what made it stand out? Can you remember? You've done so many. I have two shows that I always think about. And one was I got to open for Bob Hope in the 90s. Outside for 5,000 people. And in Indianapolis. And that was surreal. I mean I've opened for a lot of famous people like Ray Charles and Anne Margaret and Leo Glacier. Like I can't even believe my life. I feel like Zeleg sometime. And but that was memorable just because of the comedy Gravity. Yeah. And then one time I was in a basement of an Italian restaurant called Pizzano's in Dearborn, Michigan. And there were eight people on a Sunday night. And it was joyous. I just included all eight of us. By the end we knew everybody's name. I think I bought everybody a drink. Wow. I felt like a puck on an air hockey board. I was in the moment. I just it was it was really fun. And you know I've gotten much more conversational talking to the audience over the years. Whereas when I first started it was like I had to follow my script and every word had to be in place. And because jokes rely on the rhythm and the punchline and you know the wording. There's timing. And yeah the timing. So I was very studious like that. But then I started talking to the audience probably just to fill the time sometimes. And the audience loves that because it's like an inside joke with the audience. You feel like you feel like the comedian is not just an actor saying lines. That they are really the comedy brain. The people who are best at that. You know now you see it a lot. Now you see a lot of comedians posting their audience interaction videos. But before that this wave Paula Poundstone is the best at it. She riffs with the audience. Comedian named Jimmy Brogan who was one of Jay Leno's head writers for many years. He's phenomenal. Russell Peters is amazing. Like it's a real gift. And so I'm not great at it but I've gotten better over the years and I really enjoy it. Like I opened for I have a standing gig opening for Fritz Coleman who was the weather guy here in LA for 40 years. And he just stand up. That's how he started. He was seen at the comedy club and they asked him if he wanted to do the weather. Of all things. I know. I know. I think David Letterman started that way too. Wow. But so now he is a standing gig and I do 20 minutes in front of him once a month. And his is more like a play. But my so I do the opposite of that. I just interact with the audience and talk to them about life. So I love I love using that creative muscle. It's sort of like relaxing in the saddle of life. It's the only kind of someone said that to me once. Oh I love that. Right. All of a sudden it's like even when I was doing the show originally I had come off all public stuff for probably like 10 12 years and I really wasn't going to get back into doing anything unless it was for good purposes. Hence why I'm here. But being comfortable to say wait a minute. Hold on a second. Let me look at a note that I just had here. You just meant you know and then I hate to do that. You don't have to be so polished and perfectly. Right. I yeah I bring notes sometimes and I even ask the audience I say I'm trying some new jokes. Would you mind and they're like no no of course. We'll be right back with more of the Comedy Saved Me podcast. Welcome back to the Comedy Saved Me podcast. You mentioned Paula Poundstone and I just found out yesterday that she's going to be coming on the show as well. So I'm so stoked over that. You know first I get Wendy Liebman and now Paula Poundstone is going to come on and I can't even wait to talk to her. If you could ask her a question what would you ask her. Let me think about that but I want to tell you a story about her. Oh please. Yes. That's okay. Yeah. So she originated in Boston. So when I was starting she came back to do a show and I remember watching her and thinking and I had just done it for like six months and I remember thinking I am I should just quit because I'm never going to be that funny. I can never be that funny and 40 years later I have realized everybody has their own voice. It's like there's room for every single voice. And so I was on a show that she was hosting recently like recently probably a year and a half ago and she watched everything and laughed at everything I said and I thought oh my god and she even tweeted about me the next day and I thought oh my god this is surreal and it's full circle and so what would I ask her. I would ask her if she would let me open for her. Now I know she's just. That's a great question. Come on. She doesn't have anybody open for her. I don't know what I would ask her. Think about that. Okay. I will. We'll circle back. Okay. I just like saying that. Yes. I'm trying to think you'd mention something that I'll come back to. Look at your notes. Look at your notes. Steve Sweeney, Kevin Meany, two of my all-time favorites in fact when I was doing morning radio in Boston one year I got a random phone call and I didn't know who it was and it was Steve Sweeney and they had hired him to do morning radio a comedian doing morning radio like having to get up at the time you would normally go to bed after a show. I have one question for you and I said what and he said how the hell do you get up at this ungodly hour and try to be funny and entertain