Name: Dana Gould is a good time! | You Made It Weird!
Uploaded: 2025-04-09T14:00:34.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Dana Gould is a good time! | You Made It Weird!' from Pete Holmes on Comedy Buff. Published 2025-04-09. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Dana Gould is a good time! | You Made It Weird!' from Pete Holmes on Comedy Buff. Published 2025-04-09. Transcript available.

Dana Gould is a good time! | You Made It Weird!

You made it weird, you made it weird, yes you did. You made it weird, yeah. You
made it weird, with Pete Holmes. You made it weird, yes you did. You made it
weird, yeah.
What's happening weirdos? This is the incomparable, the wonderful, the always
delightful, the always hilarious Dana Gould, who has written for everything
that you love, including The Simpsons, but he's also just a fantastic stand-up
comedian.
He has a new special that is out now on YouTube for free. Like the old guy that
thinks you have to mention that. It's free. You can just go to youtube.com and
type in Dana Gould, just type in Dana Gould, and you'll see Perfectly Normal is
the name of his new special. It's fantastic. We talk a little bit about it, and
I'd like to play a clip. Here's a little taste from Perfectly Normal.
And when you go into, like, CVS or Walgreens, when they start to decorate for
Halloween, they always lead with the big three monsters. Dracula, Frankenstein,
and older woman.
She doesn't even have to be in a witch's hat. Doesn't need it. Older woman.
Can your heart stand the shocking facts of what time and gravity do to the
female face?
And the horror you'll feel when they leave the house.
The big three, Dracula, Frankenstein, and Nana.
All right, everybody. I'm so glad you're here to laugh and enjoy the wonderful
Dana Gould. I'm so glad. I'm so glad. I'm so glad. I'm also on tour. That's why
I paused there. I forgot to mention that I'm on tour. Go to PeteHolmes.com.
We had to reschedule a couple of dates because of a thing. We're rescheduling
New Jersey, but Austin is happening on April 19th, and we're rescheduling St.
Louis, but we are going to reschedule that. Forgive me, forgive me.
Toronto is happening. Los Angeles, Nashville, Irvine, San Jose, Houston, Royal
Oak, Michigan, Washington, D.C., and Boston, Massachusetts.
I believe we're adding a second show for Boston, which is obviously so, so, so
touching and amazing. It's called the PG-13 Tour. It's a little bit naughty,
but not too filthy. That's what I like to say. It's, you know, it's not Bargatze,
but it's not, you know, real hard. It's mostly clean, but a little bit, a
little, a little wicked. You'll enjoy it. It's what I mostly do. You get it.
Just, you know, come out. PeteHolmes.com. Get there. Get there. All right.
In the meantime, enjoy the wonderful Dana Gould. Get into it.
Here, let the people hear your, this, this sort of chit chat.
You know, honey, I'm in her apartment. She lives in Berkeley, and I'm like, you
know, honey, there was a time when you'd hide your bonds when your dad would
come over.
So, oh, wow. I think about this. I think about what my daughter will be like,
because there's this line in the movie Veep where George W. Bush is introduced.
He's at a party, and he's like stumbling around. I think it's implying he's
heavily coked up and drunk.
Highly on, in character.
In character. So, yeah. Sam Rockwell did a good impression.
Right.
And someone goes, too much unconditional love on that one. And I'm always like,
oh, no. Oh, no.
Because my daughter and I are so, we're buddies.
Yeah, sure.
And I think she, there isn't a part of you that goes like, cool, she doesn't
hide her bongs from you.
Yeah.
That's a leading question. I'm just curious.
No, I also just think that they are of a generation where...
That's not a thing.
It's not a thing, yeah. But my goal in life, and I've succeeded in it, is my
children are not afraid of me.
I knew you were going to say that.
Yeah.
Because we're from Boston.
Yeah, yeah.
Maybe that's not, maybe that's everywhere, but...
No, it's true. Like my dad would come home and we'd scatter.
