Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling stops by Coffee with the Dog

On Groundhog’s day Feb 2, 2022, the legendary Jackie “The Joke Man” martling stopped by Coffee witgh the dog for an inspiring and humorous chat about talk about his life in comedy, his book Bow To Stren, his new podcast with Peter Bales called Standup Memories. Howard Stern was talked about but only as it relates to Jackie’s story. This was not a Stuttering John bash Howard session.
Standup MemoriesPremieres Groundhog Day Feb 2nd 2022

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Transcript:
matt nappo 0:00
Jackie the joke man martling joins me for a coffee with the dog on this episode of the mind dog TV podcast.

Legendary in the field of stand up comedy and a Long Island legend and part of the part of a similar culture to where I grew up in and I’ve got a podcast as I mentioned, that is launching today or tonight at 7pm Eastern Time, called stand up memories. The book is called bow to stern. It’s a memoir of his incredible life ladies and gentlemen, please open your ears open your minds and help me welcome in Jackie the joke man martling to the mind duck coffee with a dog show. Jackie Welcome.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:05
How you doing? Oh, the first thing I’m trying to do is to get this thing to go to full screen. And I know nothing about this. And it makes me crazy. So I guess I’m just gonna have to go with that. Hi.

matt nappo 1:17
I hate doing techie.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:19
You know, every time I go to touch something, it’s different. So is there a is there a

matt nappo 1:27
there’s a I guess you can make your browser full screen. I’m not sure what, whether you’re on a computer or a tablet or when

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:33
I’m on an iPad. And it’s always come up full screen before every time I’ve ever done this. So, ah,

matt nappo 1:42
can you deal with it? Because we look really good. I mean, it

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:46
doesn’t matter as long as so in other words, you’re not seeing a whole bunch of garbage on the left. I’m just seeing that.

matt nappo 1:51
Now. We’re not seeing a whole bunch of garbage. Is this somebody sitting at the desk behind you? Is that a puppet?

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:56
That is a Rodney Dangerfield doll. That’s my good luck charm.

matt nappo 2:01
I kind of was a little creepy.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 2:05
Yeah, you know, it’s weird if there’s ever a mannequin, or a doll like that of any kind in a room or in somebody’s backyard. It’s really weird how when you walk into the room, you don’t play to it. But there’s an awareness, right? Like after I do these interviews a lot of times so on my desk, and I walk in i i go to say, Good morning, which is after seven or eight years, you should think they get you so so it’s nice to meet you have to ask and I was singing your praises. I said don’t sing his praise. I didn’t even meet the guy yet. I have no idea who he is. But it’s nice to meet you. And Jeff gives you very high a high regard.

matt nappo 2:46
But He’s crazy. He’s a liar. Don’t believe a word. He says I’m a rotten person. But

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 2:51
Who said anything about believing? Now? Where am I talking to?

matt nappo 2:55
Where? I’m in Sure I’m sure I’m Long Island, New York,

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 3:02
because I’m hearing a twinge of some kind of action didn’t sound like Long Island.

matt nappo 3:06
Um, well, that’s unusual, because usually people spot me right away as long as but to your point. I mentioned it this morning there. Because we have a lot of people in England in in the UK and Wales and all over the world and in the western part of the United States. They think of Long Island is one thing, but your upbringing on Long Island is very different from mine. You are North Shore. Nassau County, I’m South Shore, Suffolk County, those are really two different worlds and two

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 3:39
completely different worlds. You know, when I went to Michigan State, they everybody thought that Long Island was completely covered with pavement. Right and I bring my roommate out and he’s like, wow, this is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. You know, it’s a it’s a gorgeous place Long Island.

matt nappo 3:55
Right. And I’m on the North Shore now out in Shoreham. And it’s a completely different culture again, from both of those where you live like that Sagamore Hill area, which was which was beautiful and, and the South Shore which is kind of Brooklyn.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 4:10
Right. You know, my my great grandfather actually ran Sagamore Hill.

matt nappo 4:14
Right. I read your entire book yesterday. You read it entire book in one day.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 4:20
I want to send it up. I thought you’re gonna read it. Wait, where’d you come from on South Shore?

matt nappo 4:25
Linden Harris copake area, right on the border of Lindenhurst and Kopec. So low. Yeah, whoa, whoa, read. But yeah, so let’s, if you I know we want to talk about the podcast. We could start with the book because there’s some fascinating stuff in there.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 4:42
Let me just say, these aren’t even really plugged, especially since you say you’ve got some stuff overseas. I’m currently working on a podcast with a guy from Cork, Ireland. And I’m doing stuff with a couple of guys from the UK. So I just want to tell people my email And I really do answer every email is joke land@aol.com J Okay, e la nd@aol.com. And I do all shows, I guess, being on this as proof, I’m teasing. But I answer all emails and I’m I especially international I’d love to do anything. Do you know I’m this close to one foot in the grave so I want to get over here while I still can’t. Alright, that’s the end of my plug. What self promotion whatever you call it, right?

matt nappo 5:29
Well, we put the link in the description for your email as well. And we do have a English show host actually in the chat room right now.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 5:37
Oh, that’s cool. Now, are you a comic? Are you a broadcaster? Are you a what?

matt nappo 5:42
I’m an I’m just a guy. I’m just a guy I wouldn’t been a musician like like you for since probably as long as my entire life seven years old did my first paying gig it’s seven years

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 5:55
like around Long Island like yeah, Banjo when

matt nappo 6:00
I started in cover bands, obviously around Long Island then did like a very similar situation to you when I had went out west to be to University and did some touring out there, open for lots of classic rock acts and all that kind of stuff pursued, the record deals got signed to a record deal. You know, that kind of stuff that never really panned out, then went back to playing cover bands. Now I play in in mostly original band that plays covers here on Long Island but gigging constantly, you know, playing this South Shore beaches and all that kind of stuff. So we’re just

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 6:35
so fun. You know, it’s so funny. You say, Well, I had a record deal, but we didn’t get anywhere. I can’t tell tell you how envious I am. Because I broke my chops for a long time and never got close to a record deal. Because I wasn’t, you know, writing anything that anybody else would want to hear. But you couldn’t have told me that.

matt nappo 6:51
Right? But it those times was so different in music and everything. And it’s the record company, the record industry was so different. So wasn’t what we did was not something that ever be envious.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 7:05
It is. It’s never not interesting. I can’t stop reading about the 50s and the 60s and the mobs and the craziness. I got so many, you know, when I was in at the end of high school, I mean, I was I was salivating for the young rascals. And now those guys are my friends. You know, I still can’t I still can’t wrap my head around that. You know, I mean, it’s interesting stuff. Yeah, the

matt nappo 7:28
part in the book about Leslie West, I get that you were kind of starstruck by him. I remember seeing him as a teenager at UBS ot days you remember that one?

