
Transcript
Mike Siegel on Comedy, Stand-Up & Life on the Road (Hour 1)
Nite Lite with Pete Schwaba and Greg Bach · Fri May 1, 2026
From Washington to Hollywood and right back to Wisconsin.
It's Night Light with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
Connecting the dots on the stories shaping our world with smart takes, sharp humor, and plenty of personality.
You know, I really expected more professional behavior from you.
It's news and culture without the noise.
Yeah, come on!
Here's Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
Dude!
You made it.
We all made it.
We're still here and We've got a lot to talk about tonight.
This is nightlight with peach wabba and Greg block on the civic media network Dom Lee is working the board in Madison and It's good to see you guys on this Friday.
How we doing
really
Why am I, I'm a touch cranky.
in our big stories.
Cause one of the stories has to do with me being cranky.
So, but yeah, it's just, it's, you know, it's, it's, it's a day and it's not a bad day.
It's not a great day.
It's just the day, but at the end of it, I got to sit back and take note, take stock and be grateful
for what I
It's true.
And that's not a grading card type of thing to say, or people are like, it is what it is, whatever.
I don't like that saying at all.
But I have a lot to be grateful for, a lot to be thankful for.
So when I go home tonight after the show, and honestly, and I'm not kidding you, I can be very, very moody sometimes.
And when I come here and do the show with the two of you and listen to everything that people have to say to us, I always walk away happier.
There
but
Wow.
the can you put that in the budget for next year like when we're you know when we're Syndicated to 38 cities and I'll have pontoon money
Even if I okay, but here's how I am as a human being I don't know about the two of you But let's say in an alternate universe or just let's say in a year's time.
Oh my gosh nightlight with Pete and Greg is just it's just it's a it's a smash fire sensation It's across the country.
We are you know, and they're just like hey, how much how much do we make the check for cash out to?
If I had disposable income enough for a pontoon boat, I would probably not still not buy it
Well, you just said you want to one why
want
and even though I have a mind I have the money to have a mind I still sit there and go That's I should should save my money Yeah, put it away invest it pay off bills pay down this do this just make sure you know it's I'm not I'm I am awful ask my wife I am awful with spending money on myself if I want to buy something it takes me a solid One to six weeks to do it to bring myself into a place like all right.
I can do this.
I'm fine
And I still then go through a little bit of, of remorse.
I
Tell us.
These were new underpants, okay?
Here's my issue.
I don't do boxers.
I don't do boxer briefs.
I had to get something new.
And I bought this underwear.
It was on sale at TJ Maxx.
I always go discount underwear because it used to be name brand.
It was called Pappy.
P-A-P-I, which means father or dad in Spanish.
Pappy.
It's not Pappy.
It's Pappy.
It's Pappy.
That's how you pronounce it?
I can't wear
just threw
I have nothing to do with if it said, you know, Casa on it.
That'd be great.
But the daddy thing, the father thing, I don't like that.
I didn't like it on my underwear.
And I thought if I take a header off my bike or something and somebody finds me, oh, he was a weirdo.
So I got, I just had to chuck them.
I can't do it.
I don't like the word daddy.
And it
First
weird
Oh boy.
I just looked I made a mistake and Google that.
Holy God.
Bad idea.
What?
Well, no, it's I put in poppy PAPI underwear and I thought that would be the name brand instead other images showed up.
So I'm just saying that right now.
So if they ever look and see why my search history looks like this, they know it was for professional reasons, but
Yeah, still, I don't know, man.
It's a joke.
Hey, that's a stand-up joke right there.
Write that down.
Not
So we'll just go ahead.
Let's talk about the question.
Okay, question.
Question.
Question.
Pregunta.
Question.
Question.
Okay, I have a question.
Questions.
This question.
Question.
Questions.
What is one of your favorite lyrics from a song?
Like, I'm one of those people, I like great voice, great instrument or musicians, all that kind of stuff, but I love...
song writing.
I love great lyrics and a voice with soul.
You don't have to be Pavarotti.
I mean,
my
Absolutely.
Got a lot of comment.
I got a lot of comments on my own Facebook page here.
So we're going to have a lot of great stuff.
So folks, yeah, if you're out there right now.
Drop your favorite lyrics right now on the live stream, on the texta to us.
Let us know.
You can email it in, Pete.
They can email us.
Do it.
How do they do that, Greg?
They'd email us, N-I-T-E-L-I-T, nightlight at civicmedia.us.
You can do that right now.
You can also, here's the thing too, folks, you can send us your thoughts on four, like a movie club.
You know,
our
was done.
