All right. Welcome, everybody. And thanks for checking out another episode of the Celebrity Jobber podcast. I'm Jeff Zito streaming on iHeart, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you listen to podcasts. Please hit that subscribe button. Would love to get a five star rating out of you. And please leave a review. If you wanted to check out past guests and episodes, You can do so online at celebrityjobber.com. And you can also follow on Instagram, celebrity underscore jobber underscore podcast. Also, the YouTube channel is at youtube.com slash the at sign celebrityjobber. We've been doing this for going on four years now. And we are talking with celebrities about their former life. Who were they before they became famous? Was it luck? Were their parents famous? What did they do for work? I'm a big fan of the movie Super Troopers starring the Broken Lizard comedy troupe. We're going to talk about how those guys initially got together. And we're going to find out a little bit about my guest today, who plays the role of State Trooper McIntyre Womack in Super Troopers. And by the way, we're going to talk about Super Troopers 3, which is scheduled to hit theaters this summer. He'll also be appearing this Saturday, February 21st, at the Florida Man Games in Bradenton, Florida, which is actually right down the road from where I live. About 15 years ago, I had him on my radio show, and when we were off the air, he told me a great story. When he was back in high school, he tripped on acid with a kid who ended up becoming a very famous news reporter. reporter, but he made me promise not to out the guy. And to this day, I've kept my promise. What would have become of this guy if it wasn't for the movie Super Troopers or the Broken Lizard Comedy Troupe? What did he want to do with his life? What was his major in college? And what was his first job? And the moment that changed his life forever. From the Broken Lizard Comedy Troupe And State Trooper McIntyre Womack from the movie Super Troopers, Steve Lemme, is my guest this week on Celebrity Jobber. The Celebrity Jobber podcast with Jeff Zito. If you like what you hear, please subscribe, give a five-star rating, and leave a review. Check out all our past episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you pod. What if these celebrities weren't famous? What would they have become? What was their first job? We're about to find out. Hey, Steve, how's it going, man? It's fantastic. How are you doing? I'm doing great, man. The Florida Man Games. I mean, this is a big deal. You have no idea. You have no idea who you're talking to. I may take a little credit in kind of inventing this genre of sport maybe 15 years ago when we held the very first Gator Olympics in southwest Florida. So this is a very exciting topic to me. Oh, good. It's insane. And I love it. You know, I saw it. Last year, they actually contacted me because the marquee event of the Florida Man Games, and this is the third year they're doing it, was something called the Evading Arrest Obstacle Course. and because you know because i made super troopers um they asked if i would introduce the event and i couldn't do it but i saw footage of all of the um you know different events and i was like this needs to be on television somehow right and so i reached back out to the the creators of this of the florida man games and you know asked if they wouldn't mind if i shot it as a pilot oh you know they, yeah, so we're shooting it this year as a TV pilot with like 12 cameras. But in the process, they asked, would you like to come down and, you know, like do something, either be a commentator or something like that. So I'm going to be a sideline reporter with my friend. I'm bringing another one of the super troopers down. My friend Kevin Heffernan plays. Farva. Officer Farva. A leader of cola. A goddamn leader of cola. Okay. That's the men. That's the men. This is you have no idea how bad timing this is for me. Steve, I'm a super fan of the Super Troopers. This Florida Man Games is going on right down the road from my house. I can tell you stories about when I was a younger kid at that drag strip tripping on acid the whole nine. And just an FYI, it was a long time ago, but you told me a secret about being in high school tripping on acid with a very famous newsman. I just want you to know, I never told. Okay. I never told. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. I still, every now and then, I still, you know, I went on a, when we came out with, we came out with a movie, Broken News, we came out with a movie called Quasi. Yeah. A couple of years ago, that was on Hulu, and I went on a talk show, and they were friends of this particular reporter, and I really wanted to tell the story, but I still haven't. somehow you trusted us with this information so we won't uh again we won't we we won't uh we won't screw you over we won't out yet so let's go ahead sorry i just want to say but that's that's because you're floridian is that why code in florida there's a code in florida which is you know snitches get stitched that right so so so being a sideline reporter of the florida man Games is your current job This is your latest gig Can you get in the old way back machine and tell me a little bit about your very first