This week on the In Depth podcast, Adam Devine.
You did your research. We tried.
Graham, you dog. From Workaholics to Pitch
Perfect, Divine has become a comedic staple in pop culture.
And I got the movie, dude. I have no idea because I sing
like Rihanna in the movie. Ahead, the Omaha native reflects
on moving to Los Angeles to chase his dreams.
Like there are people that are working in TV and movies, like
why can't it be you? And discusses how life has
changed since becoming a father. It's just the best and
especially now that he's like 1 and he has like a real
personality. He also opens up about a
childhood cement truck accident. And I walked out and I got
clobbered and taken under the wheel and spit out and I flew
like 500 feet, they said. And how it continues to affect
him today. Like it hurts to sit for too
long. It hurts to stand for too long.
It hurts to walk for too long. But first, we begin our chat
talking about his upbringing and discovering a love for comedy at
a young age. Tell about your imaginary friend
Sneaky growing up. Graham, you start off with the
hard hitting cues. That's what I like about you.
Sneaky was my childhood imaginary friend that my mom
said I'd kind of remember it, but I was like 4, I want to say.
And essentially I put on like some glasses and came out and
was like, I'm not Adam. I'm sneaky.
I live across the way and Adam's actually over there.
My mom's like, OK, sneaky. And then I just was all day long
trying to, I would like eat different foods and and I'm
like, oh, I don't like ham sandwiches.
I'm a mustard sandwich type of guy.
I'm sneaky. And then she's like, all right.
And then it'd be the end of the night and she would be like, OK,
time for a bath. And I'm like, don't touch me.
You're not my mom. I don't take baths.
I'm I have my own mom and I take baths with her.
OK? I don't take baths with you.
You're a stranger. I'm sneaky.
She's like, go get Adam then 'cause he's disgusting.
He needs to take a bath. Well, OK, one time you did, you
had the the toe. Oh man.
Finally, I told him I could ask you about some of this.
You had a. Bit of a.
Sexually charged adolescence, but what boy has not?
Yeah, well, I like, we're talking about jerking off minute
too, Graham. My God.
Yeah. So I mean, this was one of the
first times I, I, I masturbated and it was, you know, it's a
pretty epic event when you figure it out.
You're like, I could do this all the time.
And I had a bad accident when I was a kid.
So to preface, I was hit by a cement truck as a kid.
So I broke all the bones in my legs.
I had horrible, like it took the skin off.
So I had one toe that they're like, it could fall off or it
could stabilize and you have a toe.
We don't know. So I'm in the bathtub and I
couldn't stand because of my accident and I just found
masturbation and oh, did I love it, Graham.
And so I'm cranking down and it was the first time something had
come out and I'm like, what is this?
And I'm like, oh, this is fantastic.
And but it's floating in the water.
I'm like, oh, this is gross. And as I'm trying to like get it
to dissipate, you know what I'm talking about, Graham.
Well, not when, not when the toe.
Yeah, OK, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I'm dissipating the the jizz, the jizz and I'm doing that and
I see a little toe, my little toe, my pinky toe just floating
in the bathtub and. You're thinking what?
I'm thinking that I jerked off so hard my toe fell off because
that's essentially what happened.
And my mom came in. I was like, and my mom comes in
and she's like, oh, let me get it, It's OK.
And I'm like, don't touch the water, don't touch the water.
Because of my which she I was talking to her yesterday.
She had never heard this joke before.
So she's like, I'm like, don't touch the water and she's like,
I'll get it out. And I didn't want her to get it
out because of the the gist. Yeah.
Thank you. What?
Was the deal with the the cowboy boots and the shirt?
Yeah, As a little kid, I, I would love to.
I mean, I was little. I was like probably 2 or
something. And I would put on cowboy shirts
and walk around my house or, or cowboy boots and walk around my
house naked in these like big cowboy boots that don't fit me.
And then I would press my little Weiner against the TV to feel
the shock because I thought that was exciting.
And I'm, you know, I'm sure it was.
You had a ton of different jobs growing up and really kind of
hustled quite a bit to get to. Where I'm a little bit of a
hustler. So I want to run through some of
those and just see what comes to mind first.
Paperboy, I understand you got creative in figuring out how to
make extra money. Yeah, I was a a real thief from
the from the jump. I would, I was a paperboy and I
learned that you could take like if you went to one of the paper
stands and you put in 1/4, you could open it up and then take
all of the newspapers that you could just steal them.
So, and I'm sure they're just like, why would anyone want more
newspapers? You want the one newspaper.
Well, I did because then I would go to the people that I'm that
are getting the newspapers and I'd say, Hey, I'll cut you a
deal. You can get the newspaper for
like half off, but you have to pay cash every month.
And they're like, well, that sounds like a good deal.
I don't know what kind of deal the newspaper's running, but
this is great. And then I'd cancel their
subscriptions for at the newspaper and then they'd just
take cash from them. And it ended up, you know, I, my
mom like Blake. So she's like, I don't remember
you doing this, but I'm like, you caught me and I was in
trouble and what happened? Well, she, she was just like,
where are you getting all this money 'cause I'm like buying
stuff. I'm like, I had ring pops on
every finger. I was just all laced out with
jewels, you know, suckable jewels.
So yeah, I got. I ended up getting.
Caught How about your early Jack Nicholson experience?
This is when I was like 14 or 15 and I was working at the grocery
store and they were shooting About Schmidt at the same
grocery store that I had worked at.
I was excited that that Jack Nicholson was going to shoot in
a movie there. And they essentially knew that I
was like wanted to be an actor or, or was at least interested
in that world. And they were like, you could be
an extra 'cause they want real life extras.
And I'm like, this is my time to shine.
And so they they put me in the background.
Jack Nicholson is going to come up.
He's going to buy a gallon of milk or just take the gallon of
milk and walk away. It's like a very easy scene.
But I'm like stocking yogurt in the back.
And I keep like inching out to like find the camera.
You know, I always knew how to find the camera.
And they're like, cut. Hey.
So if for any extra, just know that this isn't Jack Nicholson.
There's no movie being shot here.
So don't try to be on camera more.
And he's like being very nice and talking to all the extras.
Meanwhile, I'm like the only guy in in the background.
And so they they call action again and I do the same thing,
but I cheat out and I just, I'm stacking yogurts like this.
And then they're like, Hey, you're doing great.
We're going to have you work over here.
And I'm like, I've been spotted. They know my talent, they've
seen it. And now basically I'm going to
get Jack Nicholson's role in the movie, probably.
But they were like, you're going to stack shells over here, and
then I'm stacking shells over there and I'm like, where's the
camera at? I know they're going to spot me
at some point. And meanwhile, they just shot
the movie over here and I'm just doing work.
Why'd you once get fired as a camera salesman?
I don't know if I wanted to get fired.
I I did get fired because I drank too much water, they said.
That was, they didn't drink too much water.
Yeah, they, well, it was kind of a break.
