Diz Dad / Show Biz Dude

Good Sunday to you! 

I'm here recovering for one hell of a Saturday.   Yesterday we went to Disneyland for Charlie's 7th Birthday.  We went with the Carlins, as Matt's daughter Stella is one of Charlie's closest friends. It was hot and crowded folks. Boy they pack em in!  Marilyn and Christina had a plan for where to park, and what rides to hit (all with Charlie's approvals) so Matt and I just kinda went along for the ride and tried to be helpful... 

Our first ride was the Depp-heavy Pirates of the Caribbean... right before we got on the boat, Charlie had second thoughts and got scared about the whole thing. He wanted to bail, but we gently coaxed him in and once the right got going he loosened up declaring "This is fun!!!"   After that it was a game of finding the rides with the shortest lines as we filled in the time before our one "Genie Pass" reserved ride, and Charlie's favorite: Haunted Mansion. 

I had one moment of "Fuck This" as we all tried to decide what to do for lunch... Mostly due to grumpy hunger, I had the feeling of "why am i doing this? why am I playing into this deeply cynical place where they're trying to fleece you at every turn. why am i an active participant in this con job?"  But that feeling passed after a way better than it needed to be Fried Chicken plate. 

Matt said it at the end of the day "our kids would be just as happy or maybe even happier just jumping around in a bounce house and playing around the house." Sure would be cheaper.  But they truly did have a dumb old blast and I'm happy to provide my son an annual dose of that kinda shit. 

We drove home just in time for me to watch one of the most painful innings of baseball I've ever seen. Clayton Kershaw came out and right away just got nearly beaten to death.  It was DEEE-Pressing.  Diamondbacks have come to play. Could be a disaster in the making for us Dodger Dads. 

THEN! (surely Tim, you just went right to bed after a 95-degree Diz Day... No, then Marilyn and I went to a full-on HOLLYWOOD Party! 

It's the only real party I care to attend and one of the few am invited to - It's Sarah Silverman's annual rooftop party - which had been dormant since Covid... We walked in and it was like a time capsule of the last time she had the party - The same people... This is not a bad thing! I'll briefly break down who I spent some time with, not to brag but there are some people I ONLY see at this party but when I do, we hit it off and talk so much that i wonder why I only see them there!  (ok, also to brag) 

- My dear friends Aimee Mann and Michael Penn were first up... hadn't seen them in a while and we were happy to catch up. 

- Joe Mande, Natasha Leggero, Rikki Lindhome - we talked about my Club Random, the strike ending - do we still love what we do... 

- I met Doug Stanhope for the first time, and he geeked out on me, being a huge Tim and Eric fan.  We exchanged numbers and I think i wanna stay in touch with that dude. we had a lot of laughs. 

- Maron - I begged forgiveness for skipping his party and he gave me good-natured shit for it. We're good, man. We're good. 

- Julia Sweeney! never met her before, but we hit it off right away when I complained about this podcast she did with Carvey and Spade about Phil Harman that she was on and I felt she wasn't given enough space to talk... We got INTO it! 

- Steven Merchant - He's the guy I love to see the most at this party and we got INTO it right away, talking for about 20 mins about comedy, where we're at, what I'm doing with Office Hours and just generally goofing. I love him and I think he loves me? I gotta get him on the show or at least be better about staying in touch. 

- Katherine Hahn - I did the movie "Flower" with her, playing her husband... and when I saw her I did a bit where I asked her if we're still Married or because of the SAG Strike it doesn't apply anymore. Dumb! But she played right along and then we generally caught up. She claimed to had just been talking about me to another actor who I had done a movie with and how nice it was but she couldn't think of who it was. It was driving us both nuts. WHO KATHERINE? WHOOOO? 

-Dimitri Martin - another one who I've ONLY ever spoken to at this party but we gel very quickly and always have a nice, adult conversation about all sorts of things. 

- Jake Fogelnest:  the only selfie I took and we had a nice chat, mostly about how much he loves Office Hours and how cool it is that I built this nice little community here.  I took the picture to show off the new chat feature on Patreon! Cool! 

Natasha Lyonne - I got to know Natasha a bit when she was with Fred... we always have a fun, silly rapport -  I was showing her pictures of the kids at Disneyland and scolding her for not being more involved with my children. She's so funny and truly how you hope she'd be - that is:  she is who she is.  

Sam Richardson - we laughed and goofed and promised to do something somehow. Earlier I had talked to Akiva Shaffer about how he,  Sam and Tim Robinson try and get dinner every once in a while and thought to invite me - I'm like YEA, do it! 

Talking with Akiva, Andy Sandberg came by on his way out and we tried to have a conversation but as we were talking the part in Psycho Killer where Byrne starts going "Eye Eye Eye Eye..." started ramping up and we both just started singing along to that to each other. It was stupid and funny enough that it was all we really needed to say to each other. It's funny, I have known those guys and a lot of those people at the party for going on 20 years! 

People like Nick Kroll - known him forever! And we were never that close but when we would talk it would be fun and easy. Last night we got into in - first goofing around but then got a little deeper - family, where we're at with our careers and creatively. He was so complimentary of what we're doing, especially the Club Random thing.  It was a really warm chat that I think was built on just knowing each other for so long. 

Other sightings  - Owen Wilson.  Didn't talk to him.  Beck was there looking like a full Michael Cera dop. I didn't talk to him. What's there to say to old Beck?  Sacha Baron Cohen - I've had nice chats with him before, but not last night.  What of Sarah Silverman? Didn't talk to her! Just a warm hug and hello upon our entry to the party.  

This is to say, it felt good to see so many people I genuinely admire and like.   I felt really connected to a community of creative people - lifers who are all figuring out how to do it and keep doing it because it's too late to stop now! 

I always have slight dread going to these things - fuckin' socializing... do I belong here? What am I gonna TALK about?   But I couldn't have felt more among my people!  Marilyn said on the way home "That was really energizing!" 

Don't be surprised to see some of those names show up on the show sooner or later. 

PS, truly don't mean to be name-dropping, folks.  But please dunk on me if you must! 

Peace and LOVE! -t