Jim Florentine Returns to Discuss Seattle Show Cancellations, New Special, Sports, Music & more!

Jim Florentine discussed the cancellation of his comedy show in Seattle due to progressive values, which led to increased media attention and 100 press requests. The show was relocated to Tacoma, where it was well-received. Florentine criticized the woke culture's censorship and the hypocrisy of left-leaning media. He also touched on the NFL's social issues, the impact of social media on free speech, and the challenges faced by musicians in the digital age. Florentine's new comedy special "You Can't Please Them All" is available on Amazon Prime and Spotify, and he plans to tour again soon.

00:00 - Intro
00:20 - Seattle Show Cancellations & Media Attention
05:24 - Impact of Cancellations & Media Reactions
05:37 - Comparing Far-Left & Far-Right Censorship
08:47 - Social Media & Free Speech
22:50 - Transgender Issues & School Policies
23:03 - NFL & Social Issues
28:40 - Music & Concert Experiences
28:53 - Metal Show & Music Connections
50:07 - Lars Ulrich & Napster
50:21 - Supporting Musicians & Concert Etiquette
50:37 - Podcasts & Future Plans

Jim Florentine website:
https://jimflorentine.com/

Chuck Shute link tree:
https://linktr.ee/chuck_shute

Transcript

THEME SONG: 0:09

Questions, digging so sharp, feeling bad, layers hitting the heart.

Chuck Shute: 0:19

Yeah, I'm glad you're doing this. I've been wanting to have you on ever since. I wore my sea Hawk shirt in honor of this, because you guys, like you and Dave Smith, Kurt Metzger and Luis Gomez got canceled from this comedy club in Seattle. Like this is such a crazy story to me. It was, I don't maybe it wasn't a big news story, but did you have a lot of people asking you about that. Yeah, are we recording? Yeah? Does it okay? Yeah, no. It was a huge story. It was awful. It was the story went for like a week. It wouldn't die down. It was crazy. It was all about, like, censorship, and comedians say what they want on stage and all that stuff. No, I did, you know, I probably got like 100 different press requests. I did a few of them, but I was like, Yeah, at some point, I'm like, God, I'm done talking about this. But no, it was a big story, because,

Jim Florentine: 1:08

you know, the comedy club hired we all had the same manager us for and the comedy club booked us, and then, like, two weeks later, they took all our dates away. Tickets were on sale and everything, because they said their progressive values don't align with our stand up comedy. They took all our dates away.

Chuck Shute: 1:24

That's so crazy. I think the craziest thing to me was, especially like Kurt Metzger, isn't he on the Jimmy door show? And I thought Jimmy door was like a guy that, you know, was endorsing Bernie Sanders and stuff. So I was like, Huh?

Jim Florentine: 1:39

Well, you know, look, if it comes down to what Seattle, where four straight white males, Lewis is Spanish, you know, so of course, that's going to be a problem for a club in Seattle. But, you know, the the comedy club in in Tacoma, Washington took all of us to honor all our dates. That's cool. Tacoma has really gotten a lot better too, since I was my dad actually went to stadium High School. He said it got beat up every day. But it's, I think it's their cleaning up Tacoma. It's actually becoming really nice. Yeah, it's a club there. Well, I forget what the clubs call Why am I forget? I just did it. But, um, they said, We'll take them, you know, when they found out, they called our agent, so we'll take all our, you know, we'll honor their weekend. So they all took us. So we did great there. I want him. So like every show there was Greg. Was just there in October, beginning of October. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, are you don't want us in with Seattle? Fuck Seattle. They were like, so mad.

Chuck Shute: 2:33

I know it's so I'm like, kind of embarrassed to be from I don't live there anymore. I live in Scottsdale, but it's almost like, embarrassing to be from Seattle. Now it's like, so like all the homeless encampments, they didn't have that when I was a kid. It was just like a normal city. It was, it's weird how much it's changed. Yeah, well, I mean, you know, they also said they were afraid of what the crabs that we draw, what might they might do to the local people in the town. Because I guess it was that chap area, whatever you know, that Summer of Love, when I shut down that, yeah,

