Casey Webb: Man VS Food | On the Homefront with Jeff Dudan #82

Oh, hi.

Hey, Casey. How are you?

I'm doing great. Oh, do you wanted me to start. Oh, I'm sorry. Was I leading this? That's. I'm totally ready. I'm ready to go.

Yeah. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, hey, we're here with Casey Webb. I am Jeff Duden, and we are on the home front. Welcome, sir. So excited to be on with you today.

Thank you, Jeff. I appreciate it. And we just so happen to both be in the Carolinas, which I ha. Don't live in. I. But I do visit often, so that. That was a nice surprise, right? As far as surprises go.

Yeah, absolutely. Down in. Down in Wilmington. We're in Lake Norman area north of Charlotte here. So what have you been up to down there this week?

So I took a road trip with my dog, landed in Cape Charles, Virginia, camped out over there on the Chesapeake, which is pretty incredible. And then I came in day before yesterday. It's Buddy's birthday party. He hired the. The Rebirth Brass Band from New Orleans. Crawfish boil at this dive bar called the Greensville Yacht Club, which is formerly the Double there, which is right near the Greensville Amphitheater or theater that's over there. So it was a lot of fun. We had a good time yesterday. And it's really cold and dark and rainy in the Northeast, in New Jersey, where I live and where I'm from.

Yeah.

And so it was time to take a little road trip. Last year I traveled a bunch. Thailand, Costa Rica, Ireland, New Orleans for Jazz Fest, which I'm going to next week. Fun. And I could. I usually write that stuff off because it's travel.

That's right.

Part of business. It's part of doing business. But this year I was. I didn't. I hadn't gone anywhere. I was just kind of embracing the winter in New Jersey. And I. I'm sorry. I did that because it was. January was the longest six months of my life, so.

Well, hey, Casey, so tell us a little bit about growing up in New Jersey and the things that you. That you did.

So I'm originally from New Jersey. Parents are both New Yorkers. That made their way in the late 60s to a little town called Little Sou Silver, where the train conductor affectionately called it as small change. And a lot of blue collar in that town mixed, I guess. Dad commuted to the city, so my mom was stay at home mom, which is pretty great. I got. Spent a lot of time with him and my mom in the kitchen. Yeah. Very humble beginnings. You know, for me, sports was a big part of my life. Later in life, I guess through high school and into college, I played football. I wrestled in high school and played football in high school and college that led me to play or high school led me to play football and in college for a brief stint and, and it was, I realized then, like I did real well. I walked away with no injuries. I had the body for a football player, just not the height. So I went D3. I thought I was going D1. And then, you know, like most things, sometimes it's time to put, you know, hang up your helmet and leave it on the field. So I did. And that's actually when I started acting or I was always acting out, but I put some energy into actually performance. And I started doing theater at 18. But before that, you know, we're living in a small town, like parents know each other and a friend's friend's family had a pizza place. So I started washing dishes at this pizza place. So there's like this parallel world of acting in restaurants that would lead up to why we're here talking probably about man versus food.

So what, what position did you play in football?

I was a, I was a defensive tackle. Well, they tried me on both sides and I just wasn't, I was more, I was more. And this is much as such as life, you find out later in life I was more reactionary, you know, or reactive. So defense is where I excelled. And I was about 2 going as a freshman. I was like 2 32, 40 at 5 9, just a big head, big shoulders, big hands. My, it's my Italian Irish heritage, I think to that my grandfather. So I, I put you, I put.

You right over the ball, right?

Yeah, I was nose guard. I was a nose guard. So I, I, that's what I'd have done with you. Yeah. And I was, I, by my senior year I really got into running, believe it or not, my junior senior year. And when we, we go to, we went to football camp every year at Penn State from Jersey and it was pretty really probably still is popular camp for kids. And that really got us ready this, these days, kids are playing whatever sport all year long, which is incredible. We would have been a different team if we played all year long like most kids are doing with be it baseball, soccer, basketball, what have you. But I dropped like 30 pounds like over the course of like junior to senior year. And then going to senior year, they had to change the defense. So I was a D tackle. I became noseguard fast and just popped out of my stance and coach called Me, Pop. Actually, that was my machine. And he was screaming. What? From across the field. And he was like. He had a titanium hip, and he walked like he had one, too. And he would scream. It was amazing. He was like the coach. You would see, you know, a character on a television show or movie, and I was like.

Like a pirate complete.

And we were the Buccaneers, believe it or not. We were the Bucks. So Go, Bucks.

You were the Buccaneers and your coach and had a metal leg, basically.

Total pirate without the parrot. He was pirate without the parrot. And my. My buddies, to this day, it's like we're. Anytime there's anything, because a lot of these guys that I grew up with, now, their kids are going to the opposing schools that we definitely were up against, or we still. I still hate, actually. And their kids are going to those schools. And anytime I finish off, you know, with text, it's always, go, Bucks. Go, Bucks. Go, Bucks. You know, hashtag Go, Bucks. So I. I haven't forgotten. I will never forget.

Yeah, any. Anything you learned as an athlete that you still take with you to this day into business. Entertainment's tough. You're always getting knocked in the mouth. You got to go do auditions. It's, you know, it's kind of thankless. And football, man, like, you make a mistake, you're out.

Yeah, I'm gonna jump off a bridge right now. No. Yeah, I. It's every. All of it. You know, truthfully, because I had a. My older brother was just a tough son. Is still a tough son of a. And he. He kind of paved the way for me. My grandfather was my uncles. My dad, just a sweetheart of a man, wasn't an athlete, but he was really wise. And so, like, I had this great masculine energy from my uncles and my brother, specifically because it was home with me. And then my grandfather, this looming presence of my grandfather. And then there's my dad, who, like, he would sit me down. And when I was a junior in high school, when I started playing a lot more, I actually made varsity as a sophomore. You have to play freshman, and then unless you're, like, a really good cat, you catch real well. So as a defensive player, I made varsity as a sophomore. He would sit me down and visualize my day and visualize the game every Saturday. Every Saturday, he would do that. And, like. And my dad grew up in the Bronx. Poor Irish guy from the Bronx. But he's part of this program that brought him to Massachusetts in the south summer. So he had some worldly vision. And. And. And he. Growing up in the 60s and 70s, he found a. You know, as a Catholic. He grew up Catholic, but he had these life philosophies that he. He passed down to me and my brother, and he would have. He would have me visualize and. And quite that. That changed the game for me because I already saw what I was doing and like, everything was in slow motion, but I was at full speed. And that's how I excelled, really. And I've taken that with me wherever I go, especially with, you know, know, for any sort of performance. You know, I got knocked around a long time, but that's just part of the business. I didn't. Man versus food, for instance, was like what people most know, know me for. I didn't get that till I was 40, you know, and that was 2017. So, yeah, I had worked as a PA for years while bartending, working in restaurants, pursuing acting. I was trying to do all these things and. And the sports element, that's where it came to a point. When I was in college, I was like, I'm done using my noggin to knock people over. I'm good at it. That's great. And I' going to be a pro. I'm just a small guy, right? So I hung it up and that's when I really started pursuing like, you know, because it was always a physical and emotional release. You know, we had some problems as kids, parents got divorced, yada, yada, yada. But I. I was able to use sports to kind of relieve that tension, that childhood angst or even just the testosterone, you know, and it was. It was. I just. I just jumped into another thing. And that was. It was acting. Theater quit. Yeah, it started with theater.

