In the entertainment business, one would be lucky to succeed in a single discipline during their career. Adam Carolla succeeds in everything he undertakes. He entertains with stand-up comedy (Dry Bar) and TV programs (“The Man Show”). He’s written best-selling books and directed movies. He does syndicated radio (“Love Line”) and hosts one of the most listened-to podcasts ever. Carolla has done it all and done it all well.
I recently spoke with Carolla and discussed a myriad of subjects from the start of his career to his recent appearance at Utah’s Dry Bar comedy club; Dry Bar is a Utah-based club for stand-up comedians having family-friendly content for their performances.
Michael Clark: When did you know you'd made it as a comic and would be able to quit your day job?
Adam Carolla: It was the middle of 1995. I’d gotten enough work at a radio station doing piece work that allowed me to quit my day job. The day job didn’t pay real well, so it wasn’t that hard of a commitment to not do it anymore.
MC: For those unaware, could you tell us about the first time you met Jay Leno.
AC: I was remodeling a house next to his place in the mid-1980s. It was in the [Hollywood] Hills where he was renting. I kind of knew who he was; he wasn’t hosting “the Tonight Show” yet. I used to see him come out of his house while I was on a scaffold slinging stucco at 7:00 in the morning and I noticed his schedule which seemed nice. He’d come out to pick up his newspaper at noon then come out around 2:00 and start wrenching on his motorcycles. I began thinking, “man, that’s a great schedule.” I went over a couple times after work while he was in the garage and just introduced myself and thought maybe I can learn something from this guy.
MC: Did you try telling him a joke?
AC: I didn’t have any jokes at the time. I just knew I wanted to do some kind of comedy. I didn’t want to be covered in stucco for $7.00 an hour.
MC: In one of the versions I’ve heard, he told you, “You can’t do construction. You’re destined for better things.” Is that accurate?
AC: No, but I wish he’d said that. Maybe he wishes he’d said that. Why would he? I just showed up in my jeans and started talking about mechanical stuff. I didn’t want to bother him with celebrity stuff. Then he said there’s a place on Ventura Blvd. called the Deli Smoker and they have an open mike on Tuesdays. You should go there and try it out.
MC: Your podcast debuted in February 2009 and was an immediate success. Were you surprised that it caught fire so fast?
AC: I wasn’t thinking about whether it would work or not, I just wanted to do it. I guess, when things are working, you just kind of go with the flow. I’d done “The Man Show” which was really successful right out of the gate and “Love Line” which was successful, so became kind of spoiled, I guess. I was just used to doing stuff and having it work out.
MC: I watch your podcast religiously and, to me, a great deal of your commentary sounds riffed and improvised. Am I correct, or is most or all of it written in advance?
AC: I have notions about what I want to talk about. I write down the subject matter and then weird things pop into my head. For instance, I was driving the other day and was thinking to myself: With all of this DOGE stuff, and waste, and nonsense, I owed the government $2 million not too long ago, and I cut the IRS a check.
But, you know, I’m in California and we don’t get anything in return for the taxes we pay. If I had a choice between giving the IRS $2 million or giving “Tunnels to Towers” $100.00, where would the money be better spent? I decided giving “T2T” $100.00 would give me more bang for the buck. That’s an example of how it works.
MC: You recently made your first appearance on Dry Bar. At this point in your career, you could play at any venue you wanted. What was the deciding factor in going to Dry Bar?
AC: I got to know those [Angel Studio] guys a little bit. I liked them and they just kind of threw it out there, and I said, “yeah, let’s give it a try.” It presented something of a challenge.
MC: Because you had to clean up your material?
AC: (pause) Yeah, clean it up, change a lot of it, and write some new stuff.
MC: I saw two clips from that show, one about “Olympic fencing” and the “rich man, poor man” routine. Were those bits part of your regular act or were they new to Dry Bar?
AC: “Rich Man” has been around for a long time, but I never do it in my stand up. In this case, I was looking for something that was already kind of safe, and it really fit in well with this format. That, and I didn’t have 45 minutes worth of clean material. The “Olympic fencing” bit I do sometimes but I’m kind of streaky. ... I don’t keep track of everything that well. I’ll do it three shows in a row and then not do it for the next 10 shows.