job ever Like my first showbiz job or my first job job. I was a pizza delivery boy in New York City at age 13. Really? So were you delivering on a bicycle? no no like i was just walking okay uh you know the uh the range their range wasn't too far okay um but uh but then actually my first professional gig came shortly after that because i was a breakdancer in new york city you know in the in the 80s it was uh you know hip-hop was had exploded you know a few years before and the flash dance came out and all of a sudden breakdancing was in front of everybody's eyeballs and i fell in love with it and so i learned how to breakdance and I was doing it on the street and I was approached and somebody asked if I wanted to do it for a TV commercial. And so I auditioned and I got the part and ironically, they wanted me to look like I was in my twenties. I was, you know, 14 years old. And so they put a fake mustache on me. And then, uh, yeah, that seems to be my calling card is my mustache. And, uh, and I got paid to do it and after that i was like man i want to be in showbiz because i got paid a lot of money to breakdance and i got out of school and i got to work with two models and so uh you know i was like this is fantastic so that was my first professional wow what was the commercial for do you remember it was for a um a clothing company named bobby brooks but this one was going to be shown in Colombia only. So the narration is in Spanish. Bobby Brooks, linea masculina. And it's me in the clothes, breakdancing and these two foxy lady cops come along and they bust me. They put me up against the wall. And while they're frisking me, they're like, ooh, look at these clothes. And then I spin around and I breakdance my way out of something. Is there footage? Is there footage of this anywhere or no? I've got it on my phone in my favorites because I like to tell everybody this story and show it to them. Oh, man, I've never heard this story. That's incredible. The Celebrity Jobber Podcast with Jeff Zito. The Celebrity Jobber Podcast with Jeff Zito. You know what, Steve Lemme? Again, you know, a big fan of Super Troopers. I had Jay Chandrasekhar on this podcast. He actually we got we got the most downloads and the most views on TikTok and all that when talking about Super Troopers three. And this was a couple of years ago. So Super Troopers three. Is it finished? It's ready to go in theaters this August. Tell me a little bit about it. It is finished. We actually had I wasn't there because I'm in Miami today. but we had an informal test screening last night where we showed like a long version of the movie just to see where the laughs are and where they're not. You know, sometimes you think a joke is going to be huge and no one responds. And there's things that you didn't even plan that the audience applauds at. So we had that screening last night and it went very well. And yeah, so then we have a few more months to finish it. And then August is when it comes out. I believe August 8th, but I can't remember. So, I mean, you've been with these guys, the Broken Lizard comedy troupe forever. And I know there's this is great talking to you because there's your Wikipedia page. You got to hire somebody to really, you know, you're too big of a star for this Wikipedia page you have here. I'm just I'm just saying. Yeah. But but tell me a little bit about before Broken Lizard. Like you went to high school in New York for a year. You left, you went to Colorado. What was going on with that? Did your dad have some kind of job where he had to move around? I grew up and I was born and raised in New York City. So I was at the same school until my sophomore year. I started when I was two and a half and went my whole life. Sophomore year, I got in a little trouble at my New York City high school. It's a longer story, nothing major. I basically bought a term paper from a catalog that I got out of the back of National Lampoon Magazine. And it turned out that the paper itself was fully plagiarized. So I got busted for plagiarism. And I went to a pretty hoity-toity private school because my mom was a Spanish teacher there and I had a scholarship. But they were going to kick me out. And it turns out the headmaster of the school really liked me. and he said, you know, we're going to kick you out. My advice to you is withdraw so you don't get an expulsion on your transcript. And I'm on the board of trustees at this great boarding school in Colorado Springs, the Fountain Valley School, and I can just get you in there. And I said, I'll take the deal. Oh, wow. So I went out there for then my sophomore and junior year, had a great time, it was a wonderful place, but I asked him, could I come back if I want to? And he said, yes, but you'll have to have a certain grade point average. And I hit it. I hit the GPA, and I came back for my senior year. And so I graduated from my New York City school in my senior year. Oh, my gosh. So when did Heffernan and Chandra Sekhar and the other Broken Lizard guys come into your life? Was that during college? Was it after college? In college. I went to Colgate University and those guys were a year ahead of me We wound up up being in the same fraternity And actually then my junior year Jay and Kevin started a sketch comedy group And the school