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 7:40
You be UBS? It

matt nappo 7:42
was a Long Island Club. It was on Sunrise Highway.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 7:46
Guys the name but you know, in those days, the South Shore might as well been Pluto. Right? You know, we’ve got trunk locally, and then defied our ride home. And then in the 70s, our bands played I think, massive people was as far south as we gotten. That was a straight shot. It wasn’t towards the city or towards you know, yeah. And to be careful, you know,

matt nappo 8:06
yeah, I get it. And so, but I did want to talk about there’s so much in the book I want to talk about, but we only have an hour here. But the first it starts with this whole idea that you might be somehow related to

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 8:21
we finally we finally got DNA. And I’m not gonna go too much into it. But the way they found out that Jefferson had sired kids with Sally Hemings, his African American slave was he didn’t have any kids himself. And his father only had him so that we had, they had to go to his grandfather and his grandfather’s brother, and then take the DNA down the line from that night. And that’s the route we wound up taking, not going to Roosevelt’s father, but his father’s brothers, kids and all the way down to, uh, Roosevelt in Texas, and finally found DNA and it didn’t match. But the thing is, in those days, if there was a rumor, there was a rumor, there’s no way anybody was proven anything. And it was it was my great grandfather, and he worked at Sagamore Hill for years. And my grandmother was his oldest daughter, and eight kids. And he went to Washington with Teddy, and then stay there until, you know, 1916 You know, I mean, even, you know, long after Teddy had left. But recently, something I found, which I’ll send you is the letters that Teddy wrote to my great grandfather telling him I need you in Washington. And him saying, Well, I can’t come right now. I can come in a month, which is a beginning. Roosevelt. They made Roosevelt presidents because McKinley died. So Roosevelt ran to Washington, and he wrote to my great grandfather and said, Frank, I need you down here. You know, I’m president, and he said, Well, Mr. President, I’ll get Then what can I say? What? If that’s not proof that he’s my relative? You got to read out, you got to see how it reads it reads from 1900. Like, it is not in my best interest to come now. However, in a month, it shall be in my best interest. I’ll email you. You’ll go crazy. So always easily proud found that it’s not true. So what are you?

matt nappo 10:22
What are you disappointed to find out that came back? No, because

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 10:25
because the cell could have been some monkey monkey business along the way, you know, everybody fooled around with everybody. And all it took was, you know, one guy making a mistake or one woman stepping out, and that would have broke the chain. So, you know, I’m not my my cousin, John Hammonds, the town historian, and he absolutely is, I mean, the way it lines up. I mean, there’s no reason for a kid to be born in Maine, and show up 25 years later, working for the governor of the New York City in his mansion, you know, I just, you know, just knock on the door and say, Hi, Mr. Vanderbilt, you need any help you

matt nappo 11:04
get it. So, in preparation for this Mike’s in who works for the production company that that is doing a podcast tonight that premiering tonight called stand up memories and let me bring that up for people. Now. He we were discussing you and I said I could swear that Jackie got to start at a place called Richard M. Dixon’s White House. And he’s like, really, I never heard of that place. I was like, You never heard you’re from Long Island. And you don’t know Richard M. Dixon. You know,

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 11:33
it’s what there’s so many things that when you get past. I mean, you go up to a kid and say, Hey, did you ever see Jay Leno? And they’ll say, Jay Leno, who’s that? Not even who’s Johnny Carson? Like, who’s Jay Leno? You got to realize this stuff floats away. It’s funny. I have a gig on February 18. That my father’s what used to be, you must have heard my father’s place and 100 times. So so. So epi moved. He’s still the exact same guy. He moved to the Roslyn hotel, and recently lost the gig. But I just got booked there with the new Booker and we’re talking about him and I was telling them that EPI is the reason I’m a comedian because my band was playing at my father’s place. And epi so cheap. It was a big deal for our little group to play at my father’s place. So we went for our soundcheck and epi had booked the gong show auditions for Channel Seven TV and we couldn’t do our soundcheck. So I’m watching The Gong Show auditions and I see this guy’s that I’m funnier than this guy. And after I said, Hey, how’d you get to be a comic? He said, I had cards printed up. And he showed me his card. And he said, You know what, let me stay around. And he watched my band. He said, Man, you are so funny. Why don’t you come over and rich in Dixon’s White House in so I went to Dixon’s and Eddie Murphy was there and Rob Bartlett and Dave Hawthorne, and Bob Nelson and me and Minervini all these guys. And then Dixon wouldn’t pay anybody. So me and Richie started a show in Huntington. And I created my dirty joke line 516922 wine to promote that show. And it was such a success and actually lasted 15 years every Tuesday night. At this place in Huntington on the corner and 25 A and one US Route 110 And that grew into the Eastside comedy club. So appies ly grew into the Long Island comedy scene, which is just such a great store.

matt nappo 13:35
Yeah. But also, I think everybody could the story of how your comedy career evolved from your music career. And Ritchie telling you a little fib about the Rodney Dangerfield thing. And that’s great. And then you writing the jokes for him now, I think I’m until I read the book. I had no idea that you were the credit behind the two bagger joke. Everybody I know has told that to bag a joke just thinking that it was Rodney original. And we all got it from Rodney. Well,

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 14:11
it wasn’t a Rodney original. But it wasn’t a Jackie original. It’s it’s an old southern expression, which I didn’t know I just this is a true story. I lived at my grandmother’s house. And I this was probably in the book and the phone rang late at night. And nobody had this number one my buddy who was in Peru, doing coke and selling coke. He said chief You gotta listen to the funniest thing I ever heard. There’s a guy down here called Tennessee Bob and he told me about the Tennessee two bagger. And he told me that I wrote it down. And then when Richie told me his lie, I sent Rodney six pages of jokes. And that was one of the jokes on there. Now when you get to know the comedy business, the comedy writing business is very, very little that’s brand new everything is what fits where you’re going to a movie. You know, there’ll be a great joke in a movie, and everybody will love it. But I’ll know where that came from. Because it was a simple twist. It’s just setting something the exact right place. Now that jokes funny enough on its own, but my god that was made for Rodney, you know what I mean? That fits in like a glove. But if you look around you find all the jokes, you know, if there was ever a joke, that sounds like it was created specifically for Rodney because he’s so down and out and so beat up. He says, hey, you know, my wife, I don’t know how I’m doing. I don’t know, Johnny, you know, my wife coming down to twice a week. That’s nothing. Some guys she cut out all together, which is very funny. But I’m reading gursha unlikeness book, and that’s from the Civil War. And it was about rationing. You know, they’re rationing cigarettes, and they’re rationing booze and said, Yeah, my wife even cut me down and twice a week. In other guys is yellow. Some guys, she cut out all together. That’s nine. That’s 1861 You know what I mean? And that, that probably came from the Roman legions, you know, they all of these things have been around forever. And never, never never, which is when you study. It’s just fascinating. Just fascinating. Yeah.

matt nappo 16:22
That is interesting. Because you’re known as this guy with an encyclopedic knowledge of jokes, and so forth. But I’m just wondering, when you were a musician and focusing on guitar playing and getting a Fender Rhodes and whatever, changing your sound and all that stuff, and just focused on the music, were you this guy who just read joke books all the time. I mean, when