Jim Florentine: 3:05

yeah. So they said they were afraid of what, you know, the people we draw, what they might do to the local people after the show, like, after a comedy show, you want to get violent and beat people up, right? I think Did you, you kind of touch on this a little bit on your album, and then I think you did it even more when I saw you this summer, when you did house of comedy and you like, you like you lay it out the scenario, like, after a comedy show, people are gonna be like, All right, let's go beat up some gay people. Like it just so stupid. And, you know, the comedy club was fairly new, so it's like, it could have draw, drew people there that were like, oh, there's a comedy club. Y'all come back. That's what a lot of clubs do. They'll book different gold as a comedy show. We should go. But even though we went and saw our favorite comic, let's go back that we got nothing to do. We like that time. So that's how these comedy clubs start building their audience. But I think the weirdest part, if they had actually done their homework, your good friend Jim Norton is married to a transgender person, and you didn't disown him as a friend or whatever. I mean, you make a joke about this in your and your stand up, and it's like, do they not know this? Like, this is what's so weird. That's what I hate about the woke. Thing is that I feel like there's a lot of assumptions, and they think that if you like this person, or you do this, that you hate this per and it's like, I don't think there's a lot of hate going on. I That's just my opinion. But I heard it was a lot of them, they, well, they, you know, in the email they sent, they said they check with the local community and ask community leaders about us. Like, is that what you're booking comedians at a comedy club? You have to ask local but then I heard it was a lot of the local Seattle comics that were like, putting the pressure on the club, like, why are you booking these fucking thugs? You know, Lewis and Dave Smith are part of Legion of skanks. You know, they do that. You know, festival every year Kurt's, you know, a wild card. He's fucking crazy. I love Kurt, you know, yeah, I've been associated with Howard Stern Opie and Anthea played special ed on crank anchors. So who knows? I they wanted no part of it, but it wound up working in our favor, even when I first found out, you know, it was like, six months before the gig. I'm like, whatever. I just laughed it off. I'm like, It figured, so what? I don't go to Seattle cares. And then it became such a big news story, and then the other club goes to COVID. Was like, we'll take you. So, yeah, do you think it like, helped you? I mean, if you got 100 requests for that's crazy. Yeah, it definitely did. I I didn't want to do any press about I thought it was just going to die down, but it just caught when the story and it became this national issue about, you know, what comics say on stage and why you cancel them before they even there. Do you think that was kind of the peak, like, things are starting to die down with all that stuff now? Because to me, it reminds me of, like, the 80s and 90s, where it was, like, the far right was the kind of the woke thing, and everything was religious, like Satanic Panic, and, like, you know, like they tried to censor bad words. And now it's like, from the other side. And it's just bizarre to me, it is. It's completely changed, because it was always the right, yeah, religious people, the Republicans, they were stiff. You know, they didn't like any dirty words. They were all church goers. Don't say this. It's a church town. I remember that, yeah, 90 whatever, these little town, and then all of a sudden, it's completely changed. Yeah, what do you think's worse? Like the far left, like, woke, this kind of thing, or the far right religious? Because I feel like they both want to, like, impose their values on you, and they want to cancel you. And I just, I hate that shit. Far left is way worse, way worse, especially now, right? Because that's more acceptable. The far right would just be like, hey, you know, I remember they were trying to, like, there was, like, a petition to get Howard Stern off the air. I like these religious people back in the day when he was on regular radio. It never happened, or whatever. But the far left is like, especially with social media. You say one word or post one joke with some word, and then, if they don't like they can ruin your career. You know, the far right, at the far right, still doesn't do that, you know, it's just a if you're in a town and they don't like the languages, you know, the you know, you just can't play the place. They're not going to try to ruin your career. And that's what the far left will do. They'll just attack and look, can you believe this person? Just spread it, and there'll be articles everywhere about it. And, you know, look, the far left controls, like 90% of the media anyway, so you know, you have no choice. You get bombarded. Yeah, that's kind of crazy. Like, I know people hate on Elon Musk, but I really do. And Brogan always talks about this, how Elon kind of saved free speech by buying Twitter, because he allowed it to kind of loosen up a little bit. And there was it really changed the landscape. Now, I feel like Facebook and Instagram have kind of loosened up with because they used to just be very tight about certain things, subjects you couldn't talk about, words you couldn't say. I see, it seems like they've lightened up on that a lot. The one we got to get is YouTube. YouTube is, like, G rated, almost. It's crazy how you can't do anything on YouTube. Yeah, and that's crazy because I've had some comedians on my show that. I mean, these are people who are like, I would almost, I don't, wouldn't say far left. But there are left leaning comedians, and they're getting their specials are getting canceled or demonetized. And so I think they're starting to go, Whoa, what's going on here? Because I'm not, like, a far right nut, you know, like, I'm a left leaning comedian, and I'm getting my can my special demonetized, and that's how they make money. Well, look the left, you know, comedians, and the left is starting to, you know, go, hey. Well, you got to stop. This is too much. Well, you guys started it. You guys with the ME TOO movement and everything else, they started new with every little word you can't say it is the he, she, the pronouns, all this stuff, you know, no, a man can a man can't get pregnant. What are you talking about? How could you say it? It's not possible. Well, you guys started all that bullshit. And then when it comes way too far and it starts hitting you to like, Hey, enough. No, we got to stop. Ben still is crying, oh, movies are too woke, you know, they can't be edgy anymore. Yeah, well, you were part of the problem when you're stumping for Kamala Harris, who says his videos are going, No, we have to stop. We need to censor things. You know what? I mean, we need to censor a lot of stuff, you know, it's getting out of control. So you're part of the problem, Ben, and don't you know that you're stumping for people like that, right? No, exactly. It's weird because, yeah, like, I always felt like the left was more about Bill Maher talks about this, like, he says, like, free speech was our thing, you know, that was like a left and now that's like a right thing. It's really, it's really strange, but it seems like, I hope, that it's now kind of dying down a little bit. It seems like people have loosened up a little. I mean, you say retarded and you're special. I feel like five years ago, I would, you know, I would be scared to even say that on my podcast, like, Oh, God, you can't say that word. I still, I've been saying it's forever, so I never stop saying it. I i That's the one thing for me. I don't let the media dictate what words I can and cannot say anymore, you know, because they put it out there, and then you go, okay, and everyone's like, Oh, I guess you can't say that because, uh, Washington Post said you're not allowed to say this word anymore. So everyone just abides. I'll do my own I'll, I'll, I'll decide when I watch stop saying the word. If I don't want to stop saying I just don't say it, right?

Unknown: 10:00

Well,

Jim Florentine: 10:01

playing it, you know, it's like, you're not going to tell me. Okay, I guess the like the guardians and the Indians in baseball up to an open game two years ago, you're allowed to say the Indians, but once they switched their guardians, now you're racist if you say it the next day. It's so good it that one's a good example you, I think you talked about that on one of your podcast. But because now the commanders, the people that the tribe, or whatever, that designed that logo, they're like, protesting. They want it to be called the Redskins, or they want the logo to be back, so they're gonna supposedly use the logo in some of the like, maybe throwback uniforms or something, yeah, which you know, which is good, because what happened with that is, it's funny with the guardians and Indians that NASA goes, Yeah, you know, he used to be an Indian. I mean, the Guardian, a guardian like, they have to go, yeah, that quick. It's like three days before the season started. You were saying Indian in the word Indians is not offensive at all, right?