So there was like a water fountain on the other side of
the building, so you could walk over there and drink water and
then walk back. And I would do that like 35
times a day just to like take a break and not sell tripods.
And then I did. And then it was Cal's Camera in
Newport Beach. And they were like, Cal called
me and he's like, you're fired. And I'm like, totally
understand. I respect your decision.
And then the the his daughters who work for him were like, he's
a good kid, give him a shot. And so they call back and
they're like, hey, we're going to offer you your job back.
And I go, you know what? I don't think so.
I'm going to pursue my comedy career, so I will not be taking
my job back. And they laughed so hard over
the phone. He thought that was the funniest
thing. And he's like, OK, good luck,
kid. Like, I was giving you your job
back, but good luck following your comedy dream.
So where are you now, Cal? Where are you now?
Look at me, baby. I made it.
Although these are some nice tripods, I will say that I
noticed them when you guys were setting those up.
Why would you change accents when selling steak knives?
I I did a lot of telemarketing as a kid.
I did sold vacation packages over the phone.
I would sell Time, Life, books and other magazines that people
don't want. I would sell.
What was the hardest? Steak steaks were pretty hard,
like they were Omaha Steaks because everyone is always has a
full freezer 100% of the time they're like my freezer's full.
And you, you would go, oh, no, I completely understand that.
And then my trick, what I would go, oh, yeah, you know, I
completely what's this? I'm sorry.
Hang on one second. No, we can't act like I'm
talking to somebody off and I'm we can't, but that's impossible.
And then I'd take a paper like this and I'd go like into the
microphone and they're and and then I come back and I'm like,
I'm sorry, they just came from upstairs.
There's no upstairs. And they told me that we're
doing half off fillets and I cannot believe we're even
offering this right now. There's a one time deal 50% off
you. You'd be a fool not to buy this.
Now, does that visa start with a four or five?
And then they're like, it's a four man.
Give me them fillets. It would.
Work, dude, it's, you know, and also people like to spend money.
They do. People are just like, yeah, give
me some mistakes. You're kind of cool.
All right, senior year of high school, you get into UCLA, but
family can't afford it. How does that affect you at the
time? I I couldn't care less.
Oh, you couldn't care. Less.
No, no, no. Why not?
I I didn't even want to go to school.
Oh, you didn't? No.
OK, So what are you thinking then?
Well, I was thinking, I have to get to California.
That was like a a path to get to California.
And then I was like, I'll go to the Community College and then
I'll at least be close to California.
And I chose Orange Coast Community College in Orange
County because I watched the movie Orange County with Colin
Hanks and Jack Black. And the whole premise of the
movie is Colin Hanks wants to go to Stanford and get out of
Orange County because there's nothing but hot chicks and
Stoner dudes, and he's trying to get it.
He's more than that. And I'm like, that's all I want
to be is a Stoner dude surrounded by hot girls.
And so I went to the Community College and tell you what, man,
it was the best decision I ever made.
So essentially I was like, I wanted to be the Stoner guy
that's surrounded by good looking girls at the Community
College. I'm like, that's like the dream
gig. So then I moved out here and I'm
it was awesome because that's where I met Blake and Kyle Blake
Anderson and Kyle New check who I created Workaholics with and
we met day one of improv class at Community College.
And the rest is that obviously is history.
In what ways do you think Robin Baker impacted your decision to
move to LA? Yeah, Robin was, she was my high
school drama teacher and it was cool.
She was like the first person that was legitimately said that
I had it. She was like, you have it, you
couldn't go and have a career in in LA.
And you're thinking what at the time?
I'm thinking this lady gets it. I'm like, she's a smart woman.
She understands, she sees what I'm bringing.
But she, she also like knew people like she had, she had
friends in LA like she, her husband's really good friend
from high school is Steve Higgins, who's an executive
producer, was an executive producer on SNL and now is an
executive producer on The Tonight Show with, you know,
Jimmy Fallon. In that I understand she had
some conversation with your parents that made kind of all
the difference and. Yeah, she essentially told them
that I have what it takes and that that I could move out
because I think my mom was like, like, does he like, are we
crazy? We think he's funny and
talented, but like, are we crazy?
And your dad was more hesitant, right?
Yeah, my mom was was always like, he's going to be a star,
delusional, that Lady. But my dad, he's just more of a
realist. He was like, well, like, what
are the odds? You know, because the odds are
crazy. And my mom kind of instilled in
me and I and it's something I believe and I'm like, why can't
it be you, right. Like it someone has to make it
like there are people that are working in TV and movies, like
why can't it be you? It could you know where it's
worth giving it a shot because then I don't want to be an old
person and being like selling real estate or whatever.
I did, you know and go. I wish I would have taken the
leap and and actually try to follow my dreams.
Your mom was telling me the other day on the phone she had a
bit of a, a panic attack after they dropped you off in
California. She, I think they made it to
about Colorado and she like broke down was like, what are we
doing? Rightfully so my my roommate and
I got drunk night 1 and climbed a fence and he slipped while
climbing the fence and the IT was like a metal fence with a
sharp point. It stabbed him in the right in
the shin and split open his shin and you could see the bone.
We had to go to the emergency room that night, night one of us
getting in town. The evening at the Improv
influenced you how? Yeah, evening at the Improv,
which was a show on I think A&E or something.
And it was a stand up show that my dad and I used to always
watch. And especially after my
accident, I couldn't walk. I couldn't go play sports or get
out of the house or do anything. So my dad and I would just watch
Stand Up all the time. And it wasn't the great
comedians that really inspired me.
Like obviously they inspired me because they're fantastic and
they're super funny. But it was the comics that
barely made it on that weren't that great.
What? Because I was like, well, I
could do that. Like I can be just OK and J&B on
TV. You're thinking that?
Yeah, it's like, you know, it's like 12 years old, thirteen
years old. And I was like, I can be that
funny. Like that guy's not that good.
I could be that level. I don't know if I could be Chris
Rock or whoever, you know, but I could be.
I don't want to name names, but you know who you are.
What, what? What would your dad say?
Nah, my dad was. He was always like, yeah, you
know, you're funny, but you're not that funny.
Like, you're not like, make it on TV funny.
And I'm like, you're an idiot, dude.
But that almost weirdly motivated you in a way for sure.
Yeah, I would say like just to prove him wrong, he wasn't doing
it to be mean. He was just like he in his
thought because we're just people from the Midwest.
We've never even been to Los Angeles.
Like we don't know the comedy scene or what it takes or how to
actually make it or be a success.
So for him, he's like, you're a funny guy, but you're not a
stand up comedian. Like these people are like the
funniest in the in the world. You know, we're we're come from
a funny family, but we're not that.
And I think that's what he was trying to say.
And but in my head, I'm like, yeah, I am.
What do you think you learned from your dad?
Hard work. My dad is a really hard worker.
Like when he he worked blue collar jobs and he worked for
the railroad, which can be a difficult, hard job, taxing.
But he never complained about going to work.
And he was always like, it's a blessing that I have this job
and I can provide for my family and would never complain.