Well, as many of you know, I am from Christmas City, USA.
I live in Marinette, Wisconsin.
And one of my native brethren, sisters, siblings, whatever you want to call her, Kaylee Francois, I hope I'm saying that right, or Francis, is set for a prominent Kentucky Derby role.
This was on NBC 26 in Green Bay.
I had no idea there was a Marinette resident who used to be a jockey.
But now she does content and she does hosting and all kinds of stuff.
Um, and she's working with twins fires to bring exclusive Kentucky Derby content with trainers, jockeys owners.
I cannot wait to see what she does.
I can't wait to try to get her on the show.
I think it's cool.
I never
It's, it's material nonetheless.
Um, so anyway, I thought that was really cool.
Kayleigh, I hope you crush it at the Kentucky Derby, whether it's content or whatever you're doing and please come on nightlight.
I will reach out.
She was in the local four H club for God's sakes and her father knows
This is Nightlight with Peach Wabba and Greg Bach.
We have some great texts.
Maybe we'll wait till Mike is here and we'll read a few of these texts.
I don't know what I started here.
But anyway, I am Peach Wabba, sitting or joining you from Northeast Wisconsin.
Just down the coast for me is Greg Bach, the human thumb.
The human.
We'll just
I can't believe we have an hour and a half more of radio to do because I just want to crawl into bed in my final sheets.
Tonight's question, folks, is what is one of your favorite lyrics from a song?
Or you could share a couple.
I shared a couple on Facebook.
Let's celebrate some good songwriting tonight.
But first, let's get to a couple more.
Oh, we have a guest too.
Mike Siegel will be here in just a few minutes, folks.
He is the
He was was the host of movie break on TBS.
He's been in the movie traffic He's hosted if walls could talk what you get for the money and he was on Byron Allen's comics unleashed last week So we'll talk to him about that.
He will be here after the news Very excited to talk to my pal Mike, but right now we've got a couple more news stories to get to on this casual Friday
This one coming out of people.com I love this story because it just kind of one it The setting is a place where we've all been if you've flown where you are sitting on a plane You are delayed and you're frustrated.
You know that you can't go anywhere Well one man sitting in Chicago waiting to get to his destination decided he couldn't take it anymore He got up and wanted to open the door
And the folks were very much on board with these.
He had a lot of, he had a lot of supporters.
They were basically, they were flying from Atlanta.
They don't even actually say where they were flying to, it says.
I thought they were, they were in Atlanta, but it's irrelevant.
they, so they were, they, they, they were flying from Atlanta, but then they had to be grounded in Chicago for weather problems.
And so they were, they were delayed.
This guy didn't want to take it anymore.
So he decided he was going to open up the door and leave.
Well, and there's a video that goes along with this.
And what I love is the back and forth.
So he said loudly, how long have we been delayed already?
Three, four hours.
And now you're talking in an hour.
Get me to the gate.
I want off or I will take myself off.
Well, he decided he was going to do that.
And this is what I love is the, the attendant says,
Oh my god, who are you?
And the entire, not the people on the plane goes, doesn't matter.
And the guy goes, doesn't matter exactly.
Do you know who matters?
Me.
I told you idiots.
And then-
He just gets on his air phone and goes, sir, sir, this is the captain.
Hey, sir, sir, this is the captain speaking.
We are going back to the gate right now.
And he just responds with, yeah, good idea.
Here's my favorite part of the story.
We don't know where they were flying.
And they don't even say what happened to the guy.
They just left it as like, no one wanted to mess with this dude.
And he was, he was over it.
Absolutely.
I agree with you, and I sympathize with this guy, but yeah, delays suck.
We get it.
I've been stuck.
Same thing.
Probably four hours is my
record,
and it's awful, and you're claustrophobic, and it's terrible, and you still haven't even done the flight yet.
It's awful, but he just made it worse for everybody else,
They got, they, they, they said the plane was carrying 168 passengers was taxi back to the gate and the man was moved by security.
They didn't save whether he was arrested, charged or anything.
It was investigated by, it was investigated by maintenance.
They left later that evening, but he, him not, him doing it honestly doesn't really dictate whether or not they, I mean, four hours.
And actually he said they
It could really find out too.
Let's get to
our third big story.
Okay, Greg, this is from talker.
One word can pretty much describe how Americans feel.
It's almost a consensus here in 2026.
We're only four months in, about to enter, just entered our fifth month.
Stressful.
Really?
Why would that be the word?
Just because of an unnecessary war, crazy high gas prices or inflation, pedophiles running amok at our highest levels of government in corporate America?