Chuck Shute: 10:59

You said the Indians that used to be called the was, like an Irish name or something before, yeah, Molly McGuire,

Jim Florentine: 11:07

yeah, see, and that's what I find ironic. Because people say, like, well, what would you think if your culture was a mascot? I'm like, I'm Irish, and I love the Fighting Irish. I think that's the coolest mascot ever. Like, I love, never games. I'm not offended by that at all, like, please do it up. It's great. I think it's amazing. Well, you know what happened with the Redskins? Why They Changed? It is, Nike runs all the NFL apparel. You can only buy the official stuff through the Nike store. They have a deal with the NFL. So they decided, you know, three years ago or whatever, hey, we're not going to sell any more Washington Redskins stuff anymore? No more apparel, because they won't change the name. And then FedEx. It was called FedEx field, so we're going to take the name, the naming rights, off the field. And they were getting like, anything like 25 million a year from FedEx, just to call it FedEx field. And that's what put pressure on the the owner at the time, Dan Snyder. Snyder, which he was also on investigation with some shady shit with the front office, with the cheerleaders. So at that point, he's like, all right, what am I going to do? They're not going to if I was him. I said, All right, listen, man, we're going to make up our own Redskin stuff on the side, buy our stuff and fuck Nike, and you'll get another name, you know, corporation to name the stadium, but Nike, Nike and FedEx were the ones who made that name go away. I didn't know that. That's interesting, yeah, and it's corporations. Like, corporations are deciding what's offensive or not. It's crazy. Well, that, yeah, that's some scary stuff with they have so much control over people. And then, like, I had this girl, and she made a documentary, and she said she got de banked, like she went to her bank. And they're like, yeah, we've decided we're not going to do business with you anymore. You're too much of a risk. And she's like, a documentary filmmaker. It's like, what? Wow, yeah, that's some scary that's the shit that that scares me with the corporations and having too much control and all that stuff. But, yeah, the Redskins, I didn't I never really thought that was that offensive. I and I feel like they the logo is cool, and I love that, the Cleveland Indians logo. I thought that was one of the coolest logos when I was a kid. I loved major league that movie, and so it's weird that they, and they name it the lamest shit, guardians and commanders, you couldn't come up with something cool. Like, No, I know it's embarrassing, but you know, you know that the Indians that they're they're so mad that they did at the organization, because it was at that time where, you know, it was like, Oh, I gotta change it. I don't want to offend anybody. We got seven emails people are, you know, offended, and they just count out to those seven people. You know, you really about us, because we're offended that they change it, but our opinions don't matter, I guess. No, I know, but you just like mentioned that, you know, they changed it from the disabled list in baseball to the injured list. They did. I didn't know that. Oh yeah, it used to be the 15 day disabled list, remember? Well, now it's the injured list because to disabled people, you know, caused a star, I don't know how many of them, and told Major League Baseball, Hey, you can't you're saying disabled. That means the person can't play. You know, in baseball you're not allowed to play. Disabled is we can play sports, and we're disabled and we're offended, so they switch it to the injured list. I swear to God, I didn't know that there's so many like, I feel like you just piss everybody off every time you talk. And that's I love when the like, the people that pretend to be like, all about this shit, they fuck it up themselves, and then they have to, like, apologize, and you know what I mean? Like, they're not even trying to piss people off, but somehow they say the wrong thing, and then now they've offended people. And, yeah, it's amazing. So that's, that's why they changed it, because people said we could still play sports, and we're offended, because when a baseball player goes on the disabled list, that means he can't play. I That's interesting. We're going to call it, we're going to call it the injured list. Now that's crazy, because I feel like all the disabled people that I've met have usually have the best sense of humor, and they always make fun of themselves and like, there's a lot of you. Disabled comedians that are hilarious, right? And, like, I had a joke when it first happened. I said, like, what are they gonna what is the cop going to call him when he sees a disabled car on the side of the road there's an injured car by 90

Unknown: 15:15

dispatch of like, an injured car. What the fuck you talking about? Yeah, like, what was it? It was some celebrity, I feel like it was some tweet that was like, Happy Mother's Day, and then, like, this is, like, a really woke person on Twitter. And then they had to like, I'm sorry I offended transgender people. And they had to, like, say, like, happy birthing persons. I mean, that one's just like, that's going way too far to me with the birthing person. That's why they lost the election. People, I live in the suburbs, in Jersey, and people are just tired of it, worried about the he, she, and the pronouns and the transgender shit. Like people don't care if you transition, just those people and that most of the people that transitioned like, just leave us alone and stop making this an issue, because you're making it tougher on us. They just want to be alone, just like the gay people. When I was like, it was, you know, people oppose gay marriage and like, we don't care what you do in your bed, go get married, whatever, and that's fine, and that's a transgender nobody cares. But when you keep telling us that the schools are going to go, Hey, listen, if your kid wants to transition or start transition and taking counseling, we're going to counsel at the school. We're not allowed. We're not going to tell the parents that's crazy girl's name, yeah, like that. And when parents hear that stuff, and then someone comes out running and goes, Hey, we're getting rid of all that bullshit. Like, okay, I'm in. I'm in. Yeah, no, that's great, because I used to work in the schools and so, and I was a counselor, and I thankfully, I got out, like, in 2019 right before all this. Now, in Seattle, my hometown, they have some law that says, yeah, like, if the kid tells the teacher that they're transgender, they can go and give them hormone therapy, and don't have to tell the parents. That's insanity to me. That's crazy, yeah, and they were doing it, they were trying to do it in my town, in New Jersey, and they shut it down. But it was really close to like they're not going to let the parents know. The kids can get counseled by someone. If the kid your boy, your boy, your boy, wants to be called a girl's name, the teacher will call my girl's name or won't let the parents know it's crazy. Yeah. I mean, you go that far, you're going to get some major pushback over it, yeah, because I wonder if some of it is legitimately like, because if you some of the transgender people say, like, oh, I always knew when I was, like, five years old, I was a girl. But it's like, there's a lot of people that probably made a mistake, and so how do you sort that all out? It's like, you really, and especially now, it's like, kids see tick tock and stuff, and they see kids getting attention for this, and then they go, Well, maybe I'm that. Maybe I'm going to do that too. And I mean, there's going to be some lawsuits, for sure, and what? Yeah, once the once the females start taking those hormones and, you know, testosterone and stuff, they can't get that back. They're done. You can't just switch back if you think you made a mistake. No, I know that the hormones they're giving these people are like for the men, it's, it's the same hormone thing that the test, puberty blockers, whatever that is, uh, what they give to sex offenders. It's exact same hormones, isn't it? I think so similar. Yeah, I don't know. It's like, it's scary shit. It's like, Nazi shit. Like, if you read what, that's what they would do in the in the would they do these experiments and stuff on children? It's like, I think it's gonna be banned, I hope