people? And it was like I couldn't imagine that he would even do the job but he was really good and we competed against each other in Boston and it was very fun and we became friendly. He is just an amazing, I love him so much. I just absolutely adore him. Yeah. He was like, he was amazing. I mean he still is. But doing morning radio that's like in any job it's not just the job. My job I see as getting to the gig either flying or driving there's always some travel and it's also learning how to do morning PR which is radio or learning how to do press which I didn't know that was part of my job. So I would fly to a city on the east coast so I'm three hours behind. I'd go to sleep at three anyway at home so I wouldn't be asleep for more than an hour and then I would have to get up and do radio. So it like really messed with my circadian rhythm but what's my point? Yeah I don't know how I don't know how you did morning radio. I love that you get lost like I do sometimes. No that was great but sometimes the more tired you are the better it is you know because you don't think so much about what you're doing and you're just like whatever. Oh my god, oh my god. Oh wait you in the back you have your hand up. Yeah. Oh my god. What? What? This so for years this is exactly true. I had a day job as I said so I didn't sleep a lot. So a lot of comedians back in the 80s they would drink a lot and so it was easier for them to get on stage. I anesthetized myself by being exhausted. No I'm being serious and then I recently had to do a radio show here in LA at night and I was not tired at all and I realized this is harder when I am way conscious. Yes. Like because I'm used to doing morning radio. So yes I totally agree with you having less or fewer faculties at that hour makes you freer. Yeah it just makes you looser and you don't care as much you know it's kind of what we talked about earlier. I feel connected with you. Me too. We have the necklace, we have the hair. You look I can't even tell you. I really really feel connected to you. The minute that you popped on the screen and it's really weird but I grew up in Boston so maybe that might have something to do with it and I'm sure you came on the John Lander morning show once or twice in Boston. It was like the number one show for many many years. It was Lander and Maddie. I'm sure I was on your show I'm sure. And funny enough it was Maddie at one point Maddie Lander and Steve Sweeney all on the morning's different stations in Boston. Isn't that crazy? Well I would have listened to you. Aw thanks. Wendy when life gets stressful what role does comedy play in keeping you grounded? I realized recently that I was having a hard time recently and I haven't felt depressed since the 80s when I started doing comedy. I know that's pretty good. I mean medication and therapy help but comedy just played a big role in that. And I realized that I hadn't performed in a while and it's like a thick. I needed a fix. You were going through withdrawals. I really was but I didn't realize it until I sat down and thought about it that it does play a big role hearing people laugh. I'm curious about that too. I don't have that answer but hearing laughter for 40 years I wonder what that does to somebody's psyche. Like maybe some kind of I don't know. But so comedy I also love watching comedy. Like yesterday I watched a comedian named Sam Murill. I've recently watched Jessica Curzon and Nate Bartgaze or I don't know how to pronounce his name but I love like listening to Brian Regan and David Tell and yeah I just love laughing. Because what it does is it makes me think a different way. Right. Like when somebody's making you laugh it's like oh there's like an out. So there's another way to think about this. It's not all consistent. Wow. Wow. Well I have to tell you two things popped into my head when you were just saying that one we need the laugh app the Wendy Liebman laugh app where you just turn it on and it's just funny people laughing like you don't even have to tell a joke just laughing and hearing it. And then the other thing I was thinking is my oldest dearest friend Scott he had the funniest laugh growing up that I remember telling him if we could somehow bottle your laughter and or sell it like a commodity they needed on TV shows because back then you had to have laugh tracks and stuff you know there wasn't any AI or so. So I but but I loved him the most and that and I look back and I think about what you're saying and I'm wondering you know he could tell great stories and he always made me laugh but his laugh was even funnier than his funny stories and I wonder if maybe that's another reason why I was so close to him because he made me feel so good all the time. Well I think that's it's so healing to laugh especially with somebody and I feel like laughter is the healing is exponential when you're laughing in a group. I want to get my quote right I wrote something and I want to get it right like I can't remember exactly I think it's a laughing crowd is a chorus of peace because we're all on the same wavelength at that point and it's joyous it really is. It is have you ever had a moment like when you were on stage and and you felt like you were helping the audience get through something and