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 16:44
I was I was, I have never been any different than I always was. I heard her jokes when I was a kid. And they stuck to my mind. Because I’m a mechanical engineer. I’m pretty smart. And the jokes just stuck with me. And I told them to people, and they laughed. And when they laughed, I remembered them. And I would tell jokes, and I would get joke books when I was a kid in school. If you bought Catcher in the Rye, I got Charlie’s best jokes. You know what I mean? It was one of those things. And I told jokes. And listen, the main thing was not joke books. When I was listening. I listened to every drunk at every party, every pot party, every every bar, I was always the last one standing, you know, telling jokes and remembering them. And in 1975, when I was in my band, we told jokes in between. I mostly told the jokes, but we told jokes in between songs, which I had done in high school, and which I had done in college. to the consternation of every I mean, my college band, we’re playing Rolling Stones, like we play Gimme Shelter. And then I tell a dick joke. People like, what is going on? You know, it just didn’t fit, but I couldn’t not do it. Because I’m so used to stay in the bar telling a joke to two people in us 350 people. And I just told the jokes and told the jokes. But it wasn’t by design. Let me go learn some jokes, because I want to be a comedian. It was just so organic. And there’s nothing I enjoy more than telling somebody a joke. I want somebody to react like I just punched him in the stomach. That’s how hard I want to laugh. When people say you tell dirty jokes. That’s because that’s what people laugh at that they it’s the breaking of the tension that makes up and funny. And anything about sex or crap, or vomit or get you know, that’s much more tension and much bigger laugh, you know, and when I realized I couldn’t do what music, I’m allowed to take these jokes that I’ve accumulated over the years, just tried telling him on stage and, and it worked, you know,

matt nappo 18:48
so but when Rodney called you for that, two weeks, that kind of was a big change in your life. We doing a lot of stand up and it seemed like you would do more writing for him then actually go no,

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 19:01
no, no, no, I I sent him so much. But he took so little. And you know everybody, like my friend Dennis Blair was with him for like five years. He just his dream was to write a joke that would somehow make it into Rodney Zack, and it wasn’t easy, because you know, it was so you know, leather clad. And what happened was I wasn’t even a comic. When we were fooling around. I didn’t even know what to do. I maybe climbed on stages catch a rising star a couple of times. And I had just met Richie, Richie Minervini. And, you know, we’re all trying to figure out what he like we’re doing little tiny gigs. Like, you know, I had my guitar amp and me and I’m playing songs and telling jokes in a club. And the guys are showing up just to get stage time because there’s no place besides Dixon’s White House in and people are hungry to get on stage to see what they can do like Eddie Murphy showed up and Bob Nelson you know they get the fire for 10 minutes, and when Richie told me that he had been on a danger fields, that was a huge deal because we weren’t doing clubs we weren’t doing the one anyplace to do it. And I was so jealous that’s when I gave all those pages. And and when he said he didn’t have a connection to Rodney I sent him to Rodney Rodney called me up. It was such a big deal to go meet him at Westbury music fair, but I wasn’t really a comic. I still had a ponytail and blue jeans. You know, he like What the What is this Jesus Christ. And then I always count my beginning of that was in the when would that had to be like 1978 When I was at my grandma’s Yes, like a winter of 78. And I always count my time in comedy is there’s always a starting gun. And I say it was January 79. When I first got paid by Vic at the rainy night house. What I say is it’s the first time I got paid for telling jokes, and playing the guitar, as opposed to playing the guitar and telling jokes. Now you know what I’m talking about two different things. And right away right away, we’re killing it this place cinnamon with these Tuesday night shows. So I’ve already been a musician. I worked in a recording studio, so I knew how to record so I had microphones hanging all the time. So we started doing these shows on Tuesday nights, I had microphones hanging, and I decided I just decided to make an album. So I made an album out of a cassette. I had the best cassettes I had the crowd on the left side and Jackie on the right side and I mixed them onto a two track tape. I knew I could have an album because I had worked in a recording studio, the average person had no idea. If you want to have a record, it’s like baking a cake. You need to tape you need a couple pictures and you need a few dollars. Right and you send it away and you get it but nobody knows that. It’s like this. It’s like Zana Do you know? I knew six months later, I wrote to Ronnie said, Hey, look at this, I got an album. And he says, oh,

matt nappo 22:05
any references to that in the book were guys to just it just didn’t occur to him how real not. It takes hard work. It takes a bit of work. And you certainly did hustle and put that work into I’m not diminishing that. But how simple it is to really record it. Now a lot of colleagues, it just never dawned on them how simple it is just record what

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 22:24
it’s like, not knowing that you can go to the store to buy hamburger. Nobody ever tells you you wouldn’t do it. And then you see somebody to hamburgers. Like how did you do that? Well, I went to the store and bought some chopped meat, you know? It’s it’s, it’s absurd. But it’s like anything if you don’t know what you don’t know what knowledge is power, you know, you wouldn’t believe man you would not believe. For the first however, long time I stand at the door after the shows that we did. And I sell my albums for $5. And the guys used to goof on me you wouldn’t believe how they would make fun to me. And then one day somebody said, Wait a minute. We made $40 and Marlin made an extra 80 bucks selling his stupid albums. Maybe, maybe he knows what he’s doing. You know, it’s insane.

matt nappo 23:13
And the albums were pivotal in the part of your career that most people who are not from Long Island know you from most of all, and that is to how it’s done.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 23:24
I wish I wish that he had to put in the movie. My introduction to him because that would put me on the moon. I put out an album and then I made a second album. And then they made the third album. So by 1982 I had three Jackie the joke man Marlon comedy albums, which was a big deal. It really wasn’t. I made one so I made another so I made another it’s like Ikea the second and third things are easier. You don’t I mean, and nobody, like it was unheard of. It was like I made an album and everybody else got the idea. Nobody even thought about doing it was years and years before people even having cassettes. You know why? When I ran governors comedy shop, I had a cassette player and the people who come and work the club and I put in a 90 minute cassette and I’d record Friday night first show, flip it over into Friday night second show and then Saturday and I everybody that worked the club walked away with two cassettes with all for this shows. And it was like gold. I saw Carol leave for a couple years ago she had Jackie I still got my governance cassette it’s it’s my prized possession. You know, she’s the girl that Elaine was was and I just always did that. And all sudden this guy says yeah, this guy Howard Stern got fired and he’s coming in New York. And I didn’t I had no idea who he was when I sent my three comedy albums. He doesn’t know what’s anybody know this guy’s got three albums. He must be somebody he must be a top guy. You know, like, like, Bill Cosby is not going to send him his album and Jordan Carlin’s not going to send him his album. You know, because they, they actually had albums with a record company in the deal. I’m just the guy that got the made via hold them next to each other. One doesn’t jump out at the other, dude. I mean, it’s like, you know, and when he got the three albums, they were impressive. And if they did nothing else for me, from the word go, if they did nothing, except have him call me, it was worth all the sweat all the blood, sweat and tears.

matt nappo 25:34
And part of that when he was introducing you as one of the top comics in New York, all of a sudden, you are elevated in people’s minds, because he had great listening with his 50,000 Watt station beyond New York, everybody listening to that, all of a sudden, you’re elevated to the guys like who were the kings of the comedy clubs in New York at that time. So you