Jim Florentine: 18:19

eventually, yeah. I mean, it's just it's gotten out of control. But, you know, look, it helps us comics, because most comedians even even doing all of this stuff. People that come to a comedy club go, man, I just want to be, you know, I just want to laugh. I can't stand all this shit that's going on, please. I want to be in a comedy club, a dark comedy club, with a couple of drinks and unwind and laugh at an appropriate shit. So it's always helped us. That's, yeah, that's no, that's totally true, yeah, especially, yeah, because you can't even say it. So then you let the comedian say it for you, and then you're like, Oh, this is hilarious. And then people, you know, I think there's a lot of people that share stuff, like share clips and things that won't like it or comment because they don't want their name on it, but they'll share it with their friends. And, I mean, because I get stuff all the time that's that's definitely not woke, but none of it is, like, I don't have any of this. Like, I don't see hate or whatever. Like, it's not mean spirited. It's more making fun of the people making these dumb rules than, you know, than the quote, unquote victims or whatever. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I mean, this new generation understands their jokes and is okay with it. And like, my kid's 14, all of his friends and stuff like that, I see this younger generation and like this. So he, she, they make jokes about it. No, I'm a bird. I identify as a bird today. Like they make jokes about it, which is good. Oh, okay, so this the younger generation is kind of mocking this shit that, yeah, and look at the younger generation. They voted more Republican this time than ever. And it's usually the young generation is always like, they're uptight and they don't know anything. So they'll always vote, you know, Democrat on this shit. You know, they realize this is, this is ridiculous, because they're dealing with it now, right? Yeah, it's crazy. Well, like to.

Chuck Shute: 20:00

Democrat used to just be there. Used to be more moderate Democrat, like Bill Clinton and stuff. Yeah, it was perfect. He was like, right in the middle, a little to the left, and it was perfect. That's exactly how you want the country ran, like that, yeah. And then, like a lot of these people that Don Trump's team, like RFK and Tulsi Gabbard, and they were Democrats, and they, I liked them as Democrats. I was like, Oh, I really like, RFK. I like, you know, Moscow. I mean, he's, he's kind of wild on Twitter, but he's done some good things, and they were all Democrats, and now they're conservative. It's weird, yeah,

Jim Florentine: 20:35

but, yeah, it happens with this stuff, you know. But as far as a stand up, like, look you get. I mean, everyone says you can't get canceled anymore. You still can, because if you post something that's really edgy or some kind of comedy clip or something that's really out there, you know, all's Hollywood, when they do research on you, they may want to you for a role, you know, maybe a guest on a sitcom, whatever, you're not going to get that because they see that. So you still can. But most comics don't care, because you don't need the industry anymore, right?

Chuck Shute: 21:03

Yeah, that's what's so great about. I mean, you're putting out the stuff. Your newest special is it only audio, right? It's on Spotify. No, no. It's on Amazon Prime Now. Oh, okay. It is okay because I just listened. I was trying to find it. For some reason, I was thinking I was on YouTube. So it's on prime for the video, and then you so it's free, if it's prime, then it's free, right?

Jim Florentine: 21:24

If you have Amazon Prime, yeah, if you have Amazon Prime, yeah, okay, yeah, because that's the way to do it. I feel like so many people are either putting on YouTube or Amazon Prime, because the Netflix they just, they don't give that many of those away for some reason. No, you know, Netflix is, you know, so huge. So they're very particular on who they're going to use. So I got, you know, I know my special is not going to be on Netflix, so I don't even think about it. So Amazon Prime is fine. Or you put it on your own YouTube channel, which eventually I will, and you get an app there, and you just cut it up in clips and you post it so everyone's going to see it anyway. So, yeah, no, it's great. Yeah, the clips are or I heard you talking about the clips and how I think you said it was Andrew Schultz was one of the first ones that clips. And you're like, What are you doing? You're going to give it away for free. And he's like, Yeah, this is how I'm going to get my name out there. And it's like, it obviously worked. He's doing really well. Yeah, he was the first one to do it. We were looking at him, like, what are you doing? Dude, that's stupid. He goes, nah. That's the way. I'm telling you, this is what's good. And I remember him. I was on Bobby Kelly's podcast with him. He told us that we're like, shaking our head, like, all right, dude, good luck. And they blew up, right? Do it? He's one who started that shit. Yeah, yeah. No, that is smart, does it? Does it force you to create more material, though, because once people see those clips, then you can't really, I mean, I guess you could still do those, but you kind of, you got to have a lot of material to go. You're going to burn through a lot, right? No, I Well, I wait until that I'm done with that material, and I move on. Like, I filmed that special like, you know, six months before it came out, and I just kept it light, lay low and just come up with new material. So I went back out there and I started putting that out, that stuff out there. I wasn't doing any of that material anymore. Okay, did you do? You worry that some of it might not be as topical? Though, if it's, I don't really do too much topical stuff. I don't, you know, I really don't. I always stayed away from that stuff. Yeah, the NFL, the end racism and the Choose love and so I guess that's, that's that's not really topical, because it's been going on for years. It's good. Yeah, they're still doing it, still in the end zone. They were, you know, they're doing, uh, voting. They put a vote so that that's good, because a lot of people didn't know a big election was coming up. So when someone kicks a field goal and they see the word vote at the end, oh, you know what? Wait, what is it? Election going on. I don't even know who's running. Yeah, they'll just continue those signs forever. Well, they're going to keep in racism forever. You know, that's what they do, until it actually, what if we end it, though? What if we actually, I guess if we do end it, maybe it'll take it away. At some point they might have to take it away. They're stuck now, because now, you know, they take it away people you don't care about. You wanted to keep going. You're right. They're in a rock and a hard place, because they, it's kind

Chuck Shute: 24:10

of interesting, yeah, cancer, you know, they got that on the sideline, you know, for, uh, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, intercept cancer. They, I mean that, you know, they really, they really go on a limb with their slogans. Like, they, you know, like, wow, this might be controversial, but we want to get rid of breast cancer and racism. You think we can put a slogan out there. But I, to me, it's like, put your money where your mouth is. I mean, they made, uh, I think it was $20 billion in 2023 like, how much of that are they donating to end racism or to breast cancer research or whatever? And then it's funny, because I feel like, if you go to an NFL stadium, they don't sell healthy, they sell you like beer and hot dogs, which I'm pretty sure that causes cancer, so I don't know, the worst food on earth they serve. They don't. Even give you like there's not even a healthy choice. It's like you can either have processed shit or nothing. Exactly, they don't care, you know, but they'll,