So when you jumped into that, were you doing scripted productions or improv? What kind of. What was your. What was your first opportunity?

So I. I came back to. To. Came back home to New Jersey. I was in Western Pennsylvania playing football, which is school called Wilkes. It was Wilkes College. Then it's Wilkes University. It's in the Scranton. Near Scranton, the Susquehanna River. And it's all. It's only football and beer, basically. Football, beer and girls, which is great. I just realized that I want to do a little bit more.

Wait a minute.

Are you leaving where you're taking a show on the road?

Yeah, it sounds good.

Yeah, it was great, you know, at the time, but it was just like. I just had a change of heart. I wrote this really long letter to my father, my brother, and told him that I was done. You know, I. I drafted this letter on on legal tender, letterhead, whatever, legal pad. And it was just wrote and wrote, wrote, telling that I was done playing football. And that was one of the hardest, probably the first hardest decision I've had to make because, because of my, you know, the legacy my brother had. And like I was, he was, he's a bit of a hero of mine as long as, as well as my father. So like, just to tell them that I was quitting something because my heart just wasn't in anymore and like I couldn't just do it anymore because of them, for the sake of them. And so that was the toughest part. So I got back to Jersey and a really close friend of my three closest friends were pursuing acting in some capacity. One was going to conservatory, American Academy Dramatic Arts. The other one was getting his undergrad at uvm, University of Vermont, but he was minoring in theater. He later went on to go to New School Actor Studio under James Lipton at the New School. And I auditioned with him to get in and he got in. So I got the audition in front of James Lipton, which is a pretty big deal for a theater actor or an actor in general. And I mean I was, I didn't have my undergrad, so I wasn't, I was studying with the teachers that taught privately, but not at the university level, at the university. Anyway. There's a lot of ways there and I just took my way, you know. So I, I, my buddy at home was at community college. It was when I, he encouraged me to audition for this play at the community college in the area where I grew up. It's Brookdale Community College. And it's like, it's like the two year school for Rutgers, Monmouth University, a bunch of other schools and Seton hall, you know, all these Jersey schools. It's a two year school for that. So I, I auditioned for the first time. Cold read. Basically you take a piece of paper. This is actually an audition I have to do later, but. And you read it cold and you perform it on a stage in front of your peers that are auditioning for maybe the same role. And I, and I failed. It was worth, it was the hardest thing.

So how much time do they give you when they hand the piece of paper to you? Do you read it from the paper or do you, do you have to memorize it real quick and then do it?

It's a little bit of both. You got to, you know, like it's, it's, it's part owning.

What can, what can you do with this? Yeah, here. What can you do with this?

Exactly. It's. It's cold for a reason, because it's not hot enough for you to have spent time with it or put an emotion behind it. So it put me in a position where I had to just rely on just instinct and gut. And. And that led to me not getting any roles in that play. But I did step into that the next class that semester, which is all improv. And then that changed my life as far as I was concerned, because then that's. I realized, like, that's what. This is what I want to do. This is my next challenge. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life. And. And yeah, I never.

Much of how much of improv is. Is, like, systematized because I'm fascinated by the concept of it. And I. All I watch is comedy, man. That's it.

And so, like, why I'm here, if.

You'Re in Second City or, you know, if you watch like, the documentary, that kind of stuff, like how, like, how. How much training, like, like, is there, you know, is there just systems and processes that you use that help get you to the next joke, to the next line to carry it forward? I imagine there is, but, like, to me, it doesn't. It would be hard to. It would be hard for me to make up, like, how that process works. I'd be interested to hear you talk about it.

It's a lot of play and it's all listening. So it's listening and reacting and upping the ante. And there's a, you know, you'll probably hear it or maybe you've heard it. There's a this yes end element, because as soon as you say no to something, you cut up all. Cut off all conversation. So, like, I've never, you know, leading into man versus food, I never hosted a TV show, a show on tv, but I hosted live stuff, you know, and with improv experience. And that's just practice. Like how to get to Carnegie Hall. Practice, practice, practice. Right. Yeah. So with interviews, it was the same thing. I use these tools that I learned as a young person who failed on a cold read on a stage. How to listen. You're actively listening because if you're thinking about the next thing you're going to say while you're performing, of course there's a bit of that, but, like, you're. You have to be listening to what. What's being said to you in order to react to that and take from that mind from that and then use it and to up the Ante or create other story or, you know, or, you know, take us along the road. Like, you're both walking this path. You and your other characters could be 2, 3, 4, or 5 of the people that you're improvising within a group. And just to give you an idea, like with man versus Food, I'm talking to strangers about food. I know what I need to say. I know what I want them to say. I have to lead them there to say it. So we're mining for sound bites to give you an idea of, like, what I was doing when I was a young person was basically active listening. And my opinion, the greatest gift you can give anyone is your full attention. I'm listening to you. I'm hearing what you're saying. I'm not thinking about the next thing I'm going to say, though. I'm excited and I want to add to what you're saying. I need to take a deep breath and actually absorb what you're saying and then let that information wash over me and then proceed and have that dialogue, you know? So it's really. It's really about listening and being open to play and not saying no. It's like, yes, end your life, you know? And it's funny because that happened to me. And there was a point in my life where I was like, I hate bartending, but I love acting. I'm living in Brooklyn and I just broken up with a girlfriend for many years, and I was in a weird place, and I was like, wait a second. I'm the same person that's bartending, that's acting. And what. It. It was affecting me in the room because, like, we used to, believe it or not, we used to go into a. A studio or an office space and audition. We don't do that anymore. It's now like this, right? It's all which I miss. So it was affecting my work because I was like, in my head about this hating. I was like this duality in life. Something snapped. It's like I'm the same person behind the bar having these conversations with these folks and being entertaining or whatever, trying to entertain as I. I'm the same person that would walk into the room auditioning for this job that might help me pay my rent, you know, or. Or advance me in my career or, you know. So it was like this literal switch, and then that would. That's what led me to a great deal of success because I got out of my own way. I was listening to my gut, my heart, truthfully, and I didn't say no. You know, I stopped saying no to myself. No, I don't have enough time. No, I can't do this. I was like, holy crap. This is affecting all of it. Like, not just the work, but my whole life. You know, I was closing myself off by saying no. So with improv, you're just saying yes. You're advancing the thing. So when I say, yes, end your life, it's. That's what I'm actually doing. That, you know, I. That's what got me down here. You know, I was like, I got to drive. Like, I could have said no a million times and never drove to. Drove down to Wyoming. Said, but I did because I knew, like, the juice would be worth the squeeze. The nine hours in the car would be worth all of it. And it was. Of course, I'm like, on the Chesapeake, cooking steaks with my dog is amazing. You know, just because I said yes. You know, if I said no, I'd be home in the cold wondering what the hell was going on down here. This crawfish boil.