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 25:56
know, when he first started saying, we got with us today, I want to buy new york’s top comics. I want to correct him in my mind, and I said, Shut up. You know, that’s his opinion. He doesn’t he but he doesn’t know that I’m not. Right. You know, and, and what yardstick anyway, I was a guy, you know, hosting the shows in Levittown on Long Island, right? No, but the guys had come in. And you know, pretty soon people were begging, you know, I asked so many comics to come on that show. And they’d say, what’s it pay? I said, What’s it pay? It’s 50,000 watts of a guy telling your name to the tri state area. Guys, they just don’t get it. They just don’t get it. Jack, I can’t believe I turned down on The Howard Stern Show in 1985. You know?

matt nappo 26:46
Yeah. And basically you work for five bucks at Richard M. Dixons, you’re going to worry about what getting paid from you

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 26:53
know, it’s it’s almost not believable, but it just happens to be the truth.

matt nappo 26:58
Yeah, I need you to clear something up for me because I Okay, thank you. Can we get a picture of it? Wait, we got a picture of Willie here. I attached it to Willie. Right.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 27:11
All areas.

matt nappo 27:13
Um, I talked to a lot of Howard Stern fans who’ve been fans of his back to the ATM days and and continued to this day to listen to him. And I mentioned that already wrote the foreword for your book. And in the foreword that already says that he never engaged in bashing Jackie, when the other people would would do that after you were gone. And everybody said no, it was definitely in the mix on that Jackie bashing stuff. What’s your take on it? What’s true? It was a Jackie basher? Oh, no,

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 27:49
I never. I never listened to the show. When I was on it. I never listened to the show. When we went on vacation. I never listened the show after I left. I have never listened to that show ever, which is so many people say oh, your bullshit. You go there. I’m like, Why would I lie about that? Those big those skin off my nose? Like that’s not me. I don’t I wouldn’t listen, if it made me laugh, I would have felt bad. If it didn’t make me laugh. I would have been trying to think what I could do for it. So I had no idea. rd and his friends used to come and see me at rascals. And he even says that my documentary. And they were big fans. He was you know, they he was a great guy. And I knew him not well, but I knew of him and he came on the show at North McDonald. But after I left the show, it wasn’t like we it was I handed him the baton. He didn’t come on the show till like eight months after I left. They tried all kinds of different guys and stuff. And I so nobody ever said that me rd was giving me a hard time or the Scott, you know, people would always tell me that stuttering John was was really crappy to me. And then I see him on you know, and baby on ba Doom, buddy, you know, but I also know that, you know, everybody struggles for airtime. And if you say if you start saying what a nice guy Jackie, is your microphones going off? You know? Did Frd bash me? Maybe that I? I kind of don’t think so. But maybe he did. He might have been so high. He didn’t even know he did. I don’t care. He’s just he’s just a really good guy. He did my documentary. I did his direct TV show three times. I did his podcast three times. I did his new podcast about a month ago. He’s a real good cat. And I have never had a problem with him ever. And it’s so funny because so many emails from people over the last 20 years or 15 years or whatever it is, you know, hey, I It looks like you and I already have friends again. I’m like, because there’s such misconception that he wrestled me out of that chair. You know what I mean? It’s but once people have this, you know, there’s still people think I’m cheap is the I see people and they say you want me to buy a drink. I know you won’t buy me one you No, there’s still yell at me to pay back Rodney that I never owned them. All the things that Howard carved in stone. I don’t even get mad at it because it’s just a testament to his sales power. I mean, he could drive something home he could, if anybody could convince the world that the earth is flat, Howard could have done it.

matt nappo 30:20
Right. There’s so many things I want to touch on there. But first of all, you know, I

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 30:25
will tell you if we, if we don’t get everything done, I’ll do this with you anytime in a week in a month, six months, because I love talking about this stuff. People say, Oh, I know you’re sick. I never get sick of talking about this ever. Because it’s interesting.

matt nappo 30:38
Yeah, it is to everybody. I think now. And Matt,

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 30:42
I get, I never, I never make stuff up. I only tell the truth. And it’s really good for me to get the truth. And my side of the story out because it was a lot so many misconceptions. The whole thing about me having a sex change, I gotta tell you right now, that’s only partially.

matt nappo 31:03
I was sure that one was real. But misconceptions, that the idea can you talk about this in the book that you were writing the funniest stuff that Howard said, I think you think that people didn’t know that? I think from my perspective, it was common knowledge that that that Jackie was slipping.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 31:24
That’s the circle that you’re in. That’s the circle you traveled, you probably traveled with musicians, and funny people and showbiz people that are hip to it. But that’s not even I was I was I went to see the sub dudes at the Iridium about 15 years ago, sitting there. My girlfriend couldn’t come so I love these guys. So I’m watching this guy sitting across from me in the table is a you jackass? And yeah, yeah, I don’t know. Yeah, I’m a camera, man. You know, NBC TV, whatever it was. He was somebody in the throes of showbusiness and we start talking. And we get talking. He had no idea. And this is a guy in showbusiness in the throes in the guts of the operations. But it’s, it’s not stupidity, who thinks about it? Right? You don’t watch Johnny Carson and say, Wow, I wonder who wrote that monologue joke? Who cares? You’re laughing, you’re enjoying yourself. You’re not there to work. And he was so surprised. And it’s it’s so funny. I know. I’m sure you know, the chapter in the book. We’re done. Del Louisa was blown away. And Bruce Jenner had no idea what I was doing. Right? That was such an A B situation. So many people so many people had absolutely no idea and so many people it was just as obvious as the day was long. You know,

matt nappo 32:50
Bruce actually I’m this is was hard for me to wrap my head around Bruce actually believe that you were just writing the time down. And

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 32:58
he was he didn’t know he just he was sitting next to me. But he wasn’t watching. So what? What what do you keep writing? I tell Howard what time it is. And he says, That’s what I thought. Every couple of minutes. I could have been saying 10 minutes. So commercial, you know, I’m trying to cut him a break here as opposed to you moron wants you to have your penis cut off.

matt nappo 33:22
Well, I was I was trying to explain to my wife your situation last night that 20 years ago, you walked away from a job that was paying $600,000 A year and or just about $600 $600,000 a year? And she said, How can anybody do that? Why would anybody do that? And I was trying to explain that you were part of something that was probably bringing in $500 million a year. And

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 33:51
everyone was it was so staggering. I what I walked away from was 650. And with with bumps for the next, you know, for the for the five years, and I was making five at the time and even more with the show and whatever. But yeah, like, you know, people say, Oh, you’re making so much money for a writer. I said, I wasn’t a writer. It’s like telling Ringo, you make a lot of money for a drummer. I’m not a drummer. I’m a drummer in the Beatles, right? You don’t I mean, it was like, but nobody else would would. There was not a peep out of anybody. So as the only bird screaming for another warm, which made me look, you know, it’s so funny because how everybody called me cheap, is making $50 million a year and I’m asking for more money so I’m cheap. You know, he sold it. He some people never even people like oh, you know, I never thought of that. You know?

matt nappo 34:48
Right and but he did the same thing with holding out for more money and be right before you did was

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 34:55
to wait two weeks before. We didn’t know if we’re coming back from Christmas. Yeah, we have no idea because he’s holding that, you know, it’s, you know, it’s all Animal Farm. You know, we become what will you barking? You know, you can’t hold out for more money hold on be right with the I gotta I gotta go hold out for more money. Jesus,

matt nappo 35:17
right bottom line there Do you have any regrets about not signing on with their management team and being part of that original?