Jim Florentine: 25:11

they'll just keep posting that stuff, you know, you know, because they want to let everyone know. No, we do care, you know. We really want racism to end. Yeah, it's all full of shit. I mean, it's and meanwhile, the, you know, they have the players, we care about the players safety, but they play Sunday night and then they have to play Thursday five days later, like the Pittsburgh steel has got three games coming up in 10 days at the end of December, because they've decided to put a Wednesday Game On, on Christmas, on two on Netflix. So playing a Saturday game, then a Sunday, a Saturday and a Thursday, holy, yeah, that's crazy, yeah. And then I think some other team, I think the Packers, got three games in 12 days this week because they played last Thursday to play in tonight, this Thursday, and then they're playing next Sunday, or whatever. So does three into but they care about the player's safety. It's all about they switching games. They care about the fans from a one o'clock to eight o'clock, where it's 30 degrees colder at eight o'clock at night. You know they care? Yeah, well, and it's so stupid, because, like, what was one of the things they did is, like, they changed the kickoff and made it all like, it's all like pussy now it's just like a dynamic kick off. There's nothing dynamic about it at all. Yeah, so does that was that? Because I guess there was so too many injuries on the kickoff, but most exciting parts of the game, I know they'll probably go back to it next year, the original way, because, you know, everyone's just fair catch, and it starts at the 30. So it's just stupid. What they did, they tried to change it, so it'll probably just go back to it. But, you know, according to the NFL, the Commissioner Rogers, our fans love streaming. They're all in the streaming now. So now there's a couple of games as a playoff game that's only on.

Chuck Shute: 27:01

What is that? Hula? Not hula, one of them, peacock. Yeah, second game of the year was on a Friday, the Eagles and somebody and whatever. And it was only so you have to subscribe. There's a playoff game. You have to subscribe to peacock to watch a game. Can you imagine being like an old, grizzled guy who's been a fan for like, 50 years, and you watch on your TV every week, and all of a sudden they're like, You got to get this peacock app. And then what, what the fuck is a peacock? What is it like? Yeah, but they care about fans. And can fans are really in the streaming Yeah, we are. We don't have to sign up for a different fucking streaming service. Because you have Netflix, you got to sign up for Netflix to watch the two games on Christmas. Yeah, it wasn't like eight services. You had to have to get every single game this year. You got to sign up for YouTube. You have to YouTube, ESPN, peacock, Netflix, Amazon Prime, yeah, yeah. It's crazy. And then I think I saw, it's so funny. I think I took a picture of this. It was like, it was one of the, like, the Giants quarterback or something, and they were giving some charity, and they had this giant check, and it was for like, $500 which is like nothing to an NFL player or an NFL organization that brought in 20 billion they're like, look, we're giving $500 to this charity. I'm just like, why are they so nickel and diming people? Like, don't they? Aren't they making enough money? I mean, doesn't make sense. They don't care. I mean, and look, even if Elon Musk gave all his money to breast cancer, it wouldn't get cured. So it doesn't matter, no, because they got him. It's a it's a big business, so it doesn't make the Elon put if he's worth 50 billion and gave it all the breast cancer, it's, it wouldn't be cured tomorrow with all that money he gave. So it doesn't matter, right? So it's, no matter how much you give to it, it's not that's, it's big business. Yeah, well, it's like, that, did you hear about the United Healthcare CEO? Yeah, and he got shot. It's so crazy. Like, I saw this like chart and said, like, it was like, insurance companies and how many, how many claims they deny? And United was the worst they denied, like, 32% of the claims, really, yeah, so I think that might be why the guy was mad and decided to not the brightest assassin there, like he's going into Starbucks and stuff, which is and then taking his mask off, and he's all over pictures and videos. Kind of odd. No, I know,

Jim Florentine: 29:28

yeah. So who knows? Probably some Antifa douche bag or something, but he didn't have, like, pink hair, so I don't know. Maybe not. Yeah, he'd have a nose piercing. No, it's just, it's just a weird story, like I've never seen, like an assassin or a hitman with a silencer walk into Starbucks like, it's just so odd. Yeah, well, I guess they, they were protesting at the their headquarters in Minnesota, like a few months ago, back like, a big protest there, because they were denying all these people's, you know, claims and all that. And it was people. From all different states there. So it was like, you know, so who knows? I'm sure that something with that that's fucking I feel like, you just look at the news now and like, just, it's just like a gold mine for you coming up with comedy, because it's just everything is crazy. Yeah. I mean, you know, that's basically what my podcast is about. Is people sending stuff that just goofy stuff that people are doing out there and all that. And, you know, and then you got, you know, the Kelsey brothers are all over the place. They're annoying, aren't they? Oh, my God. It's, I mean, it's, I've never seen anybody more overexposed than those two douche bags. And now the mother is always out. She's in a Hallmark movie. The Jason Kelsey wife is starting a podcast now. It's like, what the fuck is going on? It's crazy that people care. Like, I've been doing this podcast like five years. I've been, like, grinding, trying to build it up, and then this fucking Hawk to a bitch comes out, starts a podcast. She has, like, the number two podcast, immediately.

Unknown: 31:02

Yeah.

