Happy Saturday night, everybody. Welcome to Max Inc. on Civic Media, original local music
from the state of Wisconsin. Don't forget, hit the podcast. For some reason, Max Inc.
radio is down right now. I think the squirrels chewed away some cables or something like that,
so you get all the podcasts that you want. Civicmedia.us, just click on the Max Inc. radio page, and you'll
find it all live in the layer, all the interviews, all the shows, busted out for you right there.
Civicmedia.us, the Max Inc. radio page. Why you're there, too. Make sure you grab the Civic Media app.
Oh, and you want more podcasts? Sure, we can help you out with that. May I recommend
Nightlife with Peach Schwabba here on Civic Media, weeknights, six to eight p.m.
And on the phone with me right now is the host, Peach Schwabba, Pete Good evening, and welcome to Max Inc.
Radio. Hey, Jimmy, thanks for having me. And let me just say that was one heck of a segue.
From podcast into Nightlife. So I appreciate the promo. Thank you very much.
Well, you know, I appreciate your show, Pete. One of the reasons I wanted to have you here on
Max Inc. Radio is I'm kind of a fan. I really enjoy your show Nightlife on Nightlife on Civic Media.
It's a good palette cleanser after a full day of political talk on the network here.
Well, yeah, that's what, you know, I hope to do every night. I know people get, I mean,
look, we're really polarized right now as it is. And even talking about partisan politics,
or politics with people you agree with can't get exhausting. So I do think it is a good palette
cleanser, as you say. And that's what we try to do. We try to have people, you know, join the show
that want to give us a few laughs or talk some movies and TV or fun things happening in Wisconsin.
It's a really fun show to do. And I've learned a lot about Max Inc too, because we have Terry Bara
on every Friday night for our bar, bar band Friday night segment, which has been fun. So right back
at you, buddy, she just had a birthday Thursday night. She had a big old birthday. Yeah.
Congratulations. Happy birthday, Terry. Hey, Pete, I know when I start, when I started listening
to your show, I really didn't know much about you as a person. I knew that you were a stand-up
comedian. I know you did some movies in the past. But it was kind of interesting. So when I booked
you for this interview, I felt compelled to do little prep. And I actually went to Amazon. I
downloaded the movie The Godfather of Green Bay. And I loved it. Thank you. I absolutely loved it.
I thought it was a great film. Did you start with stand-up comedy or do you just start with writing
and directing? We started with stand-up comedy. I, you know, when I was really young, I used to
watch Woody Allen films and Albert Brooks and Harold Gramous. And I loved the guys that could
write and direct or do stand-up and direct. And that's kind of, I really didn't know what I was
doing when I made a Godfather of Green Bay, at least in terms of a directing standpoint, like I'd
done stand-up. And then I wrote this script about stand-up and incorporated other elements of my
life. And I found a producer who was a pretty sharp guy and seemed to respond to it. So we teamed
up to make it together. And then, you know, when it came to directing, I just kind of surrounded
myself with really good people. Like I was smart enough, I guess, to know what my limitations were.
So yeah, we had a phenomenal time making that movie. And we had Tony Goldman up in my little hometown
of Marinette for six days and Lauren Alley for a couple weeks in Thomas Lennon. It was just an
absolute blast making the film in Northeast Wisconsin. Now that was your first film that you made,
correct? Well, when I moved to LA, I had sold, I think I had sold a couple films,
like to bigger studios before we made that. And part of the reason I wanted to make the Godfather
of Green Bay was because my writing partner at the time, Greg Liana, shot a little film called
Meet the Parents, which went on to become this huge franchise, Meet the Parents. And I found
it to be a great way to be more involved in the movie making process. Like, you know, we sold
another film called The Guy Thing to MGM. And they ended up making it. It came out in 2003. But
it was sort of like, oh, thanks for the script guys. We'll see you later. Whereas making a film
like the Godfather of Green Bay, you know, I wrote it, directed it, I even raised all the money,
I played the lead role. I mean, I was completely immersed in the entire project. So it was like going
to film school. And that was really fun. Like, I didn't sleep for a month, but I didn't even care,
you know, it's such a blast. That's amazing. And like I said, the movie was very enjoyable. I'm glad
I downloaded it from Amazon. Let's go back to your stand-up career. You're from Chicago. Is that
where you started? Do it stand-up comedy? Yeah, I was born and raised the first part of my childhood
on the northwest side of the city about two and a half miles west of Wrigley Field by the Kennedy
Expressway. Moved to Marinette when I was in junior high and then went back to Chicago and went