And I think I took that from him.
And he would be gone for like days at a time.
Yeah, he was. He'd be gone sometimes for like
a couple weeks at a time and then would come back.
And, you know, you were sad as a kid when your dad's leaving, but
he'd always try to make it fun. So he would say, sing this song
on Daddy's got to go to work to make a lot of money so he can
buy baseball cards and Barbie doubts for his little honeys.
And I'm like, yes, yes, baseball cards.
He successfully recovered from a couple different types of
cancer. He had you to like your credit,
like pull some strings immediately got them into the
number one cancer. You know, the hospital got on
the other side of that going through health challenges again.
How does the last go around kind of prepare you for going through
it again? Well, I, I mean, you just sort
of mentally get used to it, I feel.
When he first was diagnosed, I was on the set of righteous
gemstones and I just like broke down.
I couldn't shoot. I couldn't do anything.
Luckily, it was like they waited till the end of the day to call
me and I was on my way home. And then it was like I was off
for like a long weekend. Like I think I had three or four
days off. Few days I was.
Home alone, I was like, I don't even like red wine really.
I mean, it's fine. I was just like a little wino in
my house. I'm all alone.
I'm just like chugging red wine. I'm taking baths.
I don't take baths. We've established that I don't
take baths. I'm like just taking a bath,
drinking red wine, pouring it on myself.
It was, it was devastating. And I think I scared my neighbor
because we had like a dock. We were in Charleston, SC, and I
was on the dock and I was just going no.
And my neighbour's like. These actors, they get
emotional. So yeah, that that was hard.
And then the second time after we, he'd beat it once, you're
like, OK, we can beat it again. And now he's going through some
other health issues and it's the same kind of thing.
Like, you know, I think, I think he can beat it again.
When was the first time you realized beyond it just being a
dream, you actually started to enjoy the comedic process?
I was working at the improv I think.
Like when you were at the door? Yeah, I worked at the door from
20 to like 22. Until somebody told you, you
really shouldn't be doing this. That's right.
Yeah, so I it kind of all happened pretty fast for me.
I was doing open mics and, and really taking stand up seriously
when I, when I first moved up to Los Angeles from Orange County
when I was 20. And I would, I was getting up
5-6 nights a week, as many open night mics as I could.
And I was working the door at the improv and they told me to
keep a change of clothes in the car because I was, I was one of
the best open mic errs. And they go keep a change of
clothes in case someone doesn't show up.
And then like Sarah Silverman wouldn't show up or Zach
Galifianakis wouldn't show up and then like go kill 5-10
minutes before the next comic shows up.
And so it'd be me like filling like these comedy stars spots
and it and it went pretty good. Like I did OK.
And then I booked the Montreal Comedy Festival.
Which that was a game changer. Huge.
Yeah. That's the like every major
comedian that you know has done the Montreal Comedy Festival at
one point and it's and they, they call them the New Faces of
comedy and they pick like 20 people and they call them the
New Faces of Comedy. And they would do that every
year. And it was sort of like a rite
of passage. And as soon as you got that,
then the industry started to take you seriously.
And I got that after like a year and a half of doing stand up,
which maybe was too quick, but. Why, looking back, do you think
it might have been too quick? Well, I just think I just didn't
have enough material. Like it was as soon as I booked
that people were like, OK, you ready to go on a headlining
stand up tour? And I'm like, I have like 25
minutes. I have like maybe 30.
Like I'm not ready to go headline nationwide.
But I still kept my I wasn't making any money really doing
stand up other than like a couple $100 to drive a, you
know, an hour outside of town and do some bar show.
So I still had my job at the Improv.
And then an executive, I think at NBC came in and was like,
wait, you're you're Adam Devine, the new faces from Montreal.
And I'm like, yes, here's your ticket.
And he goes, you can't work here.
And I'm like, why not? This is my job.
This is like, you know, this is how I get paid money.
I don't get paid or anything. And he essentially was like, the
industry will view you as less than if you they see you taking
tickets, but just go get a job in the valley working at Best
Buy and and continue to do stand up and, and so I, I quit my job
then and. So you said before, I used to
work with some people who I thought these are the funniest
people I've ever met in my life. And now they're not even in the
business because they weren't willing to do the 15 shows a
week and stay out until 4:00 AM. Driving around the country doing
shows and staying up late to finish that script.
Elaborate on that a little bit. Yeah, yeah.
I was like, especially when I first started and I was working
at the Improv and you see the best and brightest.
Like that's where they're the Comedy Store, that's where the
funniest people in America they come to.
And the East Coast has its thing too in New York.
But the in LA, it's the Comedy Store and it's the improv and
the funniest people in the world, they come there, they
develop there. And I really saw by working
there for a few years, people come in, they come in hot, but
they don't put in the work. So they don't grow fast enough
and then they get stagnant and then they don't take off.
And I saw people taking off and those you were.
Conscious of that even at that age.
It was great for me because I was just the door guy.
I was kind of in the cut and so I was able to see everything
unfold and I wasn't really part of it until I got new faces.
And then suddenly everyone who I was just the door guy is now
looking at me like, well, I didn't get new faces.
How did the door guy get new faces?
And then suddenly I was like kind of in the club a little
bit. To what extent will you still
occasionally get a one track mind when it comes to work where
you're just hyper focused? And you said before, at least
back in the day when you would do that, it would almost be to
the detriment of other aspects in your life.
Yeah, I think especially early on it was like I didn't want any
relation, like real relationships.
And I would even tell my girlfriends, which was like,
looking back, I'm like, this is psycho behavior.
This is psychotic. I would say my career is number
one. I'm I, I'm going to miss a
birthday. I'm going to miss Valentine's
Day. I'm going to have shows.
I'm going to be on the road. I won't.
I'll miss things and it's not because I I don't like you or
I'm not into you, but it that's, that's my number one thing right
now. And you were how old then?
20 to 25, I mean maybe even longer, like through the
beginning of Workaholics I would say.
You think you could have done it another way and achieved the
same success? I don't know.
I don't. Know maybe you almost have to
be. Singularly, especially in this
business, it's just hard, man. It's like it's hard to get, it's
hard to launch and it's hard to to get things to click.
And when they do, you have to be willing to drop everything and
and be hyper focused on that one thing and like everything else
kind of go put is put on the back burner.
The affirmations that you'll occasionally shout out to
yourself or what? And you still do it today or no?
No, I don't really. That that was a thing at one
point, right? I mean, maybe I, I, I, I, I
would be like, like, you can do it.
Like believe in yourself that when I'm just like in the car, I
would like say to say to myself or like in the morning when I'm
like getting ready, I'm like, you could do it.
But you know, and it's just like, just hype yourself up,
man, because you can. This business has a way to like
kick you in the teeth when you have a great show one night and
then the very next night you eat and bomb and you're like, why?
I did the same material, but today I sucked.