Jim Florentine: 31:04

That's, that's just the first week. People want to check to see what she's saying. Well, now, have you seen the latest with her? She did a meme coin, which I don't even know what the fuck that is, but people like lost their they say they lost their life savings, like 1000s of dollars, right? It was all a scam. It's so crazy that, believe me, her podcast, out of, you know, a million podcasts, she's probably 700,000 now. So people checked it out in the beginning because they were interested. Nobody's listening every week, but she's getting big guests. She's getting, like, like, she got some big names on it. It's crazy, yeah, yeah, I don't know, yeah. Anybody can, you know. Well, look, that's what's good about America, too. It's a tomorrow. You could be a star whatever. You know, your podcast could blow up. A comedian could get, you know, start doing arenas. So you just never know. But the Kelsey brothers and that whole thing is just, it's embarrassing. They're just all over the place. They haven't said no to anything. Yeah, I mean, but at least the Kelsey like, they have talent, they can play football like it's just crazy when, like, a girl, all these, like, hot girls just, did you see, like, the new what's her name, Sophie rain, she's the number one. What do you call the only fans girl? And supposedly, she's a virgin and she's a Christian, and she made$43 million just from whatever she's doing on only fans. I'm assuming she's getting naked, but I guess she didn't have sex. So no, I didn't, I didn't know that. But, I mean, you know, if guys are willing to pay for that, for a subscription to only fans? So yeah, her number one fan paid like, four and a half million. Yeah, when you get born for free. I don't get it, but because you get the messages and stuff, and you can have these, like, one on one video things, or, I don't know, it's crazy, like, for extra money, for another extra $40 or something, yeah, it's just lonely men that go do I might have a shot with this girl. It's like a stripper. It's like, guys, that's the strip club. You know, when you win this club, the hot girls were nice to you, and you're like, I might have a shot. Do you think strip clubs are gonna disappear now, with the only fans, I feel like it'd be so much easier to make money on only fans and you don't have to leave your home. Yeah, but there's still they'll still thrive to strip clubs, because some of those girls that shit is going to be out there forever. People could copy and, you know, strip that down and download it and put it out there. If this girl wants to be a teacher 10 years from now, it's like, oh, man, I made a mistake. That shits out there forever as a stripper. You know, they're not going to know you were stripper. Do you think you don't think society is going to change? Because I feel like there's so many chicks doing only fans now, like, I mean, we're going to have to do something. We can't just we're going to ban all of them from ever doing a real job again. I mean, it's just that's, that's a lot of people, yeah, probably not. I mean, it probably, you know, most places won't care, but some will. A teacher is probably not going to be able to, she's not going to be able to teach if they do a background search on it, she did only fans. That's going to be embarrassing to the fucking, you know, to the teachers, some of the teachers now are just embarrassing, like they're so far woke with that woke stuff. And then I feel like that's worse than if, like, somebody didn't only fans 20 years ago. I don't know true. Well, just imagine him some only fans. Girl that made all this money, and then she becomes in that school with all those woke women to be furious. Well, any girl that's making, you know,

Chuck Shute: 34:23

500,000 a year on, only fans is not going to go teach for 40,000 a year. Yeah, that's true. So they'll never do that. They're not going to tell unless they unless they blow the money, or there's only fans, people that like they do, only fans thinking they're going to make 500,000 and they only make, like, a couple 1000, because now they're out there, and then they've potentially ruined their career chances of being a teacher or whatever. But, bro, yeah, that is so crazy. And then, yeah, just the it's crazy, like, like, the newest thing too, is, like, the teachers that have sex, the female teachers that have sex with their students, that's a weird phenomena that.

Jim Florentine: 35:00

Wasn't around when I was a kid. Now I know it's, and it's, you know, it's these teachers that are like, you know, in their 20s, they're married, some have a couple kids, and they're banging 14 year old boys, and they think, somehow, are they going to keep a secret? It always gets out there.

Chuck Shute: 35:16

Yeah, you can't. You can't hide anything. That's just, it's just so weird that they would first of all be attracted to that, but then also, like, they're also risking their career. And a lot of times they're married, they're risking their marriage, and, yeah, and they go to jail and they can never teach again. Yeah, that's crazy, too. You go to jail for this, like, that is, that is some crazy shit in like, 10 years, you know, for like, fucking pedophilia, basically. So it's like 10 years minimum you're getting. Is it really that? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. There were, there was this one girl from Phoenix here. That was, I mean, she, I looked at her, I was like, Oh my gosh, she's so I did this story on that. I remember her, yeah, it's crazy. Like, do you got, do you ever go to the do they have gym? Do you or you go to the gyms in New Jersey, yeah, because the gym, my gym here, it is insane Scottsdale. It's like, if you ever when you come back to and do a house of comedy, next time you should come to my gym just to see the the women that go that, I mean, it's insane. It's so hard to concentrate on working out. These women they wear, like, sports bras, and then, like, they have the yoga pants that you can just see the butt crack and like everything. It's insane. Yeah, do they have that in New Jersey too? Or is that a Scottsdale there's not as much when I go, but I see some of them. But you know, everyone, all the chick, every comedian, said that Scottsdale Phoenix has the hottest chicks in America, no question. It's funny because my, my brother's kid, is looking for colleges, and he went to University of Arizona, and that's the one he picked at all the colleges because of the hot girls. I guess my brother said, when you do the orientation, they walk you through the pool everywhere. The hot girls are just fucking hanging out at the pool. You have to walk through there to go through the orientation. So any little boy at fucking 18 is like, holy shit. So that's the one he wants to go to when it's I guarantee it's only because of that. Oh yeah, no, for sure. I've gone to games at both ASU and U of A and they're both insane. I'm like, Oh my God, I wish I would have gone to college here. It would have been so fun, just a big party. It's sunny every day, and then in the summer, you go home, back to your hometown, wherever that is, you don't have to be there in the summer when it's like, too hot or whatever. Yeah, it's, it's fucking crazy. I want to ask you about, we got to talk a little bit about music too. Since I have you on here, what did you think about? Because I just saw that AC DC is going to tour again. I know you're a huge fan. Do you think they're still going to sound good? Yeah. I mean, you know, I sort of footage from over in Europe, when they did over in the summer and they sounded good. It wasn't amazing, but it was really good. So we'll take that from AC DC to do every if you look at the tour to doing, they're taking four days off between every show. Zones given plenty of time for Brian Johnson arrested his voice because he's 77 years old. Yeah. Did you see him when Axel was fronting him for a brief twice I saw it out of the 10 shows. Yeah. Was it good? Was amazing. Axel was on fire. Wow. I wish I would have seen I saw him in 95

