Looking for the perfect place to stay in London? Thistle Hotels puts you right in the heart of the city. Close to top attractions, theatres, shopping and dining with comfortable stays and great service. Visit thistle.com for the best rates or become a member and get 10% off. Think London. Think Thistle. Hey, it's Jeff Zito. Thank you once again for checking out another episode of the Celebrity Chopper podcast. Streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, wherever you listen to podcasts, we're on all of them. So please subscribe. Hit that subscribe button. Would love a five star rating. Please leave a review. Go past guests and episodes and check them all out online at celebritychopper.com. Taking a deep dive, looking at celebrities life before fame. You know, examining what it was, their big break, the moment that launched their success. We all remember Goat Boy, Jim Brewer from Saturday Night Live. One could say that launched his success, but maybe not. Maybe there was something else that we'll find out about. So we all know him from Saturday Night Live. He was Goat Boy. We all know the movie Half Baked. And recently I got into a documentary that's like 15 years old and it's called More Than Me and it basically follows Jim on the road and he takes his elderly father on the road with him. You know, his dad's getting older. He's having trouble walking around. He's having trouble going to the bathroom and cleaning himself up. So the documentary is Jim taking his dad out on the road with him and taking care of him. And it's like a sweet story. They're reconnecting as his father's life kind of comes to an end. I definitely think a lot of people should check that documentary out. It's excellent. Jim Brewer.com for all of his comedy dates. Coming to Fort Myers, Barber B Men. In about a week you can go to Jim Brewer, B-R-E-U-E-R.com for more details and other tour dates. And his YouTube channel, which is Jim Brewer's Brunaverse. That's his YouTube channel. He does a live stream every Tuesday. He's a very deep thinker these days and very motivational. And he's got a lot to say and I can't wait to talk to him. Because you know something? He was my very first interview ever. From Saturday Night Live and Half Baked, comedian Jim Brewer 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. You don't know this. We've talked a few times over the years. But I just want to throw a little couple of fun facts at you. You were my very first radio interview and I want to say it was in 1995 and I was at a Sarasota station called WYNF. And I always remember this because the guy that was on in the morning, his name was Brent Mitchell. He was on with another guy named Jeff Blazy and they had you on. And he goes, Hey, you want Jim Brewer on? And at the time I didn't really know your name. I go, Who's that? He goes, Goat Boy. And I go, Oh, I know goat boy. And so I always, you always have this like the special place in my history. So it's very good to to chat with you a little bit, man. That's really cool. Well, that I love these little I love these stories. Isn't it cool? I mean, it's I'm talking about 1995, dude. So yeah, it was pretty early in your career, right? That was brand spanking new in my career. So tell me a little bit about that had to be your big break, right? Like getting on SNL, you're young, you're in your 20s. And I hear that those auditions are brutal because Lawrence there. Nobody's laughing. And it's like, yeah, tell me a little bit about that experience. It's exactly what you say. So, yeah, I come from the stand of comedy world. So to I need feedback, I and me specifically when I'm at my live shows, I feed off the energy. So when you see me do stand up, I'm I don't have a script. I have I have my my premises with my beginning and endings. But in between, I can go in any direction. So depending on the energy of the crowd. So for Saturday Live, there's zero energy. It's just you want to stage by yourself in your bedroom, in your bathroom, in your kitchen, no different. The only difference is just imagine people peeking through the window, staring at you. And you're like, oh, OK. Got to be. So and Lauren, for me, he kept he just kept pacing in front of me and back and forth. And he was just just pacing, not even look at me. So but by the time I auditioned for Saturday Live, I already had done a TV show that was syndicated in 92 and 93. I was I had done some network TV stuff. And so and I was in the works of creating sitcoms. Oh, wow. And so I was in it. And then Saturday Live, which I did not be honest with you when they first said they want you to audition, I I said I don't want to. How come? And they want and they want you crazy. I went, no, I know the comedians on there. And they're all miserable, mean human beings. And I don't want to be in that environment. Wow. And they said, no, no, no, they're it's all new