I don't know.
Why don't you
God, as the kids say, take a chill pill.
Totally that was part like you know I said you you mentioned it earlier one of the reasons why I was just kind of in a cruddy mood is like I passed the gas station today and there's two stations in Kenosha it's 449 now I know that for some people out like whether it's New York or California other states they're like oh big deal well it is a big deal 449 is a lot and in Wisconsin we are way above the national average and it just really stressed me out plus I also and this sounds like just such a whatever problem but
like our dog groomer really raised their prices and now it's like nearly a hundred bucks just to get her a bath and a cut like I'm like I guess I'm gonna learn how to do this
stuff myself
because I just I'm I cannot like it it released because because those are just two examples of other things that are going up in price and they're becoming more and more expensive and we're just trying to live a regular life that's so that's why I came in kind of hot this afternoon before the show because I'm like
How
Then Mike Siegel joins us.
I am Pete Schwabbe.
He's Greg Bach.
And this is Nightlight on the Civic Media Network.
Welcome back.
This is Nightlight with Pete Schwabbe and Greg Bach coming to you live on the Civic Media Network.
Mike Siegel joins us in just a moment.
We have some texts here.
I just have to read these because of my underpants discussion.
You're right.
John Murray.
Came in hot Greg.
He said, uh, first of all, he said, get the boat and live your life.
I should clarify.
I don't want a boat.
I don't like he may been
Yeah.
No, thank you.
Um, John also says, don't wait.
It's stupid.
Getting old happens really fast.
Okay.
Then he says you will have a whole new set of geezer excuses, not two.
And he says, like Peter's excuses.
Oh boy.
All right, John.
And then Brett says, Oh my God, P to M with you.
That's weird to have on your underwear.
And yes, throw it out because who the heck is buying used underwear?
So there you go.
You
Let us know what your favorite song lyric is.
We're celebrating songwriting tonight here on Nightlight.
And with that in mind, we will bring in, and this is Casual Friday.
I have to read
it.
We're all, I have a shirt with a collar on, but I panicked at the last moment and put that on, but it's still Casual Friday.
Let's welcome our first and only guest of the night on Casual Friday.
He is an actor, a TV host and a comedian.
He is the former host of if walls could talk what you get for the money.
And probably every other HGTV show he joins us now over the stream.
He also hosts a great podcast called travel tales, Mike Siegel.
Hey buddy, how are you?
Hey, Pete.
How are this is the most, uh, Wisconsin discussion that I've walked into underpants and pontoon boats.
That's what I walk into right here.
This is a very casual Friday.
That's
underwear.
First of all, where are you walking around that people are gonna see your underwear?
they?
No, they weren't
I might have
if it said.
We talking a boxer brief or is it a boxer?
Yeah, what
Low-rise bikini.
I'm doing good.
Pete.
Thanks for, uh, thanks for having me.
It's always a pleasure and congrats on the new show here.
And this is your first time on our new version.
So it's great that we get that out of the way.
But I wanted to ask you, you had this great spot.
It was very funny on Byron Allen Comics Unleashed.
Here's my thing with Byron Allen.
I know a lot of people that are co-bearer fans probably aren't thrilled that he's going to be the new host.
He's buying the time.
It's kind of a weird thing.
I actually have a lot of admiration for Byron Allen.
The guy went around with a microphone and a video thing and he's worth a billion dollars now just putting all of his things he's recorded on TV.
It's pretty cool.
So my first run in with Byron, it was not run in, but I mean, so he basically got started.
Well, he knew I'll back it up.
So it was about 20 years ago when I'm hosting my show, TBS Movie Extra on TBS.
And I did a lot of
film junkets, a lot of movie junkets.
So we would go and this one happened to be in Miami.
So I'm flying back from Miami and we are sat together.
And at this point, he only had a syndicated show that was basically, I think it was called like celebrities with Byron Allen or kicking it with Byron Allen.
It was
basically
any and I
On the on the flight back, he kind of gave me his whole spiel.
You know, we kind of met and talk.
He found out I was a comic, you know, he started out as a comic.
And but he kept bringing up things like, yeah, I was on this.
He said, yeah, I was in the 70s.
I was on the show real people.
I go, yeah, I know who you are.
I know who you are.
And then he'd bring it up and then I did this.
Yeah, I know who you are, Byron.
OK.
But then.
But basically his I don't know what his connection was.
Maybe he knew some.
Uh, publicists or something, but he got into these junkets, which were all free to press, you know, they're all in a hotel.