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 35:25
No, you know, after after it was gone, I wrote to him said I would really like to be on the show if you want to have me back because it wasn’t the money or the fame but I’ll tell you what you miss is sitting in a room with three or four other really funny people for five hours and laughing five days a week that is not something found in in, in in the world. That’s just not something that exists. And I just love that and I was in withdrawal as far as sign with Don Buchwald i Not in a million, not with a gun to my head. You know, I I remember the day after we went to moorings, Howard said, Hey, I got some great news for you, Don’s gonna represent you. And right away, I said no, you know, K rock gives Don money. He gives most of it to Howard. Some of what’s left, he gets to Robin, and then a little bit of what’s left, he gets the fret, I’m going to be the fourth worm. I mean, the fourth little chicken deal with his mouth open waiting to get fed. You know, I mean, he’s got, there’s no way Fred could ever ask for a raise, because Don would have to go in and negotiate with Don. Right. You know, it’s like, take what, take what I’m handing you and be glad you know. And it just seemed like such like my cousin Craig was it was almost a professional baseball players AAA a long time. And he said, an agent couldn’t have two players on the same team. Right? Can’t say yeah, I’ll give you Phil resuable. But you got to sign Tony kubek to you that that’s not fair. Yeah, that’s nice. 1950s baseball reference. But but you know, it’s it just it just felt wrong. Felt weird, you know? Yeah. Sticky. You know,

matt nappo 37:12
right. You mentioned the Beatles. And I do think you guys were the Beatles of radio. I mean, the biggest sensation in radio ever to happen. But no, for

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 37:25
years. For years. I don’t mean the day for years. They broke my balls for coining that for daring to call us the Beatles a radio. Howard hated that and probably still hates it, because that infers that it’s a group, right, that we the rest of us have something to do with it. Yeah, him to him. It’s James Taylor with a backup band. Not entirely true. It just, you know, I tell people, people say all you wrote everything Howard said, No, I didn’t. I didn’t. I wrote some of it. I wrote some funny stuff. So did Fred. But I always use the same analogies if you’re a sprinter. And you run the 100 yard dash and 9.8 I know what the times are now. 9.8 You’re world class. Right? If you run it in 9.9. I mean, if you run nine, nine, you’re world class, if you weren’t 9.8. You break all records that ever work. And that only takes a little bit of wind in your back. And that’s what I was. And that’s what Fred was a little winged in his back. He just, it just rose him above. above everybody else, you know, where somebody else would say something funny. He’d say something funny, and then something funnier, and then something funnier. And, and the great thing was, he was a guy with three different senses of humor, his and mine and Fred’s. But they were all completely different. And one, just three minds work and fast. It was three completely different minds work and fast. So the jokes were from everywhere, like Fred was from Pluto, and I was from punch lines. And Howard was from this broad observation. And it was like coming at you from all sides. It was like it would it would freak people out. You say something really brightened in the stupidest, childless thing in the world which Chuck’s juxtapositions are just just make it just make good good. Good, good radio and great, great comedy. People love it, you know?

matt nappo 39:30
Now my take on that is Howard was always naturally funny, but what you gave to him and what the illusion that he was witty, and his sister even makes that comment in your book. Well, Howard, when did you become so witty? I think and quick with a and that people got the perception, I think and you gave him that it on top of what he already had with observational humor and that kind of stuff and outrageousness. But you gave him this air of being witty and quick and I think that’s the greatest Give you gave them does he any way and now that he’s changed and been through psychotherapy even acknowledged that in any way,

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 40:08
you know, supposedly him and Robin, everybody went around and made up with everybody not made up but apologizer what was did this and did that. And you know, I mean, he had a world war with Chevy Chase, and now it’s his best buddy. And he never, I mean, he always acknowledged to me, you know, but he, he’s never said, you know, I wouldn’t be where I am today, if it wasn’t Jack, you know, forget about anything like that, you know, it’s, it’s, I tell people, he was driving the bus. So he couldn’t read the map. But he’s driving the bus. So I can look at the map. And I can say, you know, it’d be really funny if we took a quick ride on the Smith Street. You know what I mean? It was like, you couldn’t do both. And like a piano. It’s such a Yeah, I can’t believe that. I put out that book. And I had a whole extra book, a whole book full of chapters that didn’t make it into the book. And I didn’t put in the chapter, about the making of private parts, which had it had every complaint had them leaving me out them under paying me them not giving me credit them hiding stuff, them leaving me out it that’s a whole book in itself. I can’t believe that didn’t make it in. And it was just, they were gonna do a movie. And it wasn’t gonna have me in it. And I don’t think it was gonna have Fred in it.

matt nappo 41:42
Right? He was still there in that cuz

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 41:46
they scrapped it? No, no, this is this is we’re at K rock, and they’re working on a movie. And um, they’re in the foxhole, right. And I know that they’re all going to the production company, and I’m adamant, and then they scrapped the whole movie. And what they did was they came up with a format that would enable them to never have to show me handing me Howard a note. We watch private parts, I come in at the end, like they already went to Pluto. And I just happened to step on the bus as they pulled into Pluto. Now, this is Jackie, our newest member, and you know, if he even if he hadn’t held up my items at Jackie sent me these albums, I would have been a hero. You

matt nappo 42:27
know, it seems like the only time he ever used the kill switch was to hide the fact that you delete it passing him notes. Right.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 42:36
Is the that whole story about Fred would Elton John, is that what you’re talking about? Yeah, that’s such a God knows. God knows how many times he did that. Gary actually told me about that. And you want it’s one of the things you wouldn’t know it when you’re looking for it. Yeah, you see it, you know, and but you know that I don’t fault them. Because it’s either the tiger if he if that wasn’t him? That wouldn’t be him. Right. You know, you, you know, people are what they are. You know, you don’t get to be Howard Stern. Unless you’re Howard Stern. You know, which so I, you know, people say Oh, Jackie does podcasts and all you can eat can’t wait to bitch and moan and bash Howard. I have never bashed them at all. I will tell the truth and say I pass a lot of notes. And I’ll tell stories of things that happen. But that’s not bashing. That’s funny. You know, people tell stories about me. And I tell stories about Gary. And you know, it’s all fair game, you know?

matt nappo 43:40
Absolutely. I can say unequivocally there’s no Howard bashing in the book. It’s basically you point out some real behaviors, but never once did you say you know how it’s a bad guy because of this, but I think you’re getting some of the dirt. Because stuttering John is that his entire career now is based on Howard bashing. So when people see

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 44:01
told me that people have told us they probably assume that’s what I’m doing.

matt nappo 44:04
Exactly. That was my point that so and he’s not the only one a lot of people who were lower on the on the totem pole than you were on at that Howard Stern Show who now are resent Howard even though he’s the only reason anybody even knows who they are. They’re making their living completely by bashing him. So people just assume you’re out there. And if you mentioned how it’s done, you must be one of these guys who was making his living now bashing me while I was a