Yeah. Look, every. Everybody needs an adventure in life. And the more you can have, the better your life is going to be.

Amen.

You know, people, you know, we. We end up right where we are in life based on the decisions that we make and the talk in our head that we listen to that put walls up around us. And I think just saying yes to, you know, defaulting is a powerful tool to get you where you want to go. And then I think, you know, I had a similar. And it's obviously smaller, but, you know, with this podcast, I look back at the first ones that I did, and I was like. I could tell my body language. I was nervous, and I. I was. I had scripted questions and, you know, And. And then at the end of the day, really? Yeah, I think I was. I just. And then what I. What I realized was if I'm smiling and the guest is smiling and we're having a good time, then, like, that's about as good as you can get, because people can hear smiles. And if you're having fun and you're going, you know, you might not get to everything you wanted to get to, but who cares? You know? Have a good time with it. And. And then, you know, people. People seem to resonate with that. So you, again, you gotta. You kind of can't take yourself too seriously. Get out of your own way. Don't be fearful. And by the way, none of this is fatal. Like, you don't get the. You don't get the part. Okay.

That's part of the job. You know, like, I learned very early on, like, not to tell anyone that I had any audition for anything, because when you do, I was like, yeah, Mom, Dad, I got auditioned for this TV show. And then like a week later. Do you get it? No. And you would say that a lot because there's a lot more times you're saying, no, I didn't get it to the yes, I did get it. So that got cut off very quickly. And, you know, with the yes thing, like, you say yes to it, you could decide to say no to it eventually, once you've sussed it out. But don't rule it out until you know more about what that thing you're knowing, not n o ing, you know. So, yeah, like, just if you start with yes, you know, you're open. You're opening the thing up. When you start with no, there's no possibility. You just end it. It ends the conversation. So that's how I see it. I'm a very visual person and visual learner. So, you know, like, I could I. In my mind's eye. And my father kind of lends that to me. You know, he passed this little torch of, like, just vis. The visualization torch, let's call it, you know, and that's helped me every day, you know, when I get caught up here. Because it's a motor, right? It's like it's. Your gut in your heart is really. You have to listen to that. That little person inside. Some people call it the angels. Some people call it your inner child, whatever that voice be and whatever you call it, really trusting in that. Because then you could put it up here and then put it to work. Right. Because it's just a machine, you know, that we get caught up in the. The cogs and the wheels of it all sometimes. And becoming quiet is the point. And that's what he was doing for me, because my father's a very much. He was. He did pass a couple years ago, but he meditated, you know, for years, and he taught me, you know, he brought me to a place that. That introduced Transcendental meditation. And meditation is a big part of that, too. That's. Meditation is also prayer. It. You know, it's a lot of things, you know, and for a lot of different people, but becoming still helps, you know, the. The uncertain waters, you know, like, it helps you navigate through things a lot easier when you're calm, you know, quiet.

Yeah.

And you're available to receive.

You know, I spent four hours last weekend with a business partner. And he brought up this con and his time we hadn't really spent together out of the office. It was on a weekend we just went and sat around his pool on the lake and might have had a couple of cocktails. But he, he, he. He's in this training. He said, you know, I'm learning to sit in awareness. And he described it as, you know, I. I'm in this situation and something's going not well, and I'm tending to get upset about it. But if I just sit in awareness and say, all right, what is this situation? What is the universe trying to tell me with this situation?

What.

Where are my opportunities to learn? I can take it as a slight. I can take it as a problem or a mist in reality, if I just sit in awareness and I, I get objective, I get extrospective, I get outside myself and I look at this objectively. What, what am I learning here? And I tell you what, man, I've found that to be a powerful little. Three words. Just when I'm. My head, when everything's spinning, I got everything going on. Just sit in awareness for a minute. And I've worked on meditating, but, man, it's hard.

It's work, you know, it's. Yeah, it's not easy, and it never will be easy. It's just one of those things where you have to make time and carve out time to become still. Because as soon as you hit the ground in the morning, it's like, you know, it's. Things are moving. So it's really the time when you wake up. You know, I have a thing like get up. It doesn't always happen, but when you wake up, get up, you know, make your bed and then start your day, because you'll never get into a. A made bed faster than you would in an unmade bed. You know, if your bed's unmade, you're going to crawl back if your bed is made. And then, you know, my dog is often in there, so I'm like, get out so I can make the bed so we can start the day, you know. But, yeah, when you're in stillness, when you're quiet and you're in that awareness that you speak of, you're able to receive things, you're able to see things without judgment. There's like walking meditations is very, it's very similar to this is you're just taking a walk. You're not judging anything. You're not calling out, you're not speaking you're just receiving the color, the light. You're just, just letting it wash over you. And the, the things that come up, when that happens, it's like there's, it's just clearer. Things are just clear. You're seeing more by not judging or, like, having them, you know, like thinking about all your problems in that moment when you're actively listening and being still and quiet. All this stuff washes over you. Just, especially in nature. I mean, I, I, I live near Prospect park in, in Brooklyn in New York City, and, and to me, everything outside of your small apartment, in my case, is your backyard. Is. And that was all in New York City. So I was able to retreat there often because I grew up in the suburbs. We, we camped my whole life as kids. I thought I was going to go outdoor mountain rescue, fire jumper, all these crazy things before I was led my way to acting. But I've, I've, I've always sought out nature because I know it's, it's just, I mean, it's, it's, it's there for us. You know, it's like, especially living in a city my, for most of my adult life, it's one of those things where it's telling you to become quiet and listen, you know, so you can have your wits about you if there's, you know, wild animals or, like impending branches or what have you. You know, it's like, it's when you realize how lucky we are, you know, it's, or when you realize how lucky you are. It, there's so much to get, you know, with, with very little giving. It's just like this, all these beautiful things, you know, in nature.

