Nick Swardson Drops By to Talk Happy Gilmore 2, Blades of Glory, and Reviving R-Rated Comedies

Nick Swardson: 00:00:00

Foreign.

Kyle Castro: 00:00:12

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Movie wars podcast. I'm your host Kyle here.

And as you know, usually we have a panel of stand up comedians, we have celebrity guests, sometimes we have folks that are filmmakers come on and rate movies. But today we have a very special guest. Stand up comedian, actor, voice actor, screenwriter, producer, Nick Schwartz. And ladies and gentlemen.

What's up man?

Nick Swardson: 00:00:34

What's up, dude? How are you? Kyle?

Kyle Castro: 00:00:36

Dude, I'm so glad to have you just got off a nice long, you said four years basically of touring. You finally got a little break.

Nick Swardson: 00:00:42

Yeah, I did post covet. I just jumped back on the road and yeah, I, I toured.

Shot a special called Make Joke from Face and then I segue that into Toilet Head, which that special will come out this year, probably in the fall.

Kyle Castro: 00:00:57

That's awesome, man. Oh, cool. So you got another special going out of it?

Nick Swardson: 00:01:01

Yeah, totally. Yeah. Super excited. I filmed it at Prince's club in Minneapolis, First Avenue.

So I was the first comedian to ever tape a special there and one of the few to ever perform at the, at the club.

Kyle Castro: 00:01:13

Yeah. In your home state, right?

Nick Swardson: 00:01:15

Yeah, home state. Minneapolis, Minnesota. St. Paul. Yep.

Kyle Castro: 00:01:18

What was that like? Did that, was there a special specialness to that or.

Nick Swardson: 00:01:22

It was great, but the city is so sports oriented. So I did two tapings. One was in December and that was at the peak of the Minnesota vikings. Crazy like 14 and three run.

So the crowd, you know, they wanted me to talk about that. So like it was distracting.

And then when I just taped it, the Timberwolves are in the NBA playoffs and they just dethrone the Lakers in the, in the playoffs. So you know, everybody was all fired up about that.

So like I've got it, I've got to like, I've got to edit out like a bunch of that stuff because I have to talk about it because people are yelling and they're belligerent and it's funny because it's such a big drinking state. So like I was like, oh, I'll take my special Sunday 7pm no sports on. Should be fine. Of course, half the crowds in a full blackout. It's like.

Yeah, it's just, I don't know, it's funny. Midwest. Yeah. Rules. No rules, man.

Kyle Castro: 00:02:15

Yeah, well, that's one of the interesting, interesting things about your specials and your standup is that you had a.

You know, one of the things I wanted to talk about a little bit was I think you can say whatever you want about how comedy's changed or how people view it in the past 15 years with the fucking political climate, which I don't even want to get into.

But you have maintained and had a dedicated following throughout that time period that's really been unaffected by all the bullshit other comedians like to talk about. But part of that is that you interact with your audience.

So like, yeah, the sports thing, but that's, that's part of the fun they have at your shows, right?

Nick Swardson: 00:02:44

Yeah, I mean I interact with the crowd and I talk, you know, I've toured for 30 years, so I talk about the towns and things I like about it. And I'm, you know, the thing about me is I've always been consistently me. You know what I mean?

I've never like flipped the script and all of a sudden you come to one of my shows and you're like, hey, what's going on here? It's like, it's exactly like, it's, you know, not to talk about myself but. And Nick Swartz and show is like what it's going to be.

I'm going to talk about, you know, like just stuff that. Observational stuff, stories. I mean my new special, I talk about Norm MacDonald, you know, pretty candidly.

Kyle Castro: 00:03:22

Wow.

Nick Swardson: 00:03:23

But yeah, it's like, but it's all really just, it's just consistently me.

I'm just goofy and silly and that's, that's what I just always love about comedy is like, you know, like it just, I don't know, be funny, be have fun. Everybody comes to a show to laugh. I mean.

Kyle Castro: 00:03:40

Yep.

Nick Swardson: 00:03:41

You know, I don't know.

Kyle Castro: 00:03:42

Yeah. And expecting anything other than, than that is a ridiculous, a ridiculous thing.

Nick Swardson: 00:03:48

People can do whatever they want. I just do what I do and you know, I just, My shows are fun.

Kyle Castro: 00:03:53

Yeah. Hell yeah, dude. You got a lot of projects going. You told me we were talking about Happy Gilmore too. And then you said you got another thing.

Grand lip. So talk about all the things you got going on.

Nick Swardson: 00:04:01

So my goal right now, and it's really, really tricky is to kind of, you know, I was one of the main writers of Grandma's Boy. That was the first project that Sandler brought me in on. And so you know, I love rated R comedy and I just, I really want to bring back.

Rated R comedy dies out. It always, it always dissipates and then everyone's like, where is it?

And then like a movie like 40 Year Old Virgin will come along and then rated our comedy blows up again and then it goes down again and then a movie like the Hangover comes out and then it's huge. Again. And then it goes down, you know what I mean? So I feel like we're in that down period right now where I'm trying to.

I wrote two scripts, original scripts. One of them is verbally greenlit. We have a director, Joel David Moore, who was in Grandma's Boy, who's also directs. He's an Avatar.

He didn't direct Avatar, so don't start that rumor. But he was, he was in it as an actor, but he's a great director.

He did a movie called Youth in Oregon and so he's directing it, I wrote it, I'm starring in it. And, and it's kind of like in the world of Sons of Anarchy and Roadhouse. But it's, it's a comedy. Not a broad comedy, but it's, it's a comedy.

So that's verbally greenlit. We're in pre production right now. We're just trying to get a good cast for foreign sales. And yeah, we're looking to shoot in the fall.

And then I have another one that I just handed in that's original comedy that I wrote with Alan Covert. It's called Mini War and it's about a go kart track that gets into a fight with a mini golf course. And they're both rated R and just crazy.

They're just in my, my brain. So yeah, they're going to be really fun. I'm really, really excited.

And then I'm working on a third script right now, so I'm just trying to single handedly. I quit drinking, I quit smoking cigarettes. I just quit everything. And so now I'm just completely dialed into getting comedy back on its feet.

Kyle Castro: 00:05:55

Yeah, I love that. All systems go. I quit drinking in December. How long ago did you quit?

Nick Swardson: 00:05:59

I quit in August. But there is an asterisk next to my hall of Fame drinking record is that I did drink over the holidays during the Vikings playoffs.

So I did drink for like a week. Yes, but, so there's an asterisk. But I pretty much quit drinking in August of last year. So I'll be amazing a year.

Kyle Castro: 00:06:19

Amazing.

Nick Swardson: 00:06:20

Yeah. It's great, man.

Kyle Castro: 00:06:22

Totally agree. It's changed my life as well. I love what you said about the R rated comedy thing because I. What I was thinking when you were talking about that.

I remember just like in, in my 20s and maybe a little younger. One of the, my favorite memories is. And this is pre Internet, pre social media. But you probably remember this too.

