Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers

VINCENT D'ONOFRIO Loved Magic Shows at Disneyworld

80 min
Mar 24, 2026about 1 month ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

Vincent D'Onofrio joins the Meyers Brothers to discuss his unconventional path to acting, from performing magic shows as a teenager in Florida to working as a bouncer at Studio 54 in New York. He shares stories about his family's influence, his grandfather's Italian restaurant in Hawaii, and how early experiences in community theater and magic shaped his comfort on stage.

Insights
  • Early exposure to performance through magic and community theater eliminated performance anxiety, allowing D'Onofrio to approach acting with technical confidence rather than emotional fear
  • Family instability (divorced parents, multiple relocations) paradoxically created resilience and independence that fueled his pursuit of acting across multiple states
  • Working-class survival jobs (bouncing, bodyguarding, construction) in NYC's nightclub scene provided authentic character research that informed his later acting roles
  • Mentorship from multiple father figures (grandfather, stepfather, community theater directors) filled gaps left by an absent biological father, demonstrating the importance of male role models in creative development
  • Geographic and cultural displacement (Hawaii, Florida, Brooklyn, NYC) created a sense of belonging to performance spaces rather than physical locations
Trends
Unconventional paths to acting success increasingly valued over traditional drama school routesHands-on apprenticeship models (learning magic from Cuban immigrants, building sets with father) more effective than formal training for some performersChildhood economic constraints driving creative problem-solving and DIY performance (garbage can drums, homemade magic props)Nostalgia for pre-digital entertainment experiences (magic shops, community theater, nightclub culture) as formative for Gen X performersFamily business mentality applied to entertainment (father's community theater model replicated across locations)Male mentorship and father figures as critical variable in artistic development trajectoriesGeographic mobility in youth correlating with comfort in transient entertainment industry work
Topics
Magic performance as gateway to stage comfortCommunity theater as training ground for professional actorsFather figures and mentorship in creative developmentNYC nightclub culture in 1970s-1980sHoudini escape artistry and illusion mechanicsItalian-American family heritage and identityChildhood economic constraints driving creativityBouncing and security work in entertainment venuesMarvel's Daredevil character developmentFamily road trips and vacation traditionsHomeschooling through performance and apprenticeshipGeographic displacement and belongingStage fright elimination through early exposureDrapery and set design as technical foundationMethod acting and character preparation
Companies
Studio 54
D'Onofrio worked as a bouncer and door staff at this iconic NYC nightclub during the disco era
Hard Rock Cafe
D'Onofrio worked security/bodyguard events at the original 57th Street NYC location
The Ritz
NYC nightclub where D'Onofrio worked security; site of major riot during Public Image Limited concert
Webster Hall
NYC venue that operated as Webster Hall, then The Ritz, then Webster Hall again during D'Onofrio's era
Xenon
NYC nightclub where D'Onofrio worked as bouncer and door staff
General Drapery
Family business owned by D'Onofrio's grandfather in Brooklyn; supplied drapes to hotels and Broadway theaters
Rocco's
First Italian restaurant in Honolulu, opened by D'Onofrio's grandfather in the 1940s
Talking Stick Casino
Arizona casino where the Meyers Brothers' father gambled and lost $600 at blackjack
Route 66 Casino Hotel
Albuquerque venue where Sufi Meyer has an upcoming comedy show on May 9th
The Paramount
Denver venue where Sufi Meyer has an upcoming comedy show on May 8th
The Factory
Comedy venue in Chesterfield, Missouri where Sufi Meyer performs April 10th
Pizza Bianco
Famous Arizona pizza restaurant owned by Chris Bianco; referenced by Jimmy Kimmel connection
Marvel/Netflix Daredevil
D'Onofrio plays Wilson Fisk/Kingpin; Season 2 'Born Again' premieres March 24th
Homicide: Life on the Street
HBO series where D'Onofrio appeared in acclaimed 'Subway' episode that won Peabody Award
People
Vincent D'Onofrio
Guest discussing his path to acting through magic, community theater, and NYC nightclub work
Pashi Meyer
Co-host of the podcast conducting interview with Vincent D'Onofrio
Sufi Meyer
Co-host and stand-up comedian discussing his recent tour and upcoming shows
Brooks Whelan
Opens for Sufi Meyer; known for harsh parental comedy; mentioned as potential future podcast guest
Layla George
D'Onofrio's daughter; successful actress with multiple ongoing projects
Johnny Granada
Long-time friend of D'Onofrio's father; joined family golf outing in Scottsdale
George Myer
D'Onofrio's stepfather; owned General Drapery business in Brooklyn; served as father figure
Vincent Minicola Sr.
D'Onofrio's paternal grandfather; opened first Italian restaurant in Honolulu in 1940s
Elia Medina
D'Onofrio's travel companion who joined Navy instead of moving to NYC for acting
Jimmy Kimmel
Connected Sufi Meyer with Chris Bianco's pizza restaurants in Arizona and LA
Chris Bianco
Brooklyn-born pizza restaurateur; owns Pizza Bianco in Arizona and LA
Dan Aykroyd
Co-owner of Hard Rock Cafe; worked with D'Onofrio on film 'Feeling Minnesota'
Keanu Reeves
D'Onofrio played his brother in film 'Feeling Minnesota'
Andre Brower
D'Onofrio praised his work on Homicide: Life on the Street subway episode
Dax Shepard
D'Onofrio named his family as ideal vacation companions; stays with them in LA
Kristen Bell
Married to Dax Shepard; part of family D'Onofrio would vacation with
Quotes
"The magic shop. Oh, interesting. And was that something that you had to save up money for if you wanted to buy something in the magic shop? Yeah. I did."
Vincent D'OnofrioEarly childhood Disney World memories
"I read this book from cover to cover in one sitting. I read it outside in my shorts and got like second degree burns on my legs. I swear to you, this is all true."
Vincent D'OnofrioHoudini book obsession
"The cops came over, they locked me in the thing, pushed me in the kidney shaped pool. And I lied at five, recorded me and I was a working party magician."
Vincent D'OnofrioFirst magic performance age 14
"I would say now I don't drive in New York very often, but anytime I do, still to this day driving across the bridge into New York City is a thing."
Vincent D'OnofrioNYC nostalgia
"The minute I was out the door, I was out the door and, but I was still very close to my mom and I stepped back very, very close."