Hey, I'm sorry to hear about your dad. It sounds like he made a big, made a big impact in your life.

Yeah, it's. Thank you for saying so. You know, I was lucky enough, as the story goes, we finished filming in, in Florida, in, in the Keys, in Key West. This is like BC before COVID right? And I, right after we were finished filming, coincidentally, South Beach One and Food Festival was going off and I wasn't working it, but it's a very, it's all the pros from Food Network or doing demos, and it's a, it's a really great event, and it's right on the beach in south beach, and I went just to go see some people that I knew, people in the industry and just, just decompress and quite honestly digest because I think I had to eat like a giant key lime pie or something the day before and I got back to New Jersey and we just moved. My dad, he sold his place. He moved into this winter rental and he was looking to buy or maybe rent. I get sick like, and that was like ground zero for apparently for me, for Covid. I got that. Then you know, I got sick, let's say. And long the short I get better. I have a trip planned to Costa Rica and I go to Costa rica. Was it March 16 and March 20. The whole world shuts down. So I find myself in Costa Rica. I wound up staying for three months because there was nothing going on in New York City. It was just like friends are like stay because it's hell here. My brother was taking care of my parents. Everyone was cool. So I stayed there. The network and the production company were figured out. I got, I got a 10 episode gig called Best Places to Pick out and I had my microphone and my stuff there too because I had to do some episodes of man versus who do the voiceover because we do voiceover for the show.

Yeah.

So I was like, oh my God, I'm in freaking paradise. You know. And then this is a long story long about my dad. But after three months it was like I was there with friends and it was, it was time to go. And it's like when, when paradise can become purgatory. Because I, I, I, I, I, I, I started, listen, my mind was just over. I had to get back to work, I had to do something because I, I just, I, I, I was almost felt guilty. Went back home and we moved my dad into this beautiful building and he just aged a lot and I was like, I, I gotta make a move here. So I was literally blowing up an air mattress in his place and putting it back, you know, before he woke up cooking. And so if we didn't have that time off because we would have went right back into production and I'm gone. You know, it's like 10 days on, 10 days off and more or less and when we're in production. So I got to spend like over a year with my dad before he, he got sick.

Oh, that's great.

And then he passed. Never had covet, but he got, he wanted a little bit of cancer, a lot of treatment and he's just an old Irish guy. Just didn't bet that, that, that it's a tough thing to go through that part of it because it's, you want it to work but it doesn't seem to ever work, you know, for, especially for older folks that just their immune system is, is not as strong, but I had to spend. The beauty of that, I. I wouldn't have not. I wouldn't have had that time to spend with him if the world didn't shut down, quite honestly. So some people have had terrible experiences and some others not, and mine was pretty incredible. We fought like brothers, you know, because we just did. And. But I got to cook for him every day, multiple meals, and. And that was. That's. That was really special. And then. Since then, he wanted to be cremated. And. Awesome. He had taken care of all of it, you know, and. And he was a volunteer fireman for many years in our town, and, like. Like, whatever fun they paid into took care of all of it. Like, everything was taken care of. Like, my brother and I didn't have to do anything, and it was like, wow, this is. Because that is a very stressful time talking to friends that had similar experiences with their parents. And so he. I had these ashes, and my brother's like, all right, what do you. You take him? I'm like, he's not very sentimental, you know? And I was like, all right, so I'm gonna take him with me. I took him to Thailand. I took him to Costa Rica. I took him to awesome New Orleans.

How many. How many times did he get tested at the airport?

It's funny, because I had a. I. I didn't have the whole bag. I took enough for Thailand, enough for Costa Rica. I took enough for, you know, Jazz Fest in New Orleans. I took them to. I took them to Ireland.

There's not little bits of him in blue vials across the airports of the world.

No, it was in, like, a plastic bag rolled up, and I just put it in my carry on. I fly a lot. So. Truthfully, they're looking for, you know, they're looking for, you know.

Yeah.

Bombs and. And lots of heroin, I guess. I don't know.

Look, they know. They know who we are now. They know who you. They know who you are.

You're not. Yeah.

You're not on a. You're not on a list.

I hope not. I. You know, maybe. Yeah. I mean, that's funny, because I meet a lot of, you know, TSA folks who are just great, and there's. They're. You know, they're, like, doing their job, and all of a sudden, like, oh, wait, you're the guy. Yeah. Hey, you know.

Yeah.

Some of my greatest conversations were in airports because it's like, oh, wow. Because you're all stuck in the same place. And. And to me, you know, I found Success later in life or success found me, however you look at it. And people stop me in airport, and then, like, we're talking, and they're like. They're like, look at their watch. Like, we got to go. I'm like, oh, all right. Like, they leave me before I leave them, usually. You know, I'm like, all right, I guess you got to go. This is just funny to me, because they are ones say hi to me, but I'm the one who doesn't want them to leave, you know, because it oftentimes I'm, like, in my head, and I don't want to necessarily be there thinking about all the things I got to do, what I didn't do. I could have done this better. And then it's like, oh, wait, like, you're. You're. You're like these little, you know, people that. I don't call them angels or whatever they are. You know, they're just people that come into your life, and it's like, I want to make time for them, you know, because kids watch the show, couples watch the show, older folks, just, like, families and people there are all kinds of. You watch the show. So I have all the time in the world if you have time for.

Me, you know, that's. That is much appreciated, I'm sure. Yeah. I lost my dad in the beginning of COVID so I couldn't go see him because it was right when everything shut down and he was in bad health. And my. My older brother did get there and kind of get in right there at the end. But the year before he passed, I had sold a business in 20. So the year before he passed, I made it the point four times to fly to Chicago, take him out of town for three days. You know, he's a guy. He'd never had a massage in his life. So we went up to Lake Geneva. It's amazing, you know, got him a haircut, got him a massage, you know, went to the restaurant and just sat there and talked for, like, two or three days. Sometimes my brothers would show up or whoever. But, like, I am so thankful I did that. Like, I am, because I had moved away, and, you know, we hadn't been together very much for the previous 10 years. And I was just like, man, this is it's now or never, and took the time to do it. And then, sure enough, you know, Covid came the next year, and that was. That was the end of it. And he didn't die from COVID but, you know, it certainly made it more difficult to to handle everything because it was like, right in the beginning of it and everybody was really freaking out. And then. Yeah. So my. So he was cremated too. But my. My favorite joke, my dad was hilarious. Like, he would appreciate. I wouldn't tell this joke if he didn't appreciate it, but he was just so funny and so he was so nice and so kind and so funny. Little soft, you know, kind of like. Like maybe your dad. You said about your dad, like, he could have probably stood up for himself a little more.