Like a good R rated comedy in the theater was, was a cultural touchstone because then it became water cooler talk. I remember when I saw Anchorman, my friends wanted to go back twice. Right. I know that wasn't R rated, but, you know, it was.

It was raunchy in its own way. There's Something About Mary is a good example.

Nick Swardson: 00:06:54

Yeah, like, that's a great example.

Kyle Castro: 00:06:57

You would talk about it at work. People would quote it. Like, I remember people would joke about hair gel. You know, the hair gel scene.

Nick Swardson: 00:07:03

Oh, yeah. Massive.

Kyle Castro: 00:07:05

Yeah.

Nick Swardson: 00:07:05

It was one of the only times. It was one of the few times in a movie theater where, I mean, me included something about Mary. Old school, Team America.

Those are three movies where I remember people were laughing so hard they stood up in the theater. I remember there was Team America. I was laughing so hard that I had to get up and walk around because I was like, I couldn't stop laughing. So.

And again, comedy doesn't have to be rated R. I like it, but it doesn't. You know, like, that's also a misconception, is when you think about great comedy, it's like, Happy Gilmore's not rated R.

Anchorman's not rated R. Dumb and Dumber's not rated R. I've worked on a ton of comedies. Like Benchwarmer is not rated R. You know what I mean? So it doesn't have to be rated R.

That's a misconception. For a movie to be hilarious. For it to have to. It has got to be rated R. It doesn't have to be, but I just like the freedom of it, you know?

Kyle Castro: 00:08:02

Yeah. I remember being in the theater with Anchorman and looking over at my friend. I think we were seeing it for the second time.

He was literally keeled over, like, healed over, laughing so hard.

Nick Swardson: 00:08:11

Yeah, it was great. I missed that movie.

Kyle Castro: 00:08:14

What do we have like that today? I mean, and I love what you're talking about, but I want to see that cultural touch because, you know, as a. Just as a.

As a soc, like, we just need more touchstones. I think comedic movies are the perfect thing for that.

Nick Swardson: 00:08:26

Yeah, comedy is. Is the best. And it's really tricky because it doesn't, you know, in the streaming market. It's really hard because they want to appeal overseas.

That's a big deal right now. So it's like comedy is the least kind of film that does that. Animation does that, Horror does that. Superhero movies do that.

I mean, you know, there's really a drought right now of comedies.

I mean, one of my good friends, Danny McBride, is one of the last people that's really holding that torch with righteous gemstones and obviously eastbounded down and vice principals. So, yeah, it's like, you know, it's few and far between right now. Yeah.

Kyle Castro: 00:09:07

How's this. How's this joke gonna go over in Greece? You know, it's like.

Nick Swardson: 00:09:11

It's weird. It's like, you know, like I said, we're casting overseas right now, which is fine. I mean, that's always been around. We're.

You do want people that have, you know, appeal overseas. But, yeah, it's like, I get it. But sometimes it's like, good God, comedy. We can't just kill comedy. Like, what's going on here?

I think Speaking of Danny McBride, I remember I did a movie, 30 minutes or less with him, which is a really underrated movie if people haven't seen it. Check it out. It's me, Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Michael Pena, Danny McBride, directed by Reuben Fleischer, that did Zombieland.

And this is just a side note that makes me laugh, is when you finish a movie, you've got to do adr. So that's additional dialogue recording. So you go in and over dub it, and you.

A lot of the times you've got to overdub it in case they use it on an airplane or if they want to use it on tv. You've got to find alternatives for fucks and any kind of cuss words and stuff. So I went in and they were like, hey, Nick, you've got like, 18 fucks.

We've got to, you know, figure out how to change those. And I'm like, okay. And I go, God, that's a lot. That's annoying. I didn't realize I had said that much. And they go, oh, really?

We've got to bring Danny back in here. And he has 140. And I was like, oh, my God. And then I thought about it. I mean, Danny's still a really, really good friend of mine, but I.

I just don't realize how much Danny says. But when you go back, he's just like, yeah, my anime. What the. This fucking dude over here is fucking being a fucking bitch.

Like, he'll just rattle off, like, 10 bucks in, like, a minute.

Kyle Castro: 00:10:42

Dude, thank you for sharing that story. That's amazing, dude.

Nick Swardson: 00:10:45

Yeah, it's so funny. Especially when you know Danny, it's like, yeah, he does say, fuck yeah.

Kyle Castro: 00:10:50

I'm glad you brought that up, because the. The overseas thing's interesting, but I got hooked into the Righteous Gemstones, and I. Because I. I do this podcast, right?

And, like, I'm managing 20 different workflows of movies with guests and my normal panels for the show. Like, I, I, I. It takes me about eight months to finish a show.

Nick Swardson: 00:11:06

Yeah.

Kyle Castro: 00:11:06

Like, Hooked By. So that was the one that I've been watching for eight months. And one thing that blows me away and, and this is comedy in general. Yes, it's hilarious.

But it's incredible to me how comedians, and I think Adam Sandler's great proof of this with some of his dramatic roles that he's played. It is incredible. Incredible to me how comedians, comic movies can still wrap up humanity into that.

Like, it's the most boisterous, hollow, like, hyperbolic you would ever think of with righteous gemstones. But there are moments like, that was very human, that was very real. Like, you relate to it, too.

Nick Swardson: 00:11:36

Yeah, that's one thing that's really, really important, I think, in comedy, and I've talked about this before, where it's like, yeah, in my opinion, it's gotta. It doesn't have to be, but, like, it really helps if it's grounded. You know what I mean? If you have human elements to it.

And I always go back to Dumb and Dumber where, you know, there's a scene, you know, the movie's called Dumb and Dumber. It's slapstick. It's crazy. It's so absurd.

But there's a scene with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels where, you know, they're kind of breaking down at their apartment, and, you know, Jim Carrey wants to return the briefcase to Lauren Holly. And Jeff Daniels is kind of at a boiling point. He's like, I'm sick and tired of this. I'm sick and tired of everything.

And Jim Carrey looks at him dead serious, and he goes, you know what I'm sick and tired of? I'm sick and tired of being a nobody. I'm sick and tired of eking my way through life. And it's so sincere.

And I remember me and my friend when we saw it in high school, we laughed in the theater. But looking back on it, it was a really heartfelt moment, and it grounded the characters. And then you're like, oh, you really rooted for them.

And, you know, that's really important when you have those moments of, like, you know, where you're like, oh, okay, I can get it. I can get on board with this. I mean, not that you couldn't anyway, but it just has.

So the movie I'm doing, this Falcon Sons of Anarchy movie is a comedy. It's not a parody of Sons of Anarchy or Roadhouse. But there's, like, dramatic moments to it.

There's serious moments where, you know, there's really absurd moments, but you earn it by that sincerity of like, oh, this. These are people, you know, I don't know. I always. I always like that with comedy.