healing helping them heal? Well always after something big like after the pandemic or after 9-11 I can feel that the audience wants to laugh more so we're just the instigator we're like the impetus we are there to say it's okay to laugh so we're giving you permission and if what you're saying is funny that's even better. So I felt the laughter was like deeper after tragedy. So you know and you bring up tragedy and then you know tell me to shut up or not bring something up but I saw something that in my research on you that I thought was just so impressive and you know you don't have to get into the the reasons and all of it but you were kind of taking out a commission because of a car accident and oh I'll talk about it. Okay well I mean I don't know and yeah but what I read was you put yourself back on the scene by going on was this correct America's Got Talent? Yes okay so you're talking about the first accident. Oh there was more than one you weren't driving were you? Do not hang out with me on Ventura Boulevard that's all I could say okay the first time my husband and I were driving back from a dinner it was 11 at night we were at a stop light there were four lanes across two of them were turning left and we were hit by a drunk driver all seven cars well he was the seventh but it was like he bowled into these stationary cars the woman in the car right next to us died like it was that close and so just by faith by faith we moved lanes because we didn't want to be behind this one group of kids in a car that seemed a little rowdy yeah so we moved over I was sitting on the bus bench on the side waiting for whatever to have the hull of a loop and I thought I have to get back out there that's exactly what I said because I I'd been doing stand-up but I was also a step mom at that point and I stayed home more and so I auditioned for America's Got Talent and that really did like boost my visibility so that was great but that's incredible that you put yourself out there that way I mean that's it's like you didn't just come back you went on a major widely watched show and put yourself right out there well I had seen other like some peers on that show and I thought oh they did it I can try and it was really fun and I never expected to win I just thought this is a good experience like that I have as I got an older I think everything is just cumulative it's all good experience I met amazing people and still friends with people that I met the sons of Serendip which is this beautiful quartet they started at BU actually they met at BU and they're just phenomenal Matt Franco who won that year he's a magician he has his own showroom in Vegas so anyway it was the people that I met that's cool so you remain friends with all those people that's very cool yeah I knew I wasn't gonna win so I want to win this can chain you out runner up oh my gosh and then the second accident I was just walking across the street and I was hit by a car don't feel bad for me because I I've never had anyone say that to me no I was hit by a car but don't feel bad for me don't feel bad because so they broke a leg and both my feet then it should have been like six months recovery but when they took the cast off this is something that this goes into the category of shit you can't make up they took the cast off they saw that one of that the foot that was being rehabilitated or the leg was crooked like they said it wrong the rod was twisted so they had to go back and re-break the leg and so that took another six months so I was basically in bed don't feel bad for me I was in bed for 14 months but it wasn't all bad I have to tell you like I well I try to find the good and everything but I no pun intended I needed a break I had been on the road for so many years and here I was being waited on hand and foot I felt so loved by my friends and I got a little money from the woman that had hit me oh well that's always good yeah because that would suck if you find out they don't have insurance and you're SOL in bed 14 months with bed sores right hopefully you had cute nurses though well I have my husband who now I say I say I will do anything like he was sick for one day recently and I got oh my god I can't stand this nothing gets done and he did it for 14 months wow that that means yeah he really really loves you a lot he was an angel oh how long have you been married 22 years and together for three before that so something like that yeah I can't remember so you got to know each other too long no no yeah right is there a piece um actually let me skip back to one before because I you've been so generous with your time and and um we're kind of coming up on that and I'm like my last couple of questions and although I don't want to let you go other than comedy are there other passions that you have or creative outlets that we should pay attention to or maybe that you could share that maybe nobody knows no that answers that question I love it no no she does nothing else for comedy that's it so I I do you like to cook love playing the piano oh see so I'm not a good cook I'm not a good cook but I watch all the cooking shows and my husband's like why do you even bother I'm like I don't know I might learn something I also watch all the true crime shows oh I don't know how to cook