But.

So, like, I'll serve my kids, friends like this crispy chicken we get from the fresh market. And it's great. And. And it's got this really thick breading on it. I'll be like, yeah, do you guys. They're like, oh, this is great. And I'm like, well, it's my dad's recipe, but enjoy it because the urn's almost empty.

Oh, my God. Yeah.

But I don't know. That's just that he would have. Appreciate that would have been his type of joke.

But.

And then I took.

We live and earn, don't we? We live in earn. We live and earn.

And then I took his ashes up to Canada where he used to take me fishing as a boy and spread them a lot. Spread them a little bit in the lake. So, yeah, I mean, it's. I miss them. You know, it's funny, that connection we have with our father as. As young boys is. It's. It's pretty cool.

Can I share something with you? I had a friend, I didn't see it yesterday, but I'm on this text feed with all my buddies where I say, you know, hashtag, go bucks. And we lost another dad recently and yesterday, actually, and big golfer, Irish guy, you know, just. Just a total character. But, like, I wrote this. I, like, woke up and I was reading what friends are writing, and I'm just like, you know, we had a long day yesterday. Crawfish boy, out in the sun. You know, this band played. It was quite incredible. And we were definitely in our cups, as they say, right? And I was sitting there, I was just kind of like tearing up, reading what my friends are writing because we're all at this age. Like, I don't have kids. You know, I didn't. I didn't. I didn't get married. I haven't been married yet. You know, just parents, divorce. I. I chose work and yada, yada, yada. But I, you know, I have friends that have kids. I have a lot of friends that have kids. I Don't. I don't have any, but I have a small dog I treat like my kid. He's in the. He's in the corner over there. But if I could share this with you, just like, I don't know where it came from, and sometimes this stuff just kind of appears. It just kind of channels through you. I very much believe that things channel through you from somewhere would be it, you know, wherever. But a friend of mine had written something about heroes and legends and like, there are heroes, heroes die, but legends, you know, are here forever. And our friend's dad, Jim. Jim. Big Jim o', Brien, he was, he was one of those guys like all our fathers were in their own right. But I write in my mind as I'm reading, as I'm reading, I see our fathers, brothers, mentors that have passed as statues on pillars in some hall of Remembrance. This way I can visit them. This way I can visit them when I. When I need to. It really, really makes me proud to know you guys and the mighty men that raised us all to live in power until it's time to rest in peace. Love you boys.

It's beautiful. That's awesome.

Yeah, I miss him too, you know.

Yeah.

Yeah. And, you know, it's the, It's. I have conversations with him like my funny little dog. He's, he's the quirkiest little thing. He's, you know, he reminds me of my Dex. My dad loved him so much, that sort of thing. And I. And you know, when he was sick, I was, you know, I was working out through my workouts and some of those. That stuff helps tremendously. I do a lot of, like, CrossFit style stuff, high impact yoga. Like, I just, you know, I'm in the water as much as I can and in the right season. But it was always like, when he was sick, it was like, do it for dad. Do it for dad. Do it for dead. So it's like, it got me out of my head and then back into my body and it was like. It's. Because some people, you know, they kiss it up to God. You know, athletes, they do it to God or whatever it looks as appears or they're, they're, they're giving God the credit, you know, And I think there's something about that in performance, especially physical performance, where you're able to kind of detach. And it's, it's, it's bigger than all of us. And that's kind of, you know, my relationship with the visualization part sitting down and getting My mind, right. And bringing myself to that place. So I'm prepared to be present and be in the moment and do my job, you know, because, like, especially in performance or acting, and they just want you to show up and do your best. And that's, you know, like. And I learned that, you know, by the process of not getting the job. You know, like, by not getting. I got so much more because I was able to correct and tweak and. And make changes to. So I would get the job, you know, and just a quick, crazy story. I. I used to have a beard, and it was graying, you know, And I was like. And some auditions, because I have a young. I have a younger look. So.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Oh, not at all. I'm embracing. I mean, look at this thing. It's like.

It happens. Happens to the best of us.

Totally. It's part of the process. But I still have a full head of red hair, right? So I was. I was like, for auditions. I was starting to color it. I was like, jesus, I'm done doing this. Like, I. I don't want to. I don't. It's. You know, I started doing that. I was like, I want to be as transparent as possible. So I shaved the beard for this cop show. It was Brooklyn 999, whatever, that great, funny show. I didn't get that job, but I shaved the beard off, and I was like, oh, I got this new look. I look like my dad, but 30 years younger, mustache, fiery red hair. And tell you the truth, I got every job after that, and it was six jobs in a row. And, like, a few of them were commercials. One of them was in Panama, the country. And then the last one was man versus Food. Well, I actually got man versus Food before I got the pan Panama commercial, which was. That's a whole other story. Like, I lost my passport while I was there. I was supposed to fly out that day. I had to go to a Get. Do a police report to get. Go to the consulate to get a new one. And then I had it. I was flying out on Monday. It's Good Friday on Friday. And, like, the whole country shuts down on Good Friday. So, like, I had to do this in a day. I didn't have any money in my bank account. My buddy, they paid us in cash. And is this for the.

Was this for the audition or for the show? For man versus Food.

So I already got the show. But, okay, this is this commercial that I did in Panama, and I'm Right. Panama. It was this German real estate company. It's a pretty funny commercial because it's like, don't be like these guys. It's like Wolf of Wall Street. We replicated Wolf of Wall street in a two minute commercial. Cheaper to film it in Panama. It looks like Miami. I drove a Lamborghini, had a Cartier watch, wearing suits. We destroyed this. Like this office space was hundreds of extras. We're. It was crackers, helicopter. It was bananas. And it's such a beautiful country.

And it was in English. It was an English speaking commercial.

