When and dubbed their comedy show at the a “Holiday Sausage Fest,” they meant it.
The Denver Relief MMJ dispensary co-owner and comedian/producer, respectively, aren’t just putting on a show stacked with four excellent dude comedians. They’re giving away a free large pizza with the purchase of each ticket — which makes sense, since Khalatbari is also the co-owner of Denver’s Sexy Pizza.
Ah, pizza, weed and comedy. (I think they call that “the golden ratio.” But I’m also not good at math, so I could be wrong. In fact I’m sure I am.)
The first in a series of monthly Sexpot Comedy shows takes place tonight () with national headliners and , and two of Denver’s finest, (whose band Spells is also playing ) and .
We caught up with 30-year-old Florida native Lawrence over the phone this week to talk about video games, pot, his lengthy tenure as a McDonald’s employee and the apogee of nerd culture. If you know what apogee means, read on! Or don’t!
So, Mr. New York. Ever played Colorado before?
It’s my first time. I’ve never been to Colorado at all. I’m coming because I’ve known Ben (Roy) for about four years and I guess he got me in touch with Andy (Juett). I don’t do tours so much but just get whatever comes to me. That’s kind of the place I’m at now and if it doesn’t seem completely awful and the people seem kind of trustworthy then I’ll go!
That’s a ringing endorsement. Let’s talk about your “Nerd of Mouth” podcast, which is truly a nerdy podcast and not just something masquerading as a nerdy podcast. I could listen to you talk about how terrible Batman: Arkham Origins is all day. But there’s so much bandwagoneering in nerd culture right now that it’s getting out of hand. Do you ever feel like you’re competing with that? Not that Nerdist Industries, for example, isn’t legit nerd fare, but still…
Definitely, yeah, it’s been tough because of that being such an over-saturated market. We have a different approach to it in some ways. We know that we can’t get the guests that everybody does and we know that we can’t get the information and product that everybody does. But there’s a freedom in that too because of our complete honesty.
Right. You’re a podcast, not a journalistic outlet, so you might feel pressure to give Arkham Origins a better review if you’re getting free copies from Warner Bros. Interactive.
If I was at a show where we were interviewing people like Michael Bay, I couldn’t tell him he fucking sucks. I couldn’t shit on any of the stuff he’s done. The thing is that the media gets more restricted the more access it has, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I get it. It makes sense. If I met any type of celebrity, regardless of how I actually feel about their work, I’ll be nice and friendly and just try to be a good person, because I get annoyed when people say stuff about me. So that’s kind of our approach. We’re going to talk to you about it from our perspective and it’s often a more shameful and honest one because I think of nerd culture right now… it’s like, it’s COOL to be a nerd and it’s awesome to be a nerd, but that’s really just perpetuated by corporate interests to sell stuff. You look at that “Agents of Shield” show — it’s just a completely heartless product. There’s no love or real fun in that show. But if I met Joss Whedon I’d say, “Great job, buddy!”
But I’m sure you’d still love to have him on the show.
Oh yeah! And I’d hope he doesn’t listen to other episodes where we made fun of that show. But we loved “The Avengers.” People often say I’m too negative on the podcast and I love his stuff, but I also love my family and I’m completely honest about how I feel about my family. That makes me feel like me and my family love each other more when you can call each other out on your crap.
Do you feel like your opinions have more validity because you’re not part of the media machine?
You know, the thoughts that I had on that game (Arkham Origins) are the thoughts of someone who had to spend their own money to get it. And I know that that’s not how journalism actually works, in practicality. I get comped for something sometimes, but it used to completely bother me that critics didn’t have to pay for their own stuff because that means they didn’t have the same invested interest and disappointment that we have. It’s like, if you as a critic go see a terrible movie, you got paid for that. You made money doing that. But I lost $14 that I’m not getting back. You know? There’s no equal stakes involved.
Well, I think the counter-argument could be made that critics should be getting comped because they’d go broke if they weren’t, considering how many things they’re expected to see, read, listen to, etc. for their jobs.
I get it. It’s not like Roger Ebert was going to put his own money on the line for all those movies. Of course he’s going to be getting into screenings for free. But for me it does add a different perspective to it. But the truth is, if Warner Bros. had sent us the game I probably would have still said what I said about it. I was the jerk and I did say, “I want to return it” at the Gamestop where I went to trade it in and get something else. And I openly, in front of the cashier who got really angry at me, told a customer not to buy it. I said, “This is a waste of money. Every single thing you have done in the other games you are just going to do again, but at a lesser level of quality.”