MC: You’ve had a long history with Drew Pinsky and you both seem to be on the same wavelength on almost everything. Can you recall a time when that wasn’t the case?
AC: We’ve never really “butted heads” over anything. Early on during the opioid crisis, he would tell me that he had patients taking 75 painkillers a day. I said that sounds like good business for the drug companies, and he would say, “no,” they don’t want that. I’m good for seven pain pills every 10 years. The drug companies aren’t making any money off of me. Last I checked, they’re in business to sell drugs. We went back and forth on that for a while, and recently we revisited it and he said, “yeah, you were right.”
MC: In your opinion, who is the funniest standup comedian ever?
AC: Um … I would say George Carlin. I grew up listening to him. I don’t think that there is a “best.” There is a best “that night.” You could catch someone you’d never heard of on a particular night when they capture lightning in a bottle. Or see someone you don’t really care for, but they have one really killer bit.
Adam Carolla takes the stage. (Courtesy of Adam Carolla)
MC: You mentioned multiple times that political correctness is ruining comedy. Do you still feel that to be the case or is the pendulum swinging back?
AC: I think it’s pretty much swung back. The people making the most noise in comedy these days are the guys who are pushing back and doing the counter [programming] stuff.
MC: You, Leno, and Jerry Seinfeld are all big-time car collectors. Is there any friendly competition between the three of you?
AC: I don’t think so. I don’t know. I did try to show Seinfeld one of my [Porsche] 935’s recently and he wouldn’t look at it, which I thought was funny.
MC: Did you ever find yourself in a bidding war with either or both of them in a rare car auction?
AC: Not that I’m aware. Jay doesn’t buy any of his cars at auction, and Jerry doesn’t buy many anymore. So probably not.
Adam Carolla collects beautiful cars. (Courtesy of Adam Carolla)
MC: You’ve mentioned several times that you’re going to leave California and relocate to another state. If so, to what state?
AC: That would be yes, and Nevada.
MC: When is that going to happen?
AC: As soon as I build the house.
MC: You’ve been highly critical of Gavin Newsom for some time. Have you ever considered running for governor of California?
AC: No, I haven’t. I don’t tend to think that way. I consider myself something of a “D–” type of student in getting along. (long pause) That being said, I’d be a much better governor than he is, and so would you, and so would anybody for that matter (laughs). [California] would be better with an incompetent person than a person with a destructive agenda like Newsom’s.
MC: How difficult was it to get the films you’ve directed financed and distributed?
AC: Difficult? No. Impossible. We financed them and we distributed them. There was no “Sundance” for us.
MC: Was that because you couldn’t secure funds through the usual channels?
AC: We would make the movies, but could never get the festivals to look at them because they were too political over there.
MC: Do you mean “they” meaning your movies or “they” meaning the festival organizers?
AC: The latter. My docs are about race cars and black race car drivers, and comedies. My movies are not political. That’s not how it works. They don’t like me. It doesn’t matter what the topic is.
Comedian and podcaster Adam Carolla gives his views on what he cares about. (Courtesy of Adam Carolla)
MC: The recent wildfires in L.A. affected you directly. In your opinion was this a result of poor governance and mismanagement?
AC: I don’t think they think that way. They have subjects and causes that they’re attracted to like the LGBT community, freedom of expression, the really juicy cocktail party stuff. This [fires] is boring; that’s how they look at it. They don’t do potholes or forest management. They’re there for hope and change. When you listen to [L.A. mayor] Karen Bass, or Newsom, listen to what they say during their speeches. You don’t hear a lot about water and aqueducts but plenty about “marginalized communities.”
MC: You’ve had a relationship with Jimmy Kimmel for a long time and to me, have the widest political chasm imaginable. Do you simply agree to disagree politically?
AC: No. We just don’t talk about politics. Neither of us has a say regarding policy on any level. We have a friendship; we get together and laugh about guy stuff.
MC: Do you plan on doing more Dry Bar gigs?
AC: Yes. Looking forward to it.
For information on Adam Carolla’s upcoming shows, visit: AdamCarolla.com
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