but I try to eat really healthy not every night but I try to it's obvious by the way Wendy thank you seriously you are what you eat and you look like you're ageless like you look exactly the same as I remember seeing you 10 15 20 years ago wow so that's a testament to good eating thank you um I love my dogs they're in the background I don't know if this is video or audio they're not moving though is everything okay are they stopped yes I'm a tax the germists um you know they are this is a picture obviously they are rescued from Korea oh they are called gendos and they were going to be eaten not joking not joking what they were rescued from a meat market in South Korea and they are I love them so much but they're high maintenance and as trainable as a carry they are that's why I got a cat because they do what they want you don't have to worry about it I love I actually got them cat treats by accident and they loved them and now they ignore me like a cat oh see yeah very smart smart animal they're beautiful and um lovely that you thank you rescued them from dinner jeepers I know right that's crazy to me um is there one piece of wisdom that you wish that you'd learned earlier in your career just to try new material all the time and also just have fun like I try to just have fun now in my career like I had a show recently where I heard there were going to be agents in the audience and I already have an agent but I thought oh maybe they would cast me in a movie or something yeah like and then I saw you know what no I am here to make this audience have a ball like uh I heard yo yo ma say that every time he stepped on stage he thought of himself as throwing a dinner party and that this the audience were his guest and that made a lot of sense to me so yeah I just want the audience to feel good I wonder I wonder yo yo ma was a was a waiter ever because I don't know why that popped into my head but I worked at a restaurant when I was young and every time I'd get a large party like a table with lots of people I couldn't even wait not that I wanted to be a comedian but I just loved you know trying to get them to laugh making them making sure that they had a good time of course so I'd get a good tip but most of the you know what I mean so you I couldn't even wait did you ever do stand up no no um I love making people laugh I loved my favorites were Carol Burnett um I watched you know Goldie Han laugh and like all of it Saturday night live me too huge um but I never thought that I could ever do it because it was me alone like I never wanted to host my own show by myself wow careful what you wish for um but I I always wanted to work with a comedy troop like a team of people like a collaborative team which unfortunately is very difficult to find and why most bands need therapy after touring for 50 years so um yeah no but I wanted to be a host that was funny like Tom Bergeron right you know from Boston yeah so um and he's been on comedy saved me too so speaking of which before I let you go Wendy um we were talking about Paula Poundstone and I've given you some time to think about it although I haven't really because I've been talking your ear off um what would you know because I'll play it for her if you want so if you really wanted to be opening for her I will do that no no because she'll say I don't have anybody open for me I am um ask Paula how she started taking pictures of a chair at every venue oh she talks to the chair backstage really she takes it she takes a picture of its chair all right this is cool this is totally inside and although I do want to tell her something though okay if that's okay absolutely I follow her social media and in the background of her house or somewhere in her house she has a picture of I think it's Mary Poppins and so I want to tell her about my connection to Mary Poppins and I've met her like a dozen times now but I don't think she knows who I am um but also we're really good friends with Mickey Dolan's from the Monkeys and she and Mickey share a cat not really it's just on on social media okay so I want I guess I want to vet myself by telling her that we're best friends with Mickey Dolan's so not really a question so you have a mutual monkey between you exactly it's not on our back not on your back Wendy Liebman I could talk to you for hours you're an amazing person thank you so much talking to you and comedy truly saved me from depression from uh just figuring out my life I've learned so much from comedy I once wrote a piece called what I learned from stand-up comedy uh figure out your hair you are unique but you're also equal to everybody wear whatever you want and pray that nobody throws anything at your head I mean there are like 40 things on the list but those are the ones that come to mind oh and eat healthy if you can and eat healthy yes sustenance Wendy Liebman thank you for being on comedy saved me and uh good luck with everything and I do hope our paths cross again because it was just I hope so too you're my sister from another mother I love it thank you so much have a great rest oh is there anything you want to plug where can people find you website um wendy liebman.com that's it I'm on every social media platform except x thank you thank you so much have a wonderful day you too