made everyone audition for it just so it's fair play. But I auditioned and they determined that I could play like the sleazy guy. The mustache guy. Yeah, of course. Yeah. And so, you know, so and the first show we did was was magic. You know, we realized we had something. And then when I got done with with with college, I came back to New York City and those guys had moved to New York and were just kind of bumming around. And we decided we were going to start the sketch comedy group again in New York City. and so we went right to work and you know I say this without being cheeky the only place that would take us because there was a bunch of guys there were like eight guys the only place that would take us was a gay cabaret club down in the village really yeah no one we hadn't done anything we were 21 years old but they I think they thought we were a group of gay guys so they said okay yeah we'll give you Monday nights upstairs in the two-drink minimum room. Right. And so, you know, we were 21, and we knew all the people that had graduated, you know, two and three and four years before us. And so our very first show, we packed the place, and our crowd drank them out of beer. Oh, wow. At the end of the show, there were empty beer bottles covering the entire surface of every table. Right. And they said, okay, we're going to give you Saturday nights also. Wow. And so then our second show, the same thing happened. Probably all our same friends came, drank them out of beer, and then they extended us for the summer. And then after the third show, they gave us a two-year contract. And that's how we kind of learned the way the industry was. You bring in the butts in the seats and you get more gigs. That's right. Celebrity Jobber. The Celebrity Jobber Podcast with Jeff Zito. So what were you majoring in college, number one? Number two, were your parents disappointed when you said, Mom, Dad, I'm dropping out and forming a sketch comedy group with my pals? I was a fine arts major. I was a painter. Okay. I was a painting major. My favorite artist was Salvador Dali, and I had come down to the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. Yeah. after my freshman year and was like, I want to do that. I want to be a painter. And I still wanted to be an actor of some kind. But they were not pleased with me because, you know, my mom was a teacher. I told you, you know, she was a Spanish teacher at this hoity-toity private school. My father was an immigrant who had, you know, he was a chemical engineer in Argentina. And at 30, he came to this country, didn't speak any English. And so he was told, number one, he had to learn English. Number two, he had to get an American degree in chemical engineering and do the whole thing over again, which he did. He did both of those things. And then he wound up getting two masters, like one in business administration. And I can't remember what the other one was. But I think it was just Latin American affairs. So pretty brilliant guy. Brilliant guy. Incredibly smart. And so when I dropped out of college, you know, he still I'll tell you this. When they saw the first show on that Monday night in New York City, he realized I was pursuing something and everything changed again. He stopped being mad at me. Really? He said, you go for it. Wow. He said, you go for it. Wow. And then I sat next to him at the premiere of Super Troopers. And when the 20th Century Fox fanfare plays at the beginning, I looked over at him and he had tears. They were streaming down his cheek. That's awesome. And that was sort of the American dream, yeah. Oh, that's an amazing story. That's a fantastic story. Very cool. But even then, he could never talk about the fact that I had dropped out of college. Right. Because he also paid, you know, he paid like a lot of money to send me to that college. What do you think he would have done? I mean, as a fine arts major, what do you think he would have done with that degree? I have no idea. And I thought about that, you know, when we made a movie called Puddle Cruiser before Troopers and that didn't nothing happened with that. And there were times where I was like 26, 27, thinking about the fact that I didn't have a degree. I didn't have a degree anyway. And what was I going to do with my life? And that was very stressful. And then we made Super Troopers and things began to look a little bit more promising. Celebrity Jobber. the celebrity jobber podcast with jeff zito and here you are as a sideline reporter for the florida man games which by the way the old desoto speedway that's on state road 64 in bradenton i'm gonna be in phoenix this saturday so i'm so upset that i'm not going to be able to go out and meet you it's right down the road uh but i'm sure there will be a next time because i live right down the road from the Dali Museum as well. So the Florida Man Games tickets available right now. I posted links on Facebook, on Twitter, on Insta already. So you can just visit my socials and you can get tickets to the Florida Man Games. Steve Lemme, a real pleasure. Can you plug your social media handles as well? Yeah I on Instagram at Steve underscore Lemme And let see Let me yeah the Florida Man Games is or thefloridamangames is where you can get tickets I think there's a VIP party, so if