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 44:31
comic for a long time before I met him. And you know, I I got really lucky in comedy I really may never become as well known comic as I did, being on the show. But I don’t know I wouldn’t be there is a famous story about Hillary, that Hillary Clinton was getting gas. And somebody said, Hey, you did pretty good. You know. Marin, the president, you’re married to the president United States. That’s pretty Cool, you know, hey, what about what have you? What have you married to a guy who owned a gas station? And Hillary said, Then he’d be president. You know, think about like, it’s not like if I hadn’t met Howard, I would have sat in the corner and twiddle my thumbs. Yeah, I would have kept sending my crap and send them my crap until I bumped into you, you know what I mean? Like, who knows?

matt nappo 45:23
My biggest takeaway from the book, and I’m gonna show the book again, here for a second, my biggest takeaway from the book is a line that you you’re using there, and it’s a cliche kind of, but it’s absolutely true. And in your case, this is what I my, my big takeaway from the book is, the harder you work, the luckier you get. And it’s a really important message. I think anybody in the creative watch, can learn that much from that book, in the stories in the book, it’s worth the investment, you know,

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 45:49
the whole world. I mean, that’s, you know, it’s the right place at the right time. The secret is the being a lot of places, then there’s going to be a time, you know, it’s, I let you know, I just I just through the way that the end of the Howard Stern first chapter about Howard, in the book, I said, you know, for all those years, I just threw crap against the wall, and with the Howard Stern Show my crap stuck to the wall, which is the same thing, you know, you just, you just keep at it, and keep at it and keep at it, you know, I worked so hard, and was I just did everything I could to get Pinnacle books to put out a joke book. And I was relentless and relentless and relentless. And finally Larry Wylde left to go to a different company. And I wrote and said, guys, Larry Wild Swan put out my book and they wrote, I swear to God, they wrote back like, alright, Jackie, alright, enough, we’ll put out your book. And the minute that they said yes to publishing my book, all the work and all the begging and all the crap I went through, melted away. I was a guy who had a book deal, and nobody had to know that I didn’t just write and say, Hey, I got a book and that they said, Fine, right? Nobody, nobody has to know you know, Madonna slept on the floor, a rock trying to get a records played. Who cares? You know, she got her records played, obviously, you know?

matt nappo 47:10
Yeah. Now, the joke. Before you were even on how it stands out, I knew who you were. And I think most people on Long Island knew you from the joke line. Now. I was curious about this. Was it before phone sex? Did you get the joke line before phone sex was the big rage thing? And we know

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 47:28
I gotta believe that the minute Alexander Graham Bell invented the phone somebody was doing breathing heavy into it. But you know that nothing to do with phone sex? And funny because to this day, I don’t think myself I’ve ever done it. Bone sex, but no, and it wasn’t. And people used to say, Oh, wow, you must have got really rich with those 800 numbers. And with those with that 800 line, I said it wasn’t an 800 line. It was my mother’s house. Five would cost me for every line. I attend lines. I’ve been paying for it for 43 years. You people that don’t know it’s 516-922-9463, which is 516922 wine. And we’re starting the show in Huntington and we had no money. I said, How are we going to promote the show? I got the bright idea. I’ll get a phone line. I’ll tell a joke. And then say what tonight we’re at cinnamons in Huntington and tell him another joke, which is basic. That’s television. That’s radio, you know, little material a little bit advertising, a little material, little advertising. And it just caught on like wildfire. And the stories go on. And on the first time. We were on the road, I think in Los Angeles at one of those radio conventions where everybody’s sitting around the circle. And Rick Rubin, you know, Rick Rubin? Yeah, he sat down across from us. It’s like 1988, or something. And the first thing he said, he pointed out and said, Jackie, I went to Long Beach High School, and I called Nine to two wine every morning before school. He’s a pretty major guy, you know, I’ve been doing for the last 20 years trying to get him to admit that he said that, because that’s a nice, that’s a nice little promotion, you know,

matt nappo 49:13
but it was extremely inventive idea for you. And because nobody else had done that, at least to my knowledge ever before. So it’s just like, you know

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 49:22
what’s so funny? There it is, again, there’s the exact same thing. I went and bought some hamburger meat made the hamburger and they said, How’d you do that? What’s more obvious than, you know what happened was they invented answering machines. So instead of calling up and having me say I’m not home, leave me a message. I’m saying, This is Jackie. And as long as you’re on the phone, I’ve got your trap. Let me tell you a joke. And then let me tell you where I’m working. It. It really is such a simple, simple concept. Oh, they already did have dial a joke. So I can’t take the credit for you know, the idea of jokes on the phone. But, but once again, but that was Donald. So that was New York City. That was George Carlin having an album that’s Robert Klein having an album that’s not a guy in Oyster Bay with a phone line with an answering machine, you know, though, it was a whole, a whole dumbed down situation, you know, it’s like, it was like going local, which always works, you know? Yeah. So fun, you know,

matt nappo 50:24
and part of the book for stand up comedians, people who are doing it now, there’s so much cool history in there. And I do have a lot of stand ups in in my listening audience. And if you would, because everybody is familiar with the comedy condo the idea of a comedy condo, very few people have any idea where it came from, if

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 50:46
you know what I don’t even know, I don’t even know if the guy’s like the early comic strip guys. I’ve never really sat and had the conversation with the guy. The guy I’m doing the podcast with, which is how I got to know you Peter bales was actually one of the early guys Peter bales used to come to see my band at a place called rumrunners Oyster Bay. And he come over from Locust Valley, because on Tuesday nights, all the local girls were there and they were drunk, an Oyster Bay girls that you know, would round heels that would bang anybody that sneezed. So he would come over there and he liked my band. He noticed I told jokes, and then we start doing the show and cinnamon. And he would drive out from the comic strip, you know, with Cairoli for and Dennis wolfberg and recover to the nice people, because they’re coming to Huntington and getting paid 40 or 50 bucks and getting drunk and getting stoned and get laid as opposed to running from catch a rising star to the improv and getting the hamburger. So everybody loved it. And then the fort Lord, I mean, the comic strip got syndicated Richie put the comic strip in Fort Lauderdale. And any got a condo for the comics, a beautiful condo and they was so out of control that they got kicked out of the building. I think in a month, it might have been less than a month. And he rented some, you know, shoddy house and they moved into the house. But it just became the comedy condo which was kind of like in quotes, you know, like can’t yet right. You know what I mean? Yeah. And it’s an in the early days like there were times you went work the gig like in in Richmond, Virginia, where you stayed on a waitresses couch. But that was the comedy condo, which is just so fun. And you know, it’s funny now, it wasn’t funny when you’re, you know, trying to rationalize. I’m 34 years old. I’m sleeping on a couch right now. I’m really in showbusiness, you know,

matt nappo 52:48
yeah. And we won’t we recently did a podcast on it. And they were friends of Andy Andrews, who were talking about the you know, his what His room was really a when the Japanese room divided type.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 53:01
Right, right. Right is every everything you could possibly imagine.

