ROCK 108 Morning Show - Paul Reiser

Brian Marshall and the Rock 108 morning show.

Paul Reiser, a guest on the Rock 108 morning show.

Hello.

Good

morning.

So I got you up early.

Uh, I know that, uh, I've got a fine creative fellow, but you know, when you're this early in the morning, it makes it a little bit more difficult for you.

I suppose, huh?

You know what?

I have a dog that, uh, is part rooster and gets up at the crack of nothing.

So, uh, generally five 30, there is a 80 pound boxer dog, uh,

I'm up and it's a relief to talk to you and get the dog off

my chest.

So in September, you've got a couple of dates.

September 23rd, Mason City, Iowa.

And then on September 24th at the Gallagher Blue Dorn Performing Arts Center.

Now, are these your stand-up comedy again or is this going back to those roots or what are these shows?

Ah, that's a good question.

Yeah, it's me doing stand-up.

And it's funny that when I started, that was my whole plan.

I wanted to be a stand-up and I never

really thought about, gee, I'm going to be an actor, or I'm going to be in movies or TV.

It was just to do stand-up.

So I've been really lucky and gotten to do all these great things.

But it was only recently, a couple of years ago, that I started getting back into stand-up.

And to me, that's my first love.

That's what I really love doing the most.

So people go, well, you're on these big shows, Stranger Things, and The Boys.

And I go, yeah, and those are fun.

But it's not as much fun for me as getting up in front of a live audience.

And just telling jokes, you know, and telling people, sharing stories and hearing people laugh.

To me, that's the most fun and it's intimate.

You know, you're actually seeing live people in front of you.

So I'm looking forward.

I don't get to do it as I wish I could.

Now, when you were starting out, was it easier to break in then or is it easier to break in now doing stand-up comedy?

You know, that's a good question.

It's probably in a way a little easier then.

it's hard to say because there are so many different ways that people find uh... you know find their audience these days and you can have there are people who have a you know a hundred million people followers on on you know online or on twitter something is like then i may not have heard of them there's so many there's so many ways to to find people but when i started back in uh... this is uh... eighteen forty seven uh... you know

All of us had the same goal.

We want to get on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

And it's funny that to me that now there are people like my kids wouldn't know Johnny Carson, because he's been off the air for 30 years.

But at the time, that was all of us.

That was our goal, a dream to get on the Tonight Show.

And so it was a more clear path.

But there are so many different ways to break in.

And as I said, some people, there are some

wanted to do stand-up just so they could get noticed and then get a TV show.

I was never that guy.

I always just really wanted to do stand-up.

So it's ironic that I ended up getting all these wonderful TV shows and breaks.

But the chance to get back and do stand-up is truly my first love.

What do you think your first break was?

Was it in the movies or was it on television or what do you think it

is?

Yeah, you know what?

In 1982, I was in a movie called Diner.

And that wasn't the biggest hit in the world, but it was a very impactful movie for a lot of people.

A lot of us were just starting.

I was Kevin Bacon and Tim Daly and Ellen Barkin and Mickey Rourke.

And that was the first break.

And because I got that, I got to be on the Tonight Show.

And because I got a Tonight Show, I got to be on Beverly Hills Cop.

And all these things started happening.

But that was my first break, which was an absolute

accident i literally walked into the wrong office uh... on the right day and they were cast in this movie and the cast of directors said wait a second uh... why don't you come back and meet the director

The next thing I know I was making a movie.

You know, I love the fact that, you know, you mentioned Beverly Hills cop because a buddy of mine, we used to quote your line, you know, when you would say to Marcy and Beverly Hills cop, yeah, careful on the seats.

Okay.

We used to say that to each other all the time.

So I was offered the opportunity.

I'm like, hell yeah, it's going full circle now.

That's so funny.

That's so funny.

I'll tell you, there was a line in, I was in Beverly Hills cop one and two, and there was a line in one that was just an improvised

We're in a locker room and I'm just sort of listening in on Eddie Murphy getting chewed out by his boss and finally the boss tells me to get away and

I go, hey, this

isn't my locker.

This

is the

throwaway line.

It's been 40 years and I'm telling you, people come over to me to this day and they'll just do that line.

And it took me years to realize what they were talking, people come over to me in the airport and go, hey, that's not my suitcase.

I go, what?

I don't know what you're saying.

Remember, we're doing a live from the movie.

Oh, I didn't know that.

You never know what's going to take off with people.

It's really interesting.

You've been involved in so many great projects and major projects.

You mentioned Stranger Things.

What has your experience been like working on Stranger Things?

Well, you know, those guys, they're lucky because without me, they have nothing.

Thank goodness I'm able to save them.

