Take you to book review in huntington which is the official bookseller norman tonight. In the usual 10 percent of proceeds will be donated to the covid19 relief fund. And you can go to charities. Org rated a little intro and judy. Shes an american standup comedian actress, tv writer and producer. She 12 daytime emmy awards, the work as a writer and producer on Rosie Odonnell show british instead of special on hbo, and she hasnt experienced and she currently has podcast. I want to say put your hands together for judy gold that we can do that now. How does it work for you would people say. What are they been saying. Judy while youre watching and singing happy birthday. Right. And sing away from everybody. Judy exactly. Mark think they could clap at home. That would be fine. Speak up with both hands. Mark tutorings minimum right. Do want to give like a little kind of, but your elevator pitch for the book. Happy describe the book. Judy i do know how to describe it because people take Different Things from the book. It really is about freedom of speech. From the perspective of a comedian. And humor and satire. It is really about so many different chapters about so many Different Things. If you love comedy, theres a lot of history. And theres a lot of amazing, amazing material. And people have been telling me, im reading it and im learning so much. Then im hysterically laughing. And if you like it is such a necessary book in this culture. And because we have no sense of humor anymore. Mark is way to laugh about something. Judy yes and to be able to not have to feel guilty every time you are laughing. Like every joke is not about you. And i just think, i dont know. It is an educational book but its a really funny funny book. Mark we talked about this a little bit earlier, is sort of a collection of all of these great jokes from history rated it sort of went through the history books to get through the different times. Was that in your process or were you thinking that i wanted to showcase all of these different kinds of jokes. Judy i think the only way to really provide point for each chapter. Its really an argument. It is broken down through chapters. Little elements of each argument in white humor is so important. And satire is so important to free speech. Cool the only way i could prove my point is to say that here is the evidence. Here is the example and one of the main things i want to say in the book is comedians get on stage for one reason for you to make you laugh. That is it. That is our goal the minute we get on stage. When you take intense context and nuance out of the joke, and justifying, he or she said that word or i dont like the way she looked and and or i dont like when he was doing when he was saying that joke. When you dont take the entire that and into consideration, then what you get then you lose out. When someone murdered someone. And is on trial for homicide, there sentence is based on their intent. If we dont consider that when youre listening to a joke. We just get insulted for it is ridiculous. Also another thing i would love for people to realize is being offended is a choice. It is a choice. You can be offended. In this what you do with that. Convenience is something you dont like. You know what, they should never be able to do stand up again. Maybe you have a songwriter than two lofgren song you dont like. Mark was on my favorite toy segment here. If you go to a concert, and you dont love the song. You sit there through the song. But you have other songs during the concert did you enjoy reading for your one is really bad relief into or whatever. Then kind of tuneup the rest of it. When you do that situation like how you kind of recover from that. Judy i feel like the longer you have been doing comedy, the more you know. You just know. After a certain point, people come to see you. So is really your fans who are coming to see you. Will when that happens for me, i believe it is the comedians job to point out the elephant in the room and talk about it. And i will say, i cant believe you hated that joke. You going to turn on me right now. Whatever is going on in my head is what i will express to them. Because really said a giveandtake. The comedian and the audience. I get so much from you and you get so much from us. Its sort of like height conductor conducting an orchestra. Mark and he knew of this nice passage in the book doing is enough that i get trump a bit and doesnt really land. You kind of them a its in your mind in those moments. Like as you are doing that recovery. Are you anointed the audience, as a something in your craft that you decide about. Speech of thats a good question. I think every comedian gets on stage and we take a risk. There are bits that go either way. And you have to decide. When you get on stage and you open, usually you know when you start doing a few jokes. They liked this. Theyre probably not going to like that. You get this, you are editing all of the time. Like its sort of like jabs. But i read a lot about this in the book that during this administration, never before have audiences just hated you because of your political he didnt. Its never been like that. We used to make fun of every president rated no matter what their affiliation. Reagan, bush, clinton was like a gold mine for all of us. George w. Bush. Everyone, obama. And for some reason, with gotten to this point where i needed to write this book and we are so divided. And if you dont think like me politically, im not going to laugh at the rest of your material. Like we have more in common than we dont. Then when not in common. And comedy is a unifier. When everybody is in the room laughing together, so i can, were in this together. It is so powerful. Mark yes laughter sort of thing. Judy yes, that is have been the hardest part for a lot of comedians. If we do a bit about trump. And it comes from them, he has no sense of humor. Can have the comedian at the white house correspondents dinner. He wanted to investigate is free to write about london johnson. In the book, the smothers brothers for crucifying him. On the smothers brothers show. Youre too young for that. This is a great show and it was very much of a variety show you know, comedians are commentators. And it was commanding on social issues. Mark and you write about had it was sort of a something you