Kyle Castro: 00:13:11

Yeah, no, I love it, too. And it doesn't in a way that other genres can't do.

Nick Swardson: 00:13:16

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sandler has a really good balance of that. It's like a movie, like, click.

I remember that was the first movie I did on camera with Sandler, but I remember seeing the movie, and it was so gut wrenching, and, like, I remember my dad had just died, and Sandler's dad had just died. And then Sandler's character in the initial cut, he really died in the movie, and it was so jarring.

I remember testing the movie and people were crying in the theater, and I teared up because it was like, you know, I was really hit close to home with my dad passing. But, yeah, it was, like, wild. I have people say that to me all the time. They're like, hey, man, I saw that movie. Click. What the.

Man, I didn't want to cry.

Kyle Castro: 00:14:00

Yeah, it's rooted in the human spirit, man. It's. It's great.

Nick Swardson: 00:14:04

Yeah, yeah. It's funny to do that.

Kyle Castro: 00:14:08

Yeah, that's awesome.

Nick Swardson: 00:14:09

Yeah. Cry. Yeah, let's cry right now. Listen to this podcast. Cry. Yeah, no, we'll wait.

Kyle Castro: 00:14:18

Give him five minutes to cry it out.

Nick Swardson: 00:14:20

But, yeah, I'm doing Happy Gilmore too, so that's really exciting.

Kyle Castro: 00:14:23

Yeah. Talk about that.

Nick Swardson: 00:14:25

Well, I mean, I've worked with Sandler for 20 years, and I've done, you know, a million movies with him and produced them with him and written it with him. And this one was another level of, you know, there were only so many parts. And when he called me, I was kind of floored because he gave me.

I can't talk about it, but he gave me a really great part, and it's. I was really, really honored and humbled, you know, to be a part of that kind of legacy of Happy Gilmore.

Because, you know, when I was in high school, I'm almost 50 years old, so when I was in high school, my buddy Colton Dunn, who was on the show Superstore, he was a black dude in the wheelchair. He was my best friend in high school. So he worked in a movie theater. So all we did, I mean, in those.

In that era, the movies that came out were Dumb and Dumber, Ace Ventura, Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, you know, so it was like, it was insane. So it was, I mean, we just kept watching those movies over and over Wayne's World.

I mean, I've probably seen those movies each a hundred times at least.

Kyle Castro: 00:15:26

Yeah.

Nick Swardson: 00:15:27

So it was just an honor to be a part of. Like, it was surreal working with Sandler to begin with, but then now to be in Happy Gilmore 2 is like another level of crazy. Awesome.

Kyle Castro: 00:15:38

Yeah, no, we ref. We were referencing the Will Ferrell Ferrell era.

It's kind of crazy when you, if you analyze it like sports, you know, if you want to look at it like a sports team, like the Adam Sandler 90s comedy era is so like, it's, it's, it's unbeaten. It's incredible.

Nick Swardson: 00:15:54

Like just the crazy run of Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, wedding singer, Water Boy is like, that's a three, four way punch. That's, you know, that's nuts. And you know, like, you know, I know we're going to talk about Blades of Glory, but Will Ferrell had that too.

Or he had that run and it was funny because it was all sports. It was like he had that run of sports movies of Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory.

One of my favorite movies that I think is really underrated is Semi Pro. And that's one of the movies that didn't do well out of his sports run movies. But that to me is a sleeper. That to me is really, really funny.

And I actually went on the tour to promote it. I'm not in it, but I went on a stand up tour.

s is in the early, mid, early: 2000

Will Ferrell didn't, but he just did characters and we promoted Semi Pro. But that movie I think is really funny. But anyway, Will went on a really good run too with those movies.

Kyle Castro: 00:17:01

Yeah. And that's, that's, that's the thing, man. Maybe we're reviving the next run because we need, we need that back.

Nick Swardson: 00:17:07

Yeah, I'm doing my best. I mean, I've got my own spin on it, you know, so we'll see.

But another thing is too, for people like listening, if comedies, if you like a comedy and you like somebody involved, like, I hope Falcon goes into the theaters. That's what, what would my dream would be, you know.

And you know, people like, listen, you've got to support movies in the theater because that's the thing. That's tricky is like, you know, people are like, well, why? You know, grandma's. Why I love Grandma's Way. Why aren't there more movies like that?

Why aren't there more movies like that? And I'm like, well, because it ate in the box office. Like, it ate hot.

I mean, luckily the budget was only 5 million, but it made like 6 million in the theater. And then, you know, so many movies, you know, like Bucky Larson, which is subjective with people like it or not that age.

And, you know, it's like, you know, there are a lot of movies that don't do well. Your Highness with Danny McBride and James Franco didn't do well. Hot Rod. Andy Samberg, really funny. Didn't do well.

You know, some movies like that, you just gotta. You gotta get out and support them. Just, you know, we can continue to make them. Otherwise, it's a really. It's a real uphill battle.

Kyle Castro: 00:18:13

Yeah, no, absolutely. Support the movies. And when it comes out, man, come back on. We'll promote the movie too.

Nick Swardson: 00:18:18

Yeah, totally. Thanks.

Kyle Castro: 00:18:19

That'd be a blast.

Nick Swardson: 00:18:20

But Blades of Glory too, because that was one of the reasons you reached out to me, was one of my favorites. And that's a movie where I would. I would just watch that movie anyway, even if I wasn't in it. Like, it's that funny to me. The cast is so good.

It's so well directed. It's just. It's really, really an awesome movie. And I was bummed.

I had no scenes with Will Ferrell because he's somebody I would love to do a scene with, but I had my scenes with John Heater, who's a really good friend of mine. We did Bench Warmers together, and I love John very much, so that. That was really fun. But that was also one of the.

One of the rare movies where I didn't improvise a lot. I usually improvise like crazy, but a lot of the meaty jokes were actually on the page, which I was surprised.

I want to cut off your skin and wear it to my birthday. That was in the script. I sent you a couple. My blood, Jimmy. I think that was in the script. Yeah. I'm still gonna kill you someday. It was in the script.

Yeah, those lines were great.

Kyle Castro: 00:19:23

Those are great. I love the way you. I mean, it's funny.

It's not improv, because I kind of thought it was because the way you turn around when you deliver that last line about killing him, and I was like that. The way you just kind of, like, just kind of Interject like, oh, by the way, I'm still gonna kill you.

Nick Swardson: 00:19:36

That was just my phenomenal acting as the Daniel Day Lewis of comedy is what I would call myself.

Kyle Castro: 00:19:42

They broke the mold with you.

Nick Swardson: 00:19:43

Yeah, I don't, I don't call myself that, but yeah. Here's a, Here's a trivia fact about that movie. John Heater. I don't know if you read up on this part. John Heater broke his leg.

He broke his leg or his ankle filming the movie. And we had to shut down for, I think, like a month and a half. So the movie almost didn't happen.