Vincent D'OnofrioIndependence and family bonds
Full Transcript
Hey, Pashi. Hey, Sufi. Very exciting. We saw each other on the road. I know. It was a true family trip. True family trip. Yeah. Yeah. I was doing stand up in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mom and dad were about to go to golf school. Yeah. Which was your Christmas gift? My Christmas present, I sent them to golf school. Yeah. And then my, the gift to mom was that they were supposed to keep dad there. Oh yeah. The whole thing was a trap. The whole trap to keep them there. They were going to black bag them. And then, but I was doing stand up and so they came down a little early and you knew this plan and you decided to make a surprise trip. Yeah. I did a one day, one day bounce out to Phoenix, Sky Harbor, rendezvous with you guys, a talking stick where you had a couple shows one night. Yeah. And a talking stick casino. And you showed up and again, the burden you carry, you went straight and golfed with them for, I don't know how many hours. It was great. It was a very hot day. It was a very hot day, 92, something like that, which isn't, which it's so crazy for Arizona that you're like, it's not that bad. No, it's not bad. But yeah, it was great. I found out that they sort of had a threesome with not that kind of threesome. Yeah. No, God, that would be a horrible. And then by the way, that is how you found out. You said it very nonchalantly. Also, this is the first time hearing it. I'm like, what? No, so there was a spot to join their golf for some. And so I grabbed a very early flight, showed up, mom and dad were having breakfast at the hotel and I just showed up and said, hey, I heard you guys need a fourth and a hurry started crying and I started crying and I was hugging her and dad had to look around to other people having breakfast and say, it's a surprise. It's a surprise because people thought something just awful had happened. Very nice of you to. And by the way, like it again speaks to where I am on the pecking order, which is when she saw me totally dry eyes. Well, yeah, she, I had her cried out. She was prepared. Yeah, you had her cried out. Yeah. You have classic posture, jump in, ring all the tears out before I get to see her. Yeah. I got to spend four hours, was around a golf, but I got to spend four hours in the cart with hurry, chatting and yeah, it was great. And by the way, you were not a, you weren't snubbing dad. The fourth was one of his oldest friends. Yeah. So I think that was Johnny Granada. Johnny Granada. Johnny Granada is a good guy. Yeah. He's crushing Scottsdale these days. He's just crushing it. He's just doing. Johnny Granada is absolute 100% matches his name. Yeah. I mean, he's got real Johnny Granada vibes. Yeah. If there was a quote from Johnny Granada over the weekend, it's, yeah, man. The number of times he'd say, yeah, man. They met when they were really young and made a pact to have the same mustache. The rest of their life. It's held. It's held. Two guys with some real nice looking mustaches. Johnny and Lair. Yeah. So, yeah, it was really fun. And then they've got some other friends from college days who rolled out to go to the show. Their daughter named after our mother was also the Hillary Lays. Yeah. And, oh, I don't know if that's our last name now, but that was certainly what I met her. And then stand up. I had a couple of new jokes about mom and dad. I'm not going to burn them here on the pod, but how were they received? You know, obviously I'm a little, I'm a very, as I'm sure you are. I'm hyper aware they're in the audience. Yeah. You know. And that's because of like, you know, because I care what they think and it comes from a place of love, you know. Yeah. They, I will say each of them laughs at the jokes about them. Oh, that's good. Yeah. So, that's good. Also, I don't know if this is intentional on your part or not, but Brooks Whelan, great guy, great comedian opens for you. Yeah. And Brooks goes at his parents so hard. Yeah. And I feel, I don't know if it is to cover for how you're going to go at our parents, which is like so gentle compared. So maybe I feel like they're prepared to be like torched and then it's like, oh, it's so tame when hell's side by side. Brooks torches his parents so hard that when he did it on my show, it like didn't work. My audience is like, oh. Yeah. Oh. Brooks is great because Brooks, a fantastic comedian and who we should really have on this podcast because I think he could do based on how much he travels like a five straight episodes. It could be like a five, it could be like one of those like history podcasts that does like 10 episodes on like Dunkirk. Yeah. But he's the best and dad has seen him a few times opening for me. Brooks was spinning out because after the show, dad came back into the dressing room and was like, you were great. Man. And then dad looked at me and goes, how good was Brooks? And it was just that way that it made it very clear that dad had been underwhelmed last time he saw Brooks. And then Brooks was like, oh yeah, I guess it's been a while since when was the last time you saw me and dad, it was like basically like four months ago. Also Brooks's favorite story about dad is they came to see us. Brooks opened for me in Pittsburgh and the next morning is when I was getting ready to shoot my first special. And the next morning we all met for breakfast and dad, no surprise here was giving me notes on the things he didn't, the parts he didn't think were up to snuff. Yeah. By the way, I appreciate that from dad. You know what I mean? But Brooks didn't realize the dynamic and he kind of felt like he needed to step in. And so at one point Brooks goes, oh, I like that joke. And dad just turned to him and goes, I got notes for you too. We played golf and then we were, we were going to see you and hang out with you a little bit before your first show. And we were going to dinner and they're coming back for the late show. And so we finished golf and it was hot out there. But we had about an hour to sort of shower up and then we were going to come down and spend a half hour with you. But I went to mom and dad's room and I had truly just seen them. We had like just left the golf course and mom was in bed as if she was in a sarcophagus. Dad's on his phone and the chair and the hotel room like doing puzzles, which is not surprising at all. And mom was really like, huh? She had to like knock cobwebs that had somehow formed on her. Unmutedly formed. Yeah. But yeah, she gets the flux in the heat. She does. Yeah, that's too much heat. We'll knock mama out. Oh, I also, you know, one of the great things about traveling with Brooks is he's a great wingman for like really good food. And so we were like leaving Palm Springs. We'd done a show there and he found like a strip mall, like a Mexican restaurant. Had outstanding breakfast burritos we were eating in the car. Also he was a good dude because he was like, let me, because he could tell I was trying to like get some hot sauce on my burrito. He's like, oh, hot sauce that for me, buddy. Because I think also he didn't want me to like crash off the side of the road. Yeah. I'm like holding the burrito between my knees and trying to get the hot sauce out of its little packet. And then he and John Oliver had been in Phoenix once and Jimmy Kimmel has a really old friend named Chris Bianco who has a place in Phoenix couple of restaurants in Phoenix and now one in LA. I don't know which one is in LA, but pizza Bianco is this famous Arizona pizza place. He's another guy from Brooklyn. And so I, you know, texted your buddy Kimmel and he's like, great, just let me know what time you're showing up texted that guy. And so we just had fantastic Arizona pizza, which was very, very New York in its style. So it was just great time, great weekend. Although I'm so tired. I did one show in Palm Springs. I did two shows in Arizona that night and then had a beacon show on Sunday. Yeah. That's a lot. I have shows coming up. I feel like I don't do a good enough job. Can I say some of my shows that are coming up, Posh? Yeah, sure. Will you allow that? Yeah. All right, hold on. I mean, real quick, before you get to. Yeah. So. Find me time. After your show, Talking Stick is a casino. Yeah. And Johnny Granada had valed his car because that's how he rolls. And he's like, you know, the valet line is going to be long. So I'm going to gamble for about a half hour and just let that line fade. You guys want to play some cards. And dad definitely just wanted to go to bed. Yeah. And then hurry here's there might be gambling to do. And she's like, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. So we got to go. I didn't know this, of course. This makes sense. Yeah. So we got to go to an ATM because we don't have cash. And then there's a line for the ATM. And dad is doing this just because he's getting dragged along. Doesn't want to do it. Right. And busy night at a casino Saturday night. That place was packed. It was