Yeah, like they, I imagine they dubbed it in German and English, but it was like, it's like we were speaking English in the commercial. And the German real estate company. It's like at the end, like the doors kick in, we're having this crazy party. Champagne everywhere. There's like closer off. There's like literally 100 extras. And we're just going nuts. Everyone's soaking wet. They're shooting hundred dollar bills out of this cannon and confetti. Gold confetti. And then it's like record scratch. He's like, as if the cops are coming in, like the feds are coming in to end it all. And then it's like cuts to like a white screen. It's like, it's like, whoa. Invest. It's like, basically, don't be American. You know, it's like, we'll invest. We kind of sold out a little bit, but it was hilarious, you know, like I'm in a pool smoking a cigar with this like amazing looking woman next to me that I can never get. You know, it's like. And like on the top of this rooftop, you know, it was just. But like I, I got caught there. I was almost not gonna leave the country. I had a date with my before, like a first day with a girl that I want dating for a long time that Saturday, you know, so. And then Monday I was flying out to Milwaukee to shoot the first installment of man versus Food. And like, so like my life was so incredible and so like it could have ended. You know, I could have like, you know, if I didn't make it back, I was screwed basically. And so the only ticket left was like, I paid cash for it. I remember because they paid us in cash, like just a wad of money to do this commercial. And I flew first class and I laid down the whole way and I ate ice cream until. Never fly first class. If you, if you're never going to. If you're not always going to fly first class. Never fly first class, because once you go first class, you can't go back. It's tough, especially when you're a bigger guy. I'm, like, sitting next to other big guys and like, coach, I'm like, get out of here. You know? Anyway, it's obnoxious, but that's how I feel. But, yeah, I made it home, thank God. And, like, I got to go to Milwaukee to do this first episode. And we were filming the intro to the show, too. So we went to. We were in Chicago and, like, we shot there, too. And it was. It was crazy because we filmed. We had to film the opener of the show, and we had to create, like, challenges. So we went to places that I didn't necessarily to challenge, but we created challenges.

Right.

First season to, you know, we just didn't have. There was not enough time for me to eat all that food, but there was. We made the time to create the opener, which is really, you know, hard hitting and.

Okay, so are you saying that there wasn't always a challenge that kind of was interesting to you guys? So you had to create them at restaurants or. Or just for the opener.

For the opener. Just to get the visual of, like, the giant stakes and things to give. Oh, yeah, yeah, that, you know, because the show was off the air for five years, so it ended in 2012. The show didn't come back to 2017. Charles Nordlander, whose executive at the time at Food Network was the one who basically resuscitated and said, it's time. It's time to. To either bring Adam back or Adam Richmond or. Or get a new host. And. Yeah, so they w up. I guess he didn't have any interest. And then so they. They cast for it. So you mentioned Andrew Zimmerman. He was recently on the show. I met him. How I met him. I met him. Well, I met him in first class.

Yeah.

He had no idea who I was on our way to Minneapolis for. Well, for him, I guess it was for the super bowl because he was having this huge party.

Yeah.

He lived there. Yeah. He lives there now.

Yeah, yeah, he lives there.

He. We were doing two episodes. We did Minneapolis St. Paul. We did Minneapolis in the same week during Super Bowl. It was bananas. I did like.

Were you flying out of New York? Flying out of New York?

Yeah. Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

So he spends. He's a lot. He's in New York a lot.

Totally. And we met on the plane and I introduced myself, and he's like, oh, you got to come to this party. Because his executive, Charles Nordlander Was my executive. And then I was like, hey, I do man versus. He's like, oh, you got to come to the party. This is a funny story. So I go to the party, and I was doing press all day because we had that day off. It was in between doing the two episodes of man vs Food. Shooting an episode. Man vs Food is three days of filming. So each restaurant gets a day, and we do three restaurants. The third day is the challenge day, and at the end of that hour, the last hour of that shooting is the challenge. Whatever it be hot or huge. So anyway, I had.

On the. On the third day or on every.

Every day, on the third day, there's a challenge. So it's three restaurants, okay? Each episode, one restaurant is a challenge, and that's at the third day. And when that hour is over, when we're done, the cameras go down, lights go down, and then, like, the guys are in the car, like, ready to go. Like, it's like, we're out, you know, and it's like, you.

You're heading to the emergency room.

Yeah, I'm dragging my leg to get to the car, you know, sleep on a hot rock somewhere like a giant iguana to just digest, you know? And so I go to this party with Charles, and, like, we did a bunch of press. It did one Dan Patrick show I got to do out there, which is hilarious.

I saw that one. That was a good interview.

Yeah, it was good. Yeah, it was really good. I'm a huge fan of his, and they brought me on the show, like, several times, which is once, I think, we start doing some more episodes, I'll probably be back on there to see those guys, maybe wrestle Paulie again. Did you see the takedown? Did you see that part? Did you see me wrestle Paulie? It was in Minneapolis. Oh, yeah. Look it up. It's pretty great. All right, well, Dan was like, oh, so you wrestled in high school? I was like, yeah. And he's like, are you gonna wrestle Paulie? I was like, you want me to wrestle Paulie? Like my brother, long time ago. He's like, you don't. You don't. You don't slap box either. Because he boxed. He boxed and kickboxed. And he's like, you don't do. You just don't do that. Either you fight or you don't fight. I was like, okay.

Yeah.

And so Dan was, like, a coach to me, you know? Like, I treated in that moment. He was my coach, and I was like, you want me to. I was like, okay. And So I just picked him up and I slammed Paulie to the ground and in a Hawaiian shirt. And I could. He. I could feel the breath leave his body. I thought. I thought I killed him, sort of. God, I thought I killed it. But, I mean, I'm like 250 pounds of just dead weight bones and, you know, mass on top of this guy. And he was. He wanted to do it. He was like, all right, let's go. And so we did it. We. You know, it's worth looking it up. So I'll send it to you for you.

All right.

So we go to this party, me and. Me and Charles Nordlander, and it's. It's Andrew Zimmern's party. He was opening up his restaurant. It was before he opened the restaurant, like Sweet Cricket, I forget. It was Asian fusion style restaurant that he was opening up. And so place is packed. And I'm looking around like, oh, my God, like, all these people are From William Morris endeavor. 75, of all people in food, hosts, chefs, what have you. A lot of them are with William Morris Endeavor. I'm not with William Morris Endeavor. I'm with caa. So I will. I look around, I'm like, holy crap. I had to say no to that group of people because I. They. I. I'll tell you the story. So I'm on the road filming man versus Food, and I'm with one agency. And my dad's like, yeah, there's a. There's a. There's a voicemail. A radio show keeps calling and leaving a voicemail at his house. My childhood home number, which is now debunked or defunct. 842-8487. I had it since I was a kid. And. And I go. And I go to his house. I get off the road, I go to his house, I hit. I hit the answer machine, and it's like, hey, this is Johnny. Johnny from wme, which is William Morris Endeavor. So William Morrison that was calling my dad's house looking for me to set an appointment for me to go talk to them in their offices and see if I wanted them to be my agency. I was like, dad, you realize. I was like, forget it. The second biggest. One of two of the biggest at the time. Agencies, you know, it's like, holy crap. And CAA came in knocking at the same time. So I'm at this party with Charles Nordlander. I see Andrew's name, I go say hello to him and, like, thank him. And then I'm looking around the room like, all these people are From William Morrison, Deborah, or they're. They're represented by. And I also see who I still have never met to this day. I see Adam Richmond, who was in the wings, and, yeah, we still haven't met. So it was just. I was just like, wow, I'm in the lion's den right now. Like, seriously? I was like, I'm really uncomfortable. But then, like, I just, like, put on a face like, oh, hey, how's it going? Oh, yeah, CAA is great. You know, it's not fatal. Walk.