matt nappo 53:05
Yeah. But now it’s a staple. So and so you actually. And I was talking about this before you seen the evolution of, you know, comedy clubs. La had, you know, the Comedy Store in New York had Caroline’s and so forth. And Dangerfield, of course, and the Fort Lauderdale scene. But comedy clubs were not a thing nationwide. And that was

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 53:28
the Comedy Store in LA. And new was the improv in Manhattan, and then kept rising star. The Comic Strip actually was much later. And that’s right when I came aboard. But it was was very slow going, you know, I mean, there just weren’t a lot of people. Because there weren’t any comics were COVID and said to me one day said, you know, there’s only 150 of us. And he said, think about that. He said, right, probably in New York City alone is probably, you know, 5000 brain surgeons, and there’s only 150 of us. And I was so excited. He even clued me in the US. But now there’s 150,000. Comedians, right, you know, it’s like anybody, you know, oh, look, comedy tonight. Well, let me stop in there and see if I can go on, you know, so it’s just gotten really, you know, it’s almost like any, anybody can walk on to Yankee Stadium and play shortstop for anything, which is not really how it should be, you know?

matt nappo 54:27
Yeah. So your podcast is launching tonight at 7pm. It’s, I’m imagining it’s pre recorded. It’s not when

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 54:34
it’s pre recorded. It’s probably live already. I haven’t looked. For whatever reason I haven’t looked. It’s stand up memories.com either with or without the hyphen, stand up memories.com patients in a website, and then you can go to YouTube, or, or Spotify. I don’t know. However, the you know, they always say most of the same stations. You know, I’ve never gotten that crap straight. But tonight, we’re actually going to be on YouTube. Live, and we’re going to watch it and watch the people comment. I already called Gold. Michaels in I said, be ready because this is this is where the stern haters come out. You know, there’ll be one guy saying, oh, Jackie, I love you and 90 people saying he owes Rodney Mone bashes Howard, he’s a piece of crap. You know, but you know that you, you just, you laugh it off and then you walk away and you know, it irks. Yeah.

matt nappo 55:29
Yeah, no, I get it. And that sucks. I mean, that this, the internet is just made for trolling. Man.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 55:34
I’ll tell you the one thing I love. I love having my book out. You wouldn’t believe how many people have written to me or email me or said to me, Holy mackerel that your book opened my eyes. I didn’t know any of that stuff. Probably never thought about it. And it’s so funny because a year or two ago, I got a huge bump in sales. And the publisher called me up and said, What did you do? What show did you go on? You know what? You know, what do you what do you do? Yeah, I went on my blog. And and then I realized what happened was Howard put out a book. Oh, yeah. If you buy a book on Amazon, underneath it says people who bought this book, also bought this book. Yeah, they already got their mouse out. They already got the credit card there. And with one click, they got my book to $15 So I got a huge bump in sales was Howard never said to his audience, Jackie has a book out or were don’t even if he said don’t buy Jackie’s book people go what book, you know, people had no idea, right? So it’s been an uphill battle trying to get it sold. But you know, but about

matt nappo 56:40
the book I could, I didn’t want to talk just a little bit more about the podcast, but about the book, you wrote a memoir, you’re still young, young enough that you have big things ahead of you. And they got to be another, a follow up, right? Because you’re not done. Usually people write their memoirs when they’re done.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 56:58
I wrote, I wrote enough for two books. So I have a whole if you really didn’t read the book, I’m going to send you the unpublished book. There’s a whole nother books worth the chapters. But I can’t even tell you like even if I retired from everything right now I got more stories coming out of my ears, you know, I just look around in my head, you should come visit my office, you’d get a kick out of it. But I look at my office and I see you know a cell of the Flintstones with me on stage in Blackrock or whatever it is in me with Keith Richards and Les Paul and and joke man plates and martling street and all the times I was on stern and all the all the notes from Rodney in the cartoon by Don Martin just at random looking. And all of those things lead that incredibly fun, eclectic, stupids, maybe not especially knockdown drag out funny. But interesting stuff, how things lead to other things. And I just, I never get sick of that. So yeah, no, I’m gonna, I’m gonna keep writing. You know, I just I wrote a whole long story the other day, just because if you see somebody you haven’t seen in a long time, and they say, Oh, I’m friends with so and so. You want to tell so and so the story about the friend that you have in common? And next thing, you know, like, oh, yeah, and as you start writing, like, it gets nuts. You know, if I thought somebody was going to buy it, I’d be writing books like crazy, but you know, might. So there was millions and millions and millions of fans, but not that many people bought my book. I mean, I’m not complaining. Yeah, I made some money. But I would have been so nice. If the word had gotten out a little. And I waited too long. I waited 15 years or 17 years, you know.

matt nappo 58:48
Yeah. And people. I think if you would have really bashed Howard, it probably would have been a better seller.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 58:55
Everybody. Everybody says that, you know, yeah, Jackie, you know, you’re you’re, you’re pushing you. Why don’t you write your real mind you write what you really feel like, you know, and but most people will any brain say, Wow, that’s it. It’s a heartfelt book. It really makes sense. I got a documentary that’s coming out, was screening it at Chappaqua. On February 12, Lincoln’s birthday, duck. And it’s, and it’s good. And right now, a couple of cable companies have it and we’ll hope if it gets sold, it’ll be so fun because it’s it basically it kind of accomplishes what the book did. And but if it got on one of those cable companies, any stern fan, even the you know, even the people that hate me would be interested. And it’s just an eye opener, you know, so,

matt nappo 59:44
I don’t know. And again, you’re probably right about the circles that I run in. I don’t know of anybody who hates you. I just think there are a lot of misconceptions out there about that. But I think a lot of people have turned on how in a lot of the law, his most loyal people to see a change him and he’s gone really Hollywood and this woman that’s got his, his Miss Mephisto kind of Jones whatever it is right?

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:00:10
He will tell me it took him a long time to finally come around to realizing Holy crap. He’s not that funny. You know, like, like, it’s in your area there with aligner you’re not that was never his job. That’s not what he did. No, he’s easy. He’s not a joke, or he’s a talker. And he’s so good at it, you know,

matt nappo 1:00:32
right. With the podcast now, you and Peter bass. Are you having other guests on? Or is it just you and him every

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:00:40
what happened was this guy, this guy, Mike cave, who has pink tie.org. I’ve never heard of that charity. Yeah, he’s a great, great guy. And he’s got so much going on. He’s got so many things going on. So he started tied in media, which is his media company. And he has a beautiful room and a beautiful green room. And it’s a whole studio. And he’s a friend. And he’s always ever since I met him, he always wanted to do something with me. He said, What about doing a podcast? I said, Yeah. Alright, well, we’ll give it a shot. And Peter bells is my oldest dearest friend. He’s the one that dragged me into the comic strip in Manhattan and jumpstarted. Me. So wants to come be my guest. And we act. And after a couple hours, I said, You know what, this should be our show, not my show. This should be our show. We came up with stand up memories, because he’s a professor and comic that’s been around for 40 years. And I’ve been around for 40 years. And we know everybody. So we started talking. We have 20 shows in the can ready to go once a week for 20 weeks. We haven’t spoken to another human being yet. Do we plan on it? We of course we plan on it. I got probably 50 texts and emails from Jackie, I’m perfect for your show. I’ll be perfectly show you got me on the one thing we’re not going to do is sit there with another comic. So he can try and be funny and and tell you. You know, comics aren’t good interviews, you know, unless they’re a little bit off the beaten track, you know, that, like, radio, people have always said to me, man, it’s such a joy to have you in because you get right to the joke and right to the story, you know, other comics that like prod me, prod me get me going, you know, it’s like, you just take the microphone, and you’re off to the races. Broadcasters appreciate that.