And yesterday it was great. And you just have to be
confident and have some belief in yourself or else you're just
going to quit. I have to imagine one of the all
time highs was getting the call. The workaholics got the green
light. That was.
Like take me to that moment and what you recall.
Yeah, it was. I was in a IT.
We got 2 calls. I got the call saying that they
want to make a a pilot and I was actually in the middle of doing
then. This would be interesting to
find. I don't even know if you could
find it because I don't remember the magazine.
It was like a local, like Venice newspaper, like a Venice Weekly
type thing. And we tried to get the video
you taped for your 16 year old high school, but it's hard to,
she said she didn't have. Oh.
Good, good. Thank God.
Good, thank God. But yeah, it was I was in the
middle of an interview, my first ever interview.
I did a a stand up show on the on the West side in like Venice.
And I did really well. And she was like, I write for
the Venice and I want to do a piece on you.
And she was like saying, I'm like the next Jim Carrey.
And it was like the very fluff piece of how great I was.
And I'm like, oh, this is fantastic in my first.
Jim Carrey was your guy. Oh yeah, And then I get the call
saying we got workaholics or we got the the pilot at least.
And it was. It suddenly felt like everything
was kicked into gear. And yeah, it was.
It was a wild, a wild ride. Of course, then it took like
almost two years for the show to actually come out.
We filmed the pilot. It took a while for them to
agree to green light it. And then we shot all 10
episodes. And then it took another like 6
months or even longer. I think it took like 8 or 10
months for the show to actually air.
So for like a year when I'm on stage, I'm telling people like
and bring me up. He has his own show on Comedy
Central coming up. And then my friends were saying,
like, dude, it's OK that you don't have a show.
Like you've been saying this for almost a year now and there's no
show. It's OK that you don't.
They thought I was like a lunatic just going like, just
say, just say I have a show and they're like, it's OK.
And I'm like, I do, I swear I do.
You know, friends is a loose term, like the guys that are at
the comedy club. That show was almost baptism by
fire because you guys are like reading books on how to write
scripts as you were writing the script from Workaholics.
Yeah, Anders, he kind of, he knew what how to write a script.
That was his thing. He, he considered himself a
writer first when Blake and, and I definitely saw ourselves more
as performers first, writer 2nd. And so we didn't know how to
write and, and Ders had only written a few things before
this. So it's not like he was a pro or
anything. And so he like gave us some
books. He was like, read these.
So we're reading these at night, and then during the day we were
running our own room and like had all these and we hired all
these like really smart people, these Harvard guys.
And then these Community College dropouts are being like, I think
we should do this. And they're like, these kids are
idiots. But.
Did did you get that sense at the time?
No, no, because I mean, Blake's super funny and I, you know, and
I, I think I'm a pretty funny guy.
And I think that they all thought the reason that they
signed up to do the show was they thought that our pilot that
we made, because we made a pilot on our own and then we gave
that's Comedy Central, and then they greenlit the show.
And so I think everyone thought it was funny.
So there must be something to this.
Your reaction when a pause was put on the Workaholics movie.
Oh, got it, dude. Oh, that sucked.
That was the worst. It was.
I come downstairs. It was during the rains.
My house is flooding, like my roof in in this home was like
caving in. And I'm like, oh, God, we're
like, we're going to have to get that fixed.
And then I get a call from my manager who has no tact, and
he's like, dude, this sucks. They're not doing the movie.
And I'm like, what? And he's like, yeah, they're not
doing it, all right, Right, See, I got to call the other guys and
I'm like, what the hell, man? And.
It was like 5 weeks before. It was 5 weeks before we were
about to start shooting. We were building sets.
We had hired the crew, we the cast was all lined up to do
everything. And it was like, it's it sucked
for us and it really sucked for all the crew members that like
they had planned on this job And so now they have to scramble to
get new work in just a few weeks.
So it sucked for for everybody involved.
Paramount Plus. I'm looking at you would.
Would you ever buy the rights to it and try and?
I don't know. I can't afford their rights,
man. They, they're holding that thing
hostage. And I mean, I would love to.
That would be fantastic. But yeah, they, for whatever
reason, are just holding on to it.
And they won't let us take it anywhere.
They won't let us shop it. We were like, well, what if we
can get Netflix to buy it? And they tried and I guess they
wanted, they didn't want to sell the rights.
They wanted to lease it to them and and they're like, well, we
would, we want to buy. We don't want just want to lease
the rights. So we pay the amount of money it
would cost to make the movie and then we only get to put it on
our platform for two years or whatever they're like that does
that's not a good deal for us. So.
Which in it is one of the infuriating aspects of the
business, right? Because it's so crazy.
Yeah, it's so crazy. Was it the full House or Family
Matters song? It's but it sounds exactly like
family matters. OK, so for Pitch Perfect, the I
didn't know like I realistically I did not know that it was a
singing movie, I thought. You think you thought it was a
baseball? I thought it was a baseball
movie. Pitch Perfect.
It sounds like a baseball movie. That being said, if I read the
damn e-mail, I would have figured it out.
But I showed up. I looked at the sides.
We, the reason it was so hectic and I didn't know that it was a
singing movie was I was shooting Workaholics.
And they're like, they want you to read for this.
You can go on your lunch break and we can move a scene around
and you'll have time to come back.
And I'm like, I don't want to go audition for something else in
the middle of the show that I'm one of the executive producers,
creators of. And it's it was Season 1.
And some of your buddies also did not want you.
To do this, I was like, I don't even want to go audition for
this thing, this cool baseball movie.
And I show up, I, I read the sides.
I'm like, this doesn't seem like a baseball movie at all.
And I'm pretty good at memorization.
So I was able to quickly memorize it.
And I go in, I do the audition realizing it's not a baseball
movie. And they're like, what song did
you prepare? And I'm like, I didn't prepare a
song. And they're like, well, just
sing something that you know all the words to.
And the first song that popped into my head was whatever
Happened to Predictability, The Milkman, The Paper Ball, the
evening TV, and I got the movie, dude, I have no idea because I
sing like Rihanna in the movie. I'm like, please don't stop the
music. I'm like, why did they think me
singing like a 60 year old jazz singer from New Orleans or
wherever that that guy's from that sang that song would be
would make a good singer in the movie.
But I don't know, booked it. What did you?
Film on stage in front of a sold out stand up crowd for Warner
Brothers that helped in securing the Mike and Dave.
Oh yeah, yeah. So I was on tour and.
And you, you wanted this bad. I wanted Mike and Dave.
I was like. Maybe weren't the I don't know
if you were not the first choice initially, but you needed some
extra encouraging. Well, at first they were like,
you're not big enough to be Mike in this big movie.
Like, sorry, you're just not there yet.
And like, maybe the cousin. And I'm like, dude, I'm Mike.
I'm telling you, I'm Mike. And I'm talking to the executive
producers of the movie. I'm like, I'm Mike.
And what like what gives you that confidence in those
situations? I'm delusional.
You got you got to be you got to just be like, I'm the guy and
they're like, you're not the guy and you're like, watch this.