Walk in there. Walk in the lucky. Own it.

It's not. And I did. I did. I was, like, arm in arm with my executive. Like, this guy. Yeah, he travels with Andrew. Right. He's traveling. Me, you know, I had to, like, put my, you know, defenses up a little bit, but it was fine. You know, it was. It was an incredible week of. Of. I love that town. If you've ever spent time there, I'm sure being from Chicago, you've been to Minneapolis.

Yeah, yeah. 100.

I got to see the super bowl last minute. I got a ticket. I don't know how it happened. Someone said it was in the works, and I got to see the game, too. So that was probably the greatest filming in its entirety. It was just an incredible week. I haven't been to a Super bowl since, but just because of timing, you know, Like, I would love to go back and do that again, but it was the first time I rooted for Philly ever, because I'm from New Jersey, were Giants fans, so it was like, yeah, you know. Anyway, where were we.

Man? We were getting. Just getting into the. We're, you know, 46 minutes in, and man versus food comes up. So.

You know, I've done other things, you know.

Yeah, 100%. 100%. So, you know. But I. You know, you've been on Bobby Flay also.

Yeah, I did, you know, like, in the. In the. In the mix of things. In the first through several seasons, they throw you into the mix because it's now Warner Discovery owns everything, you know, Food Network.

Were you a judge? A judge on there?

I was a guest. I was a guest host. So. Okay, they bring in three judges, and then they bring in two guest hosts.

Okay. Yeah. You were one of the. One of the two guest hosts. Yeah, I love man versus Food. I watched a gazillion episodes. I love Bobby Flay.

Yeah, Bobby's great.

Andrew Zimmern. I've gotten into Robert Irvine a little bit.

He's intense. He's like a circus. He's intense.

Hey, do you know Mark Tarbell?

Not personally.

Out of Arizona? No. Okay. Just met him in Arizona just a few weeks ago.

We. Wait, did I wait, did we fill with Mark?

Yeah, he said he's been out of it a little bit because he's got a couple of kids he's raising. But he's getting ready to get back into it. But.

Yeah, yeah, I've met Mark. I don't know Mark personally.

Yeah, so I will. So I'm interested to know your cult. Do you have a culinary background? I know you've worked in restaurants, but do you have a chef background at all?

So very much like my acting pursuits. I started, I started washing dishes at 14 because you could. Ben or no one really said anything in a small town. Child labor laws didn't exist in the small town of New Jersey. And that led me like being a dishwasher in any place you really see the nuts and bolts of things and because if you slow down, if you get backed up, you're screwed. Everything slows, right? And like I would marvel at the like, because it. I'm surprised there isn't a series that's about the pizza delivery and pizza place because it's just hilarious. The characters that drove, you know, that delivered pizza, the sub guys versus the pizza guys, you know, they're all different characters. And like the pizza guy, like, you know, he was, he's probably a convict and that's okay, you know, like. But he had a rolled up sleeve with cigarettes in it. He reminded me of Uncle Headband, like Fu Manchu mustache. And like, you know, he's tattoos like I love this guy. You know, this guy's badass. You know, he's like, he's just embodied toughness and he's like just making pizza flawlessly. And I was like enamored by the people in it. And like I learned then like anytime you work in any restaurant scenario, there's always going to be food, right? Like you're never going to go hungry, you know, and you always have a little money in your pocket. And so that was my entrance into culinary. And then I was, I had a bit of a, I guess behavioral problem in grammar school. So I went up to this other school.

I find that very hard to believe.

I think I even mentioned I was acting out before I started acting. And at that school there was, it was a lot of vocational stuff and you kind of, it was a point system. So it was like if you focused your energy and this is kind of where my dad stepped in and my Parents split up at the time and. And the visualization, the focusing thing. And, like, I was able to narrow my focus. And like, they were like, you know, we had to see a therapist and they're like, he has add. My dad's like, okay, you're not putting my kid on drugs. And so, like, never was medicated for any of that stuff. And it's okay if you are just. He just decided not to do that. I'm thankful that he didn't. He gave me other tools to work on. And so it did. Vocational culinary. Basic, basic stuff, like not how to. How not to burn your house down, how not to cut your hand off, you know, that kind of stuff. And. And that progressed. So I had vocational culinary there, and that led me into kitchens, actually working in kitchens. And like, Bourdain's great at this. He's like, don't go to culinary school. He's like, go out and work. Do that. Because once you're. I was just listening four hours of driving on the second half of my. My route to Medium Raw, which is a really great read and. Or listen. And he talks about that. He's like, you're gonna be 40, 000. Even though we went to CIA and a lot of my friends with the CIA Culinary Institute of America, just like the best, you know, next to French culinary, which is now. Yeah. So I, I went. I worked in kitchens, and I got opportunities to move up within kitchens and. And then like, I was moving into New York City to pursue acting, and I realized, like, you're. There's more money in the front of the house. And I was a bit of a character. So I went to the front of the house, started bartending. Well, I started. I would busboy, food runner, expediter, and then you. You eventually work your way up to bartending. Like, that's. You wait tables before you bartend. Typically, they're not going to stir you behind a bar. So I worked every area and then even to management. I've never owned. So not. I didn't go to conventional culinary school. I just. I learned in kitchens and got opportunities to do so. And. Yeah, so I'm not a chef. A chef leads kitchens. I mean, people call me that, but it's like, not a chef, but.

Yeah.

Well, you asked me if there's anything I want to talk about. There's a show that we're actually pitching, which is called Stage, which is essentially, I like to affectionately describe it as Dirty Jobs with Micro Beats Food. And it's working your way through each of these roles in the restaurant business that shine a light on how difficult, you know, and how necessary these roles are. And be it the dishwasher at Le Bernardin to the hot dog person at Yankee Stadium, you know, who's like, that's. You have to stage. You have to. And staging is essentially a free internship that you would go work in a kitchen for nothing and learn skills from that chef and then maybe get hired. And so I just. For me, it's like I. I didn't have an opportunity to go current, go to culinary school, nor did I have an opportunity to. It was a financial thing to go to conservatory for acting. I paid my way to, to train and do my thing, whether it be improv, sketch, stand up, I just went and did it, you know, and that's a.