packed. And we somehow we find this blackjack table, a $25 minimum bet table. We get four seats because some people are getting up. Maybe we sort of edged in front of or we got there at the same time as a couple of these girls. But I was like, I'm here with my parents and Johnny Granada. I'm not going to feel bad about this. So we sit down. I got 200 bucks. Dad's got 200 bucks. Mom's got 200 bucks. Johnny's probably got 500 on the table. Maybe 20 minutes for me, mom and dad to all lose all of our money. And we're leaving and hurry. That was fun. And I was like, we said nothing to each other for the last 20 minutes. We lost $600. She's like, well, it could have been worse. We could have lost $2,000 each. I was like, yeah, I get it. Okay. But truly it was maybe my worst time at a blackjack table in my life just because the cards were so bad for us. And I feel like I transitioned into a very healthy place, which is when I used to do shows at casinos. I would feel the pull of the tables right after the show. And now I really am like, you know what? The casino has just given me money and I ain't giving it back. Yeah. I mean, I didn't enjoy it. I only went really because mom wanted to go. Also we sit down and Johnny's like, you guys want drinks? And talks to the pit boss who says they're sending a server over. We never saw a server. We didn't even get our round of free drinks that used to be. Congratulations to the good people for the Talking Stick Casino because they just made bags of money that night. Where are your shows, Sufi? April 10th, I'm going to be at the factory in Chesterfield, Missouri near St. Louis. April 11th, I got a couple of shows in Kansas City, Missouri. May 8th, I'm at the Paramount in Denver, Colorado. May 9th at the Route 66 Casino Hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Oh, right. Route 66. Route 66. Route 66. It's 100. It's the Centennial. Posh did a whole podcast about it. Check it out. Over on California. Here's my question. Would you do this? Denver to Albuquerque, six and a half hours. Would I drive it? Yeah, or fly it? I don't know. It sounds like even. I feel like it's right at the cusp of maybe making more sense to fly. Yeah. Brooks have a good thing going on, but I would, I don't know. I'd look at, I'd look at what you're driving through. I imagine it's pretty. Yeah, that's true. That was the Palm Springs, Arizona was beautiful. I will say Brooks also, he was like, hey man, let's build a pre-show playlist because a lot of times, you know, people are filing into your show. It's just whatever the venue is playing. And Brooks had a very good road trip game when you're with somebody, which is he's like, I'm going to play a song. And while it's playing, you think of a song this reminds you of, or like inspires. Yeah. So we just went back and forth for like a four hour drive. Yeah. Really nice. Good game. Coming up next Posh, I mean, one of my favorite episodes, I'm just going to say it. Yeah. We were, yeah, we were sort of. We didn't know what to expect. Yeah. I mean, I know what this guy's like on screen and it was just fantastic to talk to Vincent Donofrio for the first time. Neither you or I had ever met him. He's charming as all get out. He's fantastic and daredevil. Plays kingpin. Wilson Fisk, one of the great villains of the Marvel universe. And just, we just buckle up. Yeah. This is, for me, this is an early recording. We recorded this 6.30 AM my time. So I had to get up at 5.30. And I was happy to be awake the second he came on our screen. So I don't ever like to give spoiler alerts, but no one has ever said, this is going to be boring and then told a better story. Yeah. So please enjoy Vincent Donofrio. And thanks for listening, everybody. Hello. All right. Yes. How are you, man? Look at these two brothers. We're giving up all. It's morning. I had to take my glasses off, Vincent, because we thought that was just too much for you. It was. Thank you for really giving us. We want to give you some way to describe this. No, actually you put them on and I immediately broke a sweat. So I'm glad you took them off. I need them. I'm going to, I got to keep mine on, whether you sweat or not. It's so lovely to see you. We have never met. None of us have met before. I know. It's so exciting for me. And I want to say, like, you give off such New York vibes to me. So I was shocked to see that you spent your early years, some of your early years in Hawaii. Well, very, very early. Yeah. When my parents got divorced. So what happened was is my both, my mom was raised in Hawaii. Gotcha. And my dad was stationed in Hawaii in the Air Force and she, my grandfather, believe it or not, okay, opened the first Italian restaurant in Honolulu. It's unbelievable. In the forties and my mom was a waitress there and my dad met, they met that way. And then years later, they got divorced. My mom, we were living in Florida. My mom took us back home to her home in Hawaii and I went to part of my elementary school there and then when she got her life together and saved some money, we went back to Florida and I was raised in Florida. But I spent every, literally every summer with my grandfather in Brooklyn. Oh, gosh. And I was born in Brooklyn. Got it. Got it. Yeah. So that's basically it. And what were those summers like? You were interested that the minute school ended, you would go to Brooklyn for the summer? Yeah. Yeah. It's not a famous summer destination. No. For children. Do you summer in Brooklyn? Yeah, no. Do you summer in Brooklyn? Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I think it's because my mom had her handfuls. She was a single mom with three kids. I have two older sisters. I had three older sisters when my mom remarried, which was when I was about 11. And that, my stepdad was my father figure. He was an awesome dude. And his name was George. And you know, so I was, I think she needed a break and she sent me. I was the easiest, but the girls, she had her handful with the girls. They were hippies and hippies and the whole deal. And so, yeah. Did they say, did the girls come with you or was it just Vince and we go to Brooklyn? No. I mean, they would visit because we have, we had lots of relatives back then in Brooklyn. But I would spend literally and go to his workplace and I eventually started working at his place. He, he had a place called General Drapery in New York, did all the hotels and stuff. And yeah. What would you do for General Drapery? What was, if you were working? Well, first it was like sweeping floors and, you know, just doing the labor stuff for everybody. And then as I got older, I eventually, you know, started to go in the trucks and drive the trucks and deliver stuff and, you know, help the carpenters, help the, the, the guys who used to actually hang the drapes. It was also in a posterity shop. So there was always tons of things to be done. He even did things for the theaters on Broadway and most of the hotels. But in Brooklyn, you know, I had a whole other set of friends. I had a set of friends in Florida and a set of little gang of friends in both places. So this was something you looked forward to going to Brooklyn for the summer? Yeah. Yeah. I love, I always loved New York and I loved going into the city, you know. It was the first impressive thing that happened to me in my life was crossing the bridge and heading for New York City. Every morning. I would say now I don't drive in New York very often, but anytime I do, still to this day driving across the bridge into New York City is a, is a thing. And then it's great because you have like this incredible feeling of like you're going into the city and then you just immediately the traffic slows down and like, it very contradicts your, your energy. What was the first Broadway show you saw? Do you remember? That would have been, my dad, my real dad was into the arts. Um, like the best, it's the only thing he ever really did for me was introduce me to the arts, which is a big thing. Yeah. And, and, um, so I think it was like something like Mano Lomoncho or something like that. Wow. Yeah. It would have been some, something that he liked, something that he wanted to see and would drag me along. And was it, did you feel like the, when you first saw a play that, did you know right then like, Oh, this, I like this a lot. I was attracted to it. Yes. I remember always being attracted to it, but not as an actor, just getting involved in it somehow. And so everywhere my dad moved because he was always getting fired from his jobs. He was, uh, he went to Parsons school design. He was an interior designer, but you know, he was, uh, you know, he couldn't keep it in his pants. And, and, uh, and so he was constantly, you know, moving. Yeah. On, on the limb and everywhere he lived, he, uh, would start a community theater or join a community theater. Wow. And so I was building sets and, uh, hanging lights and running sound on shows every night. And then I was like, Oh, I'm going to be in the theater. And I was