Jim Florentine: 38:18

and for the ball breaker tour, and it was really good. I haven't seen him since, but I now I kind of want to go see him again. If they, Oh, they're amazing live. They're so good still at this, this age. Yeah, it was, I was so impressed with the stage setup. Like they had the wall and they had this big crane, and it knocked the wall down, they jumped out. And I was like, Oh, that was, like, the greatest entrance I've ever seen for a concert, yeah, yeah, they always have some good, you know, shit in the beginning of the show and stuff. But, you know, I've been seeing themselves a kid, and you know, it's definitely going to be the last time they're going to come around, so I'm definitely going to see them, yeah, just stuff they did over the summer. You saw, you know, the footage on on YouTube, and it was good. You know, it wasn't amazing. They weren't in their prime, but it's still very good. Yeah, you talk about that, and you're special about going to concerts, though, and like, the prices and the big heads, and, like, I hate the parking and, like, navigating through, do you get, are you able to get, like, a connection through with the big concert so you can watch, like, side stage or something, because I just hate being a cattle in the herd. Yeah? Well, that, when that when that metal show was on the air, I got a lot of connections, and once it got canceled, they kind of went away. So, oh, really, you don't still get it through Eddie or something. Oh, it's almost like, you know, your TV shows on the air. Who cares? You know, so, but I still know some of the bands. I don't mind just watching from the crowd. Sometimes I like that because backstage is kind of stale. Nothing's really going on. I like to get a few beers hang out, you know, get to get their early tailgate and shit like that. So when you try to maneuver to go backstage when you can, and all the bands are sober, and there's no real craziness or anything like that going on. So I don't know, some people love it. I'm like, I'm good just hanging in the crowd watching the show. But sometimes I will. I'll get a connection. I'll meet him after the show, maybe just to say, Good show, whatever. No, I know what I need to do, prepare before I go on stage. So I feel like I'm bothering them, whatever their routine is. And even after the show, when you're done, I'm like, I didn't want to get the fuck out of here, so I'll just say hi real quick and get out. Who is the band that is the most fun to hang with. Well, Vinnie, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag, when they were alive, the Pantera bro, you know the Vinnie Paul brothers, they were great. You got to party with them. Oh yeah. It was just Yeah. I was on tour with hell yeah for a little while when Vinnie was doing it. And even with damage plan, I hung with them for like, five days on tour when they were doing that project, the damage. So, no, I knew Vinnie. Vinnie really well, and dime, I only knew for a couple years before he passed away, but they were great to hang out. That was fun. Yeah, and did you even meet Eddie Van Halen at dime's funeral? Yeah, I didn't really meet him. He was there. I didn't get close to him, but he was there. That was the only time he was ever in the in the room with him. Wow. And you've never met or seen Alex Van Halen, nope, never. That is. So how does that guy stay so elusive? I love it, though that's, you know, Van Halen was the thing. Like they they hibernate, and they just pop up out of nowhere and all of a sudden. So you don't need to be on Alex Van Halen doesn't need to be on social media every day, posting, I'm going pictures, here's my vacation. Hey, I'm going here. I'm hiking. Nobody cares, right? That's what made it so interesting in the 80s and 90s. Is like, following these guys in the mag, like, metal edge and stuff. Because, like, that was, like, that was all you got, was a circus magazine or rip magazine or whatever. There was no social media, so, like, any sort of tidbit was like, Whoa, they do this. They this is what they're doing. Like, that stuff was so fascinating to me. Yeah,

Chuck Shute: 41:50

yeah. And then, so, yeah, so you've, you've met, you've interviewed Lars from Metallica, though, right? Yeah. Isn't it interesting? I want to ask you about this, about how, because with the Napster thing, I remember when that whole thing came out, everybody was like booing him and shit like, but it turns out that he was right, although I think the booing might have been accurate, because I feel like he wasn't trying to protect future musicians, or maybe he was, but it seemed like he was more trying to protect his own record sales, but in hindsight, like he was dead on about All that shit, like we should have done something different, because musicians now can't make money. No, he was, he was protecting everybody. I mean, he had a list of all the metallic fans that downloaded his stuff just to show the evidence in court. But he said that I'm doing it for everybody. Look, I know we make money and stuff like that, but you know, I'm doing this for the bands that are really struggling too, you know? So I'll take the bullet for it. You know? When he found out, when that I disappear, song they made for that mission, impossible soundtrack, when he

Jim Florentine: 42:49

found that it wasn't even finished yet, the song, and someone leaked it from the studio and put it out there, and it was on the internet, and when he found that out, he's like, What? How did that get out there? I don't know, but everyone has it now. And he's like, that's what started them. Like, you got to be kidding me, they stole my stuff. That song's not even finished, and it's out there, and we're going to put it on the soundtrack and and share. Like, that's what really set him off. And then he realized what was going on with, uh, Napster, no, he's right, absolutely. I mean, you know, people just it, it. I always buy records. Like, if I'm a fan of the band, no matter what, I'll buy it on iTunes. I already subscribe to iTunes for like, 1099 a month or whatever, so I get all the music I want, but I always buy the records 1099 or 999, when it comes out, just to support, even though I don't have to. Yeah, I try to support by buying either the merch or going to the show. Like I went and saw you when you came to house economy, and you were great. Well, I think I actually I bought a t shirt too. I bought a that metal show t shirt that was cool, nice. Yeah, yeah. That's what I do. When I if I get free tickets to a concert, I'll make sure I buy merchandise inside. Yeah, I never asked for that shit. I mean, I will take it. If someone's like, Hey, I'm putting you on the guest list or whatever, I'm like, Oh, thank you. But I never asked for that. So I'm always like that. Just feels like I want to support the people, yeah? Because if you get, if they can't make money off the album sales, it's like, you got to support them. They got to make a living somehow. Yeah, yeah, you're right