to the Paul University and started doing stand-up comedy when I was there. So I was kind of Chicago
based as a comedian and then went to LA for 14 years after that. It kind of kind of moved on from
stand-up and just started writing and somehow ended up back in Marinette. Now I host a show at
PBS and I'm doing civic media work and absolutely loving it. So yeah, I guess you can, it doesn't
really matter where you live in some ways. I'm still trying to put movie projects together,
but not as enthusiastically as I used to be, but they're still out there. When you were going to
to Paul, what was the catalyst for, hey, I want to do some stand-up comedy. Were you writing before
college or what was the day where you said, hey, I'm getting on stage to do with this? That's a
great question to me and I ask a lot of guests that are comedians at the same question. So I'm
kind of glad you asked that. I've not used to getting asked that question, but I think, you know,
for every comic, at least when I was like 1819, I would, you know, friends would laugh at you and
you'd go with this translate to state. Do I think I could do this? So I got up the courage to do
like a coffee house show, open mic at the Paul in one of their little rooms where they had this big
show every year. And you know, it went pretty well. So I entered a comedy contest in Chicago called
the young hot shots of Chicago, something or other, college competition. And I wanted it. It was all
from various colleges around Chicago. There was like 10 finalists. And I think I had a little bit
of an advantage because there were a lot of kids from the Paul there, but it was fun. And I thought,
maybe I could do this after I won it. And then I went to open mics and I was like, oh, that was a
kind of a different kind of awakening because there was no one from the Paul in the audience. I would
go to these open mics around the city. And that's where you kind of get your chops as a comedian,
you know. Right. What was your first bomb like? Where was the show? And what was the circumstances
where you kind of laid an egg? Everybody has that. Yeah. I had a couple that come to mind were
in both in Chicago. One was at a club called the funny firm. Where at the end of the clubs run,
they had they were running three rooms and paper in the room, like just giving out free tickets and
making charging people exorbitant drink prices, like the crowds were horrible. And I got heckled
and I went back at the guy and it was just it was just uncomfortable. And I remember walking
through the crowd going, I hope that guy takes the swing of these so I can take the swing of them.
Like that's how mad I was. And I'm glad nothing ever happened, obviously. But then there was another
room on the south side called the TNT comedy looking. I was just bad that night. I don't know
what it was. I just was not getting anything to quote my friend Paul Gilmart. You could hear a
beat of sweat roll down my back. That's why the room was. And when I left the stage, someone said,
all right, a big hand for Pete Schwab. And as I was walking by this table of young guys,
I heard one of them say, finally, it responds to me being done. Like I was like, oh my god.
So, you know, nothing too traumatic. But yeah, every comic has their bad shows.
I am not a stand-up comedian, but I I'm seeing shows and of course a radio show. And
sometimes I'll I'll try to lay a funny out for the people and it lands as flat and especially
on stage. That's just nerve-wracking. It really it grows character in my opinion.
Oh, it absolutely does. Yeah, every comic goes through that. And it's funny. I still kind of
consider myself a comedian in some ways. And my best friends are still for my stand-up days. But
I really only did stand-up for like seven or eight years on the road. And you know, it was fun
because all those TV shows were out there. Evening at the improv, Caroline, the comic strip live.
So I got to do all those shows because it was kind of during the boom of comedy. Yeah.
But once I sold a script, I was like, you know, this is a lot easier than work in the road. And I
could be home with my wife. And then I had a couple kids. So, but it still is those comedy bones
are still in you. You know, absolutely. Peach Wabba here, host of Nightlife here on civic media.
Check it out week nights, six to eight p.m. Pete, I was going to ask you what your favorite film is
that you've done. But that's such a hard question to answer. Let me ask you this.
Is there a script that you've written that you just regret never making into a film?
That's a great question. Yeah. I have one right now called the snowball effect that I've been
trying to raise money for. And I've had money for it at various times. And then, you know,
there's a pandemic or we lost our lead actor because he was kind of a big name and went to do a
bigger project, a marble movie. You know, it's like making an independent film. You have to get
all your ducks in a road almost has to be a perfect storm. So, it's a crime thriller. I'm still trying
to get it made at a budget of like under two million dollars. But another script that I sold with
my partner Greg was called Dreamgirl. And we sold it to Warner Brothers. And that never got made.