took from later. Judy absolutely. Comedians tell the truth. Which is why we are still threatened a lot of times. So the smothers brothers were very, they crucified nixon and lyndon johnson. And Lyndon Johnsons daughter loved the show. When they were canceled, on the smothers brothers, Lyndon Johnston who had been dealing with, he didnt love that they were talking about. There were doing a lot about the vietnam war. When they were canceled, he wrote them a letter basically said, it is not easy being fire for satire but that is part of my job. And part of being in this country that where we have speech and it was my honor. It was my honor to be part of this. I wish you the best. Mark so thats the partnership. It. Judy . This what we should be. He said when someone mocks me, i think it is hilarious. Its a badge of honor. It really is. Somebody did a bit about me, on my gosh. Mark it would be amazing. Judy yes amazing. Good people really take themselves so and way too seriously. Mark right. To go on a different out for a second. One of my favorite jokes throughout the book is the long joke. Can you do a little bit of that. To give people a sense of similes jokes. Judy so my mother, its difficult to use of cell phone. So i had left my apartment and my mother completely paranoid, thanks like every time, while shes gone now. But every time i left the apartment, she thought something was going to happen to me. And i remember, but to know if one in the book but there was, years ago a guy called the dark man. He was like the late 90s. He was literally throwing darts at womens assess in the subway. And remember it was like be aware of the darts man. My mother left me an answering machine message right after the story came out in the literally said, judas. [inaudible]. So one time, i left my apartment and i went to my Agents Office and i was waiting in the waiting area. And if that will equal, my mother because its free. We had to play Long Distance before you born mark. So were talking on the phone and we got disconnected. I didnt call her back right away and forgot to tell her, that was actually in my Agents Office. So she and her mind, she thinks and something to me in my apartment. And the dead. In sheep calls me up screaming like the whole messages like where are you. Im going to call the neighbor. And literally, at the end she says, so long. Like she literally shuts me up like into a million pieces and then at the end she just so long for him so real that i would just like literally fake this messengers and it became one of my signature pieces. Because there are some things you just cant recreate. And it really, it proves like i was talking about my mother so much that at the end i would play this. And is just the perfect ending. Mark you can bring that up running into the family. But the central argument of the book, it seems to be that there is shame based culture. And theres sort of frustrated with and that viewers should not get angry at comedians for a bad joke. Because of something that was said. But i do wonder is you also write that some jokes are bad. Like about aids. Just not funny. Like you layout some very unfunny jokes. If you think what we are doing is arguing the boundaries of the discourse here. Maybe bringing in here. There. Is that thing. Judy to say that there are, maybe i say i dont think they should be done. But i dont said that you have no right to say them. I really believe that you have a right to say whatever. But i think the basis of that argument in the book is that if you are going to talk about aids or the holocaust or whatever. Racism, and whatever it is, has to be funny. Like you can tackle that issue but you better craft a beautiful joke around it. Because gratuitously, just shock sort of chart value humor no joke attached to it. It is nice when we do. Just not what great comedians do. The great comedian into thinking left at the same time. So i write about im a lesbian. And i came out in the mid 90s i came out on stage as a gay parent because i finally had her first son. Every comic talks with her family. Some going to talk about my family. And so much material. As always talking about my mother for the never talked about my partner. Because my partners boring quite frankly. And then we have the schizophrenic is like oh my god. This is amazing. And also, no pun intended but also, things that people say to you. It is hilarious. So im doing this material and after a few minutes, most of the parents in the audience who are straight, would be laughing because it is the same stuff. Same stuff youre going through. And at one point, used to do a bit in the late 90s, early 2000 because it is interesting how far how the lvt tq community has come. We have come so far. And yet, you have children and in the early 2000s and they say wait white when mick why cant you get married. It was really ridiculous so i used to do bit about how the people who are allowed to get married and i cant get married. Like erik and lyle menendez. They kill their parents. In jail there and operated an this other woman married her 12 yearold student. And it was infuriating in our assessment about it. And i was in houston and like a military guy came up to me after the show and said, i really see what you guys want to get married now i understand it producers like oh my god like it is so, the power of comity is so amazing. In races somebody stigmas. When you left with coming like them. His disarming. When they also talk about disabilities. Mark yes, fascinating. You layout a long chapter about that. Judy and that these comedians would get on stage and talk about their disabilities in a funny way. In a way in which it couldnt see how that life is. Mark one had cerebral palsy. Was that one of them. Judy there is a couple i mentioned but yes. And always wanted to be like carol but its. She spun on stage and just talked about herself brady and brought the stigma. And another talk about his depression. Their children of immigrants talk about to have immigrant parents and is just amazing how joe can trick you into sort of changing your man mind. Suet and you write about this very interesting link to about the how they are. And think maybe its sort of part of the question here about what is okay to say and what is not. Can you talk a little bit about what the role is the stereotypes