cast. It's all new writers. So after I auditioned. In the newspaper, they wrote an article and they specifically wrote my name that I was already written off. Oh, wow. Yeah. So I was like, oh, great. OK. Right. Yeah, all right. But then the next thing, you know, I'm going again. And then after that one, they same thing, you just. Stand there by yourself and do your thing. And then then they came to see me in a comedy club and I murdered that night. Right. Murdered. And that fact I had to follow Ray Romano. Oh, that's what I'll never forget. Oh, my God. And crushed the place. And so is Daryl Hammond, who did Clinton. Oh, yeah. Yeah, great. And he got hired immediately. I did not. And then I didn't hear from them. And then Lauren met me a couple of times and then right, I think, 10 days before the show aired. They they hired me. So I just I got shot out of a cannon. There was no like, wow, I'm going to say it live. I was like, you're hired, but we need you tomorrow to start filming. So I didn't even have time to like, I'm going to sign a line. And then immediately you're trying to. I remember the first. Process was you got to come up with sketches. And I'm like, I'm not a writer. Right. I'm a I'm a storyteller. I I I I I'm not a joke. Joke, joke, joke, joke and character and I can do that. So I it was very intimidating. Will Farrell and Sherry O'Terry and Molly Shannon, they all came from a sketch group. Right. And they all had characters. And they were just one one week after the other. I'm like, I can't compete with this. Right. I got to figure out. So it took a little while for me to figure out my groove. But San Elive was definitely the launching pad because it just it gets you in the VIP room. It gets you that dinner reservation. Right. Hey, we're sold out. He's one of the cast members. Oh, have him show up at seven o'clock. Hey, I got this idea for a movie. He's one of the center. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Come on in. Let's hear your movie idea. So as far as that. Yes, it was huge. The Celebrity Jobber podcast with Jeff Zito. The Celebrity Jobber podcast with Jeff Zito. So you were saying, Jim, SNL really, you know, you were kind of already in it. So tell me what what was the very beginning? Like what what do you consider like your your first footstep into show business? If Saturday Night Live wasn't the first thing. What was it? It was called, well, technically, we're going to get we can go back all the way to 1988 when I moved to Florida and I got on a Nickelodeon show because I really want to be an actor, a straight actor. I didn't want to be a comical actor. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. Still, if I had a chance, that's what I much rather do. So and I did drama throughout college. I was in theater and college as a theater major and I went for all the crazy dramatic roles. Yes. And so the first big one was I moved back to Long Island and I got a show called the Uptown Comedy Club. I was it was based out of Harlem and it was a lot of I don't know how old your audience is. But at the end of the day, it was the very poor man's in living color. OK. So there was no budget for costumes. And and it was like a school play on television every day with us creating. And what was amazing about that show? Everybody, there were no egos. There was no everyone was helping one another. Like cast members would help write for other cast members. They'd have these deep the producers would have these deep morality talks on how to deal with being recognized and as as we grow. And if you become a star and it was it was that was almost like the class of life. I was also one of two white guys in an entire black area. And just even that changed my whole life. I learned so much, not just about television, life in general, but what I wanted to be kind of spoiled it for me, because after that, everything I got involved with is a cutthroat business. Right. It was all about ego. It was all about I'll do anything to get to the top. I'll steal from you. It's just wow, that's that show. It's called the Uptown County Club. And that that was my first. Hey, I got a TV show, national TV show under my belt. It was syndicated, but, you know, did explode. Did people recognize me? Not so much unless I was in an urban area. Right. Right. That is kind of crazy that I never heard that you wanted to be a serious actor. So yes, where did that come from? Because I know your parents weren't in show business. Right. What what did your your mom and dad do for work? Oh, they were both from the World War Two era. I was a late. They had been their forties. They met each other. I was their bastard child. So my dad was bartender, janitor, sanitation. We were extremely blue collar. And my mom worked at Pan American Airlines at JFK. OK. So and we lived near the air. Port. But my knee, my cousin, my dad's sister's daughter is Nancy