You know, that's a rare...

corn that you get to be on a show that such a such a global phenomenon i don't think there are a lot of examples of any shows that are that big across the board i was just uh... the summer i was in ireland the film of the movie and and just about people would stop on the street just say hello to the stranger things or actually also the show the boys which is on amazon and i came up and it both came out on the same week and so i think in the global reach of the power of

know, you click a button and you're on all over the world.

That's just not the way it used to be that quickly.

Uh, so it's really, it's really something and I'm just thrilled to be part of it because they're both really different shows and they're not really even shows that I would normally think I'd be a part of, but, uh, they're so well done and it's such a real kick to be, to be on board for them.

I know that you have to be pretty tight lipped about this, but can you tell us anything of where you're at in the next season of Stranger Things?

I saw something on your Twitter page.

I'm going to tell you the truth.

I don't even know what happened last season.

I watch it, and my son will have to explain it to me.

So what's happening now?

They're going back into the upside down?

I don't get it.

No, I'm being 100% honest when I say I don't know a thing.

I don't even know if they know it.

I think they're just writing the next season now.

So I don't even know if I'm in it.

You'll find out before I do, is my guess.

Please tell me, you can tell me more about Reboot on Hulu, which is out September 20th.

That I can tell you about.

Reboot is a funny comedy.

It's a show about a TV show that's being rebooted.

It's created by Steve Levitan, who created Modern Family, which is a great show, big hit.

The last five, seven, ten years have been all these reboots.

of shows that were done.

In fact, we were mad about you.

We did a, to our surprise, we ended up doing a little revisit to 20 years after the original show.

But the premise of this show reboot is that a little family show, you know, there was a cute little family show.

Now, 20 years later is being rebooted and everybody's changed and the little kids have grown up and the other actors, they don't all have the fondest memories of each other.

So there's a lot of friction.

And so it's just,

The show itself that they're rebooting is not really as much of the story as these actors getting back together.

And it's really well done.

It's really fun.

It's really accurate.

It really feels like an actual TV show, even though it's a made-up fictitious show that never existed.

So it's great fun and it has a great cast.

Keegan-Michael Key from Key and Peel and Judy Greer, Johnny Knoxville from Jackass is a great cast.

And we did eight episodes and they, the premiere on September 20th, which is right before I will be in your neighborhood.

That's right.

And two shows, Gallagher Blue Dorn is going to be September the 24th on the UNI campus.

So this is again, like you said earlier, going back to your standup roots and conversation one for over an hour, isn't it?

Yeah.

We, uh, see you have like an hour and a half, sometimes longer.

You know what I've been doing.

People say, uh, what do you, what do you do in your show?

What do you talk about?

And here's the truth.

And I tell

people, I'm not smart enough to make anything up.

So I only tell people, here's what happened to me, here's what's happening in my house, and people are laughing because they're going, oh man, that sounds like my house.

So we all end up living the same lives in our own ways.

But lately, what I've been doing at the end of the show, I'll take questions from the audience, and that's always often the most fun part of the show, because I never know what people are going to ask, and people have some weird questions.

So we have a great time.

And like I say, you get to actually talk to see actual people laughing in real time.

You know, it's not like TV where you have to wait six months to find out if a joke is funny.

You'll find out right away.

But people have a great time.

And you know, and I don't, there's nothing political or current.

I don't sell people.

We're just going to have some laughs and then we'll send you home.

So it's a looking forward to a great night.

I'll tee you up for your first weird question.

How gross was that car looking chair on my two dads?

Wow, that's what you came up with?

That is a weird question.

Yeah, that was a gross chair and impossible to sit in.

So, uh, if we could, if we could go back, I would have redesigned that chair, perhaps.

But why do I want that chair?

Because it just looked so cool.

Yeah, it did look cool.

You didn't want to sit in it though.

Uh, you know, because you were probably 14 when you watched that.

and you thought, well, that's a car.

I could get that.

How can P one nation follow what you're doing on social media?

Are you available that way?

I'm on Twitter.

I'm on Instagram.

I'm really bad at it.

I have people who think you kind of write more.

You have to get on more.

It's like, I never, I have to make an effort, but yeah, I'm on Paul riser.com or whatever it is on Twitter.

I don't even know how my Instagram or you can go to my website, which is Paul riser.com.

That's what the website is.

and you can find the other dates because I'm going to be all scattered all over the country.

There's no rhyme, there's a reason, but I will be in Iowa September, 24th and 24th, Mason City and Cedar Falls.

And if you come to the show, for goodness sake, come and say hello.

I would love to be able to do that.

And I look forward.

I will probably not try to quote any of your lines to you because everybody does.

Yuki, I'd be happy to hear them and see if you get a laugh with them.

The Rock 108 Morning Show with Brian Marshall.