So whenever anybody out there sees an interview with a celebrity and the poster for the movie that they're plugging is behind them, that's usually that it's a free press junket.
So, uh, you're led into a room, they have two cameras set up, three, sometimes if they have a two shot and one on me, one on him.
And you go in there, you get five minutes into the room.
And you ask your, you know, whatever.
So tell me what it was like working with Tom Hanks and you get your answers and blah, blah, blah.
They give you a press kit with clips of the movie and they send you home to your affiliate and Tulsa or wherever you're from.
And that was it.
So he would get into all these and just get all the footage, which is all free and cobbled the show together and went and sold it as an independent producer.
And his deal back then he told me I think he would go to what there's a convention called natby, which is basically television producers Have these conventions and people from affiliates all over the country syndicators and everything they If you run the we'll go back to Tulsa again if you run the you know channel 8 in Tulsa and you're the program director You need stuff to put on the air so they go and buy shows they'll buy you know old sitcom reruns or whatever
And his deal was he would go and just give, he says, I'll give you the show for free.
And we just split the advertising.
So that's how we did it.
And so he got, and people were just like, well, we'll take free programming and we need some stuff to show it to in the morning.
And we can sell it's either him or Infomercials.
Infomercial, yeah.
Which with infomercials, you would get all your money up front, the station, but nobody really watched them.
But you would get all your money up front, but it makes your kind of station look like
you're showing
infomercials So this was a way for them to put programming on that was free to them And you could go to the local pizza joint and say hey you want to buy time
or
whatever So he did this all around the country and that's where he first got He built up his empire and now it truly is an empire.
I mean it
is yeah amazing But this model that he's doing like he's buying two hours of
This was a deal that like a small, maybe cable network would do late at night, not CBS.
So that should tell you where the television industry is
going.
But, you know, people make fun of Byron, but the guy's a billionaire, man.
He's a genius.
He's, he's the one and I'm in LA still.
And there's a lot of people out of work and not making money.
And he's one of the people that are working.
So that are working.
That's it is working.
Yeah.
speak.
I
He's
the weather channel.
He bought the weather channel for Chrome.
Oh my God.
you know, the running gag amongst the comics is like, you know, it's basically
It's a very cheap show
to
produce the comic.
They don't have to hire writers.
They just have producers and they bring you on and there's four, but I mean, they can crank out six shows a day taping like a game show.
And it's a long day, but they were doing four the day I was there.
So each taping takes about two hours and they woulddle it down to
24 minutes or whatever it is.
So it is a machine, man.
And it's crazy.
It's a lot.
But, you know, we would make fun of them in terms of, like, amongst comics, just because there's no segue.
It's not even pretending to be a conversation.
It's like, so, Mike, you like roller coasters, right?
And then just like, I love roller coaster bit.
it was you said.
It's like, what?
You know, I have Byron and here's my two minute pit run.
Mike, you have a joke about buses.
Go.
All right.
Yeah.
Literally that way.
There was a, there was
It
But I was just like,
Yeah.
Talk about it.
Let me tell you about broiled chicken.
And you go up into your, you know, your time-tested chicken bit, you
know,
that's my
closer.
Yeah.
But we had to look at it and go, you know, as, as, as much as, as, um, flacky takes for it.
But.
There's not many places on network TV now where a standups can perform.
Like tonight show puts on some comics every once in a while.
Kimmel, not really.
No, Colbert wasn't putting guys on.
And so it's like, you're not doing other person's bits.
You're doing your own bits on national TV.
Colbert
of mine.
he just
bit and that's
I wish they never told me that I'm, I'm not expecting Colbert to come in and like, you know, put them on their shoulder.
Like this is the next big thing.
But when the host doesn't even want to be there cause they don't want to listen to any stand.
I'm like, then why are you even doing this in the
first place?
and I'm
It's not like the, I mean, the old days, I wasn't going to stand up back in the eighties, but like, you know, I remember I was opening up for Sean, Shane, Shane Moss, and I asked him, what do you want for your credits?
And he said, I've been on Conan five times.
And I was like, and you're playing here.
Like
it's
your
Yeah.
And it does it.
What it does is impresses your family.
Yes.
You know, it's still it gives you that your family cares about and your parents love.
But in terms of moving, moving the needle in your career, it really doesn't do any.
Thing anymore, so I mean you still have to have your you know five different things You got to have your podcast
your
YouTube channel you're you
got to be all over your
social oh my god and doing everything so it That's gonna fill seats being on the tonight show or any of these shows really that's not the thing that's gonna fill you seats I mean you use it as for promotion.