And then they're like, what? And I'm like, I don't know, I'm
going to figure out what you're going to watch and you're going
to like it. And I auditioned and it went
great. And they were like, it's
between, it was between me and one other person.
And I did a, a read like a chemistry test with me and and
Zac Efron and it went great. And it was like right there,
whether it's going to be the other guy or me.
And I was on tour and I, I was, I need, I know the head of the
studio didn't know who I was. Was like, I'm unfamiliar with
this guy. Obviously she doesn't watch
Workaholic Nerd and she didn't watch Workaholics.
And so I was like, all right. So I filmed the entire crowd
chanting Mike and Dave and it sounded the lights were low.
It was like 2000 people, but it sounded like 20,000 people.
They were so loud. And it was like, everyone's
like, I get that and we pan around me and I'm like, I'm
going to be Mike. I know I am.
And I think I might have called her name out or something.
And I sent that to them. It was the weekend that they're
making their decision. And then Monday morning I was
still on tour. I got the call that I got it and
lost my mind. It was awesome.
Who? Who called?
I think my manager, Isaac, yeah. That was a big deal.
Yeah, sometimes he has good things to to call me about.
He's sitting over there. Yeah.
You've alluded to the cement truck on a couple of occasions
and you know, I think you're 11 years old.
This is 95. They think the things what, like
42 tons? Drugs you something?
Something like that, yeah. What's the the last memory you
have? Yeah, I think the last memory I
have, I was leaving my house telling my mom we were going to
go get candy because we were going to go to the convenience
store and get candy. And we, what we also would do
was we'd RIP out pages of like Playboy and Penthouse Dirty Dogs
magazines and we'd RIP out the pages and stuff.
I don't know why we didn't just steal the whole magazine.
I guess we thought in our little kid brain that was much, much
worse to steal an entire magazine.
So we would just RIP out pages. But so we were on our way to do
that. And I from that moment on, I
don't remember anything that happened, but I'm told that when
we get to this busy, busy St. in Omaha, Harrison St. there was 3
symetrics going up the hill and two were coming down.
Or maybe it was the opposite, but symetrics going up the hill,
symetrics coming down the hill because we lived in the suburbs
and just new houses are popping up everywhere.
And my friend yells is already across the street and he yells
come on. And that just means I'm excited
to go get a razzmatazz sucker and see some boobs, you know?
But I took that as coast is clear.
And so I was like OK, say come on.
And I walked out and I got clobbered and taken under the
wheel and spit out and I flew like 500 feet, they said, and
was helicoptered away and. Ripped the skin off your legs
essentially from the. Skin Yeah, yeah.
Exclusive. Graham Exclusive.
How long did it take to get looks like uncooked chicken?
If you look at it, does it not look like uncooked chicken?
How long did it take to get the legs back to normal?
I mean, they're still messed up. I still like deal with things.
Like you can't remember a time where the legs worn in pain?
Yeah, your mom was telling me you had to relearn to sit,
stand, walk, run, explain what you guys would do in the
backyard, like where you would practice.
We had a little chair that they'd wheel me in the backyard
because they figured like, if I'm going to fall, at least the
grass is a little softer. And I had like a chair that I'd
practice like standing up from and you know, you try to take a
few steps and then we, we would lay like pillows down.
So like if I falled I can, if I fell I could land on a pillow.
And even going to school, like how to just use the bathroom at
the time when you got there because you couldn't walk for
like what, couple years and. Yeah, I couldn't walk from 6th
grade, all of 6th grade, all of 7th grade, and then summer and
then eighth grade is what I all 7th grade it was.
I would get up to a Walker and then I'd have to have another
surgery and then I'd be back down in a wheelchair and then
I'd get up to the Walker and then I'd get up to crutches.
And I'm like, it's going to happen.
Crutches. That was a big deal.
Yeah. And then I'd have to have
another surgery and then I'd go back and I was having surgeries
every few. Weeks you had like 20-6,
something like that. And and then that has gone up
more because I've had maybe a dozen since then, just like
little things that have happened.
You remember thinking to yourself, like, will I ever walk
again? Yeah, for sure, you know, but
also like, you can't help but think that because you can't
walk and you're like, am I ever going to be able to walk?
But then here's your mom who took a break from the dental
assistant job to be there, who's, you know, Captain
Positive. She's so positive and it was
nice having that and just, I kind of always thought I would
like she was always just drilling that in my head like
you're, it's all going to be fine.
You're going to be OK. It's all going to work out.
You're we're going to get through this.
I know it's hard now, but we're going to get through this.
And I think by thinking that way, things do work out because
even when something bad happens, you're, she's able to spin it
into a positive, which I think is something that I, I've been
able to take from her. And I think that's like, I was
hit by a cement truck and I'm like, I was able to spin it in a
positive. Like, I wouldn't have this
career if I wasn't hit by that cement truck, you know?
You think so? Yeah, for sure.
Like I wouldn't have even thought it would be possible to
move out here. But after I was hit by the
cement truck and then relearned how to walk and do everything
that I had to do and like those step by step by tiny step to get
back to being an able bodied person.
I think I was able to have the confidence in myself to move out
here when before we didn't know anyone in California.
So so I think it just would have been a crazy thought to even
entertain. And also my parents obviously by
the cement truck. So they're like, you're good.
Whatever, you didn't die. If you want to move to
California and just obviously be a burnout, I know you're going
to move to Venice and grow white guy dreadlocks and just have
dirty feet and just scat everywhere you go.
That's what I'm sure my dad thought was going to happen.
Was there a moment that was kind of the biggest turning point
during that recovery process? You know, I don't really
remember like a, it was such a slow steady, like now I'm on
crutches and now and then now I could like sort of walk, but in
my house to where like I knew I could get from my desk to my bed
because that's five steps and I can fall into the bed.
And then in the hallway, I knew that I could, if I needed to, I
could brace myself. And then and then from there,
you know, you get walking around the house good enough.
And then you're like, OK, let's take it to the streets.
And then I'd be like in school in a wheelchair and be like, OK,
I'm going to get up. I'm going to walk from here to
that desk. And then I could sit down.
And classmates were pretty good, right?
And you had a buddy that, I mean, there was one kid that was
a bit of a, but you had a buddy that kind of had permission to
be like your bodyguard. I had a bunch of friends that
were sort of my little, little bit of a protector, but it was
great. Even though middle school kids
can be viciously mean, you will never be more hated than if you
beat up the crippled kid. And I knew that.
So like I was talking my dude. Were you like?
What would you say? Try to take me down.
I got freaking quips. I would like write notebooks
full of like epic slams to make fun of someone if genuinely
specifically if like a kid were to make fun of me about XYZI
would write like a little bit. I can't really remember any now
but. Do you still have the notebooks?
No, I asked my mom where it is and I've looked because I'm
like, were they good? I remember being like, you know,
you drop a bomb on someone, the 6th grade lunch table, and
everyone was like, oh, Adam, the crippled kid just took him down.