like, Oh, I'm going to be in the theater. And I was like, Oh, I'm going to be in the theater. And I was like, Oh, I'm going to be in the theater. And I was like, Oh, I'm going to be in the theater. And I was like, Oh, I'm going to be in the theater. And I was like, Oh, I'm going to be in the theater. And I was like, Oh, I'm going to be in the theater. And I was like, Oh, I'm going to be in the theater. And I was like, Oh, I'm going to be in the theater. And I was like, Oh, I'm going to be in the theater. Yeah. Halfway. And then so what happened was my sister, who always went to acting, always did acting in high school and stuff. She told me she was, we had, we were talking on the phone. She said, I'm going to New York to study and acting. I'm like, wow. When the day after she told me that my, my friend, Elia Medina, that I traveled with, walked into a Navy recruitment center and joined the Navy and left. It's like disappeared. And so I got on a bus and went to New York and started studying acting with my sister. That seems like a very, I don't know if that like feels like it breaks bro code to hitchhike across the country and then immediately join the Navy. And I thought we were doing this together. Yeah. Well, that's exactly what happened. Yeah. I think it was Daunte. Yeah. I had a whole experience for him. You know, he was also a Cuban kid and he, you know, he had, he had a lot of pressure from his parents, you know, they're very, they're helicopter parents, you know, and he, he was being, I wasn't being pressured at all, my, my, my mom and my step dad trusted me completely. So you never thought like, oh my God, I'm such a bad road trip companion that it's easier to join the Navy? I did. I still believe that in myself actually. I will say about your dad, like it's obviously funny. I mean, not funny, but interesting that he keeps losing jobs, but it's kind of nice that every place he lands, he starts a community theater. Yeah. It's almost, it's almost like good for those communities that he can't stay in one place. He's like the Johnny Appleseed of community theaters. You know, the truth is, is that he, he was, he wasn't the definitely not the best father in the world, but he was. Full of arts and the arts and, and still to this day, I have to, you know, he's the reason why I know anything about the arts. Did he attend your stuff when you started doing things? Was he always there supporting that part? Yeah. But he got dollar signs in his eyes from it. Yeah. Interesting. That's not great. With his community theater, was he directing things, producing things, or was he like, I'm always the lead up. Directing, producing, designing sets and doing the whole thing. Is there a performance of his that stands out to you? The Rainmaker. Wow. It's really cool. Yeah. I hope to someday maybe play that part just for the hell of it. Was Hawaii a place that became a vacation destination? Like would your mom take you and your siblings there? Not, not a lot. We, we had very, you know, she, she didn't have any money, you know, to travel and stuff. So it was, we were, I mean, we did, they either came to us or we went to them maybe a couple of times. But, and we've always stayed in contact with the Hawaiian relatives, you know. But no, we didn't travel there a lot. Is the Italian restaurant still there? It was called Rocco's. My, I'm named after both of my grandfathers. Vincent is my, is my dad's father's name and Phillip is my, my mom's father's name. But like a lot of Italians coming through Ellis Island, his, his name was, they wrote down Frank. So he was Frank, Minicola. And then nobody called them Frank anyway, or nobody called them Phillip anyway. They called them Rocco. So he had like three names. Yeah. Yeah. But it was named Rocco. And no, it's not still. Okay. Yeah. Myer is actually like our, what is it? Our great, great grandfather's first name. Yeah. But they messed it up. So George Myer was my stepdad's name. Myer was my stepdad's name. Yeah. And he, his family was from the Catskills. Got it. Was, did Rocco's do gangbuster business? I imagine like when you open the first Italian restaurant anywhere. All the celebrities. Yeah. Yeah. All this. I mean, it must just be so exciting to have that cuisine. It's so obviously now it's impossible to imagine any community that doesn't have an Italian restaurant. But when one shows up, you must be like, whoa, how have we been missing out on this? Yeah. But they had like, you know, all the big stars when they were in Hawaii, this is what I heard about, I've obviously don't know if it's a fact or not. Cause you know how Italian families can be. Yeah. Embellished. But supposedly, Evan Costello used to go there and people like that. Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. Support comes from Alipop. Can I tell you the fantastic story about Alipop and my family? What's that? When my kids went out to dinner with another family and everybody had Shirley temples. So now they got in their head and they get a Shirley temple at dinner, right? Right. Now you know my family. We're not going to be a Shirley temple family. 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The only way to get 20% off is to go to joindeleteme.com slash trips and enter code trips at checkout. That's joindeleteme.com slash trips code trips. Calling London's one million small businesses. There's now one place to get free access to all the support you'll need. I need to know where to get support so I can grow my business. I'm looking to increase my customers and need sales and marketing support. I want to upskill my team to ensure we're more competitive. Whatever your business needs, Grow London Lowenckle gives you free access to expert business support designed for small businesses just like yours. Visit grow.london.com slash local to find out more. Funded by UK SPF and supported by the Mayor of London. When you were hitchhiking across the country, are you very conversational with the people that are driving you or are you in the back of a truck? Do you go long stretches with certain people? Any memories of that trip when you were hitchhiking? I remember meeting, I remember one couple and their kids. I think mostly the minute we got arrived from somebody, it was usually in the back of a pickup truck or something that wasn't very comfortable, but we would immediately fall asleep. Okay. Gotcha. That makes sense. We were sleeping. Yeah, we weren't sleeping anywhere safe. Yeah. We ended up on, at one point we ended up where the car broke down. We ended up on Stenson Beach in San Francisco. I think we got a job there for a while at a gas station or something like that. And then we eventually moved on to San Francisco. What was, what was waiting for you in San Francisco or what was the goal for when you got there? There was no goal. Just to be in San Francisco. Just to get as far away from Miami as we could, basically. Okay. I'm actually from a small, smaller town. It's not so small anymore called Hialeah in Florida. Okay. Is that by, do you feel like you still have that in your DNA, that wandering spirit or has for sure just, okay. Yeah. And does that, I mean, I guess that makes acting a perfect job because I'm assuming you move all over. Yeah. Work. Yeah. I'd never been afraid to travel. I, you know, I was one of those kids, like a lot of us were once I left, I left. Once I left home, I never went back where my sister's revisited home a few times, you know, and stuff like that. Like I was, the minute I was out the door, I was out the door and, but I was still very close to my mom and I stepped back very, very close. And did you go straight from like ultimately, so you take this road trip and then you end up in New York and you start studying acting and is that basically that took right away? That was just it from there on out. I sat in on a couple of things and, and thought to myself, you know, I'll bet that if I really put my mind to it, I could do better than what they're doing. You know, I was lucky to see some really bad actors performing. It's so funny. It can be inspirational. Yeah. You think you want to see good actors, but those sometimes can make you think, oh, I'm never going to hit those heights. You want to see some duds. Yeah. But yeah, you want to see some, you want to see some people that really blow it. Like they're this far away from getting it, but just don't get it. And then if audiences are applauding for them, you're like, well, wait a minute. Well, you kind of are in a way, applauding for them because you're like, God, they're really, really good. And then now they suck. You know what I mean? It's like you, you, you, they're like, they, they showed me, it's like they did half of the work for me. Like they showed me how to be good and then not so great. Right. Not like all I needed to learn to get to be good and then just keep being good and not never fall into the not so great category. When you were you close with your grandfather, Brooklyn, obviously spend the summers with