Allen, this woman named Nancy Allen from Kerry. Yes. Wow. You're you're aging yourself. So Nancy's my first cousin. And then she did the RoboCops and Kerry and she was also up for a dress to kill. And she was also up for Scarface because for a short while she was married to Brian De Palma. Oh, wow. So that may have been my first seed. OK. But the real first one came in in in high school where you had to take you had to take music theater. All our arts was like once one semester theater, one semester learning guitar, whatever, OK, and whatever. And I was like, I'm not acting. That's that's that's fairy stuff. You know, I'm not doing that stuff. And he said, you have to pick a role. And it was one role. It was South Pacific. It was the play of South Pacific. And I forgot who I was either the general but I had to tell someone off. Right. And it was basically it was it was like a little tuna. You will not come in. And I. With I was like, this is easy, man. For me to tell someone off. And I imagined who the person I was telling off. And I'll never forget when I was done, the acting, the acting feature was staring at me. And he went, oh, my God. Do you? Do you want to be an actor? Like, yeah. And so that was. That was the beginning. And then once I took theater, I got everyone's like, you'll never get this. I got every lead role because I was willing to go there emotionally, no matter which way. Wow. That's crazy, you know. And I got to tell you, Jim, and I just noticed this as as we get older. I'm going to date myself along with you. OK. As we get older, I see I see like this sensitive side of of Jim Brewer coming out. And and I have the same thing. And I related to my parents getting older. And I just got to compliment you on this film that you you did this documentary about your dad. And it's called More Than Me. If you haven't seen it, especially if you have older parents like my dad is 90 years old, just turned 90. And this this really hit me hard. And I just I want to and I want to tell you that that, you know, that you showing that kind of bravery to like go on tour with your dad, film it, show everybody what what happens when when your your parents get older and what you have to do and some of the sacrifices you have to make. I mean, it was really important, I think, for you to make that for other people to see because other people are are going through that. And it was powerful for me to see. And I just wanted to tell you how it meant. I mean, it really means a lot like seeing that film. Tell me tell me where you were in your mind when you were like, OK, I got to do this. I got to do this. Tell me exactly. The Celebrity Jobber podcast with Jeff Zito. Celebrity Jobber. Tell me where you were in your mind when you were like, OK, I got to do this. I got to do this. Tell me exactly. I was in Houston doing a show and before that film More Than Me. And the reason was called More Than Me because my dad would always say, I just want you to have more than me. And I go, dad, I already do. You can relax. You can you gave me the world. Right. And so I was in Houston, Texas doing a show. And I always brought my fans. So I had my dad with me and I had my niece. My niece was selling merchandise. Every one of my tours is almost like a therapy tour. I'm like, OK, this one's battling this. You're coming on tour and we're going to have to spend a lot of time together. And this one. So that we were in Houston and I'll never forget a fan came up to me. And he goes, hey, man, I just want to tell you I love you from half baked. And my dream was to drive here from Dallas and smoke and get high with the guy from half baked. And I got here and dude, I see you with your dad and I see you with your family. Bro, you changed my life tonight. Like you to see a guy like you just. And he started he started tearing up because I seriously think you changed my life. He goes, it makes me want to be a family man. I'll never forget that moment. And that that's when I I realized that that is way more empowering for others to see when you just walk the walk. And instead of taught, you can talk to talk of walk the walk humbly. And I knew just by setting example, this would change. I said, you know what? And I knew filming my dad. Would not only had nothing to do with putting me in the limelight had everything to do with there's so many people that their parents are getting older and they don't know what to do. And they go through all these emotions before. I mean, like, oh, they're there a lot and they're this and they're changing. And the and this really, in my opinion, I put it all out there. Every emotion you're going to go through from guilt to frustration to knowing they're going to pass away to watching them deteriorate and give you a different perspective of what this journey is that we really know and teaches us. This they don't teach us this in school. They