And there was a tiny, tiny window where my agent talked to the studio about me replacing John. But I wasn't really any kind of. I was a decent name and not really, but there was like a really.

I'm sure it was a very brief talk, but there was a moment because we had the same agent at caa and he was like, he wanted to try to see if I could slip in there.

Kyle Castro: 00:20:28

Man, that would have been awesome.

Nick Swardson: 00:20:30

That would have been wild. But I'm glad John did it. He was great. John's awesome. Really funny.

Kyle Castro: 00:20:36

Yeah. I can't believe he broke his leg, though, doing that. That's crazy.

Nick Swardson: 00:20:39

Well, I mean, they did training. Yeah, they did figure skating. I mean, you know what I mean? Like, I think that's how he. I, I, I don't know.

I can't remember, but I think, I think he might have. I don't know, Whatever. He broke it. I, I, Tanya Hardinged him. It turns out I, Tanya Hardy dislike.

We were at lunch and I just took a pole and whacked his, like.

Kyle Castro: 00:21:00

Yeah, I think, yeah. That my research turned up. It was Michelle Kwan's coach, Sarah Kawahara. I think that's how you say her name. She was the one that trained them.

Nick Swardson: 00:21:08

Yeah, I mean, it was real legit. I mean, that's not easy.

Kyle Castro: 00:21:11

No.

Nick Swardson: 00:21:12

You know, we all skated in high school, but that was back then. That was back in the day. We all figure skated the high school. Yeah.

Kyle Castro: 00:21:20

I don't go on the ice. That's, that's a concussion waiting to happen. I know for myself.

Nick Swardson: 00:21:24

That's the thing that sucks about growing up in Minnesota is like, you get ice skates immediately before you get food, they just give. You don't get a baby bottle. You get an ice skate. They throw you on skates and you're just thrown out in the ice. But, yeah, be careful out there.

You figure skaters and those in training.

Kyle Castro: 00:21:42

And maybe a hockey Stick, too.

Nick Swardson: 00:21:44

Yeah, that's what all my friends in Minnesota, a lot of hockey. I never played hockey. It's an expensive sport with all the equipment, so I never played it. But I remember my ice skating skills came into play.

Sandler had a holiday party, and he rented out this big compound, and they had an ice rink, and I brought Paris Hilton to the party. And so me and Paris hit the ice rink, and then I'm like, hey, I'm gonna go get a cocktail and go to the arcade.

So I left, and then I met up with Paris again. I go, what did. What did you end up doing? Did you skate around some more? And she goes, yeah, I ended up playing hockey with Tom Cruise.

There was, like, a corner where there were nets set up, and so we just hit pucks. And I'm like, yeah, my life's normal. Just, like, What? He just went and played hockey with Tom Cruise?

Kyle Castro: 00:22:29

Like, that's hysterical.

Nick Swardson: 00:22:31

It's so weird.

Kyle Castro: 00:22:32

I'm a fan of his work, but I just. I don't imagine him just, like, chilling, playing hockey with just random people.

Nick Swardson: 00:22:38

You can't imagine Tom Cruz playing hockey. The guy jumps out of helicopters into another helicopter, and somehow hockey is out of your fathoming brain.

Kyle Castro: 00:22:47

No, not the hockey. Just with. With the. With the general public.

Nick Swardson: 00:22:51

You.

Kyle Castro: 00:22:51

Kyle, you're right. I.

Nick Swardson: 00:22:53

The general. General public. He's playing with Paris Hilton at the Adam Sanders party.

Kyle Castro: 00:22:58

Yeah, he's. He's like, the most famous person. He's like. I think you could rate him as, like, one of the most famous people in history.

Nick Swardson: 00:23:06

Oh, yeah, 100. I bet. I'm a super nice guy.

Kyle Castro: 00:23:09

Yeah.

Nick Swardson: 00:23:09

Everybody who's mega bonkers famous is actually the most normal, cool person.

Kyle Castro: 00:23:14

Really?

Nick Swardson: 00:23:14

Like, Sandler, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston. All those people are the most normal people. It's so, like.

You know, I think that's why I clicked with Sandlers, because I'm just still, like, a dude from Minnesota. Like, I don't even really think about. I don't. I don't. Like when people call me, like, celebrity or. I don't know. It's just weird. Like, I just.

I'm more worried about the Vikings than any kind of, Like, I don't know.

Kyle Castro: 00:23:43

Yeah, Everything you hear about Sandler, like, doesn't turn down an autograph, doesn't turn down conversing with fans. Like, that's all the stuff you read and hear about him. Like, he's just that guy.

Nick Swardson: 00:23:53

Yeah, he's great. One of my favorite moments, as we were filming the movie, I Now pronounce you Chuck and Larry with Kevin James.

And we were filming in Brooklyn, like, in the neighborhoods of Brooklyn, like serious Brooklyn neighborhoods. And, you know, it gets out that Sandler's filming there, and it's huge deal. I mean, there's crowds of people, mobs of people.

So, you know, Sandler's got security walking him from the set to his trailer, so Santa's trying to sign as many autographs as he can. And he signs this one, this guy, you know, hands him things, signs it. And the guy takes. This is like, so Brooklyn.

Like, old school Brooklyn guy, he got looks at the autograph. He goes, hey, what's this? Hey, Sandler, what's this right here? I can't read this shit. Sign it. Like, write your name. What are you doing? And it was so.

I was right next to Adam. It was so jarring and weird, but it was like the most New York thing ever. And Sandler, like, took it. He's like, okay, Jesus Christ.

And, like, wrote it more like his name. But it was like, I'll never forget that moment. New York, I say, what the is this? Come on, man. Yankees.

Kyle Castro: 00:25:01

That's incredible.

Nick Swardson: 00:25:02

Yeah, yeah.

Kyle Castro: 00:25:03

That is New York.

Nick Swardson: 00:25:04

Yeah, totally.

Kyle Castro: 00:25:05

One question I wrote down was, you know, kind of. Yeah. Wrote down a couple. Can you believe it?

Kind of threading the needle on something you talked about earlier, just with the purpose of comedies and. And how important they are. Do you think movies like Blades of Glory, I wrote down Happy Gilmore and. And a ton of other sports.

You know, actually, I'll just focus in on those two. Is part of the reason that we love those movies because there's some, like, subconscious level of, like, they're. Those sports are sanctimonious.

They're traditional, they're quiet. You know, the golf clap. And then we have these two comedies. It's just outrageously disrupting the formality of those.

Nick Swardson: 00:25:41

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I think there's a. There's a thing there where it's like, you just don't think about.

You know, when Happy Gilmore came out, you just didn't think about golf. I mean, Happy Gilmore just changed the. I mean, that's such a monster effect on a sport where, you know, Caddyshack came along and did that, but.

And then Happy Gilmore just pulled the rug out of Caddyshack. You know what I mean? Like, Happy, just the character and the premise is so genius.

That's what I love about it, is that it's not out of the realm of possibility, that. You know what I mean? Like, Like, I like the, the.