It's a great piece of tape that you can you know give out but and
but no, it's not changing anybody's life anymore.
It's nice and it's great to say you're on TV, but you know, it's not what it was.
Like most things, it's not what it was.
Yeah.
And that's how meetings, that's how meetings in Hollywood go.
to know how many they want to know what your social media imprint is, your footprint, how many Instagram followers are now TikTok or any YouTube and that kind of thing.
So.
Let's pick it
Mike, we got to do a really short break, and then we'll come back with Mike Siegel.
We'll have a few more minutes.
And when we come back, Tom, let's hear some of his performance on Byron Allen Comics on Leash.
Mike Siegel's here, folks.
This is a casual Friday on Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach, and we will be right back.
This is Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
You've got the Civic Media Network, Dom Lee in Madison, working the board, producing the show.
Great to have you with us on this casual Friday.
Our question of the night is what is one of your favorite song lyrics?
So let us know and we will read your texts after the news at the top of the hour and be part of the show.
It's always more fun when you guys
Participate so our guest is Mike Siegel folks.
We've only got a few more minutes left with Mike But let's let's hear a little bit of his comedy his his spot He did on Byron Allen comics unleashed just a few days ago.
Here's part of Mike's comedy
Yeah.
Not at all.
I love his treatment.
Yeah.
But he laughs.
Yeah.
He's laughing.
And, you know, he, you know, he's got to, uh, you know, add a few of his own stuff in there.
And he doesn't, the guy's got no time to do all this stuff.
So it's actually, we started an hour late on, we were on the set ready to go.
And he was all, he was late because he had an important phone call.
because he was, as he came and explained to the audience later, he was trying to buy more shares of the Starz network.
My God!
He
was
on a higher... Byron Allen, he's just like us.
Oh my God.
Geez.
Sorry, I'm late for this taping.
I was busy buying another network.
God.
It's just one
You know what?
If he keeps going like this, they'll let him have it.
You know, let him have it.
I mean, he's, he's one making money and they're all losing.
So I guess I will
say this though, like I've never met the guy and I hope he was, I hope it's always a good experience.
My friend Jeff Horst, he's from Detroit was on the show.
Well, he's a lives in LA now, but he's from Detroit, but he was also on the, he wasn't on the show.
You were on, of course, but he seems like the fact that you can poke fun at the brand of Byron Allen on his own show is, I think that also says a lot that he's not like, you don't make fun of my team.
Don't make, like, don't make fun of me.
I was a bit like,
He's just like, it's all good.
Just have fun,
do
time.
I mean, believe me, I just said, you know, look, he knows he's doing well.
He's like, how's your business treating you?
Well, not as good as you, Byron.
It's
like
read the
I mean, it was a great experience.
So yeah,
That's the voice of Mike Siegel.
He is a TV host and a comedian and host of the travel tales podcast Mike has been all over the world.
I Greg Mike has a map in his office and his apartment He is a thumbtack of everywhere.
He's been.
Oh, there it is Insanity everywhere trip to Marinette, I think you got to add Too long
Chris haven't been to Marinette buddy, you know I've been there
Multiple times.
favorite one is science.
I thought of that all day.
That's right there.
Love it.
Why didn't you decide?
Oh, who is it?
My friend Pat was tell me he's got a buddy who does karaoke.
And then he always puts on blinded me with science and he sings nothing except when
he gets
science.
And that's all he does.
It's like that video of the guy who
and just everyone went nuts.
Um, but seriously, yeah, there's so many great lyrics out there.
Yeah.
One I always think about as the LA and like, uh, Warren Zevon had a great one.
That was from a song called Desperado's Under the Eves.
And he said, um, if California slides into the ocean, like the mystics and statistics say it will, I predict this hotel will be standing until I pay my bill, which I thought was a great line.
That's the thing is like Steely Dan and people can like knock these bands all they want, but Steely Dan, the Eagles, Warren Zivon, there was so much sarcasm in their music and their lyrics.
And it was always like, there was just always these great
digs and these little, that you didn't like, you know, it sings songs about love and that's great.
But then they'll make jokes like, like Steely Dan was really good at that too.
But I mean, I love that kind of lyricism where they're like, yeah, we're just going to make fun of people through music.
That's a great song too.
Yeah.
Lawyers guns and money.
He had a bunch of them.
What's the game called?
It's, it's, it's, um, real or fake.
Oh, okay.
I thought maybe it would have put a little more effort into the title.
Okay, we'll do that in hour number two.
I kid Dom because I love Dom.
We're coming right back to this night light with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach on the Civic Media Network.
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