You’ve been on some of the best podcasts around, like “WTF with Marc Maron” and Pete Holmes’ “You Made It Weird.” What have you learned from those that you’ve applied to your own?
We’re in a renaissance of freedom with that, but I don’t take so much from the other ones so much as I’ve learned about presenting your personality and the amplification of yourself. The more you are yourself the more people will like you in sincerity. Maron definitely has that, Pete Holmes has that, “Keith and the Girl” has that. They’re all just utterly sincere and people love them because they are themselves and what you see is what you get. It’s awesome, but what’s really fascinating is that there’s been this weird shift. I’m of the first generation to really to come up in the podcasting world first and then go backwards into morning radio. You look at guys like Maron and even probably Pete, these guys who have been on the road for a good long while. They all came up in morning radio and I think that’s really a rebellion in many ways to that format. It’s really led to the podcasting that we have now.
The subject matter seems so much different and better on podcasts versus morning radio. Have you found that as well?
Oh yeah. I worked at McDonalds for seven years and when I’m on podcasts I can talk about it at length. The highlight of my “WTF” interview with was making Maron say, “That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.” Especially as someone who hasn’t really drank or done drugs, to come up sober like that, you know I’ve got a sad story.
Right, you’re not talking about being a homeless drug addict and doing terrible stuff for heroin, like .
Mine are worse because I didn’t have fun. There’s no rise and fall because there’s no rise. I made $5.25 an hour, I didn’t suck one dick for one crack rock. I had one dick in my mouth for seven years, I just didn’t have the confidence to push it out. It’s way worse! But that’s the thing: I did this nationally syndicated radio show and I said, “What do you want to talk about? I worked at McDonald’s for seven years.” And they said, “Well, if you want to speak about that favorably you can but they’re a sponsor so you can’t say anything negative.” That’s why the podcasts are doing so well and connecting with so many people. You listen to the Nerdist and you get to hear these popular culture icons and they are more considerate and honest than they would be in a press junket. And (Chris) Hardwick is so great at making people feel comfortable and making them shine. If I’m Weird Al where do I want to go? I want to go on this open-minded format where you don’t have to cut for commercials, and if I want to get into a long story or a goofy anecdote I can do that.
So this show you’re coming to on Dec. 20 is a Sexpot Comedy show, which doesn’t promote open weed smoking, but there’s an expectation it’s going to be there. As someone who doesn’t drink or do drugs, would marijuana smoke bother you as a performer as much as cigarette smoke would for ’80s or ’90s comedians? I’m thinking of some theoretical situation where someone’s blowing clouds of pot smoke toward the stage — which I’m guessing has never happened to you.
It happens more than you think. But it’s fine. It depends how stoned people are. I’m very biased, but the problem with any type of substance is that it often becomes less about them being there to watch performers perform and more about them being there for themselves. Like, “this is just going to be about me being high while watching somebody.” And that sucks. But most people are pretty cool about it. And to be honest, I would rather perform for a room full of stoned potheads than a room full of drunk assholes because it’s not an aggressive crowd. No one gets stoned and beats their wife. I think John Lennon, but that’s about it!
There may be a painfully obvious answer to this, but I’m curious about your take: why do marijuana and comedy go so well together?
A LOT of comics smoke pot. It’s a big stoner community. I have very open reasons why I don’t drink and those are basically that my dad used to and he cleaned up and so out of respect for him, like Batman, I swore that I would never go there. And with pot… I just don’t have a lot of social skills and I’m also kind of frugal, so the whole idea of having to know somebody who knows somebody and making phone calls to a dealer and all of that, it’s just not who I am at all as a person. That always seemed really weird to me, that dealer relationship. When I buy something I just give them my money and look at the ground. “Here you go…” I just think people are out to take more money from me — like Warner Bros. Interactive in Montreal! I’ve had friends offer (marijuana) in the past and I’ve smoked a few times, but it’s just not for me. And it often inspires people to like mediocre music and shitty movies.
And how. So what else is going on that our readers should know about?
I was on “@midnight” with Chris Hardwick and hope to make it back. My album “Sadamantium” is on iTunes and I’m selling it at the show. And (co-headliner) Sean Patton’s one of my really good close friends, so it’s going to be great.
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John Wenzel is an A&E reporter and critic for . Follow him .