The connection of a ex hockey player playing golf and bringing that hockey attitude to a golf course is so genius. And Sandler did it perfectly. It's like just that setup is hilarious.

And the thing with Will Ferrell and how they have to be a guy pair, I mean, like, that was hilarious. I mean, they're both really, I don't know, really well done.

Kyle Castro: 00:26:44

It might just be because I'm an idiot and I'm not good at either thing, but I kind of like this. Like. Yeah, yeah, you just take that golf. Yeah, like with your. With your quiet golf clapping, you're saying, like, take this.

Like, I kind of like the insulting nature of, like shoving it in that sports face, you know?

Nick Swardson: 00:26:58

Right. I mean, I don't think it was like a you to golf. It was just. It.

It was funny in the sense of how they did kind of, you know, make fun of certain golf etiquettes. But yeah, I mean, it's, you know, it's a love letter to golf because Sandler's actually a really good golfer. He's weirdly a really good athlete.

I'm surprised he doesn't do more sports movies. It's interesting. I remember playing in a NBA league. It was like an NBA celebrity league.

And I got Sandler on my team and Will Ferrell was on a team and we played against each other and, you know, people were like, oh, dude, that must have been the funniest game. I'm like, no. Like, people want to win. Like, it wasn't. It wasn't like jokey times. It was like people were dead serious. It was funny.

The league was called the NBA Entertainment League, and it was crazy how intense DiCaprio played in it. Tons of people played in the NBA Entertainment League and nobody was fucking around. It was not comedy time. It wasn't hilarious.

Like, at the end you won a ring. There were playoffs. I remember Donald Faison for his team. I think Will Ferrell was on his team. Donald was from Scrubs.

He hired a coach and they practice, like out of the league. It was like crazy. I remember Toby McGuire was on the Tonight show and he said he hit a game winning three pointer in that league.

And he said it was one of the highlights of his life. And they had video of it and Leo was on his team and they like carried him around and he said it was one of the highlights of his life.

So that's funny to me.

Kyle Castro: 00:28:39

That's incredible.

Nick Swardson: 00:28:40

But still a really good athlete.

Kyle Castro: 00:28:42

Going back to the sports comedy thing, I was thinking as I was planning for this. I was like, you know, it is just unbelievable how like, sports comedy is its own. It's almost its own genre.

And I grew up with like Major League 1 and 2. There's some early phenomenal sport. Yeah, you mentioned Caddyshack.

Like, why is it that sports and comedy go together so well and like, are able to me creates a formidable genre all of its own apart from comedy.

Nick Swardson: 00:29:05

Well, because they take themselves so seriously. Sports are very serious. You know what I mean? So it's like when you throw in a comedic angle to it, you know, it's just, it's ripe for comedy.

It's like, you know, anything that's taking it, taking itself too seriously, you know, it's fun to make fun of. I mean, stand up comedians do it all the time.

I mean, that's the nature of like just the basis of comedy, of being a class clown back in school where everything was so serious and taken, like, oh, you can't make fun of this and, and then you do, because that's in your, you know, in your nature. That was me. That was any most comedians, it's like, you know, you go against the grain and cause a little ruckus. It's the best.

Kyle Castro: 00:29:50

Yeah, yeah.

Nick Swardson: 00:29:52

And that's why it's funny, you know.

You know, in an age where people do get super sensitive about stuff and they, you know, and that makes it, you know, people are like, is it hard to do comedy now? And it's like, no, it's even more fun because you can say crazy and double down and then people are like, wait, what? And then it's like.

And then you kind of just laugh because it's like, I'm.

I'm perpetually still in junior high school doing stupid shit and talking about, you know, I mean, I had a thing that I'd never planned on, but like, I have like a diarrhea joke or a story in every special and I do it because I know it's stupid, but people are like, oh yeah, nature talks about diarrhea all the time. A.

I don't talk about diarrhea all the time, but I made it a point to just have something about diarrhea and every, in every one of my specials because I just think it's funny. I think it's funny that some people get annoyed by it. Okay?

Kyle Castro: 00:30:44

We all get diarrhea and there's never, there's never a good diarrhea story, so.

Nick Swardson: 00:30:48

Exactly. I remember I did a show at an Ivy League college and this kid in the Front row. I had a joke back in the day, and I said, I have a cat.

My cat is sick right now. He has diarrhea. And I took him to the vet, and the vet's like, well, what have you been feeding him? And I'm like, diarrhea.

And it was one of my favorite jokes for a long time.

So I'm doing this school at this Ivy League college, and this kid in the front row, under his breath, I heard him loud enough, he goes, oh, that's so stupid. And I just stopped and I go, hey, I heard you. Hey. I go, I know it's stupid. I wrote it. That's the whole point. It's so stupid that it's funny.

You know how I know it? How I know that? Because I fucking wrote it. And that was the whole point. Don't act like you're fucking better than me, you fucking little shit. Like.

And then they got all quiet, and the crowd is like, whoa. But it was to audibly mutter that, yeah, it's funny. There was an Ivy League school, too. This little prick.

It's just like, oh, my God, I'm so much better than this comedian. No, you're not. But, yeah. No. So comedy's fun, man. It can. It's. It's fun to just, you know, be goofy.

Kyle Castro: 00:31:56

I love that.

Nick Swardson: 00:31:57

If you don't like diarrhea, then don't come to my live show because it's like, gallagher, Liberia, live diarrhea. Yeah.

Kyle Castro: 00:32:06

If you don't like watermelon.

Nick Swardson: 00:32:08

Yep. Yeah. But, yeah. So going back to comedy. Yeah. I mean, you know, I'm curious, you know, where it goes, because Sandler doesn't do as much comedy.

Will doesn't do as much comedy. I mean, a lot of those guys. I mean, I don't know what, like, you know, Danny doesn't do as many films. Seth Rogen, I don't think does as many films. I.

You know, I don't know anybody that, you know. I think it's. I'm just gonna say it. It's just me. I'm just trying. No, I'm kidding. I'm sure there are other people trying to get off the ground.

It's really a tricky time to do it, but I'm doing my best, so.

Kyle Castro: 00:32:41

Yeah, hopefully.

Nick Swardson: 00:32:42

Hopefully, people like it.

Kyle Castro: 00:32:43

Any other. Before I go into the randos, do you have any other fun stories from Blaze of Glory or anything else you.

Nick Swardson: 00:32:48

No, I wasn't a producer on it, so it wasn't. You know, I produce a lot of Sandler stuff, so. Blades. I Don't have that many stories because I, I was, you know, I wasn't there day to day.

So when I say, what I'm a producer, people always ask, what does that mean? Producers are very broad umbrella. So I'm a creative producer. So I'm there. Like when I show up at my trailer in the morning, I've got my sides.

Your sides are what you're going to shoot for the day. And what we do is we'll sit there and punch those up and see if we're missing anything. So it's pure creative.