say, go make lots of money and be famous and and be the CEO and blah, blah, blah, and buy three homes, blah, blah, whatever they teach you. And so this I knew was going to help humanity. I'm in the business. Nothing, nothing satisfies me more than putting out things that helps humanity. That I'm here to serve. We are here to serve. And what I mean by that is one another. Right. Like you said, it helped you. It did with your aging parents. I have I have so many people that come up to me after a show that say, I got to say you help you saved my life. When I watched that, when I watched your video that you did, the funny how God works stuff and change my whole life, that that's what we're all here for. You we take our knowledge and we show it to others. And I just knew it was going to make an impact for anyone that did. It is that it did. And you know what it made me do? Honestly, just just going to tell you the truth personally. I knew I was going to talk to you today. It was last week. I wanted to brush up on the documentary. It meant so much more to me now seeing it. And my dad just turned 90 and I watched it. I called my old man the next day and I said, hey, you want to go to a baseball game? You know, he goes, yeah, yeah, let's do that. And it just made me think that like, you know, it's not going to be forever. Father Times undefeated were winding down. So like, let's let's just hang out like what you did when you were like in the film. You're like, you know what, I don't want to go to Ben and again. I, you know, I just I want to hang out. I want to hang out. And that's kind of what I took from it. And it was just important to me. And we hung out. We had a great time, drank a couple of beers, had a pizza. And that's the kind of stuff that's real life stuff. You know, that's real life stuff. You don't want to find yourself going, which many of us do. Man, I should have. Right. If I just right. Why didn't I? And and the way I think I said it in a film, too, but the way I look at it, even when my kids now that that are in their 20s, if they want to be with me, I don't care how busy I am. Right. They may not be here tomorrow. Right. And what is more important than that one little moment that you're going to create or that one little moment you could help them with a certain subject? And with my parents, with our parents, you know, a lot of people aren't as blessed as having certain parents. Parents aren't perfect, but they were there for you during your childhood. And you may say, well, you're supposed to be there, but there's no reason. To to pay that back, because when they slowly start becoming a child, yeah, and many of us just put them in the home and, you know, do we don't have time and whatever it is, you do have time. We just don't want to sacrifice and doing what we're doing. And it's it's it's not easy, but thank God the film does help. So it really it really does, Ben. If you it really does. Now, Jim, when you're you're telling me you wanted to be a serious actor, comedy just kind of, you know, happened for you. You're a funny guy. You're not a joke teller, your storyteller. But in in the beginning, were you thinking, you know, dad was blue collar guy. So in the beginning, are you thinking to yourself, this is just a dream. But, you know, no, I'm going to back up. I'm going to have a backup. You had no backup. No, no, zero. All I knew the minute I knew. First of all, I'll be blatantly honest. There's no way I could have worked as hard as my parents. No way. And I even study in that. I'm like, you are you are killing yourself to to make it to 60 something so you can live a solid 10 years if you're healthy. Right. That that's that's the American dream. I did that ain't happening here. That's just there's no I can't do it. I can't. And I knew. And I did and I wanted to take care. I knew by the time I was 16, this is it. It's great time and I'm taking I am going in this world and my mom, you know, she got to fall back up. No, there's no falling back. Whatever your passion is, you go 100 percent. We've been taught, well, you need finances and you need a pension and you need your health insurance. That will all fall in place if you're truly following your passion, because if your passion is a certain thing to change the world, to heal people, to to whatever it is, you'll get it. You'll get it. It may not be the way you visualize, but you'll get it if you dedicate yourself. If I want to learn about the computer and I put 100 percent into it, nonstop, I'm going to know everything about the computers. Right. I can't go, well, do it for like an hour and then and then I'll work on this. And I'm like, you know, the same thing with whatever life goal you're going towards. Well, I do want to do this, but in case you already just failed yourself. Right. It's just amazing at 16 years old that you you were that mature to have that kind