matt nappo 1:02:28
Yeah, absolutely. And some of the guys I’ve interviewed, I didn’t do a lot of comics, and some of them just want to do material and want to send me stuff before to kind of lead them into their materials. Like

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:02:39
I said, do that, that the audience

matt nappo 1:02:43
isn’t interested in that either. They’re interested in real life stories and the kind of stuff that you brought here so I appreciate that.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:02:49
Yeah, what’s going on behind the curtain? You know? Yeah,

matt nappo 1:02:53
just one more question before I let you go cuz we are an hour and I don’t want to disrespect your time. To Gelman thing.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:02:58
Yeah, disrespecting my time. I got nothing to do. I I love talking about myself. But I didn’t say that. Okay, I appreciate that. I’m not talking about myself talking about the comedy, especially from Long Island. We we could do. Who do you know, for a million years? I will say February 18? No. What night is it? February 18. It which which is this Jesus February 12 is the document on February teeth. At my father’s place, that’s not my father’s place. It’s the Rosalyn cellar with Susan Akilah who is a violinist with a great band it’s her show I’m just doing like opening 20 minutes. And they’re great guys is Joe G and and Susan and they have like a five or six piece band and it’s going to be so much fun and the rosin cellar. I mean, and it’s literally down the street from the old my father’s place which I get such a kick out of. Right so I want to give that a plug because we’re here we’re talking about Long Island. Yeah,

matt nappo 1:04:04
well the book has a different feel for me being a Long Island and and I think it would be for people who only know you from the Stern show cuz you mentioned so many things that nostalgic for me in a way I mean mentioning of clubs I know and how they got started. And all

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:04:19
right, you look up and next thing you know, you’ve been daydreaming for 20 minutes about the old days, which I think is a great thing, you know?

matt nappo 1:04:25
Yeah. But the Gilman stuff is that the the Gilman incident? Is that the straw that kind of broke the camel’s back with your relationship with how it is that was at the beginning of the end.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:04:39
Oh, the practical joke. Yeah. Oh, no, no, that was just something really, really funny that happened years ago that was on Shelter Island. That was one of the great stunts. That was one of the great stunts, you people. I just pulled this stunt. We were out to dinner. And one of our rivals that are on air rivals, it was Kathy Kathy Lee Givens producer. It’s too long a story to go into. But imagine if it’s somebody that you’ve always had words with and kind of professional. You know,

matt nappo 1:05:18
Howard was a constant, Kathie Lee and Frankie right,

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:05:22
so much animosity. And here we are sitting in this little tiny space. And they’re at one table and we’re in the other table. And I pulled the waitress aside and said, Listen, I want you to bring Howard a joke. I’d bring Howard a drink, and tell him it’s from Michael Gelman. And she said, why I can’t I said, Listen, I gave her I’d love to say I gave her 100 bucks. I think I gave her 20 bucks, and said, Look, just do it. And when I went to do it, stuttering John and Scott Einziger, who was the producer of the show, ran out ran out of the room. They didn’t want anything to do with it, because they don’t want to get in trouble, you know. And so this waitress, in this little tiny room, brought Howard a drink and said, this is from Mr. Gilman, and how it is six, six, and he stood all the way up and raises glass and said, God, man, and it was so obvious that Garmin had no idea what what the hell he was talking about. And it was just, it was just so mean, but so harmless. And so funny. And all six months, six hour just sat back down in his chair, and I’m next to me said, The waitress told me the drink was from government. And I said, I know that’s, that’s what I told him to tell you. He was busy. You know, he was so pissed. And then he came in Mondays. And you know what I told you daughters what you did to me. And they thought it was funny. Because the tides get turned on the big guy. That’s, you know, that was my job. That was my job to throw a little sand in the gas there.

matt nappo 1:07:05
Beautiful story. Well, I do want to wrap this up, because I do want to get the audio out in time to promote your thing for tonight, so people will be on it. Again, it’s called a stand up memories. The link will be in the description for you folks. I hope people will tune in tonight again, Jackie will be in the chat room and and looking at some of the comments and maybe even commenting back so I really appreciate your time here.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:07:28
Let me tell them email me especially you overseas people joke land. Not choke me in jail, K la nd joke land@aol.com. All my gigs are on joke, land calm. I tweet a dirty joke every day at Jackie martling on Twitter. And look for the documentary joke man. And Matt, I really appreciate this. I hope we get to do it again. I don’t know if I have your email address. Do I have your email? Yeah,

matt nappo 1:07:54
we’ve been writing back and forth for about a week now.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:07:58
It was through Matt. I know it was through Matt. I mean through Mike, Mike, Matt.

matt nappo 1:08:04
Mike, Matt, we’re all the same person. I appreciate it. Yeah. And please do come back. Whenever and anytime. You’re always welcome back here. Thank you so much.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:08:13
You know what I always tell interviewers, a lot of times people say God, I wish you I’d ask Jackie about this as much as people ask you just keep a list of all the stupid things, all the stupid questions. And if we do this again, you could say, Alright, I got a list of 20 things that people were curious about. And then we’re off and running. You know,

matt nappo 1:08:33
we got a lot of those. They just didn’t bring them up today. And then people in the chat rooms right now just asking stuff like that. But if we if we had time today, but I do want to get the audio out so people will know about it for a minute. Just promise me we’ll do this again. We definitely will do this at your convenience. My friend. I would love to have you back. Thank you.

Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling 1:08:50
And I would love you to come out here and see Joe Klein. Thank you very much. I really appreciate.

matt nappo 1:08:55
Thank you Jackie. Have a great day. And we’ll look forward to talking to you tonight. Great. Bye for now. Bye bye. Jackie the joke man martling. Folks, fantastic conversation there. I hope you enjoyed it. I certainly did. I hope you will check out his show tonight. And be part of it. So I don’t have another program on for tonight because we are. I’m in the book mode myself. I have to finish up the book. So I’m kind of putting some of the shows on hold. Tomorrow I have Tommy Cheung at 1pm with me on course morning coffee with the dog tomorrow morning 9am to 11am. But Tommy Chong at 1am and we’ll be taking your comments and chance for you to chat with the fabulous Tommy Cheung yourself. kind of ask him some questions. And I believe Carl and Jamie will be sitting in at least for part of that. So hope you’ve been great having you here this morning. Thanks for coming. I appreciate all of you up to everybody. been supportive of the program up until now and thanks. keep on coming to you About it keep on coming back and always remember to turn on round Round. Listen to me Listen to me Listen to me, Listen to me Listen to me

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