And that hurt. That was like one of the funniest things we'd ever written. It was like kind of a
nodding hill meets fatal attraction. And, you know, people really high on it when we sold it. And then
I don't know. The Hollywood just works in weird ways. Sometimes they get on to something else or
the script of the moment. And all of a sudden, your script's been sitting on the shelf for 10 years.
You know, and probably will never get made at this point. It is really frustrating. That's why I like
kind of pursuing independent films to make sure it gets made, you know. Right. You get to keep what
here is for sure. How did how did the stand-up comedy acting directing writing land you a gig here
at Civic Media hosting Nightlife on the weekends? That's another great question.
You know, I met Terry Bell, who was the news director there for a while back years ago
when I was a guest on a show called Directors Cut on PDFs with Compton. And I was talking about
that film with the host. And I brought Lance Barber with me, who was also in the movie.
And he was on Young Sheldon recently and at his run there, a great actor. But the two of us
went on there. I did an interview with Terry after I kind of kept in touch with him. And when Civic,
when he started working for Civic Media, he knew I had done some radio and some stations in Milwaukee
and kind of did some guest hosting. And knew I like to talk about entertainment and stuff like that.
He kind of introduced me to Sage and, you know, some other people there, my crew Catherine Lake.
And it was, it just worked out. They were, they thought, maybe, oh, this could be good. A show like this
after a day of talking about politics. So I, I get my hat. I love that they had faith in the show
and they still seem very supportive of it. And I love doing it. So it's like I told, I think I told
Sage a while ago, it's just good to have a home. Like I've been self-employed most of my adult life.
It's kind of been fun working for a company, especially a company like Civic Media that lets you,
you know, talk about music like you guys do. We're talking about show business,
and talk about current events, politics, during the day. So I just kind of got lucky and
fell into the right place, I guess. I love it. You know, obviously you talk about movies,
entertainment, comedy, but you also bring the local aspect into your show, which, which is obviously
what we do here at Maxine Critty. We talk a lot about, a lot about Wisconsin. I know,
with Thursday night, you were talking about the Door County Film Festival. You always have local
musicians on. Is there a specific local musician that you've had on that you're really fond of,
and maybe can't wait to have them back again?
You know, yeah, there's a few. I've had Eric Gelandon from mascot theory, and most of these
people I've met through you guys in Terry Barr. I love Katie Scullin, her music. We've had a band
on a Smart East, Wisconsin band called Radio Repeds, who are a punk band, who just rock.
Three of the guys are from Marinette, where I live right now. I can't believe that these guys
are from there, because they're just fantastic. And then a band called 7,000 apart that's
green-based as well. So we've gotten lucky, some really good, some great music in Wisconsin,
and it's been really fun to get to know some of these musicians by and large through the help of
you guys. So thank you. Well, you're welcome, and thank you for playing their music. Now,
one of the things I love about your show, Nightlight, is your producer, Conrad. I think his
compliment to the show with what you're doing is great. It seems like though, a lot of the people
that are listening, Nightlight, are related to Conrad, like his whole family listens. Have you been
invited to the Family Reunion? You know what? I'm still kind of waiting for the invitation,
Jimmy, and I'm not holding my breath. I got to be honest with you. They come across as very
nice people, the triggers, but I have my doubts, and I'm not going to lie to you. They're crafty
people. No, they're great. They love to text the show. And Conrad's a good sport, because I kind
of pulled him onto the air. Well, whether he liked it or not, and he just kind of ran with it.
Now I think he has a pretty good time with it. So I love it. It's fun to listen to. Nightlight
with Coach Wobble, weeknight six to eight p.m. here across the Civic Media Radio Network.
Pete, I really appreciate you taking the time to join us on a Saturday evening. If people want
to connect with you, ask your questions, or just maybe buy a beer sometime. How do we do that?
Text the show when I'm on. I love when people interact with the show. Find me on social media,
I'm on Blue Sky, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but I don't really check my Instagram, but yeah,
I'm around. I'm at the hard guy to find. And I love it when people interact with the show. I love
finding out what they're watching, what they're listening to. So yeah, definitely reach out and
let's keep this thing going. Rock and roll, Pete. Hey, stay good, and I appreciate you, and hopefully
see you sometime in sometime soon in the future in person. You too, Jimmy. Thanks for, uh,
thanks for having me on and my best rocker, uh, speedy recovery.
Absolutely. Can't wait to have him back. Let's do some Katie Scullin. It's Max Inc on Civic Media.
We are local music.