of outlook on life. Because when I was 16 years old, I was just thinking about, you know, getting with chicks and drinking beer. So I'm kind of impressed that you had that kind of outlook at 16. Any other jobs, though, before show business celebrity jobber, the celebrity jobber podcast with Jeff Zeta. Any other jobs, though, before show business, like, tell me about your very first job. I was I was delivering produce for most likely gangsters. I don't even know they were gangsters. I was I was I worked at Sears, where everyone could look up the Long Live Paint video OK, of the bomb threat that I accidentally called in that cleared the store in the mall. That's a true story. There is and I worked a lot in in restaurants. I was going to eat for a split second. Yeah. My life got thrown off course with a major move and pursuing comedy and acting was thrown to the side for a split second. I went, I'm going to go into restaurant management and because I just loved being social and being around people. And I was a good waiter and I knew how to run things in the restaurant. But then I was like, yeah, no, no, no, no, this is stick to the course, kid. And so your very first job was delivering produce for what you thought. My very first job. No, my first job was delivering a newspaper on a bike. Then it was working at Sears. OK, OK. And the paint department watched Long Live Paint on YouTube. You're going to hell with left. And then it was delivering produce. And then it was waiting on tables. Wow, you're a pretty inspiring guy, Jim. I watch Brewerverse. I watch it and I get these like motivational things from you. And I just find similarities like, you know, I just turned 50 last year. Maybe that's what it was. I turned 50 and then all of a sudden you start looking at life through a different lens and you really, you know, you've. I know we we got to talk about the show because I mean, we got into some really deep stuff today. And I want to tell you, Jim Brewer doesn't go on stage talking about the terrible things in life. He no, he he's he's the like one of the funniest comedians that you're going to see. But you're going to have a good feeling when you leave. And you're going to take the world away and you're going to have a good feeling about life when you leave. And I think that you do this stuff to maybe, you know, detach yourself from the real world and maybe give others a little bit of time away from the stresses in life. But you're a real person just like anybody else. I think that's the thing to take from this. You are a person going through the same trials and tribulations that regular people do. And I see it. I see it on your, you know, the YouTube channel. You know, you've become this very motivational, inspirational kind of kind of guy. And I just want you to know it doesn't go unnoticed. I really appreciate it. I think we all need it right here right now. Yeah. And I'm glad you recognize it. Yeah, every Tuesday night, including tonight, I live stream 8 30 p.m. And a lot of that stuff comes from the live stream. But I thank you for that because that's where my heart is to serve, to give back, to to to let everyone know, hey, we're not perfect. And you may think I'm a quote celebrity, but I'm really a celebrity. It's just someone you've seen on TV and you think you have this different image. I'm human like you. I have three kids. We have struggles there. I am married 32 years. We're faithful and loyal. And we done we had our ups and downs and our horrible moments and almost broke up. And we're we we all I've lost a brother and a sister and a best friend and my parents. And we all are in this together. And the more we can share that with one another, the more we'll be able to get through this place without letting the madness that's barking all around us. Infiltrator energy feel like we can't get away from it, right? Yeah. Thank you for having me today. This was awesome. Man, I again, I know what it's like to be constant. You know, when another grown man tells another grown man how much they appreciate him, I know it gets a little weird after a while. So good. I feel it. But I wanted to I wanted you to know that you do make an impact. And sometimes I feel like you need to hear that kind of stuff. The Barber Bee Man Performing Arts Hall, by the way, in Fort Myers, such a great theater. One of my favorites, the Barber Bee Man Performing Arts Center, Thursday, May 21st. Jim Brewer tickets available. It's not the biggest room, you know, a couple of thousand people. So you might want to get your tickets in advance. And I tell you, you do a lot of impressions at the show, Jim. You do the Joe Pesci. You ever Joe Pesci ever give you a hard time for that impression? See, nobody even cares about me anymore. I don't even know who I am. That's not true. Oh, she's true. Anyone under 40, they don't know me. The last thing they saw is me