It's a lot of feeding people lines and stuff like that. So Blades of Glory. I was just in and out. And one thing that was funny is they were like, we're gonna redo the ending.

We need you to improvise the scene with some dolls. And I go, what do you mean? And I think, I don't think.

I think it's in the credits of the movie, but if you wait until the very end, there's like a whole scene of me improvising with these Barbie dolls about me winning the gold medal or Jimmy or whatever nonsense. I can't remember because it was improvised. But that was one thing that was fun about the movie. It's kind of a little hidden gem.

I don't even know if it's a gem. Could be diarrhea.

Kyle Castro: 00:33:54

Yeah, well, let's just hope it's diarrhea.

Nick Swardson: 00:33:56

Let's go to your. Let's go to your questions, Kyle.

Kyle Castro: 00:33:59

Yeah, and like I said, because there wasn't a commentary, I can only verify these as far as the Internet can go. So call bullshit as much as you want. Number one, the writers claimed 88% of will.

Nick Swardson: 00:34:09

I'm just kidding. What?

Kyle Castro: 00:34:11

Fucking knew it. One of the writers said 88% of Will Ferrell's dialogue is improvised. And they were constantly rewriting lines around his improv improvisation.

Nick Swardson: 00:34:21

Well, again, I wasn't a day to day producer. I would probably say that that could, that could be accurate. I mean, Will goes off. I mean, he definitely improvises a ton. So I don't know why the.

So the, the writers were scrambling to rewrite what they were trying to. I mean, unless he went off story and was changing the narrative, I don't know what they would have to rewrite.

But yeah, I mean, it's more, it's trickier in the edit. You know what I mean? I mean, you can improvise as much as you want. You just have to get the core base of the story.

I mean, that's what we did with Reno 911 is that show and the movie were completely improvised. So all you have to do is just get to the end point. You can fill in whatever you want.

But when we were doing the movie, I got the script and it was 20 pages and it was all locations and story points and all the dialogue was improvised. But you just have to get to what you get to. So that's my only thing about Will Ferrell's.

I'm sure, I'm sure a lot of it was improvised, but, you know, I know. So I don't know. I would say it's true that he did improvise, but I don't know if the writers had to scramble to rewrite.

Kyle Castro: 00:35:30

He's. He's got to be a massive, like his improv. He's got to be a monster when it comes to like just his ability to improv.

Nick Swardson: 00:35:36

Like, oh, yeah, well, he's the groundling. I'm improv trained. I started an improv. I mean, a handful of people did. You know, you're either stand up or improv.

When I first started, I mean, Sandler was a stand up. Spade was a stand up. Chris Rock, stand up. Kevin James, stand up. I started an improv and stand up. Will Ferrell was improv.

You know, Kristen Wiig, all those people improv. Fred Armisen improv, Will Forte improv, you know. So yeah, improvising is. Is great, but you do have to get the story out.

Kyle Castro: 00:36:08

This one's funny. So you hear the serenity prayer and the sex addict meeting, but you have to like really read and see it.

It's like a half second splice when they zoom in on the prayer brochures. And the prayer brochure says the same exact thing as the prayer. And I just got to read. I love it.

God, grant me the serenity to not have sex with my friend's girlfriend, the courage to go home tonight without having sex with my girl, my friend's girlfriend, and the wisdom to walk away from my friend, smoking hot girlfriend. It says it on the brochure.

Nick Swardson: 00:36:37

I didn't know that. That's really funny.

Kyle Castro: 00:36:40

Yeah, I read that. Then I went back. I had to pause it because that's a half a second. But it literally just says all that next to the coffee.

Nick Swardson: 00:36:47

That's great.

Kyle Castro: 00:36:50

It's like my favorite thing for the movie. I know that's dumb, but it's just. It's just one of those things like, that is hysterical.

Nick Swardson: 00:36:55

Yeah, that's really funny. And that's a good thing. I mean, that's the thing about that movie is there's a lot of throwaways.

I always like the throwaway lines, you know, that aren't like the hard jokes. It's just kind of the aside kind of additions always make me laugh.

Kyle Castro: 00:37:08

Last one, and this is crazy here because I know Ben Stiller stayed on as a producer, but originally it was him and Will Ferrell instead of John Heater and Will Ferrell.

Nick Swardson: 00:37:17

Yeah, I think I remember that. Yeah. Yeah, that was the genesis because, yeah, Ben did. Yeah, Ben did produce it. He's the one that brought me on. And then they.

He produced 30 minutes or less, the other movie I did with them. But, yeah, that's right. Ben was attached.

Kyle Castro: 00:37:35

Yeah. What would that dynamic have been like?

Nick Swardson: 00:37:37

I don't know. I mean, it really worked with, you know, Peter and Will. But, you know, Ben is hilarious, too. Ben's brilliant.

I mean, one of my favorite movies all time is Tropic Thunder is so good. I mean, that's just another level of genius. And another thing that's so bizarre about every the world is that they were trying to cancel Downey Jr.

For Tropic Thunder. Like, here's the thing that drives me nuts. Context and character. If someone's doing something, like Downey's character was doing a guy.

Like, his whole character was a guy being. Trying to get into character. And, you know, that's a whole another thing. It's like he was nominated for a Academy Award. Like, what?

And then now it's like, oh, my God, he put on blackface. It's like, no, that's not. He was doing a character. Doing a character in a movie. It's all context.

It's like, come on, people, you know, like, let's not go that far.

Kyle Castro: 00:38:46

Where.

Nick Swardson: 00:38:47

I don't know. Like, that to me is like, good Lord. But that. Can't imagine what.

Kyle Castro: 00:38:53

I can't imagine having that much free time to. To be spending your time going back and revising movies from history and just like, making that a past.

Nick Swardson: 00:39:01

Come on, something nominated for an Academy. It's a phenomenal performance. Oh, God, whatever.

Kyle Castro: 00:39:08

And it was one of those culture. It was like. I talked about the cultural touchstones earlier. That was another one of those.

That movie was when it came out, it was a water cooler, college campus. People were just talking, impersonations, quotes. It was everywhere for months.

Nick Swardson: 00:39:22

I remember that. It was insane. Yeah, that movie was really, really great. And Ben directed it. Ben's such an underrated director. He doesn't get enough credit.

Secret Life of Walter Mitty is one of my favorite movies. It's not really a full on comedy in any way, but it's a phenomenal film. I highly recommend Ben Stiller and Walter Mitty.

Kyle Castro: 00:39:43

It's very relatable.

Nick Swardson: 00:39:45

So well, well directed, very relatable. It's just a great, great film.

Kyle Castro: 00:39:49

I have the soundtrack too.

Nick Swardson: 00:39:51

Soundtrack, great soundtrack. Yeah. Ben's a big music nerd. Yeah. You know what's a really funny movie that I rewatched was the Little Hours. Have you ever seen that?

Kyle Castro: 00:39:59

Huh?