him, but was he a good hang? Was he like an important, like father figure as well? Yeah. Yeah. He was a, you know, I needed somebody. And it was in my, the father, the father figures in my life were very important, very, very important because my dad was the dark side of it and not a good father. And I really needed that kind of understanding. And so the man around me, I was very lucky to have adult men around me that acknowledged that I needed some help in that area. And this was your paternal grandfather in Brooklyn or? Yeah. God, I got it. What was his name? He was Vincent? Vincent. Yeah. Gotcha. All right. Great. And I imagine if, you know, you own a business, he's probably works pretty hard, but when on weekends or after work, like what would, what would leisure time be like with your grandfather? It was a good question, actually. I haven't thought about that in a long time. It was, he was a really good cook. He cooked for my grandmother every night for dinner. So as soon as he would get home, he'd wake up in the morning and he would prep dinner before he went to work. So everything was laid out. Everything was ready. So when he came home, I would help him put everything together in the kitchen and then he would tell me to go away and, and then I would hang out on the, yeah. And then I would hang out on the front stoop and until some of my friends passed by and then we'd hang out. And then like my mother did in Florida, he had a bell on a handle to ring outside the door. And I could hear it from wherever I was in Brooklyn. But my mom, my mom used to do that in high Aliyah too. She used to, for all of us kids, she used, she had this big gold bell on the end of a wooden handle and she'd step out the back door of the house and ring this bell and we could hear it from blocks away. I bought a bell for Seth and his wife for a house that they have just because they've got three little kids. And if they're out, I was like, well, here, this is a, this is your dinner bell. I don't know how often it gets used, but I see it. It's interesting because it does not work on my kids, but then they'll use it if they want to get my attention. Like if they can't find me, they just start banging the bell and I'm like, this is really backfired. So when they hear the bell, they just go further away. I don't think they even hear it, Vincent. Hear them tell, they don't hear it at all. Nice, nice. Did, are your grandparents from the same part of Italy? Everybody was from Napoli. Gotcha. So have you done Napoli? Yeah. And when was the first time you went there and who did you go with? My dad and my grandfather. Okay. Just the three of you? There were others with us, but yeah, that was like the main reason so that I could meet who was left. And how old were you then? Do you remember? I was older. I was probably 27, 28. And now you're a professional actor at this point, right? Yes. Gotcha. Yeah. I started when I was 20. How old were you at Full Metal Jacket? 24. Okay, gotcha. So are they, is this a place where they can sort of show you off a little bit? To enable, gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. That's very nice. Yeah. I mean, they didn't know who I was or anything, but you know. Right. Yeah. They brought the poster along. I mean, now when I go to Italy, I rarely go, but if I have to go for press or if I just end up there with, while we're traveling in Europe or something, it's, I get treated so well there. It's so sweet. I mean, they're just amazing. Like they love Americans that make it, you know, Italian Americans that make it. Yeah. They do everything else. It's like great. Yeah. Now, any, I would say, I bet any American whose name ends in a no, they don't even look, they don't even like do the work to check. No, exactly. Exactly. Hey, well, let's embrace it. With that trip to Naples, are you sort of just going to people's homes? Or are you? No, we all met at a restaurant. Okay. Yeah. That seems appropriate. Kind of a thing. Yeah. And do you go see the sights? Are you a tourist as well or it's really just about the people? We did a little bit of that. It was the first time I'd ever seen Pompeii, we traveled to Pompeii. The first time I ever had a, you know, the main train station in Napoli is the best pizza you'll ever get in the world. Okay. You know, it's like it is known as the place for pizza, the birth of pizza. That's fantastic. Train station pizza feels like, I don't know, that's the dream. It's the dream. You know, they served it on a plate. You know, it was so good. Yeah. Now it was a good trip that made me feel more Italian than I ever felt, had ever felt previous because I don't really, you know, identify with my Italian heritage a lot. But especially when I was younger, I just grew up and, you know, raised in the South and then my grandfather was very, very Italian, but I just never, all of my friends and the culture that I was used to and the arts and stuff, I never really waved the Italian flag, you know, a lot when I was a kid. But then as I've gotten older, I've appreciated it more and I love Italy and I love the people there, but it's always a kid. Yeah. I mean, I bet if you were, if you had been a kid in Brooklyn the whole time, it would have been different, but I guess probably being in Hawaii and Florida, there's less flag waving in general. Yeah. Do you, was your, when you were a young actor in New York, I'm assuming you were living in Manhattan, is that a safe bet? Yeah. And would you see your, would you go see your grandparents in Brooklyn ever when you were there? Oh yeah, whole time. That's great. For meals? For meals. I would imagine as a young actor in Manhattan, if you get a free meal in Brooklyn. Yeah. And my grandfather, Vincent, he used to, for me and my sister and my other, the roommates, we were all living on Fulton Street in this, it was a one bedroom, but it was a big one bedroom on Fulton Street. So I knew how to, you know, build sets and all that stuff already. So what I did is without asking permission with the building, I brought in lumber and plywood and I bit sectioned off the apartment. Yeah. And how many rooms? How many people got their own private spaces? I turned it into a four bedroom, one bath. You turned a one into a four, that's a real, and did every, did the other roommates, I mean, again, this is an incredible act of generosity on your part. Were they appreciative of this? They didn't give a fuck. Yeah. Classic actors. They were like, where am I sleeping? Over there. Yeah. Okay, great. Do you have nostalgia for those early acting years of sleeping in a one that's been turned into a four? Yeah, I do. I mean, it was rough. Sometimes were rough. It wasn't always that comfy. I remember a couple. It doesn't sound comfy, Vincent, just that way. Yeah, but compared to what I'm about to tell you, it was pretty comfy. Okay, all right, well. Like the, I remember there was this couple, this guy Nigel Ballard, who was a photographer, and his girlfriend, Cheryl Rickson, who was, believe it or not, a playmate of the year. Okay. One, and they were a couple in New York during the disco era, studio 54 and all that stuff. That was one of the places I actually had a job. I worked there, the back door for a while. Wow. When I was a kid. But they, I met them because they found me in the park, Central Park. I was sleeping on a bench. I had a 10 speed and I would wrap my legs around my 10 speed and go to sleep in Central Park sometimes. Now wait, how old were you then? I would have been 19, 20, maybe, maybe 18, 19, 20, like right after high school, right after I left San Francisco. Gotcha. So they saw you with your legs wrapped around a bike. Were charmed. They thought, they thought this is just, this is just the roommate we're looking for. No, I think they felt bad for me. It took them two days to decide. They met me, we had a conversation and they sat, talked to me for about an hour. And then they came back the next day and they were leaving town and they said, hey, you know, we're willing to let you stay at our place. And I'm like, that'd be great. Wow. Yeah. And I ended up staying there. You know, I got, had a job and everything. You know, like a job. I used to do, I used to body guard sometimes and, and work at clubs at the door, clubs like the Ritz and, and Xenon and Studio 54, all those places. Was it as, I would imagine, you know, books could be written by somebody who worked at the door at Studio 54. Was it as memorable as I want to believe it was? Yes. None of those stories can be told. Of course. But I just want to know that you have those stories. No, no, I'm just, Not that you'll tell them, but that that I think the biggest story is that none of those stories can be told. Yeah. It is really the biggest story. It was, it was a crazy, crazy time. I was, I had no idea that things like that happened in the world. Yeah. And that people behaved like that. Well, they didn't. Those things didn't happen in the world. They only happened to happen there and nowhere else. I