That's right. My daughter, I've wanted to do a bit about it. I loved your set
at Largo. I loved your special.
Oh, thank you.
I want to give you a very specific... Don't let me forget what we're talking
about.
Has-been is the first.
We're has-beens.
I unconsciously included myself and I didn't like it.
No, no, no.
We are has-beens. No, no.
No, no, no.
What I want to say is you're a has-been.
You can't take that from me.
Do you have the title?
No. Well, firstly, I want to say you're a fantastic performer. I think it's
always like Dana Gould, comedy writer.
Sure.
Get out of here. You're very good at using your voice, your face, and your body.
Yeah.
And I want you to know. And you know that. But like, let's get that out of here.
Yeah. It's my false modesty aside. The reason I do it is because when I'm done,
I feel like that's...
They saw a good example of this discipline. Like, you know, it's like it's... I
like to do something I know I'm good at.
Yeah, there you go.
You know?
Oh, you mean as a stand-up?
Yeah.
I thought you were saying the reason I label myself a comedy writer...
No, the reason I do stand-up is like...
No, that's exactly what it is.
I'm not...
No, it's blue checkmark when that meant something.
I mean, like, I'm giving you... You don't need it for me.
But I still... You know, I don't... I never... Because I started so early in my
career. I started at 17.
Oh, I didn't know that.
Yeah. And...
Chappelle had three specials by the time he says...
Chappelle writes...
Get off your horse.
Chappelle writes a new 20 minutes every 15 minutes.
I had a burn where I said, Chappelle's next special will be a long voice memo
he sent a friend.
It's just because he puts out so much content.
Yeah, it's true.
No drag there. No drag.
We have the same birthday.
You and Chappelle?
Me, Chappelle, and Dave Koechner.
No way.
One of these things. I'm just kidding. What if I just burned Koechner? I love
him. I love him. I just worked with him. He's delicious.
And hilarious.
He's a force of nature.
He's a force of nature. I just wanted to say, one of these things is not like
the other.
Which is true.
Like a real turd. Yeah, maybe I'll just leave it there.
Yeah, leave it in.
Yeah, well, it could be...
One of them is a comedy legend.
Could be for Dave, obviously.
Yeah, yeah, for Dave.
Yeah, two marshmallows and a milk gun.
Two marshm... Well, can I guess I am that? I think you can. The old standard.
But, you know, that right when I was... Because I started so young that, you
know, I... Right when I was cresting, I was kind of sick of it already.
Because I'd done it... I started in 1982.
Wow.
And around 1999, you know, I had a bunch of stuff, you know. And I had just
gotten... I was just about to get married and bought a house.
And I got an offer to write on The Simpsons. And it was like, well, I'm an
idiot to not take this.
Yeah. And I was so arrogant when I was first... I was first offered to come in
a day a week to just punch up jokes. Just like, be a punch up guy for a day a
week.
Oh, wow.
Consultant.
Yeah.
And I remember going, well, I could only do it Tuesdays. Mondays are Tuesdays.
Otherwise, I can't do it. Because I have to go on the road. Like, okay, Tuesdays.
You know, look, I look back and I just thought, well, it should blow my brains
out.
Yes.
And then...
What would you have done now? You'd go, I'll just be in the room. Would you
have just said, I'll just be in the room? Or would you stick to the one day?
No, I would have... If they said, we can only do Fridays, I would go, no, I can't
do it.
And what I would look back on now is an orgasm of ignorance.
Yeah. But if they had offered it to you, knowing what you know now, would you
have just said, just put me in the room?
Yeah, I would just do whatever they do.
Yeah, whatever you want.
Well, because what happened was, then I was consulting, then I, you know, I got
married and everything. And Mike Scully was running the show.
And one day I was sitting there and he came in and he said, I think your
contract is up.
And I was gathering my stuff to leave, like, oh, I'm so sorry. And he just said,
you want to just come every day? And I said, yeah.
Oh, wow.