That's a brilliant idea for a show. I could see it like, I can see, like, because. So when I was 12 and 13 years old, there's a lot of similarities in our lives. I was acting out as well. And so When I was 12 and 13 years old, I was working Friday and Saturday nights, 4 till 1am in a Mexican restaurant in Chicago. And I started. You'd go in there, Porcaina and why not?

Yeah.

And. And they would. So we'd spend the first hour and we would be folding napkins into triangles and doing setups and things like that. And then they would bring out plates of enchiladas and the entire staff would eat together.

Amazing.

And. And then it would open up around 5 o' clock and, you know, it would just be. You'd just be crushing till 11 or 12 o' clock at night. So I started as a busboy, then I moved into the kitchen and I did appetizers. So I was like. I don't know what the position would have been, but, like, I would do the appetizers and stuff like that and move plate, whatever they told me to do back there. And then I also ended up behind a bar wearing a little black vest at 13 years old, lighting people's cigarettes. So I don't know what that says.

But yeah, Chicago, right?

There's a. There's a lot of stuff. There is a. There's a lot of stuff that happens in the back of the house that is.

Oh, yeah.

If you think, if you think Kitchen Confidential is bad, I mean, you know, get outside the chef stuff, right into all the other support people. I mean, you know, it's going to be. It's going to be interesting how far you go with that because, you know, sometimes if people see what happens in the kitchen, they might not eat that there.

Right? And then, you know, a lot of people haven't read Kitchen Confidential. And, you know, I recommend you do, you know, because it's not only is a great read, it gives you a bird's eye view. It gives you. No, it gives you a fly in the wall. Hopefully not, because there are flies on those walls. An intro to, you know, to kitchens and how things are run from Anthony's, you know, perspective, which is. I read that it was like, okay, like, you know, anyone that has worked in restaurant business can relate to some degree. And he's just. He's just a. He was and is to me, just a kind of a superhero in the industry. And, yeah, it was like. It was like a bible, you know, at one point, I was like, okay.

You know, so did he narrate medium raw himself was his voice?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

All right. I. I look, I can't get enough. I cannot. I still to this day, cannot get enough of that guy.

No. And, you know, and he's relentless, but he's honest about it. About. I mean, I feel like, about himself, too. And he really opens up. He's like, they're. They're like vignettes. Each chapter is like a deep dive into something specific. It's a real, like, I'm looking forward to the other half of it. On my way home, I waited. I stopped listening to. I'm like a total true crime. Like, degenerate. Like, all I do is listen to true crime stuff for whatever reason. I'm just really fascinated by human behavior, whether it be, you know, this way. I can see it coming, you know, it's like, oh, that guy's. You know, you should watch out for that person. But, yeah, it's. It's worth a read or. And. Or listen. It's. And to hear him speak, it. It's like, it. It resonates that much more. Instead of me thinking of his voice in my head, when I read it, it's just.

Yeah.

Nice to hear his voice, you know, and, yeah. Culinary. Yeah. He's told Poet, and like, he talks about his relationship with. With Food Network, and he's basically. They let everybody go, you know, Emeril and him. And they're like. Like a new regime came in. And that was the best thing that could ever happen to him because then he became the journalist. I think that he was always meant to be because of that, because he went to other platforms, you know, and so which. And it's funny because we Were with. He was on Travel Channel first, as I remember. And so were we with man versus Food the first two seasons. And we. It was like the Wild West. I could say anything, which was amazing. A lot of that stuff. I grew up watching Warner Brothers cartoons. Funny enough, Warner Brothers now owns its Warner Discovery. And just, you know, the, the, you know, the, the subtleties of the things. You know, the innuendo and, like, letting, you know, letting things. People say the craziest things and, like, and working off of that. I, I love my job for many reasons. You know, I, I don't like the eating part, at least the humongous and the hot stuff, but everything else is pretty amazing. So it's, yeah. Anyway, it's a good read.

I'll tell you what real quick.

The, the stage thing, it's not picked up yet, so we're still pitching it. So if you know anybody or a network that really wants to see me, very much like Casey and Man vs Food Lummix his way through every position in the restaurant business, you know, over and over again. And with, with, hopefully with as much humor as Mike Rowe does on Dirty Jobs, because I really see it like that. And I love Mike Rowe for what he does. He's brilliant at that and showcasing what people do as far as hard work or the dirty jobs that people don't want to think about or do. It's like, there's this other show we had this idea for, and it was American Trade, which is very much of the same thing. It's the things that are still made in this country and, like, just made here, you know, by people that live here, no matter where they're from. You know, like, you know, we're all immigrants at one point, you know, so it's, it was such a beautiful foray into that world. But anyway, Stage. Yeah. If you know anybody, let me know.

So is your vision to have. Is your vision to have the truth cam and the cameras behind the camera? Because the brilliant thing about Dirty Jobs was the fact that they had somebody that was always rolling. And if he wanted to do a, if he wanted to do the camera take, he, you know, he, he could always. They were filming it, but then he always had the camera he could turn to and just say the most ridiculous thing.

Yeah, I really. I, I, I feel like I, there's things missed. The things that some of the things I've said in situations on man versus Food are ridiculous. And just because of the person I'm talking to, not just because of me. Like, I said things Channel through us. It's in the moment, and it's like, man, that didn't make. Because it's only 22 minutes, so there's only so much they could put in, and I still have to make a show. So by. Yes, definitely, and I hope it's on some sort of streamer that we could say whatever we want, really, to really show. Show and show intel, you know, not just, you know, show, you know, And I think that therein lies the brilliance, you know, to really, to dig deep into that stuff and really get dirty, you know, because it is a, it's. It's a dirty job. All of it. The restaurant business, you know, it's like, yeah, it is. But, you know, I wouldn't change any of it, you know, like, I, I, Yeah, some of my, my closest people in the world are restaurant folk from, you know, top to bottom, all over the place, so.

Well, I, for one, appreciate man versus food. You're incredible on the show. I watch it all the time and appreciate what you do there. Last question for you today, Casey. If you, if you had one sentence to make an impact, to speak into somebody's life based on your experience, what would that be?

I have it written at my desk and it's this focus on the work. And it's.

That can mean focus on the work.

Because oftentimes we get, like, caught up. And we've talked about this in this past hour plus or however long we've been talking, but it's when, you know, if you just focus on the work, I really feel everything else will be there, whatever that work is, and just get out of your head and physically take action. Take the action to do the work and, and, you know, trust in that and breathe through it, you know, so focus on the work. I. That's something I tell myself every day.

Casey, this has been awesome. Thanks for being on.

Thank you. I appreciate you. And let's do this again.

Yeah. 100%. Casey Webb with Jeff Duden. And we have been on the home front. Thanks for listening.