Chuck Shute: 44:12

for a guest list that much either if I know to band, I'll just say, Hey, I'm coming to the show. Maybe I'll see you after the show. Oh, you got tickets. They'll say, I go. Yeah, I already got tickets. Don't worry about it. That's nice. Yeah, that's very cool. The only thing is like, yeah, if there's, like, my brother, he's his wife, is married to the lead singer of train so, like, he'll say, Oh, do you want to go see and I'm not like, a big train fan, but I'm like, Yeah, it's pretty it's kind of a cool show. And it's cool to have, like, a really good seat at a big concert like that. Like, I don't get that a lot, so it kind of ruins you though. Like to see a band that close, and then you're like, so I try to either just pay for a really good seat or try to find a connection, and I just go to less concerts now, but I also really like the club shows. Do you like those better than the big Yeah, wait, you're. Your brother is married to who? So my brothers, sorry, it's my brother's wife's sister is married to the singer of train. Oh, okay, so I've seen them a bunch of times. And then, you know, I have some other people that have done the podcast, yeah? Like Pete. He's Brett Michaels guitarist, I don't feel Pete EVIC, yeah. And so he'll be like, and he'll just invite, he'll tell he texted me later, and he's like, Hey, are you coming to the show? And I was like, Do you want me to come? Like, I'm not gonna, like, ask, Hey, can you give me a freebie? But, and so, you know, I get to, I got to go side stage. I'd never done that before. I'd never been side stage at a concert. I was like, Oh, this is, like, really weird. You know, it was kind of surreal to, like, meet Brett Michaels, like, in real life, I was like, because you just see them on TV, it's almost like it's not, it's like a cartoon or something. It's bizarre, right? Do you feel that way when you've, I mean, you've met so many of these guys, I'm sure, with that metal show and all the other things, after a while, I get used to it. You know, you're in the room, like, holy shit, there you go. No, it doesn't really affect me anymore. It did in the beginning, but I've been around a lot of people, so, you know, it doesn't really, I don't really get intimidated or whatever. I just, I always make it quick. I feel like I'm wasting somebody's time. Hey, James. Happy. Hi James. Can I get a quick picture? James? I love the new record. Oh, thanks man. The show was great tonight. Awesome. Was amazing. I got a quick picture? Sure picture. Thanks. Good meeting you. That's it. Yeah, does. Well, I would assume some of these guys know you, though, right? Like James, you think, like, maybe James has watched that night, you know, because I own from metallic at one of their festivals down in Atlantic City. When they did remember those, they did those, I forget what the festival was called. But then James, actually, James, well, Lars introduced me on stage with James, watching my set. So, you know, we got hand picked by the band. But I don't want to waste their time. I don't want to be like, Hey, I saw you in 92 when, you know, suicide attendance, he's opened up and you you know, threw that frisbee into the crowd like, he's like, he has no fucking clue. So I don't want to be that guy. Yeah, my first concert ever was Motorhead Metallica and Guns and Roses. It was amazing. Yeah, right, it sounds like the best first concert ever. Yeah, that's so it was amazing. But what else was I gonna ask you about? I think that was about so the new special is out now. It's called you can't please them all. I didn't realize it was on Amazon Prime, so people can watch it on there. Well, they can listen on Spotify. Can they buy the record? Is there, um,

Jim Florentine: 47:23

on my website, I got a DVD version, an audio version of it, so they could buy it. Yeah, they could find a physical product, yeah, but, yeah, so, but the audio is out on Spotify, iTunes, wherever you listen to audio, and then the video version of is on Amazon Prime, yep. And then your podcast, everybody is awful. So great. I love, I love all the shit you make fun of. It's all the same, a lot of the same shit that bothers me. So that's a great one. I appreciate. I do that every Monday comes out. Every Monday, everybody is awful, yeah. And then, oh, are you guys still doing, you're still doing that rocks show with Dawn and and we haven't gotten in a while, we're trying to figure out what we're going to do with it. So it's on hold for right now. Yeah, okay, yeah. It's, is you, um, you guys kind of sometimes hang out with Craig gas. Is he kind of like the fourth member, because he's another comedian that loves metal, like, there's that's like, the there's like, the three of you, like you and Don roar. Oh, yeah, yeah, of course. Norton, Jim Norton likes metal too big. Oh, doesn't Yeah. And then Big J ol person is, is Big J a metalhead too, dude? Yeah, I go to a lot of shows with him, yeah. Oh, and, I guess Brian possan, I think he's a huge Anthropy as to, yeah, yeah. There's not too many of us. But no, I think that's cool. Like, yeah, I like it, though it's, it's nice, and you don't do a lot. So people who aren't a music, music fan, they can still come see you, because you don't do a lot of music jokes, if any, I don't think, no, because I, you know, and when I'm in the city and perform in front of a young crowd, which I do a lot, right? Can't mention, I can't mention Judas Priest. They don't know what I'm talking about. Even if I say AC DC, they're like, I think, I think my dad likes that band, like, you have to relate to the audience. So I I keep, if I'm doing a music venue, and I could just, I just opened for some did a wrestling podcast, uh, busted open Bully Ray. It was in the WWE, and I opened for them, and I told the whole picture about the whole story about getting molested for wrestling pictures, like, because I was a wrestling crowd, they were there. And if I do a rock show, I'll do more, I'll make you know more rock jokes. You know rock show jokes, but I'm just doing regular stand up. I keep that out, right? Do you think that, have you ever done like the cruises? Have you ever done like, the Monsters of Rock thing? Yeah, yeah. I host me, Don and Eddie host and we do one comedy show, and we introduce the bands and stuff like that. So that's always good. I gotta get on one of those cruises. I just do regular stand up on that. On those shows, yeah, sometimes they open for a band and they're fine with it. That's awesome. Very cool.

Chuck Shute: 50:00

All that stuff is available. And then I think you have some tour dates too, right? Yeah? Jim Florence, com, I'll put it in the show notes. And, yeah, hopefully I'll come to Phoenix. Gonna come see it was great last time. Yeah, probably by the summer I'll be back. I love coming to Phoenix. I've been coming there for years. Yeah, I think you're right about the women too. It's insane, insane. It's almost comical. This I'm trying to do, like, bicep curls, and this girl's like, bending over. I could see her butt crack and her camel toes, like, right in my face. It's just, it's a comedy skit, right there. So amazing. Yeah, awesome. All right, thanks, Jim, thanks, Chuck. I appreciate it, man. I'll see you soon. Sounds good. Bye. Bye

THEME SONG: 50:42

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