And he said, all right, I'll call your agent. And then he just looked and went,
sucker.
And I have to imagine, with respect and a little bit of it myself, the autism
in that office, I have to imagine there's a lot of like, your contract is up.
Want to just stay? And I don't know Mike Scully.
No, Scully is the opposite of that. Scully is the most human, human dude.
I'm just assuming the whole writer's room was very, very funny, but maybe
literal people.
There's a lot of that. And there's a lot of Harvard in that room. But no, Scully
is the opposite.
In fact, like, Mike took his Simpsons, some of his Simpsons money and made a
documentary about NRBQ.
If you're even familiar with NRBQ, there were the extra Bs for...
New England, no, New Rhythm and Blues Quartet. There's like a bar band in
Massachusetts in the, like, from the 60s to the early aughts.
And they were like the world's most famous bar band. And like, no, Mike is, he's
all about humanity.
And, um, and, uh, but I, we're, go ahead.
So I was just going to say, I'd walk into a volcano for that guy. And, uh, and,
uh, and that's how it went.
So, but I, what, what happened was I took just at the point where just when, uh,
the comedians of comedy thing kind of started,
I took myself out of it because I had a, a day job and, and that kind of went
ahead.
And so when I left after like, you know, 10 years, I had to kind of play catch
up.
So I, I kind of missed the train to become a bigger name than I am.
Yeah. Yeah. Um, but it doesn't matter. I mean, it, it, it doesn't, it matters
financially,
but it doesn't matter to me as long as I like the show. I don't care.
Yeah, I understand. So you, I, I thank you for that refresher because you did
do the pod,
before and some of that was familiar, but it was so long ago. Yeah.
And really what I'm talking about is how good you are. Oh, thanks.
And it, there really is like a, this is an old man thing to say,
but like I just really salute the craft when I see it. Oh, thanks.
And then that's what the special is. It's airtight. I think you know that. Yeah.
Yeah. No, there's not an ounce of fat on it. No, there's not. And, and, but I,
cause I'm just like who, when you were a kid, who was,
who was the comedian that you were just like, I want to do that. Steve Martin.
That's what I, that track. Yeah. Because you guys have a similar goof.
Yeah. And it's like, I, it's like,
if I was to tell somebody about you, it was like,
it was like you or Kevin Meaney is another example. Like you got to see them.
Yeah. You got to see it. You got to experience it.
That's nice. That's really nice.
Yeah. And like what Steve Martin said, like your, your, your,
your act should be unstealable.
That's, I completely agree. Yeah.
I was just talking to somebody about that where I was like,
I have so many jokes that are, and it's not just me.
Comics sometimes write jokes like this,
where if you're not like pushing the boulder, it's not funny.
Yeah.
You have to like get behind it and you have to get worked up and that itself is
the joke. And if someone else did it, it would be like, what is this?
Yeah. Like I could not do Kevin Meaney's act.
Right. Exactly. January, February, March, April, May, June, July.
I have a weird thing about,
I have the weird story about Kevin Meaney.
I'll tell you.
You may.
But when I was coming up, I was, uh, Carlin,
I was all about Carlin and you can see that in my act.
Yeah. It's, it's very like literal and.
But what I like about, this is not dragging Carlin.
I keep saying dragging, like I'm trying to be cool.
I'm just saying I'm not putting.
Let's collab on dragging.
Let's sesh.
I love Carlin, obviously, but when I watch you,
I put you in this category of the ranting, uh, guy.
I don't mean that.
No, no, no.
That's fine.
Putting it.
Yeah.
I just mean, I think it's harder to do than it looks a lot of the ranting.
And it's not even quite right, but the sort of,
and even saying you're, you're not.
No, here's my, here's my, here's my math.
George Carlin's text and Albert Brooks's delivery.
Yeah.
When he did stand up.
Yeah.
That's my act.
That's, there you go.
Well, that exactly articulates what I'm talking about.
Sometimes people are just li