Nick Swardson: 00:40:00

Check that out. So the Aubrey Palazzo and a great cast. Dave Franco, John C. Reilly, Fred Armisen. It's this little indie comedy about a convent and it's hilarious.

I highly recommend it. It's a sleeper sleeper movie.

Kyle Castro: 00:40:18

That's a hell of a cast.

Nick Swardson: 00:40:20

I don't know more people in it. I'm not even doing it justice like Molly Shannon's in. I mean it's like crazy, crazy cast, but it's really, really funny.

Kyle Castro: 00:40:29

Wow, I don't know how I missed that one. Stiller's getting his flowers on severance though, man.

When that second season came out, I, everybody, literally everyone I know there was like, they were posting, they were talking like. I mean, because he's producing, right? He's the lead producer on.

Nick Swardson: 00:40:43

Yeah. And he's directing. I know, I know he directed the pilot. But yeah, Ben, Ben's a creative force, man. He's awesome. I love Ben very much.

Kyle Castro: 00:40:52

That's amazing.

Nick Swardson: 00:40:53

Yeah, he's one guy I've never done a scene with and I would love to do a scene. Would do something with Stellar. That would be awesome.

Kyle Castro: 00:41:02

Yeah. If you could pull back. There's something about Mary Ben still. Because you know, growing up for me, that's, that's what I associated with.

Of course I'm a die hard Seinfeld fan. I loved his father too. And then he, then he turns into this producer director and like he's just getting into.

And that's what I love about comedians because to me it goes one way. I'm not saying that dramatic actors can't be funny.

I talked to Steve Byrne about this because, you know, he's directed a few films and he's done a couple of comedy movies too. But like this ability for comedians to be, to lean, dramatic and creative, but it's, I think it's harder for dramatic actors to go the other way.

Nick Swardson: 00:41:34

Disagree.

Kyle Castro: 00:41:35

Really?

Nick Swardson: 00:41:36

Okay, I disagree. I've heard that before. But I've worked with dramatic actors in comedy.

Here's the thing that dramatic actors have is that they have the ability to fully, fully commit. So let's say, look at Leslie Nielsen. That's a dramatic actor. You know what I mean? So it's like all you have to do is commit to the dialogue.

Sincerely, I did this movie. Just go with it. Me. Me and Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman was in the movie.

And I remember Nicole Kidman after a take would be like, oh, I don't know. I don't know if that was funny. Was that funny? And I go, yeah, it was hilarious. And she goes, it was. And I go, yeah, because you just committed to it.

You just said the line so sincerely that. That's what made it funny. Is that commitment. You know what I mean? Where you don't have to overdo it. You don't. Like.

I'm always hesitant when I'm casting comedians because they kind of don't have that discipline to trust in the dialogue. They've got to feel like they've got to add a little bit more, A little. You know, and sometimes it works.

I mean, Jim Carrey can take a script like Ace Ventura and make it into. You know, I mean, it's like, crazy. But, you know, that's why Jim's such a good dramatic actor, is he just commits to absurdity. And Jeff.

Let me look at Jeff Daniels and Dumb and Dumber. You would never think you would pair Jim Carrey up with Jeff Daniels. So I think dramatic actors.

I mean, I'm casting my movie right now, and we're going out to all dramatic actors in a comedy. Like, I don't. I haven't looked at any comedian yet. I mean, I. I definitely will.

But everybody that is on my list right now, that we're going out to, all inherently dramatic actors, that makes a lot of sense.

Kyle Castro: 00:43:13

Thanks for illuminating that, because that. That's a. I guess it's a common misconception, because that's kind of common misconception.

Nick Swardson: 00:43:20

Yeah. But I mean, like the movie Bucky Larson, which got destroyed by critics, it got. It was such a pinata. It was an easy.

It was a softball for people to hate. But if you go back and watch it, it's really. I. I just love that movie. It was Sandler's idea. Me and him wrote it. The cast is phenomenal.

I mean, you look at the core cast, it's me, Don Johnson, Christina Ricci, Stephen Dorff. You know, I mean, these are all dramatic actors for the most part, and they're all brilliant. It's like, they're so good. And you Know, I just.

I always defend that movie. I had a moment where Paul Rudd came up to me at a premiere, and he was.

He's a buddy, but he came up to me and he was like, hey, man, I just want you to know, like, me and my wife. Me and my wife have watched Bucky Larson, like, several times. And I go, really? And he goes, yeah. He goes, you're so good.

He's like, you're so committed. He goes, this character with the wig and teeth, but he's like, you really feel for Bucky Larson? And I go, yeah. That was.

My goal is to, like, just be as sincere as possible, where there's moments where I'm like, cry. And, you know, it's just. I always give that movie, you know, I don't know. The backlash was so undeserved.

Kyle Castro: 00:44:29

So, yeah, fuck credits, dude. Who. Who takes credit?

Nick Swardson: 00:44:33

Seriously? Everybody. Like, people were just like, bookie. Oh, that piece of shit.

I'm like, it's not like, why would being Adam Sandler write a piece of shit and cast all these people? Yeah. It's like, I don't know, Whatever. It's all subjective. So if you want to hate it, that's fine.

Kyle Castro: 00:44:47

One thing I found interesting in my research was I just did a breakdown. Every. Every film where Will Ferrell is considered the lead actor, you know what the.

His highest rated lead actor film is according to Rotten Tomatoes? Take a guess. I just want to hear what you want to guess.

Nick Swardson: 00:45:01

Abraham Lincoln as Lincoln.

Kyle Castro: 00:45:05

The Lego Movie. 96%. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Nick Swardson: 00:45:10

No, what is it?

Kyle Castro: 00:45:11

The lego movie at 96% is actually his highest rated Rotten Tomatoes film where he's considered one of lead actors. And then elf is two. Lego Movie 2 is three.

I'm just going through the top five other guys is at four, and then five is actually Anchorman 2, not even Anchorman. That's his top five, according to Rotten Tomatoes. That's wild.

Nick Swardson: 00:45:30

That's really wild. I mean, that's why it's kind of. It's so absurd. I mean, I remember I did that.

I went on Rotten Tomatoes and looked up my favorite comedies, and none of them were up there in terms of, like, Rotten Tomatoes scores. But, you know, it's. It's really weird to comedy. Again, the key word is subjective. It's like, it's. You know, to criticize comedy, I.

I get kind of critiquing technical filmmaking. I mean, you know, like, I can kind of see that. But for the most part, it's like comedy is.

It's, in my opinion, Dumb and Dumber anchorman would all get 100. You know what I mean? Happy going. Should get 100. I mean, you know, Bucky Larson got zero.

And, you know, which is fine, but, like, grandma's boy, I think, is, like, at 14. And, you know, I remember when that came out and I saw that, and I was like, God. And it, like, bummed me out.

And then Sandler's like, dude, they don't. You can't, like, look at that. It's like. It's too. You know, Team America should get 100. It's crazy. Yeah.