think that's a good point. That's a very good point, I think. Yeah, you never, it wasn't like planned at Hollywood. They didn't open at other places. Yeah. It was also like, I feel like a shorter run than based on its cultural impact all these years later. Like Studio 54 wasn't around for too long. I mean, it had to reopen for a little while and then closed again. Yeah. It was like a few years, that's it. And when you bodyguard, who were the, what sort of people would you bodyguard? So, I mean, mainly it was like, I would get pulled in on like, do with like a bunch of other guys doing rock stars and mostly rock stars and some actors and stuff like that. I was working, I got a job at the Hard Rock Cafe when it used to be on 57th Street, back in the day. You were in New York, right? I was in New York not till 2001. Okay. But anyway, Hard Rock is now on Broadway, but it used to be on 57th Street. There was this Cadillac coming out of the front, back of a Cadillac coming out of the back of the building. And you know, Ackroyd and a couple of other guys, they owned it with the main owner. And so, I got connections through them and then when there would be events there, they would, I would work for them kind of a thing and stuff like that. And later, Ackroyd and I ended up in the same movie together called Feeling Minnesota, where he played the, I played Keanu's brother and Ed with Cameradillas and Ackroyd was the cop, the detective in the movie. And so, we were on set one day and got to, you know, together and got to talk about that. And that was nice. I was going to ask if you ended up ever working with somebody. Ackroyd, probably one of the better ones to work with because that guy, he was a lovely person to have a conversation with. Yeah, absolutely. But there were actors that I ended up in movies with that I used to, the couple that I threw out of clubs and stuff. Yeah, I was going to say. Did that come up again? Did it ever come up? I brought it up once, yeah. How did they respond? We're not going to ask you to name names. How did they respond when you said, hey, I threw you out of a club once? Well, I brought it up right as the camera was rolling. Of course. To help? To help with the dynamic in the scene? Of course, only to help. Right, of course. Yeah, you would never undercut another actor. No, I would never undercut anybody. I'm all for helping. All Stanislavski. It's part of the method. He would famously say, if you know something, they don't remember, bring it up right before they say it. In fact, that's the title of his one of his handbooks. Yeah. So would things get physical in those sort of bodyguarding or work in the door years? Yeah. Did you throw punches? Did you get punched? Yeah, I mean, I don't want to get too dark about the whole thing, but no. But I still have flashbacks. Okay. Wow. Yeah, we were unfortunately involved in some, you know, bad nights, especially at the Ritz. The Ritz was, where was the Ritz? The Ritz was on 11th between third and fourth. Gotcha. It used to be Webster Hall, or it is Webster Hall now. They changed it into the Ritz. It was Webster Hall first, then the Ritz, and then Webster Hall again. But you can hear this on YouTube, actually. There's actually a live recording of one of the biggest riots that ever happened there. It's only audio, but public image limited. Hill, they, PIL, they did a concert there and they decided without telling anybody, the Ritz had a 30 by 30 foot video screen that used to come down in front of the stage. And they decided to play behind it in silhouette. Yeah. And that didn't go over very good. And the Mosh pit turned into a few platoons of soldiers. And they tore the screen down and jumped on the stage. And it got very, very dangerous. It's interesting. I have like sort of a shame on me, but I, you know, I'm thinking bouncers. I'm always thinking like one trouble, like one person causing trouble. But of course the bad nights are everybody. Causing trouble. Because then you're immediately outnumbered. Yeah. No, it wasn't pretty. I mean, there's hospitalization and, yeah, like that stuff. And also, you know, people waiting for you outside because of a confrontation they got into and that they got thrown out or something, they would, some terms, actually a lot of times people would wait for you afterwards and jump you and stuff like that. I had a moment recently that was so depressing. Not depressing. It was nice, but I was walking and, you know, obviously I'm a lot older now, but I used to go to nightclubs in New York City. And there was a bouncer that used to work literally 25 years ago when I was going to nightclubs and like I walked by and we made eye contact. He's like, hey, and I was like, I was like, hey, man, I go, you're going to let me in. He goes, you're too old. And I'm like, ah. But what a coincidence. That's crazy. I know. It was great. It was great. I think it was like, I think it was a well-known, to this day, very well-known famous bouncer. But I was like, oh, I'm really glad. At least he remembers me. He won't let me in. Yeah, I always wonder if people have two and two together when it comes to me. But I don't know. I mean, I had like my, I had my NPR tote. I had a lot of things that would not, you wouldn't want in your nightclub. Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. This episode is brought to you by Pocket Hose, the world's number one expandable hose. Hey, Pashi. Hey, Sufi. Pocket Hose is fantastic. Old-fashioned hoses get kinks. They get creases at the spigot, but the copperheads pocket pivot swivels 360 degrees for full water flow and freedom to water with ease all around your home. When you're done, this rust-proof, anti-burst hose shrinks back down to pocket size for effortless handling and tidy storage. The brand new Pocket Hose copperhead with pocket pivot is a total game changer. Sufi, normal hoses, they're big, they're cumbersome, they're awkward. And this Pocket Hose, it just, you know, it folds down to almost nothing. Yeah, it's so small. 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Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com. Slash trips go to Shopify.com. Slash trips that Shopify.com. Slash trips. Isn't life grande? And making it better just got easier with Starbucks' new protein cold foam. A little something-something to take your favorite drinks up a notch with 15 grams of extra protein. Turn your usual iced caramel latte into a smooth iced caramel protein latte. Add a delicious swirl on top of your drink. Just like that. Protein never tasted so good with Starbucks' new protein cold foam. Subject to availability while stocks last. Did you ever take sort of a classic vacation? Would you ever go anywhere just for vacation? It sounds like if you were with your grandfather. Back then? Yeah, I mean as a child or in the early days. Disney. Disney World. Okay. All right. And that's with your sisters? With my mom and my sisters. And would you do it many times or was it a one time only? One time a year. Okay. Yeah, she would save up. My mom only saved for two things in her life. A swimming pool and she eventually got a little kidney-shaped swimming pool in the backyard. Gotcha. And I think she had to save like $9,000 or something. Above ground or actually dug in? Yeah, dug in like a cement pool. Good for her. Yeah, she it was her dream and she got it which was very sweet. And then later when I became successful I bought her a house and kick coral with a bigger pool and all that stuff. But she did all that on her own originally and she was quite something my mother. She was a real free spirit. She was awesome lady actually. And she would save for us to go to Disney World every year. And was that a drive-there go and drive home that night? Exactly. Well, no. It was like a stay over like two nights at like one of those hotels at a sort of in Disney but like far away. Yeah, right. Yeah. And did you, was that something you looked forward to? Oh my god. Oh my god. I still look forward to it. Yeah. Yeah. And what were your, what was, when you were thinking, when you're driving to Disney, what is the thing that you were most excited about? The magic shop. Oh, interesting. And was that something that you had to save up money for if you wanted to buy something in the magic shop? Yeah. I did. Like moat lawns. Yeah. Great. And was it, was it actually, when you would buy a magic thing at the magic shop, was that something that you would then show to your friends at school? Yeah. Yeah. So what happened was, you really want to, magic is so boring. I guess that's true. Like to see it's great, to talk about. But I mean, so many little kids. Josh and I are going to, Josh and I are going to do a new podcast called, Magic Tricks, where people just talk about what you see. We're doing, we're doing an all audio magic show. I think a lot of young performers start with like magic shows at birthday parties for their friends. Well, it's exactly the way I started. It's exactly how I found my comfort