I'm like, what's up? Try to swing on me, bitch.
I know you won't. I know you won't.
I'm crippled. What stands out from calling
into the edge? Oh, man, that was the best.
That was the best. You did your research.
We tried, Graham. You dog.
I I think that was, I consider that maybe my like break into
Hollywood. Why?
I would call into this radio station one O 1.9 the edge and I
would call in and I would do different characters and
different impressions and but everything was like Omaha
specific and it became like a local hit on the radio station.
And they were like, we want you to be part of the drive time
hour. And so my mom loaded me into the
the minivan drove me downtown, unloaded me, got me in my
wheelchair. My legs were extended because my
legs couldn't bend at that point.
So I'm like Wheeling in like this.
And they were like, oh, we can't hire you.
You're a crippled child. We thought you were an adult man
who was just a funny person. We can't, but they paid me in
concert tickets and any giveaway that the radio station had and
any CD. So you want to hook up on Goo
Goo Dolls? You want lit?
Do you want live? Do you want 7 Mary 3D CDSI got
you covered, Graham, you were. Pretty big into.
You saw the Foo Fighters too. From what?
I got Foo Fighters. Man, and then the video rental
store hooked you up. Oh yeah, we too.
Yeah, Main Street movies in Omaha, they would, you know,
from the accident, everybody was like, you know, we got to give
this kid something. He's he's fully crippled, hit by
a cement truck. That's a funny truck to get hit
by. We got to hook him up so.
I mean, good for the town though on a good person note and kind
of rallying. Yeah, it was it was awesome.
And, and the people of Omaha are, are great a people.
Lived in Iowa before moved, you know, right before.
Yeah, I. Moved when I was like 10 from
from Waterloo, IA and you know, just Midwestern people are great
in Omaha Pacific, they're fantastic.
And in the the movie, The movie rental, Main Street movies gave
me as many rentals as I wanted. So I rented every comedy movie
imaginable and every action movie imaginable.
And we watched so many movies that they ended up revoking it
after a couple years. They're like, OK, we gave you
enough movies, we said for a lifetime, but you're good.
So I we profiled comedians before on the show and you know,
often times there's something really challenging in the past
or painful that has connectivity to why they chose their career.
And I guess I wonder like if you ever thought about if what you
went through then? Like there's a Direct Line
between that and choosing to make people laugh for a
profession. Yeah, You know, I don't know if
it was like I'm going to take this pain and and turn it into
laughter, but I think. Taught you the resilience you
spoke about. And I think I always just loved
comedy. And I was like, I thought I was
a freak athlete, Graham. I thought I was going to the big
leagues, baby. You wanted to be pro?
Baseball. I wanted to be a pro baseball
player. Never made the basketball team
although you got the shoes every year.
Oh yeah, I yes, but I wanted to be a baseball player and I was
like, I'm and I was a good little kid baseball player, but
you know, you're in 4th grade, so how good actually are you?
And but that was my dream. And then, but then after the
accident, obviously I couldn't be a professional baseball
player. I couldn't walk.
So I knew that dream was dead. And that was hard.
But I loved comedy so much. And then when I got on the radio
station and I was making people laugh, like making adults laugh,
we would I would do it. And my mom, I remember she was
getting her hair done and the radio station was on and it
comes on and my bit is, is playing and the people are
laughing in the hair salon. And my mom's like, that's my
son, That's my son. And it was just such a good
feeling that like I was making people laugh and I was doing
something that people enjoyed. And yeah.
So essentially I that that was like the the launching point of
like, oh, I can actually do this.
This could be something that I can do that I can write comedy
now and then when I'm able to stand, I can stand up and do
comedy. So I know at some point
recently, you know, because of stuff connected to your
injuries, there was like you only had to go a few blocks, but
you could walk a block, then you had to take a taxi a couple
blocks or there's it's. Been a nightmare.
Joints or like the groin, hip, ligament and back, Like what's
what's going on there? They, they don't really know and
I was, I mean spasms all over and I still kind of do.
They don't really know for a while.
They, they told me I was dying literally within this last year.
They told me that. They told me I had this disease
called stiff person syndrome. And that's when your muscles get
so tight that you then you can no longer walk, you can no
longer move, then your heart will stop beating because your
heart is a muscle and it gets too tight to beat and then you
die. And so essentially they, the
average life expectancy is 6 years for someone that has it.
And they told me that I had that literally a month before my son
Beau was born. And so I'm like, oh, great, now
I'm going to die. He's going to be 6 years old.
He's only going to know a crippled father.
And then they told me, we think you might not have that.
And then six months go by, then they're like, and it wasn't
getting much better. And I could only walk a few
blocks before I'd get so tight that I couldn't really move
anymore. And they're like, we do.
We actually do think you have it.
Go see the the guy that coined the phrase tip person syndrome.
He's the the expert in the field.
And so I went and saw him and he's like, you don't have it.
You do not have it. He's like, this is from your
accident from when you're a child.
The spasms are a little unexplainable, but it could just
be you got so tight that your body doesn't know what to do
with it. So you're misfiring a little
bit. And essentially during the
pandemic, I worked out so much. I was so bored of a.
Cycle all the time. I have sort of the personality
that I have to do things 110%. I can't just when I do stand up,
I have to do it all day, every day.
It has to be my life. When I'm doing a movie, I have
to be all in on the movie, on the project, whatever it is.
I kind of even. If it's a favorite food or song.
If it's a favorite food, I have to like I went through a
rotisserie chicken string or I went through a rotisserie
chicken phase. I ate so much rotisserie
chicken. I ate it every day.
One day I was this is too much information, Graham, but
whatever, let's get dirty. And I went and it was taking and
I thought I had a tapeworm coming out of me.
And I was like, oh God, what is that?
And I'm like, huh? And I pull and I pull on a pole
and it's still coming out. I'm like, this is the grossest
thing that's ever happened. Like why am I not skinnier?
I had a tapeworm coming out of me and I pull it out.
It's a chicken string, Graham, a rotisserie chicken string.
I ate the rotisserie chicken so fast that I ate the string that
holds it together. So I'm that way.
And if I hear a song that I like, I'll just play that song
incessantly until other people are like, play another damn
song. And I'm like, this is my
favorite song right now. I'm going to play it 3000 times.
So I'm just that way. So what was I?
Saying so, you were talking about during the pandemic,
exercising constantly and the connectivity to.
During the pandemic, yeah. During the pandemic, I just got
into cycling and CrossFit, and so I had all the time in the
world. So I'd go on.
I'd ride the bike 4045 miles a day and then I would do a
CrossFit workout, which is super intense jumping, you know,
lifting weights over my head. And I think I just got so tight
and so tightly wound that I, and my body is all, all has all
these things that are a little wonky and a little wrong with it
that I just sort of snapped. And I think I'm still dealing
with it. It's it's been three years now.
And what like what are you dealing with now like?
It hurts to sit for too long. It hurts to stand for too long.