Kyle Castro: 00:46:35

I would add. I would add Caddyshack, Fletch, and Naked Gun to that list, too. Like, Caddyshack was.

Nick Swardson: 00:46:41

Yeah, totally. Caddyshack's phenomenal. Great movie.

Kyle Castro: 00:46:44

Yeah.

Nick Swardson: 00:46:45

Yeah. And, you know, Bill Murray's not even the lead. He's like a side character, and it's so funny.

Kyle Castro: 00:46:53

Yeah, man. Well, I know we're getting close to the top of the hour, man, so, you know, the last question.

Nick Swardson: 00:46:57

Let me just say this, just because he brought that up. Chevy Chase was such an effortless comedian. When you look back at Prime Chevy Chase, it was like, whoa. His timing was. God, it's just.

I marvel at those old movies. I mean, Vacation and Fletch, and it's just. God, man, he was. It was really good. That was just a side note. Sorry.

Kyle Castro: 00:47:21

No, Fletch is my favorite comedy film of all time. I watch it really multiple times a year. I watch it. One of my fans actually sent me a. He's an animator.

He draws movie scenes, and he puts them on coffee cars cups. And he sent me one in the mail. It's my favorite coffee cup. It's got Fletch in his Lakers jersey. It's incredible.

Nick Swardson: 00:47:36

Oh, that's great.

Kyle Castro: 00:47:37

Yeah.

Nick Swardson: 00:47:38

I like when he goes to the hospital and he's, like, trying to get the records, and he's like, Dr. Rosen, Rosen, Rosen, Rosen. Penis. Dr. Rosen. Just that alone is so funny. Just the way he rattles that off. And, you know, it's a great movie.

It's not perfect by any means, but Spies Like Us has some phenomenal moments. The setup, the first half hour. Spies Like Us is really, really great. It's really, really funny. Then it gets kind of bonkers, but that's fine.

But there's a great dynamic with him and Dan Aykroyd.

Kyle Castro: 00:48:11

Yeah, it's.

Chevy Chase has that thing, too, where it kind of may be similar to Pharaoh, where it's like, I can't imagine, as someone who I don't act right being on set with them and trying to keep pace with them. Because, like, for example, the scene where he's first going into the house in Fletch, and he says, I heard hop along.

Cassidy killed himself here with a bow and arrow. Real we.

Nick Swardson: 00:48:29

Weird. Yeah.

Kyle Castro: 00:48:30

He's like, weird stuff. And it's just like, as an.

An actor with him, like, maybe because you're an actor, you can speak to that, but it's like, how do you just keep pace with someone like a Chevy Chase who can just spout off lines like that with a straight face? I don't understand.

Nick Swardson: 00:48:46

That's really tricky. You know who's also of that school is Kevin Nealon. Kevin was one of my really close friends.

I've worked with him several thousand times, and he's so sharp. And it's. And it's hard because I've worked with a lot of people and I can keep up with anybody, I think.

But Kevin's one of those people where you just. He has just really quick one liner, just side things. Norm MacDonald was like that. Where you're just like, whoa, where the did that come from?

And when you're in a scene, it's really hard because you've got to keep it together. I break a lot. I ruin a lot of takes because I always laugh. Yeah. But, yeah, it's. It's tricky.

So, yeah, Chubby Chase I never worked with, but, yeah, he had to have been, especially with people that are, like, really strict about being on book and being on the script. I mean, I've worked with people like that, and I've heard stories where really technical actors are like, oh, wait, no, no, no. Improvising.

And, you know, they throw. It throws them off. So somebody like Chevy, I'm sure that had to be difficult for people.

Kyle Castro: 00:49:53

Yeah, I think Nealon is probably one of the. He's. He. One of his specials is a top five for me. The one where he. I can't remember what it's called, but he keeps referring back to the.

Well, with the state of the economy. And he just keeps calling back to the state of economy, like, every 10 minutes.

Nick Swardson: 00:50:05

Hilarious.

Kyle Castro: 00:50:06

No matter what the bid is like. Well, with the economy the way it is.

Nick Swardson: 00:50:10

Yeah. Yeah.

Kyle Castro: 00:50:11

I think it's, like, criminally underrated.

Nick Swardson: 00:50:13

Yeah, he. He really is there. Again, I. I. Forgive me for harping on Bucky Larson, but Kevin Nealon was.

Kevin Nealon, in my opinion, stole that whole movie because he's so funny. He plays my roommate, and he plays this aggro character, and me and Kevin couldn't get through anything. We were ruining take after take because I.

I should try to track it down. I have a YouTube channel right now. It's at Sward Nation, and sword is spelled S A S W A R D Nation.

So at Sword Nation, it's got a lot of clips up there and stand up, and I'm gonna build it up and post more original sketches and stuff, but I'll try to find the. The. There's a run of me and Neal and ruining Bucky Larson takes because we just couldn't. We just couldn't keep it together.

And, yeah, he's really funny.

There was a thing where he was on Conan o' Brien on the couch, and they're in the middle of the interview, and Kevin, middle of the interview, he just goes, hey, so where's our waiter? And he's, like, looking around for a waiter. So, like, he's just sitting on the couch talking to Conan, but acting like they're at a restaurant.

He just throws it out of nowhere. Just, hey, yeah, where's our waiter? Like, I don't know that always stuff like that makes me laugh.

Kyle Castro: 00:51:22

Absolutely incredible. Yeah, man. Well, I know we're approaching the top of the hour. Do you want to talk about a couple dates you got coming up?

Nick Swardson: 00:51:28

Yeah. So Toilet Head is wrapping up. It's really a great set, man. I'm really proud of it. I worked really hard on it.

My final shows coming up are June 7th, Norman, Oklahoma, which is outside Oklahoma City, and then Portland, Oregon, five shows. That's June 12 to 14. And then June 21, Tampa, Florida. And then I think I'm doing a casino in Green Bay in July. But those are my June dates.

Oregon, Norman, Oklahoma, and Tampa. And the special will be out probably on my YouTube channel at Sword Nation. And then you can find up any.

Find any updates on Ealnick Swartzen on Instagram.

Kyle Castro: 00:52:07

Yeah, you gotta. You got a date on the special yet?

Nick Swardson: 00:52:10

No, no date yet, but in the fall, before the holidays and Happy Gilmore 2, July 25th. And then keep an eye out for Falcon. I'll post updates on my Instagram and YouTube channel on that.

Kyle Castro: 00:52:21

Awesome, man. I'm so stoked to see this. This rated R comedy revival I'm in. And anything we can do to help promote, we're here for you.

And, dude, thank you so much for jumping on today. I had a blast, and I just really appreciate you coming on and spending some time.

Nick Swardson: 00:52:33

Of course, Kyle. Thanks for having me, man. Very cool.

Kyle Castro: 00:52:35

Awesome, man. Thank you.

Nick Swardson: 00:52:37

Don't forget diarrhea Diarrhea. Bye, dude.