doing a stickers commercial. Again, Jim Brewer, Barber Bee Man Performing Arts Hall, Thursday, May 21st. It really great talking to you, Jim. And keep doing what you're doing, man. I do my best. Thank you for a wonderful time. Have a good day. Bye bye. Inspirational, I'd say so. And you kind of see how people change as they get older and they kind of go through life and experience some of the real life things that you go through. You know, his father was a little bit older, had Jim when when he was a little bit older in life. And, you know, he took him out on tour. It's a really great documentary. More than me. You need to check it out, especially if you got older parents. And it's just it's a great story of a guy who, you know, is getting near the end with with his parents. And I think he like reconnects with his dad, becomes pals with his dad again. And it's a really nice story. I hope you see it. This guy is, I mean, is hilarious from Saturday Night Live, which he really doesn't consider his big break. He says there was a show that was syndicated. It was called the Uptown Comedy Club. And I was just looking at some clips of that on YouTube. This was like a really syndicated show nationwide, not a lot of markets, but they were in Detroit. They were San Diego, New York City, like maybe, you know, 15 different markets across the United States in the early 90s. And he kind of says that was his real introduction to stardom. Also had comedians Tracy Morgan and Aerie Spears. It was like a real thing, which I had no idea about. He talked about his very first jobs delivering fruit for for the mob. He's guessing, you know, when you grow up in, you know, New York, that's just kind of like a way of life. You know, who the guys are. You don't talk about it. But, you know, it's it's just kind of a fact of life when you grow up in New York and New Jersey. He also said that he one of his first jobs was at Sears in Long Island. And he tells a great story online. A lot of his shows, he's told the story. It's called Long Live Paint when he prank phone called another department at Sears. And he was doing a voice of Mu Mark Gaddafi. If you remember the guy that was the president of Libya and we the US and Libya had problems in the early 90s. And he threatened to blow up the the Sears with six Libyan missiles and ended the phone call with Long Live Paint. They ended up evacuating Sears and the entire mall. And Jim got interrogated by the police and the feds. And it's it's a whole story, but a good one if you wanted to go on to YouTube and search Long Live Paint. Jim Brewer, it's definitely worth it. You can get a list of all of Jim's tour dates on his website, Jim Brewer.com. That's Jim B. R. E. U. E. R. Dot com and also check out Jim's YouTube channel, which is Jim Brewer's Brunaverse. He live streams every Tuesday. He's very inspirational, really, really cool guy and extremely funny. And I got kind of deep with him today about personal stuff, but the guy is very funny on stage and was my very first radio interview. You know, back in 1995, it's pretty crazy. More than 30 years ago, he said he almost, almost went into the restaurant management game. He said he liked people. He was a pretty good waiter. His mom kind of said, you got to fall back on something. But Jim's message was if you're passionate about something and I found it incredibly mature of him at 16 years old to be like, this is what I want to do. I want to be an actor. He wanted to be a dramatic actor. It's what really what he wanted to do. And he was like all in at 16. And he goes, if you're really passionate about what it is you want to do, the finances, the 401k, the health insurance, all that stuff will kind of fall into place. And I do believe that he's correct. My dad used to tell me if you love what you do, you won't work a day in your life. And I think that's kind of what Jim was saying. Well, that'll do it for another episode of the Celebrity Chopper podcast streaming on Apple podcast, Spotify. I heart wherever you listen to podcasts, we're streaming on all of them. So please subscribe. Would love a five star rating. If you could please leave a review. You can go back. Check out past guests and episodes online at celebrity jobber.com. Also, follow us YouTube.com slash the at sign celebrity jobber on Instagram celebrity underscore jobber underscore podcast. And for bonus content, subscribe to our sub stack, which is sub stack.com. Slash celebrity jobber. Who knows what would have happened to these people if fame wasn't an option. Who knows? Jim Brewer could have been managing a restaurant. I don't think that was in the cards for him. Anyway, thank you again for checking out another edition of the celebrity jobber podcast. And until next week, I'll see you then. I'm Jeff Zito. Looking for the perfect place to stay in London? 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