It hurts to walk for too long. I have to foam roll 2, three
times a day. I have to do stretches two or
three times a day. Have the stem cells in Columbia.
You know, I think, I think they're kind of working.
I don't know. I'm the best I've been now in
for the past three years. I'm the best that I like right
now. I think is the best I've been
because it's been like, oh, I'm doing good and then for whatever
reason I'll tighten back up or something will stiffen or and
then all of a sudden I can't walk, can't do the things that I
normally could do. But I went and got stem cells in
Medellin, Colombia and I got it in my knees and my hips and my
back. And I really think it's working.
I had multiple hip surgeries last year because I was told
that it was my hips before, before we kind of got the
diagnosis of it was just from your accident.
They're like, yeah, your hips were a little messed up, but it
shouldn't be causing this amount of pain.
And I was just in so much pain that I'm like, well, let's
figure this out. Give me hip surgeries.
So I had two hip surgeries. And you said hip replacements
and knee replacements are inevitable.
Eventually down the line I'm going to be.
What's the goal though, with all the you know, to be fully?
Bionic yeah, just sit at fully fake legs and.
But just like, the goal is to just figure out how to best ease
the faith, yeah. Yeah.
And you know, I'm, it's sort of now when I'm thinking about
movies that I want to do, I was always like, I want to be an
action star because those are the movies that I liked growing
up. It's action and comedy.
I'm like, I want to be a comedy action star and now I'm like,
I'm going to be the comedy guy in the action movie with an
action * and he does all the action stuff.
But I really wanted to be the guy that does it all because I
like doing stunts. I think it's cool.
But now I'm I'm sort of trying to walk that line and see what I
can do and what I can't. I want to run through some
luminaries you've crossed paths with over the years, the first
one being, and just kind of get what comes to mind.
The time Adam Sandler invited you to smoke a cigar.
Oh yeah. I was working the door at the
improv and I think he just thought I was like a nice kid.
I'm standing there and I'm probably was just staring at him
like, you know, he's a legend and a.
True. Hero of mine and he's been a
legend for 30 years. And so I, I was like enamoured
and he was like, do you want to they open up the cigar shop next
door for him and his friends to smoke cigars in.
And he asked if I wanted to join and I stood in the corner and
didn't say a word and like didn't chime in wasn't a part of
the conversation. Wasn't I didn't do anything.
I just like and couldn't believe I was there.
You know, I was like 20 years old or whatever, but it was just
just cool to see how nice of a guy he was that he was willing
to just see some kid that is staring at him and was able to
throw him the olive branch of smoking a cigar That for sure
probably made me puke. By the way, do you need to take
a break for? Good to go.
Is that the normal routine, Graham?
Yeah, yeah, Graham, it's your turn.
By by the way, do you remember the time your parents told you
not to have anybody over at the house and then you don't listen
and the dog greets the parents when you come back?
No. Your mom was telling me this
yesterday. Apparently the dog had a condom.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, she told the story wrong.
It was I, I had sex with my girlfriend, high school
girlfriend, and I had a condom and I, she told me I can't throw
that away at the house. And it was a banana flavored
condom and I so I'm like, I'm going to throw it away, but I
throw it, I put it in my pencil pouch of my backpack.
Bad place to put the condom. And I go home and I have to go
to the I'm like, oh, I got to throw that condom away.
I was going to throw it away on the way home, but I forgot.
And I open it up and I'm like, oh, I got to go to the bathroom
real quick. So no one was home.
And I go to the bathroom. My parents come home and I hear
my dog like playing. I go back.
I'm looking for for the condom. And I hear my dog playing with
something and and my mom goes, what you got there, Maggie?
What you got there? And she goes, Oh my God.
And I'm like, and she comes marching down the hallway and
she's holding it and she's like, what is this?
What is this? And I go, it's a condom.
And she goes, Is this yours? Then I go no and she goes yes it
is and I go no but I knew that she knew that I have have
condoms and probably was having sex with my girlfriend and I go
no I would like wasn't ready to own up to the condom so I go no.
Mine wasn't yellow like a banana.
Mine was red like an apple. What?
What kind of cover is that dude? Red like an apple.
And she and she was like, this is disgusting.
And then a poor, poor woman. And then she like washed her
hands. I'm sure, I hope.
And and then she's down in the the laundry room and she's
crying. I have to go be like, I'm so
sorry, Like, you know, I wasn't sorry.
But she's like, I'm like, come here.
And she's like, you're not my little boy anymore.
I'm like, that's right, I'm a man.
I'm a man. All right, so we were talking
about folks you've or luminaries you've crossed paths with,
somebody you've worked with a number of occasions, Zac Efron
did. Did he ever end up staying here?
No, dude, he calls me. There's a few maybe six months
ago now, but he was like, we, we're on this text chain, me,
Aubrey, Anna and Zac and our director Jake Szymanski.
And so Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Zac Efron, Jake Sabanski
and myself, we're on this text chain.
Like for whatever reason, I think Mike and Dave is airing a
lot on TV and it's on Max or something and people are
watching it a lot now. And so we're, we were texting
like, Oh yeah. So just ran into someone, they
told us about Mike and Dave. Yeah.
Oh yeah. This happened to me.
And then Zach calls me, hasn't
called me in a couple years and calls me out of the blue.
He's on some private island somewhere.
And he's like, hey, man, I, I just want to let you know that I
miss you. And I'm like, I miss you too,
dude. You're, you're a good friend of
mine, yadda, yadda. And he's like, you still have
that place down by the beach. And I'm like, I do.
And he's like, would it be cool if I came and crashed with you
for two weeks? And I'm like, yeah, no, I get.
Yeah, yeah, sure. Yeah, yeah.
Come stay with me. And he's like, all right, I'm
going to call you tomorrow to get all the details.
And then I'll be there early next week.
OK. And and then you'll send me the
address and all that. I'm like, all right.
And so I come back in, I'm like, Chloe, I think Zach's going to
come live here with us for a couple weeks.
I don't know. And she's like, OK, yeah, I
guess so. And then he ghosted me.
Dude. Never called, never called back.
I even texted him like are you going to stay here and haven't
talked with him since so I have no idea.
No idea. Neighbors premiere.
You're at an after party in the hotel room.
Set the scene and tell about crossing paths with Danny
McBride. Yeah, so, so I'm at this after
party of the movie and we're back.
We're in like a hotel room. And so Seth Rogen is obviously
the star of the movie. We had a little cameo in the
movie and he. You and Seth liked that fun.
Yeah, and so I'm trying to go toe to toe with Seth smoking
weed, and I can smoke weed, but I can smoke weed like Seth
Rogen, obviously. No, dude, I mean, he's a
chimney. He's just like, that's how his
air that he breathes is weed smoke.
And you prefer booze or weed? I like them both.
I like them both Graham, but I but I can't smoke like like him,
you know, and some so I'm going toe to toe and I'm like cross
eyed. I'm doing great.
And then through the the smoke emerges the legend that is Danny
McBride. And he's on my Mount Rushmore of
comedy heroes. Like, he's fantastic.