in humor. Judy first of all, i write about stereotypes and how they do not just, the thin air. They are from generations and generations of history and our ancestry and that is where they came from. But they do serve a purpose when they are used correctly. I think that he is an example in the book of if i describe like an italian guy i can say it and typical italian guy or you know, you would get that division in your head. And when youre in an stage, and your storyteller or a joke teller, is just you. Its just your words. You need to create a vision and people heads. And often times if you use a stereotype correctly, to tell the story or to inform the audience, it can be acceptable. But its really interesting. To my point, it has to be funny. You cannot just say, use it just with no joke. Mark is that the punchline. Judy look, used to get so much flak from the jewish press because i would talk about my mother all the time. And i remember this moment from the jewish daily forward. She would ask me why a big stereotypes. And i said i am doing my mother and thats exactly what she said in exactly how she said it. And youre sitting in your little apartment on the Upper West Side surrounded by likeminded people. Maybe in arkansas or alabama. Im talking about another. Im introducing people to other kinds of people. Mark price. On the other side, makes me think of that famous chevelle quote where he said, there was a moment when he told the joke that were about racial stereotypes and seem to have tht person was laughing at him and not with him. That line, god christ. Are you negotiating the line. Judy i think so. I think that when youre doing material and talk about this. Theres also the stories about Richard PryorGeorge Carlin who really started out as high. The very kind of want to say the word proper. A thin they were never improper but you know prayed and they were doing these jokes and both of them at these jokes. Like looking in the audience and saying, no, this is not who i am. Like even dice clay who he does some of these outrageous material like because it is outrageous. And it is so funny and makes you laugh. When he looks in the audience and sees that people are actually believing it or laughing for the wrong reasons, he will call you out on it. And i think that chevelle is exactly what i love him. But i think thats exactly right. When you realize what you are laughing for the wrong reasons. Then you have to make a decision, do i want to do this show for these people. There are going to be people who got it for the right reasons read but it is so disconcerting when youre on stage and you realize oh, they are laughing at that because of that. Its upsetting. It really is. Mark interesting. Judy thats where those questions come in. That is not where the joke is guys. Mark a few questions that we are getting in. So this one, from david who says is a standup comedian, i face describe hold crowds and hecklers. Have you or can you share some of that. Judy everyone, ive been called every name in the book. I am so used to it. I would really love to know, but you have to realize there are hecklers. Comity is the ultimate standup. The people, there to try to screw you up when youre trying to do your job. You dont volunteer and countenancing the meat looking your taxes and talking about Interest Rates and thats not right. You really need to shut them down. I think the best way to deal with the heckler is to be brutally honest. And say okay like i have said a few i have said everything. When like really, you came here to do this. Who are you trying to impress here. A lot of people people just disgruntled. Because i had a day on their unhappy date. Dont take it out of the comedian. Youre the one i decided to come to a comedy club. I called them out on it. I know this is family so i would be saying something else. Mark there is a few second delay on this is far as i know prayed what is your favorite long island venue to perform at judy oil of governors. Evidence been there in a while. Hello governors. C1 right. Judy i remember in the late 80s, it is, you think of long island comedies governors. There was another Club Eastside comedy club. In long island. Years ago in the 80s. I love those guys and governors they are great. Mark this one is from claudia. What is your best advice for young female comics just starting out. Judy while i always say first of all, it is sad that you have to say that your female. So that is claudia, youre going to get in here a lot of crap and heres the advice that the woman comedian came to me. When i was for starting. New deal with so much crap being a woman. But because comedy, youre in a position of power. And we affiliate power as masculinity in this country. Be true to yourself. Do not ever let anyone tell you what to say or do on stage. Once you get on stage, that is your time, you earned it. It is a marathon, not a sprint. Never compare yourself to anyone else. Ocr sunlight crap. Ignore it. Just right and the only way you can become a great comedian. And this is true no matter who you are is to get on stage. Theres something that you get on stage that you cannot getting a sitting at a computer writing. You have to be really comfortable up there. The only thing that makes great comedian is stage time. Go anywhere i have performed a name and tell you, college lunchroom. Fares prayed i just performed at the bel air in queens. In a driving to the theater. A flatbed truck in the audio was going into the radius. And they would laugh by flushing their headlights. Like i would say like a howdy. Whats wrong with you. Oh boy look at the mercedes. It was ridiculous. I got am 57 years old. And i was on the back of flatbed truck. I love being a standup. Just be true to yourself. And dont let other people tell you the start about certain things. Mark caught his got it. Do you find that comedy is a craft. Its a talent. Can simply without talent, teach themselves how to be a comic. Judy i dont think so. You cannot learn comedy. I do think there is a craft part of it. I fight pickup start of Jerry Seinfeld for jim or carol leifer or others. Lets see who else. There are people who do the craft, their material. And its methodical. And there then there are other people get up there. I have notes up there and i will think of event or Say Something funny and i wi