you get VIP tickets on Friday, there's a big Florida-style cookout where we'll just be hanging out and socializing. That should be pretty fun. And that's this Friday? Oh, I can make that. I might be able to make that, Steve. Yeah, that's Friday. I believe it's 3 o'clock. Okay. And it goes into the night. That'll be fun. And yeah, so and then Super Troopers 3 comes out in August. So, you know, it's by the way, the Florida main games to me is like it's so perfect. It's such a great as long as people don't bring politics into anything anymore. It's like the Florida attitude is so great. And that's what's captured Florida main game. It's like we're just having a good time. We need a break from all that crap. And, you know, here in Florida, hopefully I can't wait to see what some of the events are. Like, you know, back in the day when we did the Gator Olympics, we had the toilet seat ring toss, which was like kind of like horseshoes. We had a cigarette flick for distance. I can't wait to see what some of the events are at the Florida Man Games. Again, it's at the Freedom Factory on State Road 64 in Bradenton. Steve Lemme from Super Troopers 3 in theaters this August. Your secret's safe with me, pal. And it's been a real honor. Thanks so much. My pleasure. We'll be talking soon, Jeff. Take care. Okay, so tickets available online at thefloridamangames.com. I'm so upset that I'm going to miss this. thefloridamangames.com, Saturday, February 21st. Man, I am such a huge fan of Super Troopers, and I thought Steve Lemme's story was just incredible. Immigrant father, I think he said he was from Columbia, brilliant guy very smart chemical engineer his mother was a spanish teacher at a very prestigious school in new york city steve got in trouble at that school for buying a term paper out of the back of a national lampoon magazine shipped him off to some private boarding school in colorado went to college at colgate university where he met the guys from the broken lizard comedy troupe Jay Chandra Sekar, Kevin Heffernan, and talked about how they got a gig at this gay cabaret in the village. And all their friends showed up, drank them out of beer. And as they say, you know, the rest was history. They ended up getting a two-year contract at this place. If you want to go back and check out the episode that I had with another member of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe, Jay Chandra Sekar. It's actually episode number 41, a pretty long and detailed story about the whole Super Troopers thing and how those guys actually landed that gig, which was the life changing moment for all of them. But it's episode 41 on CelebrityJobber.com with Jay Chandra Sekhar. And I was really moved by when Steve said they were watching the premiere of Super Troopers and he's sitting next to his dad and the 20th Century Fox theme song came on. Sorry, you know how it goes. And that song came on and he looked over and his father had tears coming from his eyes. I thought that was really, really cool. You know, like he said, his father was like a really smart guy. He had a degree from Columbia in chemical engineering. He moved to the States. They made him get another degree in America for chemical engineering. So he did the whole thing over in English. And then on top of that, got two master's degrees. So he was kind of pissed off at his kid for saying, hey, dad, I'm dropping out of college and I'm forming a sketch comedy troupe with my buddies. You could see how the old man could be very disappointed from his kid's decision of dropping out of college to screw around with his buddies. But I think it all came full circle at that movie premiere. First job as a pizza delivery boy in New York City. But I thought the story was his first professional job right after the pizza gig. He's like 13. Breakdancing was huge in New York City. I know this because I also was a break dancer and took lessons. And he was actually discovered on the street break dancing and did a commercial for some clothing company in Columbia. And I tried searching for the footage. I can't find it. But Steve says he's got it on his phone. Every time he wants to tell the story, he's got a little bit of a visual aid. I thought that was awesome. If you're in the Tampa Bay area, tickets online, thefloridamangames.com. Saturday, February 21st, this August, Super Troopers 3 hits theaters. What an incredible story from Steve Lemme. And thank you for checking out another episode of the Celebrity Jobber podcast, streaming on iHeart, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever you check out podcasts. So please subscribe, would love a five-star rating, and please leave a review. And of course, you can check out past guests and episodes online at CelebrityJobber.com. What would Steve Lemme have done for a living with a fine arts degree? Who knows? Maybe he would have been a famous painter, but usually famous painters don't become famous until after they die. And as far as I know, Steve Lemme is in pretty good health. You know, got a little taste of fame when he was discovered as a breakdancer. That's where it all started. It's such a great story. Anyway, thanks again for checking out another episode of the Celebrity Jobber podcast. And until next week, I'll see you then. I'm Jeff Zito.