on stage. Like I stopped having, like I never get butterflies in my stomach. Like before performances or anything, still to this day, I never do because of those, those years of the pressure of a trick going bad on stage. Right. Cause it's not just being in front of people. Like that's, I think for a lot of people, you would think that's the hard thing to get over. But I would imagine doing a trick like in a weird way gets you, I don't know, does it get you out of your head as a performer because you're focusing so much on executing the. Yeah. Well, there's that, right. And which is, which is your, your spot on that's, it's, it does preoccupy, preoccupy, but it's similar to acting in a way because if you, if you are the kind of actor that uses a technique, then that also is keeping your mind off worrying, judging yourself and all that stuff. Cause you're just doing the work. You're struggling through the work. And then afterwards you're like, you know, what just happens, you know, like whatever. But, but back then, um, what happened was I'm going to be brief cause it's again, it's boring. So I have to, well, it has not been boring yet. It's been very interesting. Okay. So my mom only sent me to camp once in my life and I went to camp. Where was the camp? There was a camp in, I think it was in North Carolina. Okay. Gotcha. It was somewhere in the Smoky Mountains somewhere. Okay. The, the second day I was there on the bus, I was sitting next to a kid who had these sponge balls and he was doing these tricks for everybody on the bus. And I was like, I wasn't really interested in the outcome of the trick. I was interested in how he was doing it. Right. Like I could see he was doing something and that it was not easy to do. And I wanted to figure out what that was. So I had a few dollars on me and I bought it. I bought the trick from him right there on the bus. I gave him $2 for the sponge balls. And he gave me the instructions that he had. He had it in his little backpack. And so I got really good at that in, in, in camp. And then just by coincidence, I was, I was washing dishes at a diner where my mom used to work that was attached to like a grocery store and like this little outdoor mall thing in Hylia. And I was riding home on my, on my bike one day after work. And in the same mall, there was this truck backed up to this store with these, with this Cuban couple unloading the back of this truck. And the boxes had like designs on them and things. And so I stopped and asked them what they were doing and they told me that they were magicians. And they had just come over from Cuba and they were opening a magic store in the mall. And so I asked them if they needed any help, what they were doing. And they said, sure. And so I went back to my mom and she was at the diner. She came over and met them. And then I helped them, you know, with what they were doing and befriended them and used to go there every day. And I didn't have any money, but what he did was he would lend me the instructions from tricks and then I would take them home and I would build them myself or make them myself. Wow. Yeah. And so I started doing shows and this is where it gets really boring. And by the way, this has been fascinating. It's not boring at all. Yeah. So I started doing shows and he gave me this book about Houdini. And I read this book from cover to cover in one sitting. I read it outside in my shorts and got like second degree burns on my legs. I swear to you, this is all true. Yeah. I believe it. Now, where would you do a show? We're parties, bar mitzvahs, like the whole deal. Oh, so this wasn't like you would set up a folding table in your backyard and have your friends come over. You would actually be for hire. So this is what I did. This is what I did. I took one of the tricks, the mail back trick that Houdini did. Which is you get into a mail bag that a person can fit in and it's got grommets around the top. Gold, red, right? And the chain goes in and out of the grommets and pull tight. So they cuff you, you go inside, they pull the thing, they lock that and he was pushed in the water. So in this book, it taught you how to do that. Exactly how to do it. So I had one neighbor that used to build billboards and another neighbor worked for a boating company. So I asked him for free if he would build me a sack out of what they used, the material they used for sales, yeah, for boats. And asked the other guy if he would put the grommets in. My other friend, the sale guy put the grommets in it and stuff. Then I asked the other guy to build me these shackles, the kind that Houdini used. And so with this trick and my mom's friends who were cops, that she, because she was a waitress, so she met Firefly Zest, in fact, where she met my stepdad. The cops came over, they locked me in the thing, pushed me in the kidney shaped pool. And I lied at five, recorded me and I was a working party magician. Oh my gosh. First of all, every mother's nightmare is you finally afford a pool and your son starts doing Houdini tricks in it. She was so awesome. She would sit with me there. I remember just sitting on the cement next to the pool and watch me do this thing. And I explained the whole thing. I explained to her how I could never get hurt and stuff like that. But the fact is in hindsight, I looked back and I could have actually killed her. So the local news came and filmed it. Is that a live at five? Yeah. So they, how old are you when you're doing your magic tricks? That would have been like 14. Oh my god. So you're 14. The local news does a story and then you just start getting hired to do magic shows? Yeah. Yeah. And I was so, I was doing so good that the magicians ring. It's like a union, international union of magicians. I don't know if it still exists or anything, come out of that world. And you stop paying your dues, obviously. It's probably that. Yeah. You're in a rears. They invited me and I got to be the youngest magician, I guess, in Florida at the time, I guess, to be in this. So I went there and I even learned more and I could actually borrow illusions from people and do them. But then, they were based in Florida? Yeah. That's fantastic. What other boring stories do you have? That story might be my favorite movie of the year. The fact that the whole community pitched in, cops came over. It was pretty cool. It was pretty cool. But it was something that was normal because during the Vietnam War, my sisters, I took their lead because they were older than me, but we used to put on these shows in our backyard and people from the neighborhood would bring canned food and stuff that we would then send to Vietnam and stuff like that. Wow. So we were used to, like I was used to doing that kind of a thing. And what kind of shows were those? Variety shows. Variety shows. That's great. Yeah. Yeah. Music, sketches. Would you do, would you write your own sketches or would you like copy sketches? Everything was written by us. Oh my God. Even the music. My drum set was three garbage cans turned upside down and some buckets. How many people, what's the most amount of people that showed up for a performance? Maybe like 10 or 12 people. That's pretty awesome. I mean, you were set to go as a performer. It feels like these are incredible building blocks that you had. Yeah. When you look back at it, it's definitely was in the cards. Like, yes, you know, some kind of version, some kind of version of the arts, you know, how many times did you perform the mailbag trick? Once. Okay. Just that time. Oh, so you just did that. So then that got you into the game. Got it. Yeah. That was the plan. Yeah. Fantastic. Were you at all nervous during the execution of the mailbag trick? When you run the water? Okay. Yes. Which I assume is not what you want to be feeling. No. I mean, if you knew how the trick worked, right, it's only dodgy for a few seconds. Okay. And if those few seconds pass by, you're good. All right. Have you ever been to the Magic Castle in Los Angeles? I have. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's definitely still that society, but it's, yeah, it's a fun night out. But you know, to get back to the point, the point is, is that by the time I was doing helping my dad in community theater and stuff like that, I always felt comfortable on stage. I was never acting, but I was, the stage was never seemed like a barrier. You know, like I, I remember the first time I did do a play. I couldn't believe like how comfortable I actually was on stage. You know, I was uncomfortable with other things about it, but I was not uncomfortable being on stage coming on in my queue. You know, the whole technical aspects of doing a play, I was always very comfortable with all that. Did you, could you tell that that was unique, that there were other people in those productions that were nervous? Yeah, which is why I was able to recognize something different in myself. Yeah, that you were maybe wired for it. Well, then I was, that, that I think I knew, I think I've always known that those early years of helping my dad on the stage and meeting all those actors and seeing a lot of bad acting, like I was saying. And, and then the magician, I think all of it, I was, think I was, I've always been aware that all of it has been extremely helpful. Yeah. I mean, I was, I would imagine being in a mailbag in a pool, you're like, how hard can the rest of it be? I do, you mentioned, you mentioned like the trauma and nightmares of like rough nights in New York. I, I both want to blame you and applaud you. One of my favorite episodes of television of all time is the subway, the homicide. Oh, wow. Life on the Street. And, and because I live in New York City, I also think about it literally every single time I'm on a subway platform. Yeah. I highly recommend one of the great episodes of all time. Yeah, Andre Brower was amazing to work with, you know, and what a piece. That was extraordinary. I think the script won like a Peabody Award. Yeah, it's really, I mean, not for the fan of heart, but they, and they just started streaming that show for the first time, and it was, you couldn't get your hands on it, but it's on Peacock now, and it's one of my favorite shows of all time. Oh, wow. That's cool. And now I didn't know that. And, and you're just such a tremendous Wilson Fisk as, as the comic book fan, as the comic book fan of the Myers Brothers. You don't watch that show. I love that show. I love it. No, you don't watch it. I love that show. He's, he's, he's very comic forward. And I like, I'm going to say something just, you know what, I'll say it for you. Everybody, I, you know, I like the TV shows a little bit more than, than the movies in the current, you know, Marvel, Marvel Universe. Well, I think we have a long, we have a better shot at getting it right. Well, because that's comic books, or, you know, they have that, you know, sequential thing. So, it's very nice. Well, I'm glad you like it. I'm surprised that you watch it. I do. I like that stuff. It's, you know, and also it's very fun now to, you know, I got boys who are into that kind of stuff and once you can find stuff to watch with them. So I've always, I've always been, and I truly mean this. This is not bullshit. Like, I've always been completely fascinated by what, what you do for a living. Oh, thank you. Like, I'm delighted to be doing it. I'll tell you that. You know, your whole trajectory and I just, it's so foreign to me, you know, it, it's, I, there's, there's a couple of things that, that confuse me about it. Like, I don't, I don't know why I've never done a talk show. Have you never done a talk show? No. I'm sure they'd have. That's the craziest thing I've ever, I'm, yeah, by the way, get ready for a call. Now I did, I, you know, I see all my friends doing them and, you know, they actually have personalities. I find that you do have one. You're being a little hard on yourself. And, and I find it, I just, I love when they succeed. I don't know. It's a crazy thing to think about, but no, I think the closest, you know, I did do back way long time ago was like one of the first John Stewart, common central shows. Right, right. Right. He had like a daily show. Yeah. Yeah. Like really, really early on, when it wasn't quite the show, it turned out to be later on when it first started. Because it was more of a culture show with Craig Kilbourne. And then John took a while to shape it. Yeah. I did the Kilbourne shows once too. And then I went back and did it for John Stewart. Yeah. And that's the, that's the closest I've ever come. Mind boggling. It really is. What is it like when we, you know, when you pop up on the Zoom, I was like, I don't know what his like vibe is going to be. And I think very friendly, very engaging. Yeah, we're very, very, very, very, very menacing on screen. How old are your children now? So 30, going to be 34, my daughter, I think, my son, 21, son, 26, and the other 18. And are they nearby you, or are they spread a field? They're all circle around me constantly. You know, my daughter's name is Layla George. She's a very successful actress right now. Oh, that's great. She's doing really well. She's just doing job after a job. It's fantastic. See, it's in your DNA from your dad on down. I hope so. It happens. It happens. That's my oldest son, the 25 year old, is also getting into it now. Hopefully he'll get a shot like his, like his sister did. And I don't think my 18 year old, I don't think he's going to, I don't think he's going to do it. I think he's going to do something different. I hope he does. I had all three of my children as guests on my show for the Thanksgiving Day episode. Oh, that's nice. And they're 9, 7 and 4. So if they can do it, you can do it. Was that fun for you or nervous? It was, I was very nervous and I had not told them it was going to happen. But it turned out so wonderful. But also, I fully just gave them the bug. You know, like the minute it was over, they're like, we got to do that again soon. Like they just loved it. They loved it. But again, it looks like it's fun. And it is. So when your kids are like, I think I want to do that. You're like, yeah, I can't blame you. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. This has been fantastic. And thank you so much for being here. Now, Josh, though, before you go, is going to ask our speed round questions. Oh, here we go. You can only pick one of these. Is your ideal vacation relaxing, adventurous or educational? Relaxing. What is your favorite means of transportation? Oh, wow. I'm driving a truck. If you could take a vacation with any family alive or dead, real or fictional, other than your own family, what family would you like to take a vacation with? Wow, that's cool. Other than my family? Yeah, can't be your family. Well, there's probably hundreds of them from history. But honestly, the first one that comes to mind is Dax and Kristen's family. Oh, yeah. Very good choice. Because they're friends of mine, and I love them to death. And I stay with them when I'm in LA. And also, I just feel like it's a lot of party boats. I just feel like they have a real... They know how to have fun. Yeah, they're like people of means who aren't fancy. That would be a good description. Yeah, I like that. But the thing about the way I like to live my life, and I believe the way that they live their life, is that the way to have fun can be really simple sometimes. And with all the right people, it's just 10 times more fun. But that's the answer to that question. Is that all of them? No, no, no, there's a couple more. If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one member of your family, who would it be? Other than my wife? No, your wife works. You can take your wife. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. What is your dream destination for a family vacation? Disney World. And then what's your hometown? Hylia. Hylia. If you had to get more families to come visit Hylia, what would you tell them about the town? This is the hardest question we've ever... Based on Vincent's reaction, this is the hardest question we've ever asked. There's really not much. There's just really not much. There's one... There's at least one kidney shaped pool. There's a kidney shaped pool. This will be very exciting for everybody. There's the old house that I grew up in. Sure. Okay. We could drop by and look at. I don't think they would allow us in the yard or anything, but we could just sit in the street and look at it. That's great. I think that would draw. I think there's a draw there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'll just say, like, there's going to be a lot of traffic on the road to Hylia now that this is out. Yeah, 78th Street's going to be packed. Um, bumper to bumper. And then Seth has our final questions. Vincent, have you been to the Grand Canyon? I haven't. Would you like to go? I would. Okay. It seems like you're a guy who would enjoy the Grand Canyon. I mean... Based on everything we've heard so far. I mean, I would probably get bored after a few minutes, but we can't really do anything. That's what I did. Right? Like you can just look at it. Right? Well, you can go, you could hike into it. You could camp. You can... Yeah. But I think for people like you and I, Vincent, and you look and get bored, but then the rest of your life, at least people aren't breathing down your neck about how the fact you haven't never been. Yeah. Then nobody's going to get me to hike into the Grand Canyon. Oh, I don't think anybody should try. Yeah. They haven't yet from the sounds of it. If I ever get asked, I'm going to, you know, I'll give them your number. Okay. Good. Yeah. I'm very excited about Season 2 of Daredevil. Born again, premieres on March 24th. Thanks so much for being here, man. This has been just the best conversation. All right. Well, I appreciate it. So nice to meet both of you. It's lovely to talk to two brothers. That's so awesome. Anyway, take care, you guys. Thank you so much. Thanks, man.