I love the guy. Then what?
Like what? I just making.
That for you? Well, Eastbound and Down and
Foot Fist Way is movie that he made before the Eastbound and
Down. I remember we watched it when we
were still doing sketches, me and the Workaholics guys and we
were doing sketches and Andres comes in and on our day that we
would write the sketches Wednesdays and he came in and
was like we have to watch this movie.
He had a friend that was an agent and he was like, these
guys, evidently this is the movie that's the the talk of
Hollywood. And we're like, OK, And so we
watched the movie and then we watched it right back.
And then from there we were like, those guys seem like us.
Like it's not like Will Ferrell seems bigger than life.
He was on SNL. He was like part of the machine
that is SNL. And then they launched the you
thought we kind of thought you had to do something else before
you could get your shot. And he for us, Danny was the the
the blueprint of how to go about it it outside of the system.
So Danny emerges from this cloud of smoke and I'm so excited to
meet him and he's a hero of mine.
So I go, you're Danny McBride and he's like, I know.
And I don't know why I thought this was a cool thing to say to
him or even a thing to say to anyone.
I go, you're a bright shooting star.
That's what I that's what I said to Dana McBride.
You're a bright shooting star. And he goes, yeah, man.
And I grabbed my girlfriend at the time and I was like, we have
to leave. And she's like, why?
I'm having fun. And I go, I just called Dana
McBride a bright shooting star. And she's like, you're right.
Let's go. Let's get out of here.
So did you think when you realized you could be up for
right just gemstones, there was any shot or?
Yeah, well, it kind of came out of the blue.
They were like, hey, they're interested in you for Righteous
Gemstones, this show that Dan McBride has putting together,
and I'm like. Now, did you have that in the
back of your head? That oh.
Dude, I was like me, He's thinking about me.
I called him a bright shooting star.
He's going to think I'm a total nerd.
And luckily Danny, I think was also pretty stoned at this party
because he doesn't really, he kind of remembers it, but he was
like, yeah, I don't remember you being as awkward as you think
you were. So I'm like, thank God, but
because in my head I was like, don't depress you these star,
you know, And in his head I was like, what's up, Danny, nice to
meet you. So thank God.
And and then I got offered Righteous Gemstones and here we
are Four Seasons later. OK, so you talked about this
before. You like to have a good time.
You'll burn the candle at both ends.
Sure. Ever get to be too much?
Not yet. You know it is it's different
now because I have a one year old son.
So you just can't there's no like hangover suck now.
They used to kind of suck, but you're like, whatever, you just
go get brunch, do the. Cure with the curtains?
What, You had some blackout? Every room I'm in has to be
blacked out. But yeah, you, I'm like, you
just deal with it. It's totally fine.
And I don't really get that bad of hangovers.
But when a child wakes you up at 6:00 AM and like, we used to
bring him in between the two of us early in the mornings and
hopefully he would go back to sleep and we could get another
30 or 40 minutes. But now he's like, like goes
over the pillow. He just smiles in your face and
you're like 1, you just feel horrible.
You're like, I'm a dirtbag for being hungover in front of this
sweet, innocent baby. And two, you just don't you have
responsibilities now. So now I I, I don't, I don't
nearly party like. But in fairness to you too, you
were conscious enough of where that line is or was even back
then, right? I mean, because you talked
about, you know, your peers who you saw at the comedy club back
in the day, who wouldn't grind like you like that?
Obviously something that you were always aware of, like
where's the? Well, my mom, they didn't never
really minded that I smoked weed because I even smoked in high
school and they they were just like, we don't want you to be a
burnout. Like that was my mom's biggest
fear. She's like, don't be a burnout.
Like have ambition, like go after your dreams.
So that was always in the back of my head of like, you could
have fun, but do handle your like and pick your spots too.
Like I was never the type of guy that would wake up and smoke
weed all day long or drink all day long or whatever.
It was all day long. It was like, no, I have stuff to
do, so I'll smoke weed when I'm done with the stuff that I have
to do. Exercise has also been a pretty
consistent theme and let's. Just say I'm a freak athlete.
You flexible. Is that what that is?
You hired Chris Pratt's trainer at one point, right?
I did. Yeah, I had his trainer.
I had his nutritionist. I'm like, do whatever you did to
that schlub to turn him into that.
I want you to do that to me. And they failed.
They failed with me. But no, that was during Mike and
Dave and I got in great shape. I just didn't want to be, I
mean, Zac Efron's older brother, I just didn't want to be his fat
older brother. You know, I wanted it to look
like we might be in the same gene pool.
And that's just kind of how it goes for me.
I'll get in like really good shape and then I'll let it go
for a couple years and then tighten it back up and and I
always kind of want to be within a few months of being in good
shape. You really will feel like you'll
let it go. I never let it go to where
you're like, but I feel like, yeah, I'll, I'll, you know, eat
and drink too much over the holidays or whatever and then
then rein it back in. How's having a kid change your
life? It has a piece of cake.
It's the best. You know, I kind of thought I
would like it, but I love it way more than I thought I would,
really. I thought I knew I would like it
just because I like kids and I like playing with kids.
I'm like, it seems like it'd be a fun thing, but it's like I get
such a kick out of it. It's just the best.
And especially now that he's like 1 and he has like a real
personality and. Like what makes it better than
you expected? He's just so much fun to kick it
with. He's like a funny guy and he and
he will like do little bits with you.
He's hilarious like this guy. I'm going to mould him Graham to
be the funniest little guy. I'm like, who's going to stick
him on the improv stage at like 3?
I can't wait. I'm I'm just so excited for him
to to grow up. If he came to you one day and
it's like Dad, I want to do people that.
Actors or comedians or whoever that are like, I would never let
my child be in this business. I'm like, well, then you don't
like your job. I think it's the best job in the
world. I'm like, I'm living my dream
life with my dream family and I have the best job in the world.
Like why wouldn't you want that for your child?
We get in there. Yeah, Thanks for doing this.
Thanks buddy. Yeah, this is fun it.
Was pretty painless. Yeah.
Anything I did not ask? That no, you covered the jizz in
the bathtub. Oh, so that was.
What I what I left out was the when your parents went to watch
a DVD in their bedroom. Do you hear that sort?
No. What is that?
They realized another DVD was in there and your mom said it was
called Boobs Boobs boobs. Yeah, that's that checks out.
Yeah, there you go. That does it for my chat with
Adam Devine. As always, the sit down was just
one part of our day with him in Orange County, California.
We also talked with his wife Chloe, who shared insight into
their family life. Plus, Adam took us out on a
boat, which I quite stupidly used as an opportunity to
convince him to jump with me off the roof, many feet down into
the frigid Pacific waters. And I might.
Also add that I once again stupidly did not have
appropriate swim attire for the affair.
If you want to check out more of our time with him, head over to
youtube.com/graham Bensinger. If you get a chance, leave the
podcast a rating and review. Thanks again for listening.